into a good body but if the Patient bee froward and will not be ruled or his body bee distempered hee is not the better by it Now the fault is not in the Physician nor in the Physick they be both very good but the fault is resident in the party that was not prepared for it or that would not receive it and convert it to that use for which it was given him So the Law of God of it selfe is a light unto our feet Psal 119.105 and a lanterne to our paths and the light of life it selfe if we be able to follow it but because of our owne indisposition it comes to passe that the Law which should pull downe sinne gives strength unto it the Law that was made to kill sin it gives life unto it as the Apostle tells us at large Rom. 7. Rom. 7.9 hee saith That sinne was dead untill the Law came in For where there is no Law there is no transgression and sinne was dead untill such time as the Law came in place but when the Law came then sinne revived then sinne began to hew and hack then it began to kill and slay and to leade into captivity which is a worthy point for our consideration and therefore I must stand a little longer upon it How should it bee that the Law of God which is so pure and so holy in it selfe that it should give any life or any strength unto sinne which it hates and condemnes I say it comes to passe upon occasion of our weaknesse and sinfulnesse which takes not the Law of God for that end which he gave it for but to a contrary end The first reason why the Law by occasion becomes the strength of sinne is this Chrysost as Chrysostome saith that it makes our sinnes manifest a man that is detected growes the more desperate as long as he can keepe himselfe quiet and be secret and unseene hee is more modest but when hee comes once to be opened when he comes to be discovered to the knowledge of Gods Law and to the knowledge of men then hee begins to ruffle with God and with the Law and he will approve and make a defence for those things that are damnable the Apostle doth insinuate the reason Rom. 8.9 Rom. 8.9 where hee saith till the Law of God came he did not know concupiscence except the Law had said thou shalt not lust This you know by experience that there is great difference betweene a foolish and an understanding servant The Lord Iesus saith the understanding servant that knowes his masters will and doth it not shall bee beaten with many stripes As long as sinne is not knowne it lies hid it is asleepe it workes faintly but when the Law comes and gives light to a mans understanding that he knows himselfe that hee knowes God and the promises of the Gospel now sinne multiplies there is no such sinner as a wise sinner there is no such sinfull person as the learned person because his knowledge makes his sinne apparant and makes him detected of the world and so inrageth him to maintaine and make that good which is evill and naught in it selfe A simple ignorant man although he carry the Devill about him yet hee is not troubled so much he sinnes more easily he hath weak passions hee sinnes within compasse hee sinnes as bruit beasts doe which seldome or never transcend the limits of nature and they exceed mankinde in many respects in moderating their lusts and concupiscence but when the Law of God comes in place it rouzeth a man from his ignorance which would damne him and shewes him the good will of God it shewes him the acceptable yeare of the Lord and what the hope is which he is called unto and what are the treasures of the Gospel It shewes himselfe to himselfe and now the rage of sinne is more impetuous and violent then before For now hee lives hee was dead in those former times when he was ignorant he was quiet When the strong man keepes the house all is quiet but when a stronger comes to thrust him out then there is an uproare and tumult in the house S. Chrysost Againe another reason is saith St. Chrysostom in this that God doth stretch forth his prohibition the nature of man is alway to desire and long after that which is forbidden and there is nothing that inflames his affections so as the prohibition of the things hee desires Would you have a booke sell well get it prohibited the onely way to make a woman to be a blabb is to bid her keep counsell it is the nature of man still to affect things unlawfull and interdicted and so much the stronger the interdiction is so much the more they are inflamed in the desire they have to accomplish it To conclude this point because we cannot endure that our free-will should bee curbed and restrained it comes to passe that the Law of God by occasion is the reviving and increasing of sinne for we cannot indure the liberty of our will should be curbed and checked but we would live as we list every body and this wee see was in the first temptation of our first parents Satan comes to them What hath God made you to live as slaves under governement doth he keepe you under the rodde doth hee keepe you within the pale hath hee forbid you one fruit of the garden As if hee should say because he had forbidden them one it was as good as if he had forbid all so our first Parents they could not indure this they could not abide to bee kept under to bee made boyes and children to be under a Pedagogue to bee under a Tutor governour as it were not to make choice of their owne affections if God had made them to their owne choice well and good but now the Lord hath made them under the governement of others he hath made them under a Law and they cannot abide that And so it continues in the mind of man still he will have his owne mind though it be contrary to the will of God and though he hinder himselfe he will have it if it be to the damnation of his owne soule if hee get hell for his will yet he will have his will This poyson being in our nature makes good the doctrine that we speak of that sinne revives for the Law of God beats upon our sinnes and makes us say and confesse if wee will follow the guidance of it Not my will but thine be done Let me not seek after mine own will which is base and corrupt but after thy will which is holy and just The Law of God would teach a man to say thus but contrariwise that which flowes from a mans selfe it seeks it selfe and seeing hee cannot please God norman he will please his own soule As the Poet saith Delight thy owne soule care not what other men speak or doe or think against thee This is
as God hath made him which knew not sinne to be sinne for us that is he hath made him a sacrifice for sinne and hee was accounted a sinner as he was made sinne for us so this is the effect of this account and imputation of our sins upon him it shall be the imputation of his righteousnesse upon us as the holy Apostle saith 2 Cor. 6. He was made sin for us which knew no sin that we might be made the righteousnesse of God Now after this he hath shewed us the enemies he begins to shew us the use of all this he drawes to a conclusion and he saith God hath given us victory Thanks be to God that hath given us victory through Christ Iesus our Lord. As if hee should say if we had indeed the remnants of sin in us still wee were foolish to make any insultation over death for death would triumph over us for as long as sinne remaines death must needs ensue and as long as the law is put upon us to curbe and contradict us sin will be but now God be thanked that hath given us victory through Iesus Christ our Lord For he hath destroyed the one and hee hath fulfilled the other he hath destroyed the one by his gracious conversation and he hath fulfilled the law he hath appeased the wrath of God that now there remaines no more enemy but the field is cleare and we are masters of the field for ever Therefore God be thanked which hath given us victory through Iesus Christ our Lord. Wherein wee are to consider First the gift that is given It is victory Division of the Text into 5. parts an absolute and compleat victory over these fierce enemies Secondly whence this victory comes from God God hath given us victory It is from the whole Trinity Thirdly the manner how it comes by way of gift not by way of merit blessed be God that hath given us the victory Fourthly the meanes through whom it comes through Christ Thanks be to God that hath given us victory through Christ Iesus our Lord. It is by the arme of Christ Fiftly the end and use of all Thanks be to God For the blessings of God require thankfulnesse therefore the Apostle gives glory to him that glorifieth us he gives conquest to him that is a conquerour for us Thanks be to God that hath given us victory through Iesus Christ The sting of death is sinne the strength of sinne is the Law This former part of the Text describes the Adversaries extinct and vanquished that which hee speaks of a sting is diversly translated by Interpreters some call it morsum the biting comparing it to a serpent that poysoneth and infecteth and killeth by biting so sinne was represented to us in the garden by the serpent that gave the apple unto Eve Some take it for the sting of a waspe the Hebrew word Kota in Hosea 13. Hosea 13.14 signifieth that which is sharp as a stelletto a thing that makes a present impression and by the puncture it pierceth into the inward parts and brings sudden death So by divers Translators it is thus read I will be a plague unto thee oh death and I will be thy destruction oh hell Many and sundry wayes it is translated but it is sufficient for us to take that which the last and best translation affords and so we call it the sting because indeed death was never nor it could not be sharp unto us except it come to be armed with sinne nor there is no calamity in the world no misery that a man suffers but he suffers it willingly if he have a cleare conscience it being the onely rule of peace and quiet to be free from the cause and from deserving that thing that is imputed and cast upon a man But when miseries come not onely tedious of themselves but they come armed with the condignity of sinne that they have a certaine correspondence in commutative justice that he that hath done evill must suffer evill Now it becomes of all calamities the extreamest and most miserable Therefore it is said here The sting of death is sinne as though death it self were nothing unwelcome and harsh to the flesh of man but that it is inflicted for sin and as the wages of sin But here a man may very well make a stand and aske how can this be how should sin be the sting of death seeing it is rather contrary death is the sting of sinne for which is first was not sinne before death saith St. Austin in his 7. Tom. in his 3. S. Aug. Tom. 7. lib. 3. d◠peceat remiss Booke De peccatis remissione peccatorum saith he we sinne not because wee die it is no sinne to die because it is the fulfilling of the judgement of God upon sinne We sinne not in dying but we die for sinning for from that comes our death therefore seeing sinne was the cause of death and that death is a thing of nothing a thing that followes afte◠sinne it seemes therefore that sinne being first and sin being the cause of death it followes that it must use death as a sting unto it and not on the contrary that it should be a sting unto death But for this there is no great matter in the phrase for as St. Austin Aug. and the rest of Divines accord with him the Apostle calls sinne the sting of death not that death made it but that death is made with it and it is made by it so it is called the sting of death that is a deadly sting that brings death with it As a cup of poyson we call it a cup of death not as though death made the cup but because death is with it that he that takes that cup shall die with it So the tree of life and the tree of knowledge the meaning is not as though life were made by the tree or that knowledge were made by the tree but because the fruit of that tree would have brought life and would have brought the knowledge of good and evill This therefore is the meaning of the Apostles words that sinne by the just permission of God and by the deputation that God gave unto sathan to execute judgement upon sinners it comes upon every man armed and it is armed with death the most desperate weapon that can be that destroyes the very nature of man and brings him to his very foundation to a matter of nothing This is that sting that must prick us all at length as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth Therefore let us learne while wee are now in this world to prepare our selves for this sting that we doe not kick against the pricks as our Lord saith Acts 9. Acts 9.5 Saul Saul why persecutest thou me it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks Let us therefore never grumble against the necessity of sicknesse disease and miseries for alas these are nothing in comparison of death we
must endure death it selfe that prick must gall us to the heart all the power of Men or Angels cannot deliver us from it Let us as well as we can entertain it therefore and not kick against the pricks for we double our wound if we doe and plague our selves more there is no resisting of those things that be of necessity Let us take heed withall seeing sin is called the prick of death or the death of death which is all one let us take heed I say that wee multiply not sinne forasmuch as that is nothing else but to double and re-double our torment to an infinite measure If a man be slaine with one stab of a goad or with a prick of a Stelletto though they are no lesse mortall yet they are more sufferable but if a man shall be cast upon a hurdle that is full of nailes and be rolled up and down upon that that is one of the terriblest deaths that ever was found out and such a death every sinfull man casts himselfe into the more hee sins and gives way unto his head strong affections the more sharp nailes points and pricks he casts himselfe upon Let us take heed therefore the sting of death is sin the more we sin the more nayles and goads and pricks we thrust into our owne sides for there is no sinner but as hee sinnes more so hee offends God more and so he brings more vengeance upon himselfe in a fearfull manner The sting of death is sinne But what sinne is this is it to be accounted the actuall sin that men commit or the originall sin in which they are borne Surely it is true of both but the Apostles meaning is here to speak of Originall sinne for we see this a true doctrine upon chlidren too that never committed actuall sin therefore we must give the sense of the words the most large and utmost extent because we see the doctrine of the place extends it self so farre for children themselves are pricked to death not by actuall transgression according to the similitude of the sinne of Adam but by an inbred corruption which is drawne from the seed of their parents there lying a poyson in the seed of man which came from the first fall and corruption of man in the materialls of Adam in the substance and bodily part there lies a poyson of corruption and it is strange that sinne which is an intellectuall thing a matter of the understanding for there is no beast can sinne because it hath not the intellectuals it wants the understanding It is strange I say that it should rise unto a materiall thing which hath no understanding untill the soul be added but so the Lord hath ordained that in the propagation of the corrupt seed of man there should be infused a soule which lying in a fustie vessell should contract the impurity it finds there in the matter and so should work in both together the damnation of the party in which it is Behold therefore what that fearfull state or condition is in which we are conceived and borne into the world It is that which death useth for a sting it is that fearfull weapon that wounds us and pierceth us not onely for one death but for two for the second death even everlasting destruction if the mercy of God interpose not This is that law in our members that captivates and makes us slaves and carries us away from the law of God This is that prepuce or uncircumcision of the heart that makes us Philistins and Aliens and strangers from the Lord. This is that flint stone that will not be wrought upon by the finger of God but hardens it selfe against all the proceedings of the Lord. This is that seminarie of all mischiefe the originall of all kind of corruption whatsoever a man can think of it is included in Originall sinne For Adam when he fell from God he was a thiefe a murtherer hee was a blasphemer hee was a man given to concupiscence he was a false witnesse against his neighbour hee was the breaker of every Commandement by that action and his children take it from him by originall sinne which is the Mother sinne of all abominations that may be imagined and as wee begin it so wee continue the cherishers and nourishers of it we feed it wee bring it up we suckle this brat of perdition and filthinesse to our owne destruction that every man must needs be forced when he understands himselfe to cry out with the Apostle Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death It is a body of death it is not a limbe it is not a superficies it is not a quality it is not a small matter but it is a body it is a legion of devils it is a multitude of sins it is a kingdome of hell This is that beastly corruption which we have all contracted Let us labour in prayer and sollicite God that the power of this monster may be removed for although we had no actuall transgression but wee could live as pure and sincere as the Angels in heaven in respect of actuall sinnes yet as long as wee have this moisture in us the fire is not out though it seeme to be smothered and though it break not forth yet it is not quenched it is not quite slacked So much of the first part the proportion the sting of death is sinne that is originall sinne because if we should take it for actuall sinne then wee could not take children into the definition but they are stung to death they die and yet they have no Actuall sinne therefore it is spoken of originall sin properly But how comes death and sinne to be thus potent and strong The Apostle tell us by the law The strength of sin is the law Till the law came the edge and point of sinne was dull it was blunt when the law came it whetted it and sharpned it againe and made it more piercing than ever it was before The strength of sinne is the law And how is this God gave the Law for a good Law for a holy and just Law how came it then to bee the strength of sinne It seemes God machinated a mischiefe to mankind to give him that which should make him more sinfull But you must understand it is one thing that a man doth upon purpose and for good and it is another thing when the man to whom it is done can receive it so God gave the Law indeed as a true direction for the reformation of life and manners but the party that received it did not take it thus thus by occasion not from the nature of it but by the ill acceptance of the party it came to be thus to bee the strength of sinne As when a Physician that is skilfull in his profession hee doth all that belongs to a skilfull man the druggs that he gives and the ingredients are able to worke their effect if they fall
DOOMES-DAY OR A TREATISE OF THE RESURRECTION of the BODY Delivered in 22. Sermons on 1. Cor. 15. Whereunto are added 7. other Sermons on 1. Cor. 16. BY The late Learned and Iudicious Divine MARTIN DAY Doctor in Divinity Chaplaine in Ordinarie to his Majestie and sometimes Rector of S. Faiths LONDON Matth. 22.31 Have you not read what God hath spoken to you touching the Resurrection of the Dead LONDON Printed by T. H. and M. F. for Nathanael Butter and are to be sold at the signe of the Pide Bull neere Saint Austins gate 1636. To the Right Reverend Father in God and his most Ho. Lord JOSEPH By the Divine Providence Lord Bishop of EXCESTER MY LORD REligious spirits are usually Indulgent Patrons to Orphanes They imitate in this Act him who sayd I will bee a Father to the Fatherlesse I doubt not but that I shall finde your Honour of this generous disposition to these printed Posthumes of Doctor Dayes licensed by Authority and now seeking to your Lordship for protection I have adventured to present these papers comming to my hands to your Honour hoping the childe wil be wel liked for his Fathers sake who was wel known unto and entirely beloved of your Hon. in his primitive time in Cambridge as also while hee was our Pastor heere continued it towards him in his charge in your Lo. Diocesse even untill his dissolution however I have done this to shew my readines upon any occasion of service to your Lordship Thus craving your favour to shelter and fence this worke from open depravers and to continue your love to the Authors memory I humbly take leave being Your Lordships Servant NATH BUTTER To the Readers YOu cannot expect that these Sermons should have such exact politenesse and neat dressing as if the Authour had lived to revise them Yet you may discover Dr Dayes spirit expression method and matter to speake in all of them praesentemque refert concio quaeque patrem I would wish you then to read them without any prejudicate opinion as thâ—y are exercises whose Authour was famous in his time and which cannot chuse but yeeld you matter of counsell and comfort You have but few Authours in English upon this Epistle and fewer upon these subjects Lose by reading of them you cannot gaine you may I doubt not but they will proove beneficiall to the whole Church for whose sake I have published them Thus wishing you to gather hony out of these where it may be had I rest Yours N. B. 1 COR. 15.29 What shall they doe that are baptised over the dead if the dead rise not at all Why therefore are they baptised over the dead THis gratious Apostle the blessed organ and instrument of the holy Ghost doth so wondrously dispute his cause and contrive his arguments for the maintaining of this holy article of our faith the resurrection of the body that as Saint Chrysostome saith Chrysost in locum he leaves nothing unfetched either from God or men for in five or sixe verses before the text he disputes from the omnipotencie of God in raising Christ his Sonne He hath discoursed also of Christs kingdome and of the delivery of the kingdome of his mediation and of the end of all things the perfect consummation of all that God may governe and be all in all Now he descends to a lower kinde of sphere to arguments taken from the actions of men and presidents here below upon the earth And he saith that there were certaine men in the world that were baptised for dead that is they are baptised in a certaine hope of the resurrection of the dead whose labour is lost and their faith frustrate and to no purpose if they have not the end of that whereof they now make profession here So some expound it But that is to bring us backe into the same labyrinth we were in before Verse 14. for he saith before that our hope is vaine and our Preaching vaine if there be no resurrection Therefore waving that opinion I take it that the Apostle speakes of some other more peculiar and particular cause that is concerning the state of the Church of God in persecution wherin men despairing of helpe in this world despairing of any life or contentment they did come and offer themselves in a voluntary martyrdome and tooke the baptisme of death that is they were baptised to this purpose being willing to offer themselves as dead men to persecution for the Gospell sake which they would not have done unlesse they had beene certainly assured of the resurrection of the body Other sences there be but I must proceed in order from one to another and labour to finde out the likeliest for in truth there are innumerable many and the place is very difficult Onely two things we are most sure of in this argument and discourse here set downe to our hand First that whatsoever this baptising over the dead was and therein is all the difficultie yet it was a thing that was publike notorious and knowne to the Corinthians it was a matter that was not obscure to them although it be to us For the Apostle speakes not to them in clouds but by way of familiar and evident example thereby to winne their judgements to this conclusion concerning the bodies resurrection Secondly another thing is that whatsoever this baptisme was yet certainly it was a thing of much force it was a great argument to prove that which the Apostle intended For it is not his manner to deale weakely in proving and disputing but he useth all the strength of the holy Ghost as Chrysostome saith Chrysost that is as much strength and demonstration and evidence of the spirit as a man can be capable of And so upon this ground we must gather that that opinion is most likely and to be imbraced that maketh most for the resurrection of the body And if there be any sence of more force then other or any sence more pertinent than other to prove that maine conclusion certainely that is the sence which the Apostle intends For all those that be of lesser weight and smaller moment they are besides the Apostles purpose Questionlesse if there be any vigour or power in any more than another we must imagine that that is it the Apostle aymed at and that he would have us to ayme at All the doubt comes out of the ambiguitie of this one word Baptisme While some take this baptisme for the sacramentall washing others againe take it for a ceremoniall washing either such as were in the Law among the legall ceremonies or such as were knowne in the common course of life the washing of the bodies and corpes of the dead when they were layd forth for the Coffin Concerning these words for the dead there is also some doubt some expounding it for sinne some for sinners and some for them that are naturally dead that is when the spirit in the common course of nature is
ignorance into the Church of God Such simple people understand not what perfection God requires to be in him that is truely called a man of God he must be like Moses Acts 7.22 It is said That Moses was taught in all the learning of the Egyptians And so Saint Paul wisheth that the man of God may be perfect that he may be made up as a full and perfect number in Arithmetique that he may be fitted to every good worke which he cannot be except he can speake to a Poet after the manner of a Poet and to a Philosopher in the language of a Philosopher unlesse he can accōmodate himselfe to the party with whom he deales it is impossible he should be a fit and compleat man in the service of God Now the Apostle shewes us a rule here that those things that are vulgarly knowne and of common use they make a better and deeper impression in the mindes of men Therefore they are most of all to be translated and exhibited in speeches and Sermons to the people of God The reason is as I said before because all truth is from God whatsoever these heathen men had it was a glimmering from God Rom. 2.15 And also because the Apostle tels us Rom. 2. That the Heathens had the Law of God written in their hearts their thoughts eyther accusing or excusing them so that it followes then we cannot reject or cast off their sayings because they stand as matters of greater condemnation or matters of greater perswasion then other speeches for marke how our Lord Christ concludes out of the heathen Woe be to thee Chorazin Matth. 11.21 and woe be to thee Bethsaida for if those workes which thou hast seene had beene done in Tyre and Sydon they had repented long agoe Behold how he argues from the heathens so by the heathens actions we shall have greater condemnation then by those presidents we have in our owne Schooles for if the heathens doe thus it is a double shame for Christians not to attaine their perfection So when our Lord saith to Ierusalem that if the mighty workes that he had done in her had beene done in Sodome and Gomorrah they had repented long agoe in sackcloth and ashes He confutes Ierusalem by a strong and mighty argument taken from the heathen Therefore the deeds and sayings of the heathen are also to be noted and remembred of us because they containe much matter of profit to set forth the truth and glory of Gods word by As Saint Basile Basile saith in his Oration to the young man Procelius There is saith he great matter of good that lyeth in the writings of the Poets and Philosophers and every man cannot gather all the good As we see by experience when a man crops a flower from the earth he can get nothing out of it but the sweetnesse of the smell or the delightfulnesse of the colour but when the diligent Bee comes he will make more of it he will extract honey which is as it were the very spittle of the starres So when simple carnall minded men reade the Poets and the Philosophers they gather nothing but delight and pleasure but when the diligent Bee comes a wise man a serious considerate man he drawes honey out of them As Gregory Nazianzen saith Greg. Naz. speaking concerning the same argument saith he As a man that comes into a garden of Roses into a Rose-yard he seeth goodly Roses and goes to plucke a Rose but in the meane time he labours to shun the prickle so in reading of Poets and Philosophers we should plucke the rose but shun the thorne or prickle alway take the best and leave that which is harmefull For there is a mixture of these as the rose growes in the middest of thorns so the doctrine of the Poets is mixed with barbarisme superstition and corruption Let us separate the drosse from the gold refuse the one and take the other To conclude this point because I know every man doth not apprehend it well It is true indeed there is a great disorder in the quotation of humane learning in Sermons in quoting of Poetry and Philosophy and hath beene alwaies Therefore I doe not in all poynts confirme it onely that it may be it is certaine and that it must be in the Church because arguments drawn from the heathen are used by Christ and all his Apostles yet there must be some cautions used in it Cautions for use of humane Learning in Sermons First they must be few not many for it is a most heterogeneal thing for a man in preaching a whole houre to speake nothing but humane learning for he comes not there to be a Philosopher an Orator or to be a Poet but to convert and winne soules Therfore his chiefe time and the principall part of his speech must be the word of God exhortations out of Scripture and instructions to life and good manners so that too many of these are condemned Secondly they must be those things that are cleare and plaine and faire and that are commonly knowne such as every man is acquainted with As this here was a Proverbe in every mans mouth It was a thing notorious no man could doubt of it Therefore they offend against this rule that fetch and hooke in they know not how nor no man knows by what medium they bring in such sentences but to continue and stuffe up their speeches they bring in long and exorbitant sentences and heape them up together for ostentation Lastly they must not be things of affectation but such as come naturally as we speake by way of common proverbe for proverbs make a great impression in mens mindes common sentences sententious utterances are most powerfull So to conclude this poynt It is necessary for the Preacher as Musculus and Calvin and divers other Writers conclude to know a great deale more then the Bible to know more then the study of the principles of Religion they must be such men as that no man may except against them for their ignorance and blindenesse for they must have a taste of all things and be able to draw out of their treasurie those things that concerne the glory of the kingdome of God And because the heathens had a kinde of over-running as when the Conduit is full the water runnes at waste so when Gods people were full of light and knowledge some went over to the heathens for they have read and heard of our bookes Therefore truth which is the pearle or Iewell of God which is scattered we ought to gather it together againe It was lawfull for the Israelitish women to weare the Iewels of the Egyptian women It was lawfull for the children of Israell to possesse the lands and goods and Vineyards of the inhabitants of Canaan So let us take this Iewell of God his truth from these men that are unworthy to possesse it as pearles are often found in the basest and filthiest places let
fall into a grosse error which they might conceive by this doctrine of his For if it shall be raised a spirituall body why then say the heretiques Apollinarius Eunomius and such like then it is not the same For it is now a meere naturall body and what is so contrary as naturall and spirituall Animal and spirituall are clean contrary therefore the Scripture still bids us live after the spirit and distinguisheth betweene the sonnes of the flesh and the sons of the spirit there is nothing more contrary then these now it is impossible that a thing should be capable of that which is contrary Therefore they say if it shall be a spirituall body then it shall not be Idem corpus the same body Another crew say If they shall be spirituall bodies then they are not flesh and bloud and bones as these elementary bodies are that die and are committed to the ground but it shall be another thing made by God of a strange composure Against this the Apostle tells us that there is such a distinction of a naturall body and a spirituall body and yet none of these monsters follow neither For it is the pleasure of the great God to adde such excellencies to that body which was before dust and ashes and mortall and to draw such lines upon it to give it such beauty and perfection that it shall seeme rather a spirit then a body it shall be so full of quicknesse and motion and life and dexterity that it shall rather seeme a spirit then a body To speak comparatively Hence we learne That seeing the Apostle proves his distinction that it is not lawfull for any man to make of his owne head of his owne braine any generall principles or definitions or divisions or distributions concerning the doctrine of the Gospell but he must shew reason for it Then secondly what reason doth the Apostle give for it why It is also written Hee proves this his doctrine by the Scriptures and unlesse he could have proved it out of them he must have been subject to the censure of all these heretiques that all that they had passed upon him should have gone for good except he could have refuted them by the Scriptures So he tells them that It is written So that here we have a maine conclusion of our faith to hold to alwaies and to stick to that wee must beleeve no man further then the Scriptures If he will speak his own minde he may doe it for illustration or for arguments sake but to put the devices of his owne head and braine to goe for points of religion for matters of faith it is a damnable thing he must have no more credit then the Scriptures will afford him hee must make no distinctions and differences except it be found in the written word If this had been well observed the Church of God had never come to that miserable distraction that it hath been in for the space of these thousand yeares every Intruder still presuming to make his owne devices fundamentall to avert the points of religion to make distinctions such as man never saw in the Scriptures As to talk of Purgatory invocation of Saints and of other errors newly sprung up in these later times Such things as these have no kind of being in the Scriptures no nor any shew of being notwithstanding these proud imperious spirits will bring them upon the Church of God and lay a heavy yoak upon the people of God to beleeve them as if they were the very oracles of Almightie God himselfe Wee must take heed of these things Teach mee as far as thou wilt out of Gods booke but if thou teach me otherwise thou art a liar and no teacher thou art a seducer and an imposter and no pastor as St. Bernard Bernard and also Gregorie Gregorie saith Therefore this blessed Apostle he puts downe his proofe he will have them beleeve him no further then hee brings Scripture for it It is written saith he As if he should say I make not this distinction of a naturall body and a spirituall body I have it made to my hand for it is written And where is it written it is a hard thing to find that all the whole sentence is not to be found any where but the first part of it is written that the first Adam was made a living soule the other part is made up by the spirit of the Apostle understanding the difference betweene the first and the second Adam to make up the antithesis of that notable difference betweene the one and the other Some of the Fathers doe take it thus that the whole sentence may seeme to be written that oft-times in the Scripture things are said to be written and to be done which are not written nor done meaning not in their kinde but in their effects by some consequence As St. Chrysostom saith of this Chrysost from the reason and event of the thing it was written because that men did see every christian knows that Christ Iesus doth so farre passe and surmount the first Adam as God surpasseth man as the soule surpasseth the body therefore the event and consequent of the thing makes it as if it were written For God hath made it good and so hath set it as a sure writing in the world And so he gives instance from divers Scriptures in the like things As in Heb. 12.21 Heb. 12.21 the Apostle saith speaking of the terrour of Moses when he was in the mount when the Law was given the terror was so great that Moses said I feare exceedingly Now in the booke of Exodus Exod. 19. Chap. 19. where those things are related there is no such thing mentioned that Moses said any such words but the Glosse expounds it That it is certaine upon the deed upon the teror that Moses conceived he trembled It was a thing done although it were not spoken he did tremble So here also it may be said Although there be no such words as the second part of this sentence that the second Adam was made a living spirit yet de facto it is true For all the Church of God knowes and subscribes that there is a maine difference betweene them Such other places there are as that in Isay 7.14 Isay 7.14 A virgin shall conceive and bring forth a sonne and they shall call his name Emanuell Now this was never done de facto as St. Chrysostom observes Chrysost the people never called him so they called him Iesus not Emmanuel And although the Angell gave that name to the virgin yet the people used it not and yet saith St. Chrysostom though it were not done de facto yet it was done de jure it was done in right and reason for that the things themselves do send forth such a voice and testimony that he was Emmanuel God with us Therefore these Fathers think the meaning of the Apostle is this That although it were not
us that are the children of Abraham although wee must study holinesse Heb. 12.14 without which no man shall see God and we must abhor all the works of darknesse and come into the light yet we are so fraile in this flesh that we cannot doe the one nor the other But miserable wretches we have two lawes the law of our members and the law of God and so we must conclude with the Apostle Rom. 7.25 I serve the law of God in my minde and spirit but the law of sinne with my members and yet hee concludes in this place thankes bee to God that gives us victory in Christ Iesus our Lord. To conculde this point It is the faith that a man holds in God the faith he hath in Christ that makes us Conquerers and gives us the victory It was this that armed the thiefe upon the Crosse when hee had done nothing all his life time but plaied the thiefe and robbed and oppressed and played his tragicall part in the world yet hee shewed himselfe to have one mite of faith in the end of his life and for that he was accepted And Christ saith unto him Luke 23.43 This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise That whereas the Pharisees and Priests and Scribes thought Christ to be justly executed and put to death yet notwithstanding hee put his faith in him and beleeved that hee was a King and that he had a great portion of glory reserved for him and that hee was able to communicate it to his followers therefore he desires to partake of that glory Luke 23.42 Lord remember me when thou commest into thy kingdome Now I come to the last point of the precedent verse Thanks be to God since wee have the victory in Christ Iesus our Lord that is since wee have both received the fulnesse of the conquest imparted to us and also the first fruits of the Spirit by which we are able to overcome though not fully to overcome yet to overcome by the power of his victory and to be accounted conquerers though we bee but cowards Thanks be to God for this great gift and mercy of imputation The holy Apostle saith Theodoret Theodoret. hath concluded all his discourse with a necessary line with thanksgiving and praise to God For indeed as wee are bound to thanke God for every thing that wee receive so much more for the chiefe and principall things that wee take from his hands There is no thing so gracious as this to be victors to bee borne to be Conquerers and to be conquerers over such enemies too as have conquered all the world this many thousand yeares together that in sight that there was nothing that domineered nor nothing got the victory but death and sinne and hell and to conquer these miscreants that had over-run all the world this is the hand of God which is to be rejoyced in and if there bee any blessing for us to blesse our soules in it is this that we are conquerers in Christ saith St. Austin Aug. For saith hee If I must thanke God for every petty benefit what greater reason can I have then to give thanks for chiefe and maine benefits The grace of God in Iesus Christ our Lord is that which gives us this victory Thanke God saith St. Bernard thanke not thy selfe St. Bern. thank not Saints thanke not Angels thanke not preparatory works thanke not foreseene merits thanke nothing else but let the praise rest wholly and totally in God It is he that did all therefore to him be given all praise and glory for ever and ever FINIS SERMONS On 1 COR. 15. Of the Resurrection 1 COR. 15. ult Therefore beloved brethren be stedfast and unmoveable abounding in the worke of the Lord alway because you know your labour is not in vaine in the Lord. WEE are come now to the conclusion of this Chapter which followes most naturally as Chrysostome saith Therefore my beloved brethren be ye stedfast c. It is a true conclusion when a man hath fully proved the premises hee that concludes a thing before he hath argued well and proved the matter he discourseth of hee is either a foole or a falsarie for it must needs argue it is a lie when a man will ground upon uncertaine grounds It argueth also weaknesse in him when hee thinks hee hath perswaded without sufficient ground for there is no wise man will be perswaded without due confirmation and demonstration of those things that are argued Therefore now the Apostle comes in as an excellent Oratour to conclude not upon poore grounds nor upon weak evidences but upon strong perswasion and demonstration saith Tertullian Tertul. Hee useth all the strength of the holy Ghost to perswade to this powerfull article of the Resurrection his meaning is with all the power of the holy Ghost that he was capable of for else the power of the holy Ghost is as infinite as God himselfe is infinite But now when the Apostle had driven this doctrine home when he had so beat it into them as that there was no scruple left to any gainsayer or contradictor when he had shewed the cause of the Resurrection when he had shewed the maner of it when he had shewed the absurdities that would follow the contrary doctrine if men did doubt of it when hee had shewed the effects and consequents of it of that glorious incorruption and immortality when hee had proved it by force of holy Scriptures Oh death I will be thy death oh hell I will be thy destruction When he had set downe all these firme and maine presidents it is time for him now to bring in his conclusion He is a foolish builder that will set up the roofe of his house before the walls be built and he is an idle discourser that will offer to bring a thing into his Auditory upon any triviall reason but the Spirit of God teacheth us first to settle the understandings to perswade the minds of men by strong and puissant arguments and then to draw forth conclusions for hee must first move a mans senses and understanding and then draw his will for the will is alway plyable to the conclusion but the understanding is attentive to the demonstration All this while the Apostle had held the understanding giving demonstrative causes and such reasons as no man could contradict him in Now that being done he closeth with the will and that is easily brought if he can perswade the understanding therefore he saith Therefore my beloved brethren that is seeing these things are thus seeing I have told you the will of God in this point that Christ is risen himselfe and that he is risen so palpably that he was seene of more than five hundred brethren at once and that he is the Head of the body and that therefore all the members must be raised up at one time to come with their Head and be joyned unto him Seeing that
shew that now he had given the Sabbath a perfect rest for ever that there should be no more ceremoniall worke he had then fulfilled all the ceremonies the sinne of man was payd for and all the troublesome ceremonies of the law were abrogate and to shew that the Sabbath was ended he celebrated it in his grave and then upon the Munday the Iewes Munday the day of his resurrection hee rose againe to shew that ours must be an active life not in idle circumstances to passe it away in ceremonies as in the law but to remaine as an eternall Sabbath for ever we keepe a publique Sabbath to God though not in the same time and in memory of the same thing yet in the remembrance of a farre greater benefit 6 From the apparitions of Christ To conclude the point our Lord graced this constitution of the Church by his own presence most of his apparitions were upon the eighth day as wee may see in the Gospell that day that he rose still he glorified it with his presence eight dayes after he rose he came and shewed himselfe to his Disciples and the next day to Thomas and the rest of the Disciples and so for the time of 40. dayes that he continued on earth after his resurrection look how many Mundayes of the Iewes there was which is our Lords day so many apparitions hee made upon that day whereby they gathered that it was the will of the Lord and that hee meant to make that day glorious by his comfortable apparitions for still as I said his apparitions were upon that day he was absent all the weeke before hee appeared to none except it were to some few persons as Peter and Iohn but he made no publique apparition but onely upon the Lords day And upon this the Church of God was induced to make this change and we see it acted Acts 20.10 Acts 20.10 1 Cor. 16. and this chapter is a publique testimony of it and likewise in Rev. 1. Rev. 1. Saint Iohn saith I was in the spirit upon the Lords day which is generally taken by the fathers of the Church and by the Interpreters of the Gospell for this that we hold instead of the Sabbath day But because these kinde of people will never be satisfied except wee can answer their reasons as well as they can heare ours give me leave a little to goe forward in this poynt and heare what they can object for this Arguments against the change of the Saâ—bâ—th which thinke the Iewish Sabbath still to remaine in force I have spent the time against my minde and purpose therefore I will but name the chiefe heads of their arguments and refute them They conclude therefore that there is no certaine warrant for the changing of the Iewish Sabbath to ours 1 There is no written word for it because there is no direct written Scripture to prove it we have no Text of Scripture to worke it into us But for that we are to answer them Answ The Apostles in this guided by the spirit of God whatsoever the Apostles did being guided by the spirit of God their practise is a sufficient direction to us it is warrant enough that they have done it before us For so we have in many other things the practise of the Apostles to be a rule of our faith Christ not determining many particular things in the Church but leaving it to the discretion of the wise those that should be well furnished with knowledge for the directing of things in their places where they were therefore that which the Apostles did it was the act of Christ for they did it not of themselves but from a higher person from him that sent them Another reason they have and that is this 2 It is a part of the decalogue the decalogue or tenne Commandements are a perpetuall law but this is a part of the decalogue therefore this is a perpetuall law and the precepts that be in the tenne Commandements are all morall they are precepts that belong to all men to all times and places in the world Thirdly God is pleased to call the Sabbath an everlasting covenant God cals the Sabbath an everlasting covenant Deut. 12.16 I have made an everlasting covnant saith the Lord Deuter. 12.16 and in divers other places hee cals it a perpetuall covenant betweene me and my people Israel therefore it follows it must last as long as the world lasts and consequently it cannot be changed for then we alter the covenant of God 4 It was aucienter then Moses A fourth objection is this all the laws that are ancienter then Moses are immutable but this was more ancient then Moses law for it was given to man in paradise the Lord there by resting upon the seventh day did consecrate the Sabbath to be kept although some of the Fathers say as Iustin Martyr Iustin Martyr that they did not keepe it before the Floud but yet there was the institutioÌ„ of it therfore seeing it was a law given before Moses and before the fall of man it follows it is immutable and unchangeable because if there be any change it must be for imperfection and if there be any imperfection it must be for sinne and there was no sinne before the fall Therefore whatsoever was commanded before the fall was so perfect that it could not be altered it had no respect of imperfection in it 5 The cause of it is perpetuall And lastly the perpetuall cause of a law makes the law continue if the cause of it remaine the law must also continue and therefore there are many lawes that are made and abrogate againe because there is no use of them they were made in such a time for such things and the cause failing the law ceaseth but where the law hath a perpetuall cause there the law is in force to continue alway but the cause of the Iewish Sabbath continueth the meditation and contemplation upon the works of God and the holy operation of his hands this is the cause of the Sabbath and this alwayes continueth therefore the Iewish sabbath must continue These are the prime and chiefe grounds of their arguments I will answer a word to these and so conclude First in that they say the decalogue or ten Commandements is a law perpetuall Ans to Ob. 2. The Iewish Sabbath partly ceremoniall and bindes the consciences of all men It is true as farre forth as it is morall it doth but those parts that bee ceremoniall as the Sabbath is partly morall and partly ceremoniall and as it is moral it binds but as it is ceremoniall it doth not For the moralitie of the Sabbath is this to worship God in a publique service that wee are bound unto that which is ceremoniall that we should serve him upon such a day upon the seventh day rather then any other that doth not binde there is no part of moralitie in that that
Plato that God would change the seventh day to the eighth to signifie thereby that God would bring a rest to all the world so that our change of the Sabbath day saith he it is not onely of us not onely manifested to us but it was opened to the Gentiles themselves they also acknowledged it Cyprian Diacon Epist 41. Cyprian the Deacon saith he shall reade the next Lords day wherein the Church must bring their accustomed sacrifice to God that is the sacrifice of Almes-deeds the treasure of life eternall and in his 41. Epistle saith he in the station that is in the Church where we meet and stand together before God let you almes be ready and let no man appeare empty before the Lord alluding to the law speaking of the change of the Sabbath and the collection for the poore Saints named in this place by the common state of the Church Basil Hexamer secund Basile in the second of his Hexameron saith he that the Lord might bring us from this present life to the thought of a better life of the life to come he hath appointed the first fruits of the Sabbath wherein the first fruits of the living rose again from the dead the Lord Christ which was dead did then live which was the beginner and continuer of light in his Church I meane saith he the holy Sabbath day glorified by the resurrection of Christ and commended to the Church to be alway fulfilled and kept Nazianzinus orat 43. Nazianzen saith he there were two Lords dayes the one for the Iewes the other for the Gentiles but ours that we have is more excellent than that for that was belonging to mans salvation but this was the very nativity of salvation the birth of our Saviour The Iewes Sabbath was the intermedium the passage betweene the buriall of Christ and his resurrection for Christ lay in his grave upon their Sabbath day and there he rested and with him rested all the ceremonies of the law never any more to revive but this of the resurrection of Christ is plainly and fully the day of the second generation and regeneration of all the Saints and he gives a reason for it For saith he even as the first creation of the world begun from the Sabbath day so we must imagine that God began to make the world upon the Munday as we call our weeke for in his eternall rest whereby he rested from all eternitie he began then to worke although it were no worke to God but a rest even the creation it was a rest to him he did not worke then more then before yet it is signified to us by worke in the Scripture and that he began in the beginning of the weeke to set himselfe to worke therefore as that worke of the creation began from the Sabbath so the worke of the recreation and redemption of man must begin from the Sabbath And although this be the eighth day yet it is the best day of all that were before it and of all that shall come after it being more high and glorious then that glorious day that was before and being more wonderful and admirable then that wondrous time that preceded it Saint Ierome in the second Epistle of his booke against Vigil The Apostle Paul saith he S. Hierom. contra Vigil Epist 3. Vigitantius I suppose commanded almost all Churches that there should be collections for the poore made upon the Lords day which is the first day of the weeke that is the first of the Iewish weeke And in his fourth question to Hibibbia How soone saith he did the Apostles of Christ turne and change the Iewish Sabbath to shew the libertie of Christians from the bondage of the law how soone did they turne it to the Lords day Aug. 10. Tom. Saint Austin in the tenth Tome of his Sermon upon these words of the Apostle saith he When the seventh day was fulfilled which is the consummation of the world we must come backe againe to the first and reckon from seven to seven and this first will be found the eight day the seventh day is ended and then the Lord is buried the eight day begins and then the Lord is raised for the raising up of the Lord Iesus hath promised unto us a day eternall and hath consecrated to us the Lords day which is the signe and note and assurance unto us of that eternall day of that everlasting Sabbath for now the rocke is raised up againe Let all our hearts be circumcised speaking of the manner of circumcision which was done with a knife of stone with a piece of a stone taken out of the rock out of the rock which is Christ Chrysost on 1. Cor. 16.2 Saint Chrysostome upon this place In one of the Sabbaths that is saith he upon the Lords day for the time it selfe was of sufficient force saith he to bring a man to bee liberall to give almes plentifully Oecumenius Oecumenius saith the same saith hee it should rouze us up this time the Lords day to do good to the Lords Saints Theophilact Theophilact being the first day of the weeke the time wherein we meet together before God they never saith he went without love to God and to the Saints upon the first day of the weeke which is the Lords day Theodoret Theodoret. saith he the day and the worke are met together a man should do the works of the time in his owne time a worke done in season is the more gratefull and acceptable Therefore saith he the day of the Lord wherein the resurrection of Christ is honoured is the fittest time to shew our bountifulnesse to God which hath beene so bountifull to us in giving us the memoriall of him that was Lord of his owne and of our resurrection Athanasius Athanasius upon that place All things are delivered to me of my Father which I stood on the last day and shewed his reasons for the change of the Sabbath Cirill of Ierusalem in the fourteenth of his Catechisme saith he Yesterday Cirill of Ierus Catech. 14. upon the Lords day in the congregation of the Saints and at the generall prayers of the people you heard me speak and discourse of these things where we may see that in that countrey also the same manner was retained Epiphanius in his second booke Epiph. lib. 2. The Sabbath of the Iewes remained in the law till the presence and comming of Christ but Christ dissolved the Sabbath and gave a Sabbath of his owne which is a type of that true rest of that sabbatism wherby the Saints rest from ceremonies and are come to the substance the Sonne of God as the Apostle speaks Heb. 4.7 Cirill of Alexandria in his seventh booke to Palladius We know saith he Cirill Alexand. l. 7. ad Pallad that the Lord Christ came to make us a perfect rest from sinne from death from miserie and to give us conquest over death
saith hee would have none to gather when he came because it would tend both to his and to their shame if they should be found unready Vnreadinesse is a fault in all the parts of Christianitie and there was no man that ought to be so forward as they therefore he prayes them to do it before hand These are the parcels of this Text. Of these things briefly and in order as it shall please God to give assistance 2 Motive from the Churches authority First concerning the motive from the Church It hath alway beene a strong argument that is taken from the Churches authority He that heares you heares me and he that scornes you scornes me saith our Lord Christ and tell it to the Church and if he will not heare the Church let him be to thee as a heathen and a publicane or sinner Hee that will not do as the Church doth he is out of the Church of God he is a banished man from heaven and a cast-away from all hope of salvation This argument therefore must be of speciall consideration with us what the ancient Church hath done before times we must follow their steps if we meane to partake of the reward that they and we both looke for We see that antiquitie is a great and a maine reason to induce any good understanding for if the Church of God have authoritie to perswade all her children and those that follow after certainly then the ancientest Churches are of the greatest authoritie Now the Church of Galatia was a more ancient Church then Corinth Therefore the Apostle alledgeth the authority of that Church to bring this on So we see also in persons not only in Churches but in particular persons Rom. 16.6 Salute Andronicus and Iunia that were before me in the Lord they were Christians before Saint Paul therefore Saint Paul gave them honour as his predecessors as his glorious and honourable Ancestors that were in the Lord before him Therefore hee saith honour them and salute them much So in this case Galatia was the more ancient Church therefore it was to be the rule of Churches afterward in all good things in all things belonging to the propagation of the Gospell to the maintenance of a good conscience The authoritie of the Church is the greatest argument one of them under heaven and it is certaine if our mother Church which was once the Church of Rome if it had not proved extreamly cruell and tyrannous in her proceedings there ought no Church to have fallen away from her communitie for by separation from her if she had continued a true mother they had separated from their father too the God of all comfort the God of heaven and earth for a man cannot have his fathers blessing if he go from his mothers bosome but now when all things were turned to pride to worldly covetousnesse to ambition and vaine glory and their own greatnesse without the true aime and without respect to the right end when all was turned to pride and selfe-love that they would depose Kings and Princes out of their seats and kingdomes it grew then to be a monster and ceased to be a mother and thence it is not lawfull to have any communion with them that are so blasphemous But else I say if they had continued in that modest humilitie which they were first bred in Rome a true Church 500 yeares after Christ continued in for the space of foure or five hundred yeares surely the authoritie of the Church had beene a rule for the whole world for where they do well the Apostle makes a law from their doings As the Churches of Galatia do so do ye 2 What the Church of Galatia was Secondly here is to bee observed what this Church of Galatia was it was a famous but yet it was but a poore Church it was so famous in zeale that the Apostle protests that they would have given him their eyes to have done him good wherein he signified their infinite ardor and fervencie to the Gospell of Christ at his first comming although afterwards by his absence they were seduced and drawne away by circumcision by some creeping Iewes that stole in among them But as it was famous for the greatnesse of the graces of the spirit so it was but meane in condition Therefore the Apostle might well draw an argument from it for the Corinthians could not object and say What do you tell us of Galatia Galatia is a potent kingdome a rich kingdome full of meanes and full of glory above our Citie but this they could not do for it appeared to all the world to be but a poore place a place of no trafficke except it were a little in the Euxine sea for it is a middle-land place And although the countries of Asia-minor whereof Galatia is one can maintaine themselves Galatia in Asia minor yet for any great superfluitie and abundance to send to others they cannot do it especially the Citie of Galatia which is excluded and kept from the Pamphilian Sea by the border of the South which lyeth betweene it and Pamphilia So we see here that according as God hath given Churches meanes and abilitie so they should exceed those that are poorer the richer sort must do after a rich manner and if the poore should at any time seeke to transcend them it were a shame to them that are greater and more able The Citie of Corinth it was the Mart of all the world Corinth the Mart of the world Hom. Iliad 2. therefore Homer in his time which was one of the ancientest Writers that ever was among the Heathen there is none like him in his second Iliad he saith three times over Rich Corinth The reason of it is because of the scituation which is betweene two seas from whence all the traffick of the world flocked flowed to it Therefore it followed that seeing the Church of Galatia had farre lesse meanes then Corinth and yet they had done thus Therefore Corinth must much more obey this precept And it is a lesson that I would that men of sence and reason would lay to their owne consciences both in the Church and in their private persons for we have a great number of poore Churches even in this Citie that are sessed oft times to pay farre more then richer places do and there are many poore persons that are truer pay-masters that pay scot and lot better then many greater men do which the Apostle intimates here to be a shame it is a shame that poore Churches should go before rich it is a shame that Galatia should go before Corinth and exceed them it is a thing that God will have a saying for and these great ones that have their thousands and their ten thousands about them and yet they will not pay that which belongs to their poore officers to their poore servants such as belong to them poore Church-men that will not pay that which belongs to them
affaires But to conclude this point the Apostle teacheth us that it is lawfull for Church-men to intend these businesses which we call secular In times past it was so although the Laws and Canons and Constitutions have obscured the light of poore Ecclesiasticall men as that they should be no guardians of the poore of widdows and orphans many have taken these to themselves to manage their lands and possessions yet the common tenent of the Church hath ever beene that those things were most sure and trusty which were put into the Churches hands and that they might do it is manifest by the example of the Apostle who layes aside the care of his generall function in preaching to all the world and is content to negotiate for one Church and for the poorest thing in the Church not so much for the administration of the Sacrament or the preaching of the Word but to carry a little maintenance to carry a little victuall which one would think might as well have beene transported without his presence as with it But now observe the condition The Churches sacrifice must be worthy for so he promiseth all upon a condition If the collection shall be worthy I will go with it So we learne out of this that the Church of God is bound to make all their sacrifices as worthy as they may to have a worthinesse in them A leane sacrifice is a shamefull kinde of sacrifice it was an abhomination to God the Lord would have the fattest and the fairest Therefore those that present any thing to him except it be out of a willing minde and proportionable to that which God hath blessed them with it rather draws a curse and indignation and detriment and losse upon them then a benefit and help to themselves the Lord loves a chearfull giver and the Lord would have them that do good works either to be rich in good works or else not to do them at all both in respect of the quantitie in giving so much and to account themselves so much the more rich by how much they have beene contributers to the poore for this is that great support whereby we live and it is a mystery which we cannot be perswaded of yet it is most true Which if we looke into it will make any man amazed that there is no man that thrives so well in the world nor shall thrive as those that are open-hearted and bountifull handed in good causes and for good purposes We see how the meanes of the Church from time to time they have beene imbezelled and brought to nothing and yet if we looke into the fortunes and states of those men that have done it that have thus wasted them we shall see that hungrie beggarly povertie hath overtaken them that they are not able to do the tenth part of that which their fathers did that had no such benefit as they have incroached to themselves Therefore seeing the Lord is mercifull in blessing and there is a secret bountie to them that are bountifully minded It should teach a Christian man to resolve not to hearken to flesh and bloud not to hearken to the contradictions of nature not to hearken to the probabilities of reason for they will tell a man it is good for him still to be hoording it is good for him to save in private to keepe all to himselfe and by so doing bee thinkes to gather a multitude of wealth and riches together although indeed it be contrary for the Lord scatters where men scrape and where men scatter and disperse abroad the Lord multiplyes and increaseth If it be in a good cause and if it be chearfully with a willing minde It is therefore a Christians glory and his care to make up the service of his God as faire as he may It is a shamefull thing when the people of God shall have a stye for their Church as they have in many poore places in our Land where there is not so much as a roofe or covering to the Church but it lyes open exposed to winde and weather it is a shamefull thing that the service of God should be offered up in such a base place as that It is a shamefull thing to have the Ministers of the Gospell poorely and basely and beggarly respected to have the sonnes of Ely forced to begge a peece of bread as it is 1. Sam. 3. 1. Sam 3. ult It is a shamefull thing to see the meanes of the Church so cut downe as that there is no hope for ever of reviving of it to the sight and shew of men neither is there any possibilitie that learning should thrive there or that ever there should grow or spring any kinde of literature thence and that any honest manners should come to any purpose these things are a shame to the world and the goods of our common Church which should bee faire and goodly in the view of all the world now they are turned to Chappels of ease to corner Churches to Gentlemens chambers to preaching by the fire side to conferences in bed roomes and such base tearmes the whole Gospell is brought unto that there is almost no shew or similitude of any true love and charity in the poore distressed parts of this Nation It is a common thing as we say in the Churches beyond the Seas where all things are wasted and spoyled and cast downe but I would it had not come over the Sea too it hath also invaded us as a great canker-worme in the state of many places of this flourishing kingdome for although God be thanked there is a singular alacritie in the spirits of many men to beautifie Churches to make spatious and goodly Colledges and to keepe the poore in Hospitals and Almes-houses these things are yet in many places to the glory of God and the commendation of the people of God yet in many other places and farre more in number there is nothing but misery vastation and meere desolation and it is so desperate as that it is almost impossible except an extraordinary hand of God from heaven worke it that there should be any reliefe That which we do for Gods cause let us do it with good will let us do it with a chearfull minde to make it as neare as we can as the Apostle saith here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a worthy collection a worthy sacrifice a worthy house of prayer a worthy Scholar a worthy Preacher of the Word of God a worthy maintenance for the poore a worthy allowance for Hospitals whatsoever we do let us labour as much as wee can to make it worthy God cannot abide these hungry base beggarly things which Saul himselfe in the pursuit of the Amalekites killed he destroyed the weary leane creatures which were not worthy to be sacrificed but he saved the best and the fattest because he knew that God in his Law required the fattest to be offered to him in sacrifice And now also the Lord will have the flower