vnto vs silly creatures on the earth and how powerfully dost thou schoole vs and teach vs by thy example to goe vp to Ierusalem to worship God to reade not Esay the Prophet onely but euen the whole booke of God! that so vsing those and all such other gratious means which God offereth vnto vs for the illumination of our darke hearts by faith as thou here diddest we might also with thee in time be enriched with that precious and inestimable treasure of a true faith That so as the Spirit of God witnesseth of thee that thou diddest beleeue that Iesus Christ was the Son of God so the same Spirit might beare witnesse to our spirits that wee also beleeue But herein especially doth he school vs and in schooling vs reproue vs and in reproouing vs shame vs. For first if hee that had so fewe meanes to leade him to the knowledge and worshippe of God doe yet notwithstanding out-goe vs in his seruice and worship who doe abound with all gratious and needfull helpes that may leade vs thereunto how can it but be a shame vnto vs Secondly if he that dwelt so farre off as Aethiopia was from Ierusalem refused not to vndertake so long so tedious a iourney to trauell thither there to worship God How can it choose but be a shame to vs who will many of vs scarce goe out of doores or wet our foote in trauelling to the house of the Lord to heare his word and to worship him in his holy Temple Thirdly if he at one only Sermon of Philip were brought to knowe and to beleeue in Christ what a shame is it for vs that after so many yeares enioying the word of God pulickely taught and expounded vnto vs and after so many and almost infinite Sermons that haue bin preached amongst vs there should yet be so many of vs that are not wonne to the seruice of God and faith in Christ The Lord our God as much desireth our good as hee did the good of this Eunuch The word of God is as mighty in operation now as in former times the Spirit of God worketh with the word preached effectually now as in former times The industrie and desire of Gods Ministers though they be not equall to the Apostles and first Fathers of the Faith who because the Church was then newly to bee planted had Primitias spiritus sancti the first fruits and the more eminent and powerfull graces of Gods Spirit yet are they such as might in some degree of proportion serue to beget faith now as in former times and yet for all this they are but few in comparison of the multitude that profite in faith godlinesse by our labours The cause why we cannot write vpon the water is not the want of skill nor the fault of the pen but the vnfitnesse and indisposition of the water So the reason why Gods Spirit preuaileth not in vs is neither any default in God or defect in his Spirit or weakenesse in his word or disability in his Ministers but onely in men and women themselues who are not disposed fitted to receiue such stamps and impressions as they all would otherwise imprint and leaue in them For surely were men so willing so prepared as this noble Eunuch was to entertaine the Lord Iesus in their hearts and to receiue him into their soules by faith when we preach him vnto them then would our preaching bring forth in them the like precious effect and many more of them than now doe would by our preaching of Iesus vnto them be brought with this Eunuch to beleeue in him and to bee his seruants But alas the more is the pitie many of vs may truly say with Peter We haue launched out into the deep and haue let fal our nets to make a draught we haue trauelled all the night and laboured hard and yet haue taken nothing Many of vs like candles doe waste and consume our selues by studying and preaching to giue you light and yet many of you for all that doe still continue and remaine in darknes Many of vs like busie silke wormes weaue out our owne bowels as they doe in making of silke that you may be cloathed in silke and apparelled with the precious roabes of Christs righteousnesse and yet for all that many of you choose rather to be cloathed with your owne rags with the garments which are spotted with sin and stayned and defiled with iniquitie What can the husband-man doe more than till his land and sowe his seed what can the gardiner do more to his figge-tree than ditch round about it and dung it what can the dresser or planter of a vineyard doe more for it than place it in a fruitfull hill and hedge it and gather out the stones and plant it with the best plants what can we doe more than preach Iesus vnto you Nullus doctor est dator boni quod docuerit saith Bar. Wee can teach you good things we cannot giue you good things we may be doctores gratiae but not datores we may be teachers but we are not giuers of grace The Angel in the 5. of Iohn did but stirre the waters of the poole Bethesda and troubled the waters thereof hee thrust no man into the poole that was a worke to be performed by thēselues that would be healed Wee that are the Ministers of God wee open and expound the Scriptures vnto you by our diuiding the word of God and expounding the same vnto you wee moue and we stirre the water of life that floweth in them you must be carefull to step into them your selues c. And surely the very true reason why after so much stirring and troubling of these waters after so much preaching and teaching there are yet so many both men and women that lie diseased full of soares sinnes by this poole and by these waters not onely for the space of 38 yeeres but some for more yeeres and all their whole life long neuer once offering to step in much lesse to thrust themselues thereinto when the waters therof are stirred I say the very true reason hereof is either their infidelitie that they cannot or their lazinesse idlenesse that they will not or their pride vvhich suffereth them not to humble their hearts and to subiect their wills to the will and word of God They consult their owne sense and vnderstanding and suffer themselues to be caried away with the streame of their own naturall reason and corrupt affections whereas if they would submit themselues captiuate their vnderstanding and their willes to the will and word of God and be wholly led and directed thereby they might as here this noble Eunuch did attaine to some good proportion and comfortable measure of true faith But that which the Comicall Poet spake of hands in his time I may say of our hearts in these dayes Corda nostra sunt oculata non credunt nisi quod vident Our hearts are full of
because They haue or should haue a tongue of the learned and should knowe to minister a word in due time to him that is wearie They haue or should haue the balm of Gilead wherewith the sores and wounds of Gods people should be cured and healed They haue or should haue in store Vinum merentibus the wine of comfort and consolation for them that mourne and are heauie hearted And therefore to end this point my exhortation shall bee this vnto you When you read any thing that is hard which you desire to vnderstand but cannot When any great grieuous crosse calamity befalleth you and you are ignorant of the meanes and knowe not how to be eased When you groane vnder the burthen of your sinnes and finde the hand of God heauy vpon you so that you find not in your selues the groūds of sound comfort When any great and violent temptation which you cannot encounter taketh fast holde vpon you so that you finde it too strong for you To conclude when feare and anguish afflict your soules your consciences be troubled so that you know not how to lay your selues downe in peace Then desire some Philip that hee will come sit with you desire some of Gods learned and faithfull Ministers that they will abide with you and conferre with you that so they may resolue your doubts and ease your griefes But heere I might take vp a iust complaint and lament the state of these times wherein there is so little or almost no vse at all of conference either in secular learning wherein men are loath to conferre with such as are more learned then themselues least they should bewray their owne ignorance or in points of faith and cases of conscience with Gods Ministers least they should thereby discouer to them their errors and imperfections But this complaint may sooner bee made than it can bee remedied The second thing I noted in these later words is Philips readinesse and his godly discretion his readinesse in that hee presently followed the direction and appointment of the Spirit in respect whereof it is here said that he came to his chariot His godly discretion in that hee tooke the present occasion and began at that very Scripture which the Eunuch then read and preached Christ vnto him From hence we that are Ministers may learne this lesson To take all occasions that are offered vnto vs speedily to doe good to cut-off long and vnnecessarie prefaces and discourses and to go roundly and directly to the matter not to holde our Auditors in the Church porch when wee should bring them into the Church it selfe not to stay them in atrio templi in the outwarde court of the Temple but speedily to leade them in sanctum sanctorum into the holiest of holies where the Mercy seate standeth not to lead them along by tedious wearisome paths but to bring them the straightest nearest way to Christ to take all opportunities of doing them good And you also that are Auditours may from hence learne with the like alacritie and speed to heare and to receiue those good tidings and doctrines which are preached vnto you and to striue euen at the first hearing of them to embrace and lay hold of them with the hand of faith as here this Eunuch did The third thing I noted in these later words is what it was that he vttered and spake when hee opened his mouth He preached vnto him Iesus In these wordes I obserue two things first here is not set downe at large the Sermon which Philip made to this Eunuch neither are the words of that discourse which Philip had with him at that time here mentioned Indeede it is true that all the Sermons and exhortations of the Apostles and disciples of Christ are not verbatim word for word set downe in the Scripture but onely per summa capita the chiefe points only and such generall and chiefe heads as the Spirit of God thought meete they are remembred and set downe vnto vs. Paul and Silas preached to the keeper of the prison and to all his househould the word of the Lord Act. 16.32 but his Sermon is not set down at large but the summe and substance of it is set downe in the verse going before namely the 30. verse Beleeue in the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt be saued and thine houshould In the 2. of the Acts when they mocked and saide that the Apostles were full of new wine what time they being full of the holy Ghost beganne to speake with diuers tongues Peter when he had reprooued them and instructed them what they should think of that miracle and exhorted them to haue a care of themselues and their owne soules so that they began to be pricked in their hearts and said Men and brethren what shall we doe then he said vnto them Amend your liues and be baptized euery one of you in the name of Iesus Christ for the remission of sins And then it followeth verse 40. And with many other words he besought and exhorted them Which many other words are not set downe in that place or there mentioned yet the summe and substance the principall scope of them and the maine drift of Saint Peter is set downe and contained in these few words which go immediately before Amend your liues and bee baptized euery one of you in the name of Iesus Christ for the remission of sinnes And so in this place it is saide that Philip preached to this Eunuch the words of which Sermon with all the parts and passages thereof are not set down as may be euidently discerned in that no mention being made in this chapter of baptisme or of water yet this noble Eunuch when hee saw water saide to Philip See here is water what doth hinder me to be baptized And yet this proueth not the Scriptures to be maimed or vnperfect as our Aduersaries would willingly haue the world beleeue forasmuch as there is so much set downe in Scripture as is any way needfull and necessarie for our saluation So that although we haue not all the Sermons which the Prophets Apostles of Christ preached word by word and at large set downe and deliuered vnto vs in Gods booke yet it may and ought to suffice vs to know that God in his wisedome hath so disposed that so much of their heauenly discourses and Sermons is set downe vnto vs as might serue to direct vs in the knowledge and worship of God and might further Gods glorie in vs and our saluation And therefore there is no cause at all why wee should listen to the enchantments of Rome or giue any care of credite and beleefe to our Aduersaries the Papists when they tell vs that in som things the Scriptures come short in some things they are silent and say nothing in many things they are doubtfull and vncertaine and in most things hard and full of obscurity With all which and many more the like imputations
siluer into drosse The chiefest honour of a Noble or great man is vertue and the chiefest vertue is religion without the which how great soeuer hee bee at home or abroad and how noble soeuer he may seeme in his owne eyes yet is hee base and vile in the eyes of God In the second of Ieremie after that the people had forsaken God the Prophet saith They haue changed their glory for that which doth not profit as though the glory of a people were indeed the seruice of the true God and the ceasing so to serue him vvere the ceasing or loosing of their glory The feare of the Lord saith the wise sonne of Sirach in his first chapter is a glory to a man and a ioyfull crowne vnto his head A King may be a King but if hee want this feare he is a King but without a crowne A noble man may be noble but without this feare he shall want his glory A great man may be great either in his own or other mens eyes but if he want the feare of God his greatnes is but as the swelling of a bladder puft vp with wind which shal quickly vanish and come to nothing A rich man may be rich and may abound euen wallow in wealth yet if he be not rich in the Lord walke not in his feare his riches are but as the varnish vpon a rotten post hee is painted indeed with gold but his root is rottennesse his life is sinful and his end inglorious For the richest crowne and chiefest glory to great men in what kinde soeuer they be great is the fear and worship of God their greatest prerogatiue is to be of the houshold of faith their greatest freedom is to be the seruants of God their greatest nobilitie is their new birth in Christ and their greatest riches are the gifts and graces of Gods Spirit in them At the top of the scepter and of all greatnes sits Honor and at the foote of the scepter and of all greatnes sits Care not onely the care of performing such duties as belong to the places of such as are any way great but especially the care of seruing and fearing God from whom they haue their greatnesse without which care honour is but as a bundle of painted flowers that yeeld no true sweetnesse and greatnesse is but as a bunch vpon the back of a deformed creature which makes him the more misshapen and lothsome in the eyes of God Dauids glory was the Lord. Thou O Lord saith hee art my buckler the lifter vp of my head and my glory Psal 3.3 And Theodosius the Emperor hold it a greater honour vnto himselfe that he was Membrum Ecclesiae than that he was Caput Imperij that hee vvas a member of the Church and thereby the seruant of God than that hee was the head and Commaunder of the whole Empire And I am verely perswaded that our most Christian and princely Theodosius doth more reioyce and dooth herein take more comfort that hee is Defensor fidei Defender of the true ancient truly Catholique Apostolique saith than that he is Magnae Britaniae Rex the sole Monarch great Commander of Great Britaine And surely heerin cōsisteth our happiness for this we haue great cause to praise GOD for that our noblest plants both root branches planted by the Lords owne right hand in the best fattest grounds of our country who haue the best title greatest interest among vs to true nobility greatnes doe like vnto the fruitfull trees of Paradise bring foorth among vs not onely much hope but much fruite also of holinesse and religious pietie to the glory of God that heere hath planted them And as they for their parts so it is farther also to be wished that all they which are great in a subordinate and inferiour degree of greatnesse vnto them the greater they are the more they also would acknowledge themselues bound the more they would striue to worship and serue God who hath made them great that so it might be truly saide in our Church this Common-wealth that not onely Terra dat fructū suum the earth brings forth her increase when poore men doe gladly serue God but also that euen Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei astra matutina laudant eum that is the heauens set forth the glory of God and the morning stars praise him when our greatest Grandoes our noblest our chiefest great-ones are carefull to serue and to feare the Lord. And here me thinkes I haue a very fit and iust occasion offered me without straining or offering violence to my Text to speake vnto you Right Honourable whether you sit on the one or the other bench and to you Right Worshipfull wheresoeuer you are seated and howsoeuer you be ranked that heare me this day euen to as many of you as either for your honour your office or your wealth haue prime and principall places in this our Common-wealth and first by the example of this honourable rich Eunuch to tel you for your comforth that your greatnesse and plentie may stand with the seruice of God Christianity and next for your better remembring thereof to put you all in minde that by how much the more God hath beene bountifull to you aboue other men by so much the more you ought and are bound aboue other men to be dutifull and seruiceable vnto him because that from the sea of his bounty you haue receiued all your waters from the torch-light of his goodnesse you haue lighted all your candles from the fountaine of his fauour you haue filled all your pitchers and from the Mine of his treasures you haue receiued all your riches And therefore let mee speake vnto you that are mighty rich and great men in this assembly as Dauid did to the great men in his time Psal 29.1.1 Giue vnto the Lord O yee mighty giue vnto the Lord glory and strength giue vnto the Lord the glory due vnto his name Now seeing you cannot giue any actuall and reall seruice any actuall reall workes of bounty or requitall to the person of God himselfe both for that he is in heauen and needeth nothing that is yours yet doe them to the support of Gods trueth and the furtherance of religion do them to the maintenance of study and increase of learning doe them to Christs needy Saints and poore children and then know it remember it to your cōfort that what you doe to them you doe to Christ himselfe Matth. 25.40 who will not leaue you vnrewarded Dauid when he could not be kind nor shew his loue to Ionathan his dearest friend he shewed it to poore and lame Mephibosheth the sonne of Ionathan so seeing you cannot shew kindnesse to your Lord and Sauiour Iesus himselfe shew it to his lame Mephibosheth's his lame his poore his indigent and needy Saints and seruants Some write that although the gold myrrh and frankincense which were offered by the
of the like blessing And although it bee not enough onely to reade the booke or worde of God but that there bee more required at our hands euen to beleeue it and to frame our liues according to the prescript forme and rules thereof yet shall wee finde by Gods blessing that the frequent and diligent reading thereof shall be in good time the beginning of better things vnto vs. A small wedge though it cannot cleaue great logges and such as bee hard and knotty yet may it and doth it often serue to make way for greater and stronger wedges by which they may bee clouen So your often reading of the word only may make way in you to some greater more powerful operation of Gods Spirit by which your knotty and hard hearts may bee clouen asunder and so made woode fit for sacrifice fit to be laid and vsed vpon the Lords Altar I knowe right well that Cathedram habet in coelo qui docet corda in terris that he hath his seat in heauen which teacheth mens hearts on earth That it is our Sauiour Christ that opened the vnderstanding of his disciples that they might vnderstand the Scriptures Luke 24.45 That of him and of him onely it is said Reuel 5.9 Thou art worthy to take the booke and to open the seales thereof That he and he onely hath the key of of Dauid which openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth Reuel 3.7 And therefore except hee open the doore of the Scriptures they shall be shut vnto you notwithstanding you doe often reade them Yet if you doe often reade them you do stare in via qua trāsit Dominus you doe stand in the way by which the Lord passeth and if you doe but stand in the way by which the Lord often passeth it may be he will at one time or other turne in vnto you as he did to Abraham Lot as they stood in the way by which he passed And as the Prophet Elisha turned into the the house of the Shunamite when she had prepared a chamber for him and a bed and a table and a stoole 4. King 4.10.11 So I say if the Lord shall see that you stand in the way by which he passeth and that by your often reading his most sacred word you haue prepared a chamber in your hearts with conuenient furniture therein to receiue him and to entertaine him it may be he will turne in vnto you and so open vnto you the hidden mysteries of those Scriptures which you read to your euerlasting comfort And as here to this noble Eunuch after he had worshipped God at Ierusalem and was now in his returne home-warde reading of the Prophet Esay the Lord sent Philip who ioyned himselfe to his Chariot expounded that Scripture and preached Iesus vnto him baptized him and so left him a most faithful and most ioyfull seruant and professor of Christ So if we frequently reade the worde and meditate therein though therein wee meete with many things we vnderstand not the Lord in his good time will send some Philip that shall ioyne himselfe vnto vs some godly and faithfull Pastor and Minister that shall open and expound either priuately or publickly so much thereof vnto vs as shal beget a liuely and true faith in vs and shall bee needfull and helpfull to our saluation But here exception may be taken and it may bee obiected that as hee read the Prophesie of Esay but vnderstood it not and Legere non intelligere negligere est so to reade as wee doe not vnderstand is but in vaine lost labour The answer may be that although the Prophet Esay hath the same place and bee the same in respect of other Prophets as Saint Iohn is in respect of the other Euangelists like an Eagle that flieth an high pitch and soareth and pearcheth aboue the other birds that is bee full of high and heauenly mysteries which the eye of reason naturall vnderstanding cannot pierce or attaine vnto Yet are there many things both in Esay and so also in the whole bodie and all the seuerall parts of the holy Scripture that are plaine and easie to be vnderstood in which are contained and expressed the power the wisedome the goodnesse of God together with that dutie and obedience that feare and reuerence which all creatures doe owe and ought to performe to his most heauenly Maiesty as also such things as inuite men to faith and exhort to holinesse of life And these things and the like this Eunuch did without doubt both often read and well vnderstood Howsoeuer he doth most freely ingenuously confess that he could not vnderstand that place or passage of the Prophet which he then read vvhich was prophetically and mystically deliuered concerning the person of Christ and the saluation of mankinde by his death and passion which is indeed a mysterie which no eye but the eye of faith can pearce and looke into And from hence we may learne this point of Christian wisedom Not to neglect or carelesly to passe by those parts and passages of holy Scripture which when we read wee doe not vnderstand as if they either appertained not vnto vs or it concerned vs not at all to search out the sense and meaning thereof whereas by often reading searious meditating and frequent and deuout praying wee might many times with comfort vnderstand the same Chrysostome vpon the 16. of Luke hath this saying Etiamsi non intelligas illic recondita c. Although thou vnderstand not the mysteries that are hidden in the Scripture yet of the very reading of them great holinesse groweth And Ierom in his fourth booke vpon Esay and eleuenth chapter saith Frequenter euenit c. It commeth often to passe that lay men beeing ignorant of the mysticall sense are yet fed with the plaine and simple reading of the Scriptures To this exhortation of mine for the frequent reading of holy Scripture and by the example of this noble Eunuch for the reading of thē though perhaps some part of them be not vnderstood by vs to this exhortation I say giue me leaue I pray you before I shut vp this poynt to adde or vse a reprehension also I loue not I confesse to be ful of reprehensions I delight not in publick reproofes neither take I pleasure in searching the wounds or ripping vp the soares and faults of others and yet that vvoe which the Prophet Esay denounceth against them that call good euill and euill good maketh mee afraid to acquire offenders and maketh mee also bold to call error by it owne name and to tell them plainly which misse the right path that they are out of the way and are deceiued Let not my meaning be misconstrued neither let that which is well meant be ill taken The testimonie of mine owne conscience shall sufficiently witnesse to my selfe my good meaning and the iudgement of charitie should hold you frō misconceiuing or misreporting of that vvhich shall be by
precepts and rules of religion and all the directions and counsels which in our Sermons and preaching either are or can be deliuered vnto you they haue all of them relationem ad subiectum a most direct aspect and necessary reference to Iesus Christ who is primum et primarium subiectum Euangelij the first and primarie subiect of the Gospel Saint Paul as he esteemed to know nothing saue Iesus Christ and him crucified 1 Cor. 2.2 as he reioyced in nothing else but onely in the crosse of our Lord Iesus Christ whereby the world was crucified to him and he to the world Gala. 6.14 so in substance and in effect he preached nothing but Iesus Christ and him crucified Super hanc Petram vpon this Rock that is vpon Christ The Rock is Christ saith S. Paul 1 Cor. 10.4 Vpon this Rock I say did it please God not onto build his whole Church but also euery particular euery true and liuing member of his Church Wee are Gods labourers saith S. Paul and you are Gods building and according to the grace of God giuen vnto vs some of vs as skilfull Master-builders others lesse skilfull wee lay the foundation that is wee build you vpon Christ For other foundation can no man lay than that vvhich is laid vvhich is Iesus Christ 1 Cor. 3.11 Who is rightlie tearmed a foundation because he supporteth and beareth vp all the building As in a great house or building the roofe thereof is supported and borne vp by the walls the walls by the beames and timber thereof and both roofe and walls and beames timber and all other parts are borne vp and supported by the foundation so in the spirituall building vp of our soules into a holy temple to God the roofe the walls the beames and timber of that building our faith our hope our adoption the remission of our sinnes and lastly the beautifull glorious roofe and couering of all this building to wit the decking the couering and crowning of our soules with saluation in heauen euen all of these are supported and borne vp by the foundation which is Christ Iesus Excellent and to this purpose most pregnant is the beginning of the first chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians where the Apostle most plainly sheweth that our election our adoption our redemption the remission of our sinnes and our benediction and blessing in spirituall gifts and graces that all of these are founded and grounded vpon the person of Christ For our election Blessed be GOD that hath chosen vs in Christ before the foundation of the vvorld ver 4. For our adoption to be adopted through Iesus Christ vnto himselfe v. 5. For our redemption by whom wee haue redemption ver 7. For the remission of our sinnes by whose bloud wee haue the forgiuenesse of our sinnes ver 7. For our benediction and blessing in spirituall gifts graces Blessed be God vvhich hath blessed vs in all spirituall blessings in heauenly things in Christ. ver 3. Christ is made vnto vs saith the same Apostle vvisedome and righteousnes and sanctification redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 Runne if you please through the whole volume of Gods booke take a view and suruey of the whole summe and substance of our saluation and of all those spirituall graces that further the same and you shall finde all and euery of them wholly and onely in the person of Christ If wee seeke for innocencie it is to be found in his Natiuitie If for purity it is to be found in his Conception If for freedom from the Curse it is to be found in his Crosse If for satisfaction it is to be found in his Sacrifice If for absolution it is in his Condemnation If for purgation it is in his Bloud If for redemption it is in his Passion If for mortification it is in his Buriall If for newnesse of life it is in his Resurrection If for an inheritance in heauen it is in his Ascension If for security and safety at the day of Iudgement to him the Father hath committed all iudgement Lastly if for saluation it is in Christ in whom who-soeuer beleeueth shall not perish but haue euerlasting life In Christ by Christ for Christ through Christ so runneth the whole current and streame of the holy Scriptures So doe we confirme and strengthen our faith so doe we back and fortifie all our hopes so doe wee season and sweeten all our comforts so doe wee intermix and conclude all our prayers 5 In the fift or last place we haue to consider the effects which this Eunuch's own reading and Philips preaching of Iesus wrought in him And they are three 1. He beleeued 2. He was baptised 3. He reioyced or he went on his way reioycing That he beleeued appeareth by his answer to Philip for when Philip told him that If he belieued he might bee baptised hee answered and said I belieue that Iesus Christ is the sonne of GOD. ver 37. Prima vox Christiani est Credo The first word that euer any Christian man or woman speaketh or vttereth as a Christian is Credo I beleeue and till that word with the matter and substance thereof be bred and begotten in the soule and brought foorth vttered by the mouth tongue of man no man is or can be rightly tearmed a Christian man Till such time as we belieue Christ is not formed in vs and till such time as Christ be formed in vs we haue no part or portion in him wee haue no title to the couenant of God we haue no interest in the promises of grace we can lay no claime to Gods mercy Oleum misericordiae nisi in vase fiduciae Deus non ponit Ber. in vigilia natalis do Ser. 5. Fides est porta aurea per quam Rex gloriae mentem nostram ingreditur Faith is that goulden gate by which the King of glory entreth into our soules By this gate it was that the King of glorie entred into the heart and soule of this noble Eunuch and if euer hee enter into vs and our soules by this gate he must enter Let me therefore vse the words of Dauid vnto you Lift vp your heads ye gates be ye lift vp ye euerlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in 1. Effect Hee beleeued Faithfull and blessed Prince faithfull and blessed Eunuch great in thy birth and thy nobility but farre greater in thy regeneration and new birth in Christ great in the fauour countenance of thy Queene and Mistris beeing her chiefe Steward but farre greater in the fauour and countenance of thy heauenly King thy Master and Sauiour great in the imployments of thy place and office as beeing chiefe ruler and disposer of a Queenes treasure but farre greater in beeing of of Christs familie entrusted with the treasures of heauen How doest thou as one placed in some high and eminent seate aboue vs and aduanced to the highest honour now made a Saint in heauen preach
eyes they beleeue nothing but what they see whereas faith hath indeed no greater enemy than sense Gregorie in his fourth booke of Dialogues and first chapter compareth him that will not belieue Christ or his Ministers preaching and telling him of the ioyes of heauen because he seeeth them not vnto a child borne of his mother in a darke prison and there brought vp whom shee telleth that abroad there is great light a Sunne and a Moone starres men beasts trees riuers and such like things but he belieueth none of these because hee seeeth none of these which things howsoeuer he thinketh they are not yet they are so indeed as his mother informed him So although they that haue no faith thinke there is no heauen no Christ no Angels no ioyes because they themselues are included and shut vp in a darke prison of ignorance and infidelitie and therefore see them not yet it doth not follow but that it is so and our Mother the Church that so teacheth vs doth not lie but speakes the truth and happy are all they that belieue her c. My exhortation for cōcluding this point shall be this As heere you see how this nobleman lent not onely his outward eare of hearing but his inward eare also of obeying and belieuing to that which Philip preached vnto him so ought wee also to doe as often as wee heare the word preached vnto vs c. And if it happen while wee are so busied and imployed either in the reading or in the hearing of Gods word preached and expounded vnto vs that wee feele any good motions of Gods Spirit mouing vs to faith let vs account of them as the Wise men did of the Starre that appeared vnto them in the East Math. 2. And as they followed the Starre so let vs follow those motions and inuitations of Gods Spirit to faith for as they following the Star were brought at last euen to the house where Christ was so if wee follow the motions and callings of Gods holy Spirit they will bring vs at the last to the house and place where hee is euen to the kingdom of heauen c. 2. Effect Hee was baptised First he beleeued and secondlie or after he had professed his faith and belieued he was baptised This is Christs owne ordinance to his Apostles Goe yee into all the world and preach the Gospell to euery creature Hee that shall beleeue be baptised shall be saued Mark 16.15 So was it in this Eunuch Hee first beleeued and after was baptised So must it be in all that are adulti grown to full age or come to yeeres of discretion before they come to baptisme they must openly professe their faith It is the ordinance of Christ himselfe who first instituted Baptisme did himselfe first sanctifie the element of water to that holy worke or businesse that water should be vsed in Baptisme To signifie thereby that as water cleanseth the outward filthinesse of the body so by the operation of Gods Spirit which worketh both mightily graciously with the outward element of water and with the word the originall guilt and vncleannesse of our soules should be purged and cleansed Vessels vncleane are vnfit to haue precious liquors put into them they be therfore first to be cleansed What liquors can be more precious than the graces of God What vessels can be more vncleane than our vnregenerate and vnbaptised soules Wee are brought to Baptisme therefore to be cleansed that our soules may be made the fitter to receiue graces from aboue For as in worldly things wee cannot be partakers of them vnlesse we be borne so neither can we be partakers of spirituall things except we be baptised and borne anew Wee come to Baptisme the sonnes of Adam sinners and accursed vvee returne from Baptisme the sonnes of God and blessed Saint Peter in his first Epistle third chapter and later part of the chapter compareth Baptisme to the Arke yet there is great difference for that creature which entred into the Arke a Lion was nothing altered but came forth a Lion that creature which entred into the Arke a Wolfe was nothing altered but came forth a Wolfe that bird which entred into the Arke a Crowe was nothing altered but came forth a Crowe c. But it is far otherwise in Baptisme for hee that before Baptisme entreth into the Church a Lion returneth frō thence after Baptisme a Lambe he that before Baptisme entereth into the Church a Wolfe returneth from thence after Baptisme a Kid he that before Baptisme entereth into the Church a Crowe returneth from thence after Baptisme a Doue So this Eunuch came from home a stranger to the couenant of grace but returned home a sonne and of the houshold of faith he came to Ierusalē an Aethiopian but returned a true Israelite This is the happy fruit and blessed benefit which redoundeth to all both men and Nations to whom the Lord is pleased in mercy to reueale himselfe in the power and might of his word and in the grace and efficacie of this Sacrament by which as by a stampe or marke set vpon our flesh by our Sauiour Christ Iesus his ovvne hand and institution like to the mark of Circumcision which was set vpon the flesh of Abraham and of his seede wee are not onely distinguished from other Infidels and heathen people but are also knowne and acknowledged by God himselfe to be of his houshold to belong to his couenant But as for others which haue not this seale or mark and are not washed in this Lauer of Regeneration it is not so with them but the corruption of their nature and the filthinesse guilt of sin cleaue as close to their soules as their skin doth to their flesh Many excellent things are spoken of Naaman the Syrian that hee was a great man honourable in the sight of his Lord mighty and valiant yet it is added that he was a Leper and therefore to be washed So although many excellent things may be spoken either of the nature of man in generall or of many excellent men in particular which either were or are meere naturall men vnbaptised and vnregenerat yet the conclusion must be It is a Leper and they all are Lepers and must be washed in the water of Baptisme And till such time as they be so cleansed and so washed the Lord seeeth nothing in them but that which hee disliketh and setteth not his heart or his loue vpon them All the Patriarches were the sonnes of Iacob yet he loued none of them so well as Ioseph Beniamin who were the sonnes of Rachel whom hee deerly loued So all men are the sonnes of God by creation but hee loueth none so well as his regenerate and baptised sonnes because they are the sonnes of Rachell the sonnes of his Church which he most deerly loueth The 3. effect He reioyced or hee went on his way reioycing The doctrine or preaching of Christ is rightly tearmed Euangelium a
ioyfull Message or gladsome tidings So spake the Angell to the Shepheards Be not afraid for behold I bring you tidings of great ioy that shall be to all the people that is that vnto you is borne this day in the Citie of Dauid a Sauiour which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2.10.11 Which most heauenly most sweet comfortable doctrine when Philip had once taught and preached to this noble Eunuch it was no maruell though as a man full of gladnesse he went on his way reioycing For if libertie be gratefull to him that hath long been captiue if to be made a free-man be a cause of ioy and reioycing to him that hath long been a bondslaue if to be eased of a heauie burden if to be cured of a dangerous disease if to be brought foorth of a darke dungeon into the cleere light to conclude if to be raised from the death of sinne to the life of grace and to haue our part and portion in the communion of Saints if all and euery of these be blessings much to be esteemed of and true causes of reioycing Thē to be brought into the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God to be made the Lords Free-men to be eased of the heauy burden of sinne to be cured of the infectious diseases which arise from humane corruption to be enlightened by the Spirit of God to liue vnto the Lord the life of righteousnes and to haue our names written in the booke of life all which were offered and exhibited by Philip to this noble Eunuch in his preaching of Iesus vnto him these things I say could not chuse but much affect him and be great causes of great ioy and reioycing vnto him And as Philips preaching of Iesus was to this honorable Eunuch a cause of much reioycing so also should the preaching of the same Iesus be a cause of ioy and reioycing to as many of vs as are by the mercy of God and the labour of his faithfull Ministers made the happy hearers partakers therof For looke what plenty is to men that haue long liued in penury what health is to men that haue been long visited wearied with sicknes what meat is to them that haue been long pinched and almost starued with hunger the same and more is the publishing and preaching of the comfortable assurance of Gods loue and fauour towards vs in Christ Iesus In whom though the traytor Iudas found no excellency aboue the value of thirty peeces of siluer yet his godly and faithfull children can and doe finde in him all the treasures of wisedome of iustification of redemption and saluation When Samson in the time of his extreame thirsting faintnes euen then when he cried out and said Giue me vvater or I die for thirst had tasted of that water which God miraculously sent vnto him his spirit came againe he was reuiued Iudg. 15.19 When Ionathan had tasted a little hony his eyes were opened his spirits comforted and his body strengthened 1. Sa. 14. Yet neither was the water which Samson dranke of nor the hony which Ionathan tasted of halfe so sweet comfortable to them as the preaching of Christ Iesus is to the fainting dying soules of true Beleeuers Great is the ioy vnspeakable are the comforts which the preaching of Iesus affordeth to the children of men the sauour of which comforts is sweeter in the Church of GOD than the sauour of Libanon and the ioy therof like vnto the dropping of milke and hony vpon their soules Samson found a swarme of Bees and hony in a dead Lion Hic est favus qui ex ore Leonis mortui exiuit Out of the mouth out of the word out of the preaching of Iesus Christ which is the Lion of the tribe of Iudah which was dead but is aliue and liueth for euer commeth such sweetnes as cannot be vttered or cōceiued Nemo nouit nisi qui accipit This is such a ioy as is not like worldly ioy which may be taken away Your ioy shall no man take from you Iohn 16.22 Christ like a royall King neuer entreth any citie any towne any village any priuat house or into the soule or minde of any priuate man but hee giueth gifts And it also pleaseth him of his fulness to giue to his Apostles his Disciples his Ministres power and grace also to make them able whersoeuer they come and wheresoeuer they preach him and publish his truth as heere Philip did to this Eunuch to giue great gifts to the sonnes of men to instruct them in the knowledge of God and so to fill their hearts vvith sweet ioyes heauenly comforts The publishing of the word of God the preaching of Iesus Christ is as Chrysostome speaketh in his 5. Homily vpon Gene. a casting of spirituall treasures into the laps or bosomes of men The L. God grant that my preaching of Iesus at this time may be a casting or sowing of such spirituall treasures and heauenly seed as may bring forth in you all much fruite of good liuing to eternall life Amen FINIS