he followed him that even into the high Priests Hall Where it is true hee told them he knew not the man but this also is as true that he did tell them so The other Disciples knew not the man and were so fearefull that they durst not come neere to tell them so but Peter is so couragious that hee stands out a threefold deniall In his very deniall he was valâ—anter then all the rest Let us therefore ascribe unto St. Peters God for St. Peters faith for St. Peters love for his valour for his doctrine for his life for his repentance for his death and martyrdome all which are set up as so many Sea-markes to guide us into the Haven of eternall rest as due is all praise honour power majestie c. Amen THE FOVRTH SERMON PREACHED Upon St. John Baptists Day LVK. 1. Part of the 66. verse What manner of Childe shall this be I Cannot tell whether I should more commend the former Ages of the Church or lament our owne they in the Primitive times were so carefull to take all possible occasions to glorifie God in Himselfe in his Sonne â—e his holy Spirit in his Saints that they did dedicate set dayes on purpose for his worship as the day of the Nativity of our Saviour the day of his Passion of his Resurrection which was indeed the great day of the yeare which did quite abrogate the Jewish Sabbath the day also of the Ascension and the Feast of Pentecost wherein the Comforter was sent to the Disciples Nor did their devotion stop here but because they might let slip no occasion to praise the Lord they also did set apart certaine dayes wherein God should be glorified in the anniversarie memory of his Saints At ipsa sanctitas sanctorum simul memoria frigidis his nostris temporibus exulant But our times frozen with a certaine new upstart discipline blowne from Geneva are so farre from affording any honourable mention of Gods Saints that many of us quarrell the very name And indeed to say the truth what have they to doe with the word when the thing which the word signifies is banished from them I doe acknowledge that the Church of Rome is something too ceremonious too complementall in regard of the Saints and doth bestow too much honour upon them many times even to the prejudice of Gods glory But shall we therefore like fooles or mad men in a wilde desire of opposition erre farther on the other hand because they honour them a little too much therefore shall wee dishonour them God hath beene pleased to glorifie them in heaven like the Starres in the Firmament The just shall shine as the Sunne in the Kingdome of their Father saith our Saviour in the 13. of Saint Mathew ver 43. And therefore certainely these are not fit objects of our scorne and neglect But to give if it be possible some satisfaction to the froward and ignorant concerning these dayes dedicated to the Saints If Antiquity would satisfie them I could send them to â—ertullian St. Ierome St. Augustine and of later times to Baronius Annales to Bellarmine who are not much branded for bearing false witnesse of the ancient times For certaine it is that this dedication of dayes unto the honour of the Saints or to the honour of God in the Saints choose yee which is of great Antiquity The Romanists have indeed abused this custome and have multiplied the number of their Saints beyond the number of their dayes it may bee have put in some into the number of their Saints when there hath beene neither such Saints nor such men But it is no good argument from the abuse of a Thing to conclude against the lawfull use But I will leave Antiquity which they care not for and will deale with them by reason I was too blame to tell them so I doubt my arguments will fare the worse for comming to them in that livery Carnall reasoning as they call it they cannot abide O that such people would but heare without prejudice For what is he who hath not lost all that is man about him when hee shall heare the reasons which are alleadged for the dedication of these dayes but must needes mee thinkes retract his lunacie and folly and call the former Ages wise and our selves happy them for first instituting and us for enjoying those blessed occasions and meanes to build us up in devotion The dayes therefore dedicated to the memory of the blessed Virgin St. Mary the holy Apostles and Martyrs have many profitable and religious uses First That upon those dayes wee might joyne our rejoycing with theirs communicate together in our joy and praises of God And for this it is that we beleeve and confesse in our Creed A communion of Saints Secondly that we might shew our thankfulnesse both unto God and to them who are so solicitous for our good and doe so thirst after and rejoyce at our salvation and glory There is joy in heaven for one sinner that repents Thirdly That wee contemplating their vertues and graces might be provoked to an imitation of their godly lives Fourthly That our Faith and Hope might by the consideration of them be established that as we verely beleeve that they are now glorified in Heaven who were once mortall men here on Earth subject to the same passions to the same infirmities with our selves so wee following their steps in vertuous and religious living shall one day also be removed from this earth and enjoy with them an everlasting vision of glory Fifthly That God thereby might be honoured For if we so honour the memory of the Saints certainly this very action of ours must needs acknowledge him to be more glorious more honourable who both made them men and made them Saints Sixthly That by meditating upon their happinesse and the beauty which they are now possest of we might be perswaded unto a hate of all earthly things and onely let our thoughts bee taken up with Heaven which while they lived here was their study now is their habitation And lastly That by the celebration of these Feasts meeting at Gods house as we ought to do praising and raying unto the Lord hearing his holy Word read or preached we might be builded up to further degrees of knowledge and devotion And were there no other reason but this me thinkes it might move a good Christian But I shall make a monster of this Childe of mine this discourse in making the head too bigg for the body so that I am afraid you will get to the Text before me and say of my Sermon as the people did here of St. Iohn the Baptist What manner of Child shall this be I therefore make haste to the Text. And all they that heard these things laid them up in their hearts saying What manner c. Our whole discourse at this time shall bee nothing else but an answer to this question And to whom is this question directed I perceive
his secret place and his Pavilion round about him Christ was borne in the night as we understand by the Gospell Luke 2. And there were Shepheards watching their Flocks by night Yet when the Angell delivers the tydings of his birth to the Shepheards hee doth not say this night but this day is borne to you a Saviour It was naturally a night but the birth of Christ miraculously made it a day and the glory of the Lord shone about them sayes the Text. Christ dyes wee see here in the day in the mid day but even that is turn'd into a Night It was a day naturally but the death of our Saviour made it a night miraculously And the reason for it is good for it was not altogether so fitting that the earth should have worne one and the same Garment both at the Birth and Funerall of her Lord. He was borne in the night and that becomes day hee dyed in the day and that becomes night See how Christ both in his Nativity and Passion manifests himselfe to be the God of Nature who to shew her allegiance to her Lord and Master quite inverts her ordinary course and doth not wayte upon him in that livery which pleases her best but in that which he commands and is the most agreeable to his fortunes So that as the Disciples cryed out in an admiration when he quieted the Stormes and Tempests Who is this whom the winde and the Sea obeyeth So may wee say here Who is this whom the Night and the Day obeyeth It began at the sixth and lasted till the ninth so that the whole compasse or time of the darknesse was three of our ordinary houres I might here observe a mysterie in the number of 3 being the first perfect number that number which as Geometricians say doth make the first figure the number which Aquinas calls Numerus omnis rei the number of every thing and certainly hee had that hinte from Aristotle in his first booke de Caelo Omne totum sayes he in tribus ponimus To every whole perfect thing is requir'd the number of 3. And why may not wee say that as there went three dayes over his death like three witnesses to beare record of the truth of his death so there went three houres of darknesse over his Passion to beare witnesse of the Truth of his Passion The compleat number of 3 went over his sufferings to manifest to the world that now his sufferings were whole perfect and compleat and therefore no sooner are the three houres of darknesse over but presently he cryes Consummatum est it is finished gave up the ghost But we have beene too long in searching out the cause of this darknesse which was the third thing I propounded to be enquir'd for The neerest cause I told yee was the darkning of the Sunne But alas this will not satisfie us For as the Prophet David in the 114. Psalme which is appointed by the Church to be read upon Easter day doth not content himselfe with saying The Sea saw it and fled Iordan was driven back But hee addes also the question and sayes What aylest thou O Sea that thou fieddest and thou Jordan that thou was driven back So neither must wee thinke it enough to say the Sunne was darkned and goe no further but wee must Causam causae investigare Finde out the supreame cause of that subordinate cause and say What aylest thou O Sunne that thou wast darkened and thou Light that thou wast driven back The Sunne was darkned we confesse but what was it that darkned the Sunne This certainly will trouble us There are but three things supposing that wee are Sub dio et in sterili prospectu Under the open Heaven and withall have our eyes perfect which can any wayes take from us the sight of the Sun First The interposition of Vapours or Clouds Secondly The interposition of the Earth Thirdly The interposition of the Moone As for Clouds it is not likely that they should cause this darknesse For Saint Luke here after hee hath made mention of the darknesse which was in the ayre the place of Clouds and Vapours hee presently addes and the Sunne was darkned making this the reason of the other darknesse below so that wee may very safely beleeve that the Sunne was not darkned onely to us but even in it selfe too Hee who sayes unto the proud billowes of the Sea Be yee still and thus farre yee shall goe and no farther Hee is also able to say unto the Sunne Thou shalt not shine Hee who at the beginning was able to say Let there be light and there was light sayes now Let there be darknesse and it was so It could not be the interposition of the Earth for whensoever that is interposed it makes it night being nothing else but the shadowe of the Earth which is betwixt our eyes and the Sunne but this was at noone-day when the Sunne was in his height over the heads of the people of Jerusalem Nor yet was it possible it should bee the interposing of the Moone for the Sunne never suffers an Eclipse by the darke body of the Moone but onely when the Sunne and Moone are in a conjunction but now they were in opposition the Moone was at the full or but newly past it 180. degrees distant from the Sunne Which is easily proved for the Paschall Lambe was not by Gods command to be slaine nisi Luna quatuordecima but upon the foureteenth day of the Moone Exod. 12. and Levit. 23. and just the night before hee was crucified did Christ eate the Passeover with his Disciples so that this must needs be the fifteenth day of the Moone wherein he suffered quando solennitai erat Azimorum the first day of unleavened bread which was the great and chiefe day of the Passeover howsoever the Evangelist St. Matth. 26.17 may seeme to make the foureteenth day the first day of unleavened bread Mat. 26.17 Now the first day of the Feast of unleavened bread the Disciples came to Iesus saying unto him Where wilt thou that wee prepare for thee to eate the Passeover which must bee understood according to their Civill Account their naturall day according to that computation beginning at Sun-rising and ending with the rising of the next Sunne and in this regard the foureteenth day might be called the first of unleavened bread because it comprehended in it part of the first day of unleavened bread which day in their religious account began at the Sunne-setting and ended at the setting of the next Wee have not yet found out the Cause of this darknesse What should the Night make here usurping the dominion of the Day It is not such a hard question to answere I will give it ye in three words Christ the scond Person in the sacred Trinity united to our humane nature the wisedome of the Father by whom the worlds were made the Lambe without spot who was free from all sinne He hangs
upon the Tree in torments to satisfie for the sinnes of the world a spectacle to men and Angels All his friends and kinsfolkes stand a farre off and they who passe by in derision wagge their heads at him And can we suppose that the Sunne can looke upon such a sight as this and not plucke backe his head againe as confounded with the spectacle Or is it possible that the Light which was Gods first Creature his eldest sonne in the Creation should endure that pitifull object and not flye Alas it stood and gazed upon him in that misery as long as it could but being able no longer to looke upon his tortured Lord it resigned his Empire to the Night and fled into the lower world Or else as at his Birth the Day whose proper place was then the lower Hemispheare for he was borne in the night did come round from below to view him as hee lay in the Cradle so doth the Night now steale about from the Antipodes to have a sight of him as hee hangs upon the Crosse Peradventure the sonnes of darknesse wicked Spirits and men who were the instruments to procure his death had by this time with great triumph proclaimed the newes of his crucifyâ—ng in the gloomy Court of their mother Night and she not easily crediting that which she much desired lifts up her drowsie head to see if the report were true and true shee findes it and therefore as delighted and pleased with the sight she forgets her selfe it seemes and stands full three houres together to looke upon him Or else is the Night imployed here upon an Ambassage by the Moone who is ordinarily called the Queene of the Night and by her traine of Attendants the Stars to see what the matter was above that the Sunne denied them that tribute of influence and light which he was accustomed to pay them For wee must needs suppose that the Sunne was not the only sufferer here but also the Moone and the Stars below where it was naturally a night did partake of the darknesse too As when some great Peere falls by Treason his whole blood all his children and kindred are tainted and his whole family usually suffers in his fall For the Moone and Stars borrowing their light from the Sunne when the Sunne is darkned must need bee darke themselves too so that at this time there was a second night invaded even the night it selfe And this is an other Argument to prove the Universality of the darknesse It was darke in Ierusalems Horizon which is called umbilicus terrae the Navell or the middle of the Earth because the Sun to them to the Inhabitants was darkned and it was darke a tergo terrae in the other halfe in the backe parts of the Earth because the Sunne was darkened not onely to the Inhabitants for had hee remained in his glory at this time he would have given primarily at the first hand no light to them because the Earth was interposed betwixt their sight and it but also to the Moone and Starres all whose light which they seeme many times to bee so liberall of as if it were their owne peculiar is nothing else but the reflection of his beames And there may bee three reasons given of this darkning of the Sunne First That it might upbraid the hard-heartednesse of the Jewes and Souldiers who crucified him seeing that nature even in her insensible parts did suffer with Christ and beget a compassion and fellow-feeling of his miseries even in stony hearts as we see it did in the Centurion a Souldier a man acquainted with cruelties blood and massacres a generation of people which are not easily moved to pity by funeralls or slaughters and yet this man in the next verse but one following my Text seeing what was done is forced to give glory to God and say of a surety this man was just And if it wrought so upon this Captaine this Romane spirit O how did it worke upon the tender heart of the blessed Virgin the mother of our Saviour upon Iohn the beloved Disciple of the Lord and upon all those women who followed him from Galilee and stood afarre off looking upon him as well as the obscurity would give them leave It wrought so bitterly with them that it is the note of an Expositor That not one of them who were present I meane compassionatly present at this sight did after suffer Martyrdome Adeo enim vehemens saith hee fait ille crucis gladius adeoque ptarum animarum teneritudnem transverberavit ut fuerit illis pro Martyrio computatum So vehement sharpe and bitter was that fight unto their wounded eyes and like a sword dividing the marrow and the bone did so pierce through their softned hearts that it excused them from any after-Martyrdome the Lord thought that enough for them They were even Martyrs in beholding the Martyrdome of Christ Secondly That the taking away of this outward light might bee a signe of the subtraction of the true light out of the hearts of the Iewish Nation which was the effect of that unanimous voice amongst them His blood be upon us and upon our children For we see that there hath beene a darknesse ever since over the hearts and understandings of that people even unto this houre denying Christ to be come in the flesh Thirdly That the naked body of Christ dying in that accursed manner exposed to the contempt and scorne of all who passe by might not bee looked upon with joy by his wicked Tormentors and blasphemours therefore is this darkenesse sent to strike a terrour into their soules even when they supposed to make themselves merry with the sight Wee have seene how Nature was affected at his death for for the state of his Funerall shee hung Heaven and Earth with blacks Wee are now to see how the God of Nature takes the matter Et certe indignissimè The veyle of the Temple was rent through the midst But we must expect the gracious returne of an other Good Friday for this discourse * ⎠* THE SECOND SERMON UPON The Resurrection of our Blessed SAVIOVR Preached on EASTER Day PSAL. 114. VER 6. What aile yee O yee Mountaines that yee skip like Rammes and yee little Hills like young Sheepe THis whole Psalme which by the Institution of the Church is appointed as part of the Even-song for this blessed day of the resurrection of our Lord Saviour Jesus Christ is in the nearest and literall sense meant of the freedome of the children of Israel from the captivity Aegyptian when the Lord by a mighty and stretched out arme redeemed them from the cruelty of Pharaoh freed their weary hands from making the bricks their wearied feete from travelling for straw which was denied them wee know and yet the number of their bricks reserved And this is as plaine as may bee if wee reade the beginning of the Psalme ver 1. When Israel came out of Egypt and the house of Iacob from among
ire to rise up in a Contemplation unto such things as are above their owne nature For the first orders therefore to reade the greatnesse the wisedome and providence of God in any of the inferiour orders or in subjecta creatura in the Fabrick of the world hoe descendere potius quam saltus dare this is rather to goe downe then to leape To view the greatnesse and majestie of God in themselves in looking into their owne pure nature hoc illorum est per planum ire this is their plaine way they neither rise nor fall in doing thus But they are said to leape when they ascend into a simple and naked Contemplation of the Power the Wisedome the Majesty of God as he is in himselfe and so behold with admiration that Fountaine of beauty of goodnesse of order of proportion The second and third Hierarchies they are onely said to leape when they doe rise in a speculation into the orders above them and from thence are furnished with matter of admiration concerning the Divine power and wisedome For although it be granted that these inferiour orders have also their simple contemplations doe behold the face of God too enjoy the beatificall vision as well as the other yet this may be called illorum volatus potius quam tripudium rather their flight then their leaping because wee know hee that leapes doth not multum elongere se à stationis suae loco removes not himselfe farre from the place he was in before which we finde contrary in a flight when the thing that flies works it selfe many times into a vast distance Therefore because those orders of Angels which are here set out unto us by the name of rammes in their leapes doe never use but a simple Contemplation and the other inferiour orders never but a speculation most fitly hath the Psalmist laid his comparison together Montes exultaverunt ut arietes colles sicut agni ovium For the mountaines then to skip like rammes is when Contemplative men in a kinde of sacred extasie and overflowing of the soule doe climbe up into pure notions of the Deity abstracted from speculations doe behold the face of God not in the glasse of the creature but as he is in himselfe all splendor all glory all brightnesse all goodnesse And for the hills to skip like lambs is when speculative men doe climbe up into an admiration of God by beholding the works of his handâ— as St. Paul to the Romans 1.20 For the invisible things of him that is his eternall power and Godhead are seene in the creation of the world being considered in his workes Pensemus ergo c. Let us therefore conceive if we be able what a mighty prerogative and grace it is for our humane and fraile natures to be likened in the motions of our minds unto the glorious Angels And let us therfore praise the GOD of Angels and men who hath made us a little lower then the Angels to crowne us with glory and worship O blessed soule and truely happy who can take such leapes as these who leaving the dull senses asleepe can secretly steale from the body and mount up in a moment unto the familiarity of Angels bee partakers of their joyes be present at their spirituall delicates and with them leape from one degree of knowledge and illumination to another and with infinite delight and admiration still bee knowing of that immensity which can never bee fully knowen Lord let my soule ever leape after this manner and I shall not envie all the flattering courtship that the world can shew me But I make haste to the Quare the cause of this leaping What aile yee O yee mountaines c. reade but the next verse and the Question is answered A facie Domini mota est terra for so good Translations as I told yee reade it The earth was moved at the Face of the Lord. Hugo set downe foure severall faces of Christ Facâ—m 1 Viventis The face of Christ living or the face of his Poverty And this face did he shew in his Nativity and after in his whole life being made poore for our sakes so that hee had not so much as whereon to lay his head 2 Morientis The face of Christ dying or the face of his Griefe And this face did hee shew us upon the Crosse which seemed to becken to all Passengers and to say in the Prophet Ieremies words Lam. 1.12 Have yee no regard all yee that passe by this way behold and see if there bee any sorrow like unto my sorrow 3 Iudicantis The face of Christ Iudging or the face of his Anger And this face will he shew to the wicked ones in the day of judgement 4 Regnantis The face of Christ reigning or the face of his Glory and pleasure And this face will hee onely shew to the Saints in the Kingdome of Heaven But I must make bold in the midst of these foure to insert one face more of Christs which Hugo Cardinalis did not thinke of and that is Facies resurgentis The face of Christ arising from the dead subduing the grave and leading Captivity captive And this is the face of Christ meant here at the sight of which the Earth was moved The Mountaines skipped c. And what thing is there so heavy that could sit still and behold this face O let not us then be more insensible then the Mountaines and Hills to which wee are compared for we must know that the strength of the comparison doth not lie in the ponderousnesse of the Mountaines No wee ought not to imitate them in this but it doth consist in the height in their neernesse to heaven and their distance from the common roades of men Lift up your heads therefore O yee gates and be yee lift up yee everlasting doores and the King of glory will come in First then O yee mountaines of the earth who doe enjoy a vicinity and kinde of familiarity with God and heaven Yee men of contemplation who by the advantage of your height have a far clearer and neerer prospect of God and of the wonders that are in him then they who are upon the little Hills and Plaines of the earth below O lift up your heads on high in a thankfull acknowledgement and admiration of the wisedome the power the mercy of our God who sent his onely Sonne in whom he was well pleased into the world that he by his poverty his ignominie his obedience his death might make an atonement for our sins And this is the day wherein that gracious worke was perfectly finished this is the day wherein our Saviour Christ having entred into the house of that strong man Death and bound him like a Giant refreshed with wine issued out of the Grave in triumph Or once This is the day which the Lord hath made let us reioyce and be glad in it For be sure that the Lord lookes for greater higher and more frequent leapes from you for purer and
more exalted notions approaching neere unto the contemplation of Angells then he doth from the Hills and Plaines For to whom much is given of him shall much be required So that as Saint Paul said of himselfe concerning preaching of the Gospell Woe is me if I preach not the Gospell so may I say of my self and of all our whole Tribe the Tribe of Levi with me of all the Priests of the Lord the Sonnes of the Prophets who are as it were a portion set apart for God himselfe and like the mountaines neerer heaven are or at the least should be farther removed from the plaines of the earth worldly cares imployments to the end that being freed from these outward destractions and disturbances wee should the more intend the honour of God and the good of his people Woe he unto us if wee above other men doe not leape for joy doe not sing songs of deliverance unto the God of our redemption In the next place O yee Hills praise yee the Lord. 'T is Davids counsell Psalme 148. Yee speculative men who are not yet growne up to the altitude of mountaines yee who are not able yet to climbe into a simple contemplation of God but doe behold his wisedome and power in the Glasse of the creature in the Creation Government of the world O doe yee leape too and although yee cannot yet fetch such Masculine leapes as the Rammes do let not this discourage yee Here is a degree of comparison for you too doe it like the Lambes or the young ones of the Flock Nor must we exempt the Fields the Plaines of the Earth from bearing a part in this joy the men of action and secular businesse they must come in for their share too and although they cannot leape or skip like the mountaines or the hills yet we will finde out an imployment for them too Whilst the mountaines and the hills dance before the presence of the Lord and trace it in comely figures together the fruitfull vallyes shall sing unto them as they passe and this I am sure they are able to doe For David in one of his Psalmes brings them in in the very same action and makes the moving cause of it to bee onely the fruitfulnesse of the Earth The vallyes saith he stand so thick with corne that they doe laugh and sing But wee have a greater cause then the fruitfulnesse of the Earth to move us the fruitfulnesse of heaven is fallen upon us and the Day-spring from on high hath visited us Hee whom the other day wee left hanging upon the Crosse the scorne and laughter of Passengers and hath lyen as imprisoned in the house of death for three dayes and three nights hath now broken from the prison of the Grave and to our endlesse comfort and eternall Salvation loosed and shaken off the bands of death not onely for himselfe over whom death shall have no more dominion but also for us too For now since his conquest Death hath lost his strength nor shall the Grave be able now to hold any of us hereafter The force of the Prison wall is decayed and through the breach which his blessed Resurrection hath made therein shall we finde a way unto eternity of living Let us therefore who are the Vallyes Plaines of the Earth though we are not able to leape and skip after the manner of the mountaines and hills who have higher and purer revelations then our selves although wee cannot sing unto the honour of our Saviour in so heavenly a straine or in so wel penn'd Anthemes as they yet let us not faile to doe our endeavours though it bee in a more homely Musick for the Lord doth not despise the Musick even of an oaten reede tuned to his Praise and he can discover a sweetnesse even in the harsh note of a sigh or a groane which is pointed to him Let us therefore for this present joyne our selves in Chorus with old Zachary Luke 1. and say Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for hee hath visited and redeemed his people Amen THE THIRD SERMON PREACHED Upon Saint Peters Day JOHN 21. VER 17. He said unto him the third time Simon the sonne of Jona lovest thou mee and Peter was sory because he said unto him the third time lovest thou me and said unto him Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee Iesus said unto him Feede my Sheepe VPon the day dedicated to the memory of St. Peter wee have made choyce of a Text wherein we finde St. Peter sorrowfull and indeede wee should doe wrong to the holy Apostle if we should at all remember him without his sorrow Never feare that sorrow for sinne will ever spoile the face of a good Christian 't is the comeliest thing about him and he doth St. Peter the most honour who pictures him weeping Alas to call to minde onely the sinnes and imperfections of this holy man onely to mention how shamefully he denied his Master and to leave out his bitter weeping and his repentance which is the best part of the story were to bring him upon the stage onely to disgrace him but that man doth St. Peter right who remembers his repentance as well as his sinne Wee have in this Scripture then these three things 1. Peters sorrow Hee was sory saith the Text Secondly The cause of his sorrow And that is we see our Saviours saying unto him the third time lovest thou me Thirdly The effect of St. Peters sorrow And this is double Neerer or farther off The effect which I call the neerer is St. Peters answer Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee The effect of his sorrow which I call the farther off is the reply of Christ unto Peters answer Iesus said unto him Feede my Sheepe 1. Peter was sory What Peter might this be That Peter who in the Gospell read for this day by reason of that cleare Confession Thou art Christ the Sonne of the living God was pronounced blessed by the mouth of Christ That Peter to whom were given the Keyes of the Kingdome of heaven so that whatsoever he bindes on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever he looses on earth shall be loosed in heaven Yes Even the very same Peter even the very same Simon the sonne of Ionas whom our Saviour himselfe in that 16. of St. Mathew proclaimed blessed He is sorrowfull First Peter the blessed is sorrowfull Certainly then it is not altogether such an accursed and hatefull thing to endure affliction and troubles here upon earth as it is supposed it is Be comforted then thou who art in misery art persecuted or afflicted for thou seest that Saint Peter here who was in the opinion of no lesse then Christ a blessed man hee was in sorrow hee was griev'd which did not a whit diminish his blessednesse but rather encrease it Secondly Peter the holy is sorrowfull O then it is in vaine to looke for true felicity here
of thy sinnes in sackcloth and ashes wouldst have sought for forgivenesse at mee thy Redeemer But now they are hid from thine eyes Which latter part of the verse like the Serpent carries the sting in its Taile For it was the consideration of that indeed which caused all these bitter teares namely because their day was past it was hid from their eyes But I am called backe by the words of an Expositor Domine saith hee entring into a Dialogue with Christ te rogo cur inquis quod illi te non noverunt Lord what dost thou meane to say they did not know thee Did not the Multitude carry Palmes in their hands as ensignes of thy victory which thou shouldst obtaine over sinne death and hell meet thee in the way Did they not spread their garments before thee Did they not call thee with an unanimous consent The King of Israel the sonne of David crying Hosanna Hosanna in the Highest blessed be the King who commeth in the Name of the Lord. What answer Christ himselfe would have given him we doe not know conjecture we may and first thus As for those people who met him in the way with Palmes in their hands as upon this day which from thence by the institution of the Church still retaines the name of Palme Sunday with Palmes I say in their hands and exclamations of great joy which there are called a Multitude Alas what were they in comparison of the whole City but as a drop to the Bucket besides that multitude was but of the common ignorant sort of the people few of the Rulers or Pharisees were there and such as were there were so farre from joyning with them in that joyfull confession that they call to Christ to rebuke the multitude ver 39. Master rebuke thy Disciples But Christ who bore the nature and infirmities of them all did thirst after the salvation of them all Again he who is the searcher of the reines and heart did peradventure discover that however their outsides did flatter him using a great deale of faire Ceremony and religious Complement yet for all that many of their hearts were farre enough from him Hee perceived for ought wee know some amongst that multitude such is the levity and inconstancy of the people who for all their Hosannas now drawen to it it may be for companies sake or else for the novelty and strangenesse of the thing were afterwards as lowd in the other voice Crucifige crucifige His blood be upon us and upon our children And therefore well might he say they did not know him They doe not know Christ truely neither will Christ know them at the last day who are onely worshippers of him in outward Ceremony and not in the Heart The outward Ceremonies of the Church the carrying of Palmes in our hands i. the adorning of the House of the Lord with comely ornaments is good novimus wee confesse it The spreading of our garments in the way our worshipping and crying Hosanna bowing at the blessed Name of Jesus is comely holy befitting and reverent Quis enim potest negare but as the Poet to proud Fabulla Sed dum te nimium Fabulla landas Nec dives neque bella neque puella es But should there bee too much stirre kept about these things as is objected to us and the service of the inward man in the mean time neglected they would be in the esteeme of God neither comely reverent nor holy For hee is more pleased with the worship of the heart then with all the outward pompe of their Feasts and new Moones But this discourse is not altogether so fitting for the times wee live in Alas there are not such multitudes of us now who are found meeting our blessed Saviour with Palmes in our hands worshipping and crying Hosanna spreading our garments upon the Asse and in the way and yet for all this although the number bee but small compared unto the multitude of the mockers but live the gleaning after a Vintage yet see if our new Pharisies be not as busie now as ever the old ones were about Christ crying Master rebuke thy Disciples and saying with Judas who was a Thiefe and carried the Bag Wherefore serves all this wast To what purpose are all these Palmes and branches of Trees all this worshipping and crying Hosanna in the Highest These garments spread in the way all this outward Ornament and Ceremony It followes in the verse Hadst thou but knowne at the least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace but now are they hid from thine eyes Yee observe here that Jerusalem had her day of Peace shee had her time of mercy and grace offered her And ye may observe also that Jerusalem did neglect this proffered grace it was hid from her eyes Who was it that hid it from her eyes Why certainly our Saviour Christ will prove the best Interpreter of himselfe Jerusalem Jerusalem which killest the Prophets Mat. 23.37 and stonest them who are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thee together as a Hen gathereth her chickens under her wings but yee would not He doth not say but yee could not but yee would not Surely the fault was their owne They had a day and the Sunne shone clearely over their heads but they hoodwinkt themselves shut out the light and would not see But I perceive this sea of teares is now proved a depth of doctrine wherein the Leviathan may sport himselfe and all this while wee have but stood upon the shore and viewed onely the troubled surface of this deepe Nor dare I adventure any farther into it The Well is deepe O Lord and I have nothing wherewith to draw Let those who have lines and plummets fit for the undertaking of such a worke sound and dive to the bottome of this deepe I will content my selfe with St. Peter to take a journey to Christ upon the face of the Sea onely to walke with him upon the waves and if I chance to sinke I will pray with him and say Lord save me I perish THE SEVENTH AND EIGHTH SERMONS PREACHED Upon the two first Sundayes in Advent CANT 2.8 It is the voyce of my beloved behold he comes leaping upon the mountaines and skipping over the hills THe Church in her pious care and wisdome hath instituted no great Feast through the whole yeere but shee hath both appointed to it dayes of preparation and dayes of attendance The solemne time of Lent that prepares us for the great feast of Easter which being come wee see it accompanied for the greater state with two attendant Holy dayes so likewise Whitsunday is prepared unto us by Rogation weeke and wayted upon also when it is come by its two Holy dayes which follow it And this great and high Festivall of the Nativity of our blessed Saviour which now drawes neere upon us as it hath its twelve dayes of Attendance so it hath foure Sundayes of preparation which are called
Sion leapes like a young Hart and Syrion like an Vnicorne Hee is risen saith the Angel But who is this that is risen that the mountaines are so pleasant at the businesse Why it is the Lord and maker both of the mountaines and valleys that same great Lord who tells us that all the beasts of the forrest are his and the cattell upon ten thousand Hills Hee who in the pursuit after us leapt out of heaven into a stable indured the frailties and miseries of our Nature hee who suffered the reproaches of his enemies was scourged reviled spit upon crowned with thornes he whom but now we left in the grave guarded with Souldiers as if the fetters of death were not strong enough for him Hee is now risen The joyfullest newes that ever was heard upon earth This is the day which the Lord hath made let us rejoyce and be glad in it For if hee had risen no more but that Death had had the victory over him his miraculous conception his stupendious birth his cruell sufferings his ignominious death and all that hee hath endured for us had not a whit availed us But now wee see to our infinite comfort that the house of death was too weak a Prison for him and the gates of Hell were not able to prevaile against him Let not us therefore who have a greater interest in this blessed newes then all creatures whatsoever bee more stupid then the heavy mountaines which in an extasie of joy are found leaping and skipping Psalm 114. Not that the mountaines did really leape but by a kinde of Prosopopaea to intimate unto us that infinite joy those glad tidings which now were come unto men even the weighty mountaines themselves which are the unlikeliest part of the world for any such motion are brought in by the holy Spirit to trace it in a daunce Which figure doth first accuse us men both of ingratitude and stupiditie Secondly it doth incite us to shake off that drowsinesse It doth accuse us first For how can wee at all bee accounted worthy of that great benefit who suffer our selves to bee overcome even of senslesse creatures in expressions of joy Or goe farther and suppose that these mountaines were sensible that they were able to move out of their places yet what doth the rising of Christ concerne them Had hee never died at all or being dead had hee never risen wee may conjecture that their estate had beene all one the Sunne had sent as gentle rayes upon them as hee doth now they had had their vicissitudes of seasons and times as well as now the Starres had looked upon them with the same Aspects and the ayre which circumscribes them had beene as courteous to them as now The resurrection of Christ hath not purchased any blessednesse or immortality for them For they shall smoake when the Lord toucheth them and melt like waxe at the presence of God when he comes to judge the whole earth But let us looke into our selves and wee shall finde multitudes of arguments inducing us nay enforcing us to a thankfull acknowledgement of his mercies Hee was borne not for himselfe but for us hee endured misery not for himselfe but for us hee dyed for us not for himselfe for us he was buried for our sakes hee went downe into hell and came from thence in triumph and he rose againe for our justification Wee were before children of darknesse and of the night but now by his resurrection wee are made heires of the light and day Before we were the cursed children of Adam under the dominion of death and hell but now by his resurrection wee are adopted the blessed sonnes of God and made inheritours of life everlasting And are these small favours think yee that we take no more notice of them but sit still like Solomons sluggard with our hands in our bosomes and suffer the very hills to take our office from us Let us at least joyne our selves with them in this rejoycing for feare least hereafter for this neglect wee be glad to wooe those mountaines to fall on us and be denied and to cry unto the hills Cover us from the presence of that angry and just God whose loving kindnesse we have contemned We have our Graves too even while wee live here on earth to arise out of the graves of our sinnes There is a two-fold resurrection as well a resurrection from sinne as from death and let that man never hope to bee a partaker in the second which is from death unlesse hee have his part in the first in the rising from sinne And being risen from the graves of our sinnes let us leape upon the mountaines grow on from strength to strength from Altitude to Altitude from one degree of perfection to another untill at last wee come to leape upon those mountaines amongst which Ierusalem which is above is scituated Wee are now come to take our last farewell of Christs corporall presence till wee shall enjoy it for ever For harke what the Spouse saith in the last verse of this second Chapter of the Canticles Vntill the day breake and the shadowes flye away returne my welbeloved and be like a Roe or a young Hart upon the mountaines of Bethel Returne my welbeloved He is now returned to the place from whence he came he came from Heaven first from Bethel from the house of God and as I told yee before to prove the circle of all figures to be the fullest of perfection he doth not leave moving untill he comes into heaven againe till hee leapes upon the mountaines of Bethel Lift up your heads O yee gates and be yee lift up yee everlasting doores and the King of glory shall come in Who is the King of glory The Lord strong and mighty even the Lord mighty in battell Quae vox utique non propter divinitatis potentiam saith St. Jerom sed propter novitatem carnis ascendentis ad dextram Dei ferebatur Which words were not spoken in regard of the power of the Deity But in respect of that new thing which was about to be done the placing of flesh at the right hand of the Father And this is the sixth and last leape I told yee of which Christ did take upon his journey towards mans redemption In the five first hee traced our footsteps who had leaped the same leapes before him but in this he leaves man behind him and makes hast before to prepare his Mansions for him In my Fathers house there be many Mansions This was that leape of which hee himselfe foretold his Disciples in the 16. of S. Iohn verse 16. ModicuÌ„ non videbitis me iteâ—modicum videbitis A little while yee shal not see me again a little while and yee shall see me for I goe to my Father O modicum modicum saith St. Bernard O modicum longum pie Domine modicum dicis quod non videmus te A little while and a little while Gracious God
the winking Pharisee the Pharisee who us'd to breake his face and tooke delight in it it seems his fashion was whenever he had occasion to walk abroad to prevent these fleshly motions and provocations which might be darted into his soule by looking upon women to shut his eyes continually so that many times for want of sight he would dash his head against a Pillar or a wall untill the bloud ranne about his eares The fourth was the Pharisee Dic c. the boasting Pharisee who had alwayes such words as these in 's mouth Tell me but what it is that I ought to doe and I will doe it And of this sort the young man in this 18. cap. of St. Luke may seeme to be Verse 18. who came unto CHRIST and said Good Master what shall I doe to inherit aeternall life who as soone as CHRIST had told him what he should doe replyed presently All this have I done from my youth But observe here how our blessed Saviour meetes with this vaine-glorious Man in his owne Element beates him as we use to say at his owne weapon He comes to CHRIST with a Master what shall I doe intending to justifie himselfe And IESUS answered him sell all that thou hast and give to the poore and follow mee and thou shalt have treasure in heaven But what 's his answer not a word When hee heard those things saves the Text he was very heavy for he was marvailous rich Where is his Et faciam now his I will doe it wee here not a word more of him but out hee steales in private And of this very Kinde this Pharisee in the Parable may seeme to bee The fifth was Pharisaeus Mortarius the Pharisee with the Mortar upon his head and his name was deriv'd from the fashion of the Hat he us'd to weare being like unto a deepe Mortar wherein spices are beaten And this Hat when hee walk'd abroad being so planted upon his head that hee was neyther able to see above him nor of any side of him but onely the ground and the way before him was pretended to prevent all vaine objects for having recourse unto his eyes which might distract and scatter his thoughts so that he could not be so intent upon the contemplation of Spirituall matters as he desir'd to be I have dwelt something long upon this word Pharisee and to show you any thing of him I could not be shorter But we must not yet leave him I must needs borrow a little time of yee to insist upon the Paralell in comparing the old Pharisees and our new ones together All these kindes of Pharisees is this Age of ours able to produce with ease And First we have the Pharisee Sichemite amongst us he who will suffer himselfe to be circumciz'd for the love of Dinah And this is he who for gaine Quid non mortalia pectora cogis Auri Sacra fames Though it be quite contrary to his Nature circumcizes every Thing about him Circumcizes his Hayre crops that as short as his Eye-browes and places Religion in that shortnesse otherwise wee would not much blame him for it Circumcizes his Honestie oh he must not have too much of that by any meanes He is in this a true observer of that Italian Proverbe which tells us that hee who will thrive must have Poco di matto è non molto d' honésto A little of the Foole and not too much of the honest So he be but able to talke yee an houre together in the phrase of the Scripture to abuse and prophane the holy words of Gods book by his impertinent applying of them then he 's a sanctifi'd man to whō a little dishonesty cheating in his actions can do no harm One of Gods Children he assures himself he is and the greatest argument for this assurance is because like a Parrot he can prattle a little of the Scripture understands just as much as the Parrot does her Ave-Caesar But me thinks if they did but a little understand they might easily discover the weaknes of this argument For it is not the having of Gods word in thy mouth only that wil profit thee at the last day but it is the squaring of thy life and actions according to the rule of this Word Hee circumcizes his Vnderstanding too mortifies that 't is a prophane thing to be learned and therefore I thinke it is that many of us of the Clergie sighing I utter it who are their Leaders and the great Rabbines amongst this sort of people doe so little regard our study but all the Weeke long doe run up and downe upon visits trifling away our time in eating and carrying Newes from house to house So that the day of the Lord comes stealing upon us like a Thiefe in the night and takes us unprepar'd going many times into the Pulpet but circumcizing the Common-Prayers too as we goe without any or at least without much praemeditation Hence it is that so many sencelesse Tantologies so many dry impertinences proceed from us even to the making cheape and dishonour of Preaching many of us never taking any paines untill we are got into the Pulpet there I acknowledge some of us are painefull enough both to our selves and others Whereas if we would but lay out that time in visiting the Fathers which we throw away in visiting the Daughters the Mothers and the Sisters but buy the acquaintance of the subtle Schoolemen the grave Councels the Histories and Annals of the Church able to make us wise in Religion the wholsome and learned Commentatours with the expence of that time we spend in Currents and shallow Pamphlets we might then be furnish'd with ancient and true learning which would not suffer us to call Antiquity Noveltie Nor doe they onely circumcize their Vnderstandings but also that other faculty of the Soule their Wils too taking away that Freedome which the Lord has bestowed upon them And all this is for the love of Dinah of Gaine of Vaine-glory in desire of Government although it be but over a Mole-hill for the love of the Idols of their owne Imaginations The second Pharisee I told yee of is the Pharisee without f◠the Pharisee with the Leaden-pace which behaviour of his did gaine him from the People the Title of a Contemplative man Nor are we without this kinde of Pharisee amongst us a company which walke heavily about and affect a kinde of sullen gravitie as if it were a thing impossible for a man to be Religious unlesse he should tell his steps and measure the distance betwixt his paces 'T is true the Wise man sayes A man is knowne by his Gate and that there is a levitie of carriage to be avoyded is true too but it is also true that there is a mediocrity to be used God has given us feet and we are to use them soberly but not affectedly and vaine-gloriously There bee too many in the world whose feet move sadly indeed and slowly
how when from â—ence and by whom they were brought into our Church in a meere opposition and contempt of the Booke of Common-Prayers But why then brought in and why still continued in contempt of that I acknowledge I understand not for if we looke into the Order Method and Disposition of that Booke we shall finde it sweet and harmonious if into the sufficiencie of it rich and full for what thing is it thou would'st name in thy Prayers whether it bee by the way of Confession or thy sinnes or of Thankesgiving for Benefits received or of Petition for the future but thou mayst furnish thy selfe with there more perfectly lively and more compendiously exprest then all thy wit can possibly contrive They went both to pray And whether went they Why into the Temple Private Prayers are good thy Closet-Devotions when none are admitted into the Dialogue but onely God and thine owne Soule are good and acceptable to the Lord the Prayers of thy Family are pleasing to God too but the publike Prayers of the Congregation which are put up to God in the Temple in the place dedicated to his Worship are more pleasing more availeable for we know that he has promised his presence in a more especiall manner where two or three be gathered together which place may bee most fitly interpreted of the gathering together of the Congregation in Gods House For a Family cannot proproperly be sayd to be gathered together because they are but as one body which is compact and contiguous which needs no gathering A Gathering does presuppose things that are scattered and separated But now the Pharisie and the Publicane must here shake hands and it is to bee fear'd that they will never meet againe no not in Heaven FINIS THE SECOND SERMON Continuing the Discourse upon the same words The Pharisee stood I This is done like himselfe indeed he comes into the Temple to Worship and when he is there he stands He is too good it seemes to bow his Knee before the Lord. Thus did not MOSES and AARON who fell both upon their Faces before the Lord. Numb 16. Saying O God Numb 16. the God of the spirits of all flesh hath one man sinned and wilt thou be wroth with the whole Congregation Thus did not DANIEL who in his 6. Chap. no lesse then three times every day was downe upon his Knees praying to God Thus did not CHRIST himselfe who in the 22. Luke 22. of Saint Luke Kneeled downe and prayed And yet this sinfull proud Pharisee a worme of the Earth he comes into the presence of the Lord and out-faces him as it were in his owne House stands in a peremptory confidence of his owne merits with a daring countenance a stretched-out Necke and a Knee stiffer then the Pillers of Heaven for IOB tels us in his 26. Chap. That they tremble and quake at his reproofe O that we had not too many such Pharisees now adayes who come into the Church stiffe as the Pillers which underprop it For whom they reserve their Knees I cannot tell certaine I am they are very sparing of them towards God and whether the Lord has deserv'd to have their Knees or no I will put it to their owne judgement Hee made our Bodyes as well as our Soules and sure we owe him Reverence with them both But our bowing before the Altar towards the East end of the Church troubles our standing Pharisees very much If I could suppose that their prejudicate opinions would give them leave to hearken to reason I should endeavor to give them what satisfaction I am able The first thing then which they must grant whither they will or no is That God must bee worshipped with the Body as well as with the Soule And therefore that Argument is but frivolous to say that God is a Spirit and he must bee worshipped in Spirit and in Truth It is true God is a Spirit and he must be worshipped in Spirit but how Fundamentalitèr non exclusire Fundamentally the Foundation of thy worship must bee layd in the Spirit without which all the bowing in the world I acknowledge is worth nothing in the Eyes of God but not exclusively excluding the bodily Worship Nay it is impossible that thou shouldst worship God in Spirit and in Truth except it bee also exprest in the body never tell me of thy inward and bare Spirituall worship Can precious Oyntment be conceal'd Can fire in the midst of combustible matter lye hid The Body is but the Instrument and Servant of the Soule and followes her Dictates This being granted the next thing we must force yee to grant is that this bodily Worship is to bee given especially in the Church for therefore come we to Church and therefore were Churches built for the Worship of God Now what is Externall worship The Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comming from the Verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies Congeniculo vel in genua procumbo to bow or to fall downe upon the Knees will tell us And yee shall finde that in most places where the vulgar Latine Translation renders it Adoravit it is as much in the Hebrew as Incurvatus est he was bowed or hee was bended in his body To Worship then outwardly is to boâ— the Knee or the Body and this ought to bee done and this ought to bee done in the Church especially But why then towards the East I will strive to satisfie yee in that too I hope yee will yeild that if we doe it at all we must needs doe it with our faces pointed to one particular place and why to that place rather then to an other the reasons are excellent and they be reasons which the Primitive â—nes â—ad The Heathens were all great worshippers of the Sunne and therefore they us'd to worship towards the East the place of the Sunnes Rising where their God appear'd to them first in the Morning But the Lord because he would not have his people the Iewes to imitate the Heathen therefore by his command the Arke was set in the West part of the Tabernacle and afterwards of the Temple when it was built in the holyest place of all And Aquinas gives another reason which he calles the Figurative reason and it is this Because the whole State of the former Tabernacle was ordain'd to signifie the Death of CHRIST and this is figured out unto us by the West according to that in the 68. Psalme Sing praise unto Him who rideth upon the Heavens as upon a Horse For so it is in the English but the truth of the Interpretation according to the Originall is Qui ascendit super occasum Dominus nomen illi Who rideth upon the West the Lord is his Name Who rides upon the West that is who tryumphs over Death signified by the West the place where the Sunne sets And indeed if yee observe yee shall finde almost all the Ceremonies all the Sacrifices of the old Law
our voyages set forth from the Temple begin at God as we doe now observing the â—dable custome of our Nation and so indeed we ought to doe especially in assures of such consequence when the lives and estates of men are to be layd in the ballance but also to let us and all those whom there he stiles Gods Know that it is he who is Alpha Deorum the first beginning the Fountaine of the Gods He is the Ocean they but râ—valets deriv'd from it And as it was hee who sayd to them there in the Psalme I have said yee are Gods So it is he who sayes to this Alpha inter Deos minorum Gentium in my text as I may call him to MOSES one of the greatest amongst the deputed Gods I have sayd thou art a God For although we reade that the people saw the face of MOSES to shine here I so gloriously that AARON and the Children of Israell were afraid to come neare him vers 30. Yet if we looke into the next verse going before we shall finde this lustre to be none of his owne like the Starres which every night doe light their Tâ—pers a fresh at the Sunne he did but 〈◊〉 â—ct the beâ—mes he receiv'd from God vers 29 And it came to paste when MOSES came downe from Mount Sinai that the skinne of his face did shine Mount Sinai where hee had beene forty dayes and forty nights with the Lord. It was from thence he had his glory The vulgar Latine Translation reades this place thus Et erat facies Mosi Cornuta and MOSES had hornes upon his face from whence grew that custome amongst some Christians derided by the Iewes to picture MOSES with hornes which errour was occasioned by the vicinity of the wâ— Hebrew words Keren which signifies a horne and Karan to shine Nor yet was this opinion without its favourers for Tostatus approves it Emisit radios sayes he tanquam Cornua ficut radij a Sole derivati Cornu spectem praese ferunt Hee did dart forth beames from his glorified face like hornes as the beames which issue from the Sunne doe seeme forked but I will trouble yee no farther with these controversies nor with Cajetans opposing to this interpretation nor yet with the strange glosses of some ignorant Rabbines who affirme that MOSES face was sayd to be horned because it was so dryed up with fasting those 40. dayes and 40. nights that nothing but skinne was left upon the bones of his Cheekes which did so sticke out Vt acuta velut Cornua viderentur that they showed like hornes As though that omnipotent God who was able to preserve him all this while miraculously without meate or drinke were not able also to keepe his body from decay and dimâ—nution Without all question the genuine meaning of this place is as our Translâ—our renders it MOSES face did shine For the Chalâ— Paraphrast gives it thus The brightnesse of his face was multiplyed and the Septnagâ—nt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his face was glorious and St. PAVL in the 3 to the Rom. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the glory of his countenance or pâ—rson which glory God did bestow upon him for these reasons 1 That it might be a signe of Gods favour towards him and that his prayers for the people were heard 2 That it might be a meanes to increase the reverence of the people towards him 3 That the law might thereby become glorious when the given of it was so glorious 4 That it might signifie that inward illumination shining unto them in the purity of his life and doctrine 5 Vt per hoc significetur Iustitiam legis facie tenâ— solummodo esse gloriosam To show that the Iustice which comes by the Law is onely glorious in the Face 1 Outwardlie but with God it does not seeme so For which last reason I doe confesse I am beholden unto Origen who in his 12. Hom. upon Exod. Nihil in lege gloriosum habet Moses preter sol am faciem MOSES in the law had nothing glorious about him but his Face They are his owne words Vultus est Sermo legis manus opera the face of MOSES saith he is the letter of the law his hand the workes of the law Now because no man living can be justified by the workes of the Law therefore we find MOSES his hand Leprous Exod a Et in Sinum reconditur tanquam nihil perfects operis habitura And therefore as asham'd he hides it in his bosome as an unnecessary member unable to doe any thing that was perfect His feete they had no glory â—o contumeliam potius sayes he nay rather they are branded with shame for he is commanded by the Lord Exod. 3. to put his shooes from off his Feete Put thy shones from off thy Feete for the place thou standest on is holy Ground Et hoc fieret sayes the same Father Non sâ—ne alâ— ujus formae mysterâ— Nor is this without a mâ—tâ—iâ— To begin at the head of man as being the nobler member his foot his novissima pars his last part by which the Prophet Daniel will teach us to interpret longissime futura future things which are the farthest off as in the vision of NABâ—CHADNEZZAR the Head of gold signified the present flourishing Monarchy by the feet of clay were meant novissima longinqua things which were to come last in order So that MOSES being commanded to put his shooes from off his feet was showne that the latter times should come when He 1 the Law should have his shooes pluck'd from off his feet as unwilling nay rather as altogether unable to rayse up seed unto his Brother Deutr. 25. By which Ceremony the Wife of his deceased Kinsman that is the Church in generall or each faithfull Soule in particular who ever since the death of her former husband her originall Righteousnesse which dyed in ADAMS fall had liv'd in Widdow-hood was to bee delivered up unto another which was CHRIST and his merits and his name that is the Law to be callâ— iâ—… Israel Domus discalceat vsque in hoâ—ternum diâ—m the House of him whose shooe was pluckt off for ever But the sweet rellish that â—s in these sacred mysteries his carried meâ— ofâ—tre away I will returne and by Gods assistance and you Christian patience try what wee can find oâ— from hence to make for our preâ—ent occasion without any wresting or violence offâ— to the worâ—s And what should hinder us but wee may finde something For we have first God here who is as I told yee Alpha Decâ—…um the first of the Gods by whom through whom and for whom all the rest of the Gods Kings and Iudges are Secondly we have MOSES the Civill Magistrate Gods Vice-gerent and not MOSES barely but MOSES glorified MOSES with his fare shining MOSES as it were upon the bench and next we have the People looking upon the face of MOSES And to these that yee may reade a true Character of this