or the Ipse Ego in his owne eyes is quite cast out of the sight of God excommunicated the congregation of Saints and sent home to his owne pest-house an infectious leaper as white as snowe This man went home to his house justified rather then or and not the other Againe would you know the Application of all this then reade the latter part of the Text and you shall finde that these things were written for our learning and instruction that wee through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope For this Parable was propounded not onely in terrorem populi as was promised in the Preface for the terrour and confusion of hollow hypocrites as places of execution are set up on hills or hie wayes to terrifie the like offenders but also in consolationem sanctorum for the comfort and consolation of true Saints And therefore legehistoriam nè fias historia Read this Parable lest thou be made a parable Reade the effect of it to thy profit lest thou feele the Event of it to thy punishment For He that first propounded it to some applyes it now to all yet so that as hee would have all in generall to note it so hee would have every one in particular to apply it For this purpose like that good Shepheard he shews us both virgam baculum both to comfort us hee hath a rod to beate downe our pride hee hath a staffe to raise up our humilitie For every that exalts himselfe shall bee abased but hee that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted And lastly would you know how to beleeve all this why here is more then Pythagoras his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or dixit Aristotelâ—s Christ himselfe averres it the Truth it selfe speakes it the eternall Word himselfe hath given the word and his testimonie must needes bee true I say unto you Hee that justified the ungodly justified the Publican and filled his hungry soule with good things and he that alwaies resisteth the proud sent home the rich Pharisee empty away He that did it spake it and hee that spake it did it the Event then must needes be true And for the Application wee may well demande with the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who so able to apply the doctrine as the great Doctor himselfe who is both Doctor and doctrine too who so able to confect and administer the potion as the great Physician himselfe that is both Physician and Physicke too Hee that is the Subject of all Text read unto his auditours this Text Hee that spake as never man spake preached and delivered unto them this Parable And He that is the eternall High-Priest and Bishop of all our soules hath framed both for them and us this usefull application That every one that exalteth himselfe shall bee abased but hee that humbleth himselfe shall bee exalted Rest we then fully satisfied Rev. 19. and say with that beloved Disciple Revel 19. These words of God are true upon the authenticke warrant of an Ipse dixit It was Christ himselfe that spake it it was Christ himselfe that did it So that now wee see the two last generalls of the whole Parable are become the two considerable particulars of this Text the former presents unto us the Event the latter the Application The Event is this The humble Publican that stood trembling a farre off not presuming so much as to lift up his eies to heaven but smiting his breast and crying O God be mercifull to mee a Sinner is justified by our blessed Saviour and not the arrogant and presumptuous Pharisee that was perched up to the highest place in the Temple not praying to his God but prating to himselfe advancing himselfe and vilifying his brother The Pharisee that justified himselfe is condemned and the Publican that condemned himselfe is justified This man c. Videte fratres magis placuit humilitas Aug. in malis factis quam superbia in honis fact is And indeed it is right worthy our note and observation that of the twaine the Publican that was humbled for his weakenesse was justified rather then the Pharisee that boasted of his worthinesse The waies of God it seemes are not as mans waies nor his thoughts as mans thoughts He neither judges according to the outward appearance nor yet iustifies according to the 〈…〉 â—olinesse Non vox sed votum non musica chordula sed cor Non clamans sed amans cantat in aure Dei It is neither our great words nor good workes nor high conceit of either that strike any stroke at all in the act of justification before God Not great words for how many shall meete our Saviour in the cloudes at the last day with these swelling words Lord Matth. 7. 22. Lord have wee not in thy Name prophesied and by thy Name cast out Devils and by thy Name done many great miracles but He shall shall shake them off with a Non novi vos I never knew you Not good workes for righteous Abraham was justified by faith onely The Apostle Saint Paul testifies that his faith was onely accounted unto him for righteousnesse onely we are bold to enter into his secret chamber where he desires to enjoy the companie of his Spouse by faith alone It is not fit that any of the family of servants should rush in to interrupt their privacie But afterwards when the doore is opened and the Bridegroome come forth with his Bride into the waiting roome to present her unto men and Angels all faire and without spot then in the name of God let all the servants and hand-maides attend Then may wee give all diligence to adde unto our Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowledge and to Knowledge Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to Patience Godlinesse and to Godlinesse Brotherly kindnesse and to Brotherly kindnesse Love For if these things bee in us and abound they will make us that we shall neither bee barren nor unfruitfull in the knowledge of our Lord Iesus Christ Though Faith 2 Pet. 1. 5. then bee Sola alone yet she is not solitaria but gloriously attended by a whole guard of gâ—aces As the eye in regard of its beeing is not alone from the head but in respect of seeing it is alone it is the eye onely in the head that sees So a true and lively Faith cannot possibly subsist without a whole traine of graces What shall wee say then to this controversie to speake in the Apostles language Doe we therefore make voide the Law through Faith God forbid yea wee establish the Law Doe wee therefore make voide good workes through Faith God forbid yea wee establish good workes Only wee say it were no way of preferment for the hand-maid either to take the wall of her Mistris or to goe equall with her If Bilhah supply the defects of Rachel and beare children unto Iacob let her remember notwithstanding that Rachel is above her and singular in some respect If Ioseph be mounted
THE MIRROR OF pure Devotion OR THE DISCOVERY of Hypocrisie Delivered in sixe severall Sermons in the Cathedrall Church of Chichester by way of an exposition of the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican By R. B. Preacher of the Word at Chidham in the County of Sussex 1 Corinth 2. 14. The naturall man perceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishnesse unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned Verse 15. But he that is spirituall discerneth all things yet he himselfe is judged of no man Aut appare quodes aut esto quod appares LONDON Printed by Iohn Legatt for Richard Thrale dwelling at the Crossâ—-â—eyes by Pauls gate 16â—5 TO THE WORSHIPFVLL RIGHT worthy and his much honoured Mecaenas William Drury Esquire one of the Gentlemen of His Majesties most honorable Privy Chamber all increase of temporall with endlesse succession of eternall happinesse Iámque opus exegi AS Ovid concludes his Poetry so may I begin my Divinity I am at length delivered of that birth which mine unfained zeale to Gods glory mine humble service to his Church and my respective observance unto your worship have beene this many yeeres conceiving in mee and whereof neither the barrennesse of the wombe nor the hardnesse of the travell nor the unskilfulnesse of the midwife nor the rough handling of some ill disposed Gossips could being so graciously assisted by the Almightie make mee miscarry How timely and comely the fruit may be the predominant End I ayme at the glory of God gives mee sufficient boldnesse and the two subordinates my service in generall to the Church in particular to your worship give mee sufficient incouragement to present it to the eye of the world wherein if it shall finde but churlish entertainment I shall not marvell I know sufficiently the world cannot brooke its nature the discovery of an hypocrite or a Pharisee deserves no lesse then a Crucifige at the worlds hands that is so full fraught with both But I know againe there be some in the world that are called out of the world because they are not of the world that will bid my child good wellcome such as leane neither to the right hand of Schisme nor the left of heresie but worship the Father in spirit and in truth amongst which small number your worship is well noted and approoved for sincere and eminent To these therefore under your worships protection I desire to commend my first fruit with Saint Iohns blessing in his 1. Epist 4. 4. Little babe thou art of God and therefore thou shalt overcome the world for greater is he that is in thee then he that is in the world So he that is in thee keepe thee in him and he that hath overcome the world for thee defend thee from the world and from the men of the world whose teeth are speares and arrowes and their tongue a sharpe sword And the God of peace tread Sathan under thy feet shortly Amen Your Worships in all humble and true-hearted observance alwayes to bee commanded in the Lord Iesus RO BALL THE MIRROR OF PVRE DEVOTION OR THE DISCOVERIE OF HYPOCRISIE Luke 18. â— Also hee spake this parable unto certaine which trusted in themselves that they were just or righteous and despised others OVR Blessed Saviour having in the former part of this Chapter most powerfully exhorted and perswaded his disciples to the undeniable and never-ceasing importunitie of Faith by a resemblance traduced from an importunate widdow and almost inexorable Iudge beginnes now to draw them to humility of heart in confession of sinne by a parable of two men a Publican become the sonne of God and a Pharisee the servant of Mammon Better is a penitent offender then a presumptuous justiciarie for in that the one humbleth himselfe hee is no longer an offender Every valley shall bee exalted and in that the other swelleth with an imaginarie opinion of selfe-conceited purity he is no longer righteous Every mountaine and hill shall bee brought lowe Esa 40. 4. It was long since rung in the eares of curiositie presuming to Eras Ap. out-reach humane capacitie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That God every day pluckes downe high things and lifes up base things Our God is in heaven saith David and doth whatsoever pleaseth him As God judgeth not after the outward appearance like unto man so his proceedings are quite contrary to the course of the world they grow from a little to more from a base meane there amounts a mighty matter The world it selfe was made of nothing The eternall Word it selfe was compared to a slender graine of mustard seede Christ himselfe came out of Galile a contemptible citie and heere a penitent Publican is justified rather then a presumptuous Pharisee But the course of the world is altogether retrograde like Ahaz his diall it runs backeward from greater to lesse from ostentation to confusion Balshazar in his princely royaltie at supper but in the hand-writing upon the wall he and his Monarchy numbred weighed and divided to others So here a fullswollen Pharisee all glorious in the sight of his owne eies but most odious and abominable in the sight of God The Saints preferment it seemes comes neither from the East nor from the West It is the Lord that judgeth whose eies are puritie whose eares jealousie Bern. whose word veritie whose hand equitie and whose daies eternitie Invocat pauper et exaudit Dominus flet miserabilis et flectitur misericors agnoscit Publicanus ignoscit et Christus The poore man cals upon and the Lord listens unto the miserable man mournes and the mercifull God is mooved the sinner confesses and the Saviour forgives Confessio salus animarum Amb. dissipatrix vitiorum restauratrix virtutum oppugnatrix Daemonum quid plura obstruit os inferni aperis portas Paradisi The confession of sins is the saving health of soules the dispersing of vice the repaire of vertue the overture of the Divel What shall I say more saith S. Augustine it stoppeth Aug. the very gulfe of hell and openeth unto us the everlasting doores of Heaven The whole Parable depends upon these foure Generalls The Preface The Parable it selfe The Event And the Application The Preface is set downe in this ninth verse 9. Also he spake this parable to certaine that trusted in themselves that they were just or righteous and despised others The Parable it selfe in the 10 11 12 and 13. verses 10. Two men went up into the Temple to pray the one a Pharisee and the other a Publican 11. The Pharisee stood and prayed with himselfe thus God I thanke thee that I am not as other men are extortioners unjust adulterers or even as that publican 12. I fast twice in the weeke I give tithes of all that I possesse 13. But the Publican standing afarre off would not lift up so much as his eies to heaven but smote his brest saying O God be mercifull to
me a sinner The event in the former part of the 14. verse 14. I tell you this man departed to his house justified rather then â—â—â— the other The Application in the latter part of the same verse For every one that exalteth himselfe shall be brought low and he that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted The Preface admits of a threefold Quaere The first is what may be the meaning or signification of the word Parable The second is what may be the reason why our Saviour so often in the Gospel spake unto the people by parables The third and last is what may be the occasion why he spake and delivered this parable which appeares by the Text to be a discoverie of three grosse corruptions in certaine of his auditours The first was a presumptuous self-confidence by reason of a fond conceit of merit in their owne workes They trusted in themselves That presumptuous selfe-confidence begat an arrogant conceit of inherent righteousnesse that they were just And that arrogant conceit of inherent righteousnesse hatched the third generation of the viper That they vilified and despised others Also hee spake a parable to certaine that trusted in themselves that they were just or Righteous and despised others The first Quaene leades us to the Etymologie or signification of the word Parable which is taken either in the worser or in the better part When it is taken in the worser part it signifies a by-word a word of reproach or a fable As the Israelites Psal 44. 14. in the Psalme Posuisti nos Domine in parabolam Thou hast â—â—ade us O Lord a parable or a proverbe or a by-word amongst the heathen So the Lord by his servant Moses threatens a rebellious Deut 28. people that They shall become a wonder a proverbe and a by-word amongst all nations So that holy man Ioh complaines in Iob 17. 6. the heate of his miserie that God had made him a proverbe or a by-word of the people And so not onely David the type but the Psal 69. 12. sonne of David the substance complaines that he became a parable or a proverbe unto the people and that the very drunkards made songs upon him When it is taken in the better part it signifies either some grave and weighty matter such as David uttered upon his Harpe Or else Psal 49. 4. some short and sweete sentence such as Salomon delivers in his Proverbes Or else some darke obscure or figurative speech when the truth is wrapped up in a similitude or a comparison as in a riddle Thus the Lord commanded the Prophet Ezechiel to speake a parable Ezek. 24. 3. unto the rebellious house and say Prepare a pot and put water in it c. Ezechiel 24. 3. Vnder which shaddow is represented both the sinne and the punishment of impenitent Ierusalem And in this sence our Saviour tels his Disciples Matth. 13. Matth. 13. That hee spake unto the people by parables that seeing they might not see and hearing they might not heare neither understand that the Prophecy of Isaiah might bee fulfilled upon them And this must needs be the most genuine and proper signification of the word parable from the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assimulare being nothing else as Thomas Aquinas notes but Sermo similitudinarius qui aliud dicit aliud significat A comparative or an Enigmaticall kinde of speech speaking one thing and signifying another as it plainly appeares not onely in this but in all the parables of the Gospell The second Quaere leades us to the reason why our Saviour so often in the Gospel spake unto the people by parables which I find to be threefold First for the accomplishment of Scripture-prophecies This was our Saviours owne reason Matth. 13. before mentioned therefore doe I speake to them in parables that the prophecy of Isaiah might bee fulfilled upon them Secondly for the confirmation of other Scripture-prophecies to give us to understand that Christ spake not onely by the same spirit but with the very mouth and phrase and language of all the holy Prophets that ever were since the world beganne whose writings are full of comparisons similitudes and parables Thirstly and lastly That the mysteries of the Kingdome might be hidden from the wise and prudent of this world and onely revealed unto babes in Christ that to them onely might bee given to know the secrets of the Kingdome but to others in parables And therefore the holy Scripture is aptly compared by Saint Gregory unto â—o flumen in que agnus ambukt Elephaâ— na tet Ep. ad Leand. a flood wherein the Lambe may wade and the Elephant swim Though parables are darke mysteries unto the proude and skornefull yet they are made â—pert and plaine unto the humble and meeke Our blessed Saviour in his infinite wisedome conceived it to bee the quaintest and most profitable kind of teaching to instruct the simple people by similies and parables which being once truly understood doe mightily delight the understanding helpe the memory move the will captivate the affections cast downe the imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ How strangely did Nathans parable winde it selfe secretly into the heart of David convincing him so modestly and so strongly too that his owne mouth condemned him to be that man of blood the parable intimated Our Saviour 2 Sam. 12. caught the Iewes in the very same trap by putting a question unto them in the parable of the Vineyard and ungracious husbandmen When the Lord of the Matth. 21. 20. Vineyard shall come saith he what shall hee doe to these husbandmen They themselves replye and plead themselves guilty in the very answer following Hee will cruelly destroy those wicked men and let out his Vineyard to others Wherupon our Saviour inferres most bitterly but most justly Therefore I say unto you the kingdome of God shall be taken from you If Seneca held the use of parables Epist 59. so necessary to wade through the shallow studie of humanitie that hee calls them Imbecillitatis nostrae adminicula props and supporters of our weakenesse how much more needfull are these bladders to beare us up in the maine Ocean of Divinitie they may be something windy but exceeding profitable Discentem et audientem in rem praesentem adducunt saith Seneca Plaine similitudes familiar examples and homely comparisons doe force more doctrine into vulgar apprehensions then subtill reasons solid arguments or accurate discourses When every Mechanicke is argued withall in his owne language every Tradesman in his owne occupation and every countrey Swaine in the naturall dialect of his owne barbarisme it must needs informe the understanding reforme the will and so mightily edifie the whole man that it wil even pierce through to the dividing asunder of the soule and of the spirit of the joynts and of the marrow nay it will dive
is accidentally and from without And therefore S. Chrysostome excludes In Ep ad Coloss none from the comfortable use of the Scriptures but makes generall Proclamation to all sorts of people Audite quotquot est is mundani c. Hearken all ye men of the world that have wives and children how S. Paul the Apostle of Christ commandes you to read the Scriptures and that not slightly or perfunctorily but with great diligence Yea the same Father is so eager upon the point that he doth as it were force and thrust the Bible into the peoples hands Take the Bible into your hands saith he in your houses at home So likewise S. Ierome most Jerome gravely and divinely urges upon the same place of Scripture that Lay-men ought to have the Word of God not only sufficiently but abundantly whereby they may bee able to teach and to counsell others But bee it granted that some places of Scripture are obscure and darke it were but a fallacy à secundum quid ad simpliciter as the Logicians call it to argue from thence that the Scriptures are full of darknesse because some are difficult to some therefore all are dangerous to all sorts of vulgars The Prophet David reades a contrary Lecture to us and tels us That the Word of God is a Lanthorne unto our feete and a light unto our pathes And therefore Saint Chrysostome buildes upon a sure foundation Omnia clara plana In Gen. Hom. 29. sunt in Scripturis Divinis saith he quaecunque necessaria sunt manifestasunt All things are cleare and plaine in the Holy Scriptures whatsoever things are necessary for us are also manifested unto us Whereupon Clemens Alexandrinus makes an other Proclamation as hee is quoted by the same Chrysostome Audite qui est is In 2 Thes Hom. 3. longè auditè qui prope nullis caelatum est verbum Hearken yee that be farre off hearken yee that bee neere the Word of God is hid from no man As Moses to the Israelites It is neither in heaven Deut. 30. that wee need hire any to climbe for it nor yet beyond the Seas that we need get any travell for it but the Word of God is in our owne mouthes and in our owne hearts to doe it Luâ— est communis omnibus Clem Aleâ— orat aâ—hort ad gentes illucesâ—it nullis in verbo Cymmâ—rius As God so his Word is that common Light that inlightneth every man that comes into this world in it there is no darkenesse at all So Irenaeus Scripturae in aperto Lib. 1. cap. 45. sunt c. The Scriptures are plainâ— and without doubtfulnesse and may bee read indifferently of any So Saint Ierome The Lord hath spoken by his Gospell not that a few should understand him but that all For certainely beloved the Spirit of God is a free Spirit bound neither to the sharpenesse of our wit nor to the deepenesse of our learning for many times the simple and illiterate man being illuminated sees more then the Scribe or the great disputer of this world According to that clause of our Saviours prayer Matth. 11. I thanke thee O Father Lord of heaven and earth for that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto Babes Whereupon Epiphanius divinely Solis Spiritus Lib. 2. Sancti filiis facilis est Scriptura The Scriptures are plaine and cleere onely to the children of the holy Ghost The Spirit breatheth where it listeth without which wee can neither live nor move nor have any spirituall being we are meere dead men and therefore must needs be blind men But to those that are illuminated whether learned or unlearned there ariseth up light in darkenesse There is food of all sorts for all sorts of people So Fulgentius In Scripturis Divinis Serm. de con abundat quod robustus comedat quod parvulus sugat In the Word of God there is plenty sufficient strong meate for men milke for Babes It is the Bridegroomes Wine-cellar wherein he feasteth and comforteth his beloved Spouse with Flagons and Apples and delicates of all sorts whereof shee hath free welcome and liberty bibere inebriari to drinke and to bee satisfied and to drinke and to bee more then satisfied So farre are the reverend Fathers you see from fathering the abortives of heresie and schisme upon the sacred Scriptures that they rather indeed proclaime them to be the severe step-mother or murderesse of such Cockatrices in the egge Irenaeus confesses ingenuously that the onely cause of the Valentinian heresie was Scripturarum Dei ignorantia the peoples blindnesse and ignorance of the Scriptures So Saint Chrysostome concerning the errour of the Manichees in his time Manichaei Ad Heb. hom 8. omnes haereses decipiunt simplices The Manichees and all heresâ—es deceive the simple But if our mindes bee illuminated by often reading and hearing of the Scriptures we may be able to discerne both good and evill So likewise Theophylact Illis qui scrutantur Divinas Scripturas nihil potest illudere nothing can deceive them that diligently search the Holy Scriptures it is the candle whereby the theife is discovered So the ancient of dayes himselfe unto the Sadduces Yee erre not because Math. 2â— yee know but because yee know not the Scriptures For heresies or schismes arise not from the Scriptures themselves or any darknesse in them but from the ignorance and pravity that is in mans understanding they are rather discovered and suppressed by Scripture Should I tell you that a blind man may better avoyd dangers then he that seeth Or that a naked man in the middest of his enemies may better acquit himselfe then he that is compleately armed Or that the full fed I picure is neerer starving then the miserable captive that is debarred all kinde of sustenance you might well thinke I were mad So certainely it argues no lesse frenzie and in compossibilitie of minde to broach such unreasonable and unlikely doctrines But to winde up this controversie in one word It were an easie matter me thinkes to catch the adversary in his owne gin if wee did urge him to nominate what manner of persons hee thinkes meete in his owne conscience to be exempted from the reading of the Scriptures Hee cannot say old men for shame they are the very staffe and comfort of their age It was the sweete amabaeum and burden to Davids song when hee was aged In Gods Word will Psal 58. 10. I rejoyce in the Lords Word will I comfort me Not young men for pitty they are the onely curbe to restraine the heate and fury of their tamelesse youth for wherewithall shall a young man cleanse his waies but by ruling Psal 119. 9. himselfe according to Gods word Surely the Apostle S. Paul thought it the best breeding hee could possibly bestow upon his sonne Timothie 2 Tim. 3. 15. to bring him up in the knowledge
murder upon his wife and children Percute percute ictu valido non enim debent molliteÌ„r tractari ea pectora quae tanti sceleris conscia extitêrunt Strike and strike valiantly for such corrupt hearts or breasts as these ought not to be favoured that are guiltie of such outragious and abominable wickednesse But to draw towards a conclusion of the first part which is the manner of the Publicans devotion Without question these three postures of his a mannerly distance in the Temple standing a farre off dejection of the countenance not prefuming so much as to lift up his eyes to heaven and smiting his hand upon his brest must needs bee true signes of hearty humiliation if heartily performed But let mee give you this Caveat by the way whosoever hee bee that shall so eagerly affect the outward Ceremony as not principally to intend the inward sincerity the non sum sicut caeteri will quickly steale upon that man and an arrogant conceipt of proud humility as was formerly premised even in these commendable gestures will spoile all the service For example sake The Ninivites Ion. 3. Proclaimed a fast and Ion. 3. put on Sackecloth from the greatest even to the least of them and God was so well pleased with it that hee repented him of the evill that hee said hee would doe unto them and he did it not The Israelites againe Isai 58. they fared Isal 58. as hardly and went as coursely as ever the Ninivites did and yet God was so infinitely displeased with them that he sleighted and altogether neglected their service whereupon they exclaime and cry out hand-smoothe upon him Wherefore have wee fasted and thou seest it not And punished our selves and thou regardest it not The Holy Ghost gives a reason of both in both places God saw the Ninevites workes but he saw nothing but shewes in the Israelites The one turned from their evill wayes the other followed their owne inventions The one fasted from sinne as well as from food Every man turned from his evill way saith the text and from the wickednesse that was in his hands the other when they fasted from food feasted on sinne whereupon the Lord by his Prophet most justly against them Is this the fast that I have have chosen that a man should afflict his soule for a day or hang downe his head like a Bull-rush or lye downe in Sackecloth and ashes Wilt thou call this an acceptable fast unto the Lord Is not this rather the fast that I have chosen to loose the bands of wickednesse to take off the heavy burdens and to let the oppressed goe free and that yee breake every yoake Is it not to deale thy bread unto the hungry and that thou bring the poore that wander into thine house when thou seest the naked that thou clothe him and lude not thy selfe from thine owne flesh It seemes it is not the emptinesse of the craw nor the roughnesse of the garment nor the tumbling in ashes which are but outward signes of an inward Maroâ— is â— signia Teâ—t cause rather passiones quà m opera as one truely terms them passions then actions not sought or affected or studdied for but such as in sorrow or feare or some such like perturbations offer themselves and are consequent of their owne accords as helpes to expresse unto the world our inward dispositions I say none of all these simply considered in themselves can give any pleasure or contentment to the Almighty but the unfained sorrow of the heart and the true humility of the minde which these outward humiliations of the body give some assurance and testimony of So likewise stood the case with the Sacrifices of the old Law Nunquam in odoribus Sacrificiorum August delectatus est dominus nisi in side desiderio offerentis The sensible and ceremoniall handling of these sacrifices without the inward oblation of the heart with the other did but signifie was never accepted or approoved of God Without this how abhominable was the outward countenance or lineaments of the Israelites sacrifices Isai 1. Their Rammes their â—ai 1. fed Beasts their Bullockes their Lambes their Goates their incense their Sabbaths their new Moones their Festivals Alas the Searcher of all hearts knew this was but the dead carkasse of Religion without the quickning spirit and therefore he protesteth that he will have nothing to doe with them hee is full and over-full they are loathsome and burdensome and abhominable unto him How much more boldly then may I assirme of our sacrifices of Christianity under the Gospell or indeed but the very huskes of them without a faithfull and humble heart which is their Ioshuah and Captaine to goe in and out before them I may either speake mildly with Origen they Origen are but nutus tantum opus mutum bare ceremony and dumbe shew they have neither speech nor language For certainely the crouching of the body or the dejection of the countenance or the knocking of the brest or any other bodily exercise either within or without the Temple of itselfe profiteth nothing unlesse the inward operation of the spirit give life to quicken it Or to speake some thing more tartly with Lactantius They are not sacrifices Lact. but sacriledges robbing God of the better part and as Ieremy stiles the idle repetitions of the Iewes The Temple of the Lord The Temple of the Lord this is the Temple of the Lord Verba mendaciâ— Lying words so may I these Opera mendacil Lying workes or of lesse substance yet Vmbrae mendacii Lying shaddowes so fraudulently handled and so hypocritically dissembled as if men went about to lye unto the Holy Ghost and to cheate if it were possible the Searcher of all hearts Would you know then how the Publicans postures may safely be performed in the Temple with a good conscience to the Servitor and a commendable grace unto service that all things may be done decently and in order then briefly thus The Philosopher compares the heart of man seated in the middest of the body to a Princely Monarch in the middest of his kingdome sitting in his chaire of State commanding as his subjects every facultie of the minde and every member of the body to doe him service saying to the foot goe and it goeth to the tongue speake this and it speaks it to the hand doe this and it doth it Now you know it is lawfull and just that the King should command the subject but no reason or conscience that the subject should command the King Whatsoever commendable postures then are performed by the privitie of the heart they are lawfully warranted by the King and they are thanke-worthy But if either the body shall bowe or the head droope or the hand smite and not the heart consent such postures as these must needs be preposterous altogether irregular and hypocriticall and whosoever shall looke for thanks or recompence for such fancies as these he doth
and finisher of humilitie it selfe who posted so fast from heaven to earth leaping upon the mountaines and skipping upon the hills to make plaine this untrodden path of humilitie whereby hee opened unto us the gate of glory by his owne first entrance with the Apostles Propter quod Phil 2. wherefore God hath highly exalted him The next that posted in this roade after him was the blessed Virgin Mary his Mother who by reason of her extraordinary lowlinesse was so extraordinarily magnified that all succeeding generations shall call her blessed The next after her was Iohn the Baptist in whom because our Saviour found Omnia vocalia as one divinely notes his words his thoughts his deeds his garments his diet his life his death to be so many preaching voices and vocall Preachers to humble penance therefore our Saviour dignifies him Matthew 11. with Math. 11. the name of a Prophet and more then a Prophet for amongst them that are begotten of women there arose not a greater then Iohn the Baptist Yea even hollow-hearted Achab lost not a sufficient reward for his hypocriticall humiliation wherefore the Lord promised 1 King 21 25. That he would not bring the evill upon him in his dayes Much more the poore widow that drops in but duo minuta two mites into Gods treasury out of her true-hearted humilitie and humble penurie shall bee more accepted with God then a whole world of vaine-glorious hypocrites that cast in never so many thousand talents out of their proud arrogancie and arrogant superfluitie So that this may stand for the maine pillar of the Application That according to our proportion of humilitie God will bee sure to prepare us a portion of glory And according to our proportion of pride hee will bee as sure to prepare us a portion of vengeance Our blessed Saviour tells us That in his Fathers house there are many Mansions Speaking of that Kingdome that cannot be shaken that habitation that is everlasting that inheritance that is immortall and undefiled and fades not away that house not made with hands but eternall in the heavens And why so many Mansions in this house but onely to assure us of divers degrees of glory there for divers degrees of humilitie heere As there is one glory of the Sunne 1 Cor. 15. and another glory of the Moone and another glory of the Starres one Starre differing from another in glorie so shall it likewise bee in the resurrection of the dead That Comet that appeares most dull as over-clouded by true humilitie in this Sublunary firmament shall shine the brightest Starre in that Empyreall and Imperiall Orbe And that vaine-glorious Meteor that gives the greatest flash in this lower Region shall sinke yet lower to that infernall Legion For looke how much that glittering Whore Rev. 18. hath glorified Rev. 18. her selfe and lived in pleasure heere so much shall bee added to her torment and sorrow hereafter So that now mee thinks our blessed Saviour by the application of this Parable speaks the same in effect to us that Moses to the Israelites Deut. 30. I call heaven Deut. 30. and earth to record that I have set before you this day life and death good and evill the broad way and common roade that leads unto destruction and the narrow way that leads unto life though few there be that finde it If you poste on the roade of pride without either feare or wit you runne headlong downe into hell and without a speedy retentive there can bee no hope of you But if you pace never so gently in the roade of humilitie you are in the high-way to heaven and there is great joy of you even amongst the Angels of heaven Every one that exalts himselfe shall be abased but every one that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted Not hee that is exalted by an other either immediately by the God of heaven or mediately by the King his Magistrates which are gods on earth such exaltations as these being humbly used prognosticate no ruines Nor hee that is humbled by an other either immediately by God for a time and presently to returne to his former obstinacy as Pharaoh Iulian Herod and the like against whom the Prophet Ieremy most justly Percussisti eos Domine non doluêrunt Thou hast smitten them O Lord and they have not grieved Ier. 5. 3. thou hast consumed them but they have refused to receive correction they have made their faces harder then a rocke they have refused to returne Or mediately by the Magistrare that Rom. 13. beareth not the sword in vaine for he is the Minister of God to execute vengeance on them that doe evill And therefore such humiliations as these prognosticate no risings But he that humbles himselfe not in outward hypocrisie but inward sinceritie for as in Platoes schoole every mans soule is himselfe so in Christs Schoole every mans heart is himselfe It is not then the humble tongue or the humble knee or the humble habit but the humble heart that is next unto advancement Lord saith David I am not puft in minde I doe not exercise Psal 131. my selfe in great matters that are too high for mee But I refraine my soule and keepe it low like as a child that is weaned from his mother yea my soule is even as a weaned childe A man that humbles himselfe thus when hee falles hee rises and when hee is raised he stands as immooveable as Mount Sion that standeth fast for ever But hee that exaltes himselfe hardens his heart stiffens his necke lifts up his countenance and overlookes his equals many times his betters as if he would over-looke Cedars Little alas doth this wretch dreame how neere his fall is and that such a fearefull one too that will admit no rising When this man falles mole ruit suâ hee falles with such a powder that hee is even ground to powder hee sinkes from one misery into another from a flood of temporall to a maine Ocean of eternall torment Blame mee not then if I lift up my voyce like a trumpet and close up both Parable Event and Application and all pathetically with the Prophet O earth earth Ier. 22. earth heare the word of the Lord. Earth by creation Earth by continuance Earth by resolution looke but into thy first principles thou camest earth thou remainest earth and thou returnest earth O earth earth earth heare the word of the Lord. Looke but into thy best thoughts they perish with thine earth looke but upon thy freshest beautie it fades before thine earth looke but into thy soundest wisedome it savours of thine earth O earth earth earth c. Looke but above thee and behold an angry God of vengeance that alwayes resists proud earth Looke but beneath thee and behold an ever-burning Tophet prepared of old to torment proud earth Looke but within thee and behold a puddle and sinke of sinne that corrupts proud earth Looke but against thee and