make us his instruments to defile the holy Temple Gods glory is put to the greatest scandal and reproach And this is brought to pass so many ways that it is plain to see there hath been a most witty complotter in the treachery 1. When any Prelate is so puft up that he thinks himself too great to be a door-keeper in Gods house but will be higher than all the Church and seâ— on the top of the Pinacle who sitting in the Temple of God exalts himself above all that is called God 2. The Temple is defiled by setting up Idols in the Courts of our heavenly King even in the midst of thee O thou Sanctuary of the Lord. 3. By offering up unclean Sacrifice either false Doctrine or impious Prayers or superstitious Worship or corrupted Sacraments 4. When men set their foot within the sacred Tabernacle with carnal thoughts with worldly imaginations with no zeal or attention 5. To bring any prophane work any secular business within those walls which are consecrated to the name of the Lord. This is that Camel which the Jewish Priests did swallow when they strained at a Gnat. For they told our Saviour that he brake the Sabbath he did not keep the Law but they themselves did licence and allow the prophanation of the Temple by bringing Merchandize into it selling of Sheep and Oxen and changing money and you know how Christ revenged it even with anger and indignation I must borrow time to tell you how Christ did bestir himself in the reformation of that abuse more than in any thing else throughout all the Gospel For first he corrected that fault twice over in the second of St. Johns Gospel in the beginning of his Ministry and Mat. xxi toward the end of his life anon before he suffered You see what an obstinate evil it was which would not be redressed for one admonition 2. When he came to Jerusalem there were many other faults flagrant crimes wherewith the place abounded yet the first thing he reformed was the abuse of the Temple 3. He would not tolerate the least prophanation wink at no fault for he would not permit that any should carry so much as a Vessel through the Temple Mar. xi 16. 4. He reformed this trespass not only by preaching and quoating Scripture against it but by a scourge and by violence by word and deed And surely if words will not serve God will bring blows to maintain the reverence of his house that it be not contemned What a dissolute carriage it is to see a man step into a Church and neither veil his head nor bend his knee nor lift up his hands or eyes to heaven Who dwels there I pray you that you are so familiar in the house Could you be more saucy in a Tavern or in a Theater This is no other but the very gate of heaven says Jacob when he had but a vision of God and his Angels Brethren renounce the Devil let him not alienate your reverence from that place which God hath specially appointed for the saving of your soul Holiness becometh thine house for ever O holy blessed and glorious Trinity AMEN THE ELEVENTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 6. And saith unto him If thou be the Son of God cast thy self down For it is written He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone IT is altogether unknown to man when a sin comes merely from the suggestion of his own heart and when it comes from the tentation of the Devil But in one case eminently above many others it is most likely that there is some hellish provocation when out of good principles and religious grounds our heart is quite turned out of the way to rebell against the Lord. Ely the High Priest had a tender fatherly affection Who could turn this wholsom water into poyson to make him wink at the vices and dissoluteness of his Sons but Satan David was a thankful Prince and loved to remember how God had multiplied his favours upon him yet upon this stock grew that evil fruit to number the people Why the Text says Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel King Josias was an enemy to the Heathen that knew not God and he that deludes good motions made him so irreconcilable that he would fight against Pharaoh Necho to his own destruction and harkened not to the word which came from the mouth of God Certainly the hand of Joab was in this and in all such fallacies where a good fountain is made to send forth sweet waters and bitter as to sin because grace abounds to neglect publick Prayer because faith comes by hearing to cark and care too much for the world because a man would provide for his Posterity And this master-wit of Hell laid this bait to make our Saviour swallow it in this present tentation For Christ being demanded to make bread of stones he replies that he was confident in his Fathers Promises Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God Are you so confident Thinks the Tempter and upon this confidence I will thrust you on Have you appeal'd to Cesar And to Cesaer you shall go It is true that you say God is very gracious and will not destitute you in any want or danger you have answered very well therefore cast your self down from this Pinacle and be confident still God will look to it that you shall be supported This is the very train discovered and made as clear unto you as the light of the Sun In the former tentation he would drive Christ to unlawful means if that take not because he trusts in God then trust in him still and refrain from the use of things lawful so St. Austin distinguisheth that his first fallacy was Deum defuturum ubi promisit that God would not help where he had promised to assist and the second fallacy which now I am to handle is Deum adfuturum ubi non promisit that God would help where he had not promised to assist Where many things are to be found out in one verse they must be divided severally and in this order I take it to be expedient 1. Here is Satans demand Cast thy self down 2. Upon what supposition he demands it Why if thou be the Son of God 3. Upon what authority authority enough for it is written 4. Upon what assistance why the best in the world whether it is the supreme or the instrumental The supremeis God He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee and the instrumental are the most glorious powerful and excellent creatures in all the world the whole Host of Angels in their hands they shall bear thee lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone These are such particulars as the wisdom of the Spirit hath left us
the wicked Spirit out of thy breast by speaking hatefully and reproachfully to the old man within thee and to his corruptions The rod of the wicked shall not rest in the lot of the righteous lest the righteous put forth their hands to wickedness Psal cxxv 5. And though in many things we sin all and who can say he hath not offended Yet take heed ye commit not sin with greediness as if you delighted in the servitude of iniquity nay as if you did it with that full resolution that you saw hell fire before you and yet you will not be reformed This is to gaze the Devil in the face and to have no remorse of conscience But if frailty steals upon us yet extinguish not the ardour of zeal which would fain be delivered from that captivity let it cry out I am carried away with the violence of my depraved nature and the evil which I would not that I do This is to commit sin but with such a delight as is mixt with great unwillingness The love of God still abideth in us and we cry out against the Tempter Get thee behind me Satan Though a good man be carried back sometime in his pious endeavours yet he looks towards Gods glory he minds that chiefly and he will not cast his eye off He moves not willingly toward the Devil though the Devil tread upon his heel behind him and sometimes prevails to pluck him back from God But remember how David composed himself and with that I end I have set God always before me therefore I shall not fall AMEN THE EIGHTEENTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 10. For it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve THE Lacedaemonians had this Lesson in the private Instructions of their State and observed it as far as they could ut nunquâm cum eôdem hoste ter confligerent by no means to give battel three several times to the same Enemy for that Enemy encountring them so often might learn to overcome them by their own wayes and stratagems Why Satan hath this advantage to try masteries the third time with our Saviour neither did Christ varie one jot from his usual manner of defence he fights with the same sling and with a stone taken out of the same brook as before scriptum est for it is written the written word is all the refuge that our Lord did seek Satan knows full well at what guard He will lye doth then the adversary speed ever the better for this can he improve that knowledge to help himself Nay but far otherwise Christ is so surely fixt upon one true ground so constant to that rock of the Divine Law which is stronger than all the waves of the sea that some against it that his adversary discern'd at last the longer he strove the more unable he was to maintain the quarrel If the tempted entrench himself within the Scriptures indignation shall vex the tempter but he shall never prevail The Devil believes and trembles at it that all the Law is irresistable and shall triumph over the enemies of the Lord but this Text after which no more was said as if more could not be spoken it contains a more strict and high command than any other portion of the Law it extends not only to transgressors to hedg them in their duty that they may not start from it but to the blessed Angels that are confirm'd in grace to the damned Devils that are incorrigible in sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worship and adoration is lookt for at all these and every particular whether they be such as are comforted under mercy or such as are tormented under the Judges fury or such as sing praises for ever before the King of glory all must bend and do him homage At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow both in the highest region of souls in the middle region of the Militant Church or in the lowest region of Hell at that name every knee shall bow both of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth Therefore Justin Martyr call'd upon all the Heathen with whom he disputed to receive this charge which my Text gives This says he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the greatest that is the most spacious Commandment of all other a Charter between God and all his Creatures That upon which David speaks on this manner thy Commandment is exceeding broad Psal cxix 96. this is a chain to which all the works of the Lord are fastned and therefore our Saviour was sure it would bend his opposite with whom he disputed that he should not reply Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Where the Text is so clear I will not make it hard to be understood with dividing it The specials to be spoken of are these First the Lord God is to be worshipped Secondly the Lord God is to be served Thirdly He onely to be worshipped and served therefore fourthly whatsoever things they are beside to which men do offer religious worship and service let them mince and excuse it with what distinctions they please they run into flat Idolatry Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God let this be first the query upon the first point tu adorabis is there any emphasis in the Pronoun thou shalt worship Is the Commandment directed to the Tempter for that doubt I find in St. Chrisost whether it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Precept or a Repulse a Doctrin or a Defiance Thou shalt worship I answer it in several conclusions First the outward act of worship and adoration is enjoyned continually even to the spirits of damnation and they must perform it God hath put all things under Christs feet the Grave and Death and Hell Who is meant by Hell but Satan and his Camrades that are sunk into that place of sorrow wherefore he was bound to pay worship himself where he call'd for worship and let all the Angels of God worship him Heb. i. 6. yea and the Devil forceth himself sometimes to pay this tribute unto Christ though much against his will and content but sometimes he doth outwardly worship him that he may not fall into greater torments For as a Servant that hath run away and is taken falls down at his Masters feet that he may not be beaten so this unclean spirit having entred into a man that lived in tombs in the Country of the Gaderens when Christ came into those coasts the Devil did not keep the man close out of sight but came forth to meet Christ and worshipt our Saviour Mark v. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very word in my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke vii 28. he fell down in that body into which he had entred before him and he besought him very much that he would not send him away out of the Countrey Indeed it is seen by the sequel
that Christ scorn'd his homage and bad him come out of the man and he durst not but obey him you see then this Commandment stretcheth even to things beneath the earth Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God Secondly I put this to my answer that for the other clause to serve God only the Tempter's malice is irremediable he hath turn'd away from obedience so stubbornly that he is wholy possest to defie the Kingdom of Heaven yet God may call upon him to serve him only from time to time requiring that reasonable service which he might have discharg'd by those faculties wherewith he was created before he marr'd them A Servant that hath mony given him to buy necessaries for his Master's use may be urg'd to make good those things though he hath negligently lost or lavishingly consum'd the whole sum which was put into his hand and utterly disabled himself to take up the merchandise so there is no injustice in God to claim fidelity and service continually from those apostate evil spirits although they are incorrgible and can afford no better submission than murmuring and blasphemy Yet after both those full satisfactions I had rather say nothing was Satan's in these words but the Repulse and the Commandment is wholly ours and for our instruction for where the Law is given it is given to be a School-master to bring them unto Christ and none but we men whose nature he took have purchase in Christ and a lively hope in the redemption of his most precious blood No devotion or duty to God is expected from Satan though it may be commanded my Text requires but that which Christ calls an easie yoke and a light burden and all the Sons of the Free-woman are made to bear it Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve The Holy Ghost speaks to us men and to no other if we know these things happy are we if we do them First then let us beat upon the knowledge of the Commandment which requires you hear worship and service service that is to have a general care to be obsequious and pliant to all Gods holy will and worship which is all external veneration which becomes the creature towards such a Lord who is of an infinite Majesty or if you will observe these two titles in my Text Lord and God and divide these two parts of Religion between them O God we will bow and kneel and fall down before thee can a man be too reverent to his God and O Lord all that thou command'st us we will endeavour to do can a man be servant enough to such a Master who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords But Dominum Deum tuum adorabis Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God of that by it self in the first order which is that point of Religion that is principally opposed to the Devils temptation And upon this it is to be noted that Christ hath rather expounded the Law of Moses than kept the very word of it the words are thus extant Deuteron vi 13. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him And is that rendred to the true sense will some object thou shalt worship the Lord are fear and worship so much the same that they may be called by the same name even so beloved for it is but an easie Metonymie to take the effect for the cause especially such a proper effect as flows naturally from the cause and cannot be parted for as St. Paul said Shew me thy faith by thy works so do I say shew me your fear by the fruits if it be not a dead fear you will fall down and worship The Servant that fear'd fell down and besought his Master Matth. xviii 16. they that fear the Lord will be humble they that are humble will worship often on their knees toward his Holy Place And I never knew any Sectaries busie the Church with objections why they would have licence not to prostrate themselves in lowly gesture at some offices of divine service but they drew their argument from this that then at such an occasion it was not meet to express fear but boldness and confidence They that speak against due reverence cannot choose but speak irreverently For thus some stand stoutly upon it that they would not kneel when they receive the consecrated elements of the holy Communion because kneeling is a gesture of inferiority and abasement now in that Sacrament we are to act the parts of Christs Guests in imitation to resemble our co-heirship with him in his Kingdom therefore they will not lose their right of fellowship with Christ by kneeling but take the benefit of their fortune and sit down I pitty weak ones that are so seduced in conscience but it is a most foul oversight in the seducers that have learning and knowledge to thrust out humility at that time when they know how that sacred Supper is the most absolute type of Christs wonderful humiliation This comes of it when they will imagin any part of Religion disjoyned from the fear of God for when they have blasted fear presently they say we will not worship That Woman Luke vii who was a sinner sometimes but had her sins forgiven and was now a co-heir with Christ yet still she stood behind him fearing to be too bold and kist his feet and bowed down to the ground in token of adoration The Text saies moreover she loved much to poize that other Text of St. John 1 Ep. iv 18. Perfect love casteth out fear but love is never perfect till we reign with Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven I will yet be a little larger how the fear of God and the outward worship of God are knit together it must be so because our Saviour in my Text hath so interpreted Moses The common distinction rightly understood will be the best help to this doctrin There is a finer and a courser fear the courser is called a servile fear as when servants do their work lest they should be chastised and were it not for the rod that hangs over them perhaps they would let it alone yet this is it which David commends that you may not think it utterly disgraced by being called servile Stand in aw and sin not this was in the antient Israelites and it made their Prophets and their Prophets Children obedient and because it produced a good effect search and you shall find it came from God Rom. viii 15. You have not received again the spirit of bondage to fear therefore the fear which imports bondage comes from the spirit of God as Paul said which way soever Christ be preached it is well so which way soever God be served it doth well and it is a pleasant thing to pass to Heaven by much fear even by the gates of Hell Carni opus est timore spiritui fiduciâ the flesh must be dejected with fear and the spirit must be raised up with hope and confidence
boni nostri An infinite perfection of excellency on which all things do depend for their first being and for their last happiness So St. Austin Haec est religio Christiana ut non colatur nisi unus Deus quia non fecit animam beatam nisi unus Deus Religious prostration seeks out no object but such as can make the soul blessed for ever and that is the only Lord. St. Hilary In maledicto est religio creaturae All Religion done to a Creature is accursed That Weather-cock Spalatensis after much search in antiquity confesseth that Nazianzen in the Greek Church Gregory the Great in the Latine Church knew of no other Religious Worship but that which is called Latria the veneration of God Nay their great Schoolman Aquinas I will make him the Judge against himself Religio est virtus exhibens famulatum Deo in iis quae specialiter pertinent ad Deum Religion is a vertue which doth perform all Ministry to God in those duties which peculiarly belong to God Go now and say against all these reasons and testimonies there is some kind of Religious Worship pertaining to a Creature I have heard some interpret it thus it is not denied but we are to give honour to the blessed Angels and Saints yes verily God forbid else Then they encroach that we are taught by our Religion to give them that honour therefore that honour which we do give them is Religious A most unlearned Assumption Religion teacheth the Children to honour the Parents yet it is not Religious honour but Civil that is given to our Parents Religion teacheth a Mariner or Plowman to follow his Calling diligently yet those are not religious but worldly businesses Religious Worship is the actus elicitus the immediate act which flows from Religion but all other honest civil Offices are actus imperati à latria Actions wherein Religion governs us and teacheth us but they are not properly called religious In a word no such excellency can be apprehended in a Creature to have religious honour done unto it for Religion binds the soul for ever to that it worships and that is only to God Therefore I conclude the first Dogmatical part of my Text that Christ included all kind of religious honours exempted none when he said Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve And when the Pontificians profess to ascribe a Religious Dulia but no Latria to a Creature their Practice and their Doctrine cannot agree if they yield Religious Worship of what kind soever to any thing save unto the Lord our God if it be not Idolatry it is gross Superstition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The glory of a pious heart be given to God alone and not to God and the ever blessed Virgin joyned together as the Jesuites generally conclude all their Books with that Blasphemy There is more of my task behind though but little of it can be spent in this hour to demolish the errors of them that have offended against this Imperial Law Thou shalt worship c. Sundry false opinions have beaten upon these words as upon an Anvil open enemies and deceitful friends have risen up against it Some are totally some in half some are quarter Idolaters but the least corn of that sin is as heavy as a Milstone to plunge them without repentance into damnation In many of the Errors to be refuted I will be at a word and dispatch in some I will insist the longer where I find them worth my labour Those transgressors that worship not God alone are of three sorts The first are such as make another God than the Lord of heaven and earth in their own heart and worship that invention The second are they that kneel unto the true God and yet reserve some part of Religious Worship for his glorified Creatures as the Blessed Virgin the Angels the Saints both living and departed both themselves and their very Reliques shall have some part of their Adoration Thirdly Beside the honour which they give to the invisible God they find out a way to worship him in visible works of their own hands in Images in the figure of the Cross in the Elements of the Lords Supper All these are Aberrations for there is but one truth against them all Thou shalt worship the Lord c. First God loseth all his honour at their hands that frame a new God in their own heart and do all their service to it like the Ephesians that hallowed no other power in heaven and earth but a Goddess of their own acceptation Great is Diana of the Ephesians This is the most gross Idolatry of all other which professeth not the true God one whit and professeth that to be a God which hath no subsistence but the Metal of Gold or Silver or any other stuff upon which the Artist exercised his invention This is the foul and apparent transgression of the first Commandment but to worship the true God in a manner contrary to that he hath commanded in a piece of bread or in an Image is Idolatry by reduction and against the Second Commandment But the transgression of the Heathen was most vicious that knew no God but the works of their own hands The Scripture says they sinned more grievously that worshipped Baalim than they that worshipped the true God in Jeroboams Calves For Jehu called the Israelites that worshipped God in those Calves the worshippers of the Lord. But when Ahab was not content with that sin but was seduced by his Wife Jezabel who came of the Idolatrous Zidonians says the Lord as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the Son of Nebat he went and served Baal and worshipped him 1 Kings xvi 23. It is more pestilentious you see to worship a stark Idol than to worship the true God in an Idol though both are abominable But I will not speak of that stupid Idolatry of the Heathen whose own folly hath laught it out of the world if the workman could have put life into his work the Statue would have worshipped him for making it All those puppit Gods are faln down like Dagon of the Philistins and the Jewish Writers observe well that Dagons feet and hands were broken off from his body Partes adorationis abscissae sunt The Philistins worshipped that stock with their bended knee and their hands lifted up therefore the Idol lost his hands and knees Furthermore Dagon fell down upon his face Non tantum jacens sed super os jacens ut videretur adorare arcam Domini He was laid in a posture as if prostrate before the Ark of God as if the Heathen and all their vain inventions should be turned into the praise of the true God Worship him all ye Gods I will close this Point with a Paradox They which most abhor all Pictures and Images at this day they which hate them more than they should do even in
get that the very Walls of Gods House might bear a part in their rejoycing As for Processions from one Church to another on this day I find no such Custom in the best Ages of Religion Although in some late hundred years it is in use at Rome that their chief Prelates visit the seven principal Churches in grand Procession because and alass for so poor a cause that Christ after He was risen bad his Disciples go before him into Galilee Thirdly the Word of God was preached laboriously and studied for that occasion Ex verbo illud potissimum quod est tempori convenientissimum says Nazianzen let that Scripture be handled which belongs to the Season and beside the Sermon their Service was set forth with all gravity and sweetness of Musick Laeti exultantesque celebremus says St. Ambrose c. let our shrill voices proclaim it that we are glad and Theodoret gives warning that this Panegyrical Day be kept honestly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not with drunkenness and riot and profuse laughter but singing Psalms and hearing the Word attentively Fourthly this Feast was the solemn time for receiving Baptism this and the Feast of Whitsuntide and unless in case of necessity it was never given of old at other times all that were presented at Baptism coming in white Garments professing thereby that they would keep their righteousness pure and immaculate until the second coming of the Lord. Fifthly as Baptism is the washing away of sins which could not choose but comfort their hearts over all the Church and make them chearful so the confirmation of that Faith was the receiving of the Holy Communion of Christs Body and Bloud which all did universally apply themselves to that could examin themselves and none did fail whereupon says Leo this is the peculiar Blessing of Easter-day ut in remissione peccatorum universa gaudeat Ecclesia that the whole Church had cause to rejoyce that remission of sins was sealed unto them that is either in the Sacrament of Baptism or in the Supper of the Lord. Sixthly whereas it was disputed and tossed about extremely at what time all Christians should keep their Easter the holy Bishops that were otherwise at odds consented in two things the one that it should begin immediately after the sorrowful affliction of Lent was laid aside The other that it should be appointed in the sweetness of the Spring when the year is most delightsom and beautiful Et laetitiam conciliat huic festo verna amaenitas says one the amiable verdure of the Spring is joyn'd unto it to make Easter more joyful Seventhly some did alter the year and set the beginning of it from the Feast of the Resurrection We come very near it in one computation our selves This I find that as some friends do send Presents one to the other at the beginning of the new year So Nazianzen says that at Easter all were wont to give either Oblations to God or Gifts to their Neighbours or Alms to the Poor For Festival Solemnities are a due mixture of Praise and Bounty The Jews at the Passover did offer to God the first fruits of their Barly at the Feast of Pentecost Loaves made of new Wheat at the Feast of Tabernacles the first fruits of other Fruits which they had gathered All pompous days had some mixture of liberality Eighthly in Theodosius the Emperors time a Law passed to the end that all might keep their Easter merrily without interruption that no Process or Arrest should go forth in any Court against any man from the Sunday before Easter to the Sunday after Easter that is for the space of fifteen days Ninthly as the Political Magistrate was so respectful of this Festival so was the Ecclesiastical For the ancient Council of Ancyra order'd that to the end all might rejoyce and be glad this day Excommunications Suspensions and all Censures should end at Easter nay the great Council of Nice took care that in every Province or Diocess a Synod of the Clergy should be held every Lent to set all matters strait against this time that there might be no variance no quarrel no complaint remaining As if this were our Jubilee wherein Servants were manumitted from Bondage Debts were remitted and Possessions restored to the owners that had sold them Certainly the holy Fathers meant that above all the Feasts of the year this was our joyful Jubilee Tenthly and lastly the principal stamp of gladness set upon this day was that the first day of the week namely Sunday is kept holy every day of the week for Easter-days sake of which I will make a larger work hereafter But every Sunday was strictly kept with such solemn postures of joy that the last Canon of the Nicene Council interdicted all Christians from kneeling on those days they must pray standing that is chearfully and kneeling was supposed to be the gesture of affliction and humiliation The end of all these Edicts and Ceremonies was to let us know that the Lord had done great things for us for which we ought to rejoyce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 even to skip for joy for true joy will break forth as John did in the womb of Elizabeth Death is a comfort against all sorrows and the Resurrection is a comfort against Death and Christ is our comfort that we shall have a joyful resurrection and the holy Sacrament is our visible comfort that we still live in Christ for evermore AMEN A SERMON UPON THE Church Festivals PSAL. cxviii 24. This is the day which the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it THE Substance of Religion is to fear God and to praise him The Circumstances thereof are to perform this in fit time and place and to do all things belonging to his Worship decently and in order It is for the sutableness of time that I continue my Meditations upon this Text for there are many things which are but accidentary to the main and yet of such forcible consequence that nothing can stand without them So opportunity of time is such a forcible annexion to the performance of Divine Service as no external thing is more available The sweet tongue of Musick would be unpleasant if it kept not time so the Christian Melody which we make to God would want the grace and delight that is in it if days and times were not solemnly and prudently divided to call holy Assemblies together for the work of the Lord. If I speak of time like a Naturalist it is but the measure of the continuance of things that have a being given unto them and it neither works in them any real effect nor is it self capable of any But passing it by in this low regard and taking it in hand Theologically so the hours which are appointed to present our reasonable Sacrifice in the House of the Almighty are of such great consideration to the furtherance of Piety that they are woven into Religion like sinews into the body neither
Lord and took of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl and offered burnt offerings on the Altar And the Lord smelled a sweet savour IT is impossible to choose a better method than Elihu did to find out wisdom Repetam scientiam meam à principio Job xxxvi 3. I will fetch my knowledge from far or from the very beginning But why do I call it Elihu's method When behold a greater than Elihu impugning the frivolous divorcements of marriages among the Jews which then had common passage doth thus overthrow them Ab initio non fuit sic It was not so from the beginning From which words I am bold to pronounce that this must be the leading rule of Divine Learning that all Religion must be tried and allowed from the first and most ancient Ordinations Now we have four Ages to run through upon that examination First for the Age before the Floud whereof Almighty God hath left us a very short and confused memorial I will not say as some do that the Church began when Enos was born to Seth although we find it written Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord Gen. iv ult Nor from the Sacrifices of Cain and Abel for the tradition of the Hebrews hath reason in it that Adam himself had often sacrificed before but the first hint of Religion in that Age is at this mark where the Lord made woman and brought her unto man which was a mystery of Christ and his Church Eph. v. 12. Secondly if you will know how the fear of God was first professed after the Floud it is written in my Text. Thirdly If you will be acquainted with the first institution of the Mosaical Law enquire for it at that time when God appeared in glory at Mount Sinai And fourthly If you will search to the bottom when the Law was quite abrogated and the Gospel was purely in force reckon from the coming down of the Holy Ghost at the Feast of Whitsontide Among these four I have wittingly light upon the second that I may entreat before you how Religion was first managed presently after the Deluge under the Law ot Nature For this seems to me to borrow somewhat of all the rest so that speaking of this one they will all be remembred The Mystery of Christ and his Church knit together is not here forgotten where the clean Beasts and the clean Fowls are laid upon the Altar The Sacrifices of Moses Law certainly were patterned by this example and the inspiration of the holy Spirit must needs be in the Sacrifices work from whence the Lord smelt a sweet savour If your attention be now ready to receive the distribution of these words into their several parts they may thus be divided into two principal branches here is the material part and the formal part the body and the soul of that Divine Worship which Noah performed unto the Lord. He builded an Altar unto the Lord and took of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl and offered burnt offerings on the Altar that is the matter the visible body of his good work And the Lord smelled a sweet savour there is the invisible part or the Soul The material outward work contains these three things 1. That he offered burnt offerings 2. Of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl 3. Vpon an Altar which he built And Noah builded an Altar unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings on the Altar In the formal part there are two things to be spoken of sensibile and sensus The sensibile that this Sacrifice had a sweet savour 2. There was a quick sense that took it and that is the Lords the Lord smelled a sweet savour And Noah builded an Altar c. I take the material part first in hand and this is the principal composition in the matter that Noah offered burnt-offerings to the Lord. This was it I perceive why Noah thought it long till the Floud were asswaged and sent one bird after another to learn if the waters were faln that he might come forth and worship him with an holy Worship that made both the Flouds and the dry Land As a conscionable man recovering from a perilous sickness which brought him even to deaths door thinks every hour seven till he present himself in the Church before the Lord that he may praise his name in the Congregation So the heart of this Patriarch had been so long full of meditations all those days that he was shut up in the Ark how he and his Posterity alone were preserved from the common Deluge that his desires grew restless and he sent forth the Dove three several times and no less to bring him better news if he might come forth and do his homage for the possession of the Earth upon an Altar of earth and that the Incense of his devotion might smoke up to heaven in Sacrifice Now I lift up this example before you to let you behold why we are born and for what use we have our Station in this Globe of Creatures The Lord hath opened our Mothers Womb to bring us forth into the light as he opened the door of the Ark to set Noahs feet in a large room We were shut up in a place which God had appointed for us till our passage was made into the world almost as long as he now we have our egress and the liberty of the Earth and Air. To what end all this What is appointed for man Which way should his business tend To enjoy the pleasures of the Age To extend our appetite over the abundance of all things which the earth affords To build and plant To be renowned and leave a Posterity behind us No that account is ill cast up for you may see in this condition of Noah that he and all that were with him were let forth of the Ark as a people then born again into a new world and the end was to offer up spiritual Sacrifices with a clean heart and while we have any being to praise the Lord. When the Angel had delivered the Apostles out of the common-Prison into which they were cast says he Go stand and speak to the people in the Temple all the words of this life So we are set at liberty from our Mothers Womb from that Ark to which we were committed for a time that we may go to the Courts of the house of our God even as Noah came abroad and took seisin of the earth immediately to make an Altar thereof and thereon to offer Sacrifice to the strength of his deliverance The question will be what direction the holy man had to worship the Lord with this kind of Service Lay it down for that which must be granted He that makes his own brain the model of his Religion shall have little thanks for his forwardness Ascribe unto the Lord the honour due unto his name honour of Duty and Precept is best that which is redundant and of
the Arms of the City to this day Therein before the Wars had been a most beautiful and comely Cathedral Church which the Bishop at his first coming found most desolate and ruin'd almost to the ground the Roof of Stone the Timber Lead and Iron Glass Stalls Organs Utensils of rich value all were embezell'd 2000 shot of great Ordnance and 1500 Granadoes discharged against it which had quite batter'd down the Spire and most of the Fabrick so that the Old man took not so much comfort in his new Promotion as he found sorrow and pity in himself to see his Cathedral Church thus lying in the dust so that the very next morning after his Lordships arrival he set his own Coach-horses on work together with other Teems to carry away the Rubbish which being cleared he procured Artisans of all sorts to begin the new Pile and before his death set up a compleat Church again better than ever it was before the whole Roof from one end to the other of a vast length all repaired with stone all laid with goodly Timber of our Royal Soveraign's gift all leaded from one end to the other to the cost of above 20000 l. which yet this zealous and laborious Bishop accomplished a great part out of his own bounty with 1000 l. help of the Dean and Chapter and the rest procured by Him from worthy Benefactors by incessant importunity the Gentry of Staffordshire Derbyshire Warwickshire contributing like Gentlemen whose names are entred into the Registry of the Cathedral unto which work none were backward but the Presbyterians whom our Reverend Bishop yet treated with more civility than their cross-grain'd humours deserved This rare Building was finished in eight years to the Admiration of all the Country the same hands which laid the Foundation laying the Top-stone also All which owes it self to his great fidelity incredible prudence in contriving bargaining with workmen unspeakable diligence in solliciting for money paying it and overseeing all Nehemiah's eye was ever upon the building of the Temple and therefore the work proceeded with incredible expedition The Cathedral being so well finished upon Christmas Eve Anno 1669 his Lordship dedicated it to Christs honour and service with all fitting solemnity that he could pick out of antient Rituals in the manner following His Lordship being arrayed in his Episcopal Habiliments and attended upon by several Prebends and Officers of the Church and also accompanied with many Knights and Gentlemen as likewise with the Bailifs and Aldermen of the City of Lychfield with a great multitude of other people entred at the West door of the Church Humphry Persehouse Gent. his Lordships Apparitor General going foremost after whom followed the Singing-boyes and Choristers and all others belonging to the Choir of the said Church who first marched up to the South Isle on the right hand of the said Church where my Lord Bishop with a loud voice repeated the first verse of the 24. Psalm and afterward the Quire alternately sung the whole Psalm to the Organ Then in the same order they marched to the North Isle of the said Church where the Bishop in like manner began the first verse of the 100 Psalm which was afterward also sung out by the Company Then all marched to the upper part of the Body of the Church where the Bishop in like manner began the 102. Psalm which likewise the Choire finisht Then my Lord Bishop commanded the doors of the Quire to be opened and in like manner first encompassed it upon the South side where the Bishop also first began to sing the first verse of the 122 Psalm the Company finishing the rest And with the like Ceremony passing to the North side thereof sung the 132. Psalm in like manner This Procession being ended the Reverend Bishop came to the Faldistory in the middle of the Quire and having first upon his knees prayed privately to himself afterwards with a loud voice in the English Tongue call'd upon the People to kneel down and pray after him saying Our Father which art c. O Lord God infinite in power and incomprehensible in all goodness and mercy we beseech thee to hear our prayers for thy gracious assistance upon the great occasion of this day This sacred House dedicated of old time to thine honour hath been greatly polluted by the long Sieges and dreadful Wars of most prophane and disloyal Rebels Thine holy Temple have they defiled and made it an heap of rubbish and stones yea they did pollute it with much bloud in all manner of hostility and cruelty We beseech thee good Father upon our devout and earnest prayers to restore it this day to the use of thy sacred Worship and make us not obnoxious to the guilt of their sins who did so heinously dishonour this place which was set apart for thy glory Thou art the God of peace of meekness and gentleness and wouldst not let thy Servant David build a Temple to thee because his hands were stained with the bloud of war we beseech thee that this thy Sanctuary having long continued under much pollution may be reconciled to thee and from henceforth and for ever be acceptable unto thee and that the spots of all bloud prophaneness and sacriledge may be washed out by thy pardon and forgiveness and that we and all thy faithful servants that shall succeed us in any religious Office in this place may be defended for ever from our enemies and serve thee alwayes with thankeful hearts and quiet minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen ALmighty Lord the restorer and preserver of all that is called thine since this Cathedral Church is once again made fit for thy Service and reconciled to thy Worship and Honour preserve it henceforth and for ever that it may never even to the second coming of Jesus Christ suffer the like devastation again that befel it by the impiety and disloyalty of a long and most pernicious Rebellion Save it from the power of violent men that such as are enemies to thy Name and to the beauty of holiness may never prevail to defile it or erace it Confound those ungodly ones that shall say of it down with it even to the ground Let the true Protestant Religion be celebrated in it as long as the Sun and Moon endure And we implore thee with confidence of thy love and with all vehemency of zeal that thy heavenly Spirit may fill thy hallowed Temple with thy Grace and heavenly benediction Hear the faithful prayers which thy Congregation of Saints shall daily pour out here unto thee And accept their sorrowful contritions in fastings and humiliations and in the days of joyful thanksgivings let their spiritual and gladsome offerings ascend up unto thee and be noted in thy Book Receive all those into the Congregation of Christs Flock with the pardon of their sins and the efficacy of thy Spirit to suppress the dominion of sin in them that shall here be presented to be baptized Let
the bones of them that have been or shall be interred here rest in peace untill a joyful resurrection Let heavenly goodness be on all those that shall here be wedded in lawful Matrimony remembring it is the mystery of Christ and his Church made one with him O let the most Divine Sacrament of Christs Body broken and his Bloud shed for us be the savour of life unto all that receive it Sanctify to holy Calling such as shall be ordained Priests and Deacons by Imposition of hands And we heartily pray that thy Word preached within these walls may be delivered with that truth sincerity zeal and efficacy that it may reclaim the ungodly confirm the righteous and draw many to salvation through Jesus Christ c. BLessed and immortal Lord who stirrest up the hearts of thy faithful people to do unto thee true and laudable service we magnifie thy Grace and the inward working of thy holy Spirit upon the heart of our gracious Soveraign Lord King CHARLES his Highness James Duke of York and his most Religious Dutchess and all Dukes Dutchesses Nobles and Peers of this Realm with our most gracious Metropolitan and all Bishops and others of the holy Orders of the Clergy all Baronets Knights and Gentry Ladies and devout persons of that Sex and for all the Gentry and godly Commonalty for all Cities Burrows Towns and Villages who have bountifully contributed to re-edify and repair this ancient and beautiful Cathedral which was almost demolished by Sons of Belial But these thy large-hearted and bountiful servants have raised up this Holy Place to its former beauty and comliness again Lord recompence them all sevenfold into their bosom As they have bestowed their temporal things willingly and largely upon this holy place so recompence them with eternal things and with increase of earthly abundance as thou knowest to be most expedient for them Let the Generation of the faithful be blessed and let their memories be precious to all posterity O Lord this is thy Tabernacle it is thy House and not mans perfect it we beseech thee in that which is wanting to accomplish it And for all those thy choice servants whose charitable hands have given their oblation to raise up again this sacred Habitation which was pulled down by impious hands give them all thine eternal Kingdom for their Habitation Amen O Thou Holy One who dwellest in the highest Heavens and lookest down upon all thy servants and considerest the condition of all men now we have begun to speak to our Lord God who are but dust and ashes permit us to continue our prayers for the souls health and external prosperity of all those that are concerned in this place Be favourable and merciful to the most reverend Father in God Gilbert Lord Archbishop of Canterbury our most munificent Benefactor under whose Government we reap much peace good order and happiness O Lord be merciful to me thy Servant the most unworthy of them that wear a linnen Ephod yet by thy providence and his Majesties favour the Bishop of this Church and of the Diocess to which it belongs Be a loving God to the Dean Archdeacons Canon Residentiaries Prebendaries Vicars Coral and to all that belong to this Christian Foundation Bless them that live and are encompassed in the Close and Ground of this Cathedral Pour down the plentiful showers of thy bounteous goodness upon this neighbour City of Litchfield the Bailiffs Sheriff Aldermen all the Magistrates and all the Inhabitants thereof Lord we extend our petitions further that thou wilt please to bless all that pertain to this large Diocess for all the Clergy of it that they may be godly examples to their Flock that they may attend to Prayer to Preaching and to administer thy holy Sacraments and diligently to do all duties to those under their charge that are in health or sickness O Lord multiply thy blessings upon all Christian people in the several Shires and Districts belonging to the Government of this Bishoprick and keep us all O Lord in faith and obedience to thee in loyalty to our Soveraign in charity one toward another in submission to the good and orderly Discipline of the Church And save us from Heresies Schisms Fanatical separations and all scandals against the Gospel And guide us all to live as becometh us in the true Communion of Saints Grant all this O Lord for Jesus Christ his sake To whom with Thee and thy Holy Spirit be ascribed and given c. PRevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious favour and further us with thy continual help that in all our works begun continued and ended in thee we may glorifie thy holy Name and finally by thy mercy obtain everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Then the Bishop pronounced a solemn Blessing upon the whole Administration performed and upon all that were present Then followed the Service of Morning Prayer for that day two especial Anthems in extraordinary being added Provision was made instantly for Alms to the Poor And in a very stately Gallery which the Bishop erected in the House where he lived his Lordship annexed to the precedent Solemnity a Feast for three days First to feast all that belonged to the Choir and the Church together with the Proctors and other Officers of the Ecclesiastical Courts On a second day to remember God's great goodness in the restauration and reconciliation of the Church He feasted the Bailiffs Sheriff and all the Aldermen of the City of Lichfield On a third day to the same purpose in the same place He feasted all the Gentry Male and Female of the Close and City He would often afterwards give God thanks who had accepted him as an unworthy Instrument to build him an House that what he could not accomplish at Holbourn in his younger years when he was more able to take pains yet He had now enabled him to do in his old age and far worse times when he found by experience the Wars had exhausted not only the Wealth but Piety of the Nation and that it was far easier under Charles the First his Reign to raise an hundred pound to Pious Vses than now ten pounds So some observe that in the Primitive Church Charity ebb'd lower and lower till the stream quite dried up the first examples thereof were most bountiful to provoke the liberality of following Ages Barnabas gave all his Possessions and so did many others Ananias divided half or thereabouts but the next Age minced it to a considerable Legacy and then it fell to Charity in small money afterwards to good words only as St. James sayes and I pray be comforted sed ecquid tinnit Dolabella seldom one cross or coyn dropt from them the like he observ'd in our own Church in the Ages past and present when Christianity was first planted among us our glorious Founders built Colledges and Cathedral Churches the next rank of Benefactors endowed Schools and Parishes after Ages gave
will shew you out of these words Fasciis involvit that she wrapt him in swadling clouts and laid him in a Manger Ipsa genitrix fuit obstetrix says St. Cyprian Mary was both the Mother and the Midwife of the Child far be it from us to think that the weak hand of the woman could facilitate the work which was guided only by the miraculous hand of God The Virgin conceived our Lord without the Lusts of the flesh and therefore she had not the pangs and travel of women upon her she brought him forth without the curse of the flesh These be the Fathers comparisons As Bees draw honey from the flower without offending it as Eve was taken out of Adams side without any grief to him as a sprig issues out of the bark of the tree as the sparkling light from the brightness of the Star such ease was it to Mary to bring forth her first-born Son and therefore having no weakness in her body feeling no want of Vigour she did not deliver him to any profane hand to be drest but by a special abillity above all that are newly delivered she wrapt him in swadling clouts Gravida sed non gravabatur she had a burden in her womb before she was delivered and yet she was not burdened for her journey which she took so instantly before the time of the Childs birth from Nazareth to Bethlem was above forty miles and yet she suffered it without weariness or complaint for such was the power of the Babe that rather he did support the Mothers weakness than was supported and as he lightned his Mothers travel by the way from Nazareth to Bethlem that it was not tedious to her tender age so he took away all her dolour and imbecillity from her travel in Child-birth and therefore she wrapt him in swadling clouts Now these clouts here mentioned which were not worth the taking up but that we find them in this Text are more to be esteemed than the Robes of Solomon in all his Royalty yea more valuable than the beauty of the Lilly or any Flower of the field or garden which did surpass all the Royalty of Solomon I may say they are the Pride of Poverty for I know not in what thing poverty may better boast and glory than in the raggs of Christ His tears are no comfort to them that laugh his Crach in the Manger is no comfort to them that affect the highest rooms in the Synagogues his want is no comfort to them that are rich his mean apparel is no comfort to our costly garments but this is a comfort to them that want cloathing to cover their Nakedness that Christ himself was wrapt in swadling clouts He triumphed over poverty in this poor and base Array says St. Austin as truly and verily as he triumphed over death Now death was conquered by Christ not that we should not dye at all but that we should vanquish death by the Resurrection So Poverty was thus led captive and overcome Non ut omnino essugeamus sed ut majori letitia toleremus not that we should never sustain it but that we should sustain it chearfully and with patience This was but the beginning of sorrow to be tenderly bound up in warm cloths there is a worse binding to come when the high Priests Servants shall find him in the Garden and lead him away bound like a Malefactor Feret aspera grandior aetas vincula cum palmam clavus utramque premet says a Christian Poet his hands will be straiter bound when they are pinned to the Cross with Nails and Iron for as the bloud which he spent at Circumcision was but an earnest of those drops which he should shed at his Passion So this wrapping and swadling of his Arms and Legs was but a representation how he should yield up all his Limbs to be bound unto the Cross O behold this thing you that think it no Christmas without bravery upon your backs these were our Saviours cloaths for this good time he had no other gaudy Garments but take up the fringe of your own Coats look upon the Ornaments you wear and tell me what Saviour it is you imitate you lay all you can upon your backs to celebrate his first coming into the world which was in baseness and poverty I pray you what would you be willing to put on when you shall meet him at his second coming in the clouds O then our mortal shall be swallowed up of immortality and as holy Nazianzen says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nakedness is all the cloathing we shall put on at the day of the great Resurrection Blessed Mary says St. Austin began betimes to let her Babe see nothing but modesty about him Nunc mulieres cum lacte in cunis superbiam infantibus instillant Now adays says he our women do so nuzzle their little Imps in their Cradle that they suck in vanity as soon as they take the dug and for the most part let men be so base to follow it if they will all our gay fashions come from some she inventrix as Synesius says of the Wife of Triphon that it was all her ambition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to have the name of the curious Lady and that all fashions were warranted by her invention when by their leaves I think it is as little for their reputation as it was for Anak to find out Mules Thus I have followed the stream not departing from the common adnotation upon this place which says that Christ did consecrate and as it were sanctifie Poverty by this instance that he was wrapt in swadling clouts which is not so to be understood I think as if the first Linnen Ephod which was so happy to apparel the great High Priest of the Church had been some base or wragged piece of cloth For beloved to do all due right to the ever blessed Virgin she was not ignorant what a heavenly burden she bore she knew that after the custom of women the time of her deliverance was at hand she understood the Scriptures as well as the high Priests and Scribes that Christ must be born in Bethlem of Judah the place to which she went to be taxed with Joseph her husband Can we then imagine but that this most religious Mother had made preparation for such a Child and had furnisht her self against their journey Cum lineis pannis purissimis utpote partus conscia with the purest fine linnen cloths because she knew the hour of the most happy Nativity was at hand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says the Greek Text in one word she swadled him up but sure with all observance and reverent decency But the poor and abject estate into which this Kingly Babe was cast as soon as he was born will appear most clearly by the fourth circumstance of the Text the strange condition of the place of his Nativity She laid him in a Manger And will the Lord dwell upon earth says Solomon when he
dishonoured nor declining bad occasions nor intending renovation of life this hath not a grudging of true Religion in it it is no more than the trembling of an unregenerate mans conscience who hath not tasted of the heavenly gift But if you say that man hath a servile fear who dares not but do his Masters will lest he be beaten with many stripes be not ashamed of this fear Our Saviour goes it over and over and commends it again and again Luke xii 4. Fear him which hath power to cast into Hell yea I say unto you fear him The fear of the Lord says the Wiseman is the beginning of wisdom How is it the beginning Why Faith is the first cause of Religion and fear is the first effect as the foundation is the beginning or an house so after true conversion it begins to go on from vertue to vertue and this is the first ground work that it lays Stand in aw and sin not Psal iv It is such a beginning that I will say this it is impossible to come to a true consolation in Christ without it Serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling Psal ii 11. Timor Domini est fidei fundamentum firmamentum says St. Cyprian Faith which includes our hope in Christ had no firmness nor sure footing but that it knows in it self it fears the Lord Love fell asleep with her beloved in her arms Cant. iii. i And her beloved was gone in the mean time So if their be not a mixture of fear with our love it falleth asleep it waxeth secure and loseth her Beloved If the comfort of our joy be not allayed with some fear 't is madness and presumption Again if our fear be not intermixt with the comfort of some joy 't is sullenness and desperation As the Earth cannot be without Summer and Winter to make it fruitful the pleasure of the one and the austerity of the other make up the revolution of a good year so Faith is the Parent both of a cloudy fear and a smiling hope Faith begets fear in us in regard of our own weakness and hope in regard of the goodness of God hope ariseth out of the faith of the Gospel and fear out of the faith of the Law These cannot be parted Indeed servile fear is an unpleasing word because it grates our memory with this remembrance that our nature is in bondage and that we are Thralls and Captives to death and punishment and therefore the words of Aquinas are very weighty Timor servilis bonus est sed servilitas ejus est mala That bondage which makes us liable to judgment is naught but the fear which issues from a conscientiousness of that bondage flying to God that it may fly from judgment is holy and good Briefly let them thus be compared together a filial fear which loves God for his own goodness is like a bright day which hath not a cloud to disfigure it A servile fear that dreads God because it dreads the wrath to come is like a day that is overcast with clouds but it is clearer than the fairest moon-shine night It is good to have the spirit of Adoption but it is better to have the spirit of bondage than the spirit of slumber it is good to be in Canaan but it is better to be in the Wilderness than in Egypt it is good to be a Child but it is better to be a servant than a stranger to the Lord. David most sweetly puts them together Psal xxxiii Behold the eyes of the Lord are upon them that fear him and that put their trust in his mercy So I conclude this Point that the Angels Nolite timere fear not doth neither cry down filial fear which is the modest bashfulness nor yet servile fear which is the sharp spur of true Religion Hitherto we have spoken of fear quà donum as it is a gift of the holy Spirit Now that I may make my discourse complete I must speak of it quà passio as it is a sensitive passion and so when it is moderate it is tolerable when it exceeds and will not hearken to the governance of reason it is condemnable I will speak but a few words of the first Nature is excusable when it shrinks from those things that would offend it and desires to save it from harm by fair and direct means for in such a case our conscience pleads that there is a reasonable cause and occasion These are Aristotles words upon the Point that a man were stupid or mad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That it is neither dismay'd at violent tempests on the Sea nor at earthquakes on firm Land like the fool-hardy and confident Celts in Scythia But the day doth admonish me to take my instances from our blessed Saviour and so I can no example so fit for Allegation For why did Christ and his Mother fly into Egypt soon after he was born when Herod was in a fuming chase Why did the Angel admonish Joseph to do so in a dream The Lord could have saved him as he did Elisha the Prophet in the midst of his enemies whose eyes he blinded that they could not see him And again says the Text when he returned out of Egypt he went aside to dwell in the Coasts of Galilee for fear of Archilaus that reigned in Judea in his Father Herod's stead Great caution as might be and yet all this needed not but because our Saviour would allow a circumspect fear in time of persecution to shift for life Moreover you must not think that Christ did fear as we do will nill we upon the compulsion of necessity for he had all passions and humane infirmities under subjection so that he could be cast into no consternation but when his own will did consent and accord unto it yet he chose a fit time to cast himself into a great agony of fear when he sweat drops of bloud in the Garden lest we should think it a sin at all times to be afraid upon just occasion This then is another fear which belongs to our allowance but there is a fear which hath a Nolite set before it an immoderate horror of heart a symptome of desperation or at least of infidelity and diffidence this is that quivering with which God strikes his enemies as a tree is shaken by the wind to unfasten it from the root That mark which he set upon Cain was a continual trembling at the sight of man and beast Pharaoh was never at rest in his mind lest the Children of Israel should grow too fast and multiply so much that they would be too potent for the Tyrant that opprest them He sent darkness to astonish the Egyptians and they were troubled with strange Apparitions Wisd xvii 3. He sent such a Panick fear among the Syrians that they verily believed they heard the noise of an Host and Chariot wheels when there was no such thing so they fled and left to besiege
requisite additions and put it out of question The Wisemen adored him with costly Gifts after the manner of an earthly Prince The Angels glorifie him with Hymns and Praises after the Majesty of God In every respect this is the greatest testimony of Christ in all the Scripture excepting where God used his own voice immediately from Heaven This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased These things are but said now I will prove it in the prosecuting of the parts which are these The Messengers the preparation to the Message and the Message it self or the Choristers the preparation to their Musick and then the Anthem The Choristers are 1. Heavenly ones 2. A multitude 3. An Host or an Army of them Their preparation is twofold With much suddenness suddenly there was with the Angel and with much chearfulness for they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 singing praise unto God The Anthem it self hath three rests in it Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will towards men And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly Host these are the Choristers that sung the Carol and the first thing we note in them is that they were heavenly ones Many things in the former Verses of this Chapter were exceeding mean if I may not say vile and sordid touching our Saviours Nativity but this portion of the story is of another nature and very honourable the more his Divinity had hid it self in Clouts in Flesh in a Manger the more it is illustrated by a glorious testimony The Earth afforded him one of the worst places it had the Heavens afforded him their very best attendance the Angels These heavenly Spirits you see gaze not upon the Work of our Redemption nor upon the Oeconomy of the Church as idle Spectators but they were imployed from the beginning in all the works of the Lord Job xxxviii 7. Who laid the corner stone of the earth when the morning Stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for joy Some Expositors infer from hence that the Angels applauded and praised the Lord for the Creation of the world for the Chaldee Paraphrase instead of the Sons of God reads it Acies Angelorum the Army of Angels And the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when the corner stone of the earth was laid all my Angels praised me with a loud voice St. Chrysostome says upon it that the Angels admired to see the beauty of the world beneath they were astonished to behold the degrees of the Elements the multitude of all sorts of Creatures their Order Number and measure And by so much were they transported with the beauty of Gods Excellency more than we and of all his Works by how much they did better perceive that they were wrought with infinite and inexplicable wisdom This apprehension of the Fathers upon those words of Job I think is not to be refused Anastasius Sinaita is cited to go a great deal further that on the fourth day of the Creation the Angels saw the Sun rise in the morning from under the interposition of the Earth and presently they bethought them how Christ Sol justitiae should be born of a pure Virgin and dwell upon the earth and immediately they sung this very Song Gloria in excelsis as a prevention or prediction what should be sang upon this day almost four thousand years before it came to pass But this conjecture supposeth one of these two things scarce to be admitted either that these heavenly ones foresaw the fall of Adam before it came to pass as well as God and that the Son of God should be given in the flesh for a Propitiation to be the remedy or else another scholastic quidlibet must be received that Christ was so the head of the Angels that he should have been Incarnate and the Angels saved by faith in that Incarnation though Adam had never faln which is but harsh in the delivery This is the true Doctrine and the right descant upon the Point these Spirits that dwell in Heaven rejoyced for the Creation of the Earth when the Foundations of it were laid as Job says how much more would they bear a part and triumph for our sakes at the Restauration and the Redemption of the Earth Yet now we are at the truth mistake not the reason of their joy as some have done let me but touch upon a petty error and so proceed to the true causes It is supposed by many that the Angels are ready to attend the Church with all their help and diligence and exceeding glad in our prosperity because they receive an augmentation of their blessedness by their pious Ministry towards the Sons of men Now this savours of a little servility me thinks as if those holy ones did not communicate themselves to be safeguards and watchmen over us without expectation of reward but Biel presseth it further Tum sequitur si homo non fuisset creandus Angelus non habuisset beatitudinem It would follow that Angels had never come to the height of their beatitude unless men had been created nay it will follow further they should come short of their full beatitude unless man had sinned and disobeyed Gods Commandment Let me lay down more sufficient reasons therefore for your further satisfaction First The Angels had always done their best to pitch their Pavilions round about us and to keep us from the tyranny of the Devil but they perceived that their protection was not a saving Medicine it would not cure it would not keep us in life but it bred them great content and joy when Christ did manifest himself in flesh upon the earth to heal our sores and bruises and to overcome that strong man for us and spoil him generally to supply in himself whatsoever was defective in their abilities This is Origens reason and his Simile follows as if many unexpert but well affected Physicians should spend their pains to no profit about a sick person whom they would fain recover and hearing that one of renowned skill 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was come into the City who would undoubtedly restore the languishing party all the rest that had attempted it did much congratulate his coming So our heavenly Friends the Angels could not speed us as they desired but as soon as they saw the Prince of Physicians was come into the world first one Angel appeared the Prolocutor of the whole Host and he broke with the Shepherds about good tidings of great joy to all People This day is born c. All this while the rest of his consort hovered in the air and at last became visible and discovered themselves in a Volley Apparuerunt cum illo Angeli says the Syrian Paraphrast exulting and praising God that the Lamb was yeaned that should take away the sins of the World Secondly The fruit of this birth came to us and not to them Nusquam Angelos Christ took not on him the
Army which Pharaoh knew not how to withstand or which way to drive them back unless Moses prayed for him But more eminently than all other creatures the constellations of Stars are very frequently in holy Scriptures called the host of heaven as Deut. xvii 3. If there be any found among you which hath worshipped the Sun or Moon or any of the host of heaven bring forth that man or woman and thou shalt stone them with stones that they dye 2 Kings xvii 16. The reason is given why Salmanasar the King of Assyria took away Hoshea the King of Israel and the ten Tribes into captivity because they made them two Calves even molten Images and worshipped all the host of heaven and served Baal There is admirable order indeed in the Stars of the Firmament as in a well-marshall'd Camp the Planets one above another the Sun running his course in the midst as in the main battel nay there is virtue and influence in them to overthrow Gods enemies but the knowledge after what manner they fight against sinners is too excellent for us to attain unto it but Deborah the Prophetess said it that the Stars in their courses fought against Sisera Judg. v. 20. Josephus says upon that story that hail and thunder and winds were raised up by some planetary aspect which did great annoyance against Sisera and the Midianites Like as Livy says that the brightness of the Sun and clouds of dust blown about by the winds fell both together into the eyes of the Romans when they lost their whole Army at Cannae and the heavens above caused those incommodities almost to their utter destruction So Claudian sings of Theodosius the Emperor's Victory that the heavens above did fight of his side against his enemies O nimium dilecte Deo cui militat aether therefore the Stars whether you regard their order or their efficacy are rightly called an heavenly host And if these visible lights which the Lord hath set in the firmament to distinguish day and night are a celestial battel how much more the Angels whom God hath made invisible by nature and as fierce as fire in activity Who maketh his Angels spirits and his Ministers a flame of fire So Elisha presented a muster of them to his servant not simply as an host but as a fiery host the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha 2 Kings vi 17. Scarce any Prophet but touches upon it though darkly and mystically that the Angels are a militia ready to war and fight David Psalm xxxiv 7. The Angel of the Lord castrametatur encampeth round about them that fear him Is there any number of his armies meaning there is a multitude of heavenly Spirits assisting before the throne of God continually Job xxv 2. Who hath created these things that bringeth out their host by number Isa xl 26. I saw in my vision and behold the four winds of heaven strove upon the great Sea Dan. vii 2. And these says St. Hierom were the four Angelical powers to whom the four principal Monarchies of the world were committed But before any other Prophet of God mention'd that warlikeness which is in Angels Jacob did Gen. xxxii 2. when he was returning with his wife and children into Canaan the Angels of God met him and when Jacob saw them he said This is Gods host and he called the name of the place Mahanaim Mahanain is of the dual number and signifies two several Camps whether he meant the troop of Angels that came to guard him for one and the servants of his own family for another or rather as a learned Author says he saw a band of Angels before him and another behind him The Angels that particularly protect Palestina receiv'd him into that Country and they that were Guardians of Mesopotamia delivered him up and brought him thither You see that the phrase of our Evangelist is confirm'd by all the Prophets in the Old Testament but if it appear that Christ himself hath said as much you will believe the more that the sense is very useful and mystical Why Josh v. 14. when Joshua was about to besiege Jericho he lift up his eyes and saw a man over against him with his Sword drawn in his hand says he Art thou for us or for our adversaries and he said nay but a Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come Many Pontificians had the rather say this was an Angel because Joshua worshipped to help out their bad cause of the Worship of Angels but Andreas Masius proves it learnedly that this was Christ himself who conducted the people of the promise into the Land of Canaan even as he shall bring all his Elect into the Kingdom of Heaven and many times shew'd himself in a visible form as a man unto the Patriarchs to learn them the Faith of his Incarnation in the fulness of time The same Masius cites some words out of one Moses Gerundensis a Jewish Cabalist which I cannot omit says the Jew There is one principal Angel the Prince of all the rest who is the face of God for it is said Exod. xxxiii 14. Behold I will send my presence or my face before thee You know how this agrees with Christ the second Person in Trinity who is called the express image of his Fathers presence Heb. i. 3. The Cabalist goes on The Jews did much desire to see that principal Angel who he was they could not know him by any prophetical vision nor by their Law whereas the face of God can be nothing else but God himself and God promised of him to the people He shall be kind and gentle to thee neither shall he hold thee to the strict and rigid Law but shall deal favourably and mercifully with thee A most manifest description of Christ and his Kingdom but that his Jewish obstinacy would not let him see it This we gain out of it Christ is General of the Angels and they his Army Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbaoth that is of Hosts as we say it and sing it often in our morning Hymn These being under the banner of Christ are the Chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof These did once turn the point of their Sword against us now Christ hath reconciled all things in heaven and in earth and they made this armilustrium this training in warlike ostentation at the birth of Christ to give us knowledge and comfort that they will turn their arms against our enemies That the Kingdom of Satan should be thenceforth brought under and supprest that the strong man should be cast out of his house and spoiled of all his munition Therefore this Canticle of theirs is an Epinicium or Song of triumph for a victory assured or obtained Like the joy of them that divide the spoil says the Prophet Isaiah upon the occasion of the Birth of
without a Lutrum or satisfaction This stops the mouth of the Devil that he cannot calumniate and it resounds the praise of God that the iniquity of the world did not escape unrevenged Caiaphas meant to speak bitterly and to blaspheme but the Lord turned the curse of his mouth into the words of blessing It is expedient for us that one man die for the people and that the whole Nation perish not Joh. xi 50. Secondly They divulge the honour of Christ unto the ends of the world for the mercy that came down with him upon all those that should believe in his name if his Justice was not forgotten in their Song surely his Mercy should be much more solemnized The Angels for their own share were unacquainted with mercy 't was news in heaven till this occasion hapned they had felt gratiam confirmantem but not gratiam condonantem that is the Lord bestowed upon the good Angels grace to confirm them in grace but for those rebellious ones of their Order that had sinned they found no grace to remit their trespasses properly that is called mercy but a thing so rare and unheard of in heaven that as soon as ever they saw it stirring in the earth they sing Glory to God in the highest Thirdly They praise the Lord on high for the Incarnation of his Son because the dignity of the work was so from himself that no Creature did merit it none did beseech or intercede unto him for it before he had destinate it nothing but his own 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and compassion could move him to it Nemo in hoc opere glorietur nullius merito ascribatur no man can ascribe it to his deserts no man can partake in the glory What was man that the Son of God did visit him For him we shall be glorified by him we have obtained peace through him good will hath shined upon men therefore unto him be all the glory This was the Angels Congratulation and no doubt God shall be glorified in his holy places on high but shall that God who is most high be worshipped and glorified by us below That is it the Angels pray for and wish for our sakes and for our Salvation that we of the Militant Church beneath may extol the name of the Lord and give him glory Among men sinners pray for sinners and it is but one for another the People pray for the Prince and the Prince for the People The Priest for the Congregation and the Congregation for the Priest Great and small there are no odds in that they requite one another with their mutual Charity the head cannot say unto the feet I have no need of your Prayers nor the feet unto the head Dum singuli orant pro omnibus omnes orant pro singulis while every particular man prays for all Christians in the Church all Christians in the Church pray for every particular man but as I said this is sinners for sinners quid pro quo But when the Angels are sollicitous in Hymns and Supplications for us it is not that we should pray to them or pray for them again but shew charity that cannot be requited They know that many Sacrifices of Prayers are requisite to bless any Congregation on earth that God may have his due honour from it and therefore all the powers in heaven above assist us with their intercession And especially they are mindful over us to make that Petition on our behalf that we may never forget that our condition is base and as low as the clay and dust of the earth and that God is highly exalted above all the world therefore that we are made to worship him and to fall down before him and to render the homage of our humility to our Chief that is dominion and glory to him that is the highest We find this title of most high in Melchisedechs title Gen. xiv 18. and never before There it comes in as some say whom I approve for this reason Melchisedech is the first in holy Scripture that is called a King that being the greatest name of pre-eminency among men God blazons his own honour just at the first discovery of that name to shew how far it exceeds all earthly Principality and calls him Melchisedech King of Salem a Priest of the most high God And indeed there was a glory due to that Melchisedech and to every one in his rank that is set on high above the people but take heed we let not our Worship and Service rest in them and in the admiration of their outward Pomp and go no higher God set Princes in their Thrones of Majesty to be bowed unto and obeyed that we may rise up in our Meditations and consider how excellent and superlative he is that gave such power and dominion to men Before Christ came into the world it was Gloria in excelsis men worshipt their Idols in every high place as the Prophets did greatly complain of it but it was not Deo in altissimis they worshipt the Host of heaven and things above but they did not lift up their hearts to him that sitteth above the heavens Therefore this is the sum of the Angels Prayer that men may give dominion and praise and thanksgiving to the true God and their wish was as effectual as they could desire for even immediately upon the Birth of Christ Idolatry went down the heathen Gods were discovered more and more to be but Wood and Stone the work of mens hands and the praise of the true God began to be sounded forth in all places The next issue of this first Point is the Angels teach us by the contents of their Prayer that Gods glory is to be sought before all things Nihil aequius est quam ut pro quo quis oret pro eo etiam laboret says St. Austin Whatsoever we pray for we must not only stand wishing it but as much as in us lies endeavour it also First repeating often the marvelous works which he hath done for the conservation of those that praise him and for the destruction of his enemies O God we have heard with our ears and our Fathers have declared unto us the noble works that thou didst in their days and in the old time before them Secondly By confessing of our grievous sins which makes his mercy and his grace so excellent throughout all the world and depressing our best works to be as ineffectual as our sins unto Salvation unless the Lord will cover the stains that are in them with the bloud of Christ Surely the reward which he brings with him is much exalted when we deny not but the best thing we do is less than the least of all his mercies Thirdly by defying by shunning by resisting nay by rooting out the children of Belial that blaspheme his glory for God will avenge himself of them that are tame and patient when his name is violated and his honour prophaned it is the glory of humane Laws
Blessed is the Womb that bare thee and the Paps whcih thou hast sucked But he said Yea rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it THis is the Sons day and not the Mothers This is Christs own day and not Maries Therefore it is not for the Wombs sake but for the Fruit of the Womb not for the Paps of a mortal woman but for the Infants sake an immortal God that I have chosen this Text. A good Israelitess she was that magnified Christ on this manner though she was not spoken to yet her heart was full and she must speak for her joy would have stifled her if she had not uttered it If you mark the Context of the Chapter immediately before these words our Saviour had taught his Disciples to pray most divinely he had cast out devils most triumphantly he had answered the Calumniations of the Pharisees most rationally he had put on glorious apparel as the Psalmist says and girded himself with strength While these wonderful works were fresh in memory the Lord from on high could have sent Legions of Angels to magnifie his Son and to praise him with celestial Canticles But to strike the greater shame into the Pharisees that had blasphemed him he stirs up a woman a nameless one a poor Plebeian one not admitted near him she stood afar off and was fain to speak aloud to be heard Blessed is the Womb that bare thee and the Paps which thou hast sucked It was a free acclamation a sudden start a passion that came from her spirit ex tempore and that I may give Christ his full honour and attribute no more to the woman than is truth she prophesied in this saying of greater things than at that time she understood The Holy Ghost gave her the priviledge to be the tongue that delivered this Congratulation but it remains to us to lend it an heart that we may truly conceive it For the inward sense of it is the gladsom contents of this day blessed be the Father of all mercies for the Incarnation of his Son that he was made of a woman for our sakes and blessed are all mankind that he hath taken flesh of our flesh and that he is made partaker of our humane nature But because it would not prove our benefit that he was born for us unless he be born in us likewise by faith and obedience it follows to make our joy and crown complete yea rather blessed are they that hear c. The parts are as manifestly two as the two hands wherewith we handle First Blessedness offered to us in Christs Incarnation Secondly Blessedness made complete in our own application The woman begins the Text in the first part Christ finished in the second She said well for his Incarnation Blessed is the Womb that bare thee He makes it much better by stirrig us up to the use and fruit of it yea rather c. She blesseth Christ and Christ blesseth us she would have all felicity to rest in him he would have a share of felicity to be derived to us A pretty strife between a devout Creature and a merciful Creator between an humble Servant and a bountiful Master between a true faith that heaps all honour upon God and between a gracious God that heaps the treasures of his riches upon a true faith To begin with that which the woman said it must be considered two ways in a Litteral sense such as flesh and bloud revealed to her And in a Prophetical sense above her understanding such as the Spirit of God hath revealed to us Blessed is the Womb that bare thee And so it was indeed according to the Latitude of this womans natural understanding For first she knew at large that it was a blessed thing to be an Instrument or conveyance of any great good unto others Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber be blessed shall she be above women in the Tent Judg. v. 24. Shee had done her part to work deliverance for Israel And when Judith had sped in her adventure to cut off the head of Holofernes says Oziah Blessed art thou of the most high God above all the women upon earth Judith xiii 18. A good Messenger is called an happy and the feet of those are pronounced beautiful that bring glad tidings of peace It is a narrow and an abject conceit of some that think themselves fortunate and at the best when they receive and take in all that can be heapt upon them These men measure felicity backward for beatius est dare quam accipere it is more blessed to give than to receive Though that Maxim be not extant in any of the Evangelists St. Paul tells us upon his credit it was our Saviours The souls of them that are converted to true holiness shall bless the lips of the Priest the poor shall bless the liberal after Ages shall bless publick Spirits that do famous things and are provident for Posterity A Cistern that contains the waters poured into it is much inferiour to a Fountain that sends them forth It is nothing so laudible to be wrought upon as to work that which is honourable Even the Parents that have enricht the world with such as are ornaments unto it benediction reflects upon them for it because they are Conduit pipes of publick felicity Yet all those that have made others happy by their gifts and qualities had been for ever unhappy themselves if the Child that was born this day had not suckt the breasts of a Virgin O happy Parent whose Womb contained all the treasure that maintains the whole earth Somewhat she collineated at this meaning that said unto our Saviour Blessed c. And each Parent partakes in this reason that it is joy and honour to them to have a renowned Son and it may be this woman was partial to her own Sex that contented her self to speak of no more than the womb of the Mother In strict Divinity indeed her words are admirable for Christ had no Father according to the flesh but that is more than I collect out of St. Luke that she mentioned not his Father for that reason But in all humane births that prove successful and glorious the loyns of the Father are blessed as well as the womb of the Mother and the glory of children are their Fathers Prov. xvii 6. Yet in the next construction of mere natural capacity it was proper to say for his sake blessed is the womb because barrenness was a curse and fruitfulness of children a blessing They that propagate a faithful seed upon earth give the means to replenish heaven with Saints it is that wherein we exceed Angels to beget Sons and Daughters in our own likeness and to continue a Generation like our selves makes mankind by succession as incorruptible as the Angels God blessed all living Creatures mark that God blessed them and said unto them be fruitful and multiply Gen. i. 28. Though the Lord said
passengers because he came into the world for a publick benefit The time most seasonable and accommodate the very fulness of time as the Apostle says Whereupon St. Ambrose Christus tanquam maturitas advenit ut nihil acerbum nihil immaturum nihil immite sit he came when all the fruits of comfort were mellow ripe and delicious that nothing might be sower or harsh or distasteful to us Tardius enascitur cupressus seris umbram factura nepotibus says Pliny the Cypress tree is long a growing yet when it is grown up to a tree the shade of it serves for an harbour to the child unborn So the long expectation of Christs coming is requited with those blessings that grow up more and more and spread wider and wider for all generations to come The company that came from heaven to congratulate this day most glorious and chearful a multitude of heavenly host and what a mighty army hath he levied to take our part in respect of those few scattered forces which are against us The manner of his birth most edifying and instructive in all abjectness and low estate in all poverty and humility A magnificent pompous Saviour would have been a scandalous example as we may well mistrust it to the high imaginations of our hearts and might sooner have destroyed this proud world than redeem'd it we did not want a Champion in arms but an Infant in swadling clouts We did not need a Prince guarded with his Peers but one in the form of a servant whose best companions that came about him were silly Shepherds It was not for our turn to have one that would keep state and ruffle Superbia non est magnitudo sed tumor Pride is not greatness verily and in truth nay but a tumor that is blown up with appearance It was for our profit to have one that did empty himself of his glory and make himself of low degree that man may blush away his own pride when he sees the Son of God invested with humility Finally the fruit of this Nativity O the fruit of it is passing delectable and unutterable grace illumination vacancy from fear of condemnation tranquility of conscience angelical protection here angelical society hereafter to know the rigor of the Law was the old lesson to know the Covenant of Grace the new to live and dye were vulgar things to rise from death and to live for ever came by him who being our head was made mortal that we might be immortal members of his body So I have pointed only to severals as in a map to the felicity of the Womb he chose of the place that received him of the time that exactly fitted him of the company that congratulated him of the humility that adorn'd him of the precious fruit that grew from him that the Sum might redound to make up this principal point of my Text everlasting blessing is the free gift of God to this whole world through the Incarnation c. The second Evangelical observation above that which the woman conceived that spake these words is thus Both the Womb and the Paps also of common Mothers are obnoxious to many miseries and to such great ones sometimes that they prove mortal The subtilty of the Serpent brought this curse upon the Womb of mothers Gen. iii. 16. I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and conception in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children That calamity is a common wound to that tender sex not so apt to bear any sore affliction But the birth of Christ was without the pangs and hard travail of the Mother The malediction was not upon Mary but Blessed was the womb that bare him Ipsa genetrix fuit obstetrix says St. Cyprian Mary was both the Mother and the Midwife of the Child Far be it from us to think that the weak hand of any woman could facilitate that work which was guided only by the miraculous hand of God The Lord did do his own work so great so transcendent without all humane assistance And mark another reason of St. Austins if any should headily contradict it Quod sine voluptate carnis concepit sine dolore peperit The Virgin conceived our Lord without the lusts of the flesh and therefore she brought him forth without the dolour without the curse of the flesh And many other of the Fathers for it was their common tradition have these similitudes upon it As a Bee draws hony from the flower without offending it as Eve was taken out Adams side without any grief to him as a Sprig opens the bark of a tree to grow out of it as the light sparkles from the light of a Star such ease it was to Mary to bring forth her first born Son Gravida sed non gravabatur says Bernard Shee had a burden in her Womb before she was delivered yet she was not burdened that lies upon this proof that shee took a journey instantly before she was delivered from Nazareth to Bethlehem above forty miles and yet she suffered it without weariness or complaint For such was the power of the Babe that he did rather support the Mothers weakness than was supported And as he lightned his Mothers travail by t he way that it was not tedious to her tender age so he took away all dolour and imbecillity from her travail in Child-birth This was a benediction upon her Womb Blessed is the Womb c. Thirdly In this the woman prophesied more than shee understood that whereas nature is like Hagar that bringeth forth children unto bondage and all the off-springs which Mothers bring forth are in themselves accursed from the womb for we are all born and conceived in sin Prius reati quam nati only this child this Immanuel this holy of holies was a righteous branch that knew no sin that had no part in iniquity and therefore exempted from that malediction which lies upon our shoulders from the first hour wherein we are born According to the strictness of the Law by which no flesh is justified that sentence is most righteous against us all Deut. xxviii 18. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body Therefore Job sell out with his birth-day and so did Jeremy for until the time that we are regenerate and born anew 't is most true which they perhaps disgusted in discontent Cursed be the day wherein I was born let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed St. Ambrose reduceth it very well to this moral application let the day of my first birth perish that I may be accounted to live from the day of my regeneration Pereat dies secularis ut dies spiritualis oriatur vanish those days of sin that none but spiritual days may shine upon me But all that bitter mourning came from hence that nothing but wrath and rejection belongs unto us as we are born in original depravation This is true in all one only excepted who in the similitude of sinful flesh took our nature upon him
humors then have with you they will be present in the Congregation Whereas our Saviour hath abstracted from all such humane qualifications and scandalous niceties that the sound of his Ministers should go forth into all the world and he that hath ears to hear let him not be so scrupulous in his choice but let him hear Paul was pleased to have Christ preached either through contention or sincerely all manner of ways says he I rejoyce Phil. i. 18. They that came to mock the Apostles as men drunk were caught by hearing them They that came to take our Saviour themselves were taken by hearing John vii 37. Many of the negligent rank that come to gaze about rather than to attend many that come hither with affections worse than beasts depart converted and repentant with a new heart and a new spirit more like Angels than men In brief let the Heathen that communicate not in the Gospel enjoy all that this earth and the plenty thereof can afford yet they and none but they are blessed that hear the word of God And if you will make a good man ply him apace with this exhortation to hear yet know now that is but the first rude draught of him till you finish him with that which follows he must hear and keep that which he hears Let him hear the sayings of Christ and do them then he shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock Mat. vii 24. Custodia Sermonis Dei est ejus adimpletio says Euthymius upon my Text to keep the word is to do as we are taught and to endeavour to fulfil the royal Law This is the very concluding promise which God did send to Israel by his messenger Moses If thou shalt hearken diligently to the voice of the Lord thy God to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day blessed shalt thou be in the City and blessed in the field Deut. xxviii most divinely the Psalmist Psal cxi 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom a good understanding have all they that do thereafter So that the understanding of the law of God consists not in knowledge and speculation but in practice and execution We must be Servants as well as Disciples The work of a Disciple is to hear and conceive aright but the work of a Servant is to do and obey and though dissimulation will intrude it self into every good thing yet there may be nay there is ten thousand times more hypocrisie in hearing than there can be in doing Imperfect fruits are more pleasing to God than bare leaves A sorry doer such a one as Ahab was in his sullen and crude repentance shall have more recompence from God than a barren unprofitable hearer that thrusts in at all the Lectures and Exercises that City and Country affords Live so that all men may see you have often talkt with God and God hath spoken often to you from this holy place else I must leave you among those that are censur'd by St. Paul 2 Tim. iii. 7. Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth I told you before that Mary sate at our Saviours feet to hear his Sermon when Martha minded other domestical business between those two Maries choice was much more transcendent and unum necessarium but not unicum one necessary duty but not the only a part of Religion but not the whole for in another place Maries part of doing was far better than her part of hearing I mean her anointing of Christs head with a box of precious oyntment For this that she hath done shall be spoken of throughout the world Mat. xxvi 13. Let me make a summary application of all and so conclude This day we begin to solemnize the Incarnation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and continue it with a Festival dedication for twelve days following There are three sorts of men that make most different uses of it some that are Epicures and never consider what great work the Lord wrought at this time that we have an Advocate with the Father who is the propitiation for our sins but they consider that feasting and freedom are vulgar in these days and they take their fill of that but according to their riotous manners you cannot conceive that they keep the Birth of Christ holy but that they celebrate a wakes for the making of some golden Calf for they sit down to eat and to drink and rise up to play Secondly There are others that honour God with their lips that will say this is an happy season wherein a Redeemer came down among us God hath raised up a mighty salvation for us all because he hath sent his Son to take our nature upon him And as Micah said being a most idolatrous sinner Now know I that the Lord will do me good seeing I have a Levite to my Priest Judg. xvii 11. So these men flatter themselves in their impenitent lives Now know I that the Lord will be merciful and spare me since the word became flesh and dwelt among us But I hope there are many of the third sort that conceive unutterrable gladness for the Nativity of their Saviour but they know withal that as Christ is the meritorious cause of all blessedness so it is a most barren faith to rest only in the contemplation of that for as all mankind are blessed that the womb did bear him and that the paps did give him suck so it must be accomplisht by this obedience Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it Do you love him for his Incarnation then keep his sayings If a man love me he will keep my sayings Do you wonder that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son then take heed of maligning and hating one another He that says he loves God and hateth his brother is a lyar and there is no truth in him Do you honour his humility then command your self to imitate him in lowliness of heart would you do all due celebration to his sacred Birth frequent his holy Temple and hear his word and observe it 'T is much in every ones talk who keeps a good house in Christmass Beloved you are now at this present in the best that is Can any man keep a better house than God would you wish a more delicious banquet then such Confessions such Collects such Litanies such heavenly Prayers as our Church hath appointed in which there is nothing wanting but company to attend them what delicacies are contained in the holy Scriptures both read and preacht unto you what edifying Doctrine in the Homilies which are read on the Saints days together with the Divine Service and above all what Nectar what Manna what restoring Cordials are received in the Blessed Sacrament This is the house which God keeps who also allows you to be chearful at home at this season and commends it to you
hath redeemed his people Take the whole verse now together which is the exordium of this Prophetical Song and it contains two parts the magnifying of the divine goodness and the reason rendred why it was fit to break out into that devotion In the first here is the comprehension of all praise in this word blessed Secondly the comprehension of the divine titles the Lord God of Israel The next general member why this praise is given is drawn from two acts that God hath visited and that he hath redeemed And the Object of both those acts is it which makes it praise-worthy and thanks worth he hath visited his People First of all here is a full ascribing of all glory to God in this word blessed O how Zachary did meditate this all the while he was dumb O how much he desired all the while his utterance was stopt to bring forth these good words to the honour of his Maker He kept silence a long time from this heavenly Canticle but it was pain and grief unto him Now his mouth was opened with the key of the Holy Spirit to discourse of the wonderful works of God and it was a blessed thing that as soon as he was able to talk this was the first language that flowed from him Blessed be the Lord. Two things are the grace and dignity of our Elocutions Deum laudare verum dicere to praise the great Majesty of Heaven and to tell the truth upon Earth but why do I divide them two which will most properly fall into one For no truth so clear and evident as that the name of Christ is blessed for evermore They that speak the truth of him must speak well of him and whosoever blasphemes his honour is a Liar and an Antichrist As Hezekiah paid the Tribute which Sennacherib imposed upon him out of the Treasure of the house of the Lord and out of the Gold which over-laid the doors of the Temple 2 Kings xviii 16. so the praise of God is the chief treasure of our heart the chief thing that belongs to this holy place the very Gold of the Temple therefore when we magnifie his name we pay him Tribute out of the best thing which the Church can afford Neither is there any good business of Religion whereof we may be so confident that we are in a right course and do not swerve Our Belief may be grounded upon strong errors as it is among Hereticks Our Zeal may be transported into Faction as it is among Schismaticks Our Repentance may be slight and superficial as it is among Hypocrites We may be too forward in our Hope having no firm assurance from the fruits of a good Conscience Too free of our Charity when we do not distinguish who are fit to receive it Too prodigal of our Commendations when we do not note mens Actions whether they deserve it but be as copious as you will in magnifying your Creator and Redeemer and you are certain the work is very good most certain that you cannot tread awry Yet Satan and our own negligence are able to frame an objection against any truth which is most demonstrative What will our sluggish spirit say The honour of God doth not depend upon the fame of this World His glory cannot be raised higher than it is by our Jubilees and Songs or by our Instruments of Musick no though we could praise him as loud as claps of Thunder But for all this will you be content to glorifie him if it will bring your self to honour though it be no amplification to the Majesty of God Agreed then And first it is an high advancement that he will permit us to do him that homage though we should have no recompence for our labour it is abundantly rewarded that he will give us leave to exalt him he hath not dealt so with all people Unto the ungodly said God Why dost thou take my name within thy lips As it is an honour to the Magistrate that God hath committed the Sword of Justice to their power so it is an honour to every Christian that he hath permitted unto us to talk of his honour it is an Angels life continually to bless him and sound forth his glory Therefore that parcel of the Psalm may look this way let the praise of God be in their mouth and a two edged Sword in their hand the one is as great a priviledge belonging to us as the other to a Magistrate Secondly St. Peter grants it generally to all godly people Yè are an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices to God 1 Pet. ii 5. What is the spiritual Sacrifice but Praise and Thanksgiving Therefore let us offer up the sacrifice of praise sweetly and devoutly and all Christians shall become Priests in that respect and the holy portion of God and having offered up this visible sacrifice of praise we our selves in our hearts shall become the invisible sacrifice of God and bring oblation upon oblation unto the Altar it is nothing worth unless your own soul be the principal Oblation I press this the rather because it is so ill forgotten in the Roman Missal For they that do so often trouble your ears with their sacrifice and their Altar have not one word in their Missal that we or our souls should be a reasonable holy and living sacrifice to God Thirdly In giving glory to the Lamb and to him that sits upon the Throne we do not give but receive for no man can ascribe much praise to God but out of a large capacity of faith no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost no man can speak of the King of Kings according to his due excellency but it will procreate devotion and reverence therefore though Gods honour be in the same state that it was before yet your soul is in better state than it was before by praise and glorification Fourthly We do all agree with St. Paul that Charity is greater than the two other Theological Vertues greater than Faith that believeth all mysteries greater than Hope that expecteth all Promises and therefore greater because it shall abide with us in the Kingdom of Heaven when the other two shall vanish away So to laud and magnifie our Omnipotent Creator is far above all other acts of Religion because nothing else shall abide with us when we see God face to face There shall be no confession of Christ our Mediator for none shall deny him there shall be no fasting for man shall eat Angels food and have no need of nourishment no Alms shall be given for it is life without want and scarcity no Prayer for forgiveness of sins no hearing of the Word no sufferance of the Cross no intercession for them that suffer but the praise of God continueth and supplieth all the rest uncessantly we shall cry out Holy holy Lord God of Hosts which was and is and is to come Therefore it is called blessing of God because it
shall be our only work when we have attained to blessedness for God doth bless man by pouring his benefits upon him and man doth bless God by confessing the good which he hath received Fifthly and lastly Whereas our Saviour did abase himself to become man and emptied himself of his glory for our sakes we set upon it to do him all possible honour that we may weigh up again the Scale of his glory which himself depressed for our advancement as Peter said unto him when he went about to do that work of a servant to his Disciples Dost thou wash my feet no thou shalt never wash my feet he contended with his Lord that he would not cast himself down so far So Zachary sings a triumphal ditty to bless his poor Nativity we do all bow at the name of Jesus who bowed the heavens and came down to visit us we advance his Cross in our forehead we erect our goodliest Churches in his name we make Christmas day the high Feast of the year the great holy day of Praise and thanksgiving as if the Saints of God had conspired not to let Christ be humbled though he would be humbled So when he came to Jerusalem with the meanest pomp that could be imagined riding upon an Ass they that had loyal and zealous hearts to him combined to conduct him into the great City in as Princely a manner as they could devise laying their garments under his feet and in a manner proclaiming my very Text before him Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. The sum of this first Point is thus much O sing unto the Lord for it is a good thing to sing praises unto our God yea a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful So I have discharged the first Point that there is a comprehension of all praise in this word Blessed beside here is a comprehension of the chief divine titles the Lord God of Israel The names of the Lord do not consist in compound Epithets and magniloquous appellations The heathen did affect that bravery to set out the lustre of their Idols 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as the Poet Callimachus expresseth it in his Hymn of Diana she desired an hundred brave names to be given her by her Priests as many attributes as Apollo had in his Temple Some will have these to be those vain repetitions of the Heathen which our Saviour reproves Mat. vi 7. taxing them that they thought they should be heard for their much speaking Sacred titles consist not in number but in weight and no words could be more ponderous and significative and yet contracted into fewer Syllables than these the Lord God of Israel A Law-giver will prefix his most ample attributes before the Pandect of his Laws and this is the Inscription over the two Tables Deut. xx I am the Lord thy God which is all one as to say I am the Lord God of Israel And the very words of my Text seem to be a current Eulogy in Davids time as it is Psal cvi 48. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting and let all the people say Amen Which names must needs contain an infinite excellency when they march in a rank together since if you take them one by one they are most dreadful and venerable He is called the Lord because he is the supreme and highest above all things so every King in his Sphere is a Lord in chief as Joab said to David Why doth my Lord the King delight in this thing He is called Elohim or God because he is set over all his Creatures to judge and revenge their iniquities therefore the Princes of the people are nuncupative Gods in Scripture because they sit upon the Throne of Judgment on earth to judge between man and man Or rather he is called God from his infinite and incomprehensible Essence Lord from his power and dominion but Lord God of Israel by application of his mercy to his Church above all the Kingdoms of the World Therefore he is to be worshipped as God eternal to be obeyed in all his Commandments as the Lord Omnipotent and be magnified and blessed for Israels sake because he loved that people above all things whom he hath chosen to be his inheritance for ever St. Austin cast out the difference on this wise that the Creator of all things is stiled God and when he gave a Law unto mankind Gen. ii 15. then he was stiled a Lord. But the observation hath an oversight in it for he is called the Lord God four times in the same Chapter before he commanded Adam to dress the garden of Eden and to keep it The Annotation would run better thus that while all things were in making in the Creation the Creator is termed God and God said let there be Light and God said let there be a Firmament so in every work throughout all the first Chapter of Genesis When the Creation was quite finished and the whole Universe of Creatures set in order then in the second of Genesis he is called Lord. From whence a question is started much agitated in the School Whether the great Jehovah may be called Dominus ab aeterno The Lord from all eternity Thou art God from everlasting that is an Article of faith never doubted of Nebuchadonosor could see that by the wonders and tokens which were wrought for Daniels sake therefore he makes a Decree that men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel for he is the living God and stedfast for ever But the scruple is since he did not exercise his dominion before the works which he made were extant whether the title of Lord did not accrue unto him in the beginning of time and not from all Eternity St. Austin moved the Controversie but out of his wonted modesty passed it by undefined Tertullian against Hermogenes says It is none of the eternal Appellations of the Divine Nature for it belongs not to the Divine Essence but to the Power and the Power could not exercise it self before there was an Object created Many of the School-men are convicted in their judgment by this reason of Tertullian and hold to his opinion I think if St. Austin would have determined it he would have gone the other way and for my part I take it to be most probable that we may say God was the Lord from all eternity before the Creatures were existent and produced It is true that if we measure things by our own power or rather by our own infirmity we can command nothing but that which is and hath a being but God is the Lord of all things even before they are and when they yet are not he can command them to have a being he spake the word and all things were made he commanded and they were created Non possunt per mandatum fieri quae non erant nisi dominium praecederet things that have no being could not be
commanded to be made unless he had dominion over them that is unless he were Lord over them before they were made Rom. iv he calleth things that are not as things that are therefore he hath authority as a Lord over things that are not as much as over things that are The fair conclusion of it is the actual relation of the Creatures to his dominion began in time but their subjection to his will and power is for ever therefore God is the Lord from all eternity Whatsoever distinction may be put between these names yet when we praise God let us do as Zachary doth joyn them both together when we confess him let us do so likewise as Jonas did I am an Hebrew who worship the Lord God that made heaven and earth When we say our Belief let us do the same even as the Nicene Fathers did before us I believe in one God and in one Lord Jesus Christ And if you please your selves to distinguish accurately upon such Titles because St. Paul hath said that there be Gods many and Lords many let us distinguish between them and this supreme one the Lord God of Israel who is blessed for ever more Christ says the Scripture calleth them Gods to whom the word of God came Joh. x. 34. That Scripture is Psal lxxxii 6. I have said ye are Gods and ye are all the children of the most high From thence and from my Text you may state a profitable difference 1. Dixi I have said ye are Gods he hath said it and that made them so unless he had Godded them they had had no such pre-eminence What they have it is by entitling and nuncupation 2. Dixi Dii estis there are many of those Gods not only every Prince and Ruler chalengeth it by his Crown but every Christian hath his interest in it by adoption of filiation So I cited it from the mouth of our Saviour before the Scripture hath said they are Gods to whom the Word of God came 3. Estis ye are for a while ye are and after a while ye shall go from hence and be no more seen ye shall die like men but the true God abideth for ever 4. These heathen Semi-gods these that carry that badge upon earth shall not only die like men but like sinful men for it follows in the Psalm that when they fall God shall arise to judge the earth after they have judged they shall be judged upon it hereafter how they have judged But O man thou must not reply against the God of heaven his judgments are indisputable 5. The ever blessed God is praised in every thing that pertains unto him he is praised in all places of his dominion he is praised in all his works He hath done all things well say the people of Christ but among the actions of the best men Sunt bona sunt quaedam mediocria sunt mala plura Among some good there is much evil among some flourishing sprigs of praise there are divers dead boughs of frailty 6. These Nuncupative Gods preside over Civil Governments each of them is a golden head over his own Political body but Christ only is head of the whole Church from whence the whole body increaseth with the increase of God he alone is the Lord. And it is likewise upon some remarkable appropriation that the Psalmist says the Lord is his name he bears it certainly with many notorious marks of difference from all the Lordlings in the world First The dominion of man is joyned with some servitude in the Master for he that stands in need is a servant to his own necessities and the Master stands in need of the drudgery of the labouring man as much or more perhaps than that drudge stands in need of the wages of the Master But all our service is of no use or benefit to the King of heaven I said unto the Lord thou art my God my goods are nothing unto thee Psal xvi and therefore says St. Austin God did not make the world from all eternity to shew that he did not want the help of his Creature Secondly All things serve the Lord above nothing is hidden from the Scepter of his dominion but man in the highest Office upon earth is confined to a small scantling of authority he can command the body of his Vassal but not his soul He cannot command his Grass to grow or his Trees to bear or his Cattel to encrease or the weather to be seasonable But as the people said in admiration of the Miracles of the Son of God Who is this that commandeth the Winds and Seas and they obey him Thirdly All the Lordship upon earth is subalternate and dependant from a greater command Masters do that which is just unto your Servants knowing that you also have a Master in heaven Col. iv There is but one Lord and none but he that is responsive to no other the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Our Saviour though an unscrutable Abyssus of humility assumed that unto himself Ye call me Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am Joh. xiii 13. Such a Lord to whom all the Sons of men do bow and obey Such a Lord that though he were Davids Son yet David in spirit calleth him Lord The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstoole Lord of all things by the Essence of his Godhead Lord of all things in his Manhood by the Hypostatical Union but by special interest Lord of all those whom he redeemed with his most precious bloud Lord God of Israel in which numbers as soon as ever he believed Thomas concluded himself saying My Lord and my God As we have the Humanity of Christ expressed in the two subsequent actions so we have as surely his Divinity set forth in these Titles the Lord God of Israel But that God that filleth the heaven of heavens and that Lord who hath stretcht out the line of his power over the whole earth he is Canton'd in this Text to a little Region of the earth but a Molehill in respect of the extent of his Majestie the Lord God of Israel It was not with Zachary the Priest in this elegant Canto as it useth to be with other Poets who out of affectation do strain their Poetry to make honourable mention of their own Country where there was neither cause nor merit But this holy Prophet had sufficient warrant from the Spirit which cannot err to nominate him the Patron of this people rather than of any other the God of Israel and that for two reasons Propter notitiam verbi propter promissiones seminis benedicti First The Oracles of the Scriptures were committed to them and God was not truly worshipped any where but in the Synagogues of the Hebrews and therefore says the Psalmist Notus Deus in Israele God is well known in Israel there they knew him that he was to be adored that he
was to be feared that he was to be admired for his excellency that he was increate immortal eternal and not like the Idols of the Heathen there was Grace and Religion other Nations knew not him therefore he puts them by as if he knew not them he is the God of Israel Secondly This whole World is made for no other end but that Christ may exalt his Dominion in it and therefore the Nation of whom he was to come according to the Flesh that is spoken of as if it belonged to God alone and all other People were quite forgotten Well therefore might Zachary say O thou God of Israel for upon the Nativity of Christ now it was fulfilled why long since he was called the God of Israel His Incarnation as old Simeon said it was the glory of his people Israel his conversation among them was their temporal protection that their enemies should not devour them while he was with them upon earth his word confirmed it that the children of the Bride-chamber should not mourn while the Bridegroom was with them Finally His appearance among them in the Flesh was their spiritual exaltation for he preacht to none other but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel But Israel doth now no longer stand for those that according to the Flesh descended out of the Loyns of Abraham as St. Paul says he is a Jew that is one inwardly Rom. ii 29. So he is an Israelite that is a true man like Nathanael that hath no guile in him he that believeth in Christ that visited and redeemed Israel And that you may know the term stands now for the Church of the Faithful and Elect St. Paul calls them that walk according to the rule of Jesus Christ the Israel of God Gal. vi 16. You know that Jacob wrestled with an Angel of God at Peniel and thereupon the Angel changed his name and called him Israel because as a Prince he had power with God and men and had prevailed Gen. xxxii 28. he prevailed over men that is over his Persecutors Esau and Laban He prevailed with God by tears and supplications and this is the exact description of all those that belong to the Church of Christ that is of the Israel of God Their outward foes shall be subdued unto them when God shall think it time to put an end to their sufferings they must overcome their spiritual Foes that is get the victory over the passions and lusts of their own flesh vanquish the Devil overcome the attractive delights of the world and then they shall be no more Jacob but Israel they shall prevail with God It is well noted by one that when the Church in holy Scripture speaks of her infirmity she is called Jacob when she speaks of her happiness she is called Israel Isa xli 14. Fear not thou worm Jacob and Amos vii 2. by whom shall Jacob arise for he is small but in a thousand places ye shall find thus saith the Lord God the King of Israel and never was the Church in more prosperity then when Christ came among us in the likeness of man then it was not Jacob the worm but it grew mighty indeed it prevailed with him that sits on high then it was fit the Song should run in the best title Blessed be the Lord God of Israel You have received the first part of the Text entirely in every particle the solemn praise of the Divine goodness now follows the reason in two most glorious acts why the God of Israel deserveth this praise For he hath visited and redeemed his people Blessed be his name for he hath visited blessed be the Lord for he hath done marvellous things We want not many of these fo rs when we ascribe excellency to the King of Heaven Fame is a good companion for Virtue I love to see them fast together let there want no praise if there be a quia visitavit a good reason for it a deserving action to advance it but to spend our good word upon them that have no merit to speak good of the covetous as David saith whom God abhorreth to cry up Absalom among the people for a little out-side formality such praise is most fulsom that 's broacht either by flattery or ignorance When renown is so ill bestowed upon the wicked it makes the righteous that they do not regard it But the object of Zachary's benediction is so gracious so full of perfection that when we say all we can in the honour thereof we shall say too little for he hath visited for he hath redeemed his people The first of these is that which makes this the double double Holy day above all the Feasts of the year visitavit he visited and it is once again repeated in this Hymn of Zachary's the day-spring from on high hath visited us ver 78. Some there be that collect the three capital works of Christs dispensation out of my Text and the verse that follows for that he visited us say they it denotes his Incarnation that he redeemed us it betokens his Death and Passion that the horn of salvation was raised up in the house of his servant David it implies his Resurrection I think these things are minc'd asunder that should not be divided but all agree that to visit is a word so proper to Christmas-day as none more namely to take flesh and to dwell among us Doth the same fountain says S. James send forth sweet waters and bitter why that 's no such marvail for this very word to visit is so diverse in holy Scripture that sometimes it relisheth as sweet as mercy can make it sometimes it is as bitter as the very gall of his anger can temper it Visitat quando flagellat quando miseretur says S. Austin God visiteth when he punisheth and he visits when he pittieth In the first acception nothing is better known than that of the Decalogue Visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me And again I will visit their offences with the rod and their sins with scourges and in the Latin Translation Jer. xxvii 8. That Nation will I visit with sword with famine and with pestilence And Psal lix 5. Thou Lord of Hosts awake and visit the Heathen and be not merciful to any wicked transgressors From hence we have drawn it into our common phrase that we call the infliction of the contagious Pestilence the visitation of the Lord. God is ever present with us but when he shews himself to be present by some exterior and notable work bringing his Judgment or his Mercy in a conspicuous manner to our City or even to the doors of our own house then he is said to visit us And if it be a visitation of vengeance yet refrain not to say Blessed be the Lord God of Israel whether he send his Angel with a Sword to smite us or with a Song as at Christs Nativity
they are to be seen and testifie what I say do never aspire to that sublimity nay they that referred every thing they had to the gift and goodness of their Idols Riches to Plutus joyful Marriage to Juno Victory to Mars prosperous Navigation to Neptune all these and the very breath of their life to Jupiter yet the Devil was not suffered to fool them with this gross opinion that any of their adulterate Deities was worth the name of a Saviour Salvation belongeth to our God and his goodness upon his people says the Psalmist Salvation had never been known upon earth unless this day heaven had faln down upon the earth But though all comfort in this world were forgotten nothing but darkness and weeping and captivity over all the Universe yet this one word is enough to turn all the sorrow into gladness nay to turn hell into heaven Where art thou O Lord that we may find thee Wherein shall we enquire for thee that we may see thy love and glory If I look for thee in the work of Creation thou art Omnipotent if I consider thee in the work of Preservation thou art most vigilant if I seek thee in the store of all things wherewith thou hast filled Sea and Land thou art most indulgent but when the incarnation of my Lord Jesus and the mystery of Salvation comes into my thoughts then O God thou art most transcendent and I am lost in the Abyssus of thy goodness When I call him the Glass in which I see all truth the Fountain in which we taste all sweetness the Ark in which all precious things are laid up the Pearl which is worth all other Riches the Flower of Jessai which hath the savour of life unto life the Bread that satisfies all hunger the Medicine that healeth all sickness the Light that dispelleth all darkness when I have run over all these and as many more glorious Titles as I can lay on this description is above them and you may pick them all out of these Syllables our salvation much more when he is exalted with this adjunct in my Text an horn of salvation And can so great a thing as Salvation be amplified through so mean an Epithet Beside that it is a badg of a beast it is not of the choicest substance of nature for what is an horn but the excrement of the Nerves in the outward parts as Teeth proceed out of our gums within But as God did not abhor to be made man for our deliverance so he recoiles not from having his goodness compared to the grossest things for our better intelligence And yet to see the perverseness of the most learned Wits likely they intangle those Similitudes with intricate difficulties to which God hath mightily condescended and even abased himself for our better perspicuity Did not he intend to set up a plain and a sensible Sacrament before our eyes when his Evangelist hath thus described him an horn of salvation And yet what abstruce mistakes are some faln into that would be more subtil than the Spirit of God Abulensis says that this phrase is originally derived from the horn that shined upon the head of Moses when he came down from the Mount and had talkt with God forty days And there being this ample resemblance between Christ and Moses the one brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt the other acquits us from the bondage of sin and hell Therefore Christ should take this character from Moses that was his Type and be called an horn of salvation I like not this opinion for many reasons First Moses had no such disfigurement in his face as the appearance of horns when he came from God Ignorant Painters make us ridiculous to the Jews with their childish errors They know he put a vail on when his face shined and can they tell how horns branching out would admit of such a vail Some Limners conceived that the splendour of his face sent forth beams of light which indeed Rabby Solomon calls by a figure cornua magnificentiae others that were bunglers in the Art took these beams to be horns and with the help of the Vulgar Latine Translation they have made him of an holy Saint a prodigious monster Their error stops not here for this character doth so little agree with Moses that the Scriptuce is very wary never to call Moses the salvation of the people Why For salvation comes not by the Law but by Faith If eternal life could be attained by the works of the Law there had been no need of Christmas day our Mediator had been born in vain he had died in vain therefore mark it in Mat. xxii when the Pharisees askt our Saviour which was the great Commandment of the Law as if all their study all their hope and confidence were in the Law he answers them fully but immediately he calls them to another question What think ye of Christ whose Son is he As who should say by the works of the Law shall no Flesh be justified it were better for you to know and believe in Christ there is no other name under heaven through which you can be saved So I cast off this first opinion to impute horns unto Moses is a vanity to impute salvation to him is an Heresie Secondly Some would draw the Phrase from an heathen Proverb Delrio the Jesuit is not against it The heathen Jupiter as their Poets tell us in their raptures was nourisht by a Goat in his Infancy and for the memory of it that horn was endued with vertue to bring forth plenty of all things for the life of man and constantly they call that which exceeds with all abundance the horn of Amalthea Now Christ replinishing us with all good things supplying us with more than we can desire or deserve in whom we are complete as St. Paul says Col. ii 10. he is this celestial horn about which prophane Authors puzzled themselves and knew not what they said And shall I ever be perswaded that the Scripture hath borrowed terms of honour out of their Fables to give to the Son of God It sounds not well to my judgment yet I subscribe it was an eximious Title of great antiquity for when God raised up the fortunes of Job again he had three Daughters the name of the first was Jemima which is by interpretation day The second Kesia that is sweet Cassia The third Keren happuch that is the horn of plenty and the best Editions of the Septuagint have it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the horn of Amalthea Yet to strike off that opinion that horn in the old Addage betokened an inexhaust Fountain of earthly felicity this horn in my Text is the staff and stay of heavenly salvation Therefore they differ as much in effect as finite and infinite Barradius observing that Christ accomplisht the work of our salvation upon his Cross would deduce that from thence he should be called the horn of salvation because the two
learning of the world hath busied it self about conjecture this is evident truth and no conjecture that they were Gentiles far remote from the Temple at Jerusalem which God had chosen out above all the earth for the holy place of his honour This is the reason that makes Twelfth-day so great a Feast throughout all the world because in the person of the Wise men a door of Faith was opened unto the Nations that knew not God As a Star is an heavenly body that is common to all Coasts and Climates to illuminate them so the Birth of Christ was attended by a Star because all people should partake of his Grace and Gospel Behold ye the Philistines and they of Tyre with the Morians loe there was he born Psal lxxxvii 4. As who should say it should be no prejudice to us that he was born among the Jews in the City of David for his blessing shall be with us as much as if he had been born in every Country of the Gentiles They that believe in Christ they are his Country-men They that hear the word of God and keep it they are my Mother and my Brothers and my Sisters says our Saviour The Prophet Jonas who was a Type of Christ in none of his smallest works but even in his glorious Resurrection he was sent to the Gentiles of Ninive to denote that through Christ that great Prophet whom the Lord would raise up the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven should be opened to the Gentiles But this is stale now and little thought upon because the sound of the word hath gone forth into the ends of the world for sixteen hundred years who considers this merciful loving kindness as he ought though at the first every small thing was admired and it was marvellous in mens eyes to see any partakers of the heavenly gift but the very natural branches of the stock of Abraham Christ himself wondered at the Centurions Faith for he was not of the house of Israel he was astonisht at the importunity and zeal of the Syro-phenisian O woman great is thy faith at the Samaritan who being a Samaritan was thankful when nine others were forgetful These were rare occurrences in the beginning And when St. Luke brings in his Shepherds to visit Christ in his manger he doth not say ecce pastores behold there were Shepherds of the Jews that saw the Birth of our Lord but St. Matthew lays an index of wonder upon these Gentiles Ecce Magi Behold there came Wise men of the East to Jerusalem A great change as ever was in the world to be remembred on this day with most festival Thanksgiving but never to be forgotten Every Nation loves to know above all other Antiquities when her people were converted to the Faith as our Country reckons from King Lucius the French from Clodoveus but the whole world from this day from the coming of the Wise men of the East to Jerusalem But the end of this strange work should especially be kept in mind and with that I end this point Our Saviour told the Pharisees to what end God called the Gentiles The kingdom of heaven shall be taken from you and given to a Nation bringing forth the fruits thereof Mat. xxi 43. From hence I move a little forward with their motion to the next thing observed Venerunt they came as if the Star had said unto them seek ye my face and they had answered with David Thy face Lord will I seek As soon as ever Christ was born cum natus est at that instant they set forward and made no delay Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord and put not off from day to day says the Wise man Ecclus. v. 7. Remigius says that the Wise men were brought through the air by an Angel to Jerusalem as Habakkuk was taken up when he carried meat to the Reapers but what needed a Star to direct them if they had not beaten out the way of themselves the Scripture says not they were brought but they came they trod out a long journey with much chearfulness though with much distress to their wearied bodies but where the carkass is thither will the Eagles be gathered and no happiness in any place but to be with the Lord. These were honourable persons and of great account in their own Country though they were not Kings as I have adjudged it before they could have spared their own labour and have sent their servants into Judea to have brought them tidings what strange thing had happened and truly there are too many that would have excused themselves by messengers the way being so long and tedious between them and Christ If it be far to Church from our own home 't is too common to mutter at it and to maunder at a little way every one would have a Chappel of Ease at his next door as if it were fitter for Christ to come to them than for them to come to Christ You forget in the mean time that God considers your bodily labour the molestations and inconveniences which you suffer in the flesh for his word sake To do your Masters work with so much tenderness and easiness to your own person is negligence and self love and as you sow you shall reap Herod I pray you mark it at the eighth verse of this Chapter he would not move out of Jerusalem to look out Christ himself and yet Bethlehem was but six miles off but he sent the Wise men to Bethlehem and bad them search diligently for the Child and when they had found him bring him word but because he sate still himself and set others about it he never found our Saviour Oleaster ad olivam non oliva ad oleastrum veniebat says St. Austin The wild Olive must come to the natural Olive to be ingrafted into it the natural Olive must not go to the wild Olive Venite qui laboratis Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden The fountain must not come to the thirsty man but the thirsty man must come to the fountain to drink The place where the blessed babe lay the Maker of his Mother is worth the seeing to this day worth their travel that have resorted to it from West and East how much more worthy of a journey ten thousand times when the glorious Infant himself was in the place Most justly did our Saviour condemn the whole world that the Queen of Sheba came from far to hear the Wisdom of Solomon and yet the Gentiles did not flock so fast as they ought to have done when a greater than Solomon was upon the earth Tully speaks it of Crassus the Orator as I remember being lately departed we came into the Senate house to look upon the place where that renowned Senator was wont to stand What part of Bethlehem or Jerusalem or Galilee is not a thousand times more worth the viewing where any thing can be recalled to memory of Christs Birth or Miracles
chief counsellors of Persia and with greatest trust that can be had to conjectures we may say they made a Voyage from Persia to Jerusalem to see our Saviour Now the nearest confines of Persia are but 200 leagues from Jerusalem and the Camels of those Countries as good Authors testifie upon their own experience will travel forty leagues a day by which proportion it may be collected how possible it is to come in twelve days from the most Eastern parts of Persia to Jerusalem In Divine matters even the smallest things should be diligently sifted therefore I would not let this circumstance go till I had vindicated it from obsâ—â—rity and now these Travellers deserve their commendation and we their imitation They liv'd in honour and safety in their own Country but Patria est ubicunquè est Christus that 's a man's Country and his home where Christ is reverently worshipped and where the fear of God is in the place Hearken O daughter and consider incline thine ear forget also thine own people and thy fathers house What is honour and safety to a man at home if true Religion be abroad God be thanked we have both therefore these honourable persons leave their own Country as Abraham did I will not extol their faith more than his or his more than theirs comparisons are odious they could not come from the East to Judea but by Arabia Petrea a most rocky cumbersom Country and by Arabia deserta a most thievish murdering Country and from the heavens above they could have no better comfort at this time of the year but either bitter frosts to travel in or foul winter weather and to continue thus for twelve days together it was a great proof of zeal and patience that would run through all difficulties to be satisfied in this one question Where is he that is born the King of the Jews twelve days journey do I speak of nay twelve furlongs are a great matter for persons of quality to come to Church if it mizzle with a little rain or the air be sharp or the place throng'd or any slight inconvenience to keep them away and yet I must tell you these were Wise men that came to Christ through thick and thin through dread and danger strid over all molestations therefore unless you will have me leave my Text I cannot call them wise that will spare themselves from Gods service for every trifle of inconveniency The cape from whence they came affords one short note more that they were Easterlings for in that capacity they were not only Gentiles but of such Gentiles as had provok'd God to anger more ab antiquo dierum from many ages before than any other Nation They were not only Gentiles but sinners of the Gentiles as St. Paul says Gal. ii 15. The tower of Babel was built in the East that tower whose builders erected it as it were in defiance of heaven from thence came tyranny with Nimrod that opprest his people and as Histories tell us the first invention of Images sprung from those parts in that Tomb which Belus made for the untimely departure of his Son and from the Mountains of the East came Balaam and the false Prophets that loved the wages of iniquity I cannot say it confidently as St. Chrysostom doth that these wise men were the best of all those sinners in the East 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that these were better composed to believe than any other It is manifest this Eastern part of the world was as full of sins as any and the Scripture placeth nothing in their person that they had better morality than their fellows it was the Lords free mercy and compassion that the Star of his Grace should shine upon them and that they were selected above many thousands where all of them some in greater measure some in less deserved to sit in the shadow of death and to die in eternal condemnation and when Christ was scarce born we see the largeness of his grace that it was diffused to the furthest parts of the world and the freeness of his grace that he came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance A blessed Birth by which many were made alive unto God who were dead in sins and trespasses A blessed apparition by which the day-spring from on high hath visited us A blessed Incarnation by which the wicked mass of our nature is sanctified A blessed calling of the Gentiles by which all Tongues and Languages do praise the Lord from the East unto the West from the North unto the South O praise the Lord all ye kindreds of the earth for he hath done marvellous things for us in giving us his Child Jesus to be our sanctification and redemption Amen THE FOURTEENTH SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION MAT. ii 1 2. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King behold there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem Saying where is he that is born King of the Jews For we have seen his Star in the East and are come to worship him SInce the Lords day and the Feast of the Epiphany do light together this holy day is sure to be observed with frequent Assemblies in all Christian Churches as it is at this time in this place But in former Ages and in the most devout times when religious men studied for the fittest occasions to praise the Lord this Epiphany which we call Twelfth-day though it fell upon any day of the week was kept with the presence of the noblest persons with as much outward honour with as solemn service with as many testifications of zeal and joy as any day in the year For to crown it with more blessings than one the memory of three illustrious manifestations of Christ were celebrated upon this feast First that which is rememorated in our Church and no more the bringing of the Gentiles to Bethlem to see the Lord by the assistance of a Star 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that 's the most renowned apparition Secondly The Baptism of our Saviour was computed to this day when the Holy Ghost gave testimony who he was descending upon his head in the shape of a Dove 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the honour of these two memorable accidents Nazianzen calls it festum sanctorum luminum the feast of sacred lights or illuminations for Baptism is called our illumination Thirdly The miracle of turning water into wine was remembred together for the third manifestation of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 St. John says this beginning of miracles did Jesus in Canae of Galilee and manifested forth his glory Leo and Chrysologus speak of these three glorious works to be solemnized at this one time and Bernard a much later man than they goes no further Tres apparitiones Domini legimus unâ quidem die sed non uno tempore factas We celebrate three mighty apparitions of our Lord all in one day though they fell not out all in one
all the chief Prophesies about Christ came unto the Israelites when they were most out of heart and needed comfort Jacob's Balaam's Isaiah's Daniel's Haggai's either they were in Egypt or among fiery Serpents in the Wilderness or in Babylon or in some woful plight when Christ was promised but that was a suddain way to stop the course of all sorrow I cannot stand upon it for I must now declare the second reason why Jesus is said to be born in the days of Herod the King to refer the hearers to Jacobs Prophesie that if Herod reign then the Messias must come The tenour of Jacob's Prophesie bears that sense as the most learned Christians say it is extant Gen. xlix 10. The Scepter doth not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come The learned in the Hebrew tongue say that Shebeth is a Tribe as well as a Scepter and the sense may be the Tribe of Judah shall continue distinct until Christs coming whereas the other ten Tribes were scatter'd and confus'd by captivity But the most learned do assent what we translate a Scepter very well imports Princedom The Septuagint hath it A Prince shall not depart from Judah nay the Scripture gives light to that sense in other places Judah is my law-giver Psal lx 9. And again 1 Chron. v. 2. Judah prevailed above his brethren and of him came the chief rulers The Chaldee Paraphrase doth notably make good the words for the Christian cause He that hath dominion shall not be taken away from Judah nor a Scribe from his childrens children until the Christ come whose the Kingdom is and him shall the people obey The Jerusalem targum as I find it quoted by faithful Authors hath as famous a gloss as that Kings shall not cease from the house of Judah nor Doctors that teach the Law until the time that the King Christ do come whose the Kingdom is and all the Kingdoms of the earth shall be subject unto him the best judgments no way prejudicated did ever so interpret it Therefore Herod having wrung the Scepter from Judah this was the time for the Saviour of the world to come Two things are cast cross in the way to elude the Prophesie which doubts I must clear up for the honour of this day First that neither our Saviour or his Evangelists did ever make use of that saying of Jacob in the New Testament to prove that the day of the Lord was come why no more doth any Apostolical Writer in the New Testament apply that act of Abraham's to our Saviours Passion when he took his only Son Isaac to offer him up for a whole burnt-offering Yet the Church reads that Chapter for the first Lesson on Good Friday and did ever so conceive it and that for good reason for Isaac was a Type of Christ In Isaac shall thy seed be blessed But another scruple is more cumbersom to be removed It may seem that the Scepter was departed from Judah even from those days that Zedekiah was carried away into captivity from Zerobabel or a little after to Herod many hundred years some of the stock of Levi had the superiority therefore Shiloh did not come when the government was taken from Judah and then the Prophesie will not serve our turn to apply the Nativity of Christ to the days of Herod upon necessary connexion For answer there are many ways to the Wood as we say proverbially yet but one fair satisfaction that I can meet withal which consists of two heads First that the Scepter which Jacob foretold should not depart till Shiloh came belonged to the whole Nation of the Jews Secondly that appropriatively and principally it belong'd to the Tribe of Judah and upon these two hangs the truth of the Prophesie You know that which agrees with the event and success of a thing is the best interpretation of a Prophesie and upon the event it is manifest the Jews had a Governour of their own lineage from Moses until this Herod whose Father was an Edomite and his Mother an Ishmaelite That short interruption of 70 years in the Babylonish captivity is not considerable in so many hundred years but the Government at sundry ages sometimes fell to the lot of one Tribe sometimes to another From Moses to David the Judges were sometimes Ephramites sometimes Danites of Zabulon of Judah of other stocks promiscuously From David to Zedekiah 470 years the lineage of David had the preheminence from the return of the captivity to this Herod the Hasamonei or Levites sate at the stern but still he was an Israelite born and not a stranger till God appeared in the flesh All that time before it was Regnum Judaicum a Judaical Kingdom though not in the power of a man of Judah Saint Austin saw this was the safest construction Non defuit Judeorum Princeps ex ipsis Judeis usque ad Herodem alienigenam Jâ—dea did not want a Prince that was a a Jew until Herod the Foreigner usurpt upon them and before him in Eusebius days the current went that way says he The prediction of Jacob was not fulfilled while Princes lasted of the Jewish Progeny but from that time that Christ was born there were no Princes Ex Juda aut ex Judaeorum familia either of Judah or of the Jewish blood But because Jacob vented this Prophesie in the benediction of his Son Judah I will add briefly that the glory which was common to all the Jews did fall and rest principally upon the tribe of Judah To make this even you must put many considerations together their name and Nation did flourish most from that time that David a man of Judah was chosen King by God and anointed by Samuel all the Kings from him to Zedekiah for 470 years were of the same family So Judah had the most honourable time of government After they came home out of captivity 't is true that in a little while certain Levites had the principality yet still the glory was Judah's For Jacob foresaw that the whole band of Israelites that come from Babylon should be called Jews from Judah and after for ever Almost the whole Country they liv'd in was only Judah's lot and inheritance The chief Metropolis Jerusalem where the Prince resided was at first indeed in the lot of Benjamin but ever since David's conquest it fell to Judah Except the person of the Ruler all was Judah's the Scepter therefore did not depart from Judah though the person did And those Levites that commanded all were called not the Princes of Levi but of Judah therefore Judah did not lose his glory quite until Herod thrust him from it So that now the great work of the Lord was to come to pass that the Scripture might be fulfilled and Jesus was born in the days of Herod the King My Author whom I follow gives a good instance to illustrate it that the Crown of Spain is devolved by the Marriage of a female
that Herod had a Son born who was heir to the Crown they could not mean it for then they would never have made a question where he was born but have gone directly to his Fathers Palace Where should he be born else Besides all Herods Sons were grown to manly stature beside none of his children were born to any right of succession for in those days the Kingdom of Judaea was appointed to them who were most in favour with the Court of Rome But the meaning must be Where is that King of the Jews that is born That King of whom we have been told that all Nations shall worship and obey him For else what had they to do with the King of another Kingdom as St. Austin says Nisi â—am agnoscerent regem Judaeorum qui rex est etiam seculorum but that they acknowledge though Jury gave him birth yet all the world and all Ages should do him homage They do not say they came to see him upon his fame or upon any exploit that he ever yet did but upon the presages of that glorious Kingdom which should be his in time to come O the wonderful working of the Lord and O the power of his grace where he gives it an effectual blessing Some relations or traditions these Magi had had perhaps from no better hand than Balaams and his Successors with these poor means and with the help of the Star what Mysteries they pickt out of it God knows they make a better confession of their faith than the Jews did with the helps of all the Prophets Illi consitentur alienum regem isti proprium non agnoscunt yet these strangers did confess a foraign King as it were the Jews denied him though most principally he was their own They were angry to the death at Herod a stranger that he was their King now God opens them a royal way that they may have a King of their own if they will and yet they refuse him It is an argument of no small force to beat down infidelity that the heathen in most parts of the world did speak of an extraordinary King that was to come in that age and some of them directly pointed out Judea for the place Suetonius says that it stirred up the Jews to rebellion because there was a constant saying in all the Eastern Countries Perâ—rebuit in oriente toto vetus constans opinio mark it for these Wise-mens sakes Esse in fatis ut eo tempore Judaeâ profecti rerum potirentur That it was destined that about that time some should come out of Judea that should reign over all the world And that grave Author Cicero says a certain fellow whom he was angry at interpreted Sibyls verses that he whom we had or must have to be our King Appellandum esse regem si salviesse vellemus We must call him a King if we would be saved But he was no such King as Tully feared that would erect a Monarchy and destroy the liberty of the Senate I have been copious before you but lately that Christ was possessed of no temporal soveraignty in refutation that Satan shewed him all the Kingdoms of the world and said All these things will I give thee The Jews were angry with him that he would not meddle with temporal things but they themselves have lost all their temporalties for refusing him Christ was born a King as the world gave testimony in my Text and died a King as Pilate gave testimony in the title upon his Cross Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews Nor was he simply a King allotting him a spiritual Kingdom as I have lately discoursed upon it but a King of Kings anointed with the oyl of gladness above his fellows I will make him my first-born higher than the Kings of the earth Psal lxxxix 28. His Kingly Office is part of his Mediatorship by which he reconciles us to God and saves us from our sins and cloaths us with righteousness And to understand that point of faith clearly these are qualities of his Kingly Office 1. To choose out his own Subjects that is the members of his Church 2. To give them Laws to keep 3. To provide for their peace and to keep the enemy from them 4. To call all the world before him in the last and universal Judgment But that legislation the appointing of Laws to his Subjects is the most conspicuous part of that Office in this life and believe the Prophet Ezech. for it Chap. xxxvii 24. David my servant shall be King over them and they shall all have one shepherd they shall also walk in my judgments and observe my Statutes to do them You see wherein the Kingdom of the Son of David consists to give us Statutes and Judgments to do them He commands the heavens above as it seems by this Star and who are we that should not obey him Quis est iste rex tam parvus tam magnus nondum in terris loquens in coelis edicta proponens What King is this says St. Austin so little for he is but new born and yet so great an Infant that hath not yet spoken and yet his Edicts are kept in heaven We are willing and content at his Priestly office that he should die for us on the Cross and intercede for us to his Father we are willing he should be our Prophet to teach us and will you make his Kingly Office stand for a Cypher Shall he not give us Law and bind us to his Commandments That Office stands for all the rest and the Wise-men ask about it instead of all beside Where is be that is born King of the Jews So I have done with their Question And I have need to make haste to the first of their Assertions which is very copious in the contents Vidimus enim stellam ejus in oriente for we have seen his Star in the East The particulars to be inquired into are 1. What was the substance of this Star 2. How it appeared in the East 3. What aptitude there was in such a sign or miracle to bring them to Christ 4. Why it is appropriatively called his Star 5. Whether there were no secret illumination an invisible but a better star than this which made them true believers These sayings of the Wise-men troubled all Jerusalem says the next verse and no marvel for they have troubled the whole common-wealth of Learning ever since what this Star should be All Authors meet in one consent that this could be no star fix'd and remaining in the Firmament aloft for how can it be imagined that any of those heavenly lights so remote could point to one Country more than another to a little Village in that Country nay to a Stable in that Village 2. Natural Creatures are no convenient presages of the supernatural works of God Moreover they that swallow it down without mistrust that the Star went along with the Wise-men all the way from the
so notorious that all heathen Histories which toucht upon those times would have spoken of it Secondly At the ninth verse of this Chapter we read Lo the Star which they saw in the East not low the Star which ushered them through all their journey And thirdly When they came to Judea they took in at Jerusalem to seek Christ there but what probability is there that the light of God could carry them to a wrong place Thus far upon one opinion You shall now hair what some say and almost all of the best antiquity for the other conclusion Namely that the Star was their constant companion all their journey and that it rested over all places where they rested till they came to Jerusalem First As the manner of the Fathers is to illustrate the New Testament with the Old they consider that the Pillar of the cloud went along with the Children of Israel wheresoever they removed and rested in the place where they pitched their Camps but this Star attended the Gospel as thaâ— Cloud attended the Law and God was as constant in his favour to the one as to the other And some go further that an Angel of the Lord did always remove the Cloud with his motion when the Israelites marched away mine Angel shall go before thee and bring thee into the Land of the Amorites and Hittites Exod. xxiii So an Angel did move this Star from the East to Jerusalem for says St. Austin Mark how that light vanisht not away till they took in at Jerusalem Hoc non cogit motus sideris sed virtus plena rationis I will never say an inanimate Star could so guide it self but by Angelical vertue No bright Star did shine upon that City where the Scribes and stiff-necked Jews were congregated for their hearts were blind and their understanding did not see the Nativity of Christ So at his Passion there was thick darkness over all the Land of Judah for they resisted the truth and would neither know the mysteries of his Death nor of his Incarnation If this were portended it was an intelligent Star that went with the Magi all the way till they were housed in Jerusalem as the Cloud passed on before the Tribes of Israel from Mount Sinah till they came to Canaan Thus far upon collation between the Old Testament and New there are other reasons assayed to be drawn out of the Text that the Star kept way with them to their journeys end as at the ninth verse of this Chapter Loe the Star which they saw in the East went before them till it came and stood over where the Child was If it marshall'd them which way to go from Jerusalem to Bethlehem why not also from their own Country to Jerusalem At the next verse When they saw the Star they rejoyced with exceeding great joy The Scribes had told them where they should find Christ why then should they rejoyce so much to see the Star again but because it was a new thing to have it vanish Moreover the Star vanishing when they went into Jerusalem they suspected Christ might be there and askt for him but if their Leader had forsaken them as soon as ever it first shined they would have askt in many other places And by what art could they collect that a Star glaring in their eyes in the East and wagging no further should notifie unto them the Land of Judea rather than any other neighbouring Country And what skills it that all Histories are silent and take no notice that there was such a wonder in the World Though many holy things were common in those days and well known yet the Lord chose not the heathen to be witnesses of his glory and so they over-pass'd them Or perhaps the Star was visible to these Wise-men and the eyes of others were held that they should not see it John Baptist saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove upon Christ He saw it says the Text Mat. iii. 16. it is uncertain if any beside did see it Paul heard a voice from heaven but they that were with him heard it not Acts xxii 9. Or be it so that many others might behold this Star yet they knew not to what end it was sent but made some constructions of humane reason upon it wide mistakes upon heavenly tokens as when God answered Christs Prayer from heaven that He had both glorified his name and would glorifie it the people said it thundred Not to be long in this point because faith is bound to neither opinion this is sure the Star hid it self away for a time but they recovered sight of it again before their journeys end so the Spirit may draw back his comfort and illumination for a time from those that are graciously called to come to Christ their sins deserve it and God will make them more careful to stand sure because they have stumbled but at last before their journey be done before they end their days the light shall be renewed again to guide their feet into the land of the living The third question of enquiry is what aptitude there was in such a sign or miracle to bring the Wise men unto Christ Outward aptitude is not always discerned in the means of a mans Conversion nay sometimes the means used seem most repugnant to bring that end to pass Who would have imagined that the way to make a Publican a Disciple had been to call him from the receipt of Custom and quite to give over his traffique yet this wrought well with St. Matthew or that the Woman of Samaria would the sooner have believed Christ to be the Messias because she was upbraided to be a Concubine He whom thou now hast is not thy Husband yet this way did take with her These are courses to pose natural reason in the work of Regeneration But with sundry other persons the Lord did descend in a familiar way to their capacity and drew them to heaven by things that were obvious to their notion Baptism or washing often was a thing most ordinary with the Jews the more ordinary the sooner did Christ use it to be the initial Sacrament that should bring them unto life Fishermen were put into admiration of Christs power by a mighty draught of fish and the Text whereupon St. Paul preach'd to the Athenians was their own Altar of the unknown God So the Eastern Philosophers who were skilful in the Sphere and in the course of the Stars are attracted by a wonderful Star to the first taste of Christianity Vt per Christum materia erroris fieret occasiâ— salutis says St. Austin That contemplation of Stars which lead them out of the way of truth doth now bring them to him who is the way the truth and the life You see what aptitude there was in a Star to be an instrument of the conversion of these Wise-men There are other apt proportions in it which Piety and good Meditation hath framed First to shew that God
me yet they are not so uncharitable to bid Anathema to any in so disputable a point I am sure St. Austin having disputed on both sides concludes he would not strive eagerly with him that should say sins were remitted in the Baptism of John meaning it did not essentially differ from the Baptism of Christ yet I will end with this third observation that in some less principal respects the Baptism of Christ doth exceed the Baptism of John I will name five distinctions 1. In formâ verborum John baptized in the name of the Messias that came after him Acts xix 4. and it was more advantage to teach it to every of the Jews as he baptized them one by one than to proclaim it to the whole multitude But Christ bade his Disciples choose another form and for that he would not take all honour to himself it must be in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost 2. They differ in amplitudine nationum John medled with none but such as were within the Regions of Judea Christ bad his Disciples to except no people but to wash all Nations from their sins 3. Christs Baptism transcends Johns in varietate personarum for it sounds not to likelihood that John baptized Infants they could not confess their sins nor learn the doctrine of Repentance nor be taught the coming of the Messias such only came to him But Christs Baptism pertains to little ones and his spirit was poured out upon all flesh your Sons and Daughters shall Prophesie and your young men see visions 4. Christs Baptism hath the upper hand in gradibus efficaciae the Spirit is more operative in Baptism since Christ did go to his Father to send us the Comforter than ever it was before 5. It is greater than Johns baptism in modo necessitatis The Sacraments of the New Testament had the seeds of life in them from the first institution and they were good to the receiver but they were not imposed by necessary commandment till the old Law was quite abolished and that was at the Resurrection says Leo or at the farthest in other mens opinions at the feast of Pentecost So Johns baptism was always good never necessary Christs baptism is always good is and ever will be necessary unto the end of the world These are less principal differences the substance of both being the same for one thing yet remains to be proposed that the Baptism of John opened the gate unto everlasting life as some have shewed by an Allegorical reason taken from the place where John did baptize Christ in Jordan says this Text not a private dipping in a Chamber and of all other places of Jordan it was Bethabara Joh. i. 28. which is being interpreted Domus transitus the house of passing over even in all likelihood where Joshuah divided Jordan and passed over into the Land of Promise this is the circumstance of place which I propounded the fortunate seat where this work was done to betoken that as Joshuah brought the twelve Tribes at that very standing through the River into that pleasant Land which was promised to Abraham so Jesus will bring us through the sprinkling of water into the Kingdom of heaven AMEN THE SECOND SERMON UPON THE Baptism of our Saviour MAT. iii. 14. But John forbad him saying I have need to be baptized of thee and comest thou to me IN which Text you may see that ancient Sentence verified how an ambitious man is afraid left too little honour be cast upon him and an humble man is afraid of too much Our blessed Saviour saw multitudes of Penitents coming to John to be baptized and to confess their sins Among these people whose iniquities stood in need of cleansing he steps in for one into the River Jordan not to receive Sanctification unto himself but to sanctifie the waters unto others O exceeding dignity far above all honour that ever was vouchsafed to any Prophet for to which of them was it said at any time Dip thine hand in water and anoint the head of my Son And therefore Christ was pleased to give this Character of John that he was more than a Prophet More than a Prophet not only in the Office which he sustained to be the immediate fore-runner of the Messias but more than any Prophet or Patriarch in the expression of his humility Jacob wrestled with God but it was to get a blessing from his Angel he would not be denied John the Baptist wrestles with the Son of God to decline the blessing which was brought before him and fain he would be denied His hand shrunk up and durst not attempt to pour water upon his head who is the immortal head of the Church visible and invisible both of men and Angels He thought it no sin to disobey when he was required to such a work which in his eyes appeared far too excellent for any creature Therefore conceive him modestly starting back and making this reply to our Saviour Lord why dost thou tempt thy servant Why wouldst thou put the Potter into the hand of the Clay What is it to thee to be dipt in water Whose precious Bloud shall wash away all sins and mine in the reckoning among the rest Behold this exact humility more than any Prophet exprest how John forbad him to be baptized saying I have need to be baptized c. The matter of the Text may be handled in these three several Points 1. The Baptist did declare how jealous he was of Gods honour therefore the Text says he forbad Christ to come under the Ministry of a Sacrament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he would fain have put him by thinking it ignoble for the Lord of all Lords to descend so low 2. He disables himself and makes profession of his own vileness and infirmity I have need to be baptized of thee 3. He ends with the admiration of his Saviours humility And comest thou to me Yet again I will consider him in the exercise of the three spiritual vertues Faith Hope and Charity 1. He believed this was the Christ as soon as ever he saw him and that made him interpose to forbid him stoop so low as to be baptized there was his faith 2. He confesseth that he relies upon him to be baptised with his Spirit and to be saved through his merits there is his hope Lastly he breaks out into an extasie of admiration as soon as ever he saw him like old Simeon that sung a Canticle for joy Comest thou to me O thou expectation of the World O thou desire of our eyes There was his ardent love these are his Faith his Hope his Love and remember that every tittle of his praise is the rule of your practise Set your attentions now upon the first part of the Text that John was jealous of our Saviours honour and forbad him to be baptized The interpretation of the word certainly is not so harsh as it may be thought to
be in the strict Grammatical sense to forbid according to the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to thrust back with the hand as I would derive it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to push away with the arm or some member of the body But I cannot I must not suspect John of such rudeness I incline much rather to the moderation of the gloss Non negat simpliciter sed deprecatur He did not stubbornly deny his Master what he bad him do but fearfully and with reverence declined him In the story of the old Church we find that some renowned men being called to the Office of a Bishop hid themselves out of the way some debased themselves in writing as most unfit for such a calling nay some disfigured certain parts of their body whereas the ancient Canons admitted none to that place but such as had perfect limbs and straight proportion yet they were not accused for this that they contemned the authority of the Emperour but they were rather noted for a great deal of modesty that they set themselves far under that esteem which the world had of them So this unwillingness in John to baptize our Saviour was not a countermand against his offer but a pleading with God that his Ministry deserved not to be so highly exalted You may parallel this action with Moses when he excused himself that he was not eloquent enough to speak to Pharaoh with Jeremy when he laid open his own imperfections that he had not the graces of a Prophet Ah Lord behold I cannot speak for I am a child With the Centurion that laid a bar in Christs way when he was coming to his house I am not worthy thou shouldst come under my roof Finally with Peter Luk. v. who thought such company as himself not to be meet for the Son of God Depart from me Lord for I am a sinful man One comparison more with St. Peter in another place will fit our turn exactly Joh. xiii 6. Lord says he dost thou wash my feet No thou shalt never wash my feet This were very audacious to oppose his own will against our Saviours but that no man knows how bold humility may be with God and give no offence Upon this very instance S. Ambrose excuseth both John and Peter for their meaning was not pertinacious to remove Christ from his intended purpose but to withdraw themselves because of their own unworthiness And I had much rather take this distinction than be their accuser Non crat inobedientia sed humilitatis pavor It proceeded not from disobedience but from the abashment of humility Michol was ashamed of Davids dancing that man should humble himself so much before God Now the opposite to her scorhful folly must be very good in John who is ashamed that God should humble himself so much before man Shall the Clay say unto the Potter What is it that thou hast made me thus No that were presumption But may not the Clay say unto the Potter Why hast thou made thy self thus Yes that is reverence and humility Therefore Peter pluckt away his feet from his Master as who should say Dost thou stoop to wash my feet to whom all things in heaven and in earth do bow and obey It was fit for an honest servant to have such a consideration Therefore John Baptist likewise trembled to dip his hands in water and to sprinkle it upon the Lamb of God As who should say in St. Ambrose words Tu venis ad me peccatorem Dost thou come to me a sinful man as if thou wouldst lay down thy sins and knowst no sin Did it not become a Prophet to make a scruple before he entred into such an action It is an excellent judgment that St. Bernard gives on both parts Magna utringue humilitas sed nulla comparatio quomodo enim non humiliaretur homo coram humili Deo A great vie of humility on both sides between Christ and John Yet both being truly censured John is no way comparable with Christ for it is not strange to see a creature cast himself down before his God when God did first drink of that cup and began to cast himself down before man The emulations of men are foolish and we contend for the most part who shall exceed another in vanity and of many of us it may be said as once it was of two great Roman Ladâ—â—â— Non minùs vitiis quam aliae virtutibus emulabantur They strived as much which should be most vitious as other chaste ones did which should be most vertuous Not so this excellent Prophet who did aspire to imitate the Son of God in humility and thought it the best part of Religion to be fearful of presumption As Tertullian spake what a strict care he had not to offend Timeo ab omnibus indulgentiis Domini mei I am afraid to accept of all that licence which God hath given me So John Baptist was so afraid leâ—t he should be exalted above measure that he thrust back that honour which the Lord himself imposed upon him He that will strive with God that he may not be too much lifted up I believe such a one would be easily perswaded to make no dissention in the Church for the defence of his own meritorious righteousness Nay if God himself shall speak to his praise I do not say to attribute strict merit to his work but if God shall give him testimony I was hungry and thou gavest me meat I was naked and thou didst cloath me in this the Lord pardon him if he deny it modestly When did I see thee hungry Or when did I see thee naked I must not omit to give you this observation into the reckoning John had pass'd the whole course of his life with an even obedience stuck at nothing though never so hard and austere this one instance in my Text excepted wherein he was loath to yield He was content to converse with beasts in the solitary Wilderness he thought he had enough when he made his meal of Locusts and wild honey His rough hairy garments were fit enough and fine enough in his opinion Imprisonment and death in a good cause were as welcom to his heart as life and liberty He that was obedient and pleased in all this can there be any thing so much against his mind that God should ask him twice to do it Yes he knew not what to make of our Saviours offer to come to him to be baptized for doubtless the lesser is blessed by the greater in this he was scrupulous And he that never flincht for abundance of misery there can be hurt in that knew not how to entertain this glory which was put upon him there may be danger in that and it could not displease that he was jealous for Gods honour but he forbad him saying I have need c. The zeal which we have seen in John that Gods excellency be not diminished leads us to the consideration
to offer him up for an whole burnt Offering I conceive very well what a straight Abraham was in and that the bowels of nature were never at such a quandary what to do Yet he yielded at the first warning and said it should be done But this trial wherein Christ assayed what his fore-runner would do when he came to be baptized is more perplexful a great deal God proved his servant Abraham what he would do for his bidding with a mortal Son that must die Here God proves John Baptist what he will do to his own immortal Son by whom he made the worlds And to take away the life of Isaac was nothing so hard a case of demur as to make the least abatement from the glory of Christ When God offered so much was it not very disputable with man to bethink him how to take But howsoever this was the greatest appearence of scruple that could be imagined yet I must lay my hand upon my mouth and say with Job How should man contend with the Almighty The way of the Lord is equal though the best Saints on earth may fail in their judgment and know not how to find it out As none of the men of Timnah could guess at the meaning of Samsons Riddle but Samson himself revealed it so none could interpret the paradox of Christ why he would be baptized but Christ himself Suffer it to be so now For thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness So much as I shall narrate to you of this Story at this time consists of these two parts in general 1. How John Baptist lost himself in a doubt And comest thou to me 2. How Christ helps him out of it And Jesus answering c. John makes a question of that which Christ commanded Christ commands him again and puts it out of question The doubt of John is no pertinacious error but an admiration mixt of love and humility Comest thou to me Our Saviour accordingly deals gently with him not with the least check to betray any offence but after these two ways Sicut Dominus imperans sicut Preceptor docens First As his Lord he lays his strict command upon him Suffer it to be so now Secondly As his Preceptor he teacheth him cause for if For thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness His power to say the word and impose upon him had sufficed but he gives him reason likewise for his better satisfaction These are the particulars to be handled It is the small pittance which remains of my Text since last day how the Prophet hath lost himself in admiration Comest thou to me At which words I am now to enter my Treatise and shall soon dispatch them John puts his speech into a form of wonder how could he do less When he saw the Lord of heaven and earth put himself into the form of a sinner and into the condition of a servant Do you ever read in the Gospel that the Angels brought tidings of his low estate that he would be made flesh but that they cry out in their Preface Ecce behold as if they could not utter the message without admiration Faith is nothing else but a long continued astonishment which knows not how to utter it self because the Lord hath done such marvellous things for us But above all this exinanivit seipsum this exinanition and making himself almost nothing for our sakes it puzzles them most who are best able to consider it Something we would fain say to it and when we have brought it forth it 's nothing but wonder and exclamation So did Elizabeth the mother of this Prophet Whence is it that the mother of my Lord doth come unto me So doth the Prophet himself break forth when the undefiled came to the waters of cleansing Comest thou to me Dost thou wash my feet Says Peter to his Lord. Quis dicere poterit quantum inter hoc Tu illud mihi intersit discriminis says St. Austin O how far are those two words remote one from another Thou the great Jehovah and I an abject worm and dost thou wash my feet The self-same infinite odds John Baptist acknowledgeth between himself and the Messias The breadth of the earth may be measured the height of heaven may be taken but the distance between these two terms cannot be fathomed Thou and I Thou an incomprehensible God and I a small fragment of thy works And comest thou to me And let me add this to the rest John Baptist had greater reason than Peter to cry out at our Saviours humiliation and to say to this effect What meanest thou Lord This shape of a servant doth not become thee for Peter had seen long trial before that Christ was made poor that we might be made rich and made himself of no account that we might be exalted but John was put upon the first proof of all hence he began to depress himself and to communicate of those things which sinners did when he came to be baptized in Jordan Besides it is a greater sign of infirmity to come as it were to be cleansed among the polluted than to take the office to cleanse the defiled therefore it was a greater argument of humility to come to be wash'd in Baptism than to take a Towel and girt himself withal and to wash his Apostles feet It was no small thing therefore that made John Baptist speak like an astonisht man Comest thou to me Thus you see how not only an ordinary person such as we are but a great Prophet whose stile above all others was the Friend of the Bridegroom such a one may loose himself not only by searching into the height of Gods glory but by meditating likewise upon the depth of his humility St. Chrysostom says John Baptist should have taken the rise of his admiration a little further off not from the Baptism but from the Nativity of our Saviour The wonderful abasement was that the infinite God would be made a miserable man all other parts of humiliation fall in sweetly because he would be made in the form of sinful flesh When you consider how he would be inclosed in a Virgins womb be tempted be despised be buffeted be crucified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among so many sorrows and contempts never marvel if he would be baptized There were four things that might seem doubtful to John but to which of them may not a most answerable satisfaction be given according to the mystery of our Redemption which Christ had undertaken 1. Comest thou As who should say I am thy Messenger to go before thy face Why didst thou not send for thy servant but hast come unto him Let it suffice to say to this that the Sacraments must not be commanded except in case of necessity to wait upon us at home but we must come to them behold as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their Masters and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her Mistris
before us Try all things and prove your own heart if you understand which way you walk unto the Lord. Ephraim feedeth on the wind and followeth after the East wind wherein the Prophet deciphers them that know not what they seek after or at least how they would comprehend it Some eat and drink their own damnation because they discern not the Lords body they come by custom to the Table of the Lord not with solemn and faithful preparation these are not led by the Spirit Some lay their hand to this Plow to preach the Kingdom of Christ but never bethought them seriously what it was to bear the Ark of God upon their shoulders they took the Priests Office upon them only for the hire and wages but never examined whether they were inwardly called these were not led by the Spirit The Widows in St. Pauls days who were to continue in supplications night and day these were not to be taken into that Society which attended the Church under threescore years of age and such as had been diligent in every good work In after Ages out of more presumption than due care some were accepted to take the vow of continency upon them at the age of forty Others more dangerously admitted Virgin Votaries at the age of twenty five And now every youngling at the age of fourteen is solemnly received to be incloystered in an unmaried estate for ever before they know the hazard of their own frailty the iron bondage of such a Vow or how to avoid the continual tentations of most discontenting melancholy these took their snare upon them by fond enticements and ignorant devotion they were not led by the Spirit This was St. Ambrose his reason of this phrase 2. The next owes it self to St. Hilary Non aliter tentatus est quà m spiritûs permissu auxilio He was led by the Spirit that is he maintained this quarrel against the Devil by the permission and assistance of the Holy Spirit The Holy Ghost is not an idle Spectator but a party that leads us by the hand and holds up our hands to conquer these Amalekites as Aaron and Hur held up the hands of Moses The Apostles were like things shut up that durst not come abroad till they were filled with the Spirit that had no heart to offer themselves to the trial of any affliction but kept out of the way But in Gods help as David says they leapt over the wall and ventured forth out of that narrow imprisonment and to make some satisfaction for that privacy when they lived as recluses they travelled boldly through all places of the world baptizing all Nations in the name of the Lord Jesus What durst they not do for the honour of God when they were led by the Spirit The Children of Israel made no scruple to pitch their Tents within the borders of their enemies if the Pillar of cloud did remove before them so wheresoever the grace of God doth carry a man Gods glory being his undoubted end without all vain delusions and carnal reservations he may be bold to venture As we read of Sampson that before he did those great and heroical exploits against the Philistines he was possessed with the Spirit of the Lord and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him when he slew a thousand of the Philistines with the jaw-bone of an Ass Judg. xv 14. So it holds in the works of Regeneration Patience Obedience denying of our selves taking up the Cross of Christ mortifying the body of Sin these cannot be done unless the Spirit of the Lord do move upon us But according to the method of the Psalm first we must trust in God to pluck our feet out of the snare before he lead us in the right way and set us upon a rock of stone where we shall not be moved First lead us not into tentation that is leave us not to our selves and then bear us on Eagles wings and bring us to himself Exod. xix 4. We do not so much deprecate in the Lords Prayer that we should not come near the assault of any tentations as that we may not be drawn into the midst of them and there left unto our selves Most excellently the Apostle Heb. xiii 20. The God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus through the bloud of the everlasting Covenant he will bring us out of the Pit-falls of the Devil that is implied for it follows he will make us perfect in every good work to do his will Aristotle hath a rule in his Rhetoriques how that must needs be an excellent thing which the worst men desire they may seem to have though they want it As liberality must needs be a graceful vertue for few are so sordidly covetous but that they love to be accounted liberal So the guidance of the divine Spirit necessarily must be the most laudable principle of all humane actions for there is not so palpable an hypocrite that will confess he was led by his own Concupiscence or seduced by his Passions no he will pretend it is the fear of God and his Conscience that doth lead him in all things What wonder if Christian Hypocrites have such conceits For the King of Assyria a Most prophane Blasphemer thought it was the best way to make the same pretension when he came to pluck down the living God Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it The Lord said to me go up against this Land to destroy it And I would it were not the disgrace of these times that many such live among us who have their secret stratagems and desires to make havock of the small revenue of the Church and to pluck down the glory and dignity of it but with the same ungodly flourish that the King of Assyria made We are led by the Spirit the Lord said unto us go and destroy this as they most impudently and ignorantly call it Superstition I will give them the Prophet Ezekiels woe for their reward Ezek. xiii 3. Thus saith the Lord God woe unto the foolish Prophets that follow their own Spirit and have seen nothing These are led on by their fury to bring to pass the works of the evil one not led by the Spirit as our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Arch-leader was to overcome the tentations of the Devil The third reason is out of St. Chrysostoms Quiver and I cannot exceed beyond that at this time Non simpliciter profectus sed abductus God did inspire the Evangelists to write in this manner how Christ was led when he went into temptation rather than that he went of himself simply without more addition because no man should offer himself rashly and voluntarily to be tempted unless God did put some constraint and impulsion upon him It is a most cautilous note if you observe it for take the matter right and consider Christ in himself alone without respect of leaving an example
such excellent things which we cannot attain to perform that we may be excited to pray unto him for succour with a vehement and a flagrant devotion 4. He commands and he fulfils and he rewards crowning his own gifts and no works of ours that glory may be ascribed to his name for evermore The Synodal Epistle of all the Affrican Bishops St. Austin being one of the Society encourages me that these answers are far more reasonable than the objection Jubet Deus homini ut velit sed Dominus in homine operatur velle jubet ut facias sed operatur facere He hath charged us to will that which is good but he effecteth that willingness in man he says Do and thou shalt live his grace enables thee to do and thou shalt live for ever Let this suffice to teach you how we are led by the Holy Spirit in converting grace and I think it most comfortable to put our hope in God and not in our selves Cursed is every one that putteth his trust in man Jer. xvii 5. To dispach all I will be brief in the fifth Point how we are led by subsequent grace and sanctification which co-operates and assists us after our conversion this is that truth wherein all dissensious parts conjoyn and accord That Voluntas liberata concurrit ad bonum opus eliciendum cum gratiâ divinâ the will of man having conquered the dominion of sin by converting grace is made free and then it freely conjoyns it self with Gods grace to produce a good effect Then it lies upon our own diligence never wanting the directing vertue of the Spirit to increase the good gifts of Sanctification by acts of often doing well then we do further and promote those holy inspirations to a plentiful or unplentiful increase This is not passively to be led by the Spirit but to walk in the Spirit as it is Gal. v. 16. Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh In a word this distinction reacheth over all which can be said upon this matter There are some actions which principally concern the well being of a justified man without which regeneration cannot consist these are they the turning of the heart to God a true belief a faithful conclusion of our life in the fear of God and the peace of a good conscience justifying grace doth so attend the production of these actions that the Lord in his own good time makes us able for these things willing to do and actually to perfect those necessary parts of salvation Other works of obedience as to do this or that good to shun this or that evil all these especilly and particularly considered do not concur to our saving health as to the very making or marring of it In the practice of all these particular good instances the motions and conduct of the Spirit are never wanting to them that are regenerate more or less but sufficient to have kept them blameless in every particular but in many of these we sin often and are wanting to the co-operation of grace through our own stubbornness in the will and sensuality in the affections I will conclude You see how diversly we are led by the Spirit how many sundry ways we are assoiled from Sin and Satan by the direction and efficacy of grace The natural man is able of himself to bring forth no spiritual good work The Lord doth totally and with no assistance of vitiated nature bring forth the first good preparatory grace in the will From thenceforth unto conversion this previous preparatory grace is made effectual or uneffectual by mans free-will In the act of conversion and renovation wherein all the controversie about free-will is moved the Lord doth turn our heart unto himself the will for the act being the passive subject and at the same instant it is the cause of a good action in turning it self to God in subsequent grace unto the end of our life the will being made free from the dominion of sin works together with the motions of celestial inspiration This is the sum of all If any thing be delivered too briefly impute it to the compass of the time If any thing be hard to be conceived impute it to the deep discourse of the matter If any thing be defective in the discourse give Gods grace the glory of all and impute it to my infirmity THE FOURTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 1 2. Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights he was afterwards an hungry MAny things were rightly applied by him that compared the success of the Children of Israel upon their entrance into the Land of Canaan with the circumstances of this combate between Christ and Satan 1. the Israelites were miraculously brought through the Red Sea so the first glorious Apparition of our Saviour which went immediately before this business was the Baptism which he received of John in Jordan 2. The Israelites pass from the Red Sea into a great and solitary Wilderness So our Saviour was led after his Baptism into the greatest Wilderness of Judaea a place uninhabited by man for he was with the wild beasts Mar. i. 13. Then the Israelites were in great distress for foot hungry and thirsty their soul fainted in them And Christ had nothing to eat in that place he fasted forty days and forty nights and was afterward an hungry 4. As the Israelites were pined with hunger so they had bloudy Wars with all the Nations of Canaan many a time have they fought against me might Israel then say So many a time did the Legions of Hell attempt me might our Lord and Saviour say yea many times did the powers of darkness compass me about but they have not prevailed against me On the one side here was first the Red Sea then a journey into the Wilderness then scarcity of Food then War and fighting So on the other side here was first a Baptism then a sequestring into the Wilderness then a long Fast and then a long conflict with the Prince of Devils Moreover the men of Israel did appear in that forlorn and despicable fashion before the Canaanites that they were much scorn'd and vilified so God provided we seemed in their sight but as Grashoppers said Caleb and Josuah this drew the Kings of Canaan forth to beat them back and so were overwhelmed in their own pride and cruelty Thus in all points did our Saviour deal with Satan the Eternal wisdom against the wisdom of the Serpent He flies into the Wilderness as one abandoned of the World there he continues in great necessity as one whom none would succour not a morsel of food supplied him by God or man Adversarium non virtutis jactatione sed infirmitatis ostentione provocat thus he provokes and draws Satan out against himself not by a boasting challenge but by the appearance of
own sake and not for Gods sake he hates him Honours and affluency of all store are not contrary to Christianity nay many times God gives the one with the other and they agree together well enough But if not there is the trial whether we will be mercenary or no. What said the three generous Captives to Nebuchadonosor Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us out of thine hand and will deliver us but if not be it known unto thee we will not serve thy Gods that is no worship will we afford save to the Lord of Heaven though it cost us our life These were right that look'd to save nothing by their Religion but their soul Godliness is great gain says the Apostle for it gains a man in this life joy and tranquility of Spirit that he hath done that duty which belongs to his soul It is the punishment of sin for a man to know he hath sinned and to remember it to his torment so a good deed is rewarded that you can say you did it Sanctitas praemium est sancè operantis therefore follow not the Lord for the prey you look for for bread as Satan would have you the Kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink therefore where there is scarcity of all things let there be plenty of righteousness Before I come off from this Point let not one word which Jacob did speak stumble you Gen. xxviii 20. Jacob vowed a vow if God will be with me and keep me in my way and will give me bread to eat and rayment to put on then shall the Lord be my God Beloved it were a gross error to take Jacobs words absolutely as if he would have the Lord keep Covenant to give him bread and rayment or else he would not serve him What more sordid than those words in this sense Or more unworthy of Jacob But the words have respect to a Vow and to a particular worship of God as it is verse xxii First He would set up that stone for a Pillar that it might be as a Temple where the Lord should be worshipped And secondly He would give the tenth unto God of all he had He doth only covenant to sanctifie these particularities of Divine Worship to Jehovah if he found prosperity and relief in that dangerous journey Therefore I conclude this Point in defiance of Satan we must be the obedient children of God though we want bread and the most righteous are in scarcity sometimes that they may not seem to serve for an earthly reward Secondly God doth not suppeditate bread always to him that is his Son that he may loath this World and look for a recompence for all this misery not among these hard-hearted generations of men but among the habitations of the blessed Say to the righteous it shall be well with him for they shall eat the fruit of their doings Isa iii. 10. As Philostratus tells of one that desired his Son might not be Musical and therefore sent him to learn of the worst Musicians in the City that their scraping and jarring might make him not care to learn it So God provides for many whom he loves nothing but the harshness and worst entertainment of this world that they may learn to loath it Cujus bonitas non specie praesentium sed futurorum utilitate pensanda est says St. Ambrose Estimate the fatherly goodness of the Almighty not by the austere education wherewith he holds us under in this life but by the amplitude of our Patrimony in his Kingdom hereafter The beggary of vertue is grown a Proverb the Martyrology of the Saints is grown a Volume the felicity of their enemies is grown a wonder Mirabor hoc si sic abiret It is impossible but there must be another reckoning for these things the patient abiding of the meek shall not always be forgotten But as Christ said to his Disciples so may these to their enemies that have trod them under We have meat to eat that you wot not of And as Elisha said to one of the braveries of Samaria that God would fill the City with great plenty but he should be never the better Videbis sed non gustabis So may Lazarus say to the remorseless Glutton Thou shalt see the banquet which is set before me but thou shalt never taste of it The voluptuous had so much set upon their Table in the first course now that they shall never have a second Nemo transit à deliciis ad delicias rarò quisquam in hôc seculo primus est in secundo There were no alteration in the condition of naughty men if they could pass out of this life from pleasure to pleasure but many times he that is the Favourite of Fortune here shall be the least in the Kingdom of heaven that is shall be quite excluded from thence hereafter The Heathen in their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did never deifie a poor man indeed they would allow it to some of their Kings and Princes that they became Stars in the Firmament and would call the Constellations after their names but they could not see whither the poor harmless man goes to a place above the Stars and where they shall shine above the Stars in glory Take courage therefore to say It is my turn to want for a while I shall be replenished hereafter he filleth the hungry with good things and the rich shall be sent empty away Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things when thy youth is renewed like the Eagles Psal ciii 5. There is a Mystery says St. Austin in joyning them two together for there is no satisfaction of good things for the righteous man untill his youth be renewed like the Eagles meaning the last Resurrection when God shall be all in all The upshot is that the Sons of God may be dear unto their Father and yet want bread for though our wages be small upon earth yet great is our reward in heaven Thirdly Though this Son of God to whom the Devil spake our blessed Saviour were innocent and yet suffered so many sorrows that hunger was the least not for any evil in himself but for our iniquities yet the best in the world beside are rebellious children and sometimes God breaks the staff of bread for their sins and whips them with the mild chastising of want and scarcity as he did the Prodigal Son to bring them home again Praestat sentire lenitatem patris quà m severitatem judicis Is it not better to feel the scourge of a Father to amend us than the Axe of a Judge to cut us off Is it not better with Lazarus to want the crums of the rich mans Table here than with the rich man to want a drop of water hereafter to cool his Tongue in hell fire If thou do evil says God to Cain sin lies at the door From whence some do truly meditate so long as an impenitent man continues in this world he
labour and not provide them honest fare to strengthen them when they follow their Masters negotiations Says Christ to the Seventy Disciples When I sent you forth without Scrip or Shooes or Money did you want any thing They answered not any thing for they went upon their Masters Message and they liv'd upon that word which proceeded out of the mouth of God The Priests indeed that serve at the Altar are to live by the Altar in their case it will be granted that they shall live by that word which proceedeth out of the mouth of Christ but it sorts as well to those that supply any other honest Vocation which God hath allotted if they will bound their desires to moderate sufficiency and not to supersluity Socrates an Heathen could cry out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he suffered extreme poverty for defending the Worship of God as well as he could against the Idolatry of the Heathen so much more the true Champions of Christs honour may take up the same complaint yet the Lord is innocent of the bloud of those just men he never failed to afford them a sufficient vital proportion if their enemies would let them enjoy it The Heathen Morals are like the base Court by which we have the next entrance to the glorious Courts of God and those Heathen conject their shot to the use of this Point in a Story or a Fable which you will Comates a young Shepherd tended the Flocks of a hard Master but the Stock increased exceedingly under his hand for Comates sacrificed one Ram every month to his God to preserve the Cattel which damage being known to the Owner the churlish man imprisoned him in a hollow tree with intention to starve him But his God provided for him that the weeping of the tree should quench his thirst and that Bees should swarm in the hollow trunk with the help of the Honey-Combs Comates kept life which being perceived the anger of his Master relented Godliness hath the promise of this life and of a better says St. Paul And this tradition of the Jews to which I am credulous doth confirm it You know in 2 King iv there is a Widow much in debt whose Sons should have been sold for bondmen but Elisha multiplied her Pot of Oyl into many Vessels which yielded sufficient moneys to satisfie her Creditors This woman says the Text ver 1. was a Wife to one of the Prophets and she tells Elisha he knew that her husband feared the Lord. The Jews say this woman was the Wife of Obadiah who at his own cost and peril kept the Prophets of the Lord in Caves and fed them at his own charge so long that all his means were wasted This may be for Obadiah could not choose but be at great expence and was not only a keeper of the Prophets but a Prophet himself and see how the Lord did ransom his Sons from slavery by a mighty Miracle it was Gods pleasure Obadiah should cherish his Servants and he would not suffer him or his Posterity to be losers by their Piety There are such that do not set themselves on work according to the word which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord and as for them need and wretchedness shall vex their souls There are runnagates says David that shall continue in scarceness Let me put you in mind of a runnagate bred in our Kingdom one upon whom God did let his anger fall for a thousand Lies Forgeries Rebellions Calumnies it was the Romish Priest Sanders whose brains beat at nothing but to dishonour a Royal Queen a true Religion and to set the whole Realm of Ireland in combustion This Cative says the most learned Historiographer of this Kingdom being disapointed and forsaken ran mad and wild into the fastnesses of the woods and there ended his life in most miserable famine So says he that Divine Justice closed up that mouth with Famine which was ever open to slanders and rebellions for Letters and Orations were found about him being dead to stir up treasons and seditions God can nourish by every word that proceedeth out of his mouth and they that walk not after his word but would root it out shall perish in their scarcity The hour passing away calls for the third Proposition which is Nothing can nourish unless God bless it for man liveth not by the bread only which he cheweth in his mouth but by that word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God to bless it and give it the vertue of sustenance As if Christ had said Though these stones miraculously be made bread yet hunger would continue if God were displeased at it All the sustenance in the world shall not nourish if he curse it When a fruitful Land becomes barren and a fat soyl well tilled and sowed doth not yield increase every man will be ready to take up Davids Psalm It is for the wickedness of them that dwell therein Like Sodom and Gomorrah like Abnah and Zeboim where not any grass groweth but the whole Land is Brimstone and Salt and Burning Deut. xxix 23. And why will you not mark as well how God chastiseth some for their secret sins so that their food gives them no strength but they pine away in the midst of plenty God gave bread to the Israelites but sent leanness withal into their soul So Haggai upbraided the people Ye eat but ye have not enough ye drink but ye are not filled It is the grace of God which gives meat in due season so that health and comfort go together with it And heretofore I have used this similitude to give it light Sometimes when we apply Physick for any disease we are bid to seeth such and such herbs in running water and then to drink the water If this help us we all know it was not the water which did the sick man good but the decoction of the infusion So it is not bread or drink considered barely in it self which doth nourish the body but the blessing of God infused into it Daniel and the three Children of the Captivity that were with him prospered better with Pulse and water than any of the Babylonians with the continual portion of the Kings meat What was Adam the better for eating the forbidden fruit Or were the Jews one whit the worse in health and good plight because many sorts of meats were interdicted them As the Land of Canaan was made double fruitful every sixth year and brought forth a double proportion by the blessing of heaven because in the seventh year it lay fallow So where Gods benediction is upon you though the poor have but a little yet every morsel shall have a double benediction The hungry shall be filled with good things and the rich shall be sent empty away Therefore look up to heaven and give thanks as the little birds do when they sip a drop of water If thou obeyest the Lord thou shalt be blessed in the City and blessed
of the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is sometimes Simpliciter assumere not Assumptum transferre barely to take along in company not to transport or transpose in the taking as Christ took up Peter and James and John into the Mountain where he was transfigured that is he made them his Associates but their own feet did bear them The Verb indeed will bear both significations and more fit a great deal that in this place it should bear the latter and not the former For first the great Wilderness which is generally allowed for the place where our Saviour was tempted is distant from Jerusalem a journey of two days supposing all the way should be trod on foot now all the three tentations were dispatch'd in part of one for Christ fasted forty days and no longer and the Tempter did not settle to his work till upon the end of the Fast Secondly If Christ had gone up stairs to the top of the Temple what means the Scripture to say that the Devil set him on a Pinacle Or thirdly with what authority or favour did our Lord get up unto the top of that holy place since none but the Priests came so far as into the Temple or sanctuary and the people were admitted no further than the outward Porch Fourthly If there had been stairs to ascend to the Pinacle and Christ had pass'd up that way then there had been no colour for this presumptuous Proposition Cast thy self down c. the answer had been very obvious no I will return back the same way I came I forsake this opinion therefore because it cannot be defended against these objections that Christ did only go along with Satan to the holy City The third opinion which being opened and inlarged will much better shew the mischief and subtilty of this tentation is thus Then Satan did transport our Lord from the Desart wherein he fasted to the highest Battlements of the Sanctuary This will appear hard at the first to the infirmity of some Auditors So Gregory did suppose it would trouble some when he wrote the truth Aures humanae audire expavescant Some mens ears for a while will be unwilling to hear it till the scruples be removed But when you shall understand how much the patience the wisdom the power of Christ did surmount hereby how at every turn he over-reacht Satan in his own contrivances you will grant the Exposition to be sound delightful and profitable Mark I beseech you doth it appear a thing not to be assented unto that Christ would fly through the Air with Beelzebub the greatest enemy of God That seems uncouth but this will allay the horror of it Remember Satan was permitted at this time to use all his engines to provoke our Saviour to sin if Christ had refused him to cut a passage through the Air with him as far as the principal Pinacle of the Temple it would have left him confident that our Lord durst not hazard himself to that tentation Let him do the best he can or he will never confess himself utterly conquered Nemo victus est quandiu pugnare vult No body is quite beaten as long as he offers to fight again and if he were not beaten at all his own weapons the wicked Fiend would say he had not lost all his glory Origen therefore brings in the Devil to say you have well answered about my Proposition for making bread of stones but will your courage serve you to go with me to the highest Tower of the Temple And then in his phrase Christ answers Duc quò vis tenta ut placet sustineo quae suggesseris Come your ways I will not stay behind see I am ready for you at all suggestions What ready to be put into his hands and be carried Even so says Gregory it was his Fathers will and his own patience and humility Quid mirum est si se permisit ab illo duci qui se pertulit ab ejus membris crucifigi It is nothing strange to adventure himself to be taken up by Satan knowing by his own power and vertue his passage should be safe when as none will deny but he suffered himself to be led to Caiaphas to Pilate to Herod to Mount Golgotha by those that were the members of the Divel to be buffeted to be scourged to be crucified Now this opinion certainly seems not rigid to the understanding Auditor and yet to mollifie it more St. Chrysostome and many his learned followers say this miscreant came not to Christ in his own most ugly Diabolical shape but was now transformed into such a glorious humane shape as the Angels of light were wont to assume when they came from God And upon this fair appearance he closeth with him The Angels of God are your guard and custody and loe I am an Angel of light that will conduct you with all diligence and tenderness This is the first deception which Satan swallowed he thought he was so perfectly trasfigured that Christ did not know him like the Ass in the Fable having put on a Lions skin he thought the Countrymen would not know him by his long ears but our Saviour let his enemy play with his new disguise as if he pass'd without discovery O how easie it is for the sharpest wit when it would be wiser than God to be more ignorant than a beast God did open the eyes of Balaams Ass to know a true Angel then what should hinder the Son of God to know a counterfeit But secondly Is not this a matter to be stumbled at To be taken up and born away implies a kind of power and superiority in him that beareth another for his vertue must exceed the others As the Angel had authority over Philip when he lifted him suddenly from Gaza in the Desart to Azotus Acts viii And Habakkuk was in subjection to that Angel who took him up by the hair of the head and carried him into Babylon Beloved All such transportations are not alike some earthly bodies indeed are removed miraculously and violently from one place to another conferring no vertue of their own to the motion but suffer themselves to be moved by some spiritual efficacy applied unto them as in the fore-named instances of Habakkuk and Philip and in Paul who was wrapt up he knew not how into the third heavens Again some bodies make use of another thing to bear them as a Chariot or any Instrument so the Psalmist says of God himself that he came flying upon the wings of the wind and in this sense St. Austin justifies that Christ was neither violently nor imperiously carried by Satan but moved himself by his own vertue and let the Devil assist as an Instrument Says the Father Si dicas meliores sunt qui portant quam qui portantur ergo jumenta meliora sunt hominibus If you litigate that the bearer is better than him that is born then you shall confess that the beast is better
than the man that rides him And in this circumstance likewise Satan was egregiously cozened to his exceeding contumely for when Christ permitted himself to be lifted up from the earth it seemed to Satan that it was his strength and power which carried him away and though much unwilling to be caught up in that wise yet being an impotent man he could not help it Thus the evil Spirit was deluded to ascribe that to his own power that came to pass by the hand of God Like the Fly in the Fable sitting upon the Axeltree of the Cart when it was moved apace took it to it self that the Cart was driven so fast and cries out see what a dust I make So this evil Angel either took up Christ in his hands in that body which he had assumed and thought it was in his power to stay him from falling or as spiritual substances in some mens Philosophy can move a corporeal thing by emanation of vertue which goes from them though they do not touch it as the intelligences move the heavens and so Satan not touching Christ at all might think it was his force and efficacy that snatcht him up from the earth to a Pinacle of the Temple But the former way is more likely as if he would shew him how the Text of David was literally meant He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up Beloved as the Divel did arrogate that he took up Christ on high by his own force and arm yet it was nothing so In like manner he thinks that all those hold their tenure of him who are exalted by wicked means he took them up to a Pinacle of the Temple he raised them up to civil honour Indeed wicked persons live as if they owed their service rather to Satan than to God for their preferment but it is the Lord that sets both good and bad in the seat of dignity the powers that be they are from God For this cause I have raised thee up he spake it to wicked Pharaoh that I might make my power known in thee Let mighty ones therefore remember they are Gods liege men and not the Devils And they that rise up like smoke from hell fire like smoke they shall vanish into nothing So I have shewed it was not in the power of Satan to carry our Lord whither he would but Christ suffered this Assumption of Satans out of patience not out of infirmity and suffered himself to be lifted up on the Cross and at last he came to the third Assumption to be received up into glory There is a third thing remains to be satisfied which every one will expect what a gazing sight would this be for all the Region over which Christ did fly and for the populous City of Jerusalem It must needs be an object upon which all men would cast their eyes and why is it not more spoken of in the Gospel and objected to our Saviour by his enemies It is no solid answer to say it hapned in the night and none were aware of it For the tentation which follows must needs be done in the clear light when he shewed the Son of God all the Kingdoms and glory of the world in the twinkling of an eye The true answer is that Satan was more over-reach'd in this surmise than in all the rest For he thought by this hovering aloft in the Air to make Christ a spectacle to all the world that men might think him some Inchantor or Magician by riding above in the clouds in the mean time says St. Chrysostome Christ made himself invisible that he was seen of no man the Devil being no way privy to it that he did abide invisible So Joh. viii ult the Jews took up stones to cast at Christ but he hid himself and went out of the Temple going through the midst of them what was this to hide himself and to go through the midst of them But to pass through the throng invisible as among others Euthymius noteth No point of cozenage and sorcery was practised more of old by the Impes of Satan than these flyings aloft these aereal supervolitations to the wonder of the world Nero Caesar was given much to Incantations and to experiments above nature especially in this kind Suetonius says that one of his Flatterers would undertake to fly up to heaven at his command but got a tumbling cast for his labour insomuch that some of the parties bloud did light upon Nero himself as he sate to behold this new sight in the Theater I will not say that this was Simon the Sorcerer spoken of Acts viii because he in the Theater did personate Icarus in sport but Simons was a solemn undertaking to confute the Doctrine of Peter and Paul by flying up to heaven So it is in the book called Clemens his Constitutions that this child of the Devil began to take his flight up on high openly before all the people of Rome and at the instant Prayers of the Apostle Peter he fell down headlong and brake his legs Because that Book is justly suspected for an adulterate work Arnobius who wrote in the Reign of Dioclesian to all the Gentiles says as much Cursum Simonis Magi nominato Christo evanuisse The flight of Simon Magus was cross'd in the name of Jesus Christ This was grown so common either by Mathematical engines or by Witchcraft that every Impostor did begin to profess it Graeculus esuriens in Coelum jusseris ibit says the Satyrist The Prince of the Air thought to amuse the world and to do stupendious works in his own Territories but he that sits on high shall laugh them to scorn the Lord shall have them in derision These are but foolish Antiques and Mimicks of the proper sending up of our spirit to God by desiring to be dissolved and to be with Christ by having our conversation in heaven and delighting in those joys which are laid up for the Saints and by fervent Prayer which carries up the heart to God upon the wings of Zeal and Innocency so the Psalm mentions how a man may raise himself even unto the top of the holy City which is the new Jerusalem in heaven My soul flyeth unto the Lord before the morning watch I say before the morning watch And so much for the second general Point the manner of this tentation which was by Assumption Then the Devil taketh him up c. The holy City is the Locus communis the place largely taken to which he was carried out of the Wilderness and that is the ground to work upon for the third general Observation of the Text. This must needs be the Periphrasis of Jerusalem because God had a Temple no where else but there and St. Luke hath spared this Periphrasis and named the place he took him to Jerusalem and set him on a Pinacle of the Temple The eminent honour which this place had for many Sacred
as they were bidden and that bidding made it no intrusion upon their Fathers Providence The Lord also bad Gideon bring his Souldiers down unto the water and he would try them by a sign which of them should go against the Madianites the Lord did say it and therefore it was fit for him to obey that miraculous direction And Divines agree that it was not a fair answer in King Ahaz when God bid him ask a sign either in the depth beneath or in the height above he answered I will not ask neither will I tempt the Lord for the favour was propounded unto him both for his own part to increase his faith and much more for the instruction of all the people therefore he should have ask'd it But sometimes though upon no express command yet holy Prophets upon some divine instinct have tempted God to grant them a sign above the common and ordinary way of nature and yet their asking was laudable as Gen. xv God is very gracious to Abraham in all the passages I and commends him for his faith yet Abraham says Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit this Land of Canaan And a miracle was wrought to establish the Promise unto him Thus you must interpret wheresoever in holy Scripture you find such eminent men ask a sign to whom God talkt familiarly or poured Revelations into them or spake unto them in Visions that they had a Prophetical instinct for it which maks their case different from us that walk by ordinary faith Now I pray you mark that many times wicked people undertake things of a strange condition by instinct and bring them to pass but it is not Prophetical for it is an instinct of which themselves are not aware as the Mariners were prompted by instinct no doubt to cast lots and the Lot fell right upon Jonas yet they had no feeling that the hand of the Lord was in it But it is a Prophetical instinct which makes the act warrantable when the party imployed in it by God knows it and understands it to be such and concurreth with God as well in will as in the work Eliezer Abrahams Servant was sent to provide a Wife for Isaac and coming to Mesopotamia to the City of Nahor he makes this Prayer O Lord God of my Master Abraham send me good speed this day Loe I stand by the Well of water grant that the Maid to whom I say bow down thy Pitcher I pray thee that I may drink if she say drink and I will give thy Camels drink also may be she that thou hast ordained for thy Servant Isaac And it was so in the event The Scripture makes no description of this Eliezer for a Prophet yet if he felt a motion from God to try the Marriage this way good and lawful if not howsoever God let it come to pass for Abraham and Isaacs sake the course was not excusable but superstitious The like judgment I pass upon Jonathan for God only knows by what inspiring or revelation he did this he went up against the Philistines with his Armour-bearer and he resolves if they say come up unto us we will go up For the Lord hath delivered them into our hand and this shall be a sign unto us Though some say this was not to doubt of Gods excellency but of their own act yet that distinction avails not to explore the success of your own act by means unordained for that use unless divine instinct do help it is a vicious tentation Yet this I will add Jonathans act may be rescued from being tax'd for a tempting of God and exposing themselves to most doubtful peril in that two of them fought with an whole Host for the place was narrow where they could grapple but one to one and Jonathan had the upper ground and the Promise was ratified in the Book of Moses That one of them should chase an hundred and two of them put a thousand to flight Therefore Gods Command or his Promise or a Prophetical instinct do qualifie those things to be vertuous actions which otherwise were tentations ill adventured to anger the Lord. Thirdly Weighty and extraordinary callings had need of a mighty faith to undergo them and such men of old had a liberty allowed unto them to try their Vocation by some sign or some powerful work of God both for themselves and principally for the people that were committed to their governance As Moses pleaded when he was destined to be the Captain that should bring Israel out of Egypt Loe they will not believe me nor hearken to my voice they will say the Lord hath not appeared unto thee presently he was satisfied God bad him cast forth his Rod and it became a Serpent This the Lord did bear withal and let him require an extraordinary Warrant for an extraordinary Function So Gideon being a poor Thresher was called upon by the Angel to sight for Israel against the Madianites he deprecates that the Angel would take it no offence if he desired the encouragement of a Miracle to raise his faith to an eminent pitch Be not angry with me let me prove thee once again with the Fleece let it now be dry only upon the Fleece and let dew be upon all the ground To a private man this demand had been sin but to Gideon to sustain that excellent person which the Angel imposed on him at least it was tollerable Fourthly and finally there is a speculative inquiry or Antecedent to prove Gods will and power by Signs and Tokens and that is unlawful and there is an experimental or consequent one to enquire after Gods goodness in a mans own self by descending into the effects and enumerations of his mercies and proving our own Spirit and that is lawful So Mal. iii. 10. Bring ye all the Tithes into the store-house and prove me therewith saith the Lord of Hosts if I will not open the windows of heaven unto you It were sinful to pay Tythes to that end as if you would tempt God by that conclusion whether he could open the windows of heaven and help you with store but consecutivè the trial is good do you that and God will do this put it to the success if the Lord do not treble his bounty unto those that pay him his Tythes and Offerings this is to taste and try how gracious he will be to our obedience not to put him to such effects as we imagine in the capreols of our own fancy for that is a culpable tentation So this Point being traversed as much as I intend and the time will give me leave I leave it behind me and proceed to the next What are the general heads of those presumptuous ways wherein the party sins that tempts the Lord And surely one principal and notorious offence is committed when a man exposeth his life to unnecessary dangers upon an ill-grounded confidence that God will bring him off with safety Upon this
Spirit to a great and an high Mountain and shewed him the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God Rev. xxi 10. So the hand of the Lord brought Ezekiel and set him upon a very high Mountain to see the new City and the new Temple Ezek. xl 2. Yet these were but raptures or illuminations of the fancy after a divine manner and no more But if Satan plaid the Mimick to imitate God specially in this action there is much likeness in a case which I have not yet remembred But thus The Lord spake unto Moses Deut. xxxiv to go up to the top of Mount Nebo before he died and from thence he shewed him all the goodly Land of Promise from Dan even to the Land of Jericho which the Children of Israel should possess whom he had brought out of Egypt This is it certainly which the Tempter imitated and like a presumptuous fiend placeth not Moses a servant of the Family but Christ more excellent by far than Moses not upon Mount Nebo without the Land of Canaan but upon an hill near unto Jerusalem not to see one Territory and there to die and not enjoy it but to see all the Kingdoms of the world and to take them in possession A man may see with half an eye this was to vilifie Gods Miracles and Promises and to extol his own But that must be more copiously touch'd in the sequel Enough of the second Point the third is to this purpose by what gate or passage the Devil would bring in his Tentation and that is by the eye Ostendit illi He shews him all the Kingdoms of the World There is nothing so soon enticed and led away as the eye We are almost all like Labans Sheep every mans heart conceives as the delight of his eye doth impress upon his fancy O these fair Orbs which the Workman made to be the casements of light but they open to let in death into the soul There it began to shew it self to be an Instrument that had lost all purity when Adam and his Wife were called and hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the Trees of the Garden Whereupon says St. Austin when Adam had a pure conscience he had a single eye and loved to stand before the Lord Postquam peccato sauciatus est oculus caepit lucem formidare divinam But when his eye grew sin-sore his guiltiness would not let him look upon the divine splendour Refugit in tenebras veritatem fugiens umbras appetens Now it had rather seek out secret places and dark empty shadows than the eternal truth Here the eye began to fall from its primitive honour and ever since it became pernicious Says the Son of Sirach What is created more wicked than an eye wherefore it weepeth upon every occasion Eccles xxxi 3. St. John reduceth the whole brood of sin to these three Seed-plots all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye and the pride of life First there is Achans eye that lusteth after Silver and Gold and costly Babylonish Garments such eyes commit thievery upon all costly things that they behold Some would have all as far as they can look Hell and destruction are never full so the eyes of man are never satisfied says Solomon Prov. xvii But this is not all there is Shechems eye that lusteth after the beauty of Dinah Nay less than the lively Person a very Picture is able to strike the eye and dead colours can inflame it with lasciviousness Ask Ezekiel if it be not thus Cha. xxiii 16. Aholibah saw men pourtrayed upon the Wall the Images of the Chaldaeans as soon as she saw them she doated upon them and sent Messengers unto them into Chaldaea And not unusually this malignity hath extended to spiritual fornication for it is often alledged that the workmans cunning and beauty of the Image hath bewitch'd the eye and drawn the vain beholders to commit Idolatrie and these fair lights thus degenerating to be the brokers of wanton sins are called by Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Panders and Bawds to corrupt the Soul And yet there is another capitol mischief imputed to the eye by St. Austin Ad concupiscentiam oculorum pertinet nugacitas spectaculorum Gazing after all manner of vanities and spectacles of bravery filling the mind with rank effeminateness and idleness casting away most unthriftily the good hours of our life to see and to be seen The Theaters are not large enough now adays to receive our loose Gallants Male and Female but whole Fields and Parks are thronged with their concourse where they make a muster of their gay cloaths acd that day is counted the luckiest of the Week not wherein they have done God most faithful service but wherein they have glutted their eyes abroad with gaudy Gallantry Did Solomon mean such as these can you tell when he said The eyes of a fool are in every corner of the earth But I am sure they are of a condition much better than these whom Christ meant Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Mat. v. 8. Such as are not of a very strict conscience to look to their integrity think they may easiy defend themselves against this charge for is not every thing which is visible made to be seen And more fit to be seen if it be a comly piece of Art or Nature St. Bernard brings in Eve excusing her self for looking upon the forbidden fruit Oculos tendo non manum non est interdictum ne videam sed ne comedam That is May I not cast mine eye toward the Tree I do not reach out my hand to it The Tree is pleasant to the eye and though I am forbidden to eat yet I am not denied to look at it The Father takes upon him to answer as if he had been by to talk with her Hoc etsi culpa non est culpae tamen indicium est The darting of the eye formally is not the transgression of the Commandment but it begets the transgression of the Commandment Behold the heaven and the earth and all the works of the Lord which he hath made in such manifold wisdom the invisible things may be understood by things which are seen and the well-governed eye shall teach the heart to glorifie God Wherefore mark the consequent what passions your eyes beget in your soul examine your own frailties prove your strength and your weakness keep your innocency and look your fill but turn away your eyes when you perceive that the devil shews the Object Job said his heart should not walk after his eye that his eye should not stray from reason But what if the heart chance to wander after the eye What remedy then Christ never gave a more angry Precept in all the Gospel than upon this occosion If thy right eye offend thee pull it out and cast it from thee 'T is an Hyperbole so all
which thou puttest upon me I will bear But the Tempter says none of these defects should trouble Christ he would cull out for him all the choice and desirable things the power and the glory as the Poet said of his Stilicho the good things which were scattered and divided in many hands in te juncta fluent they should all meet in him as in their center Though the spiders web be made on the top of the house yet it is quickly swept away so all ambitious thoughts which scale up upon the Devils ladder are quickly dismounted if you will remember that no man can subsist on high who hath the plummet of iniquity to weigh him down though his excellency mount up to the heavens and his head reach unto the clouds yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung he shall fly away as a dream yea he shall be chased away as a vision of the night Job xx 8. When Herod sat in his Majesty but was exalted against God in the pride of his heart an Owl presented it self before him on the top of his Throne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Homer calls it a bird of fatal prediction and Herod himself took it for a presage of some sudden and miserable death and so it came to pass Methinks every one that hath hoisted himself into advancement by impiety should often see some such dismal Owl before him an infallible presager of great misfortune for God will be glorified in their ruin that did not account his service before all things to be their glory and the glory of the world O what an happy thing it is when God shall call a dignified and an honorable person his friend as it is in the Parable friend set up higher but I will never clamber up by base and sinful arts that God shall say art thou ascended higher O mine enemy God hath taught us to pray My will be done and mine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory in the Devils Academy the lesson goes thus worship me and let my will be done and thine shall be the Kingdom the power and the glory Satan cares not to whom he passeth away that Doxologie that chain of praise and honor which belongeth to God Kingdom power and glory for he pointed to the Kingdoms of the world they were included in the gift and said All this power will I give thee and the glory of them as who should say if Christ would make a God of him he would make a God of Christ ka me and ka thee fall down and worship me as if I were a God upon earth and thou shalt have Kingdom power and glory as if thou wer 't God in heaven This Satan spake not of himself but like Caiaphas he prophefied he knew not what I must not forget where one good turn hath deserv'd another much after this example The Conclave of Cardinals that know the Pope to be justly no more than a Bishop of one Diocess in Italy enstile him above Caesar and all free Monarchs that are anointed Kings and the Pope to requite it knowing the Cardinals in their original to be but Parish-Priests of Rome hath given them precedency above all Princes mulus mulum scabit This is my Text directly borrowed to make that match if you will fall down and worship me ye shall have power and glory But to return Get thee hence Satan sayes our Saviour in the next verse or as He chides in St. Luke Get thee behind me Satan He is behind all the servants of God in many degrees worse than the meanest Christian it cannot be in the capacity of such an underling to be the Patron of honor Medice cura teipsum why doth he not recover the glory which himself hath lost if he be an advancer beside such an ambitious spirit if he had any thing to give would never part with his Royalty or if he had ends to communicate and impart for certain he would pass over David Hezekiah Josiah that brake down Groves and Images and used all hostility against his Idols Away with such a giver He that seeketh honor and a blessing with it let him seek it of the Lord and look upon himself with that comfort that David did when God had brought him from following the Ewes great with young to set him with the Princes of his People David sings it merrily Psal iii. 3. Thou art my worship and the lifter up of my head As for Simon Magus that grew great with Nero by Sorcery and Vrijah the Priest who wonn King Ahaz favour for prophaning the Altar of the Lord and Rhehoboams young Courtiers that swayed all by flattery and giving evil counsel every dignity that such men get shall be an evil destiny unto them for God is a jealous God and will deface that Coat of honor where the Devil was the Herald that sold it for iniquity And whereas the wickedly advanced takes it upon Satans word that power and glory shall be the supporters of his Escutcheon it shall be much otherwise in the proof Is it power they look for God wot it shall be thraldom Falsam spondet potentiam Qui facit peccatum servus est peccati sayes St. Austin There is no such servitude in the world as to be sold over to sin and his servants ye are to whom you obey Is it glory they hunt for but it will fall out to be their description which the Apostle makes to the Philippians whose glory is their shame Either their memorial shall perish with them or their infamy shall be depainted in some better history to after ages To conclude this point stop your ears at such promises as kingdom and power and glory and pay such sacrifices of praise to him that ows them I will magnifie thee O Lord my King said David Psal cxlv and at the 12 verse he speaks it open that thy power thy glorie and mightiness of thy Kingdom might be known unto men Thus far I have proceeded to shew that promotion especially to the noblest honors to power and glorie is a fiery dart so dangerous to speed that Satan seldom casts it in vain Then imagin how far he hoped to prevail when he drew his arrow to the head and sollicited Christ with the promise of all the Kingdoms of the world All this power will I give thee and all the glory of them A magnanimous lye and he that would study for such a thing could not tell a louder Though by prestigiation or some hidden art he could shew all the Kingdoms of the world in the twinkling of an eye yet it is not so easie a task with his leave to give all the Kingdoms of the world in the twinkling of an eye he must have a strong stomach and a most robustious belief that could concoct this opinion that all the Rulers of the earth even the mighty Roman Monarchs the greatest of all Princes in that age would submit their Crowns and take law
Happy is the man that feareth alway but he that hardneth his heart falleth into mischief Prov. xxviii 14. Now there is a fear of a finer thread which is timor filiorum this ariseth out of the love of God when we take care not to displease because He hath made us and poured all his benefits upon us because it is the best of all things to enjoy his favour Nothing so much to be loved as God therefore nothing so much to be feared that He be not offended they that love most abound with it This is a joyful fear which outlasts all the fears of this life The fear of the Lord is clean and endureth for ever Psal xix 9. This reverential fear is in the Angels the Cherubins standing before God cover their faces with their wings awing his glorious Majesty the Elders before the throne fall down prostrate and cover their faces with their wings As the New Testament calls God charity God is love saith St. John so the Old Testament calls him fear Jacob swears by the fear of his father Isaac that is by God himself Gen. xxxi 43. Fear therefore is a vein that runs through all Religion and whatsoever buds out of Religion may be called fear it is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of all piety the first and the last The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledg Prov. i. 7. and the end of all is fear God and keep his Commandments Eccl. xxi 13. The Lord threatens to the end we should be dejected that 's worship annexed to servile fear and the Lord multiplies his blessings upon us to the end we should bow down and be thankful that 's worship annexed to filial fear True fear doth continually worship our Redeemer desperate fear like the impenitent Thief doth blaspheme him and these two differ as much as sharp sawce that gives an appetite to the stomach and poison that destroys the vitals So far that the word fear in the Law is chang'd into worship in the Gospel for so it was fit to refute the Devil who said all these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me And the worship of God is that Theme which without more circumstance now it befals me to handle What is it to worship God what is requir'd unto it every man knows that's the first question to be askt and I will make you a very satisfactory answer out of a devout example which is thus St. Matthew sayes there came a Leper and worshipped Christ saying Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Math. viâ—i 2. that 's the word of my Text. You shall meet with this party again Mark i. 40. What find we there there came a Leper to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beseeching him and kneeling down to him yet another Evangelist says more to make it clearer Luke v. 12. Behold a man full of leprosie fell on his face and besought him saying Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean The collection from hence is this when these scatter'd members are put together that to worship the Lord is to kneel down unto him to fall down on our face before him and to beseech him by earnest prayer Be advertised in one thing that to worship to kneel before to bow down unto in reverence are media vocabula as we say terms for civil respects between man and man as well as for religious offices between God and Man a great confusion falls out thereby in the handling of this doctrine and it cannot be avoided Saies St. Austin in linguâ latinâ non habemus ullum vocabulum quod solùm dicatur de cultu Dei there is not any word betokening the worship of God in the latin tongue so proper to it that it may not be communicated to man all tongues are alike in that poverty of expression In the New Testament the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is constantly kept for the outward worship of God saving that Matth. xviii the Servant who feared to be sold away he and all he had is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Parable speaks of an earthly Master though the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Epiparabola come home to God in the English tongue the nearest word that is meant only of divine honour and a little too high for civil reverence is adoration If you say you adore an earthly man in our language we almost esteem it flattery But they are not words or outward gestures which can decide what it is which properly constitutes the essence of that worship which God claims The word adore I said might have a religious meaning with us but in no tongue else Saies Valla very well adorare includit orare supplicare voce uti plicare genu the word adore doth import the humble petition of the tongue and the supplication of the knee but these are things common and promiscuous to civil and holy uses All the reverent deportments of the body which piety ascribes to God civility without offence performs sometimes to Magistrates and Superiours It may be some Nations had their Customs to keep certain peculiar venerations of the body for God alone as the Athenians put Timagoras their Embassador to death quòd Regem Persarum tanquam Deum salutasset because he did obeisance to the King of Persia as to a God I know not what peculiar bendings of the body they appropriated to their Gods it was a national custom of their own and for my part I will not say a bad one but nature hath no such ground to limit the most humble gestures of the body to God alone Prophets in holy Scripture have faln on their face before Kings and great men have faln on their face before Prophets Though this doctrine be most true yet Cardinal Bellarmin did not pick out Abraham so luckily to make him the example of it He says that Abraham prostrated himself alike to God to Angels and to the Honourable men of the Sons of Heth. I say and will manifest it that the Scripture says he made a difference in his congees to them all Abram fell on his face and God talked with him Gen. xvii 3. When he went to meet the Angels he bowed himself toward the ground Gen. xviii 2. When he spake to the children of Heth Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people Gen. xxiii 7. You hear he fell on his face to God he bowed himself to the ground to the Angels and he bowed himself without more addition to the people of Heth. But this distinction is not kept by other holy men who walked perfectly before the Lord therefore I stand upon my former ground that neither by simple terms nor by postures and bowings of the body can it be resolv'd what worship is proper to the Lord for my part I could never make an intelligible interpretation of that
distinction in Aquinas so well accepted by some that there are so many forms of adoration as there are kinds of excellencie for honour and worship are done to the person for the excellency which is in it Now excellency is either divine and infinite in God which deserves that adoration call'd by him latria or humane excellency which is grounded or in mens honours or in their virtues and so deserves civil and political reverence or it is an excellency less than divine yet more then humane which is in the Angels and souls of holy men departed and that claims the worship of dulia unto it self Put this into plain meaning he that can and shew me how these three are distinguisht in outward or bodily adoration I will agree that in those things we worship we do apprehend excellency three manner of wayes First there is cultus sacrosanctae religionis the religious and pious worship which we give to God for his omnipotent and most glorious excellency Secondly there is cultus civilis subjectionis the worship which we give to our superiors in authority as we live in political subjection because they are set over us for our good Thirdly there is cultus moralis reverentiae the worship of moral respect and reverence which we give to some for their good gifts and qualities although we are not under them in any political ordination All these worships are performed upon several excellencies apprehended in the persons worshipped but the act of worship it self as concerning that which the head the knee the hand or any part of the body doth execute may be the same for the distinguishing of one and another must be in the heart and mind as I proceed now to shew at large unto you The definition of divine worship must be thus framed adoratio est talis veneratio exterior quae ex corde pio religioso procedit that 's the adoration due to God and to him alone which with the exterior veneration of the body proceeds out of the pious and religious intentions of the heart If you yield any token of outward obeysance and mean it to honour him who hath made you redeem'd you sanctified you and conferred all other benefits upon you then it is raised up from civil homage and duty and is become divine worship a distinction will help the memory of them that can conceive it a little further There are three things which concur to that virtue which we call the worship of God First the act of the understanding must put forth it self to apprehend and know the glorious excellency of God that he made the whole world out of nothing and susteins all things by the word of his power Then secondly the act of the will comes in wherein we assent and apply our selves to adore his excellency to magnifie him and devote our hearts unto him Thirdly these two joyned together do urge and command the exterior act of worship which is performed by the body tanti est adorare all these must be in it if it be true adoration S. Paul speaks of some that have the forms of godliness but deny the power thereof The formal cringing and bending are but like a part play'd upon a Stage if they be sever'd from the power of godliness from the knowledg of the understanding what glory belongs to God and from the will and purpose of the heart to exalt his holy name both privately and in his holy Temple Well I can but call upon you to prepare your hearts and you will every one say I am sure my heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed The Lord knows but we that are your instructors do not whether that internal part of worship be well discharg'd by you therefore I come to that quarter of the virtue whereof men may be witnesses if it be carefully executed unto outward adoration it was upon the quarrel of outward worship that Christ here disputed with Satan God had respect to Abel and to his offering Gen. iv 4. to Abel that is to his internal piety to his offering that is to his external worship Abel had been unrespected at that time if he had not been good at both And as a plaister of cordial ingredients laid to the stomach or an unction well slickt upon the skin comforts the spirits within and makes them execute their vital functions chearfully so outward reverence helps us greatly against our dulness and drowzie infirmities The lifting up the hands and eyes make a man crave more passionately the knocking of the breast whets our repentance with indignation against our selves bowing down the head and knee imprints into us the great distance which is between God and us the uncovering the head makes that needful thought sink into our heart in whose presence we stand Glorifie God with your body 1 Cor. vi 20. Tertullian and S. Cyprian read it Portate Deum in corpore vestro Carry God in your body in every joynt and member of it It may be they met with some Greek Copy that read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our Religion is compared to a Marriage there is a contract between God and our soul and this is gain'd from the similitude that the Wife is the Husbands as well in bodie as in affection and so are we the Lords As Man and Wife are but one flesh so Christ the Bridegroom of the Church did assume the whole man bodie and soul into the unity of his person He hath conjoyn'd them both unto God and let us conjoyn them both to the worship of God A Sermon cannot be spent upon a subject which doth more deserve our exhortation The Lord created a Star on purpose only to bring the Magi of the East to worship Christ and they did so even when He lay in most despicable manner before them in the Manger of a Stable and shall we be slacker to kneel before his footstool when he reigns triumphantly in the highest Heavens the Heaven and Earth the Stars and Prophets all lead us to the worship of God Scriptura mundus ad hoc sunt ut colatur qui creavit adoretur qui inspiravit so St. Cyprian The Scripture and the world are to this end that He that created the one and inspir'd the other might be worshipped It is no mean duty which made those wise men of the East take so tedious and long a journey to post in twelve days from the mountains of the East to Bethlem and that other Traveller Acts viii the Treasure of the Queen Candace came from the uttermost parts of Ethiopia to Jerusalem and all for no other end but this to worship The Scripture saies so expresly and when they had done that they went home again We had need carry a very true heart to God in these daies for many of us put him off all together with the zeal of our heart and think it will excuse us if we neither honor him with our
bodie nor with our substance He shall have neither our goods nor our knee but likely we put it off He shall have our soul why this is only to give God his thirds as a reverend Father saies to compound like Bankrupts and give him two parts less than we owe him and yet we look for ten thousand times more than He owes us We have some that are to be suspected for a kind of Sadduces among us that believe no resurrection of the body else they would never palter with discipline but be more forward in the prostration and worship of the bodie than the Church could be to command them Some have given a great blow to this duty by harping upon the bare words of S. John and not digesting the true meaning of his Text Joh. iv 23. The hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth Mark the occasion why this was spoken and the words precedent The woman of Samaria moved a doubt whether God was to be worshipped at Jerusalem as the Jews taught or at Mount Girizin as the Samaritans taught Now the Samaritans worshipt God falsely they worshipt they knew not what says Christ The Jews held strictly to Moses Law and observ'd figures and shadows of things to come which were all to give place and vanish upon the incarnation of our Lord. Now it is easie to discern the substance of our Saviours answer what it is to serve God in spirit and truth Truth is opposed to the false superstition of the Samaritans Spirit is opposed to the Jewish figures and sacrifices And Christ tells the woman God will neither be served any more after the Samaritan way or Jewish way but after the newness of the Gospel The hour cometh and now is when ye shall neither worship the Father in this Mountain nor at Jerusalem but they shall worship him in spirit and truth Do these words exempt the worship of the body nothing less The word spirit is not taken there for the soul divided from the body signifying only an internal act of the spirit but for all manner of virtuous actions as well external as internal which proceed from the grace of the Holy Spirit being acceptable to God because the Holy Spirit brings them forth not because they are figures of things to come I will sing with the spirit says St. Paul 1 Cor. xiv 15. and yet singing is a bodily action He did worship in spirit when he said For this cause bow I my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Ephes iii. to come to a point Remember therefore how we adore God in spirit when we adore him with those outward gestures of the body to which we are stirred up by the Spirit of truth And so much of the first member of my Text which I laid out to be handled by it self the Lord God is to be worshipped The next duty is the other Pillar of Religion which upholds the Church of the Elect the Lord God is to be served By worship you know already we understand all humble outward devotion and reverence Now by service you must conceive the inward conformity of the heart to all duty and obedience The will of the Lord is revealed to us two manner of ways Either as he doth promise us blessings and benefits and assures us great rewards in the Kingdom of heaven Or as he doth stipulate and covenant with us what we shall do to obtain his favour In the former respect as he hath given us the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth most liberally and as he doth promise greater fruits of his mercy most graciously we fall down and worship him for his benefits but as he doth condition with us to do somewhat for his sake that he may leave a blessing with us we serve him faithfully and bind our inward faculties our soul and our mind to be prompt and ready to execute all obedience That you may the better compose your hearts to attend Gods will in all things and to serve him I will supply your knowledge with these few motives following First There is no other Lord beside our God properly called 1 Cor. viii Though there be that are called Gods as there be Gods many and Lords many that is by opinion and nuncupation but to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him And again Eph. v. 4. One Lord one Faith one Baptism one God who is above all and through all and in you all Super omnes dominio per omnes providentiâ in omnibus justificatione Above all by his Dominion through all by his Providence in all by sanctifying us with his grace and justifying us from sin He that is subject to none inferiour to none independent of himself in all his power He may well be called a Lord and such a Lord deserves to be served Petty Magistrates hold of Princes favours and Kings hold their tenure under God Therefore some of the Roman Emperours having the perceivance that they could command nothing absolutely if he that sate above the heavens did stop it they would not be called Domini because themselves were servants in relation to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords therefore their circumscribed power did not answer the title When the Scripture brings in the most High the saying is Haec dicit Dominus Thus saith the Lord. If we would examine this after the stile of man you would say Lord of what Why universal Lord without any particular designment Specifications to be Lords of this or that are earthly phrases are notes of minority Attalus the Martyr was askt what name that Lord had whom he served Says he Qui plures sunt nominibus discernuntur qui autem unus est non indiget nomine Where there are many Lords they must be distinguish'd by their properties but what need that Lord a name for distinction who is the only Ruler by himself without any equal or partner in his dominion now since we must serve for sin hath brought servitude into the world whom would a man choose to serve but that only Lord to whose sheave all other sheaves do bend and who only hath authority Secondly In all service you will consider in what state and place it puts you Do so in this and spare not But let St. Peter be the Judge 1 Epist ii 9. Ye are a chosen generation a royal Priesthood an holy nation a peculiar people There is royalty in the very service Cui servire est regnare To do him service is a Kingly Ministry Nay there is more in one of our Church Collects in one Line of it than in the most Augustious title of a King God whose service is perfect freedom A King may be so much subject to naughty passions as he shall be in vile thraldom to his own sensualities and so
he is made a greater vassal than the poorest of his Subjects themselves are the servants of corruption for of whom a man is overcome of the same he is brought in bondage 2 Pet. ii 19. What appearance of soveraignty was in the voluptuous Licinius Of whom Tacitus says Tanta torpedo invaserat animum ut si principem eum fuisse caeteri non meminissent ipse oblivisceretur Such a stupidness had possessed his mind that unless others had been mindful towards him that he was a Prince himself would have forgot it You see then there is no freedom but by killing the strength of sin and living unto God in new obedience if by one offence death reigned by one they that receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ Rom. v. 17. Sin holds the sinner under tyranny grace makes the righteous man reign in this life it is the Apostles phrase Therefore Christ who gives us freedom despised not to be called a servant to his Father Thou art my servant O Israel in whom I will be glorified Isa xlix 3. Thirdly That fawning heathen did humour his Patron for this reason Et habet quod det dat nemo largius So the Lord hath all manner of riches in store and he withholdeth no good thing from those that serve him No Master in the world is so munificent to reward his Ministers Let me borrow it from the Queen of Sheba's mouth what she said of Solomons attendants to apply it to those of Gods houshold that perform the task he sets them Happy are these thy servants that stand continually before thee being now made free from sin and become servants to God ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life Rom. vi 22. The poor bondman among the heathen had no more wages than food for all his drudgery the more hard-hearted they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Aristotle give a bond-slave provender like a beast and he is paid for his labour Did God ever use any of his retinue that serve him so hardly They have all their meat in due season and plenteously says he in the Parable How many hired servants are there in my Fathers house that have meat enough Yet this is nothing I may say to the remainder this is but the Alms-basket of his liberality What say you to this That he gave his only Son to redeem his servant and that the Servant might be spared even that most beloved Son did undergo the most bitter death of the Cross and all this that such servants as forgot the Lord who had done so great things for them and rebelled against him might be co-heirs with Christ in his Kingdom Who would not serve such a Master If he say go who would not make speed to follow If he say do this who would not do it He hath given us such hire more than all the world beside can lay down that we will worship the Lord our God and he only shall be served I should wrong the matter I handle if this question were not moved How we should feel the comfort in our selves that we serve the Lord I answer by a Negative by an Affirmative examination Negatively when we think that we have never laboured enough in our Lords Vineyard to earn our peny Or as it is elsewhere very clearly set down to take away all boasting from our works when we have done all we can say we are unprofitable servants The Affirmative Collection may be best drawn from a saying of Christs Mat. vi 24. No man can serve two Masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will cleave to the one and despise the other Here I gather that the two notes of a good servant are deligere adhaerere to love and to cleave fast to his Master Those Servants that loved King David such as Hushai and Ittai and Ahimaaz would take part with him to the death in Absolons rebellion those were good Servants It was love that made Jacob such a diligent Shepherd under Laban to suffer heat and frost Laban never had the like to tend his flocks A servant that takes a delight to please you may trust him with any thing both for Faith and Diligence Nemo meliùs obtemperat quà m qui ex caritate obsequitur says St. Ambrose no man will obey God better or go further to discharge his Law then he that is rouzed up by the zeal of love and charity But he that doth the Lords work without pleasure and delight doth it with unwillingness unwillingness breeds sloath and between these all their service is left-handedly performed as if it were never intended Si quid invitus facis fit de te magis quà m id facis says Prosper Whatsoever you did grudgingly without love it was drawn from you but never done by you and as if you had not been the doer you shall never be rewarded Beside deligere I said there was adhaerere a good servant was no flincher but stuck close not a Fugitive as Jonas was not an Apostate as Demas was not one that began in the Spirit and ended in the Flesh the Galatians were thought to be bewitched that did so The Bond-man in the Old Law that loved his Master though the time of his releasement was come about would be bored through the ear for a ceremony that he would never part from him St. Paul was the fast man above all we read of that was glued unto the service of the Gospel Neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come c. shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Yet I will end this Point in the words of one of our own Prelates a faithful Minister of God bestirs himself with respect to that one Master to whom he cleaves in all the works of his Vocation Ac si nihil aliud esset in hôc mundo praeter illum ac Deum As if there was none in the world but himself and God himself to obey and God to be served with all possible diligence This cleaving fast unto one Master doth link it self in with the next Point that the Lord God is only to be worshipped and served Let it not start your patience that I name it now the time is past I am not about to huddle it up at this time being the most copious subject and of the choicest variety in my judgment in all Divine Learning But this Doctrine you shall carry away with you at this time It is no impediment for Servants to shew all diligent duty to their Masters on earth because one verse of the Gospel says No man can serve two Masters and because my Text says of our Lord in heaven him only shalt thou serve Him only indeed in Religious Service in Divine Worship and Adoration he
wrong opinions that offend against it For whatsoever things they are to which men do offer religious worship and service beside the Lord let them distinguish that they do it improperly with a less religious worship with reference to Almighty God let them slick it over with what gloss of wit they please I am on the Lords side and in his behalf I plead that they run into some kind of Idolatry But first plainly and affirmatively without rubbing against the adversary's errors that God only is to be worshipped and served In the first place I must not conceal from you this word upon which we stand so much and good reason for it but this word Only is not to be found in that verse which is quoted by our Saviour Deut. vi 13. the margent of your own Bible and indeed all Expositors ancient and modern hold that to be the very Scripture which Christ doth here apply and thus you find thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him and shalt swear by his name I but 't is not written there thou shalt serve him only Hath He added to the word put case He should add to the word as in this instance He did not but put case He should it were free for him but for none else to do it He may do what He will with his own After Moses had finished the Law and the Lord had said thereupon cursed is he that addeth unto it yet the book of the Psalms and the Prophets were put to it and after all these the Gospel and the whole New Testament was added yet none of those were the patches of mans wit but the increase and supply which God himself gave to his own eternal Oracles Yet I give not this answer as if Christ had thrust one syllable into the Law to give it more sense and authority than it had before He came to fulfil the Law but not to overfil it For first Christ said nothing but that which is written if not here yet in another Prophet and one spirit is in all the Prophets consult with Samuel 1 lib. chap. 2. v. 3. Prepare your hearts unto the Lord and serve him only that 's down right as my Text hath it I need not give it a grain to make up weight Then there 's for Satan he cannot say but he was refuted with very Scripture Secondly let us keep unto those words of Deuteron for surely those were intended and the word only is there in effect the next verse makes it good that it could not be excepted Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him Well but will God admit any partner otherwise we must serve him alone just so for it follows ye shall not go after other Gods of the Gods of the people that are round about served him and no other God whatsoever Why then it is a clear aequipollencie in Logick thou shalt serve him only The Devil is most perverse and litigious yet he never denied it Thirdly be satisfied yet further that the 72 Translators so called having the right understanding of the Text that God commandeth all glory and worship and divine service to himself without comperes or sharers they render the Hebrew in those Greek words which our Saviour quoted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 him only shalt thou serve Now all do yield that the five books of Moses were translated by those 72 Jews of great learning whom Eleazar the High-Priest sent to Ptolemy Philadelphus for that purpse So much both Philo and Josephus acknowledge though they speak of no more Occasion is taken from hence by some to cry up that Greek Translation of the Old Testament because our Saviour alledgeth these words as those Septuagint have made them up and not as they are in the pure original Hebrew I will not stand upon this Theme any long time but say much in brief First that St. Paul layes a firm ground how the Jews had the Oracles of God committed to them it was one of their National Privileges therefore their tongue is the matrix and fountain from whence we are to expound what the Holy Ghost hath delivered in the Old Testament I deny not but the Jews themselves might use the Copies of the Greek Language for there were many of them and some conjecture that where we read of certain Hellenistae Greeks that came to our Saviour in the Gospel they were those Jews that rather used the Greek Translation than the Hebrew perhaps being more easie to their capacities for their common speech in those daies was Syrian and Hebrew was taught in Sholes as we teach Latin therefore some suppose there was a Faction of Hellenists among them they and the Scribes who damned all Scripture which was not in their own Hebrew tongue being upon all occasions at hot variance So you find there was a murmuring of the Graecians against the Hebrews Acts vi 1. To return to my conclusion some Jews did not abhor to read their own Law in the Greek tongue yet these were but a Faction for when St. Paul saies the Oracles of God were committed to them and by way of high privilege he must mean it of that idiom which their Fathers spake wherein it was first wrote and whereof their learned men for the present were the Doctors Secondly though the Hebrew was and is the authentique language for that part of Scripture yet there was a most venerable Translation of it into Greek which our Saviour the Evangelists and Apostles used it kept the sense yea the words of the Hebrew for the most part so exactly that our Saviour who taught the Law according to it did say one jot or title of the Law should not perish St. Hierom says if that Translation had been purely extant he would have spared his own pains and not have undergone so laborious a task to turn the whole Old Testament out of Hebrew into Latin Thirdly that pure Greek Translation was used by our Saviour though not in Greek words but in Syriac not as preferring it or matching it with the original authentique Hebrew but partly because it was most frequent and most known for they all spake the Greek tongue in all the hither parts of Asia after Alexander the great had exalted the Graecian Monarchy partly to import that a door of faith was now opened to the Gentiles and that they should reap those heavenly things since the Jews thought themselves unworthy of them Fourthly this Greek Translation which at this day goes under the name of the 72 is of far less value and authority than that which was so honour'd with our Saviours mouth for I will believe St. Hierom in this case being a most exact Linguist rather than those Fathers that took languages upon trust but thus He. Germana illa antiqua translatio corrupta est violata ac pro varietate regionum diversa feruntur exempla That old genuine Translation was corrupted and violated and several Copies of it
were shewn and used in several Kingdoms of the World Enough of this wherein I have laid down my mind briefly for the satisfaction of understanding Auditors upon occasion that Christ cited these words not barely as in the Hebrew but with an addition yet a clear and a natural addition as it is in the Greek Translation Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Now to the positive Doctrine Him only his name can stand with no other name and no other name can stand Collegue or Partner in his worship it is an embasing of gold to joyn any other mettal with it how much more to say this Sacrifice or this Altar this Temple or this sacred Service this Vow or this Prayer shall be divided between the true God and some other supposed Deity Did not He make man Lord only of all the Creatures and him only after his own image and similitude Did He not take mans nature only upon him nusquam Angelos He was not of the nature of Angels but of the Seed of Abraham Did He not redeem us only and not the evil spirits when we were as far lost as they Finally are they not our bodies only which He will raise from incorruption and not the beasts What all this for us and for us only and yet do we halt between him and other Gods as if we had some pious worship for him and some for whom we think good beside We are so free of our Religion forsooth we cannot keep in bounds to him only It would move our laughter to see a weak-brain'd man pay half his debt to his Creditor and the other half to one where he never stood engag'd if this be ridiculous then to pay our devotion to any thing in heaven or earth which we owe all and entire to the God of heaven and earth is both scornful and idolatrous ille mihi non alteri ego illi non alteri well concluded of Bernard He hath made us Christians alone his chosen people therefore He shall be my King to whom alone I will pay worship and honor and adoration The wise men of the East that came a long journy to worship Christ and laid down the offering of their homage at his feet never opened their treasures that we read to give any Present to Herod if you give a religious tribute to any other King but to this alone He disdains your payment All or none like the true Mother of the Child and better give him two mites if two mites be all we have than give him a talent with Ananias and Saphira if a talent be but half our inheritance St. Austin asks why the Romans worshipt all kind of Idol Gods they ever heard of but never worshipped the true God He answers because the false Gods after the good fellowship of the world loved company and would permit any to be partners with them in adoration the true God would be left out if there were any but himself for it is against the nature of him that is infinite almighty incomprehensible to be equall'd or matcht in any thing Religious honour and service is that retribution which a reasonable creature makes for the blessing wherewith it is blessed Who is it that blesseth us with all manner of store is not that easily answered and it is as quickly rejoyn'd then let him only be worshipped If there be any other created power to whom you impart religious veneration let him help you if he can when you stand in need and go to the Gods whom you have chosen to seek for succour Worship him all ye Gods says David Psal xcvii 7. No creature so great that can be greater than the name of a God and whatsoever excellency it hath yea the rather because it is very excellent above its fellows it must kneel and bow to the supreme Majesty Worship him all ye Gods Why then infer he that is to discharge divine honour is not to be prosecuted with divine honour religious worship belongs to him that owes service to none nothing that we can suppose with a sound wit is like genus subalternum fit to worship and fit to be worshipped a thing that doth adore God who is above him and is ador'd of men that are beneath him what perturbation were this in Religion and Religion is as God himself is pure order and not confusion There are some whom I glance at who are not sound in this doctrine yet think themselves as safe as under Ajax his Buckler with this distinction that latria or the principal religious service is proper to God alone but dulia a less principal religious service may be performed in good Christian sort to Angels and Saints to their Reliques or to their Images and they think there is such force in those words that God must take that answer for all it is written him only shalt thou serve I will put some diligence to the examination of this distinction as first how it came in use then if those two words have any proper difference in their signification and then what meaning there can be in it that God should have one kind of religions worship done unto him and the Creatures another The words are both of them Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the first that attempted to distinguish them was St. Austin whose praise is that He was the most rational and intelligent writer for argument of all that lived in that flourishing age but when he medled with the tongues he was out of his Element Erasmus cannot choose but smile at him sometimes in the margent when he will forget himself and tamper with Greek phrases vide ut graecissat Now this distinction must needs have weak hold when a man of no skill was the inventor tractent fabrilia fabri Yet how was St. Austin put to it first to excogitate that way I have searcht it and it was thus Because there is some religious honour certainly due to God which is incommunicable to any creature the good Father laboured for a word which should be proper to this worship and given to nothing else that equivocations and ambiguities might not trouble his Doctrine This was judiciously thought of yet I told you before that all languages are defective in this point no word which stands for religious worship but is also promiscuously applied by good Authors to civil devoir and reverence Finding no help for this in the Latine tongue he borrowed the word latria from the Greek tongue to make it Latin that it might signifie no other worship but that which is due to God as if it could have lost its proper signification in the Greek by becoming Latin Says he Latria est cultus Deo debitus qui in latino uno vocabulo nuncupari non potest Now the use of all good Authors will not permit this as I will shew by and by But by their leave that say they borrow
unless they be equalized with God Then the Platonicks taught good divinity for they worshipped their Daemones or Angels not as the first causes of all things but as Spirits employed by the first Principle of the world If an Angel from heaven teach the same doctrine in his own case which Paul did surely two such Witnesses both in one tale cannot be refused The instance is more beaten than any high way Rev. xix 10. St. John certainly being even beside himself with the excellency of Revelation fell at an Angels feet to worship him who said unto him See thou do it not I leave it to your judgments if this be not a monstrous prevarication of Bellarmines That the Angel might have accepted that dutiful homage if he had pleased and did not make shy of it before Christ was incarnate but in honour of our Lords incarnation who took our nature upon him Angels from thenceforth will not be religiously worshipped by men Therefore we do what becomes us when we fall down to worship Angels and Angels do what becomes them when they refuse it thus He. But I beseech you if learned men may take such leave to interpret Scripture they may turn it to any thing Doth the Angel say any such thing to John that the times were altered human nature was now more precious than before and grown too good for such servile observance No but very plainly in the Text See thou do it not to me I am thy fellow-servant worship God Mark both his reasons first I am thy fellow-servant Fellow servants are to worship one Master together not one to worship the other Yes says the Adversary hereafter we shall worship together in the Church Triumphant and be stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Why we have the same excellency and beatitude which then shall be revealed in a lively faith and a steadfast hope And if they shall be less honoured of us hereafter than now the Angels should lose honour by our being exalted into heaven Nay rather their glory shall be increased to requite that sedulous care which they had over us here against the tyranny of the world and the devil I will wish no other Author but St. Austin to speak on my side says he Let us believe that the best Angels and most excellent ministring spirits do desire that we may worship one God together with them Honoramus eos charitate non servitute That is we love them for their good will we do not serve them Nec eis templa construimus they would not be so honoured of us for they know none better if we be holy we our selves are the Temples of the Holy Ghost This we have learnt out of the first reason what the Angel meant Fall not down before me I am thy fellow-servant Beside it is added Worship God Can any question be made but St. John would worship God Surely he was not to be taught that No but he was to be rouzed out of an extasie that God only is to be adored with a sanctified fear and no Creature It is easie to cast a scruple in any mans way so the Pontificians give us an objection to pick Josh v. 14. A man stood over against Joshuah with a drawn Sword Joshuah demands Art thou for us or for our Adversaries The supposed man replies Nay but a Captain of the Host of the Lord am I now come Then Joshuah fell on his face to the earth and did worship First the Antagonist presumes without all suspition of denial that Joshuah did worship the Angel But the Text says no more than as soon as he knew God had sent him a Captain from heaven he did worship But if it were Religious Worship it was done not to the Angel but unto Gods upon the coming of the Angel When such things come before us as are signs of Gods presence and grace of his mission and institution not of our own invention ware that it is good pious devotion to fall down and worship God when those things are before us As it is most laudable in us to kneel not to the outward Elements upon the Lords Table but unto God at the receiving of Christ in those Elements So Moses probably fell down at or before the burning bush where God spake When the fire came down from heaven to consume the Sacrafice it was a sign of the Lords special presence and the people fell down and worshipped 2. Chron. vii 3. Thus Joshuah seeing the Captain of Gods Host come to succour him fell down and praised the Lord. This answer I dare build upon yet if it were extorted that either Joshuah worshipped this Angel or Balaam that other Angel who bowed down his head and fell flat on his face Num. xxii 31. It is not or ever will be proved that these were religious Adorations but very great moral reverence done unto them more than to any men on earth according to their Coelestial and Supernatural excellency But Angels are not to be religiously worshipped in heaven why then on earth Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven and that is in this precept Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Yet a few words before I end To adore the Eucharist the Reliques of Saints the Figure of the Cross or Images of Christ and his Servants departed is to commit Idolatry with inanimate things those being all alike in that I will keep that bundle of Tares for another occasion But the superstitious worshipping of Saints is so near of kin to that of Angels against which I concluded before that the same Notions I used before and a little added will clearly condemn it We must not think more divinely of a Creature than a Creature is capable And even in this we have cause to bless God that our Religion is repurged from most strong defilements that our common Prayers have none of those blasphemies which some chant over to the most glorious Virgin the Mother of our Lord. And all this happens that they impute more Divinity unto her then is competent to a Creature So the Heathenish Lycaonians saw that Paul and Barnabas were men but they thought some Divinity did inhabite them such as is in God Certainly so the good Centurion Cornelius was mistaken for he gave unto Peter both civil observance as unto a man But because the Lord did bid him send for Peter for his souls Salvation he thought there was a genious in him above a Creature Otherwise Peter had not corrected the reverence he did him with those words Stand up I my self also am a man Acts x. 26. His cogitation had apprehended some divineness in Peter which made him commit a religious prostration for which he was rebuked And indeed an opinion is bread in the superstitious touching the Saints departed that there is more Divineness in them than they can receive else they would not bow down themselves to the mention of their names and
make supplications unto them When I commend my self to the Prayers of any man upon earth I attribute nothing unto him falsly as divine he hath ears to hear me he hath memory faith and chariry to commend his brethren to God But when I do the like to the Saints granting the distinction that they call upon them to intercede not to perform their request but when I do the like to them I make them stand in the place of God to hear all men every where at once perhaps lifting up their voice nay perchance no more than the thought of their heart unto them Solius Dei proprium est ubique omnes audire exandire It is the excellency of God alone to hear and attend to all men in all places at once Therefore he makes an Idol of that Saint in whom he supposeth as much vertue and excellency to hear him how much soever distant as is in God himself I omit burning Incense to their Shrines making Pilgrimages to their Sepulchres Building Churches wherein their memory may be worshipped and invoked And making Vows in their names which is one of the flowers of Gods eternal royalty They that are such earnest Devotees to Creatures and think there is not work enough for a Christian to worship God alone deserve that gross delusion which hath started from some of their own Confessions that many names are enrolled for glorified Saints and great Patrons of the Church whose souls are tormented in Hell Let God be worshipped for the holy Prophets Apostles and Martyrs departed so shall we our selves we trust one day have a place in that Coelestial Quire where the Lord our God is only worshipped and he only served day and night without ceasing AMEN THE TWENTIETH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 10. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve I Am come to this Text again in the zeal of Elias to let no kind of Idolater be unrebuked that doth not worship the Lord and serve him only according to these words which were Law at first and our Saviour by reciting them hath made them Gospel Take the Priests of Baal says that holy man and let not one of them escape 1 King xviii 40. I will trace his steps in this cause and will rather be a man of contention as Jeremy became by taking the Lords part then suffer Rags and Reliques Stocks and Stones to have an attractive virtue more than magnetical to draw religious honour and adoration unto them If men would hold their peace these things which I now proceed to arraign and condemn for having holy worship done unto them have no tongues to defend themselves They are not Angels or Saints departed they have neither life nor motion in them neither the Cedar that grows in Libanus nor the Hisop that grows on the top of the wall but the Trunck of the Cedar and such other things as Art hath made unfit for any further benefit of nature 'T is strange that sharp-witted men will take pains to extol such dull inanimate things as can never thank them And concerning inanimate liveless things how superstitiously such glory as belongeth to God alone hath been imparted unto them I shall spend my labours at this time for concerning rank Heathen Idol Gods imaginaries Deities and concerning the Host of Heaven above and the Spirits of darkness beneath how they are idolized by some I have maintained the judgment of our Church before But our quarrel against the Pontificians to vindicate all religious worship latrical and dulical to the Lord of Heaven alone is like a Suit in Law that holds many Terms as long a quarrel as upon any other common place in all Divinity I am in hand at this time with the same Controversie again to protest against four things namely 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Religious adoration of the Reliques of Saints 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Religious adoration of the Elements in the Lords Supper 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Religious adoration of the Sign of the Cross and that most stiffely and impudently maintained 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Worship of Pictures and Images whether resembling Christ or his Saints Wo is it for the Church of Christ that we must spend an hour in these dissentions but what peace can there be while these Idolatries are maintained under the name of great devotion and anathema denounced against them that cry out for the Lord and for his Christ to them glory and worship and to none but them And now I have sounded the trumpet to this battel I betake me to the particulars propounded First that Religious adoration of Reliques confronts the verity of my Text c. But in the Exordium if any one shall ask how do our Opposites worship or serve Reliques or any of the aforenamed I will satisfie him that for the intentions of their heart in their inward reverence towards these things we could not accuse them but that they profess and teach it is religious and holy honour for if it were no more than precious estimation to some of those things we would not disfavour their practice but consent unto it and for their outward behaviour which expresseth the affections within judg if this be not to worship to kneel unto to kiss those things to prostrate the body to hold up the hands and eyes and uncover the head before them judg also if this be not serving of them censing of perfumes in those places lighting candles to honour them adorning with the richest cost of jewels and gold Circumgestation Procession Supplication Festival days appointed for their service and as much as all these Guilds and Religious Orders appointed to attend them This is square and open dealing that I impute Idolatry and Will-worship unto them upon grounds of practice and confession Nay I have not said all no not by half touching that over respect which is done to the Reliques of Christ and his Saints They exalt them above the Altar St. Ambrose thought it a great honour for himself or any deceased Bishop to lye under the Altar they call that adoration which is given to them meritorious The Priests teach the people that there is a kind of grace communicated to those Reliques they take Pilgrimages to them swear by them carry parts about as Prophylacticks against bodily and ghostly evil and pronounce indulgence for venial sins to them that fall down and worship them Beside the main sin see the uncertainty of all this Of Saints they have mightily multiplied the number and of their Reliques far more than is possible to belong unto them Yet it is impossible to know by faith who are Saints deceased but those whose memorial is recorded in Scripture and for their Reliques it is not denied they are conjectur'd at by mere humane credulity The bones of a Varlet may be carried in procession for the bones of a Martyr decem millia talium rerum Romae fiunt says L.
fell down to Images in Churches whereupon he took them down and brake them to pieces about the year 600 He writes to Gregory the first to know how he liked it Gregory answers you do very well to teach your people not to worship those Images but you might have let them remain for Ornament Thus Pope Gregory the first but before 160 years after Pope Gregory the third maintain'd tooth and nail against the Eastern Bishops they were to be worshipped What 's answered to all these authorites why the Fathers condemned the using Images after an unlawful manner they might even distinguish as well of lawful lying and lawful treason and adultery as to tell us a tale of lawful idolatry No Scripture no Tradition no Antiquity stands for them and verily no Reason for why is not every man adored for being the true Image of God as well as a Statue hear a subtilty man is capable of some civil reverence in himself if he were worshipped it would fall out the worship would be terminated unto him for himself but a portable God of mettal or stone deserves no honour for it self therefore it cannot likely be mistaken how all the veneration done to it is done for Gods sake what will they say then to such Images and Crucifixes as have moved their head and eyes miraculously such as have sweat like men spoke like men such things are often done by tricks and jugling is not that a scandal to the ignorant to make them bend the whole act of worship to the very Image as the Gentiles were often deluded by the Devil when he made his Idols and Oracles speak Thus they lay baits to destroy the soul of their weak brother to advance their own inventions And for the credit of all Miracles wrought before Image-worshipping let Biel speak sometimes such things are effected by the working of Satan to delude superstitious Devotaries Deo permittente exigentâ— talium infidelitate God permits it for their destruction and their own infidelity deserves it I am almost concluding mark what honour God hath peculiarly call'd for to himself and that 's to worship a thing religiously to impart it unto it He bad his Church of Israel kneel toward the Ark of his glory and worship him The people did not see the Ark for it was within the Veil but they were bidden to worship the Lord before his Footstool or before the Ark. Now to translate this manner of adoration to their own will-Will-worship to worship God before Images as He willed that himself in the Old Law should be worshipped looking towards the Ark is all one as if they had sacrificed to their Images which is confest idolatry But I pray you what satisfaction shall be made to my Text it satisfied the Devil and put him to silence Thou shalt worship c. Thus they shuffle with it when Christ says exclusively God only is to be worshipped all persons are excluded that claim latria but not appertinences or concomitances such as Images that are adored for the example sake Belike by this answer it must be so his Devilship must not be served or cringed but if he can turn himself into the shape of an Image of Christ or one of the Saints he might have his asking You see into how many shapes he turned himself in these Tentations he can change himself into an Angel of light and why not as easily into as fine an Image as ever Nebuchadonoser's was Thus their own wit may bring them to do the fowlest act in the world to fall down and worship the Devil How much better are our souls and our Religion in safety when we ascribe all praise glory service and worship to him only that sits upon the throne and to the Lamb for evermore AMEN THE TWENTY FIRST SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 11. Then the Devil leaveth him and behold Angels came and ministred unto him THat Conquerour that had given his Enemy a great overthrow was wont to set up a signal of his Conquest in the same place for every Passenger to look upon and it bore the name of a Trophee Therefore I will call this Text the Trophee of our Saviours Victory which he got of the Devil A Trophee advanced by the Holy Ghost to let us see the Adversary whom we chiefly fear is vanquishable and may be put to flight Never was such an Enemy subdued never were the weapons of holy Scripture used so skilfully before never did such fruit and benefit redound to the whole world from any victory and yet with what little ostentation is this great enterprize concluded Then the Devil leaveth him and behold Angels came and ministred unto him This is the way of God to do famous acts and not to noise it to men with all circumstances of exaggeration as we do now adays They are praised in these times that are Animalia gloriae that desire to do things worthy of renown that they may be praised And better let them spunge up fame than things famous should be omitted Yet there is a more Christian way than this For that divine learning which we gather from the Gospel leaves such impressions of modesty upon all worthy actions of Christ or of the Saints that their good works are never set out with the trappings of eloquence to adorn them barely related to be imitated and never garnish'd to be applauded This Text and every story which the Evangelists have recorded touching the miracles of Christ shall justifie this saying of his Joh. viii 50. I seek not mine own glory as Ennius said of Scipio Affricanus quantam columnam faciet populus Romanus quae res tuas loquatur What a great Pillar must the people of Rome make if all thy noble exploits were engraven upon it So I may say What a great Volume must the Holy Ghost have written if every Miracle of our Saviours had been amplified with a due compensation of glory That labour as I said is spared to teach us to be prodigal in doing good and thrifty in seeking praise Let a man do things laudable for vertue 's sake and no other respect and honour will follow him when his carkass is rotting as hair and nails and excrementitious parts of the body will grow when that body is dead and consuming So this Trophee of the great victory against Satan so I call'd my Text is as plain and modest terms as could be endited But as I doubt not but the Angels glorified our Saviour for it then so we will speak of the might of those marvellous acts now as the four and twenty Elders do Rev. xi 17. We give thee thanks O Lord God Almighty which art and wast and art to come because thou hast taken to thee great power and hast reigned and let us add because thou hast subdued our grievous enemy in all his tentations And according to that great humility and modesty which I said was very notable in this report of our
Non ex authoritate sed pacto Not by any power and vertue which they have but by compacts and infernal Sacraments between them and Satan The Apostles and Evangelists did cast out Devils Non ex authoritate sed ministerio not by their own authority and strength but as ministerial instruments which God appointed over the evil Angels But Christ with absolute and independant authority lays his charge upon the Prince of Devils and he could not keep his ground against him Now let me ask you Beloved whether will you be led gently by the word of Exhortation Or be compelled violently as stubborn and stiff-necked whither you would not by the dreadful and irresistible word of indignity Let me invert those words for this motive which Christ used to Peter When thou wert young thou walk'd whither thou wouldst riotously intemperately prophanely But when Christ comes to judge thee for these things another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldst not Draw near to God in Prayer and in the works of mercy then Faith and Sanctification will pluck you a little nearer and nearer if your iniquities separate between the Lord and you you shall be cast afar off O who is able to endure that word Decede Depart from me ye wicked Lord whither should we go For in thy presence there is life and at thy right hand there is pleasure for evermore Another reason why he fled from the presence of Christ is Quia victus he was so beaten out of all falshoods and inventions by the evidence of truth that he was ashamed to appear any longer before the face of the Conquerour So St. Ambrose Etsi invidere non desinat tamen instare reformidat quia frequentiùs refugit triumphari Satans envy to hurt the Saints is never mitigated yet he loves not to deal with those that foil him often lest men should triumph over him for his fruitless endeavours If a penitent sinners humility breed joy in heaven an innocent mans stedfastness against tentations must breed envy and amazement in hell The frustrating of bad attempts against our soul will add honour to the reward which we shall have in heaven and Satan will be loth to make any man too much a Conquerour lest he get too much glory in the Kingdom of heaven for his victories If he could have foreseen that heroick vertue in Job and in the rest of the Martyrs certainly he would have recoiled away and never have touched their persons As it was said of M. Anthony that Augustus his fellow Triumvir had been so fortunate against him in all Games and Recreations that in the end he durst encounter him in nothing Formidavit genium Augusti genius Antonii There was a Genius in Augustus which did over-awe the Genius of Anthony So the Ghostly Adversary is afraid of such devout persons as Zachary and Elizabeth who walk blameless in all the Commandments and Ordinances of God if he do but see their lips move in Prayer he is suspicious of his own weakness and their fortitude that they will bruise his head Therefore St. Chrysostome likens him to a Dog that waits at Table while you feed him he stirs no◠from you shew him no kindness but kick him and spurn him from the Table and he runs away from your severity which is thus Morallized in an Apostolical rule Resist the Devil and he will fly from you Jam. iv 7. Or if he do not fly because he is overcome by you do you fly first and that is an undeniable means to overthrow him walk not in the counsel of the ungodly abhor their ways abandon the occasions which entrap your frailty fly Fornication 1 Cor. vi 18. My dearly beloved fly from Idolatry 1 Cor. x. 14. And in another passion The love of money is the root of all evil O man af God fly these things 1 Tim. vi 11. Joseph fled from his Mistresses importunity and so overcame the Devil of lust Upon which St. Austin speaks Non verendum fugere castitatis palmam desideranti obtinere It is no cowardize in him to fly away that would wear the palm of chastity Antigonus being put to disadvantage gave ground to his enemies what says an hot-spur that was near him Do you fly Not fly says Antigonus but Vtilitatem à tergo sitam persequor I only prosecute that profit or advantage which is behind me So if it be useful to avoid the baits of sin make away as fast as your feet can carry you where such evil occasions cannot overtake you For this cause some are said to leave the world and to retire unto their Prayers not that any man can go out of the world till God receive his Spirit at the last hour but because they are sequestred into a strict course of life as into another world where the old man and his concupiscence cannot find them out And so much for the second reason why the Tempter did leave Christ Quia victus he was beaten and deluded the sting of the Dragon would not enter into Christ and yet he had ended all his temptation Put the last reason to the former why he left our Saviour and the Point is done Quia idololatriae convictus because he was both guilty and convicted of Idolatry for the Antecedent suggestion If therefore thou wilt fall down and worship me all shall be thine No disputation is to be held about such blasphemy as this but take that which is thine own and be gone without any longer parly There is no Society no Communion in Christ to be held with Idolaters they must leave us or we must leave them Whether the Idolatry be Error personae a quite mistake in the person taking those things for God which by nature are no Gods this was Idolatry indeed at the worst and in the most loathed deformity or though it be but error in modo colendi an idolatrous manner of worshipping the true God whosoever are infected with either of these crimes are to be shunned much more than those in the Old Law that had the infection of Leprosie in the flesh The Children of Israel worshipped the true God in the Calf that Aaron made I have said enough of that before there was no error in the person whose honour they propounded they meant all to God but it was a misbegotten invention of their own which could not consist with the pure and sincere worship of the divine glory the superstitious manner was enough to cut them off from the Congregation of their Brethren For Moses charged the Sons of Levi not to excommunicate them but to be their Executioners a particular severity for that fault and for no other put every man his Sword by his side and go in and out from Gate to Gate throughout the Camp and slay every man his Brother and every man his Neighbour and every man his Companion and they did so All Neighbourhood Companionship and Brotherhood was to be dissolved with Idolaters
him whose dominion is in the Sea and his right hand in the Flouds From him therefore Satan could not go from the light of his countenance from the comfort of his face he might go Nemo loco sed iniquitate à Deo elongatur No distance of place is remote from him who is with every thing and about all things and in all things He is as much in that place which every Creature takes up as the Creature it self yet without any impediment to the locality of it but our iniquities separate between God and us and where there is the most sin there is the greatest separation But to come to the plainest and most textual answer Christs Manhood is not receptive of Omnipresency so the Devil left his Humane Nature for a season and was not near it he went away to seek out those with whom he might more probably skirmish to get a victory If I should say the Tempter went not far from thence but hovered somewhere about Judaea the conjecture were not altogether without a foundation reason leads me to think he was very inquisitive about our Saviours ways and watchful to espy what miracles he wrought what he said how he might stir up enemies and unbelievers against him and some worse than Parricide to betray him St. Luke says He left him but for a season after these temptations as if he were ever in harms-way to offend him But above all I perceive by another of the Evangelists that the brood of Hell frequented the Land of Jurie in the days of our Saviour more than all other places in the earth a Legion of them in one man many Regiments of them in others that were possessed There was their Theater to play their wicked part where the Gospel might be most offended rather than in all the world beside Therefore St. Mark says one of the Devils which he cast out besought him that he would not send him out of that Country Mar. v. 10. They should want work in unfrequented places Idolatrous Cities though most populous were their own already their quickest trade lay in Judaea at this time here grew the unwillingness to leave that Country But now it is time to leave that question to what place Satan shifted when he was commanded to leave our Saviour Give ear to the next question Whether ever he returned again It is St. Lukes meaning that we should take notice he returned again and infested our Saviour after this bout for he says his departure was but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for a season and no more It was but for a short truce indeed till he had cast about to rise up against Christ in another fashion not by tempting him to sin but by exercising his patience under rebukes and misery and finally to work his death by treachery He knew him by this time to be his own Lord against whom he had rebelled in whom it was impossible to imprint any blot or blemish of iniquity But because that Humane Nature which Christ had assumed into his Person was of the Seed of Abraham and therefore obnoxious to death the Devil plotted his destruction from time to time and wrought his purpose at last by putting it into the heart of Judas to betray him being not advised out of the Scripture as he might have been by reason if God had not blinded him that our Saviour by death would overcome death and pull down the mighty one from his seat by triumphing on the Cross An ordinary curse ever since upon malicious persons the ruine of those against whom they are bent falls upon their own head and crusheth them to pieces But this was the service for which Satan returned again to vex his body after a season because his soul was spotless to oppose his prosperity because he could not hurt his vertue Thus Bonaventure comprizeth it Tentavit emollire per blanditias sed modicum tempus tentabit frangere per miserias Now he tried our Saviour with fair offers after a while he will thrust at him with foul calamities Now his own hand is in the work but then his Instruments The use of it shall come home to our selves thus The Lord sometimes takes off our foe from us and gives us breathing time after temptations it is but for a season not to flatter our selves with quietness and security but to repair our ruines to keep out the batteries that will ensue It is but a refreshing after the fit of an Ague the sick day is coming again Like a calm upon the Sea while a sweet gale blows what sensible man will not have all things ready for a tempest Remember the Parable Luke xi And what the unclean Spirit said I will return into my house from whence I came Like the Assyrian Souldiers when they had once found the way into the Land of Judaea they could never be dealt withal to forget it Hezekiah or whosoever might hire them to go home again for one year but the next Summer following they were sure to make a new invasion And do not stand too much upon affiance I have conquered these and these tentations often I dare trust my self now upon the brink of these sins and shall never be thrust in to make such security more doubtful and suspicious Cassianus hath a fit similitude says he A Fox will stretch himself for dead that Poultry may come into his reach and never fear him yet if they do stalk towards him they shall find to their cost he is not past doing mischief So the Tempter will give back as if he were fled for ever but he departs only for a more seasonable opportunity and will return again with seven spirits worse than himself when you are worst prepared The holiest Fathers of the Church had flesh and frailty in them and can speak in this point as well by Experience as by Art and Meditation and this is their common verdict Quo valentius vincitur eò ardentius ad insidias instigatur If he be vanquish'd by him that is strong in faith it sharpens his edge the more to make his part good again by Art and subtilty And so much for this last Point upon the first general part Satan departed from Christ but for a season But now he is gone though like a Wolf regardant looking back upon the Flock from which he was beaten And Christ had such company in exchange that my Text bids us mark and see the succession that followed and behold Angels came and ministred unto him This Particle of wonder Behold is a Dial or Index to three things First To note a moral alteration a lewd one is dismiss'd to receive an holy train in his room here was an accursed Spirit parlying with Christ instead of him here is a volly of Angels Whosoever he be that hath taken delight in the company of wicked men and sorted himself with those that have not the fear of God before their eyes let him cast them
off and abandon their Society and he shall find heavenly comforters in his soul as if Angels ministred unto him Qui expellit à se Satanam allicit ad se Angelos Bid Satan get him hence and the Angels take it for an invitation that they should pitch their Pavilions round about you Lot lived like a stranger in his own City and conversed not with the men of Sodom they called him a stranger he shut himself up and barr'd his doors against those filthy people What could he do more to keep the ungodly from his very sight as David said Thus estranging himself from the conversation of pernicious sinners he made himself sit to give hospitality to Angels A good Lesson for these times wherein ribbald roaring company is rather sought for than declined A strange thing that a Christian who feels some comfort in Christ and desires salvation in his bloud should with so much affection and longing thrust himself among them whose desperate behaviour is easily perceived if repentance help not to tend to utter damnation St. Paul was weary of his own body called it a body of death and groaned to be delivered from it because the Flesh rebelled against the Spirit Did he loath himself that he might love Christ the more And will you invite those into your friendship and fellowship that blaspheme Christ Shake off this dust from your feet all prophane intemperate lascivious persons from your familiarity if either you expect that God should give his Angels charge of you in this life or make you partakers of their fellowship of heavenly glory in the life to come The next thing towards which we turn our eyes at this word behold is the alteration of rest and quietness before there were assaults and troubles and molestations all this is changed in a moment into peace and tranquillity which shall be the certain issue of all those that fight a good fight with patience Semper asperiora laetiorum vicissitudine mitigantur Rough beginnings have joyful events by the temperature and vicissitude of Gods gracious mercy Such as were called prosperous among the heathen most usually the best share of their fortune was in the forepart of their life and their end was lamentable the seven first years in Pharaohs dream did betoken plenty but the seven last years famine and scarcity the head of Nebuchadonosors Image was of Gold and the toes of Clay the rich man had a great time of gathering more than he knew where to bestow it but in one night lost his soul and all This is an unkind and an unnatural method to taste the sweetest at the top of the Cup and after a little sipping to have our teeth set on edge with Aloes Doth it not taste better when the gracious providence turns the lot thus First a Deluge and then a Rainbow First a Captivity and then a joyful return First a Dioclesian and then a Constantine First the impugnation of the Devil and then the Congratulation of Angels Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour untill the evening says the Psalmist There is a time to give the body a cessation from toil and do you think the Lord doth not measure out when he will give the soul and spirit relaxation from misery As a stranger is received at night and bids God b'you in the morning so indignation and the severity of chastisement are stangers unto the Lords clemency he calls vengeance Peregrinum opus his strange work Isa xxviii Therefore it shall be dismissed from him like a stranger after it hath staid a while Heaviness may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning Psal xxx 6. Tentations have their bout and the storms of hell their period but the good Angels know their qu when to enter and to turn the scene Behold the Angels came and ministred unto him And once more this note of admiration Behold bids us regard to what alteration of dignity the truly humble are called Recusavit dominatum in homines habet imperium in Angelos Our Saviour turn'd away from that ambitious suggestion All this power will I give thee and the glory of them He desired not to have a Kingdom in this world or to have the pre-eminence of men and loe the pre-eminence over Angels is given unto him And it is more dignity to have two Angels minister unto him than to have ten thousand Kingdoms Every part of Christs humility was inlaid with honour to recompence it To be laid in a Manger was not so vile as it was most magnificent to be adored of the Wisemen of the East to be visited by Shepherds was not so contemptible as it was most glorious to be proclaimed of Angels To ride upon an Ass was not of such debasement but the cry of the children made amends Hosanna blessed is the King that cometh in the name of the Lord. It savoured not so much of infirmity to be tempted of the Devil but it is supplied as much with Majesty to be attended by the Cherubins No part of his humility went without a reward from the first to the last nay the last part had amends made for all He humbled himself unto the death even unto the death of the Cross propter quod wherefore God hath highly exalted him c. Humility was his direct way to glory but we think we are out of the way to promotion unless we shift and shuffle for the highest place and the chiefest room in the Synagogues The first shall be last and the last shall be first This is a riddle to them that love to set their feet upon a rising ground Yet David hath laid a curse upon preposterous ambition that it shall decline That which should have been for their wealth says he let it be unto them an occasion of falling The holy Father Basil lost no honour in this life by shunning the dignity which was intended him and flying away into obscurity when he was called to be a Bishop The Apostle Bartholomew is reported in some histories to have been of the bloud royal of the Kings of Egypt Was it any diminution to him to have left all to be a poor Disciple Is there any Christian King that doth not wish he had rather born his Office of Apostleship than have swayed a Scepter When Princes die their honour shall not follow after them but those twelve humble ones of our Saviours train shall sit upon twelve Thrones judging the twelve Tribes of Israel If spiritual thoughts will lift a man up to heaven an humble man is mounted above the earth all the while he seeks those things which are above Themislius an holy man put this Lesson in so pure a verse as it is beyond translation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his heart sunk down when ambition puft him up but he felt his feet upon the Angels Ladder going up when humility cast him down Our Saviour despised all the Kingdoms of the world and the glory
ended really and in truth his word was consummatum est all was finisht and at that stop he bowed his head and gave up the Ghost Inclinavit caput as if he had said I have held out thus long against the fury of man now I willingly die I will hold out no longer against the truth of God Very wittily the Author of the Questions to Antiochus whom I cited before all enemies were come about our Saviour on the Cross and had the foil only death hovered aloof and durst not approach ideo Christus inclinato capite vocavit eam antequam inclinaret caput propiùs accedere verebatur therefore when all things were accomplisht Christ nodded with his head and called death unto him which durst not approach unseasonably before He bowed down his head How sweet it is to sleep in death when we have accomplisht all things that are acceptable to God even so Christ did not decease till he had finisht all things which were due to his Father and then this world could not claim him a minute longer but woe and bitterness shall be in that mans end who hath been troubled about many things in this but in no one thing that is good can shew a dispatch much more how far is He from saying with St. Paul I have finished my course hence forth is laid up for me a Crown of life Sow your Seed ripen your Harvest that it may be gathered into the Barn Let not your conscience begin to lament about the last hour and say I have promised repentance to the Lord I have promised works of mercy to the poor I have promised reconciliation to my Brother these fruitless words will come in judgment against me for I have accomplished nothing This second general part sticks only at the last word the Place where Christ should suffer is designed by Moses and Elias they spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem Jerusalem indeed was grown to be the Scaffold upon which the best blood on earth had been spilt for many ages It cannot be that a Prophet should perish out of Jerusalem Luke xiii 13. and Christ did them no wrong when he taxt them with that officious cruelty that they laboured to draw the execution of all the Prophets to themselves Nor yet is the meaning so universal that all the Martyrs had perisht within their Walls The greater part did and enow to dishonour all the daily Sacrifices which they offered up in the Temple when they polluted themselves with the Sacrifices of the Saints True indeed that Jeremy the Prophet as Epiphanius relates suffered in Egypt Ezechiel in Chaldaea Jezebel in her time put to death many excellent men in Samaria and Herod as Josephus says cut off John Baptists head at the Castle of Macheranta in the utmost confines of Galilee But Jerusalem was become the Gulf which had swallowed more holy blood than all other places And I mark it in St. Paul when Agabus told St. Paul by the spirit that he should be bound in chains and shortly after die for the confession of the faith as yet God had not revealed that he must go to Rome and testifie his name there but Paul makes haste to Jerusalem as if he would meet death in the face in that great Metropolis which was so infamous for many Martyrdoms Well this is that City which had so incurr'd the anger of the Lord that he suffered it to fill up the measure of all iniquity and be odious to all Generations for crucifying the Lord of Life Yet the Praeposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we have fitly translated at Jerusalem For Christ did not suffer within the City but without the Gates I will take my thread from St. Paul to lead me in this way from the 11. to the end of the 13. verse The bodies of those Beasts whose blood is brought into the Sanctuary by the High Priest for sin are burnt without the Camp Wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctifie the people with his own blood suffered without the Gate Let us go forth thereforce unto him without the Camp bearing his reproach Of those Beasts with whose blood the Sanctuary was expiated and their flesh burnt without the Camp you may read Levit. xvi 27. They that serv'd at the Tabernacle had no portion in this Sacrifice So Christ was carried out of the City to suffer and they that still retain the yoke of Ceremonies upon their neck have no part in him He suffered near to Jerusalem he came unto his own but they cast him forth He suffered not in the Temple for says Leo Crux Christi mundi est ara non templi Christs Cross was an Altar of which the whole world should partake and not that Temple only Nay to go further He was crucified out of the Privileges of that Jewish City to betoken that the blessing of his Passion would light upon the Gentiles The use which the Apostle makes is as he went forth of Jerusalem so let us go forth of the Camp to God Extra urbem extra mundum sequamur Christum let us leave our Pleasures our Riches our Country our Life and this whole World when it is requisite to do God honour by those means Quid est egredi ad eum videlicet communicemus cum eo passiones sayes St. Chrysostom What is it to go out to him but to follow the example of his patience humility and sufferings then we shall go out from our sins and come into his glory And so much briefly for every part of that Communication which Moses and Elias had in the Mount They spake of his decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem There is a whole verse yet remaining to be excussed which I read unto you I would not be prevented but to speak of that which follows entirely by it self yet I will so handle this with a short Paraphrase that I may not be tedious But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep This is right man and his regardlesness God shines in his works the Law and the Prophets preach daily and yet men sleep No nor the strong out-cries and exclamations of our Saviour in prayer could keep them awake Lord if thou shouldst not make intercession for us with strong cries and groans unutterable when we slumber and regard not our own misery what endless woe would fall upon us but here 's the difference between Moses and Elias immortalized in their body they talk divinely and between the best men Peter and the Apostles in their corruptible nature they are but drowsie lumps of flesh So it ought to be to impress this humility into our heart quod Apostoli dormiunt ignaviae est quid ipsis contigit spectaculum felicitatis Dei gratiae It is our own idleness that makes us sleep and when we slept in death it was Gods mere mercy no merit of ours that sent us happiness and glory it is not our vigilancy or our
is like Gods Rainbow in the Clouds not only a beautiful but a merciful Token a Bow with the string towards the earth so that it is not prepared to shoot arrows against us As Pliny said to Trajan of his virtuous Consort nihil sibi ex fortunâ tuâ nisi gaudium vendicat so all that a Christian challengeth for his own is the blessed Virgins solace My spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour Beloved they forget that God is called the Father of mercies and the God of all consolations they forget that since Christ is come in the flesh the Dove is returned with the Olive branch of peace in his mouth who fill the minds of men with melancholly desperate doubts and do oftner cast before them black stones of condemnation than white stones of absolution Chearfulness and a delightsom countenance becomes the Disciples of Christ howsoever the austere Pharisees censur'd our Saviour himself for a Winebibber and a Glutton because he was sociable and did not always lowr and pout after their hypocritical fashion St. Chrysostom neither lived with content to his own heart nor gave content to other because he was untractable to all manner of joyful familiarity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was so earnest for sobriety that he run into a Cynical austerity Some not unfitly I think contend so much that a Christian is to deport himself in a sweet consolatory fashion that they understand Solomon to that meaning Eccl. ix 8. Eat thy bread with joy and let thy garments be always white as if none should put on mournings for the Gospel sake unless they wanted a good conscience to rejoyce in Christ Though the splendour of the Law was terrible yet the glory of the New Testament is amiable bonum est says St. Peter it is a good thing to see the Majesty of our Saviour in perfect beauty Secondly Thus far the Apostle gave a right judgment upon the vision and thus much further that he said it was bonum nobis intended not so much for Christs exalted bravery as for our good When I began this Miracle I cited a rule out of Damascen and I repeat it again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the impulsive cause of all things that our Saviour did upon earth was the love which he did bear to the generation of men yea the Lord hath made man the scope of all his other works in a subordinate way to his own glory For man is made to serve the Lord and the earth is made to serve and supply the use of man and both ways man is made happy and not God says Lombard Et quod accepit obsequium à creaturis quod impendit Deo either to take homage from the Creature or to do homage to the glory of God All things are ours says St. Paul whether it be the world or life whether it be the World as the Vassal of our service or Life eternal as the Crown of our service When our Saviour did exhibit himself in this rare feature at Mount Thabor quorsum haec was it not to catch our hearts and affect them with the vision he did not present himself as Agrippa and Bernice did Act. xxv 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with great pomp and estate to shew the regal lustre of their Royalty no the very Heathen were contented to say that the supreme power of Heaven must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contented with himself and needed no accessories to set forth his honour as Caesar spake in a lofty contempt to his mutinous Souldiers an vos momenta putatis ulla dedisse mihi so it would sound better from Gods mouth All the creatures upon earth cannot confer a scruple or the least moment to advance his excellency Christ was not contemptible by being made humble nor more renowned than he was before by appearing in Majesty Every way he is unobnoxious to the censure of man because every way he made himself fit for the good of man and when he joyned both humility and glory in one act both were for us See his lowly modesty when he rode upon an Ass to Jerusalem see his triumphs of dignity at the same time in those popular acclamations Hosanna to the Son of David blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. But all was to this end that we might see and hear the honor of God and the fruit of our own salvation all the brightness which shin'd upon him in Mount Thabor was to enlighten our darkness Bonum est nobis says Peter it is good for us 3. Yet once again I will speak that the Apostle did speak the very truth in a third Point it was good to be continually present with Christs glory and never part from it Bonum est esse hic there is no mutation in perfect joy but an abiding for ever We cannot change for the better to go from the beatifical presence of God how could Peter choose but desire to hold him to that when he had begun to taste of it I have read in some obsolete stories of Lazarus who was raised to life after he had been dead four days and some others of the like kind that their soul had seen a little of the happiness of the life to come and being brought again into the body by the word of Christ they were never seen to laugh or smile either because they knew better than others that there was no true joy upon earth or because they were melancholy to have their happiness interrupted My soul longeth and fainteth for the Courts of the Lord says David Psal lxxxiv 2. If he could faint with desire to obtain that which he had never seen how might this Disciple faint and languish to leave that which he had seen Old Anna the Widow departed not out of the Temple of God day nor night which is as much in effect as if St. Luke had said Whatsoever place is called by Gods name deserves our frequent company and I say unto you of this house where now we are which is called by his name Bonum est nos esse hic it is good for us to be here St. Chrysostome tells me of some great Princes in his time that desired upon their death-bed to be buried in the Porch of the Church that although they were taken away from being present at the holy Service which they were wont to love yet their bodies even in the Grave might as it were be door-keepers for ever in the house of God I will conclude this general part with Bernards words Quid aliud videtur bonum quam in bonis animam demorari quandoquidem adhuc corpus non potest What is good for a man but that his soul should abide and persevere in good meditations and good works since there is no good place of continuance upon earth to receive his body You have the flower of St. Peters Speech bolted out but there is more bran remaining in six Conclusions that
handle the Passion it self and the Object which stirred it up the Passion was inwardly very great They were afraid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sore afraid says St. Matthew and outwardly it bewrayed it self for the same Evangelist says they fell on their face The Object which put them into fear in the Text is a Cloud describ'd by two properties 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was a bright one says St. Matthew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an overshadowing one says St. Luke Nor did these only afright them but the Passion Sermon also which Moses and Elias made and the Sermon which the Father made out of the Cloud This is my beloved Son In the second general part their Succour hath two tasts of mercy in it contactum he touched them alloquium and said arise be not afraid Thus I have made this part of the story complete by an harmony of all the three Evangelists which have wrote upon it and to these I am now ready to apply my Doctrine and Exhortation The Disciples Passion is that which led us to handle all the other parts and therefore I begin with it They feared As the Aegyptian Priest upbraided Solon because the Graecian Histories intreated of things but lately done and of no antiquity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 your Greeks are always Children so I may say of Greeks and Aegyptians and all the dwellers upon earth we are always Children for our own distrustful nature although no evil come nigh our dwelling doth discipline us with fear as if we were Boys that were always under correction An hair brain'd fear is foolish you will all confess and Solomon says that joy is madness then between them both you may gather that the wisest of all are not long in their wits but as St. Paul said of the awful authority of the Magistrate Rulers are not a terror to good workers but to the evil Rom. xiii 3. So I may safely say God is not a terror to the good Saints departed but to the bad that remain because our own heart is only evil continually The very merciful works of the Lord are doubtful every strange thing that he doth among us is terrible every punishment a little begun by our own suspicions makes us more miserable As the Spartans call their Country because of their rigid Discipline 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a tamer of men that would pluck down sawcy boldness so God hath put the hook of fear into our nostrils the whole world hath so many Monsters to scare us that it is in one part as well as in another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it takes down high spirits and dejects audacity And among all the instances of Sacred Writ which shew the instability and changeableness of high content upon earth seek for such another as my Text affords and I think you cannot match it What felicity can be durable in this mortal life if this could hold no longer to see our Saviour transfigur'd in glory and Moses and Elias talking with him even now the Disciples had a glance of celestial beatitude their hearts entranced with that pleasant Vision of a sudden comes a sad Catastrophe their joy is snatcht from them and upon the same ground where they were so much delighted they are sore afraid As the Historian says of Manlius Capitolinus who had both triumphed in the Capitol and been condemned in the Capitol Eundem locum habuit eximiae gloriae tristissimi exitus monumentum the same place was both his honour and his ruin So on the same Hill Mount Thabor uno pede upon the same standing uno momento even in the same moment the Disciples were in a Trance of joy and in a Trance of trouble As when Moses was born the Mother was glad for joy that a man Child was born into the world but instantly she droopt when he was taken away to be exposed to drowning and destruction So as soon as ever any earthly pleasure is begotten unto us presently it is snatcht a way to be drowned in tears upon some woful occasion Health is waited on by sickness comfort by tribulation mirth by fear even as the heel of Esau was in the hand of Jacob. Even now Peter had set his rest upon this place for ever Master it is good for us to be here but after this qualm you hear him say so no more now he had as liev be gone as stay so soon shall every thing upon earth cloy us so it hath pleased God that nothing but Heaven may content us Thrice happy though we feel it not when in the midst of full satisfaction and all the help and countenance this World can give us some cross point comes in our way that we may be willing to forget our own People and our Fathers House As the Poet makes his Aeneas to be scared out of Carthage where he was lull'd in sensauity by divine menacies in a Dream so the Lord is most gracious when he frights us out of the love of this World as Absalon set a fire on Joabs Corn to make him leave Jerusalem and come and speak with him so the Lord must send the Sword or Famin Fire or Water some destroying Element else we shall linger and delay before we come unto him some bright Cloud or other must stare us in the face that we may turn our back to these vanities and look to thee O God And surely to shake out that ill exprest desire Master it is good for us to be here it was Christs pleasure that Peter should be male-contented instantly upon the former motion I say he was winnowed with this afrightment to drive away that chaff For it was otherwise at his Baptism when there were heavenly tokens came down upon earth a Majestical voice did speak from the Clouds the Holy Ghost came down like a Quarry in the shape of a Dove yet no perturbation for ought we read among them that saw it But I must tell you I do not praise them for that there were Gods favourable Kindness and his Majesty combined together and we must not take hold of these with the loose rains of joy only but likewise with an awful reverence Exultatio summae bonitati timor Majestati debetur we lift our selves up with joy to feel his merciful goodness but it becoms us to cast our selves down with fear to see his glorious Majesty what say we to a stranger instance than this I have named Joh. xii 18. Christ prays unto the Father Father glorifie thy name the Father answers I have both glorified it and I will glorifie it The multitude said it thundred a strange Thunder which should speak articulate words and yet we do not find in that Chapter that the folk who heard it were amazed What are these three Disciples more white-livered than all others to be scared with far less than Thunder a strange comparison indeed says Rathertus nisi quod ibi superbia tumet hic autem humilitas pavet
Shepherds and not like Wolves That is the just Latitude of this Precept This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear him The first part of the Text would require much more to be spoken but here must be the end of that because much more remains behind Therefore in the second Point that the Church might the better admit Christs sole Authority to hear him and no other all other persons of excellency vanisht and he was left alone The Disciples lookt up says St. Matthew and lookt about says St. Mark and when the voice was past Jesus was found alone Whether they that come back from the dead depart from us again as did Moses and Elias in this place or whether our living Friends whom we tender dearly go from hence for ever unto the dead let this comfort remain with you that the best Friend of all sticks by you Christ is with you and stays behind And much better it is to find him alone than all the world beside without him Vnus Iesus satis superque nobis est So I think Gregory It is an happy solitariness to be forsaken of all other and to be left with him alone St. Austin enumerating the several Temples which the Romans built to their Deities reckons up one for Vertue another for Felicity another for Fortune Says the Father If the Heathen had been wise men at least they would have spared the Temple of Fortune and made no use of that Quid ei sufficit cui virtus felicitasque non sufficit He that hath vertue and felicity hath enough or he will never be contented So he that can keep our Saviour hath the fulness of joy abiding with him and he cannot choose but be satisfied What small hearts-ease had the Blessed Virgin to find all her Kindred at home and to miss him And if his Room be empty the house is in a pitiful case though it be furnish'd with all manner of store beside When the whole World was lost in the Deluge of waters one Ark was unto Noah instead of all the world beside to save him so when all things flit away and consume by little my Father and Mother forsake me our friends our means our strength our health our life Tu autem Domine non dereliquisti one Redeemer is all and more than all As when the leaves drop off from the Tree yet the Sun continues to comfort it and make it spring again so the reliefs and pleasures of this Age shall wax old with time and be shaken off as the leaves before the wind but nothing shall separate us from the love of God and nothing shall separate God from the love of us And as Christ is enough for all so this one reason is suficient why the Disciples found him alone yet I have another to spare which is this Postquam legis Prophetarum umbra decessit omnia in Evangelio reperiuntur When the Shadows and Types of the Law and Prophets are dispersed away the Gospel abides for ever and is the true repertory of all things that belong to salvation The Law of Moses is a killing Letter no flesh living shall be justified by the works of the Law The Spirit of Elias breaths nothing but fire and perdition to them that sin against the Lord. O God what will become of us miserable offendors if we meet with such as these O remove these away and let us find Jesus alone who came into the world to seek and to save that which is lost A poor Prisoner must needs suspect that he should have a bloudy trial when such angry Judges came from heaven as Moses and Elias let them rise off from the Bench and depart and leave our cause to be heard before a Saviour so full of pity who is all bowels all compassion An potior judex Puerisve quis aptior orbis He will not recompence us according to our misdeeds but deliver us from the Tormentor The poor woman taken in Adultery had a sweet taste of this Doctrine Christ cast a scruple of conscience before her bitter Accusers which made them slip away one after another then the day began to go on the poor sinners side When Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst Joh. viii 9. Beside I have repeated it to you very often that the Transfiguration was an Idea or Model of the Resurrection and therefore Christ was left alone to let you see the condition of that period of time when all things shall pass away at the end of the world Vt Deus maneat omnia in omnibus when Christ shall be our portion alone and the glory of every thing in earth shall vanish and come to nothing And he alone is an hundred fold those all things else which we enjoy'd in this life according to the reckoning of the Gospel and yet that is but a modest comparison a finite proportion for an infinite In this course of life which now we lead every man acts his part in the mutual Communion of Saints and we have all need one of another For as the members depend upon the head so every member doth want his fellow member to support him the hand cannot say it hath no need of the foot nor can the eye say it hath no use of the ear we must have the help of Moses and Elias and all those bright shining stars that have gone before And the Ages to come shall acknowledge that they were the better for the help of those good men which these times produce But after the final consummation of all things we shall no more be put to these shifts to require the assistance one of another though there were no Moses no Elias no Peter no James and John yet every one shall be perfect in Christ and shall be filled with the fulness of him that filleth all in all St. Hierom in a certain Epistle to Amandus takes upon him to interpret the words of St. Paul 1 Cor. xv 28. on this wise All things shall be subject unto him that God may be all in all Says he our Lord and Saviour is not now all in all but according to the several distributions of his gifts a part only in every several man For example Wisdom in Solomon Zeal in David Patience in Job Interpretation of dreams in Daniel Power of Miracles in Paul Faith in Peter Virginity in John In caeteris caetera but when the end of all things shall come then he shall be all in all Vt singuli sanctorum omnes vertutes habeant ut sit Christus totus in cunctis That every Saint may be filled with all vertue and the fulness of Christ may be in all alike And so far on the second part that Jesus was found alone This is the Argument of the third part of the Text that when God from heaven had commanded the Disciples to hear his Son and left him alone to be heard instead of the Law and the Prophets Christ
of man be risen from the dead In the fourth general member of the Text as they were enjoyn'd so my Text says they kept secrecy they told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen When I first entred upon this part of the Gospel I told you that the Latin Churches keep an annual Feast in memory of the Transfiguration upon the sixth day of August for this reason the Transfiguration it self fell out in the beginning of the Spring a few weeks before our Saviours Passion The three Disciples which saw it being admonished to be private in that which they had seen till more convenient time confessed it not in five moneths following unto their fellow Disciples and then made a solemn publication of it upon the sixth of August which day thereupon had some sacred honour done it Obedience is a virture of great necessity even in the smallest things and they that are subject to obey must not examin with what little prejudice a small command may be broke but rather consider with what great ease it may be kept Things forbidden says the School are of two sorts Quaedam prohibentur quia mala quaedam sunt mala quia prohibentur some things are absolutly evil in themselves and therefore are prohibited as Murder and Adultery some things are prohibited by just authority and therereupon respectively become evil as the eating of the forbidden fruit in Paradise if God had not expresly prohibited that Tree to man it had been no sin to taste of it So our Saviour made that sinful by his command which otherwise had been harmless to be spoken of if he had not encharged his Disciples to obsequiousness and they performed that secrecy which they undertook not envying their Brethren the relation of the things which they had seen but observing that time of restraint which their Master had prefixed And thus they reap praise even out of their infirmity that although they were unfit to speak of such transcendent miracles as yet yet they knew their duty to hold their peace Dearly Beloved the wonderful works of our Lord were never brought to pass to be hid like a Candle under a Bushel and to remain alwayes undiscover'd no it was Pauls defence before Felix and Agrippa that every thing which belonged to Christ was advanced to the open view These things sayes he were not done in a corner The Heathen had their sacra Cereris Eleusinia non divulganda the Ceremonies and Rituals of Ceres never to be divulged the more shame for those Idolaters to have such filthy abominations in their Temples which they durst not publish Christ did only sequester his secrets for the most apt times of manifestation Dies dici eructat verbum one day certifieth another Time is the most prudent Master in the world In those days appointed for silence Peter and John and James did shut up the secret committed unto them but only in those times and now it is left to be preached to all Nations as to you at this time ever since the Resurrection of the Son of God The Catechumeni in the Primitive Church that is the novice Christians instructed in the Rudiments of Faith and not yet baptized were not permitted to be present in the Church at the celebration of the Lords Supper such as are baptized have admittance to partake of all Mysteries when they can examine themselves because they are baptized into the Faith of his Resurrection And yet there is a Veil drawn before our eyes till the times of great accomplishment I mean the Resurrection of the body then we shall be filled with the glory of the Lord which shall enlighten us to behold all things that conduce to our eternal happiness AMEN FOUR SERMONS UPON THE PASSION OF OUR SAVIOUR THE FIRST SERMON UPON THE PASSION MAT. xxvii 24. I am innocent of the bloud of this just Person see you to it AS Pilate sate in Judgment upon our Saviour so are we met together this day to sit in judgment upon Pilate The Ruler marveled when his Prisoner stood before him and said nothing for himself But now is the time to speak it was Christs good pleasure to leave his cause to be defended by us who should live in after Ages and wheresoever the Gospel is preached throughout the world the Word doth testifie now in every mans mouth Christ is pittied and Pilate is censured When they reach'd a Reed unto our Saviour they put an Emblem in his hand says St. Hierom that their own infamy should be endited against them to after Ages Calamum tenet in manu ut inimicorum sacrilegium scriberet The Reed was in his hand to pen the sacriledge of his enemies But Pilates crime shall be the least part of our Meditation that which I would require to be the fruit of your attention is to beware of committing the same faults which we tax in another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a reproach retorted upon our selves is a double infamy For as the Orator said of the Faction of Augustus and Antony when Caesar was treacherously slain Tyrannus occidit tyrannis vivit the Tyrant was suppressed but not the Tyranny so when Pilate shall have sentence against him we must every man also arrain his own infidelity which thinks it self innocent of the bloud of Christ or else I must tell you plainly that you do condemn the Hypocrite and acquit Hypocrisie He that says he did not crucifie Christ is his greatest crucifier he that will confess that they were his blasphemies which spat upon his face his Briberies that nailed his hands to the Cross his gluttony and drunkenness that gave him Gall to drink his wrath and malice that pierced him in the side his disobedience against Magistrates that bruized him in the head his wanton Apparel that stript him of his Robe he that will not only die with Christ in his arms as old Simeon did but acknowledge that Christ died by his arms he shall find peace at the last and righteousness with the God of his salvation What became of our Saviours Reed and of his Robe we find in holy Scripture they were taken from him by the Souldiers but it is not written whether any man took up the Crown of thorns as if that were our share or any mans else who is goaded with true compunction And to say truth all the sins which we do commit let us make the best of them are but thorns and briers but if we confess them in humility and ask pardon in tears and contrition then they are corona spinea a crown of thorns Before I begin either to judge Pilate or to examine our selves I must tell you of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a figure of confusion which is most proper to the Devils Rhetorick For in one and the same breath nay in the self-same period he will do three divers things Lie and tell truth and Prophesie Lie like himself tell truth like a believer and Prophesie
Pilate that when he found no cause of dislike among all the slanderous tongues in Jerusalem he alone would speak well of Christ It was a word better placed than that of Phocion who praised a lewd person with this excuse that good men did not need commendation The Devil was a murderer from the beginning for indeed in the beginning of time he was a Slanderer Non qui ferro sed qui verbo malefico interficit homicida est says St. Austin He that takes away a mans good name is a Man-slayer as he that takes away my life This same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bear true witness of all mens actions I wonder it is no more in request it is the thriftiest vertue that you can entertain In rewards of Gold and Silver what we give away we want our selves but in giving good words and in making good report of other mens deeds we do not diminish our own fame but increase it To come nearer to the cause in hand How did our Saviours righteousness appear unto Pilate that such good words came out of the mouth of a Roman who was a stranger to Christ There is scarce any talk of him in the Gospel before this Chapter Why surely you will say for a Prisoner to justifie himself the way is to clear his Enditement and accusations before the Magistrate Now the Adversary did cast in four Crimes against the life of Jesus One before Caiaphas Mar. xxvi that he would destroy the Temple 2. That they found him perverting the Nation 3. That he forbad to give tribute unto Caesar 4. That he said openly he was Christ a King These three Allegations are together Luk. xxiii 2. and none but those three brought before Pilate You know now the Bill of Enditement What satisfaction did the Prisoner give I pray you Did you ever read of his Answer No not a word came out of his lips Silentium habuit pro advocato Bare silence was his Advocate Fortè verebuntur filium says the King in the Gospel Fortè peradventure What doth any such word of doubting make in the mouth of God But the Lord would not seem to determine that any would be so malicious to kill filium complacentiae the innocent Son in whom he was well pleased His slanders were so notorious that he held his peace and was pronounced innocent Now you are not afraid I am sure that I should hold you too long with multiplying many words in our Saviours behalf Christ thought it needless to say oft and therefore I may spare much pains in that Point in so Christian an Auditory For method sake and the direction of your memory thus I will proceed first to lay down two reasons why our Saviour would stand dumb in the question of his integrity Secondly I will draw a short defence against the four calumniations of the Jews not that our Saviour needs it For I tell you he would not move his lips to make an Apology but for your use and instruction For the first of these The silence of Christ in a matter that concerned his life it was not well interpreted by any man for want of the illumination of the holy Spirit Is he beside himself thinks Peter standing in the High Priests Hall Can he say nothing to his Accusers And because he spoke so little Peter would speak too much thrice he denied him and forswore him And is this the great Prophet of Galilee Thinks Herod who preacheth in every Synagogue not like the Scribes and Pharisees but with power and authority Surely he may teach Fishermen but when he comes before Tetrachs and Princes he is quite daunted and out of countenance But as the Fathers do Comment ingeniously upon the place he dropt a word or two before Caiaphas and Pilate but he did utterly seal up his lips before Herod Quia vocem ejus abstulerat How should he speak before him who had taken away his voice For what was John Baptist but the voice of Christ Doth he despise my Authority thinks Pilate Doth he esteem me not fit to command in the Seat of Justice that he doth reply to no Interrogatory but such as like him Vbi respondet pastor est ubi tacet agnus When he did lift up his heavenly voice then he took upon him the person of a Shepherd that fed his flock when he held his peace then he carried himself as that Ecce agnus that remarkable Lamb of the Flock which stood dumb before the Shearers Thus Peter and Herod and Pilate all were scandalized therefore I come prepared to contest against the World by a double reason how expedient it was for this just Person to hold his peace The first is this Ambiunt defendi qui timent vinci Let them defend themselves who can be convicted his life could not be tainted with any suspicion his works were clear from all imperfection Then what need an Advocate Susanna tacuit vicit Susanna stood impeached between the two lascivious Elders that had tempted her she did not beat the Tribunal and call to heaven and earth for witness of her innocency this had not become her Virgin modesty but standing dumb in her righteousness God did plead her cause by the mouth of Daniel The very Romans gave that respect to an approved man Q. Metellus that the whole Bench forbad him to take his oath in a controversie to be debated lest they should seem to distrust so reverend a Citizen So for these crimes wherewith our Saviour was impleaded Non confirmat tacendo sed despicit non refellendo says the Gloss His silence was not a sign of consent but an argument of untainted integrity And Pilate himself did peep into this mystery For as it hapned to a Client of Rhodes in Plutarch that the Advocate of the contrary side spared not to defame him and cast out his Cause as unworthy of the Court but the Judge all the while sate still and said nothing Non refert quid ille loquatur sed quid ille taceat says the Rhodian It makes not against my Cause that the Advocate rails but it makes much for me that the Judge holds his peace So Pilate did not weigh objections by the malicious out-cries of the Jews but by the generous and inoffensive silence of the Son of God Sophocles in his elder years was accused by his Sons for doating and mispending his goods to the impoverishment of their Inheritance What defence doth the Father make Contest before the Areopagites with his own Children Nothing less he knew the awful authority of a Father and would not stoop so low as to prove and send a cause with those whom he had begotten but sends his Tragedy called Oedipus Colinaeus the work of his gray hairs to be read over before the Judges Hoc non est opus delirantis hominis that was not the work of a doating man there was but that one acclamation heard and so he was absolved In like manner our Lord
knew not what to say but in admiration of his mercy lift up his eyes to heaven as if these thoughts did rise up in Abrahams fancy Sarah the Mother of my Son did muse how a Child could be born unto her in her old age but she did ill to laugh because the Lord had spoke it then give me leave to ponder how this Child can live any more when the mouth of God hath spoken that he must be sacrificed for a burnt offering Nay O Lord Non unum redimis sed unitatem In this act thou dost not so much redeem this one from death as the unity of all the faithful in this one all those Nations that shall be blessed in my name wilt thou spare them all as thou sparest Isaac What are our merits What justice is in us What is man that thou wilt not visit him with indignation Thus the soul of Abraham was in an extasie to consider the mercy of God wonder had possessed him we see it in this cast of his eye that he looked up to heaven When the Lord turned the Captivity of Sion then we were like unto them that dream says the Prophet The deliverance was so fortunate so much it did out-strip their hope that they did receive it at first not as that which was done indeed but as a delightful dream As Livie relating how the Graecians were strangly strucken with sudden joy upon the day when the Romans sent them unexpected liberty says he Mirabundi velut somni speciem arbitrabantur they thought it was a pleasing vision in their sleep and not the happiness of them that were broad awake So when God did really make good that Promise which the Devil pretended that he would bring about Non moriemini You shall not die The faithful Patriarch knew not how to apprehend it at the first but his eye did testifie that his soul was ravished with the mercies of the Lord. The wicked shall not end half his days the seed of the ungodly shall be rooted out eternal fire is prepared hereafter for them that shall be turned over to the Devil and his Angels there shall be much wrath and vengeance every where among the dwelling places of the unrighteous but as for Isaac and they that are born according to the Spirit Noli tangere says the Angel the hand of violence shall not come near them as the Poet in his Eclogue brings in Melibaeus wondring at the clemency of Cesar to his fellow-shepherd when all the neighbour-Cottages were burnt and wasted Vndique totis usque adeò turbatur agris So when God shall work so much destruction in the world redemption is an admirable thing where it lights John Baptist as we read it in the vulgar Latine blazeth out with two notes of astonishment one upon another Ecce Agnus Dei ecce qui tollit peccata mundi Behold the Lamb of God I and again Behold him that taketh away the sins of the world In two respects it is to be wondred at without any prejudice to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or fulness of our faith as I will shew by the examples of two memorable women in holy Scripture Whence is it that the mother of my Lord comes unto me says Elizabeth Why did she marvel at it Quia non sui meriti sed divini fatetur esse muneris says Beda because it was a favour of mere grace and not a recompence of merit And again the blessed mother of our Saviour astonished at the Angels message that she should conceive and bear a Son Quomodo says she How shall these things come to pass Tanquam certa de facto querit de modo fiendi as it is the common answer She was sure it should be so she marvelled how it should be so and that was a blameless admiration Both these passions did Abraham suffer he knew there was no worth in man that God should release him from condemnation he knew not the manner what should be paid for his ransom his eye did fix it self upon the throne of God to find the mystery out and so you see it was Gestus admirantis the expression of wonder and astonishment that Abraham lifted up his eyes Thirdly It is Gestus inquirentis besides that he lifted up his eyes he look'd about him from the tops of Moriah it is the demeanour of him that did seek out for a Sacrifice to be offered up unto the Lord. Reges Parthes non potest quisquam salutare sine munere says he No man was admitted to salute the Parthian Kings unless he brought some Present in his hands so because Abraham came to this Mountain to worship before the Angel of the Lord he look'd and enquired for some Oblation that he might not turn back until he had laid a gift upon the Altar Many will lift up their eyes but they list not to seek an Offering for the Lord. Such are best pleased with devotion when it comes off with as little cost as may be Nay says David when Araunah would have born his charges I will not sacrifice to God of that which shall cost me nothing An Objection is framed in the School that the Piety of the Jews was more acceptable to God than the piety of Christians because they in their daily Service were at great expense to provide beasts for the Altar we are at no such charge in our Spiritual Worship it is enough if we offer up a broken heart in mortification a thankful heart in Praise and a devout heart in Prayer But this puts not our Purse to any trial like the Oblations of the Jews To cancel and wipe out this opposition it is answered that we supply that charge of the Sacrifice of beasts In Sacrificio Eleemosynarum in the Sacrifice of Alms to the poor The hand must look about it where to give as well as the eye look upward where to be thankful A distribution to the wants of the needy it is Pro sacrificio and prae sacrificio in place of sacrifice and to be preferred before all sacrifices Mercy is a better Oblation than a Beast that is slain this day you know how much was paid for the price of your redemption but not the price of corruptible things as Silver and Gold Spare O spare some portion of that which you spend profusely in the consumption of vanity at this solemn time of redemption to redeem the distressed in Prisons that are fast bound in misery and iron Look about you as Abraham did and you shall find I assure you Arietes prehensos in Vepribus Rams shall I say Nay they have scarce any fleece upon their back but they are catch'd fast poor Souls by the horns in the Thicket thence they cannot stir unlâ—ss Abraham will take them and offer them up for an Oblation to the Lord. Above all other casts of the eye this same Gestus inquirentis pleaseth me best to look about that we may present some gift upon the Altar
exhalation transpassant from man to man because the first sin was the biting of a Serpent Thirdly By the object of the Serpent we not only see the Author of all sin and the infectious venom of it but likewise a cunning craftiness which Satan hath entailed to the mystery of iniquity lying in wait whom he may deceive There is nothing that will lurk more subtilly to do an ill turn than some sort of Serpents or steal an opportunity more warily Then why should not all plots and mischievous arts of cunning be as hateful as an hissing Adder Nay why not as odious as Beelzebub himself the Prince of Devils Some such there are that have their sharpness of wit from no better founder than the old Dragon that have no measure in their dissimulation no trust in their word no fidelity in their oath no remorse no distinction in conscience whom they ruine and these are counted useful and fit for employment I do not altogether blame the Turks for reputing natural Ideots to be Saints I am sure they are Saints in comparison with such cunning Merchants But a true Christian is somewhat compounded out of the better part of them both as it is Rom. xvi 19. I would have you wise unto that which is good and simple concerning evil This is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Nazianzen inoffensiveness tempered with much intelligence The simplicity of the Dove mitigating the subtilty of the Serpent To say all in a little Sin is supported by Stratagems but Justice by grave knowledge Therefore love wisdom because it comes from God Practise innocency because it comes from Christ Hate subtilty because it is the badge of the Serpent abhor mischief it is the work of the Devil This is for the general we all see what sin is in the Image of the Serpent More particularly the Israelites saw their own sin in that spectacle wherewith they provoked the Lord Num. xxi 4. The people were not turned aside from the promised Land but were wearied with a long journey and in their bitterness they spake against God and Moses They that serve God for temporal things will quickly murmur when they want rest and ease If the ground be not soft under their feet they think it tedious though it should bring them to heaven Beside they loathed Manna it was too light for their hot stomachs and it did not satisfie Somewhat else they would have yet they could not tell what themselves As they that are not contented with the bread that comes down from heaven shall be gnawn with the worm of superstition that will never give them quiet but these are the hints that provoked them to speak against God A little painfulness was repined at as a great deal of misery and a great benefit was repined at as but a little favour Now they that whet their tongues like Serpents was it not meet they should be stung with Serpents They that spat Poison against their Maker did they not deserve a poisonous castigation Or will they dare to murmur any more when they see their punishment cast in brass and abiding for a durable monument If we murmur against him whom we are bound to praise and love is not that disloyalty So did the Israelites If we murmur at small evils that may be tolerated is not that impatiency So did the Israelites If we murmur at good things for which we should rather give thanks if we murmur at Manna the precious nourishment of the soul is not that abominable ingratitude So did the Israelites And what should this sin be likened to but an Aspe or a Viper No Serpent is so much a Serpent as a grumbling spirit that is ever murmuring at God and Moses And this is the first use of the Brazen Serpent to turn unto it as a book wherein we read our sins Peccatum peccati cognitione curatur For the first cure to be applied unto sin is to make a recognition of it with an humble and a contrite spirit so did the truest Penitent and the greatest sinner King David I know my transgressions and my sin is always against me The next contemplation upon this brazen Image is not immediately to step from sin unto the remedy for the vengeance due unto sin is to be considered between them both Behold the bitter pain which Christ endured upon the Cross and it accuseth us that the disobedience was monstrous which must be expiated with so much sorrow Quà m gravis sit peccati conditio prodit remedii magnitudo says St. Austin How great the guiltiness of sin was appears in the magnitude of the remedy And no less it is apparent how insufferable that wrath was which we escaped because he sustained so much wrath that bore it in our stead Note the malediction which we had merited in the maledictive death which our Saviour did undergo and then it will be a pleasant thing to go to heaven as it were by the gates of hell But there is nothing more dangerous than deliverance out of danger if we forget the jeopardy I will bring this clearly out of the matter we have in hand The Creatures that annoyed the Israelites were Serpents For a serpentine sin deserved a serpentine punishment I will send the teeth of beasts upon them with the poison of the Serpents of the dust Deut. xxxiii 24. The teeth of other beasts might have procured a dismal slaughter but because a Serpent was accursed above every beast of the field the wounds that they made did superadd unto death the meditation of a curse and that their judgment was compounded with malediction And this was prosecuted in the figure that the brazen Serpent was lifted upon a pole to keep in mind that sting of the Law Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree Therefore you cannot deny that this is a looking-glass of Justice before we come to mercy As Christ crucified is a type of condemnation to unbelievers but a sacrifice of salvation to those that trust in his Redemption Oleaster says that the first Epithet that God gave to this Figure was to call it a Fiery Serpent Num. xxi 8. because a fire of Coals did continually burn within it that first it might strike dread and horror into all that saw it before it healed the impotent The fire of hell was annexed to that grace and blessing which came from heaven as if the sword of justice had been put up in the Scabbard of mercy but they were never asunder Lose not your self in applying mercy and nothing but mercy to your conscience lest it befall you as it doth with a Bee that is drowned in its own honey But correct presumption and confidence by converting to some remarkable objects of indignation When Achan that troubled the Land was executed They raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day says the Holy Ghost Josh vii 26. God doth not suffer grievous punishments to vanish as shadows but he makes them
miracle was acted It was a waste in the borders of Edom a nameless and a barren piece of ground unprofitable to bring store into the barn but profitable to yield some pious meditations it is the wilderness There was no place that received Israel where some memory or monument of Gods mighty hand was not left behind in Egypt in the Red Sea in Moab in Basan in the Wilderness But this last put them to the greatest trial it was ilium malorum sorrows that met them single elsewhere rusht all upon them in the Wilderness There they suffered war and weariness thirst and hunger plagues and mortality And though they called for redress they had none only they had a cure for the biting of the fiery Serpents So in this Pilgrimage upon earth all manner of offences and afflictions are familiar unto us and though we fast and pray they shall not be taken from us No man must look for comfort or plenty or pleasure in a Wilderness Let it suffice for all that we have a remedy against the venom of the Serpent against the deadly sting of sin For if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is our propitiation not that we should not be afflicted but that we should not perish but have everlasting life I will make one question to the Point that I may give many answers Wherefore was so great a deliverance obscured in the Wilderness where the world could take no notice of it As the Disciples pressed our Saviour to go into Judea that men might see his works If thou do these things shew thy self to the world Joh. vii 4. So had it not been better that the most frequented Cities had been spectators of this wonderful power of healing And was not the Wilderness a little too secret for the fame and publication of it I answer first that is not the vogue and acclamation of the world that the God of sanctity aims at but the faith of the Elect. The fewer that saw these wonders the happier for them that believe and never saw them Many works of the Lord are not necessary to be seen of all but to be believed of all and for the greatest mysteries all must believe though the eye did not nay though it cannot see them Secondly Because the making of this Serpent by Moses had a typical drift in it to set forth Christ we shall not see him more like himself than if we go forth to find him in the Wilderness thither the Spirit led him forth to be tempted and he fought against the Devil so strongly in those Lists that he vanquished him by his innocency Adam in horto superbus Christus in deserto humilis Adam was accommodated with too much pleasure where the Serpent enticed him therefore the second Adam pitch'd his battel in a Desart of a contrary condition It was a Land uncomfortable for solitariness neither fountains nor fruits in it nothing but penury where Satan was overcome but it was a garden drest and delicate filled with all manner of store where he got the victory But is it not better to be humble with Christ in a barren Desart than to be proud with Adam in a delicious Paradise Fight against the Tempter upon the same advantage that our Captain chose Meet him not where pleasures abound meet him not in the Garden but in the Wilderness Come my beloved let us go forth into the field let us lodge in the Villages Cant. vii 11. There is much contagion in the communication with the world therefore the Beloved is invited rather to some harmless privacy Fuge seculi mare naufragium non timebis says St. Ambrose Sail away into some little stream leave the Ocean of ungodliness which is in the most frequented places and you shall not fear shipwrack Our Saviour made himself often a stranger unto this world and retired into a Mountain alone or into the Wilderness Quasi in mundo extra mundum ageret To teach us to live in this world as if we lived without it When we find our selves infected with the conversation of Court or City it is the Wilderness we must fly to a retiring to a private reckoning between God and our selves if we mean to be cured of Serpents We had need of longer Vacations than Terms more rest to pray and repent than stirring days to get wealth that we may ask God forgiveness at leisure for those sins which we did commit in our business Come ye apart into a desart place and rest awhile says our Saviour to his Apostles Mar. vi 31. All cannot receive this saying you will reply all have not the opportunity to come out of the croud some there are whose worth and dignity keeps them always in action To these I say as our Saviour prayed for his Disciples I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil Joh. xvii 15. Says St. Cypriaen Etsi omnes diversorium non capiat loci animi tamen omnino necessaria est solitudo All men cannot must not cast off care the Church and Republick cannot spare their company that they should sequester themselves into remote places O but let not the heart lose that happiness which is denied unto the body I may be vacant to good meditation in the midst of troubles I may stand before men as my Calling requires and be alone with God Pious Meditation which will not mix with any secular thing is like an hermitage to the soul Like a Wilderness wherein I have leisure to look stedfastly upon that Serpent who is the cure of Serpents and the Balm of Gilead Lastly for the time breaks me off that I must conclude there is no place more open or common in the world than a Wilderness There the Image of the Serpent was fixed as a publick benefit which was prohibited to none that would look upon it They that stood nigh they that were far off it was indifferent to both if they beheld it stedfastly So Christ crucified is alike unto all that believe and call upon him to Jew and Gentile to high and low to Rich and Poor to the generations that are passed to us that are further off and to the Generations that are yet to come Let it not trouble you that the Brazen Serpent was lifted up in the midst of the Camp of Israel as if it only served for the Latitude of that Meridian It fell not to their lot in Canaan or in Jerusalem but in the Wilderness which was every mans soil and every mans possession Therefore the root of Jesse is called an Ensign of the people to which the Gentiles shall seek Isa xi 12. All have their part in this Ensign the banner of our Victory Christ exalted that will seek unto him Crux Christi mundi est ara non templi says Leo The Cross of Christ was an Altar yet not a private
one belonging to the Temple but publick blessing to the whole world That is the reason that he suffered not within Jerusalem but without it to the end that all men that purifie their hearts by faith may claim a property in his Oblation Jesus that he might sanctifie the people with his own bloud suffered without the Gate Heb. xiii 11. Therefore let us go forth unto him without the Camp bearing his reproach First Let us go forth unto him and seek him out as stranger that have no abiding City but as Travellers that live in Tabernacles and are passing to our own Country through a Wilderness They that have set their rest upon earth and say here will I dwell for I have a delight therein they shall never find out the comfort of the Cross but use this World as a Pilgrim that would make haste with good speed out of it and you shall find your Saviour by the way He is not in the secret Chamber or in the Closet or in the Palace in none of these permanent and enduring habitations but in the trac of the wayfaring men that is in the Wilderness And then the Cross of Christ stands upon such ground where there is neither gain nor pleasure no more than is to be look'd for in a Wilderness Therefore St. Paul makes this further use of it let us go forth unto him without the Camp bearing his reproaching Extra castra extra mundum ejusque splendida exeamus says Theophylact Leave the pomp and beauty and jingling of these vain things if you stick to them you must perish with them for they all shall perish If you will remain in Sodom you must be destroyed in Sodom Is it not better to go into a Desart where there is nothing to eat than to live among belly-gods where there is nothing but Gluttony Is it not better to repent in Sackcloth than to be profane in Purple Is it not better to want and seek God than to abound and forget him Serpens sitis ardor arenae dulcia virtuti A well disciplined Christian praiseth God for all imcumbrances of adversity for the Serpents that fly about him with the stings of malice and infamy for sickness and languor for pain and weariness he did not look for kinder or more placid entertainment in a Wilderness But he that looks stedfastly to the Serpent that is lifted up in the Wilderness to Christ Jesus that suffered for the mitigation of our sorrows for the cure of our wounds for the accomplishment of our joyes for our victory over death and for our entrance into life everlasting AMEN THE FIFTH SERMON UPON THE PASSION ACTS ii 23. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledg of God ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain CHrist was crucified between two Thieves the one a Blasphemer the other a Penitent an unfit place for Jesus the righteous very incongruous to sort him among Thieves though both had been penitent But lo St. Peter exhibits him in my Text in another posture on the one hand he sets before the Jews the demonstration of all his holy ways while He lived in humility on the other hand his victorious resurrection when he began to step into glory The verse before my Text is the sum of his admirable innocent and best deserving conversation before he was betrayed into the hands of men Jesus of Nazareth a man approved of God among you by Miracles Wonders and Signs which God did by him in the midst of you the verse behind my Text is the blazoning of his eternal life after He had destroyed death whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it In the first He lets them see their malice that they kill'd an Innocent in the second He lets them know the impotency and weakness of their malice that He was revived again and exalted into Glory the goodness and miracles which were conspicuous in him should have bred him reverence from his friends and that the hand of violence should not touch him but his loosening the pains of death and breaking the bars of Hell asunder must obtein him homage and worship from those that were his enemies By the former description that He was so approved so well known for doing signs and wonders their conscience would confess that He was a man sent from God by the latter description that he shook off the sleep of death as Samson shook off his fetters after he awoke their faith ought to confess that He was God that came down to man Thus stands my Text supported between the double honour of our Saviour on the one side his Noble Acts how He lived in righteousness among men on the other side or on the reverse his Resurrection how He lives again in Power and great Majesty above the Angels This is the right way to consider his Death and Passion and then you shall have no scandal at his Cross have you not seen him pictur'd hanging on the Tree with his Mother on the right hand and the Disciple whom he loved on the left if you have that figure in mind you cannot forget the order which St. Peter observes in these three verses the Breviary of the whole Gospel whereof my Text is the Center behold the sufferance of Christ that 's the middle the love knot the band of all then the same of him that went before his death like Mary that bore him in her womb and the fame that went after his death like John the Evangelist who was the faithful Witness of his Resurrection And so I have told you how the Text stands among its neighbour verses but in it self and in its own contents it is the most proper work of that Meditation which is due to this time of Lent it is a calling of sins to remembrance a provocation to repentance and both these through the consideration of the bloody Passion of our Lord and Saviour Now that shedding of the bloud of Christ which both accuseth us of sin and cleanseth us from all our sins is referred here to two causes that brought it to pass two most several causes and out of most divers ends to God and to man First He was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledg of God it did not happen as a mischief that could not be avoided by the sudden exclamation of the people or by the inconstancy of Pilate no the Council of the Holy Trinity had sat upon it and concluded it before all time Secondly as the ordination of his death was to a good end and from God so the execution came from the Devil and his Instruments out of most malignant respects that is ye Jews that brought him to the Judgment-hall and urged against him and did not leave till ye had murder'd him your hands were wicked that took him and crucified him and slew the Lord of Life Begin we with that
betray me by the warning of the sop by rebuke and confusion Judas betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss though the treachery was permitted yet these were impediments though not such as would take place with a Reprobate Secondly God is no idle Spectator upon the actions of men whether good or bad where he permits the Devil to draw us into temptation his hand is not quite taken off from our sins but that he moderates our offences and that many ways as stopping our sins at such a quantity and excess that they shall go no further they that had power given them to kill Christ had not power to break his legs a bone of him could not be broken and the Lord sets other moments of time than the sinner casts about for himself as no man could lay hands on Christ yet the Pharisees fingers itcht at him because his hour was not yet come Therefore thirdly it must hang together with that which goes before that God disappoints a wicked man of that which he intends in his naughtiness and brings it about to his own glorious ends As Joseph said to his Brethren Ye thought evil against me but God meant it unto good Gen. l. 20. Deus cogitavit id ipsum in bonum convertere Junius adds that unto it God did provide to convert it unto good Neither is our faith endangered hereupon to suspect God as the cause of sin because he draws his own ends out of evil that He may do and yet be no Author of sin but abhor it because He is Lord of those Creatures that sin and rebel against him and the Creature can no more exempt it self from his dominion because it is sinful then because it is sinful it will escape his Law or dissolve it self to nothing So then the antecedent Doctrin is summ'd up into this Thesis If you ask in these terms what was the cause of Christs death the answer is it was Gods Decree and eternal Statute for as much as He loved us with an everlasting love and would not spare his own Son to pull us out of destruction Again if you ask who was the cause that Christ was buffeted spot upon crowned with thorns crucified the answer is the Devil and his Instruments but when the Lord foresaw how their cruelty and blasphemy would abound his Counsel did direct moderate confine their sin and his loving kindness towards us that He might shew us plenteous redemption did permit it The ancient Fathers of the Church thought this the truest and most inoffensive conclusion to refer the injurious slaughter of Christ not to Gods ordination but to his permission You heard Leo's judgment before to whom St. Austin agrees The Jews enacted a sin which the righteous Lord did not compel them to do for no sin doth please him sed facturos esse praevidit quem nihil latuit but this was foreseen of him to whom nothing is concealed Yet St. Chrysostom more clearly that the scope of this part of St. Peters Sermon to the Jews is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was not their rage and violence which could have prevailed against Christ if God had not permitted it for as He did not command the evil Spirit to seduce Ahab and his flattering Prophets but the Devil offering himself and being most desirous to do that mischief God gave him leave and would not inhibit him so the Jews were not authorized or ordained or stirred up from God to shew that prodigious hatred to his Son but He yielded him up to their fury and did not deliver him therefore Christ did not say Father why hast thou given me up into their hands but my God my God why hast thou forsaken me Surely this is the scope of my Text and I believe they shoot wide from the mark that collect from hence that St. Peters meaning was either to excuse their heinous trespass or else to comfort their wounded conscience because Christ was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledg of God no all the comfort which was administred is vers 38. Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins There is no comfort under the Sun no balm in the world for a miserable sinner but repent and believe that there is abundant mercy in the satisfaction of Christ Jesus and for excuse that little extenuation of their fact which could be made is chap. iii. ver 17. Ye desired a Murtherer and killed the Prince of Life but I wote that through ignorance you did it as did also your Rulers these are plain and divine Allegations and there is no colour to help the greatness of their sin either from the determinate counsel or from the foreknowledg of God not from the determinate counsel for they had not an eye in the crucifying of Christ to comply with Gods counsel but to satiate their own spleen and hatred for impious men may execute that which God is content should come to pass and yet they do nothing less than obey God for obedience is not grounded upon the thing done but upon the readiness and duty of the will in doing beside was there any Law that commanded the High-Priests to crucifie our Saviour for God doth ever reveal his will in some Law No such Law I am sure therefore no obedience in this bloudy work of the Jews For no man can be said to obey that doth not know the will of the Lord neither doth direct his actions by the Rule of any Commandment And what had they to do with Gods secret counsel They had not the least glimpse of it Therefore my Text chargeth them home Ye have taken him and by wicked hands have crucified and slain him It is an error to amaze a man that reads it in the Popes Canon Law that because it was the counsel of the holy Trinity and the obedience of Christ to humble himself unto death even unto the death of the Cross therefore the Jews had sinned deadly if they had not crucified him It was well rejoyn'd by one that he wondred how the dumb and dead Paper did not stand up refusing to take that ink wherewith such an abominable blasphemy should be printed whereby the immaculate Lamb of God in whom there was no sin is affirmed to be justly and worthily condemned But will the fore-knowledge of God and that permission which followed it plead any part of their pardon Nothing less his fore-knowledge compels no man into the way of perdition God fore-sees iniquity in us because we will be evil but we are not made evil because he foresees it There have been always some in the world whom the Devil hath blinded with pernicious error making them dream of inevitable Fate and Destiny chiefly knitting this fallacy to fool themselves that Gods fore-sight cannot be deceived therefore such sins as he foresaw they would fall into are not to be declined St. Austin reprehended one of his Colledge
loud voice Lazarus come forth AMong all the miracles that our Saviour wrought this suscitation of Lazarus or raising him up from the dead it was his true Benoni or Son of sorrow None came off with so much anxiety none cost him so dear in all the Gospel Twice he groaned in Spirit and once he wept his Passions were as variable as the life and death of Lazarus Look back to the fifteenth verse and you shall see it wrought comfortably I am glad for your sakes that Lazarus is dead Look unto the 35 verse and you shall see it wrought bitterly Jesus wept What alterations are there says St. Austin Gaudebat propter discipulos flebat propter Judeos horum fides confirmabatur horum incredulitas augebatur It joyed him for the Disciples sake that their faith would be confirmed and revived It grieved him for the Jews sake whose hearts were hardened The preparation then of this Miracle was not without sorrow but the event and sequel was worst of all For although the Counsel of the High Priests stomach'd at our Saviour long before yet they wisht his life no hurt till he had wrought this wonder which all the world were amazed at From that time Caiaphas began to talk like a Wizard That one man must die for the people and Christ must suffer Now you see good cause why our Lord might groan and weep Israel shall pass over into Canaan but Moses must die upon Mount Nebo the birth of Benjamin shall be Rachels funeral Lazarus shall be revived and Jesus crucified Yet I can tell you one thing Beloved how the Son of God shall neither groan nor weep for Lazarus but rejoyce in Spirit and be glad even at this day be glad as he stands at the right hand of God and it lies upon you to do it Did he then groan for the infidelity of the Pharisees Then sure he will now rejoyce if we believe in his works and have faith in the Resurrection Did he then weep because his own death was contrived for doing good Then he will now be comforted if you take heed that you do not again crucifie the Lord of life Tâ—llite lapidem as it is in verse 39 remove the stone the hardness of your heart and joy will follow in heaven for the conversion of a sinner Do you consider that the days past were a time of mourning and sad contrition Why here is a Text which was not preach'd without Christs mourning and lamentation Do you remember his Passion but the other day Why this is the Text which was an occasion to bring him to his Cross and Passion What do you meditate upon this day but our Saviours issuing out of the Grave Why here is Lazarus broke out of the Tomb Lazarus come forth Which words as I have read them rise up into two eminent heads like Tabor and Hermon You shall perceive that the business in my Text is a work of great dignity that is one part and a work of great Divinity that is the other part The dignity consists in these two Points 1. In that which Christ had spoken before when he had said thus And what was that He pray'd unto his Father wherefore it is dignum oratione a work worthy of a Prayer for the preparation 2. It is Dignum proclamatione it was cried with a loud voice and fit to be published to all the world The Divinity appears in these three circumstances 1. Exeat mortuus that a dead man is summoned to appear 2. Exeat Lazarus Lazarus after four days departure comes forth 3. Exeat ligatus one who was bound hand and foot with Grave-cloaths walks upon his feet O strange Divinity the Monuments which were shut did open for Christ did call who had the Key of David The dead who lay in silence could hear his tongue for it was the same voice which makes the Hinds bring forth young ones and called Adam from the dust of the earth The body which lay putrified four days gave no offence in the smell Christ was at hand who is a sweet savour for us unto God The feet which were bound with Grave-cloaths could walk before him for in him we live and move and have our being Was not this excellent work worthy of a Prayer So far we have gone this day in our morning Sacrifice Was it not worthy of the proclamation of a loud voice fit to be preached that the world may hear of it and believe and be saved And that is the business which doth now take up your attentions With these two circumstances of the Miracle I must first begin the preparation of our Saviours Prayer and the promulgation of his loud voice or preaching And when he had thus said c. That is when he had prayed unto the Father Dimidium facti qui benè caepit habet And he that begins his work with Prayer as Christ did hath half dispatch'd it Vox clamantis the voice of a Crier was the fore-runner of Christ when he came upon the earth Vox orantis the voice of Prayer must be the fore-runner of our necessities when we look for any thing from heaven As the people shouted when the foundation of the Temple was laid grace grace be unto the first stone of the building so let the foundation of every thing be laid with shouting and strong Ejaculations to our God that he may say upon the moving of the first stone Grace be to the building In Gen. xii Abraham removed three times to several quarters and still before he pitcht his Tent he built an Altar to Jehovah remove not stir not enter upon no new task before you have built an Altar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostom wheresoever you are pray and your own heart is a Temple or the Alter of Jehovah Religion is the Bow and the heart is the String but Prayer is that which bends the Bow Religion is unbent as it were and the Shafts cannot fly untill Prayer dispatch them Well might Peter who was prompt of tongue and ready to speak upon all occasions be counted a chief Apostle for Prayer which is the tongue of Religion and our Consciences Orator is the chief of all our vertues Debilem facito manu debilem coxâ pede no matter for infirmities in the feet for diseases in the hands so the dumb Devil be not in our tongues The penitent Thief had no hands to hold up they were nailed to the Cross no knees to bend for his legs were broken he had a tongue to say Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom and it did him service enough to open Paradise O the delusions of the Devil For all this that I have said you shall sooner make ignorants and vain people believe that Diseases are curable by unsignificant Charms by unhallowed mutterings than by godly Prayers As if the Devil could go further with Non-sense than a good Christian with Faith and Prayer One Talent in
wouldst make an Advocate It is in his own power to raise up thy Brother after four days Two days our Saviour abode beyond Jordan after Lazarus was dead and after he set forward to Bethany he made two days Journey of it before he came to the place all this while the Prisoner was fast lockt up under the Gates of Death Belike Lazarus could not be released till Christ came unto the Cave where he was laid No such necessity Beloved Vbicunque Christus steterat patebant inferi Hell must open her mouth in any place where Christ did set his foot nay in any place where he should but say unto the Grave I will be thou opened Therefore another Reason must be given why Lazarus staid until the fourth day for his Enlargement 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostom Jonas and Lazarus both were Servants they must not jump with Christ in the same Privileges in every thing then the Servant should be equal with his Master Jonas came out of the Whales Belly the third day so did Christ out of the Tomb but Jonas was alive and Christ was dead there was the Difference between the Servant and the Master Christ rose from the dead and so did Lazarus but Christ the third day and Lazarus the fourth there 's the Difference between the Master and the Servant The Resurrection of the dead is an Article of the Creed ingendred in the heart by a very strong Faith 't is mirabilium mirificentia as one says The astonishment of all admiration and when it shall be reported by the Women that an Angel told them it the best of them all will doubt Thomas and many more will flatly deny it What deny that Christ could quicken himself the third day when he raised up Lazarus the fourth Lazarus was unto Christ as Aaron's Rod was unto Aaron The Sedition of Dathan and Abiram opposed Aaron and would not acknowledge him to be the High Priest That shall be tried says the Lord and Aaron's Rod which was a dry stick budded buds and bloomed blossoms as if it had been living more than all the other Rods of the Tribes of Israel So Lazarus was laid up in the Cave like the Rod of Aaron in the Tabernacle and when his life was restored the fourth day it proved that Christ could build up the Temple again in three days which they had pluckt down before What shall we say then That the Resurrection was more wonderful in Lazarus by one day than in Christ himself Nothing less For Christ was raised up by his own power and Lazarus by the power of Christ Christs death was violent his very heart as some think was digg'd through with the Souldiers Spear Lazarus his death was natural and no principal part of his body was wounded or impaired Si aliud videtur vobis mortuus aliud videtur occisus if it be one thing to die in the peace of nature and another thing to be made away by violence Ecce Dominus utrumque fecit here are examples of both that returned to life Christ the third day from the death of violence Lazarus the fourth day from the death of nature both are from the Lord. As a Servant said of an unlucky day wherein all things went cross huic diei oculos eruere vellem he vished the Sun had never shined upon it So this fourth day hath not a little troubled Satan Upon the fourth day Gen. i. 14. God set lights in the Firmament to what end to divide the day from the night and the light from the darkness Periisti Satana this is a fatal day with the Devil who would have mingled night with day and darkness with light but now his works are discovered The fourth year hath been as climacterical unto him and as much out of his way in the 13. of St. Luke and the 7. verse These three years says the Lord of the Vineyard I have lookt for fruit and find none now I will cut down the Vine nay says the Dresser of the Vineyard stay but this year also and the fourth there are hopes it will bring forth grapes and please the Lord. To say thus much for our Evangelist St. John the fourth Evangelist gave the shrewdest blow to the stratagems of Satan and hath so prov'd the Divinity of Christ almost in every verse that Ebion and Cerinthus were confounded and Heresie is proved a lyar to her face for ever Even so was this number critical unto death in the Resurrection of Lazarus three days he was given for lost and upon the fourth day Christ cried with a loud voice Lazarus come forth There is a moral sense besides that whereof I have spoken and that is like fine flower boulted out of the Letter and it yields like the bread which our Saviour broke to the multitude and will satisfie thousands Death was the reward of sin In that Lazarus was dead and buried I read the Parable of a sinner upon his Sepulcher In that he was four days dead he must be magnus peccator says St. Austin no small offender can be meant by that but a grievous sinner Where have you laid him says Christ O what a dreadful question is that Lord know me for one of thy children but know me for a sinner rather than not know me at all Let it not be said unto me Depart from me I know you not Projectus sum à facie oculorum tuorum says David in the person of a castaway I am cast out of the sight of thine eyes Perditum nescit ubi sit it is Gods language he pretends he sees not them he knows not them that were lost Adam where art thou says God O Adam that question had confounded thee if Christ had not answer'd for thee Loe I come Where are the other nine says Christ of the Lepers de ingratis quasi ignotis loquitur ungrateful men were not in Christs Book he knows not what becoms of them nor whither they wander so to enquire of Lazarus as if he knew not where he was laid is to set him forth as the similitude of a great sinner ubi posuistis where have you laid him nay but this agrees not perchance with his Sisters message He whom thou lovest is sick and again See how he loved him Yes it agrees full well Si peccatores non amaret Deus de coelo non descenderet it was out of a most compassionate love that God descended from heaven to save sinners Behold he lov'd him and yet Lazarus stands for the Parable of a sinner That foundation is laid and then you shall know the better what is meant by lying four days in the Sepulcher First we are all dead born man as soon as he sees the light his heart is in darkness he brings the seeds of original sin with his frail flesh into the world and then he is dead one day 2. Nature hath dictated a Law unto us The Gentiles are a Law unto themselves sais St.
bond can you deny that Is not this Lazarus See but what infirmity Christ pretended in the beginning of this work and how powerfully it ended Jesus wept in the 35 verse as if it were a pitiful case indeed but he could not help it He asked where they had laid him Lord dost thou ask for the grave which was hard by and yet knowst thine own self no man told thee being two days journey from Bethany that Lazarus was dead Then he ask'd for help to take away the stone Debile initium miraculi a weak beginning God knows how should we expect that he should open the gates of Hell that with a word doth not command the Sepulchers to open Doth this offend you What and if you see not only a dead man after four days raised to life but also to walk before you when his feet and hands were bound As if he moved like an Angel rather by the will of his own Spirit than by bodily instruments This was the conclusion of the Miracle and whatsoever the beginning was the end was admirable As Samson went away with the Pin and the Web Judg. xvi 14. which were tied to his hair whatsoever Delilah bound him with still he walked So Lazarus went away with his bonds as if he had triumphed over death and carried the Ensigns away that is the grave-cloaths with him Peters Chains fell off from his hands and so he avoided the imprisonment of Herod Peter thought so strangely of this to walk when his fetters were off that a great while he wist not it was true that was done but thought he saw a vision What did Peter think of Lazarus then For he was one that stood by His eyes were blindfold that he could not see his way the hands are the blind mans Candle and serve to feel out the way and they had Manicles The feet had Shackles that should tread the way Yet as if he had flown out of the Grave rather than walked Lazarus came forth he was in the Sepulchre shortly to be brought forth as if he had been hatching in his mothers womb rather than in a Cave of interred men He was says St. Chrysostom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like a babe new born wrapt in swadling clouts rather than like one in a winding sheet But when he walk'd without the use of feet or hands he was like Paul wrapt up into the third heavens whether in the body or out of the body he knew not It is a great comfort unto us says Irenaeus that Lazarus came forth cap-a-pe the same man that he was laid in the Grave nothing altered about him Igitur eâdem animâ eodem corpore sumus resurrecturi it shall be our own body it shall be our own soul in the Resurrection no substances newly created Lazarus could best speak for the soul that it must be his own because his former fancy and remembrance still remained And his Sisters could speak for the body they knew what they had foulded up and what they found when they had unfoulded it And therefore some think that it was unto Martha and Mary that Christ spake in the end of this verse Loose him and let him go When Elias raised up the Son of the Widow of Sarepta to life he gave him to his Mother when Elisha restored the Shunamites Child to life he gave him to his Mother when Christ raised up Lazarus from the Grave he puts him into the hands of his Sisters that they may unty what they had bound before nay when he rose from death himself he appeared first to Mary Magdalen What is the reason that at every turn the women had the Resurrection first declared unto them Because they did first occasion death therefore to shew that by faith they were excusable of the fault they had the first news of the life of them that rose again Lord says Martha if thou hadst been here my brother had not died She put all the fault upon the absence of Christ Nay woman says Chrysologus Nisi tu fuisses in paradiso If thou hadst not been in Paradise thy brother had not died But Lazarus is bound that you may unty him and give him breath who first did stop his breath by eating the forbidden fruit Exiit ligatus he came forth bound Lazarus was not glorified in body by this Miracle as the Saints shall be yet here you shall see one of the properties of a glorified body and they are reckoned up to be four by the Schoolmen Claritas incorruptibilitas spiritualitas motus agilitas 1. There shall be an exceeding brightness in those bodies as our Saviours body shined so white at the Transfiguration that no Fuller could make a thing so white 2. They shall be incorruptible Summer and Winter Fire and Sword could do them no violence as Christ said unto Mary Touch me not 3. They shall not be gross like our bodies and sustained with meat It is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body 4. It shall be nimble in motion like an Angel flying as Philip did from Gaza in the Desart to Azotus suddenly gliding upon the wings of the wind not depending upon feet as we do and to prefigure this property in a glorified body hereafter Lazarus came forth bound The vulgar Translation puts in a word to make the Miracle more strange Statim exiit that Lazarus came instantly forth without delay though his feet and hands were bound and his face with a Napkin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Nonnus he came not out like one that was shackled and halted because of his impediments he ran swiftly before them all For Christ useth not to do his work lamely and by halves St. Chrysostome makes this comparison As a horse and his Rider listen at the Race when the word shall be given and take it at the first syllable to be gone So says he as soon as Christ had but said Lazarus come forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he started out like the horse at his game and came on with speed and chearfulness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like one that watch'd the Sepulcher rather than the Corps Chrysologus brings in the Devil who is the Jaylor of death wonderfully amazed that our Saviour called for a dead Corps and makes him to speak thus Let him have the man he calls for let him have him bound hand and foot if he will let us not stay so long as to unty the knots make no delay Ne dum tardius unum referimus omnes cogeremur afferre lest while we prolong the time to restore one dead man he should call unto the Graves to restore them all As Luther called upon the Pope at first to have but one error amended concerning indulgences and while he trifled and hung off to do that Luther cried so loud that he caused divers Churches most happily to mend twenty more So death hastned away Lazarus being bound lest if he staid more would follow him As the
faciem Because in this life we see darkly as in a glass but hereafter we shall see God face to face As concerning natural Causes and Effects says Aristotle we see into them but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with Owles eyes by day that discern nothing clearly but as concerning the Mysteries of Godliness we look upon them as Moses did upon the Land of Canaan when Jordan was between we are in one Country and see afar off indistinctly the prospect of another As Rebecca took away her vail when Isaac came toward her that she might see his face so this vail shall be taken from the Church which is the Spouse of God when he draws near unto it Now Lazarus his Napkin is about our face O that thou wouldst rent away this vail O Lord that we might see thy glory Behold as the eyes of Servants look unto the hand of their Masters and as the eyes of a Maiden unto the hand of her Mistress even so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until he have mercy upon us AMEN THE FOURTH SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION JOHN XX. I. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark unto the Sepulcher and seeth the stone taken away from the Sepulcher THis is the day which the Lord hath made and thus begins the Gospel appointed for this great day of the Lord. A Gospel of which I may say it is full even to the brims of Divine Meditations For here are those two Christian Pillars that uphold the Church of God such as shall never be removed Fides Fidelis the faith of the Elect and relatively an elect Vessel that receiv'd the faith a principal Article of our Creed that Christ rose again the third day from the dead and a very illustrious instance of Mary Magdalene who was brought to believe in that Article 1. The Faith which must be believ'd to sanctifie our contemplations 2. The Faithful that did believe to bring us to a godly practice So the Spirit of God hath led Mary Magdalene to the Sepulcher to see that Christ was risen from the dead and the self-same Spirit hath led us to see the love and piety of Mary Magdalene And as this devout woman hath obtained a place of memorial for her name among the blessed of the New Testament because the example of her zeal did shine before us So our names shall find a place among those that are recorded in the Book of Life such honor shall they have that follow after My Text begins a story concerning that first witness to whom our Lord and Saviour's Resurrection was revealed Now upon so much of the Story as is recorded in this verse five things shall be handled First the Condition of that Witness before whom our Lord did first appear after he came out of the Grave Mary Magdalene 2. You may note the Constancy of her love that she remembred him after death and came unto his Sepulcher 3. It is to be ascribed to her Faith that she chose the right season the first day of the week 4. The Expedition which she made is a token of restless diligence that she came early when it was yet dark 5. An Accident of admiration encounters her that she seeth the stone taken away from the Sepulcher No Witness more classical for Gods use than Mary Magdalene a repentant Sinner No love more expressive than to shew affection even after death no season so fit to be watcht as the same which Christ foretold how the third day he would rise which fell out on the first day of the week no fruit that doth better become Faith and Love than vigilant diligence without sloth Repentance Love Faith Diligence shall ever be thus requited that God will shew them a sign from Heaven beyond their expectation The condition of the person is the first thing that we encounter Mary Magdalene cometh unto the Sepulcher She came not alone but other Associates did bear her company such as were devout women and loved our Lord. But our Evangelist knew a reason that she alone was worth the mentioning instead of all besides and upon her name only his Narration runs that Mary Magdalen came unto the Sepulcher The Scripture hath not forgot some of those that were her Associates in other Gospels St. Matthew says Mary Magdalen went forth as it began to dawn and the other Mary St. Mark names three Mary Magdalen and Mary the Mother of James and Salome St. Luke speaks of an indefinite number but every Divine Writer begins with Mary Magdalen she and Joanna and Mary the Mother of James and other Women that were with them But this Woman in my Text was more fervent and passionate in the cause she incited all the rest to go with her to the Sepulcher wherefore she is remembred by our Evangelist in a kind of singularity above all the rest John himself was the Disciple of Love and was careful to eternize her name in this story which did abound in Love above all her Fellows Some antient Writers knew not how so good a Work could be done wherein many religious Women conspired together without the most Blessed Mary the mother of our Lord. Rather than it should turn to her disesteem to stay behind Sedulius Nyssen and Nicephorus were willing I think to mistake that the Woman whom St. Matthew calls the other Mary was the Holy Virgin The disadvantages which this Opinion brings with it were not thought upon that another name should stand before hers to be past over with such an easie mention as the other Mary and not the mother of our Lord a thing which especially St. Luke useth not to forget And what an instance of moment were this that among all others our Lord did first appear to Mary Magdalen after he was risen from the dead Surely his mother had been partaker of that sweet Vision as soon as any if she had been in place to behold him Bernard invents a reason to satisfie himself though perhaps it will not satisfie all men why the Blessed Virgin did willingly absent herself from coming to the Sepulcher the first day of the Week because her Faith abounded more than all the rest She was constantly persuaded that Christ was risen upon the third day even as he had spoken before and she would not go to the Sepulcher to seek the living among the dead But if any man should cast a doubt that the Holy Scriptures would not have concealed such a superexcellent strain of Faith in the Blessed Virgin if she had believed the Mystery of the Resurrection when the Disciples and all other were mistaken besides that none of the Church did perfectly understand the Scriptures until the Holy Ghost fell down upon them at the Feast of Pentecost I say if any should cast in such a doubt I know not how it would be resolved I have no Warrant to affirm any thing in this point neither doth the Scripture
of Heaven and all the Stars thereof Moreover Vna Sabbati litterally rendred is not the first but one day of the Week because one is the first ground to begin numbring and Theophilact says the Lords day is called the one day of the Week either because it is the only day from whence the blessing is procured for all the rest or besides it is a figure of the life to come Quando una tantum dies est nequaquam nocte interpolata when there shall be but one day for ever and no night of darkness to interrupt it Thus much of the words The matter of the Point is of a more profitable use And hence I begin that as God the Father upon the first day did begin to make this visible world of Creatures so Christ rose the same day from the dead to signifie that a new Age was then begun Resurrectio est alterius mundi spiritualis creatio says Justin Martyr The Resurrection is well called a creation of a new spiritual world On the first day of the Week God said Let there be light and he divided between the light and the darkness Verily on that wise on the first day of the Week God brought the light of the world out of the darkness of the Grave and the life says St. John was the light of men Now this infinite work to tread death under feet and to bring all flesh out of corruption into the state of immortality being more eximious than to make man in a possibility at first to die and perish therefore all Christian Churches have desisted to meet together at holy exercises upon the Sabbath of the Jews and the first day of the Week is the day appointed to sanctifie out selves unto the Lord for what reason I will now unfold and it is a case of no small perplexity And let me auspicate from the Text and Authority of Holy Scripture and these places following do conspire to verifie the Truth Acts xx 7. Paul abode seven days at Troas the seventh day of his abode was the first day of the Week then and not before it seems upon the first day of the Week when the Disciples came together to break Bread that is to partake of the Lords Supper Paul preacht unto them This seems to approve that in the Apostles time it was no more in use for their Disciples to meet upon the Sabbath but as well to honor the Resurrection as to separate from the Rites and Customs of the Jews in the Spirit of God they did convene together on the first day of the Week From Preaching and Administring the Holy Communion let us come to Collection of Alms. 1 Cor. xvi 2. Vpon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gatherings when I come How can this be expounded but that distributions were made to the poor upon the first day of the Week in their most solemn Assemblies For if the meaning were that every man should set apart a share of his own gains upon that day in his private Coffers and not in the publick Treasury when their Congregations were together then Collections had been to be made from house to house when Paul was to come who desires it might be laid up in readiness as it were in one stock before 'T is pity we are faln from that good order but in the most antient Church I find that they never miss'd to carry the Poors Box about every Lords Day witness this place of St. Cyprian Locuples es dives Dominicam celebrare te credis quae Corbanam omnino non respicis Thou that art rich and wealthy dost thou imagin thou keepest the Lords Day as thou oughtest and dost cast nothing into the Treasury Thirdly as the last day of the Week when God rested from his works was called the Sabbath of the Lord so it is of much moment to the point that the first day of the Week is called the Day of the Lord or the Lords Day Rev. i. 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lords Day as it appears Rev. i. 13. John was walking on the Sea shore meditating upon holy things in the Isle of Patmos Very probable that there was no solemn meeting to praise God as it ought to have been among those Pagan Islanders otherwise John had not betaken himself to solitary Meditations but see how he was recompensed Nactus est Doctorem ipsum Deum quando fortasse deessent quos ipse doceret when he was disconsolate because he wanted Auditors to teach God preached unto him the Mysteries of the Age to come But to enforce the Text forenamed for an Argument we have but two things in the New Testament called the Lords the Sacrament is called the Supper of the Lord 1 Cor. xi 20. and this day of Christian Assemblies is called the Lords Day the Lords Prayer and the Lords House are good Phrases but our own not the Scriptures but as we keep the Feast of Passeover no more but instead thereof eat the Lords Supper so neither do we observe the Jews Sabbath any more but instead thereof we keep the Lords Day Thus far I have prest the Authorities of Sacred Scripture The Authority of the Primitive Church and so downward to this Age will convince it clearly against any that is obstinate Ignatius was St. John's Scholar and as if he had learnt of his Teacher he writes thus Let every lover of Christ celebrate the Lords Day which is dedicated to the honor of his Resurrection the Queen and Princess of all days Justin Martyr commands the same day to be kept holy to the Lord every Week in his 2. Apolog. So doth Tertullian more than once and I cited St. Cyprian before The Council of Laodicea speaks thus resolutely Anathema to all those that rest upon the Sabbath let them keep the Lords Day when they observe a vacancy of labor and do as becometh Christians The great Council of Nice doth not command the first day of the Week to be kept holy but supposeth in the 20. Canon all good Christians would admit that without scruple and then appoints other significant Ceremonies to be kept upon the Lords Day from Easter to Whitsontide I need not reckon downward after the Nicen Council because in one word I have not heard or read that it was opposed by any of the Fathers They knew that an appointed time must be allotted for every necessary Duty and certainly upon the abrogation of the Old Sabbath not Man but God did appoint a time for so necessary a thing as the religious Service of his Name Christ made an end of all Sabbaths by his own Sabbath lying all that day and night in the Grave and to hold that the Sabbath which is but a Shadow is to continue is to hold that Christ the Body is not yet come yet that being laid apart let us
allow God a seventh day for sanctification so much is divine in the fourth Commandment and what seventh day but the same which Christ sanctified in his Resurrection which is the new Creation of the World the same which the Scriptures point at the same which the Church hath constantly kept in all successions Salve festa dies toto venerabilis anno says Lactantius and Origen says that Manna did begin to fall down about the Tents of the Israelites the first day of the Week and in the same day you are bound to bring your Omer to gather Spiritual Manna in your holy Assemblies that your Soul may eat and be satisfied When the Proconsuls of several Provinces enquired who were Christians to punish them you shall find in the Acts of the Martyrs this was their Question to descry them Dominicam servâsti What do you keep the Lords Day The good man being persecuted answers Christianus sum intermittere non possum I am a Christian and cannot intermit it Do we differ from the Jews then in nothing but exchanging day for day Yes Beloved as in sanctifying Gods name we are to go beyond them because the Spirit is given to us in more abundant measure than it was to them so in nice Points of rest and cessation from all bodily labour and exercise we are not tied so strictly as they were I wonder from whom they had their Doctrine that teach the contrary I know they will not say they had it from the Fathers I know they cannot say it justly I appeal to the best lights of this latter Age. Out of the French Reformed Churches I cite Beza Thus he The keeping of the Lords day is an Apostolical and a divine Tradition yet so that we are not tied he means by Gods Law to observe the Judaical cessation from all kind of work for to observe the Judaical rest were to change the day and not the Judaism Imperial Laws made by Constantine and other godly Princes did first interdict that no open and usual buying and selling or other Merchandise should be used for it is fit for the better sanctifying of the day that we should sequester worldly affairs and be altogether vacant to God Thus far he Out of the German Reformed Churches I will cite Paraeus This is his Argument Who first approves that the Lords day is to be kept with a decent cessation from manual labours and that it is very scandalous to pollute it with usual secular affairs but if any will run further to impose upon Christians the Rites and Ceremonies of the Jewish rest in their Sabbath thus he convinceth them The observation of the Jewish rest was figurative and typical and all those figures of truth were to be kept under pain of severe judgment because the figure was the pledge and Protestation of the truth which should come to pass now there being no such figurative dependence upon the sanctification of the Lords day we are tied only to such rest as shall adorn and beautifie our Worship of God upon that day I mean both our Morning and Evening Sacrifice Beware therefore to be a Jew in opinion but beware to be a dissolute Libertine in practice Violate not this day nor any the like in the whole year with Negligence Idleness Luxurious Pastimes or Riot give thy body rest that the soul may be more busie in the holy work 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rest which is not imployed in the fear of God is the Mother of all wickedness I cannot end this Point better than with those words of St. Basil Let me adventure with your patience upon the next Point and I will defer the handling of the last That which I mean only to speak of is Mary Magdalens expedition her restless diligence her watchfulness without all sloath She came early when it was yet dark Every hour seemed seven to this pious Matron till she came to the body of Christ the Sabbath of the Jews was but now ended and she had much ado to refrain coming before it was done The Stars of the night had not yet run their courses when she set forth toward the Monument for it is probable she kept the Sabbath at her own Town and she dwelt at Bethany two miles from Jerusalem yet by Sun-rising when it was yet dark she was come to the Sepulcher a journey of two miles and had brought her Spices with her She had no sleep I believe fell upon her eyes for thinking of her Saviour I am sure she had no leisure to paint her face to powder her hair or to dress her self with finical curiosity We had divers I confess that came early this morning to the holy Sacrament when it was yet dark I praise them for it We have others that seldom or never find the way to Church till the Afternoon you may know by their vain Attire trickt up in Print what they were doing all the Morning At last we have their company scarce with half a thought to please God but with their whole heart to be praised of fools and to please such wanton and adulterous eyes that gaze upon them What a coil is here with this carion flesh Ye are but painted Sepulchers full of rotten bones and not worthy to come with Mary to the Sepulcher of Christ much less to come to the Communion of his body and bloud O proud mortality they that make their Looking-glass all the Text which they take out in the Morning little think that the Grave may be the Pew in the Church wherein they shall be placed before Evening Now they walk abroad so strong with sweet smells that they are able to perfume a Sepulcher with Spices in less than four days all this delicacy may turn to stink and rottenness Come early to the Sepulcher that is think of death in your young blossoming years how suddenly ye may be cut off then leave to fashion your selves after this French or that Italian dressing and spin a poor shrowding sheet which may wrap you up in the earth against the day of the Resurrection I hasten Was it yet dark when Mary came when St. Mark says punctually it was at the rising of the Sun What an intricate case some have made of this objection which is nothing in it self For the Evangelist doth not mean it was so dark that the women could not see about them for then all they reported would be taken to be fancy and not a known truth But the Sun newly rising some obscurity of darkness remains in some places especially it might be so about a Monument which was cut of a Rock in the Earth and the Monument in a Garden where shady trees do not suddenly admit light and the Garden perhaps lying under an Hill and compassed about with a Wall some dusky darkness may incloud such a place early in the Morning They shoot wide therefore that expound the darkness figuratively that the Scriptures were not opened as yet how
that her Lords body was gone but then Christ appears first unto her whom she took to be the Gardener Presently she goes and tells the Disciples she had seen the Lord. The other women who had fled from the Sepulcher and were amazed said nothing to any man of that which the Angel before did bid them say for they are yet incredulous and then comes in St. Lukes relation that they looked again into the Sepulcher and the two men in white whom they saw said unto them Why seek ye the living among the dead He is not here but he is risen And as St. Matthew adds he goeth before you into Galilee there shall ye see him Then they returned and told all these things to the Eleven but they seemed to them as idle tales And as these women went to tell the Disciples Christ did meet them according to the Angels promise and saluted them and they held him by the feet and worshipped him These rumours went abroad into every mans mouth and toward the setting of the Sun Christ adjoyned himself to Cleophas and the other Disciple as a waifaring man and was known of them in the breaking of bread whereupon they return to Jerusalem and tell the Disciples Now the Disciples had a message sent them to go into Galilee and there they should see the Lord but out of fear and incredulity they durst not move out of doors Therefore on the same day at Evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut where the Disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews came Jesus and stood in the midst of them and said peace be unto you This was the fourth Apparition which he made on this very day A day of so many noble acts and chances that it is able alone to make an history and a history of that great moment that St. Paul writes as if a lively and effectual assent to this Article of the Creed to this one Article were able alone to make a Christian Rom. x. 9. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved And although there are other limbs of truth which make up the body of Christian Faith yet if any man ask me about Faith as one askt Christ about the Commandments which is the first and greatest Commandment So in the Point of belief if any one shall say which is the first and great Article of the Creed I would boldly reply this before any other The third day he rose again from the dead The matter then which it behoves us to speak on at this solemn Feast for the quality it is the very Essence and Elixar of our faith and for the quantity so copious that above all the narrations of the Gospel it is most venerable and delightful for the variety of the story I have passed already as the year hath come about into these Points how Mary Magdalen and the other women brought sweet Odours and Spices on the first day of the Week to embalm his body and that as they were on their way three strange motions came to pass the one in the whole Element of Earth the foundations whereof were opened behold there was a great Earthquake and then the heavens were opened for an Angel came down from thence and then the Grave was opened by the rouling away of the stone Now follows the Text which I have read in order wherein is contained this section of the story the Angel puts on a terrible appearance and removes away those that would not believe and so makes room for those that came devoutly prepared If the Band of Souldiers had staid at the Sepulcher these godly women durst not approach for fear of violent ravishment nor durst the Disciples have come near lest these hirelings should spill their bloud But to prevent all outrage the Angel put on a look like lightning and made the hearts of these miscreants faint and when they were driven off the zealous women and the Disciples were admitted to see this glorious work which the Lord had wrought and to testifie what they had seen to all the world The two verses which enter us into this part of the story may be thus distinguished The first is a description of Gods Watchman of his coelestial guard His Countenance was like lightning and his Rayment white as snow The second is a description of Pilates Watchmen and his Roman Guard For fear of him the Keepers did shake and became as dead men Gods Angel is notified by his Visage His Countenance was like lightning and by his Rayment it was white as snow Pilates Ruffians are much betrayed by outward fear for fear of him the Keepers did shake but the inward damp of conscience was most terrible they became as dead men Of these particulars that God may be glorified and you edified You have seen the figures of many Angels and Cherubims about the Tombs of Princes and great men carved by the Art of the Statuary but all the histories of the world afford not such an instance that a very Angel sate upon a Grave-stone excepting this occurrence at our Saviours Resurrection St. Luke says that the women saw two men cloathed in white St. Mark says it was a young man cloathed in a long white garment but they were not very men that came from the dead as Moses and Elias were seen in the Mount at the Transfiguration they were true Angels in the visible shapes of men who took it now for a dignity to be seen in a body because our body was exalted to be incorruptible in the Resurrection of Christ Whether then they be called Angels or men all is one but when St. Matthew mentions one Angel and St. John reckons two when St. Mark says there was one young man in white St. Luke says there were two men in shining garments Is not this a discord No not at all There was but one Angel that spake to the women now St. Matthew and St. Mark refer us only to that person that was the speaker St. Luke and St. John labour to tell us the number of those witnesses that were present and testified of his Resurrection and they were two This is no difference when some write of the singular person of that Angel which spake and others in the plural person of those Angels that witnessed You have heard the reason why this Angel is called a man and why but one is named though there were two in place now I will put this unto it that he came to the Sepulcher neither as a man alone nor as an Angel alone but as an Angel and a Man John Baptist the fore runner of the Nativity came poorly clad with a vesture of Camels skins and a leathern Girdle about his loyns his Errand was to witness to the Son of God coming to us in great humility but this Angel who is the fore-runner of the
our Lord who is head of the body above all the members of the body that the Scriptures did indigitate he would rise again the third day after his death and burial but neither day nor year nor age is specified of the general Resurrection when our Carkasses shall be raised up to incorruption It is a common rule and best exprest in Bernards words Dies ultimus salubriter ignoratur ut semper praesens esse credatur It is good and useful to be ignorant of the day of judgment that we may always think it to be at hand and imminent And whereas the custom hath held in all Christian Churches since the Apostles I know not any custom which hath found less contradiction for this hath found none at all to gather all persons that can examine themselves to the Lords Table at the Feast of Easter among other sound and fruitful reasons rendred this is one because it is no imprudent conjecture that God will raise our bodies out of the Grave about the same season of the year that his own body was brought back again from the dead It is fit therefore to sanctifie our vessel at this time as well to eat his flesh and drink his bloud by faith as to make our Lamp ready to meet the Bridegroom And that he may not come upon us unawares like a flash of lightning let us send up our prayers unto him with much zeal and strong intercession as St. Hierom says like a clap of thunder Another varies the meaning why the Angel had this fashion in his countenance on this wise Aspectus sicut fulgur quia omnia abscondita erunt clara This lightning in his Aspect doth betoken that our most hidden sins shall be revealed and that all things shall lie naked and open before the judgment of Christ To what purpose doth Adam hide himself in the shade of the Garden Or Jonas lie concealed under the hatches of the Ship Or Saul imprivacy himself in a Cave Or Benhadad run into an inward Chamber Doth the Adulterer look for impunity that he walks to his stallion by twilight Or the Thief that he gets his prey in the darkness of the night Nec teste quisquam lumine peccare constanter potest sayes Prudentius Some have that check of modesty in their bloud that they cannot sin with alacrity where there is any light if there be but a Candle in the room they must put it out miserable shifts and mists raised before their eyes by the Devil who can work no greater infatuation among the wicked than to puff them up with this blind error as if they had Gyges ring upon their finger that they might walk where they would and never be discerned But the lightning will pierce into every corner those eyes of Christ which are likened to a flame of fire Rev. i. 14. let nothing escape them unrevealed and as a Burning-glass transmits the beams of the Sun to shine upon those things which it will set on fire so Gods eye is upon all the works of ungodliness both to view them and to revenge them with everlasting fire If Elisha could say that his heart went along with Gehazi when he ran after Naaman to take a bribe doth not the Spirit of the Lord much more attend all secret compacts of bribery and corruption If Elias could tell Ahab all the conspiracy that He and Jezebel had closely framed against Naboth so that Ahab cried out in astonishment Hast thou found me out O mine enemy then no innocent bloud shall be spilt without witness no Inheritance craftily wrung from the true possessor but the God of Elias shall challenge them for it so that the wicked shall be astonished and say hast thou found us out O Lord and are all our misdeeds before thee To end this point let the good Christian say with David Blessed is the man whose unrighteousness is forgiven and whose sins are covered not so covered but that thou O God knowest them all together St. Hierom says it thus Peccata deleta per poenitentiam nunquam patefient they shall not be discovered to our shame before Men and Angels at the publique reckoning of all faults or at least their deformity and that guilt in them which calls for vengeance shall be covered and though our sins be known yet it shall be to our triumph and praise if we be truly penitent and detest that in our selves wherein we have rebelled against a loving Father And so far on the first point that the countenance of the Angel was like lightning which teacheth us that there will be great terror to the wicked at the solemn day of the last Resurrection that Christ will come suddenly like the lightning out of the clouds and that the light will discover the most hidden wickednesses of the Sons of men I call'd you know this first verse upon which I entreat a description of Gods Watchman and by that name Angels are often called in holy Scripture I saw a Watchman and an holy one come down from above Dan. iv 13. This Angel in the superior parts had an aspect like lightning and from thence downward his raiment was white as snow The times are taxt that there are some such who come to Church to see faces and to look upon gay clothes I am afraid I may believe it Why here is employment in my Text for such Auditors though they be the worst that can come to a congregation as we have lookt our fill upon the countenance of the Angel so now I refer you to look upon his clothing Look over all the Apparitions of Angels in the Old Testament and in the Gospel till you come to this place you shall never read that they had apparel or what kind of apparel they did wear This is the day for whose sake they took a new Habit a new Comportment a new Splendor and these three things are taught us in this Raiment white as snow puritas gaudium gloria First that purity belongs to all those that hope for the resurrection of the just So St. John 1. Ep. iii. 23. We know when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is and every one that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure And although the Angel did personate this purity only in the outward superficies yet our instruction rests not in that but refers us to the purity of the heart The pattern which is set before us is far from a fair semblance without a good inside no 't is extra albedo intus Angelus great pulchritude without and within an Angel That grace to the outward eye which man saw is nothing to those internal invisible graces which only God saw Sometimes one may be compared in holy Scripture to be as white as snow and yet be impure Gehazi went out from the presence of Elisha a Leper as white as snow and therefore David knew that the purity of the
utterance ALL the joy which we celebrate for the famous acts of Christ is irksom to the Devil and the particular Solemnities which we keep are grievous to those that shut their eyes against the truth Upon the yearly day of our Saviours Nativity the Jew is sad and displeas'd because he believes not that he that was born of Mary a pure Virgin was the Son of God and the Messias whom their Fathers lookt for that should sit upon the Throne of David for evermore Upon the high Feast of his Resurrection the Sadducee gnasheth with his teeth because he denieth that the dead can be raised to life So upon this triumphant Feast wherein we abound with comfort for the sending of the Holy Ghost the Pelagian is malecontented who is an enemy to the efficacy of Grace and the more cause we have to maintain the dignity of it and to be throughly disciplin'd what the Holy Ghost hath wrought for our Soul because the Church is miserably soured of late in all places with the leaven of Pelagius Again as all the parts of our Saviours Mediatorship were several degrees to advance our Salvation and like the several steps of Jacobs Ladder to bring us nearer and nearer to Heaven so in this comparison the sending of the Holy Ghost is the loftiest degree and as it were the top of the spire which is next neighbour to the Kingdom of Glory for as man in his first creation had but an incomplete being till the Lord breathed into his nostrils the breath of life so man in his reparation was but incompletely restored till Christ did send the Comforter to infuse into him the breath of sanctification This day therefore is the concluding Feast of all the great days wherein we rememorate the noble works of our Lord and to go further this Text is the upshot of all the blessings that were conferred upon the Church in this happy day Christ took our nature upon him that he might die for our sins he suffered and was crucified that he might reconcile all such to his Father as would repent and believe repentance and faith to please God cannot enter into the heart of the natural man by his own abilities a power from Heaven must be the means to bring that about which is so repugnant to our corrupt nature Traverse over the mystery of our Redemption and you shall find that the work is at a stand till supernal grace poured in do draw it forward as Physicians say that spiritus est ultimum alimenti the last concoction and the most refined part of our nourishment is that which makes the spirits so the donation of the Holy Spirit is the accomplishment and final resolution of all the benefits which we partake in Christ And the last payment collated by that precious liberality to enrich the Church for ever is here in my Text nay indeed it was but a preparation before the talent of grace was not tendred till now That which was set forth in figure in the former verses is here exhibited in real substance Before a rushing wind made a noise here was the very thing imparted which was shadowed by the wind before certain firy tongues made a glittering that sat upon their head now their own tongues became most fluent and voluble with wonderful eloquence In brief to the exact building up of the Church two things were requir'd which are not wanting but abound in this verse First that the Lord should speak unto the Heart Secondly that he should speak unto the Ear by an invisible word and by a visible He spake invisibly to the Heart when they were all filled with the Holy Ghost he spake visibly to the Ear when his Ministers began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance Nay more to gather a Society together whose Labours should be dispread over all the world it was expedient that the Lord should confer both ordinary and extraordinary Gifts upon them His ordinary Blessing and indeed nothing is blest without it is some quantity of Sanctification his extraordinary Blessing is twofold to send such as are not lightly sprinkled but filled with the Spirit and to speak with divers Tongues that their sound may go forth into all the World Yet again to shew the Amplitude of Gods allowance to his Primitive Church he makes a double provision first for every Disciple as he is one Member of this Body and so all and every one of them were filled with the Holy Ghost and then he provides for all the Members of his Body junctim in one union and communion they began c. so that here 's the inward and the outward blessing the ordinary and the extraordinary the particular and the universal The inward ordinary and particular blessing is this that they were all filled with the Holy Ghost If you look for the provision with which the Primitive Church was stored look for it in this Chapter and you will find out upon judicious survey that there are three things which make it plenteous with all manner of store Pastores Verbum and Spiritus First certain Pastors allotted to the sacred Function to guide the souls of the People 2. the Word of life which is put into their mouth to be preacht unto all Nations 3. The Spirit of grace accompanying the Word to make it fruitful and prolificous in the hearts of them that hear it and obey it That some were ordeined Pastors and Bishops to teach and rule the Church that 's clear the Apostles met together in Jerusalem with one accord as Christ had appointed and the Cloven Tongues which came from Heaven sat upon each of them that was their Commission to take their Bishoprick upon them that the Word was delivered unto them which they should preach and Elocution to impart that Word to every Kingdom and Language that 's as clear Eight times in this one Chapter St. Peter quotes the Scripture of the old Testament and with divers tongues according to the capacity of all the Nations and Languages that were met together and that the Holy Ghost was infused with much abundance at the same time that 's as clear and pregnant as the rest 't is twice gone over in my Text both in the beginning and in the end they were filled with the Holy Ghost and the Spirit gave them utterance A Church without lawful Pastors is but a Synagogue of Schismatiques a Pastor without a Tongue is but an Idol Shepherd or a dumb Dog a Tongue without the power of the Spirit is but sounding Brass or a tinkling Cymbal As St. Paul said of the three grand Theological Virtues Now abideth Faith Hope Charity these three but the greatest of these is Charity so I say of these necessary parts that constitute the Church the Ministry the Word and the Spirit but the chiefest and most excellent of these is the Spirit In some strange manner God may have a Church without a consecrated Priesthood as when Adam and
a little extemporary acquaintance and no more with that to which they say Amen Next let every man preach that challengeth he hath the gift sorrily God knows and then he knows that Preaching will come to nothing as well as Prayer Beware that you let not our great Adversary subvert all Piety and Religion by these encroachments bad men may mock holy Ordinances but God is not mocked Fear the Lord reverence his ways receive the blessings of the Spirit with thanksgiving and praise rule the Tongue to glorifie him that made it to set forth his honour that gives it utterance AMEN THE FIRST SERMON UPON THE CORONATION PSAL. cxviii 24. This is the Day which the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and he glad in it THE words which I have selected to preach upon are part of a Psalm which excels both in the Letter and in the Spirit rich in the litteral sense copious in the spiritual the Kingdom of David set forth magnificently in the one the Kingdom of Christ glorified in the other Sometimes the ditty of the Song points directly at the Throne of David and sometimes at Christs Triumphs over his Death and his victorious Resurrection I cannot choose between them both but think of the Country of Mesopotamia the fruitful Garden of the world girt about with waters the Rivers did flow in and out in all quarters of the Land and the Land was much more pleasant for the windings and intricate Maeanders of the Rivers So this Hymn hath a most delightful alternation in it skipping often from Christ to David and from David to Christ with sundry melodious changes as if it purposed to make the Reader lose himself if he did not curiously note the Narration There hath been much ado among Expositors whether the Psalm should concern them both or only one of them choose you which you will Some refer it all to David and to the rejoycing of the People in his behalf that they saw him happily inaugurated King of Israel after he had been long kept back by the House of Saul and many other potent Enemies The Jewish Rabbins make no other construction of it and they follow the Chaldee Paraphrast who doth thus read the 22. verse of this Psalm the Builders did reject the youngest of the Sons of Jessai and would not let him reign over them but he hath deserved to be received for their Prince and Governor therefore we will keep holy day and rejoyce Thus Vatablus and Isidore Clarius and many others of this latter Age have dived no further than into the superficies of this Scripture that is into so much and no more than concerned the Monarchy of David But they did not see into the bottom that lookt no further for the Antient Fathers of the Church not one but all have discover'd so manifest a Prophesie concerning our Saviour that nothing can be clearer It is a general rule that David in most of his Psalms had more regard to Christ than to Himself in this more eminently than ordinary so that the New Testament is full of the application Pick out the 22. verse The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner according to three several Gospels our Saviour demonstrates that himself was the Stone which the Scribes and Pharisees refused but God had exalted him to be the Head of the Church both ih Heaven and Earth St. Peter proves as much in the audience of many thousands of the Jews and none of them did contradict him Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom ye crucified this is the Stone which is set at naught of you Builders which is become the head of the corner ver 26. of this Psalm Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord I doubt not but all the loyal hearts of Juda and Jerusalem did congratulate David in those words when he entred into the Royal City but all the Multitude of the People applied them to the Advent of the Messias Hosanna to the Son of David blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord Matth. xxi 9. And indeed St. Hierom says that the Jews in their Liturgy of old were wont to read this Psalm in their Synagogues for the Messias sake and did put it among those Prayers in which they did heartily desire the coming of Christ the Lord Nay says Cajetan the 17. verse can become the mouth of no mortal man but it is the voice of the immortal Son of God to say I will not die but live and declare the works of the Lord. Therefore those Authors that had the most judicious Palat have acknowledged that sometimes Davids matters are brought into this Psalm and sometimes Christs nay sometimes both of them in one verse as in my Text. The begining of the Psalm says St. Chysostom was a Celebration for the setting on the Crown upon the head of the King of Israel but ex improviso mutavit argumentum in a sudden extasie the Prophet changeth his argument and speaks of Christ nay says Euthymius if a man will be acquainted with the stile of the Propets let him remember that this is their custom intercidere solent sermones in rem aliam transire ne adversarii manus injiciant they use to break off abruptly and fall from one thing to another lest if the Enemies of the Truth did understand them they would make away those holy Writings to the irrecoverable loss of the Church of Christ This was necessary to be premised that you might know what to look for out of my Text namely David's Day in the Letter and Christ's Day in the Spirit In the Case of David no man doubts what day is pointed at surely it is the day of his Inauguration when after much resistance made by his Enemies at last he did enjoy the Scepter of all Israel quietly and peaceably and there was an Holy-day instituted to remember it with sacred Solemnity The Lord had made that Day happy unto David and the People did celebrate it in a joyful and religious manner I need not to tell you how proper that construction of my Text is to this Day wherein God hath settled our Anointed Sovereign over all the Kingdoms of his Father and I trust you profess your due thankfulness to God for his most pious and religious Reign and that we have great cause to rejoyce and be glad in it But which is that among all the days of Christ which God did make more transcendently than the rest there 's a little scruple in that point I find one or two refer it to the day of his Nativity but their reasons are weak and they are no considerable number to be followed St. Hierom and St. Austin are in the right I think for they apply it to the whole time of the Gospel wherein the terrors of the Law are broken and all things are most sweet and pleasant to penitent Believers Behold now is the acceptable Time now is the
Day of Salvation says Isaiah and that day reacheth from the time that Remission of sins is preached in the bloud of Christ unto the end of the world Now as the Text is common to all Evangelical Days so there is one Day that lifts up its head above them all the most memorable Day of our Saviour's Resurrection then it was verily fulfilled as Peter urg'd it that the Stone which the Builders refused became the head of the corner St. Chrysostom Nyssen and almost who not pitch upon Easter-day for the particular application of this Text that was the Day wherein God did bring forth a more eminent work than in other common days and upon every Sunday in the year for that Day 's sake the Church hath appointed sacred Assemblies that we may rejoyce and be glad Well then of Davids Day first and from thence how particular Holidays may be ordeined to magnifie Gods extraordinary benefits next of the blessed Age of the Gospel wherein we have great cause to rejoyce and be comforted for Christ hath wiped away all tears from our eyes And last of all I shall take the right opportunity to speak of the glorious Feast of the Resurrection and how the Church doth keep the weekly Feast of the Lords day to rejoyce and be glad in it And first the Holy Ghost hath left it written for the honor of the Lords Anointed This is the Day which the Lord hath made There is one thing in that form of speech which jarrs a little against the ear how can it be said that God did make one day more than another for he hath framed all Times and Seasons alike the Sun knoweth his going down and he maketh it return again every morning to give light unto the World In the Hymns of the Heathen he is called Diespiter the Father of all days indifferently it is he that sets the Heavens in perpetual motion and makes the hours run on and when he calls back his word the Plumbets shall go down and time shall be no more It is granted therefore that he giveth continuance and being to all days after one sort and for the Phrase of my Text a new Writer hath well exprest himself Non includitur mensura temporis sed conditiones tempori incidentes it is not meant of the Day which the Sun makes with his diurnal motion but of the great Work which was wrought in that Day that is not that God made that Day more than others but that He made more in that Day than in others It is vulgar to impute the condition of things which fall out in some certain dayes to the days themselves per metonymiam adjuncti although a day as it is meerly a space of time cannot possibly be capable of such Attributes We take liberty to call this a cold or a moist day not for its own sake but because coldness and moisture happen in the day so for the contingency of glorious things we call the day it self glorious and to renown the memorable acts of the Lord we have got a use to speak thus This is the day which the Lord hath made In 1 Sam. 12.6 according to the Original and that 's pointed at in our Margent it is said that the Lord made Moses and Aaron why are not all that are born of a woman the works of his hands as well as Moses and Aaron therefore our Translation hath rendred the sense rather than the word that the Lord advanced Moses and Aaron In like manner we may read my Text thus This is the Day which the Lord advanced for he made it remarkable with an extraordinary favour and thereby gave it a Dignity and Exaltation above its fellows The going out and the return of every year are from the Almighty with the store and abundance that it brings forth but when the clouds drop fatness with unusual plenty then the Prophet says that he crowns that year with his goodness Psal lxv 11. So some principal Days are crowned above the rest as this Day wherein through the sun shine of his mercy he set a Crown of pure Gold upon the head of David his Servant Piety forbid that we should not thankfully receive the most vulgar benefits I know that common things are commonly neglected but learn to see God in small things or you shall never see him in greater If I had learnt it of no other yet I find enough in Seneca for that use Communia negligenda non sunt c. neglect not to give thanks for common and quotidian favours for life and health and suppeditation of food that the Sun doth shine upon us that we have the air to breath in that the Sea doth ebb and flow for navigation There are days of small things as Zachary calls them chap. iv 10. but those small things are to be consider'd of us with a grateful heart who are less than the least of all his mercies but how much more requisite is it then to observe those days wherein some eminent blessings are confer'd upon us what a behooveful thing it is every man for his own part to keep a Calender of the famous Acts of the Lord for our Birth for our Baptism for great Preservations and to represent them before us at the return of every year with grateful acknowledgment from the bottom of our heart and when God doth see that we are so mindful of a prosperous Day he will grant us many prosperous Years and for the period of joy a most prosperous Eternity that shall never have a period This is made as plane then as you can wish upon what special Prerogative the Lord is said to make a particular day because he doth appoint some special favour to fall out upon it and the Wise-mans Question is answered Ecclus. xxxiii 7. Why doth one day excel another when as all the light of every day of the year is of the Sun It is not the material light which distinguisheth the nobleness of Dayes but he that made the Sun more excellent than the other Stars of the Firmament hath made Princes glorious as the Sun in the Orb of the Common-wealth and a Day of a Princes Exaltation is like a Prince among Days and in that capacity to be magnified Such a day is said to be made by God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because God himself and none else is the Author of the Power of Kings He and none but He took David from following the Ews great with young and set him over the Princes of his People In a word since the Day is taken for the Work of the Day the real meaning of the first words of my Text is this is the King which the Lord hath made Samuel anointed him the People shouted and cried God save him but the Lord did constitute him the Ruler of the Twelve Tribes and gave him his Sovereign Authority the Crowns of Glory in Heaven and the Crowns of Dignity upon Earth are both held by
mind but unless we intermix the solemn Service of God at those times and spend some hours with godly profit in the Church it is but the Feast of Fools or perhaps worse the Feast of Epicures So the Prophet mentions some Swinish Carousers that thought they did solemnize their Kings Day in a jovial manner with drinking healths till they lost their wit and their health In the day of our King the Princes made him sick with flagons of wine Hos vii 5. Such Tospots celebrate a Feast to the use of the Devil and not to the Glory of God But it was unto that Glory that this Song and this Day which is chanted and this Joy which is so chearfully profest are all dedicated This is the Day which the Lord hath made c. But how hard a thing it is to draw men and women with their good will to Church for some have stretcht all their wits and their learning to defie our Church because it hath appointed Holidays for solemn occasions of Prayer and Thanksgiving and the greatest part of the Kingdom not out of opposition but out of negligence and slothfulness doth omit the due observation which belongs unto them You give your selves over at such times to cessation from work it may be to Sports and Games and Interludes the Fields shall be all day full of loose persons and the House of the Lord empty It is true that rest from labour becoms an Holiday yet the very vacation from labour is not simply pleasing to God but the better to follow Religious Service and beware to confound rest and idleness as if they were all one they are idle whom the painfulness of action causeth to avoid that labour whereunto God and Nature bindeth them they rest that either cease from their work when they have brought it to perfection or else give over a meaner labour because a better and more worthy is to be undertaken therefore though some part of an Holiday is indulged to put gladness into the life of them that are toiled with continual work yet the substantial character of the day is to meet together in our Religious Convocations and to adore the Name of the Lord. I shall not be able at this fag end of the hour to traverse this point as I would some satisfaction I will give you now God willing and defer that which remains to a more spacious occasion My Doctrin which I lay down is this that it is lawful for any Church to celebrate what Feasts it will so all be done with order and edification And I say more that every Church ought to set apart Solemn Times to remember annually the extraordinary works of God though such designed and determinate Days are not commanded in Holy scripture And I put to this moreover that God doth accept what the Church in due consideration doth voluntarily consecrate to Religious use I will put two parts of my Proposition together that this was lawful to be done and that it ought to be done Nature did teach the Heathen God taught the Jews and Christ by his own practice while he was upon earth taught us that to meet at Extraordinary Times for the celebration of Excellent Things was just and righteous One doth eloquently and very truly commend the various fruit of keeping such Sacred Times in this full Encomiasticon Festival days are the Splendour and outward Dignity of our Religion forcible Witnesses of ancient truth agnizing of great Benefits received Provocations to the Exercises of Piety Shadows of our endless felicity in Heaven First I will begin at the last of these That there must be great consolation in the due keeping of an Holiday if you rightly understand it because it represents the joy which is laid up for us in the Kingdom of Heaven and it is a most comfortable expectation when the very outward countenance of that which we are about on Earth doth prefigure after a sort that which we tend unto in the everlasting Habitations Bear but this in mind that the Rubrick days in the Almanack do prefigure that celestial condition wherein being mixed with Angels we shall sing Haleluia to the Lamb for evermore having no worldly toil or vexation to distract us and this would make us most chearful to bear a part in a solemn Congregation The Kingdom of Heaven was but darkly revealed to the Jews in the Old Testament and yet to bear in mind the glory which is laid up for the Godly they devoted a portion of every Day to the Divine Service in the Morning and Evening Sacrifice a portion of every Week upon the Sabbath a portion of every Moneth upon the New Moon a portion of every Season of the Year the Passover in the Spring the Feast of Pentecost in the Summer the Feast of Tabernacles in the Autumn and in latter Ages the Feast of Dedication in the Winter Every seventh Year was a Solemn Year for the Cessation of all Plowing and Sowing and that 's a contracted Age Every Fiftieth Year was most solemn for the memorizing of the Grand Jubilee and that 's a long protracted Age. If they did so often represent their longing to be at rest in heavenly places much more doth it concern us under the Gospel who are nearer neighbours than they to that future glory Secondly such gandy dayes are most meet for the agnizing of great benefits received I esteem the more of this reason because it is St. Austins Ne volumine temporum ingrata obreperet oblivio by Festival Solemnities and set Days we dedicate and sanctifie to God the memory or his chief benefits lest unthankfulness and forgetfulness should creep upon us in the course of time Nor is it enough to remember some notable favour upon one day and no more with great pomp and splendor for the revolution of time will obscure that as if it had never been the constant habit of doing well is not gotten without the custom of doing well without an iteration of holy Duties Beside such as are weak and tottering in faith might imagin that we did set no high price upon the Nativity of our Lord upon his Passion his Resurrection his Ascension and upon the Coming of the Holy Ghost if we did not extol him for them with some outward and eminent acts of glory Thirdly the principal Articles of Faith are nailed fast to our memory by clothing great Feasts with some transcendent tokens of joy and holiness At the Feast of Christmas every simple body is put in mind that Christ took our nature upon him and was born of a pure Virgin On Good Friday even Babes and Children are taught that he died upon the Cross to redeem us from eternal death Easterday proclaims it that our Saviour rose again in his own Body from the Grave and will raise up our Flesh at the last day to be like his own glorious Body Ascension day or Holy Thursday rememorates every year that He is gone up into Heaven to
be our Intercessor with his Father and to prepare a place for us Whitsunday or the Coming of the Holy Ghost is like a fair Land-mark to instruct the most unlearned that though our nature is most corrupt and averse from all good motions yet the spirit is poured into us whereby in some weak measure we become obedient Children and cry Abba Father These are the Days which the Lord hath made and when we devote our selves to magnifie him upon these occasions they prove the best means to teach us the Catechetical and fundamental points of faith And as Christ was great in himself and in those works of grace so He is great in the Angels of Heaven great in the Apostles in the Evangelists in all Saints and Martyrs and the choice is made by our Church of the Flower of all occasions in this kind publickly to praise the Lord and it is very fit I say that there should be a sensible difference between these and common days both for our thanksgiving and for the profitableness of our piety Gods works are all worthy of observation but not at all times alike to be remembred for as the Lord by being every where doth not give unto all places one and the same degree of holiness but the Church is more sacred than the High-ways of the Field though Gods Immensity and Omnipotency is alike in both so neither is one and the same dignity competent to all times although the Omnipotency of God doth work in all times but as his extraordinary presence hath hallowed and sanctified certain places so they are his extraordinary works which have worthily advanced certain times for which cause they ought with all men that honour God to be in more honour than other dayes I should add two things more that are very ponderous to confirm this truth one from the practice of some holy persons in the Old Testament whose constitutions God approved the other from the practice of our Fore-fathers in all Ages and 't is fit to tread in their steps in things that are laudable honest and indifferent but this shall not be hudled up I will dilate it hereafter To dispatch all beside our holy due of the Lords Day we are now to celebrate the Kings Day and for good reason in all equity we ought to do some Religious Service on His Day who is the Defendor of our Religion Next under the Providence of God who but the King doth maintain the Truth among us therefore on what day of the week soever this Day lights it becoms us to set open the Door of the Church and to praise the Lord because we have freedom to come to Church all the year by his grace and protection We have no Romish Superstition no Anabaptistical or Presbyterian Anarchy to make this holy place irksom unto us God be praised that has given his Anointed a faithful heart to serve him and to uphold his People in the right way that they may hold up clean hands to Heaven I do read that Constantine celebrated an yearly Feast for his Victory against Licinius I read that the Church of Alexandria celebrated a Day yearly wherein the waters asswaged after a great Inundation I read that Alexius Comnenus appointed a perpetual Holiday for the memory of the famous Emperor and Lawgiver Justinian nay St. Ambrose calls to mind that Felix Bishop of Cuma kept that day every year in a magnificent manner to God wherein he was consecrated Bishop Thus former Ages have given us light that we keep in the Circle of that which is lawful when we adorn the Anniversary Day of the Inauguration of our most noble King with joy and festivity in the sight of God and first let us confess the Lords benefit towards us and say as the People did of Solomon Because thy God loved Israel to stablish them for ever therefore made he thee King over them to do judgment and justice 1 Chron. ix viii Secondly let as put up Prayers and Intercessions to the Divine Majesty to give great prosperity to our Anointed Sovereign to his Royal Consort and to their Posterity for ever AMEN A SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION PSAL. cxviii 24. This is the day which the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it IF you have ever seen a piece of Coin stamp'd with one face upon the fore-side and with another upon the reverse then set that fancy before you to understand the double sense of this Text. First If you ask according to the Letter whose Image and Superscription is this I tell you and I have told it you once before it is Davids And this is the triumphant Hymn of the devout men of Israel exulting that God had given them such a King to go in and out before them If you ask according to the Spirit to whom this Verse belongs most certainly it aims at Christ and that two ways either calculating this Day for the whole Age of the Gospel that is the day which God hath made to put gladness into his chosen through the remission of our sins because the day-spring from on high hath visited us Or else in a more eminent sort it is the joyful acclamation of the Church upon the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus that being the most honourable and most welcome of days because the Resurrection hath ever been esteemed the most glorious of all the works of the Gospel I have spun out the first of these concerning David to the last thread now my Web which is upon the Loom is concerning Christ that is I have given unto Caesar that which is Caesars and it is very expedient as the more principal duty to give unto God that which is Gods Indeed I cannot say that I am come to the heart and to the vitals of the Text till now till now that I apply it not as formerly to the Lords Anointed but to Christ himself our Lord anointed And I have clear way made me for this interpretation as clear as I can wish for never any that have received the Book of the Psalms for spiritual and divine melody but do reckon this Psalm and especially this part of the Psalm to belong to Jesus the Author and finisher of our Salvation The Doctors of the Jews says St. Hierom did use to sing it in praise of the Messias And the Doctors of the Christians must be all of one Chorus to chant it merrily to the Son of God because four places of the New Testament that is witness enough have made a challenge unto it that this Psalm is an Allelujah or Hosannah to the Son of God And because the words of my Text are obvious to be recited upon any memorable and plausible occasion sometimes they have been drawn to congratulate humane affairs yet with this reservation that none under heaven hath a true interest in them I read that in the second Constant Council held under Justinian the Emperour Johannes Presbyter as he was
can we spend our time more profitably than to speak of time as it is to be referred and allotted to the glory of him that made all time But that I may leave no part of my Treatise naked but cover that which I shall run through with some portion of my Text I must put you to call to mind what I delivered in general in two Sermons that these words excel both in the Letter and in the Spirit In the Letter they are part of a Psalm which was sung for Davids sake and for that Festival which the People kept to God for his Inauguration when he was made King over Israel In the Spirit they reach to Christ as David in most of his Psalms had more regard to Christ than to himself and that with two interpretations By some the whole Age of the Gospel is entituled the day of Christ for through the Gospel the terrours of Sin and Death and Hell are broken and we are comforted on every side to rejoyce and be glad By others among all Evangelical days the Feast of the Resurrection is pickt out by way of eminency for never did the Sun shine upon any day wherein we had more cause to triumph and be joyful than when the Son of God having been crucified for our sins did rise from death the third day to conquer mortality and corruption that we might live forever These Points being dispatcht in their proper season what is left to be handled Two things of great moment Beloved First the Resurrection of Christ did not only sanctifie that one day wherein he rose but occasion was taken from thence to sanctifie the first day of every Week to the Lord because Christ rose on the first day Hence I am your debtor to shew how this and every Sunday is the day which the Lord hath made and we must rejoyce and be glad in it Secondly Forasmuch as an holy day was appointed that all Israel might worship Jehovah for that precious benefit that so good a King as David was reigned over them therefore the Ordination of Festival days to profess thanksgiving for the high and excellent works of God becometh the Church for so good a sanction and becometh the righteous to be joyful in them Then of the Lords day for our ordinary Assemblies in Gods House and of holy Festivals for our extraordinary Assemblies these are the matter of my ensuing Discourse which I will follow upon the touchstone of truth and for the benefit of your edification Concerning the day which we keep weekly in the name of the Lord I must speak of it two ways in reference to Gods making and our rejoycing in reference to the Divine Sanction and out Sanctification The Divine Sanction of the day must be traversed in four Points 1. What ground we have for keeping the Lords day in the fourth Commandment 2. What ground we have for it from the Resurrection of Christ 3. What ground we have for it in the Gospel from the Precept of Christ or his Apostles And 4. What ground we have for it from the practise of the Apostles and from the practise of the Church in all ages In this piece of a Sermon I will deliver you my mind upon this Controversie which now adays makes voluminous disputes First It is manifest that the Fourth Commandment hath another air and Constitution in it than the other Nine Those Nine being consonant to the light of natural reason so that they bind the Conscience without a Law-giver this is neither principle or necessary conclusion of natural reason in such a clear manner as that a judicious man shall be forced upon understanding the terms to yield assent unto it And I wonder that any one should stumble so grosly to say that it is natural Law to keep every seventh day that is the last day or the first day of the Week holy when the distribution of time into Weeks is arbitrary and not natural This Commandment therefore having a composition in it diverse from the rest it hath somewhat in it particular to the state of the Jewish Synagogue and somewhat that binds the Christian Church For it doth not stand for a Cypher in the two Tables at this time as if the force of it were expired but there is somewhat in it which is Moral and obligeth mankind unto the end of the world The enforcement of the seventh day in strict and Sabbatical rest is out of date as well as the rest of the Pedagogical Ordinances of Moses But there is this Kernel within the shell that holy Assemblies are for ever to be called together at fit and convenient times to praise the Lord nay further reason and gratitude cannot imagine a more fit and convenient time than the constant solemnizing of a Seventh day nay than the constant observation of this Seventh day the first day of the Week Therefore I determine that we ground the keeping of the Lords day upon the fourth Commandment not upon the Letter of it for that were Jewish but upon the natural equity or moral contents of it We recede from the Letter as much as can be for they rested and we work on their Sabbath but to rest on the seventh day and to work on the seventh day cannot flow out of the same Statute For the moral equity we give all diligence to obey it and he that rejects the Lords Day or violates it transgresseth the Fourth Commandment because though neither that day there mentioned nor the determination of a Seventh day is absolutely commanded yet it is deduced out of it by consequence It is enough to have general and common Rules for Ecclesiastical Orders of time and place under the liberty of the Gospel And God gives us the light of discretion to draw out special rules at what time in what place with what Decorum and Order to meet together and if the governance of this discretion be not observed the Spirit of the Lord is disobeyed The Lord hath not given over his interest in our time but that we must allot some days and hours to his Service as it were for the redemption of all our time which is due unto him Neither hath he given us a vagrant liberty to serve him when we will but the out-goings of the Morning and Evening must praise him and we must often throng together at solemn times to worship him To go further though the Commandment hath not prefixt us a day for it prefixt no definite day but the Sabbath to the Jews yet it hath given us light what ought to be done by way of prudent Constitution viz. that we of the Evangelical Kingdom should grievously sin if we did not voluntarily devote as much time to the honour of God as the Jews were bound to do And then since the Lord did enforce why that day was enjoyned to them it was the day wherein the Lord did rest from his work and it was most pious that they should remember the benefit
of the Creation This doth unavoidably suggest unto us that no day of the seven is fitter for our celebration than Sunday or the first day of the Week when Christ rose from the dead he having dispatcht all the works of exinanition and given us manifest assurance and joy for our eternal redemption And so I fall into the next member propounded what ground we have for keeping this day weekly to the service of God in the Resurrection of Christ Some what have been heedless in their assertions have confidently delivered that the Lords day is clearly instituted in the work of Christs Resurrection nay that the Resurrection did apply and determine the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment to the Lords day These go so far that all proof and reason forsakes them It is true that our Saviours victorious rising from the dead was a good occasion which the Church took to celebrate this day but that act of his rising from the dead was not instead of a Law to appoint the day They are not the works of God but his words that institute Laws and where there is no Imperative act of the Law-giver there can be no Law to bind In six days the Lord made heaven and earth and all things therein and rested the seventh day yet that Cessation of God from his works had not made that seventh day in every week holy to the Jews without his pleasure signified to keep it So the Resurrection of the Lord doth not make the Lords day a solemn day for Divine Service in all our Generations by a compulsory Statute unless it were said in the Gospel and so it was never said you shall keep the first day of the Week holy in honour of the Resurrection Without some imperative word or sentence to declare Gods pleasure we cannot deduce a Law And if the Resurrection of itself without a Precept annexed had exalted it to be an holy day St. Paul would never have agreed with them that esteemed all days alike Rom. xiv Out of this perverse zeal to make a rule out of Christs works without a Precept some would not be baptized till the age of thirty years because Christ was baptized no sooner Others stood nicely upon it that Orders of Priesthood were to be given to none before that age and for no other cause but because he preach'd no sooner Infinite fancies would be multiplied if these ways were allowed for good Divinity It is safe and true to say that the day is kept congruously but not necessarily for the Resurrection sake And surely the Primitive Church could have made choice of no day of the Week more proper and convenient for the Religious Worship of God in honour of that principal Article of our belief and the corner stone of all the rest Ignatius calls every Sunday 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Resurrection day St. Austin says Dominicus dies Christi resurrectione declaratus est ex illo coepit habere festivitatem suam Words which will bear no other construction howsoever some do torture them but thus that the Lords day is published by Christs Resurrection and from thenceforth began to be a Festival And again Domini resuscitatio consecravit nobis Dominicum diem promisit nobis aeternum diem The resuscitation of Christ hath consecrated for us the Lords day and doth promise us an eternal day yet there is no Imperative Edict from heaven to make it so but the light of holy discretion did guide the Church to appoint it so St. Austin hath clustered together many other admirable works of God done upon the first day of the Week in which God did make his first Creature of Light In which the Israelites went through the Red-Sea upon dry Land In which Manna did first fall from heaven In it was the first miracle of water turned into Wine Of the five loaves and two fishes In it Christ was baptized rose from the dead appeared often to his Disciples sent down the Holy Ghost and wherein we expect that at the last day he will come to judgment But the Resurrection is pre-eminent above all things else that hapned in it and that blessing though it do not ratifie a Law yet it is the occasion why this day is Weekly celebrated But I must tell you that one Analogy is ill prosecuted by some though it be vulgar in mens Writings That the Lords rest must be sanctified on what day soever it falleth that is not true unless there be a Law to enforce it therefore as the Sabbath was held holy when God rested from the works of the Creation so Sunday must be kept holy wherein the Son of God after his rising from the Grave rested gloriously from the work of our Redemption That last clause is falsly presumed for he made perfect our Redemption at his death and the price was paid for our sins not by his Resurrection but by his Sacrifice on the Cross and then he gave up the Ghost and said It is finished The day of the Passion therefore if you respect it as a resting from satisfying for our sins deserved to be made a continual Holy day but it was not meet to be kept with joy And mark it I pray you that we honour the day of his rising every Week rather than that of his suffering not because it is a better day or the day of his rest for he rested in the Grave and did spend his Resurrection day in much action but because it is the first day unto the Church of joy and gladness And a chief ingredient in an holy day dedicated to God is to rejoyce and be glad I proceed to the third thing to be inquired into what ground we have to keep the Lords day from any Precept mentioned in the Gospel either delivered by Christ himself or by his Apostles Certainly it never proceeded out of our Saviours mouth to appropriate this designed day to his honour and we must take heed to thrust Laws upon him of our own invention which he never imposed If such a thing had come from him no time had been fitter to express it than when the Pharisees cavilled at his Disciples for plucking the Ears of Corn on the Sabbath day Mat. xii Then he might have retorted that the observation of the Sabbath was expiring but he would constitute the first day of the Week to be the heir of the Sabbath Yet our Lord was so far from such a motion that whereas he reproved the Pharisees with much indignation Mat. v. and vi Chapters for their lax and dissolute interpretations of many moral Laws he corrects them often in the Gospel for being so strict in the rigid performance of the Sabbath which he would never have done if it had totally consisted of moral duties But about the definite appointment of a day Christ is silent for his Precepts in the New Testament are altogether touching spiritual worship And says St. Paul Carnal ordinances were imposed
necessary Imperative Law Sometimes it binds as when we find them frequently joyn Fasting with Prayer and where we meet with their strict Discipline that they delivered up obstinate offenders to Satan and cast them out of the Church but elsewhere their practice draws on no absolute necessity but leaves us to our prudent liberty and ties no harder as appears by their Colledges of Widows to wash the Saints feet by their Feasts of Charity c. For whereas St. Paul says That which you have heard and seen in me that do Phil. iv 9. It is a Commission that they may imitate him in any thing he did for he did nothing but things lawful yet it infers it not to be necessary to do all things as he did As a Physician may say to his Patient eat whatsoever you see me eat which is spoken by way of warrant not of necessary observation Well then since the practice of the Apostles sometimes leaves us at liberty to follow them sometimes presseth the duty upon us and we must do as they did how shall we know the one from the other In my small reading I could never find it cleared yet but you shall have my opinion of it It is a rule in St. Austin Quod universa tenet Ecclesia nec Conciliis institutum sed semper retentumest c. Whatsoever is not defined by any General Council and yet is practised by the whole Church it hath been delivered from hand to hand by the Apostles Here I take the hint that some things were delivered by the Apostles for order and decency sake which were but temporary agreed only to some times and some places and every Church receiv'd them freely with their own liking but whatsoever is derived from their Exemple and is dispread over the whole Church and hath continued in all Ages so hath the observation of the Lords day that was at first grounded in the practice of the Apostles not to be received indifferently but to be admitted as a Divine Institution Now I sum up the Orthodox Truth as I take it by what right and tenure we keep the Lords day holy 1. Not by virtue of the Letter of the fourth Commandment but by the natural equity and moral contents of it and reasonable consequences deduced out of it 2. The glorious act of Christs rising from the dead did not constitute the first day of the week to be a day of perpetual sanctification but upon good congruity the Church took occasion from thence to celebrate this day unto the Lord. 3. There are no express imperative words in the New Testament immediately to command it but in general principles that we are to obey our Rulers in all things 4. and lastly It is establisht in the practice of the Apostles and so uniformly received in all Ages that it is most probable they purposed it not for an Ecclesiastical Sanction which is alterable but for a Divine Institution which is perpetual and unalterable This labour which is past hath been spent about this Day in reference to Gods making that which follows is upon the same Subject in reference to our own rejoycing we will rejoyce and be glad in it that is God hath sanctified the day and we will sanctifie it that is God hath sanctified it by ordeining it to sacred use and we must sanctify it with an holy gladness imploying it chiefly in religious conversation We must separate it from profane uses to divine we must meet in holy places we must come together about holy purposes hearken to holy things and this must be our chief delight that we keep Holy-day to the Lord. Attend the time therefore with all chearfulness and diligence which summons us to appear in the House of God 't is religionis discendae introducendae medium the only and most available means to keep Religion in life and being Our sins are very grievous I confess and there is much unjust communication in the world we do not deal usually as between Brother and Brother but as between faithless Infidels and utter Adversaries but to what extremity would our sins wax if we did not pray to the Lord in his good day to guide us with a good conscience all the week after Mark therefore that the fourth Commandment is set in the midst of the Decalogue in the end of the first Table and before the beginning of the second as if it were the common nerve of Religion take away this and we shall neither know the duties of the one Table or of the other either to God or our Neighbour It is very meet therefore and our bounden duty that we should every one set forth a large share of this Day to the honour of God in Publick Assemblies not for a spurt of time and then apply our selves to other affairs as Christ bid us go every day into our secret Chamber to praise the Lord but according to the appointment both of God and the Church the best part of the day must be surrendred up to the use of Prayer and Preaching that God may have both his Morning and his Evening Sacrifice to declare his truth in the morning and his faithfulness in the night season as David says And therefore I have noted it to my self how in every Age for at least 600 years after Christ Godly Bishops did lengthen out Service by little and little to keep us the longer at Church At first there was but an Epistle and Gospel read and the Lords Prayer said and then they went to the Communion then the reading of the Psalms was added then certain Lessons out of the Old and New Testament then came in the Litany then the Confession with divers Collects of Prayers And our own Church above all others draws out the Service with the Ten Commandments Some there are that complain we spend not the Lords day totally or sufficiently in the House of Sanctification and yet with the same breath they will complain of long Prayers and will of purpose decline Cathedral Churches and never come at them because Divine Service is continued there an hour longer at least than in Parochial Congregations But how can time be better spent than in this Holy Temple that commands all time The Sabbath was made for man under the Law and the Lords day is made for man under the Gospel yet it is called the Lords day and not mans it is made for man that is for the instruction of the Soul and the refreshing of his Body but it is his day to whose honor it is set apart for the spiritual worship of Christians in all days much more in this is terminated to God And I speak it with gladness that it is a good sign that the fire of Religion burns within our breasts when we devote our selves so much to pious Exercises on Sunday that a great number are loth to hear of external joy and gladness The more observant we are of this time the more we please God
are Clavis Ecclesiae sera Coeli Baptism the Key to open a door and give us admittance into the Church of Christ and the Eucharist is such a confirmation of grace that it is like a bolt that shuts us up into Heaven What reverence what devotion can be too much for such blessed mysteries Mistake me not when I speak of Reverence and Devotion I mean nothing less than Adoration and Worship to the Elements I allow not nay I abhor Popish Elevation and Procession I fear this lifting up of the Host ever since the Devil took up Christ to a Pinacle of the Temple I detest their gamish and gaudy Procession as if our Saviour did think it an Honour to ride upon the Popes Palfrey as Haman did upon King Ahasuerus Horse away with such ridiculous gesticulations But I am ashamed on the other side that there should be such froward Persons such unthankful Receivers of the Sacrament of thankfulness in our Church that deny the duty of their knee to the Supper of the Lord their feet stand stiff like the two Pillars which upheld the Theatre of the Philistines and Samson can scarce pluck them to the ground The very Devil durst not deny the truth in this Point Ask him what it is to honour Mat. 4. to fall down and worship As Maecoenas spake of a Roman that being amazed forgot to kneel unto Caesar when he came in his presence Hic homo timet timere Caesarem so these men are afraid lest they should over-reach themselves and give God more honour than his due It was an excellent speech of Scipio Africanus who being to ride in honour refused to sit in an Arch Triumphal Quia seni praetereunti non potuit assurgere if an old man passed by he could not rise up and do him reverence Beloved the Table of the Lord is a time of great triumph and solemnity and God is not passing from us but coming to us and is this all the honour that we will do him to stand upon stilts rather than kneel Will neither the apprehension of Christs Passion move us at that time Nor that Prayer which is used that body and soul may be preserved unto everlasting life will not that make us fall down Nor the consideration how Christ did humble himself for us unto the death of the Cross will not that make us humble Let it be the reproach of such profane men that Manna is faln down from Heaven round about our Tents and they will not stoop to gather it The fourth and last Honour which redounds to God is to obey the powers which are ordained of God It is good Divinity every day it is the proper Theam of this day O Lord make it a victorious and joyful day to thine Anointed Servant and our most gacious Soveraign many and many years and make it an happy and a triumphant day to his People that are under him and to their Children that are yet unborn Nazianzen speaking of Kings and Rulers to be the Images of God says that Monarchs and Kings in respect of God were like Pictures drawn clean throughout to the Feet the middle sort of Governours to Pictures drawn to the Girdle the third rank and lowest in authority to Pictures drawn but to the neck and shoulders but all in some sort are the Images of God only Christ is the express Image of his Person that sate down at the right hand of his Majesty Heb. i. O let Man who is made according to the similitude and likeness of Gods own goodness be faithful and Loyal to obey Kings and Princes in whom he hath imprinted the Image of his power and authority Mary Magdalen sate at our Saviours feet his Disciple John came nearer to his head and leaned upon his breast so God hath put all the world under his feet but Kings and Rulers lean as it were upon his breast as coming nearer to his love Now as the Altar was a refuge for them that fled unto it so Kings being as it were united unto God by an invisible copulation they are like priviledged persons always next unto the Altar and the hand of violence must not hurt them He that despiseth you despiseth me and he that honoureth you honoureth me But the Jesuit is more subtle than any beast of the field and he puts in a quarrel against Gods Anointed that if any prove an Heretick or a scandalous person to the Church nolumus hunc regnare then he hath lost the privilege of his Unction and his Scepter shall be broken by the Popes effulminating Authority I cannot answer this traiterous opposition better than by an Embleme of a Diamond with this word dum formas minuis He that pares a Diamond to make it give a better lustre and to point it artificially impairs the worth and value of the Diamond so to cut such large allowance from the due which God hath granted without that qualification to his Vice-gerents under pretence to make their Kingdom more beautiful and religious is the next way to break the neck of all Soveraignty it were well we had less of their art and more of their honesty As Agesilaus wrote to the Judges in the behalf of Nicias if Nicias his Cause be good let justice prevail if his Cause be wrong let favour prevail but be sure that Nicias prevail So say I if the Scepter of the King be a Scepter of mercy and righteousness God be blessed it is then we will honour it for righteousness sake if it should go wrong and not as we would have it so it hath far'd with other Common-wealths the Throne of the King is established in heaven and we must honour it for Gods sake but be sure the King be honour'd and obeyed There is a Fable which Plutarch hath to this purpose the Tail of the Snake began to cavil with the Head because the Head did always lead the way and direct the Body which way it list The Tail would not be contented unless it might go formost by course and the Head come sometimes behind but what followed upon this new contrivance the Tail prickt it self in thorns the Body was bruised every part offended and at last the Head was intreated to take upon him to lead and then the whole body was contented Beloved our part is to pray to God that the Head may run on in the right way like the matchless Pair that went before the mirrour of women pious Queen Elizabeth and the most excellent and learned of all wise Princes that ever were or shall be blessed King James Our part is to submit our wisdom to the secret counsels of the King and to demonstrate our faithfulness and love more amply by how much the times are like to be dangerous and troublesome but for the Tail to go formost it is a dishonour to God who hath given the Crown and Scepter to the King and it can breed nothing but disorder and confusion To sum up these four
glory The former Promise honorantes honorabo was fit I told you for the day this latter minacy of Gods anger is rather fit for our Age and for the lamentable profanation of our times They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed Which words as it seems to me will best bear this division of two parts 1. Here is ignominia indigna a disdain much undeserved that God should be despised in the opinion of man 2. Here is ignominia dignissima a scorn and disdain justly deserved such a man set at nought in the eyes of God First I note that here is a disdain much undeserved that God should be despised in the eyes of man As one said that there were no Adulterers in Lacaedemon and as Solon thought that there could be no Parricides in Athens so I ask are there any in the world guilty of this blemish to despise God There have been some men so compleatly furnisht with Heroical virtues that they were esteemed to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men above the reach of obtrectation and envy surely then the mighty God whose glory is incomprehensible whose power is infinite his Majesty is far above contempt and disdain Beloved the enormity of this evil act to despise is not grosly against the Essence of God as if that could be contemned but by reducement it is a sin of so great extension and compass that it will be most necessary for your use and my orderly proceeding to confine our selves to a rule that hath certainty in it The properties of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or contempt are most distinctly set down in the 2. of the Philosophers Rhetor. as Artists know and them I will lay down before you by which when you examine your own practice you will know whether you be among those that despise God The first sign of despising is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we contemn that which we neglect to understand as when a prudent man will not beat his brains to study curious and unlawful Arts it is manifest he doth despise them so whomsoever thou art that art not painful to understand the Sum of thy faith and the mystery of thy salvation it must be granted that thou setst it at no price and estimation I do not say that every mans capacity will serve him to be a skilful Divine labour for so much knowledg as is referrâ—d to Gods Worship whatsoever the best enquire after beyond that Solomon calls it sorrow Eccl. i. I call it curiosity Brethren I beseech you be perswaded that ignorance is a fault for there is a Sacrifice appointed to make an attonement for it in the Old Law besides David had been uncharitable to pray to God to pour out his indignation upon the Heathen that do not know him unless their slothfulness not to know him did deserve it For your better satisfaction there is a threefold ignorance the first is called invincible ignorance that could not be helpt I call it the ignorance of the Woman of Samaria how could she tell that Christ was the Messias until he revealed it unto her this was not to be blamed The second is called affectata ignorance that is wilful and affected I call it the ignorance of Pharaoh Who is the Lord that I should let the people go He could not away with it to hear of the name of the Lord and therefore his opinion was that Religion was an idle mans exercise You are idle says he to Moses and therefore you say Let us go worship in the Wilderness A practised liar will not understand that every word of dissimulation in buying and selling is cosenage and hypocrisie A man that loves increase of wealth will not conceive that any usury is a gross sin and the bane of charity He that thinks a little is too much for the Church will not be informed that Sacrilege authorized by custom can be Sacrilege these proceed from stubborn and affected ignorance The third is called supina ignorance growing upon us by sloth and carelessness this I call the ignorance of Nicodemus he knew not the mystery of regeneration and what it was to be born again of the spirit simple education God knows for a Master in Israel I fear to speak it but it is most true there are many that know as little now adays with their Bibles open as our Forefathers knew in the time of Popery with their Bibles shut How many are there that pass for Believers like the men of Ephesus Act. xix and yet know not whether there be an Holy Ghost or no how many Anthropomorphites God help them that know not that God is an infinite Essence comprehended in no place but think he hath eyes and hands and feet according to the bare letter of the Scripture as whole Covents of Monks fell into that illiterate opinion says Socrates Your own regardlesness that you do not search into the ordinary discourses of Divinity it is the cause that most Sermons are obscure and fruitless to the hearers and that which we think is as easie as milk unto your Palats it is strong meat which cannot be digested because of your ignorance Thus when you set it so light whether you know the mystery of godliness or no is it not to despise the Lord Secondly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those things which we despise we put out of mind and easily forget forgetfulness is a sign of contempt How many preservations how many strange deliverances have befaln us so apparently miraculous that our enemies were compell'd to say this was the finger of God and yet I am afraid most of us would seldom remember them if they were not printed in the Rubrick of our Almanack how much sooner is a sensless Winter tale remembred than a sacred story how new is that unto your ears this day in many things which perhaps you have heard from the Pulpit twenty times before that which we hear once a week concerning faith and good works is sooner out of our head than that which we hear but once in an age from a Proclamation as Tully said of old mens memories Nunquam quemquam audivi oblitum quo loco Thesaurum obruisset he never read of one that forgot where he had laid his treasure So those things only fix themselves in our head which are set in our heart and that only slides away like water which we regard not The first thing which the Devil stole from Eve was her memory God said in the day you eat you shall surely die she said she must not eat lest peradventure she should die Thus we forget instantly what God says like Eve nay we forget what our selves said like Peter he would not forsake his Master but hold out when all fail'd and alas he was the first that denied him how often is the next thing that follows our repentance fresh iniquity how often is the next thing after our prayers profaneness and then do we not forget what we said our selves Orlandine in
Altar it is an indignity second to none and God doth greatly disdain at it if his Churches beg your liberality for their reparation beg they must by a Brief and that impudently or else they shall lie in the dust but when they do crave your help pour in plentifully into the Corban He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly If his Priests plead for the due and true portion that belongs unto the Altar do not construe Divinity so much amiss as if the Doctrine concerned their profit only but did nothing pertain to inform your just dealing Your voluntary benevolences though they be large and bountiful shall excuse no man of Sacriledge where that which is due is pinch'd and impaired He that wrongs the Altar I mean the Church in Shillings nay in Pence that are due to it they are not his Pounds of benevolence shall make him an honest man in the sight of God Do not flatter your selves in what you are not and let me tell you the truth one of your poor Farmers that occupies under you but one hundred pound Land by year in the Country pays as much to the Church Demeans by due as five nay as ten wealthy Landlords in the City And yet you think your selves the best pay masters to the Church but no man of understanding believes you He is called a wise Steward in the Gospel but his deeds were the actions of a Reprobate that bad his Masters Debtors set down fifty for one hundred and fourscore for another I should be this unjust Steward my self if I should not tell you justly and faithfully what you owe to my Master in Heaven they have more cunning than faithfulness that teach you how to strike off part of the Sum. And yet I beseech you mark one passage in the unjust Steward He doth not come with Quid dabis How doth your mind stand for a benevolence What are you pleased to give my Master But Quid debes What do you owe my Master Pay your Debts first and talk of your Supererogation afterwards as if you should stop the free passage of a Spring and then think to recompence the Owner with a Glass of Rose-water Such a kindness it is to stop the rights of Gods Ministers and then think to make them amends with some contribution of courtesie O let not this fair object of your manifold charity before mine eyes be blemish'd with Sacriledge for when the Sacrifice is withdrawn from the Altar is it not a great sign that God is despised So much of that general Point drawn out into the several branches Ignominia indigna a disdain much undeserved that God should be despised in the opinion of Man The upshot of all that I have to say is in that which follows ignominia dignissima a scorn and disdain justly deserved that the abusers of Gods Glory shall be set at naught in his eyes They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed Mercy and Justice are in all the works of the Lord. Behold the sweetness of Mercy in two things gathered out of that which is before us 1. The order of these parts will insinuate it unto us for promise doth go before minacie the affection of love before the destruction of anger Them that Honour me I will Honour God begins at that end where there is a reward in the right hand They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed that is the conclusion the last refuge upon which he is thrust with vengeance in the left Mount Gerizim is the first hill that God mentions Deu. xxvii the Mountain upon which Levi and his fellow Tribes should bless Israel Mount Ebal is prepared in the next place the Mountain upon which Dan and his fellow Tribes should curse the People Behold I set before you this day life and death blessing and cursing Deut. xxx 19. As Medicine is the first offer of Chyrurgery Amputation of the putrified part is the last and desperate help that Art doth administer 2. God will Honour the Good he takes it upon him that benediction is his proper act It is set down passively and no otherwise that the wicked shall be lightly esteemed Come you blessed of my Father Mat. xxv Benediction is from God Go ye cursed says Christ in his anger cursed by your own sins cursed by the malice of the Devil he doth not say cursed of my Father Surely somewhat is in it that God will never take the act of Malediction upon himself Isa xxviii 21. The fury of his wrath he calls alienum opus his strange work his strange act that he will perform Non est opus Dei perdere quos creavit says Lyra. It is a strange work and comes as it were unwillingly unto God to destroy those whom he hath made And therefore we have it in a Prayer of our Liturgy especially against the visitation of the woful Pestilence God whose nature and property is â—ver to have mercy and forgive Peregrinum opus est ut puniat qui Salvator est says St. Hierom upon the forenamed place it is an improper work for him to curse who is the Author of blessing for him to destroy who is the Saviour of the world for him to put any man to light estimation from whom proceedeth all honour and glory And as Mercy gives a sweet relish to this Text so Justice is no less conspicuous for here is a punishment so proportioned to the fault committed as if God had studied to retaliate may I express it as we do barbarously in a Vulgar Proverb Qui meccat mockabitur he that despiseth me shall be despised You do well know Adonibezecks confession his Thumbs and Toes were cut off as seventy Kings having their Thumbs and Toes cut off gathered meat under his Table as I have done so God hath requited me says the Tyrant So might Pharaoh and Egypt have confessed that as they did exercise cruelty upon the Infants of Israel so the Angel slew all their First-born in a night As the Seed of the Righteous was cast into the water to be drowned so Pharaoh and all his Hest were drowned in the Red Sea So Charles the Ninth of France who publish'd himself to be the Author of that bloudy Massacre committed upon many thousand innocent Protestants in the Streets of Paris bloud was his end in great quantity says the famous Annalist of our Island sanguinis profluvio inter longos graves dolores expiravit the bloud could not be stanched which gushed out from many parts of his body and so after long and grievous torments he gave up the Ghost An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth bloud for bloud Children for Children drowning for drowning ignominy for ignominy this is the retaliation of true Justice They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed Where is the advancement of the Proud Where is their honour that would be noble and yet tush at the true nobility of Vertue and Religion Like as I have
your poor Lambs pine for want of milk how shall the great shepherd Christ Jesus afford you the comfort of one drop of water O the sobs of Orphans the cursings of Clients the tears of abused Virgins the bleatings of your Flocks the revealing of secrets Arcanique fides prodiga perlucidior vitro and this Psalm of David against Achitophel his false Counsellor will ring over heaven and cause judgment to fall down upon such who lifted up their heel against them that trusted too much to their slippery infidelity Yea mine own familiar c. Now the third complaint is sorest he that did eat of my bread Magnificavit dolum did exalt mischief against me It hath been said in scorn of the Epicure that the palate of his mouth was more sensible than his heart it is well that somewhat would please him But Achitophel had neither feeling of Davids true love in his heart nor any taste of his benefits in his mouth friendship and food were both lost upon him Comedebat panes and yet he is his enemy As in the overflowings of Nilus the corn fields are the better and the fatter for it but Serpents and Vermine grow out of the fruitfulness So the overflowing of benefits begets nothing in an ill disposition but Worms and Cankers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Bazil Not a Cur so fierce but will fawn upon you and lick your hands if you feed him Birds are not so wild but by giving a little meat unto them in time they may be brought to pick up crums at your Table what a brutish thing is ingratitude that the beasts may be won with that which would not win Achitophel Nay there are such says the Father that you lose them when you bestow kindness upon them and envy will repine that you have ability to supply their wants Jupiter hospitibus num te dare jura loquuntur c. The Table of hospitality was ever accounted a sacred thing And St. Austin thinks that Christ did reveal himself to Cleophas and the other Disciple in breaking of bread rather than in any other sign because they offered him part of their own entertainment at Emmaus And Salt was a Symbol of friendship among the Heathen because feeding at the same board was an uniter of affections and amity The Greek Proverb makes it the basest kind of love to have the relish of a Parasite in a mans mouth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to love no longer than we are fed But here is a canker worm that devours the sap of the tree that feeds him like unnurtured beggars served plentifully at rich mens doors and yet take advantage how they may break in and rob the house where they were relieved You may as soon reduce the babling of a mad man to reason as to take any measure of this vice of ingratitude Can you search the depth of that which hath no bottom It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sive or Colender which contains nothing that you pour into it It is gone like the wind which passeth by our ear and you shall hear of it no more Take the great instance from him whose case was most pitiful Why was our Saviour put to death For envy Why was he envied For his good Works What good Works had he done He fed the hungry and this bountiful Lord hath Gall and Vinegar presented to him He raised the dead divers of their own Nation and yet the giver of life is put to death Devils were cast out of another and the cleanser of the house is defiled vvith spittle Can any reason be given for this We may say indeed as one did to our own shame that there are a sort of men Divites aliorum jacturis immortales funeribus such as are rich by other mens losses and immortal by other mens funerals but what reason can we yield for that none at all It is a sin without a bottom and therefore it hath the greater affinity with Hell and damnation I have thought it one of the Devils principal projects that since the story of the Athenian and Roman Commonwealths were the most likely to be turned over and perused you shall not pass the Annals of five years but some memorable example of ingratitude will cross your way In Athens it was malum epidemicum their all deserving Miltiades Cimon Aristides Themistocles discarded disgraced imprisoned a City full of severe Laws against ingratitude Sed moribus suis quam legibus uti maluerunt full of opposite practice to the Laws In the Roman Polity Camillus Africanus Scipio Manlius many more either dethroned from dignity deprived of life or banisht their Country wherefore Africanus spat in their face again when dying in exile he did appoint this Epitaph for his Tomb Ingrata Patria ne ossa quidem mea habes he did not bequeath so much as his bones to his ingrateful Country These are the Devils Land-marks to guide after Ages by such disloyal presidents we want not history then to pattern this vice by example but if you ask for reason as I said before it is deeper than the Sea and you cannot sound the bottom Unless this may give a little satisfaction to the curious that the flower of vertue hath been always untimely cropt in Popular Government when the multitude are more prone to darken glorious deeds with envy than to make them famous by reward And I could never find in my reading that a deserving person found a due recompence in any State but by the bounty of a Monarch And therefore it is a thousand pities that our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Kings and Princes that appoint prizes to them that best behave themselves in the Combate that they should light upon ungrateful Courtiers like Davids undermining Achitophel his familiar friend that eat of his breads c. I hope the truly noble and magnificent mind will say to this Non nova mî rerum facies inopinave surgit that he full well knew and foresaw he must lose many good turns when he bestowed them among men Est tanti ut gratum invenias experiri vel ingratos says Seneca One thankful man is so precious a jewel if you find him out that it will quit cost to try twenty that are unthankful Shall a good man lose the employment of his bounty because evil men have forgot the retribution of gratitude God forbid Shew me an Usurer that hath broke up trade for being cast behind by one bankrupt Shew me a Seafaring man that leaves to traffick for one losing voyage Post malam segetem serendum You cannot shew the man that will hold his hand from the seed hereafter because one crop did not answer expectation Nay I had rather preach that there was never more than one covetous Judas in the Church who loved thirty pieces of silver better than a thousand blessings of his gracious Lord. I had rather perswade you there was never more than one projecting Achitophel who would contrive
walk with God is to let him draw us after him as far as his Commandments reach and no further It is not material that there were neither Scriptures extant nor the Tables of the Law divulged in the days of Enoch certainly the Children of God in that Age were not left to themselves to woship in a wild undistinct way without some divine prescription Some Canon of Faith and good Works they had delivered them it concerns the Providence of God and that order which must necessarily be among them to say so and by the extent of that revealed rule Enoch walked with God Let all things be done according to the pattern which thou sawest in the Mount so the Law-giver himself to Moses Nothing must be changed though you think for the better but keep you close to the Pattern in every part and proportion Honorato jucundissimus honor est quem ipse vult it is St. Chrysostome's The Majesty of God takes it for an honour to do him honour by his own Commandment Peter thought he had shewed himself a most obsequious Disciple and reverenced his Master more than all the rest when he would not let him wash his feet but Christ shewed him it must be so and that particular recusancy of his was to dishonour him above his fellows If you think that God will bate you one inch of that he hath commanded you walk by your self without him Alas for that poor soul that is so deceived whither will his feet carry him Heaven and earth shall pass away before one tittle of the Law doth perish Repent and turn to the Lord and he will run forth to meet you forgive one another and Christ will forgive you there he concurs with you defraud no man and the righteous Lord will give you an inheritance there he joyns with you Hold him fast to you in continual Prayer and let him not go away till he give you a blessing there he dwels with you In all things bear in mind the will of the Lord be done for no man walks with God unless he be a complete obedient Above all other aberrations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or will-will-worship is that which strides quite over the way and walks solitary by it self and not with God All holy service is fitly called new obedience But can Will-worship which is a start of a mans own invention be called obedience in any latitude I think not For how can a man be said to obey in that which was never enjoyned him Obedience and somewhat bidden and imposed to be done are relatives His servants ye are to whom you obey says St Paul Wherefore if you frame a Religion or a part of Religion after your own fancy you are your own servants and not God's and you have no reason to look for wages from our heavenly Master In vain do they worship me teaching for Doctrines the Traditions of men Vanum est quod fine suo destituitur They that serve serve for a reward therefore a rewardless service which is threatned against Will-worship is a vanity But who are comprised in this crime of Will-worship not to walk with God Such as profess a proper immediate essential Worship of God of their own coining but they want a great measure of understanding or charity that inveigh against arbitrary Ceremonies in that name which are imposed as mere accidental and circumstantial parts of Religion wherein not the proper Worship of God but the manner of using the same is intended Proper Worship of God is an action done immediatly to the honour of God in the act it self as Prayer and Preaching Improper Worship is an act done with Gods Service not directly and by it self but in conjunction with some proper act of Worship as kneeling holding up the hands and eyes sever these by themselves and they are no service of God at all David danced before the Ark in a Linnen Ephod To dance to wear a Linnen Garment are things of a mixt use and therefore can be no parts of Gods proper immediate Worship neither did David mean them so but they are decencies and laudable adjuncts of the very true Worship and for their sakes far be it from us to think that Enochs example is violated who walked with God You have heard now that there is a familiar heavenly friendship and a complete obedience without all admixtion of Will-worship in the holy life of this Patriarch that kept even with God in all his ways Now thirdly it makes this sense that Enoch was a principal upholder of that side that did sincerely profess the true faith he opposed himself stiffly to the Cainites that is to the Sinagogue of Satan and he that condemns the evil world and defies the faction of it deserves this praise that he walks with God In vitia alter alterum trudimus says the heathen Every wicked man draws his next fellow after him and the most live rather by custom than by rule and reason running like those Swine in the Gospel into which the Devil had entred by whole herds into the Sea But a man that esteems his soul by that price which his dear Redeemer paid for it will dare to set his face in a good cause against plurality and multitudes and fears not to stand up alone against an host of the Priests of Baal like Elias that walked solitary in the wilderness with the Lord when Ahab and Jezabel had won the whole Land of Israel to Idolatry Singularity when it proceeds from self opinion and pertinacy it deserves to be hooted at but to divorce from men of erroneous minds of malicious and filthy conversation to be cast off from such like a Pelican in the Wilderness and like an Owl that is in the Desart is a singularity to be admired As soon as ever the Devil left our Saviour at the end of the three Tentations the words following are Behold Angels came and ministred unto him Whereupon one doth thus meditate Qui expelllit à se Satanam allicit ad se Angelos Sort not your self with those that have not the fear of God before their eyes abandon impious Society and you shall find heavenly comforters in your soul Bid Satan get him hence and the Angels take it for an invitation to come and walk with you Lot lived like a stranger in his own City he shut himself up and barred his doors against those filthy people What could he do more to keep the ungodly from his vexy sight As David said Thus estranging himself from the evil doings of those that were round about him he was thought fit to give hospitality to Angels and walkt out of Sodom with those Angels and when he lingred in that place they laid hold of his hand and pulled him away with some violence of love Thus Enoch could not endure the Cainites perhaps persecuted them perhaps was persecuted by them he would not partake of their fellowship but shook off their dust from his feet and so
relate but that he finished this life I cannot say it His years are numbred before my Text like other mens three hundred sixty five just as many years as there be days in an usual year after the motion of the Sun not that this reckoning is the term of his life but the term of that time that he conversed with men As Tertullian glosseth upon St. Pauls words I am crucified with Christ How crucified and yet live Per emendationem vitae non per interitum substantia by the reformation of his life not by the loss of his life So Enoch had a period when he left to be with men Per emendationem vitae non per interitum substantia By an exaltation to a better life not by the corruption of his body As the men of Israel would not let Jonathan suffer death though Saul had given Sentence against him What say they shall Jonathan die that hath wrought such great salvation in Israel So when the Spirit of the Lord had testified what a Prophet Enoch was a perfect obedient that abhorred will-Will-worship a stiff maintainer of Gods part against the Devil and all his Instruments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a friend a familiar acquaintance a walker with God Upon this testimony Mercy opposeth Justice and though the Lord had said to Adam and to all that were in his loyns Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return What says Mercy shall Enoch die an example of repentance to all Generations So the stroke of death was diverted that he saw not the Grave and Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him The partition which I framed upon the whole Verse was on this wise first how uncorrupt Enoch was in his ways he walked with God and secondly that he did not see corruption And this second Point which is reserved for this hours labour is to be handled in two several heads the former I will call Enoch's passage out of this world He was not The latter his reposure in another world For God took him His place was left empty among the Patriarchs below and he filled a room among the Thrones and Angels above Upon these two I shall handle many particular Doctrines before you And he was not a concise phrase you see and brevity will breed obscurity especially put this unto it that it is a form of speech which is not used again in this sense to my remembrance in all the Scripture But the sense is made plain by St. Paul Heb. xi 5. By Faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death He had a passage out of this world without any dissolution of the soul from the body In the same body that he pleased God says Irenaeus he was translated being never uncloathed of the flesh that he might put on immortality That this truth may be carried the clearer I will debate it a little with them that oppose it and with them that qualifie it Some of the Hebrew Rabbines as I find them quoted because they consult not with the authority of the New Testament think they are not convicted by the Old Testament but that they may conclude how Enoch died and was taken away in an early Age as those times went much sooner than his Forefathers As if this Verse did rather bemoan him for his untimely departure than renown him for some glorious favour which did befal him The phrase indeed if we look no farther will bear it both in sacred and in heathen Writings to say of one departed fuit he was but is not this was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fair way of language to avoid an unpleasing word Yet the phrase doth not always stand in that sense but hath a double acception and both in one verse that you may the better carry it away Gen. xlii 36. Jacob there bemoans himself for the waat of two Children Joseph is not and Simeon is not the one he took to be dead indeed the other to be in fast hold and taken from his eyes removed where he could not come at him as Enoch was but no more So the Chaldee Paraphrase explains the meaning of Jacob Joseph non superest Simeon non est hic Joseph is quite lost and Simeon is not here The phrase then accords very well with that place of the Hebrews by faith Enoch was translanted that he saw not death And my Text must incline to that exposition for two reasons First that the Lord took him stands for a consequent that he was pleased in him it is the reward as you would say that he walked with God not that there is a necessary and perpetual coherency in it that whosoever walks with God should be exalted into Paradise and not see corruption but Enochs righteousness by a priviledge of favour was so requited a favour then being understood in those words it cannot be the sentence of death upon him it is impossible Secondly in this Chapter the last word that the Holy Ghost gives of Adam is Et mortuus est and he died so of Seth so of Enos so of Cainan so of all the Antecessors of Enoch wherefore unless Enoch had some other issue out of this world diverse from the rest which was by translation without death why should it be said of him so differently from all others he was not for the Lord took him So I have corrected the great error of those Hebrew Doctors who would lay Enochs honour in the dust But I suppose the general Exposition of the Jews was right and according to St. Pauls doctrine For Paul wrote to the Hebrews that he saw not death knowing the tradition was commonly so received among them and the Chaldee Paraphrast who lived straight after Christ was of the same judgment beside one of great note among them says he was disarrayed of the foundation corporal and cloathed with the foundation spiritual which words I conceive do jump with those who oppose not the Scripture that he saw not death far be it from them but they have a qualification for the meaning of it that death is taken two ways most properly for the separation of one essential part of man from the other the body from the soul a loath to depart it is a most unwelcom dissolution a punishment upon the sin of our first Father which was remitted to Enoch improperly it is no more but the separation or extinction of corruptible qualities from the soul and body one whom I named even now called it the disarraying of a man from the foundation corporal and so Enoch was purified altered made quite another man in the very moment that he was wrapt up to heaven This evacuation of corruptible qualities from the flesh is called death by some very good Authors in our own Church and so Procopius much more ancient than they Mirabili modo mortis defunctus est ad vitam coelestem translatus it was a rare and admirable kind of death he suffered
mans excogitation is frivolous Indeed Ceremonies for the most part are unprescribed that particular Churches may be their own carvers in them only let them beware that they use their liberty discreetly But the offering of burnt Sacrifices is a matter of substance how came this into Noahs heart to do it By divine information certainly At some time about the beginning of time God did appoint a form of Religion to Adam and his Posterity which in the Breviary of the Book of Genesis is omitted which Lesson was read to Cain and Abel from whom they undertook the solemnity of Sacrifice and the Candle was lighted from hand to hand till the Tradition came safe to Noah Or thus very briefly Which God did deliver to Adam which Adam did commit ro Jared he to Methusalem which Methusalem did commend to Noah Never imagine that they were appointed precisely about the food of their body that is in the Letter of the Book and no instruction delivered for the food of their Soul That were such an omission that the worst Lawgiver would prevent much more the wisest The Lord did set his holy Patriarchs in order from succession to succession till the Law was written to communicate true Religion And it is St. Hieroms rule Omne verum à quocunque dicitur à spiritu sancto est Every mouth that speaks truth speaks it from the Holy Ghost From Abel downward all those whose Oblations had a sweet savour offered by Faith if by Faith then by Precept and Instruction for Faith comes by hearing Rom. x. 17. Sacrifice then was that Divine Worship which God revealed did please him that was the general approbation I do not say that every time they kept that duty they had need of a new and a special Commission St. Ambrose says that Noah did this good work of his own genius and not by any new particular Commandment Qui debitum gratiae ut à se exigatur expectat ingratus est A man must not stay after he hath received a benefit till God say unto him thank me now for such thankfulness were ingratitude Yet St. Ambrose hath far more voices against him than of his part that this holy Father had special directions for the solemnizing this Sacrifice and that expresly it was revealed unto him upon the taking in of seven of the clean beasts into the Ark Gen. vii 2. Of clean beasts by sevens that three Pairs were for propagation and the single odd one the seventh of clean Beasts and clean Fowls the celebs animal the pure Creature which mixt with no female was to be dedicated in an whole burnt-offering to the Lord. And then this example will so little favour will-Will-worship that it utterly beats it down the invention of man had so little hand in it that it was Scientia à Deo indita an inspiration immediately put into the Prophet by the will of God The reason why the bloud of Beasts was poured out to the Lord and well accepted of him will be ripe to be rendred by and by when I have first shewn in a word that Religion did never discord from it self by mutation of times The Saints in all Ages had the same Faith the same Worship the same Hope and expectation Pietas ante legem in lege post legem piissime sibi concordat Piety in the Law before the Law and since the Law is constantly the same and did never vary Mark therefore from this Text that the Levitical Ordinances of Moses in many things are but a renovation and amplification of Ceremonial Customs before the Law I said in many things that I might not fall into the same error with them who have overlasht that all the Ceremonial Law was in use and practice with the Patriarchs and that Moses did but compile and gather it up into a body If these men had been askt where they did read of the Levites and all the ritual Orders of the Priesthood before Moses where concerning the trial of Leprosie of Jealousie and an hundred things more I know they must be gravell'd and could not answer Nay in the next Chapter and the third verse says the Lord to Noah Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you but many living things were prohibited to the Jews in the Law of Ordinances that they should not eat them But this ground I know cannot be shaken that many parts of the Ceremonial Law had clear passage in the Church presently after the Floud long before they came forth in Moses name And the whole Moral Law was acknowledged to be just and righteous even from the beginning of the world Sacrifices Altars distinction of clean from unclean abstaining from bloud and things strangled Vows the Brother to raise up seed unto the Brother that died without Issue these are all purely Ceremonial and yet in practice before ever Jacob went down into Egypt and that was 210 years before ever the Levitical Institutions were enacted And that all the Ten Commandments were ingrafted in the good seeds of nature there are such evident examples for them in all the book of Genesis that it will be less tedious for you to ruminate upon them than for me to remember them But as a Book which is ill set forth or rare to be had is sometimes reprinted again in a good Edition by them that are careful to propagate Learning So those things Moral and Ceremonial which were in use before were revived again when the Law was committed to Writing and called the Scripture partly because the Age of man grew short and the Tradition of Religion through the more hands it went was the more corrupted and because the Devil did superseminare in corde scatter so many Tares among the Wheat that the pure Law was scarce to be found in mans heart and partly men were grown so guilty of the Law that they would not look into their own hearts where they found thoughts accusing them Facti sunt fugitivi à cordibus suis says St. Austin they shunned to look into their own knowledge and conscience which did condemn them therefore it was necessary to have the Law written that it might come unto men since men did run from it But the effects and grounds both of Ceremonial Sacrifices and Moral Precepts were in force from the beginning And we may say with Solomon There is no new thing under the Sun that which is called new hath been already of old time which was before us Eccles i. 10. And because all things which are written are written for our instruction I will spare some time to shew that it concerns us even after the cessation of all Sacrifice to learn why the Lord would be honoured with the bloud of beasts and with the fat of Sacrifices One of the best and choicest of the Fathers thought it such a gross kind of serving of God to kill Oxen and Sheep and throw their flesh into the fire such a tyrannizing over the
Adversary But why should the Messias do all the Creatures that honour to be esteemed clean Hath God care of Oxen The Jewish Rabbi ventur'd not upon that question but Irenaeus answers it omnia purificata sunt per sanguinem Christi Christ hath set the Church at liberty to be debarred from nothing which God hath made and the uncleanness of the beasts is now accounted cleanness because our filthiness is washed away and made clean in his most precious bloud That which was commonly usurped among the Gentiles throughout all the world was branded for unclean and therefore Peter said Lord I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean but now the stile is chang'd and that which is most common is most clean Our riches are made clean by being scattered abroad and communicated in charity the Word of God is most clean and undefiled whose sound is gone forth into all Worlds Prayer and Preaching are best when they are performed in the Congregation and are most publick The holy Eucharist is cibus communis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Communion of the body of Christ and yet it is so pure a food that being eaten by faith it purifieth the heart and conscience above all things To the clean all things are clean but because we live in the contagion of the evil World and he that toucheth pitch shall be defiled and because our own heart is an impure fountain from which the streams of bitterness do continually flow Cleanse the thoughts of our heart O Lord by the inspiration of thy holy Spirit that we may perfectly love thee and worthily magnify thy holy Name by Christ our Lord. AMEN THE SECOND SERMON UPON NOAH GEN. viii 20 21. And Noah builded an Altar unto the Lord and took of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl and offered burnt offerings on the Altar And the Lord smelled a sweet savour THis is our Sacrifice which we offer unto God at this time to preach of Sacrifice and Preaching hath a great similitude with the Law of the Peace-offering Deut. xxvii 7. Thou shalt offer Peace-offerings and shalt eat thereof and rejoyce before the Lord thy God So we are come together to speak unto the honour of God and to make our selves perfect in his ways and Testimonies to do them We offer unto the honour of our Saviour and eat of our own Offering which is the very condition of a Pacificatory Sacrifice Now that I may bring nothing unto the Altar but that which is pure and clean the Lord grant that he will circumcise my lips and put a right Spirit into my Meditations Among the Beasts such a one was clean that parted the Hoof and chewed the Cud upon which St. Chrysostome deviseth this interpretation to divide the Hoof is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to divide the Word of God aright in St. Pauls Phrase To chew the Cud is to ruminate upon sacred things to roul them in our understanding and to examine them maturely not to admit or swallow down Divine Mysteries rashly with slight and undiscoursed credulity That we may chew the Cud in this Fathers sense I take these words upon which I have lately spoken again into my mouth to make further proof what is contained in them And lest confusion should make all that is to be said unprofitable I will divide the Hoof after the condition required in a clean Sacrifice I have declared before that there are two principal branches to be noted in the Text the material part and the formal the body and the soul of that Divine Worship which Noah offered unto the Lord. In the material part again are two contents the Gift and the place which sanctified the Gift The Gift was an whole burnt-offering of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl the place was the Altar which he made and Noah built an Altar to the Lord. These are the visible body of the work The invisible part or the soul consists herein that the Lord smelt a sweet savour and that hath two members in it sensum and sensibile first the sweet Odour which did exhale from the Sacrifice what it was secondly a quick sense that took it the Lord smelled a sweet savour I did not dispatch all the material part when I first handled these words for accounting it a less fault to be abrupt than tedious I proceeded upon no more than the consideration of the bare Gift a Burnt-offering of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl At this time I have measured to go a little further without prolixity I shall speak God willing upon the place that sanctified the Gift and Noah builded an Altar unto the Lord and upon the quick sense which did apprehend the sweet Odour it was even he who is present at every part of clean devotion and delighteth in it the Lord smelled a sweet savour From whence I will meditate 1. That the time was but new over that God destroyed almost the whole World see how soon he is pleased after his great wrath and with what small seeking 2. When we do any thing well there is joy in heaven 3. Many pious offices which stink in the Worlds opinion are sweet before God 4. There is no greater encouragement to do well than that we are sure it finds grace in the eyes of our heavenly Master it is sweet in his nostrils and he will reward it Of these as I have divided them And Noah builded an Altar c. The whole Earth had been overwhelmed for a long space with the waters of the Deluge in plain terms it was all under malediction but Noah builded an Altar of the tuâ—f and mold of the earth and so brought it again into good use and service and sanctified the whole Element to the Lord. Truly God that revealed unto Noah that he should make an Ark and be saved in the common Calamity deserved to have an Altar erected at his hands that thereon he might adore his Saviour The Jewish Rabbines are so punctual in their curiosities that they go about to tell us the very Plot of ground on which this Altar was raised and many things more of great fame to happen in the same place I am sure you will say the report is very strange if it be credible But this Ben-Maimon adventures to say that it is a Tradition by the hand of all where David built an Altar on the Threshing Flore of Araunah Solomon built a Temple and Abraham made ready there to offer up Isaac and Noah built this Altar in the same standing when he came out of the Ark that there was the Altar where Cain and Abel did first offer before Noah nay that the first man did offer an Offering there soon after he was created and yet he goes further our Wisemen say Adam was created out of the very earth of the same place There is no mediocrity in these mens conjectures and therefore I give them over without commending them Wheresoever
this Altar did fortune to stand why not most likely upon the Mountains of Ararat or Armenia upon which the Ark rested But certain it is this is the first time that we read of an Altar And though the substance were like other earth yet being once erected for that use it became a very holy place the Altar sanctifieth the Gift says our Saviour Mat. xxiii 19. And therein it was a Figure of Christ by whom we offer up to God praise and thanksgiving and all the desires of our heart he is understood by all Expositors whom I have seen to be the Golden Altar before the Throne upon which the Prayers of all the Saints were offered up Rev. viii 3. And there is not an Altar of any fashion or stuff in Moses but the Fathers have found out somewhat in it to agree with Christ in their pious Meditations First Propter unicam aram in the Tabernacle in the Temple there was but one Altar so there is but one Christ that reconciles us to his Father but one Mediater between God and Man Secondly Because some special occasions were now and then dispensed with to set up another Altar the materials of those Altars were either to be rude earth or else rough and unpolished stones 1. Undigested earth with much simplicity and devoid of all ornament Vt nihil in eis admiraremur praeter salutis pretium Nothing was made beautiful or to be admired in the outward form of things that the mind of the devotionary might be transported with no outward thing but inwardly conceive the excellency of that ransom which was paid for the sins of the world And then Gregory will carry you with him to this fancy Why were religious Altars to be made of earth Questionless to betoken the Incarnation of our Lord. Quicquid offerimus Deo in altari terreo i◠in fide dominicae incarnationis solidamus Whatsoever we bring unto the Lord to please him deliver upon the Earthen Altar upon this ground and foundation that the Word was made flesh the Son of God was made the Son of Man that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have life everlasting Litterally these earthen Altars made of sods of grass Temeraria de cespite altaria as Tertullian calls them did best like the Lord before the Temple was established that they might crumble away and not stand long lest their permanency should breed diversity of Worship and confusion in Religion And it is very likely considering how readily a few clods of earth may be piled up and Noah as yet wanted stuff and means for any other Architecture his Altar was but a bank of earth not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a structure in a Temple but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a place to receive Sacrifices set up in the open-fields so Philo gives me the distinction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word which is accurately kept in this place by the Septuagint If the Altar were a little more costly and elaborate that is made of stone the order was it should be rough and unpolished no iron tool must be lifted up upon it and in these materials likewise we shall meet with Christ First Christ is Lapis vivus insectus called in the Gospel a living stone called by Daniel the stone which is cut out of the Mountain without hands He was not polished by Art by Education or by any thing that man could put into him as he came from the very Quarry from the Womb of his Mother he was full of grace and truth Secondly Those rough ragged stones did best become the work of the Altar partly to imply in what poor and despicable manner Christ came into the world without form or comliness in him says Isaiah partly it did figure those rough and dolorous sufferings which he sustained upon the Cross which was an Altar truly taken and his body the Sacrifice which was slain upon it Thirdly No Iron Instrument must grate it self upon the stones of the Altar for he who is the Altar on which we eat was the Prince of Peace he came not to redeem us by Sword or by Conquest or taking earthly Kingdoms into his hand by force and victory which was the weak imagination of some that were his best Disciples but by Patience and Sufferance and putting up the Sword into the Sheath Cicero testifies for the Heathen that they used no Brass or Iron about their Altars nor knit the stones together with such Metals Aes ferrum arcenda sunt à delubris duelli instrumenta non fani says he those warlike Metals are for the Martial Field not for Divine Sanctuaries And thus you see what semblance those Altars of Earth and of stone had with our blessed Saviour But by this the good Patriarch Noah hath shewed that an Altar was a necessary part of Religion that he began with that work before any other it was the first fruits of his piety But now the Church hath outgrown that name properly taken we have no real and external Sacrifice of Christs body and bloud by himself he did once offer a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice for the sins of the whole world therefore to erect a real Altar without a figurative construction is to overthrow the Cross of Christ But many both have been delighted and are delighted to keep the name figuratively without offence And Bellarmine doth but fight with words that there can be no Altar without Sacrifice that Antiquity useth the name of an Altar when Christs body and bloud are proposed to the Receivers therefore the Priest doth properly sacrifice our Saviour Thus many words which passed to and fro in antiquity with great eloquence have been distorted to make dissention In Origens and Arnobius time the case stood thus Objiciunt nobis quod non habemus imagines aut aras The Heathen quipt them that they had no Images nor Altars And Clemens of Alexandria says we have no other Altars but these earthly bodies of ours which we bring to the Congregation of Prayer Afterward the holy Communion began to be celebrated with many elegant and sumptuous Ceremonies and that upon which the Elements of Bread and Wine were set properly by St. Paul called a Table improperly and figuratively was called an Altar The Writers of Sacred things delighted in many names of Mosaical use for the similitude of the Law and Gospel hence it is frequent to call Prayer by the name of Incense to call the Christian Priesthood Levites the Thanksgiving of women after their safe deliverance from Childbirth their Purification Finally to call the holy Communion a Sacrifice and the Table of the Lord an Altar But how far they were from allowing the new Philosophy of Transubstantiation from hence the diligent Reader may mark it Even our own Church since it renounced the opinion of an External propitiatory Sacrifice in the Mass yet in the first Liturgies set forth by Publick Authority
in the Reign of Edward the Sixth the name of Altar is throughout retained to comply with the Figurative phrase of good Antiquity and the next Edition of Liturgies to keep an wholsom form of words as St. Paul says and to give no place to misconstruction doth every where throughout call it the Lords Table And in the Injunctions of another blessed Prince whereas by order of Law Altars were to be removed and Tables placed for the ministration of the holy Communion it is said saving for Uniformity sake there was no matter of great moment so the Sacrament was duly and reverently celebrated and that the holy Table in every Church should be set in the place where the Altar stood We dare therefore and will speak according to Antiquity in the Figurative meaning of Antiquity calling it an Altar but lest the Supper of the Lord should be called the external and real crucifying of our Lord again we neither dare nor will speak after the sense of the Roman novelty to call it an Altar but we come to that holy Supper to be partakers of the Table of the Lord. These are not times to offer Sacrifice as Noah did and therefore not to build an Altar but only to commemorate that Sacrifice after which all true Sacrifices ceased and all properly called Altars fell to the ground And so much for the place which Noah sanctified he builded an Altar to the Lord. I am past the visible part of this good work I come now to the invisible part the life the soul of it And the Lord smelled a sweet savour What this delicate Odour and fragrancy was which the Sacrifice did exhale up to heaven I will not defraud you of it hereafter but I will defer it now and make my self room enough to speak of that quick sense which did apprehend this sweet Odour the Lord smelled a sweet savour A remnant or portion of living things had entred into the Ark to escape those were given unto the new World to multiply but Noah would be more severe against the sins of the World than the Lord was he would not spare so much as the merciful God had spared Nay the Lord thought it enough to overwhelm the iniquities of men with water but Noah presented Burnt-offerings on the Altar to confess that the wicked works of the World deserved likewise to be consumed with Fire A most depressing humility in the good Patriarch a most mortified Confession This won far upon the Lords compassion and changed the rugged brow of Justice into the smiles of mercy and benevolence It grieved him before that he had made man now he rejoyceth for the Remnant alive that he had preserved them As a Kingly Expositor said upon the Lords Prayer the most generous are the most gentle and a magnanimous courage is never vindicative of a wrong never retentive The time was but even now over that God had destroyed the whole World and see how placable he is from what a little pittance of true devotion he smelled a sweet savour Before the King of Ninivey had worn out his Sackcloth nay almost before he had put it on God saw their works and repented of the evil which he said he would do unto them and did it not Zachaeus did but profess to make restitution of all things ill-gotten and before he had made restitution of one peny says Christ this day yea Lord what if thou hadst said this minute is salvation come into thy house Nathan charged David with most bitter offences Lord keep us from the like David begins to reply I have sinned against the Lord it was but a beginning surely he would have said more but Nathan takes him off at a few words the Lord also hath taken away thy sin thou shalt not die It is accounted so great a matter to follow and sollicit Christ thrice together like she of Canaan that she had her Garland for it O woman great is thy faith Our loving Father will wait long for our Repentance but we shall not wait long for his Forgiveness As the Historian noted in Romulus that inveagled the Sabines with such courteous usage Quod eodem die hostes cives habuit in the Morning they came against him with hostility before Evening he had incorporated them all into his City So the Lord upon good tokens of their humiliation looked upon some in the Morning as excluses from the upper Jerusalem and presently he enroles their names in the Book of life Upon that mournful cry of David Have mercy upon me O Lord according to thy great goodness Thus Cassiodor Vox est quae nunquam discutitur sed tranquille semper auditur It is a voice which is never examined never suspended or delaid never deliberated upon it penetrates far it will be heard and it shall be answered It meets with Gods mercy as quick as a strong Perfume comes to the Nostril and therefore his complacency so ready to forgive is called smelling a sweet savour nay let me not forget that the Hebrew read it Odorem quietis the Lord smelled a savour of rest All sensible smells be it the Rose among the Flowers or Cassia among the Spices must be often put to the sense and often taken away to please it hold them long to the Nostril and they will prove faint and tedious Nullus odor sensibilis est odor quietis bodily sents are not sents of rest and quietness but to shew that our gracious Father is suddenly reconciled and long pleased very tenacious of his mercy our Sacrifice our Prayers our Alms all our Christian Offices are odores quietis their smell stays long with God they are an odour of rest he never loaths or disdains them O Lord thy placable compassions are exceeding sweet ten thousand times sweeter than the Sacrifice of Noah It should be thus with all that will follow Christ like Lord like Servants but it seems it is not David had no heart to stand to any bodies courtesie but the good God's O let me not fall into the hands of men We smother rancour in our breast like fire in touchwood or like fire in iron touch and you shall feel it burn though you cannot see it We are the Children of Eve and our great Mother you know was made of a stiff and a crooked rib we take after it too much We must be courted rather like Mistresses than Christians be wooed be presented be supplicated and after all this may be scarce obtain so much kindness as a merciful man would shew to his Beast Like the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa his humiliation he stood at doors three days barefoot for an apparition of his Holiness and the favour which all this patience and expectation procured was to stoop to the earth and to have his neck trode upon by Pope Alexander the Third a disdain which the Royal spirit of Alexander the Great did never put upon Darius Some do keep such long distance from this Doctrin that I may
that Judith and her Maid should pray together every night make a conscience therefore what you condemn and reprove it out of judgment flout not at tolerable things out of levity There shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts 2 Pet. iii. 3. These say the ancient Expositers were the Gnosticks that traduced the faithful for living chastly and austerely to avoid the judgment to come and to inherit a Crown of life But what are these scoffers in the very word of the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as play the child and no better Such were the Massalians that condemned Fasting I and Baptism because they said all good things might be brought to pass by Prayer And the Arrians that were ill affected to singing of Psalms because the Orthodox used it much and they that can find no just fault with the decent Habit that our Church-men wear and yet bespatter it with ill words because some of our Opposites do wear the like Livery Vestitum non nuditatem patris rident C ham laughed at the nakedness of Noah but these not at the nakedness but at the Garments of their spiritual Fathers judg between them and Cham then who was the greater scoffer Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are lovely or of good report the Lord applauds them and says they have a sweet savour if the detestation and scorn of evil men shall light upon such things their smell will be more aromatical to the Lord like those Allies of herbs that give a better sent when the foot doth trample upon them Anciently the wages of virtue was praise at least but the saying was it might be praised and in the mean time starve for cold now it may starve and be quite obscur'd it is so coldly praised but in the last annotation of my Text I will raise up the righteousness of the just to some comfort and expectation for we are sure our good works find grace in the eyes of our heavenly Father and He is present at them all as the sense is near at hand to that it smells both his presence and his liking and his remuneration are all in this Allegory that when Noah offered a clean Sacrifice the Lord smelled a sweet savour Nehemiah's eye was almost never off from the building of the Temple and the work was therefore rid out of the way with incredible expedition So the Lord having a present sense of every thing that man doth well it will make man if he have sense of Gods presence instant devout patient sow plentifully that he may reap abundantly It is a great motive to be watchful to say Dominus venit the Lord is coming what will you say then to Dominus videt Dominus audit Dominus odoratur the Lord sees you the Lord hears you the Lord smells your savour nihil illustre nisi coram in oculis Caesaris says Tacitus the mirth of the Roman Theaters was flat and their pomp nothing illustrious unless Cesar were a spectator so the spirit of a Christian would be obtuse and nothing so well excited to be dutiful but that we know all the thoughts words and works of piety are within the look of God and that He is such a looker on as St. Austin speaks of qui spectat certantes adjuvat invocantes whose aspect doth fortify and animate our strength like Plants that open themselves to the Sun and revive when his light is cast upon them Nay if you be in perfect charity ye dwell in God and God in you there can be no closer conjunction that 's nearer than the object to the eye or the sent unto the nose Yet this is more measure superadded that the great King of Heaven both knows our works and tribulation which is to smell our savour and He loves and likes it also He calls it a sweet savour If we had such a Master as Nabal was so crooked and unpropitious that none could speak to him or please him if we served under the Lord as Jacob did under Laban who had nothing but murmuring and persecution for all his fidelity then we might cross our arms and say we had lost our oil and our labour but our service is full of benevolence and encouragement Euge bone serve well done good and faithful servant every title chimes alacrity Duo cum faeciunt idem non est idem the same work being done by two several hands so much only shall take as comes from Gods chosen Ministers and so much as came from an unacceptable person shall be clean discountenanced Nazianzen tells a story that Gallus and Julianus the two Nephews of Constantius built a Temple where Mamantis the good Martyr had suffered so much as Gallus was the Founder of stood all that Julian was at charge for fell to the ground the wisest of men of that age concluded God accepted the dedication of Gallus but not of Julian Saul sacrificed at Gilgal and came under the ban of Samuel for doing it Samuel sacrificed at Bethlem and the savour was so sweet that it run down from Samuel unto the skirt of Jesse the Lord accepted of the offering and David was then anointed King in token of a sweet savour Finally the love and complacency of God is not a bare affection like mans amor Dei non in affectu sed in effectu situs est Where God is said to love or to smell some sweetness in a thing this is not to affect it theorically but to effect some good for it As Aeneas said of his followers Nemo ex hoc numero mihi non donatus abibit all that pleased him in his Games should have a reward for their labour so every one whose works exhale a sweet odour to God the dew of his liberality shall drop down upon them God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love which you have shewed toward his name Heb. vi 10. The best sent that is though it have that in it which is truly sweet hath some vapor that is faint and fulsom in it so the best actions of men which are good verily and properly called have yet some ill adjunction in them or somewhat that is imperfect but that which St. Paul speaks of the works of charity may be referred to all the works of the light if there be a willing mind it is accepted according to that which a man hath and not according to that he hath not 2 Cor. viii 12. More pressely to the cause In some sense all the creatures and their natural operations do please God but in a supernatural order nothing doth please him but that into which he hath put supernatural bonity and those effects He doth not only love and like but will remunerate them with this sober restriction bona opera non habent condignitatem ad proemium coeleste sed quandam ordinabilitatem That is good works have no intrinsecal worth or
value to claim eternal life but through the gracious promise of God they are ordained unto it From hence Valentia and some others of that part do paralogize that they may truly say that a condignity doth amount to the works of pious men upon the obligation of Gods promise I answer that the promise of God doth make our good endeavours remunerable with the Kingdom of Heaven not that the Promise changeth the work into a better quality than it hath of it self as to make charity of two degrees become charity of two hundred no for the Promise is but an extrinsecal acceptation but it must be some intrinsecal perfection infused into a good work that shall make it commensurable and worth the reward How then doth the Promise knit our works and the reward together why thus God casts his eyes upon his beloved Son in whom and for whose sake all those Promises are ratified Now this must altogether imply a great indignity and not any condignity in our righteousness All the favour which we obtein at Gods hands above the inherent bonity which is in our works it is meerly for Christs sake and for his obedience imputed to us Examin in the weight of a reason what I give to a man above the value of his labour for a friends sake doth it make the reward meritoriously due The terms cannot consist together If God should promise the same reward of glory to him that died for Christ and to him that gave a cup of cold water for his sake the reward upon this supposition is equally due to both and then these two agreeing in uno tertio that is in the same promise should be equal in goodness between themselves which none will admit whose judgment is not quite perisht To conclude then that Noah brought so sweet a gift to the Lord it came from a supernatural infusion that so directed him That which is inspired from a supernatural virtue doth please the Lord though it be much attainted with humane infirmity that which He is pleased so to accept in mercy He hath promised to remunerate it with eternal glory for Christ Jesus sake who is a Sacrifice of the sweetest favour and to whom be all honour c. THE THIRD SERMON UPON NOAH GEN. viii 21. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour THe former Verse brings in this Text Noah builded an Altar to the Lord and took of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl and offered Burnt-offerings on the Altar And the Lord smelled a sweet savour A work well managed and the end was happy We compose our selves in this devout time of Lent especially to be very conversant in the service of the Lord Prayer Preaching Fasting Alms come into practice or should do more than at other times It were pitty so much labour should be spent to little profit so much business be driven to Gods glory and to his small content so much doing rather to our undoing than to our salvation I have chosen this Text therefore for a seasonable subject to be insisted upon how this frequent Worship and all the fruits of our Religion may be an odour of a sweet smell a Sacrifice acceptable well pleasing to God Whom if we do not serve the omission will make him punish us and if he be ill served the neglect will make him punish us All the works of Piety which the Church of Israel brought forth were quarrelled by the Prophets as much as the worst Profanations They fasted but for strife and debate They repented but with sullenness hanging down their heads like a Bullrush They gave Alms sounding them abroad to be popular They Prayed but honoured God with their lips and their heart was far from him They chanted sweet Musick but with no devotion Amos v. 23. Take away from me the noise of thy Songs for I will not hear the melody of thy Viols And they sacrificed but with so much ill relish as he that killed an Oxe was as if he had killed a man he that burnt Incense as if he had blessed an Idol The course of godly Service is easily mistaken It is possible for a man to do good and to mar it in the doing it is possible for a man to wander in the right way It is possible for a man to bring a Sacrifice to God and to give high offence because it hath not a sweet savour I regard your spiritual profit that you may have a reward for your work in the Lord for which I refer you to the record of old Father Noah when he began a new World and how far are we from that Not four years in whose Piety the Lord delighted and therefore called it a sweet savour And what sweetness was this that exhaled up to heaven The resolution of that question shall make up my whole Sermon and divide the parts And I answer to the Question Negatively and Affirmatively Negatively in two Points First That the integrity or well-meaning of Noah is not said to give a sweet savour till he added a Sacrifice Secondly That a bare Sacrifice cannot be commended for a sweet savour Affirmatively The composition of the sweetness consists in five particulars First In the devotion of Noah Secondly In the instauration of true Religion Thirdly In his thankfulness for his preservation Fourthly In his endeavour to procure God to be gracious to all succeeding Generations Fifthly In his faith that had an eye unto a better Sacrifice Here are many granes of Incense in this sweet savour which shall not trouble you with length though they do with multitude What the sweet savour in my Text doth mean I like the method best to assign what it is not before I resolve what it is First It will be allowed that there were Faith Piety Sincerity in Noahs heart all the while he was shut up in the Ark yet they are not commended for sending up a delightful fragrancy to God till he brought his gift unto the Altar The reason is that God useth to prove the integrity of the heart by some outward sign before he commends it Abraham sought the Lord with all his soul since he came out of Vr of the Chaldaeans yet his faith was not extolled till he was ready to offer up his only Son then he received the Promise that the blessing should abide upon him and upon his Seed for ever The life of a Slip is in the root but the sweetness is in the Flower when it opens So the Just doth live by faith but he shall be loved for the fruits of holiness Adam was created after Gods Image yet he required cloaths to cover him that he might not be ashamed of his nakedness So a good Conscience is an heavenly thing the likeness of the Holy Ghost yet unless it be cloathed with outward effects of obedience it may be ashamed of its nakedness Faith should say to God as Achsah did to her Father Caleb Judg. i. 15. Thou hast given me a South
of obedience but as the way to eternal life As a sick man takes the potions that are prescribed him not out of duty to the Physitian but out of due regard to his own recovery The similitude sorts with our infirmity Obtemperet medico ut surgat qui noluit credere ne aegrotaret says St. Austin Man would not obey the Physitian to prevent his sickness therefore let him use his after-wit and take those Sacramental means that are appointed to make him whole But fourthly there is lex privata a Law imposed upon some particular person in whose transgression neither were justice infringed nor Gods glory violated if his Command were not laid upon it and there is no scope in this but to make the passive humility of our soul that is our obedience more illustrious What was there in it else that the Man of God that came from Judah unto Bethel was charg'd neither to eat nor drink water in that place nor to return by the same way that he came there is no colour of Religious Worship in these observations but God would have him submit to his unquestionable Authority and you know his misery ensued when he was unperswaded to obey it Dominus cur jusserit viderit what profit there is to keep such private Laws as seem to carry no great substance in them let God look to that says the Father but be you obsequious That peremptory denuntiation upon pain of death not to eat of the Tree of knowledg of good and evil called the forbidden fruit no Theological wits could ever pass a ripe mature judgment upon it why it was so laid but that they and all we in them are to stoop under that sweet yoke of the Divine Will with absolute indefinite undiscoursed obedience It was no robbery to eat of it wherein God was defrauded of any thing that He stood in need of then it had been hurtful to him the fruit was not diseaseful or poisonous then it had been hurtful to them it was a pure Edict of Authority to let the best of all bodily Creatures know to what service and homage they were born as the vulgar Latin reads that verse Psal ix ult Constitue legislatorem super eos not as we translate it put them in fear O Lord but set a Lawgiver over them that they may know themselves to be but men Quomodo eris sub Domino nisi fueris sub praecepto so St. Austin upon that very instance of the forbidden fruit How are you under the Lord unless you be under the Law and not that Law which leans upon apparent reason for that Law is within you and therein you obey your self but that Law which flows from absolute Authority that 's without you and therein you stoop lowest under the power of God And this is the very condition of that word which the Angel spoke to Lot and those that were with him Look not behind thee neither stay in all the plain Wherein could it tend to the honour of God that they should set their face one way more than another perhaps you will say it was meant to the greater detestation of the Sodomites whom the Lord would not permit to have commiseration or any respect from good men or to urge them to make haste away with a kind of hyperbolical celerity As our Saviour sent his Disciples to preach in every City of Judaea with this speedy or prefestinating Command Salute no man by the way Luke x. 4. And Elisha imposed that post haste upon Gehazi his servant Gird up thy loyns and go thy way if thou meet any man salute him not and if any man salute thee answer him not again Suppose this or that were the secret drift of this Interdiction look not behind thee yet a little casting of the head on one side had not made their expedition the slower What need we seek a knot in a rush what need we prove her faulty for reasons that are not alleaged this convinceth obliquity enough in her sin that she did not observe the precise command of God in every gesture of her body In a word the thing it self commanded did not in it self bind the conscience but with the Command it did The eye is free to view all the works of the Lord unless something upon which it glanceth doth scandalize it with concupiscence Who suspects the contrary but that the crackling of the fire and the out-cries of them that perisht in those Cities that were consumed did rowze many in the neighbour Villages to look upon those places and lament them Did not Abraham rise up early in the morning and look toward the Land of the Plain and see the smoak of the Country go up as the smoak of a Furnace 't is soon answered Where there was no restraint there was no transgression But above all other Laws those which we may rather call Canons and Constitutions that impose the prestation of adiaphorous duties and prohibit other things that have no moral obliquity in them are most generous ways to heap reward upon the willing and to discover the stiff stomach of rebellion In all Injunctions Ecclesiastical and Political set aside charity edification unity peace of the Church or any other moral respect Put it only upon this that meer authority enforceth them which is just authority derived from Gods Ordinance God forbid we should need any haling or towing to them for he that sees the finger of Authority held up sees reason enough to obey and to recoil as Lots Wife did because the Commandment seem'd not to be weighty and ponderous is blind disobedience O 't is a blessed thing not to have a licentious itch upon a man not to desire scope and random but to submit chearfully to a punctual Discipline in all our actions and every circumstance of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is the praise of an Holy Father as if his soul had been created without a will Alas into what precipices would our fancy carry us if we were left to our selves to be libertines in any thing there would be nothing but confusion Deus servitute nostrâ non eget nos autem sine ejus dominatione esse non possumus nothing truer it is St. Austins God stands in no need of our service but we could not live without his command and governance 'T is hard to confine this point to brevity but I must break off only let me put you in mind that whereas the Jesuits set forth themselves to be the only Obedientiaries in the World so that to neglect the Precept of their Superior in a trifle they brand it for a flagitious crime yet the Jesuit a Lapide says upon my Text that he would not discord with them that hold the trespass of Lots Wife to be no more than venial error for either some sudden clap of thunder might make her start and look back unawares or else she thought not that the Angel gave her that
that was snatcht away unpreparedly without all sense of death It is true she had no Will to make she had no Legacies to bequeath for all was lost She had no house to set in order with Hezekiah for her Habitation was consumed with fire and brimstone yet she had a Soul to set in order which was ten thousand times more than all beside And although I will define nothing rashly against her for this judgment sake for I have learnt that modesty to let God only judge his own servants yet this momentary destruction of Lots Wife I am sure is worth both this and many hours meditations Quod cuivis cuiquam that which hapned but once since the world began to this one person may happen in some kind every day to any man Saul was desperately driven to seek to raise Samuel from the dead and appear before him this instance in my Text is one that never went down to the grave among the dead that she might always be in the remembrance of the living how she looked back to Sodom and became a Pillar of Salt Which words I divided formerly into such terms as might both respect the Contents of the Text and be expedient places for your memory Therefore I called the two principal branches an Epitaph and a Tomb. The Epitaph thus But his Wife looked back from behind him The Tomb which this Epitaph respects in that which follows And she became a Pillar of Salt If God made Epitaphs the stones of the Church should not be guilty of such flattery as they are for none of the offences of Lots Wife are left out in these few words but she is accused and very justly of these particulars as I shewed before 1. Of disobedience that she would not observe the precise Commandment of God in every motion of her body 2. Of great folly and blindness of heart that she would reject God and the preservation of her own life upon such easie conditions as to hold still her head 3. Of a Spirit most unattentive to learn for Lot went before her constantly and stedfastly the example was in her eye every step from Sodom to Zoar yet she would go her own ways 4. Of incredulity an incredulous soul Wisd x. 7. Either she did not believe that Sodom should be consumed as God had sent word or else she thought it would not be the worse for her though she turn'd about and lookt upon it 5. She relapsed and fainted in well-doing and desired to live again among those wicked sinners from whom God had withdrawn her This was opened in the first part The second is as strange for a Tomb as this was for an Epitaph A Christian Poet wrote thus Enigmatically upon it Cadaver nec habet suum sepulchrum sepulchrum nec habet suum cadaver sepulchrum tamen cadaver intus That she was made a Carkass that had no Sepulchre nay that she was made a Sepulchre that had no Carkass or rather that she was both Carkass and Sepulchre And to conform my self to the resolution of this Riddle I will consider this punishment inflicted from God two ways in reference to her self as to the Carkass and in reference to that into which she was turned as to the Sepulchre She that was punisht 1. Was one of those very few that professed the name of God among thousands that were unrighteous 2. She was one of four that were brought out of Sodom and yet there wanted one of those four before they got into Zoar. 3. She was well nigh pass'd all danger and suffred shipwrack in the very Haven 4. She did wilfully cast her self away at the last cast therefore we read she was lost but not that she was ever bemoaned After this in reference to the Pillar of Salt 1. I consider it as a new punishment the like was never heard 2. As a sudden or momentaneous punishment 3. As a miraculous and most supernatural punishment 4. As a mortal punishment but not as a final destruction Of these in order The Lord told Abraham in the former Chap. that the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah was very great and therefore He was come down to see how grievous their sin was That which called him down to execute vengeance was not the iniquity of Lots house that little Family was all the remnant He had there to call upon his name but the filthy sins of the other Canaanites that abounded with rank and unnatural pollutions And the Angel tells Lot in this Chapter they were come to spare him and his but the Lord had sent them to destroy that City because the cry of it was waxen great before the Lord. They confess their Commission was given them to punish none but those Children of perdition that were aliens from all fear of God And yet behold one that was in the Catalogue of them that professed the Worship of God she offended and the hand of Gods fury is stretched out upon her She became a pillar of Salt Says one upon it Par est ut judex priùs suam domum examinet quà m alienam A Magistrate that will reform abuses let him make his own house the first example of reformation and then his Justice may more confidently call any to account that are not so near unto him St. Paul grounding upon that equitable case deciphers a good Bishop to be one that ruleth his own house well for if a man know not how to rule his own house how shall he take care of the Church of God 1 Tim. iii. 5. This brings it to our apprehension directly why this person in my Text was chastised with no less than death because God would shew his justice upon his own Family where they sinned that unconverted Reprobates might expect nothing but the utmost of severity For if these things be done in a green tree what shall be done in a dry Luk. xxiii 31. There is no sort of anguish no calamity of any name or magnitude Captivities Famines Diseases that doth not shew it self as soon within the bowels of the Church as in any part of the World beside For a small trespass is taken more unkindly at their hands where grace abounds than a great profanation from the Heathen who were left as forsaken as the Mountains of Gilboa in Davids curse upon whom no dew of heaven did fall A small sin in Judah is as bad as an Idol in Samaria A lukewarmness or faintness of Religion in Laodicaea as bad as Paganism in those Regions that sate in darkness and in the shadow of death Therefore the first stroke of indignation shall light upon their sins from whom the Lord did expect the least offence and the most obedience Slay utterly both young and old both Maids and Children and begin at my Sanctuary says God Ezek. ix 6. You hear that the sword of vengeance shall be drawn forth first against the Sanctuary that is the pollutions of the Sanctuary Christ will sooner take his scourge
from godly sorrow and repentance It knows not the way to sit down and to be dejected to the earth and yet to none else but such will our Saviour say Friend go up higher Another observation on this Point is that when sorrows came hudling upon Nehemiah and fell as thick as hail he sate down which is an evidence of patience that he submitted himself under the hand of the Lord. It is our modern phrase to express the humour of a man who struggles to repel an injury that he will not sit down by it But this servant of the Lord in my Text had no quarrel against the providence of his Maker let the cup of judgment be never so bitter which he was to drink he was quiet and sate down He knew we are all as clay in the hand of the Potter and shall the Vessel say to him that framed it what makest thou Gods judgments are wonderful and unsearchable sometimes they are never unjust And what fruit can the stubborn reap by endeavouring to break their chains What hath it ever profited them to challenge the Lord in the bitterness of their discontent What have they got by cursing murmuring and repining no other than to make the furnace of tribulation seven times hotter As it is best for the Child and for the Mother when the birth stays the due time before it be born So let us not struggle and toss about to ease our selves in a time of infelicity our redress will be most facile and fair when the Lord bringeth it to pass at his good pleasure If you think to be delivered sooner by quarrelling violence commotion it will prove an abortive remedy If you long to have things better when they are ill tarry for the Lord sit down and mourn be humble obedient keep a good conscience girt Nehemiahs patience unto you sit down and be still A third instruction upon this Point is that to sit down is to muse and to consider sadly of that which is brought before us So Nehemiah sate down to call his soul to counsel he intermitted all worldly business and composed himself to think of the Judgments of God It is well that the Royal Piety hath called us together to day upon so good an occasion Here is a Senate of Gods Servants gathered together in this holy place and in all other houses of God throughout this Realm Now we are set to it to call our ways to remembrance to revolve in our mind both every one a part how far we have corrupted our ways And likewise have taken this pause of time and sequestred our selves from all secular affairs to take a considerate view upon the sins of the Kingdom how near we are in all likelihood to relapse into some great troubles because the fear of the Lord is not much conspicuous among any sorts of men Are our Peers and Nobles renowned for their advancement and protection of true honour and vertue as their great Ancestors have been Sit down and think upon it The Reverend Sages of the Law are their minds set upon righteousness And do they judge the thing that is right with courage and integrity Sit down and think upon it The portion and Tribe of God the holy Clergy do they remember or can they forget how they were lately trodden down reviled and cast out of all they had for twenty years And doth it stir us up to be burning and shining lights more than ever And to double our diligence now in Prayer in Preaching and administring the holy Sacraments Sit down and think upon it For the Gentry are they not addicted to waste and riot Do they not crowd themselves into our enlarged Suburbs where they have no Calling but to emulate one another in excess of feminine Pride and rude debauchery Sit down and think upon it As for what concerns the great City not to rub it with salt and Satyrs is it not as palpable as Gods light that it did poison the whole Land with Rebellion and still infects it with Gaudiness Gluttony Whoredoms and Falshoods Sit down and think upon it Do the Country Villages deserve the old commendations of simplicity and innocency But how ignorant are they in the knowledge of Salvation How unthankful to God in all seasons How hath Satan bewitched them of late years into dissolute lives and drunkenness Sit down and think upon it I pass over many things in silence as not fit for publication Now though I have shewn you an Ocean of ungodliness breaking in upon us who almost unless such an extraordinary day as this doth spur them on who doth consider it and muse upon it with a leisurable sorrow The most will shake their heads at it and give it a shrug and then they are at their furthest There is all the regard they have when the sins of an whole Nation look as if they were white for harvest It is too tedious for them to sit down to cast up a sollicitous account to survey the parcels of our crimes to cast them up into a total sum as much as is possible This is too long labour for them who are very busie a doing nothing They will sit down as the Israelites did to eat and to drink and rise up to play Whereas the beginning of true repentance is to allot some time day by day for considering our own works seriously and the criminal faults of the whole Land Grant some good hours for the serious understanding of those things and run not away lightly from such holy thoughts but possess Nehemiahs room sit down and ponder the Judgments of the Lord. It follows in the second branch of his penitential carriage that the sins and desolation of Jerusalem wrought upon him so far that he wept Perhaps some sturdy spirit will say Mulier quid ploras Woman what ailest thou to weep A manly courage thinks shame of it Nay Infans quid ploras It is childish as some conceive to put the finger into the eye Indeed Quid potest infans nisi plorare How can a Child help it self when it is offended but by crying But when our heavenly Father is offended it is a sweet sign of grace to demean our selves like Children and cry Except you become as little children you cannot enter into the Kingdom of heaven Mat. xviii 3. Nay says David I have brought my soul low like a weaned Child Psal cxxxi 2. and yet he no coward He became as a Child and not such a one as hath the breast and is still but a weaned Child taken from the comforts and lullabies of the Nurse and then you know it will burst into tears True repentance you see abhors all stubbornness and obstinate resolutions it abates its fortitude it melts in the sight of God Is not this much more religious than to have Nerves of Adamant and an heart of brass A stomach that is insensible of the divine wrath is a symptome of madness and not of courage There is
Brethren let your word be pure able to endure the fiery trial even for his sake who in the beginning was the Word and that Word was God As for such double tongues whose Heart is a Jew and their Tongue a Christian and for those aequivocating Jesuits who teach you to adulterate Truth in mental reservation let them have their portion with Sisera that told a lie and so spake his last for he warned Jael to deny him if any did enquire for him and then says the Text he slept and then he perished So much hath been spoken for these Celestial Graces Truth and Mercy considered in disjunction but as the Wings of the Cherubins touched one another in the midst of the House so there must be a copulation of these spiritual Blessings for Mercy and Truth are such a Pair as will either lodg together or leave together There was such a similitude of nature between the Twins of Love Eros Anteros that at once they wept and at once they smil'd they fell sick together and they recovered joyntly Such are the Twins of Grace Truth and Mercy she that would have them cut in twain and parted is an Harlot she that cries spare and preserve them whole she is the Mother and must enjoy them Look upon them in a state of policy Mercy without Truth is a sweet shower dropping on the barren sands quite spilt and no blessing follows it Truth without Mercy is extreme right and extreme injury Mercy without Truth is a dangerous pitty Truth without Mercy is not verity but severity Consider them towards God and Heaven and then most unfit it is that either should be alone A Faith of meer Protestation without Good Works such is Truth without Mercy it might have been in the Gergasens Swine for such a Faith is in the Devil says St. James and therefore might have been in the Gergasens Swine to bear him company and all the integrity of the Heathen all the goodness that Socrates could teach because it is not in Christ such is Mercy without Truth it comes tardy like Esaus Venison and the Blessing is remov'd upon the head of Jacob. St. Austin compares them thus A Pagan living without blame before men is a man with his eyes open in the dark midnight and he that professeth Christ and not mercy but is sold to commit iniquity is one with his eyes shut in the clear day and he sees as little Such an unadorned Faith is like a fair Shield which the Tyroes among the Romans carried to the battel it is a piece of Harness indeed as Faith is called by St. Paul but it makes no shew it hath not the imprese of any Stratagem upon it Our holy Life and conscionable Conversation must be engraven upon our Faith like the Posie of the Lover upon the Tree Crescetis amores as the bark grew so the letters waxed bigger if the one prospered the other thrived as well For the whole Jury of our Creed the twelve Articles will not save us unless the Law be on our side Though not altogether that is impossible yet by endeavour and pious industry to acquit our selves of many trespasses The sum of all is Two are better than one I know that some rely too much upon the Example of the Penitent Thief the eyes of whose Faith were not opened until his hands and feet were pierced with the nails of death but look a little better into his Practice and you shall see that he prov'd himself so good a Christian in the last hour as if he had been reprieved from the Cross for another Assizes First he reproved the scorner Secondly he preached Moses Dost thou not fear God Thirdly he confessed his guiltiness But we suffer justly Fourthly he justified the innocent This man hath done nothing amiss Fifthly he consented to the power of the Magistrate We receive the reward of our deeds Sixthly he acknowledged Christs Divinity as he did his Humanity before saying that Heaven was his Kingdom Lastly he prayed and believed Lord remember me in thy Kingdom See what a Swarm of Bees hang upon his lips in a few words lest in this one Example the mercies of Christ might be made an occasion to excuse the mercy of man But Faith and Truth are our Wedding Garment Good Works and Mercy are the Broidering upon it Haec est tunica filii mei this is my Sons Coat says the Lord and the Spouses Cloathing is of wrought needle-work Psal xlv Let them hear of this especially who by their Profession are the Pillars of Truth in the Church and should be the Censors of sweet Perfume also let them look to it that these Wings of Truth and Mercy be equally poised that their knowledg preach continually in their holy life lest it prove with us as St. Austin spake of Antony the Eremite that grew exceeding devout when all the Cloisters were idle and lascivious and the Eremite being so ignorant that he knew not letters rapiunt indocti regnum coelorum literati excluduntur the great Clerks studied for Heaven but the simple People took it by violence and possessed it What should I speak more If Man be a little World and his Soul a great Heaven in it then these are duo magna luminaria Truth is the Orient Star of the Understanding and Mercy is the bâ—ightness of the Will like the Sun and Moon in the Firmament like the faithful Witness in Heaven But take heed that the Stars themselves be not swept away from the Sky with the Tail of the Dragon take heed lest like the dastard Ephramites being harnessed and carrying Bows we turn our backs in the day of battel for so it follows in the fourth part of my Text there is a deserant Gods Gifts may forsake us and let him that standeth take heed lest he fall Mercy and Truth they may forsake us What will some man say our Justification our Righteousness in Christ may that forsake us Superbia quo ascendis Why doth the presumption of man move such angry questions But Beloved I have no such uncomfortable Doctrine at this time to deliver I wish it prosperously that the head of the Serpent may be bruised that there be no leading the free-born into Captivity and no complaining in our streets But Sanctification shakes her leaves sometimes like the accursed Figtree Mercy in King David spilt the bloud of an innocent truth forsook truth with a curse in the mouth of St. Peter Now every quality may cease to be and grow to nothing three ways as it is distinguished in Philosopny 1. Defectu firmae inhaesionis seu radicationis 2. Admotione contrarii 3. Desitione subjeoti I will explain them in order First I say defectu firmae inhaesionis When Truth and Mercy want root and have no hold to stay long As a luke-warm heat quickly evaporates out of the water if the fire be not maintained An Inceptor that proceeded not was a fool among the Galatians and with
is a semplar how such as have great heaps should disperse them It had been a churlish and an envious act in the Disciples if when lump upon lump succeeded in their clutch they had piled it all up in their own baskets and reserved it for their own belly most ridiculous you will say they could never consume it Believe it their Parsimony is no less odious that gather and purchase and fill their Treasures without all Christian communication nay without remorse of humanity to them that are oppressed If the poor are hungry and naked it is not Gods fault the Rich have enough for all and if it stick in the Misers hands as the Stone stops the passage of the Urine in the bladder let him take heed of the torments to come by that similitude It is worthy to be attentively heeded that it being our Saviours purpose to give his Apostles exact breeding in all works of Piety he did steale into them this wholsom Lesson while their minds were exalted in doing Miracles to do good and to impart out of all the substance that was poured upon them It hath all the conditions of a good Alms so absolute as it were in a figure as it may well sway with the conscience as much as any Precept It was performed chearfully without excuse without grudging Judas was not so bad at this time to oppose it with Quorsum perditio haec To what end is this waste 2. It was distributed with a frank and a generous hand till every one had as much as they would 3. It came before it was ask'd Non expectat petentem sed praeoccupat 4. They were not such as did distrust that their store did spend too fast for it was verified in them that their left hand knew not what their right hand did 5. It came to pass that they had a gracious reward in eodem genere for when they had dispatched their Dole and had left to give they had more remaining than when they began to give that is the use that our Church hath collected out of this Miracle in the Collect before the Gospel That we plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works may be plenteously rewarded Gaudeat indigens de dato tuo ut gaudias de dato Dei it is St. Austin Let the needy be comforted with that which you give and you shall be more comforted with that which God gives The Lord did bless all the store of his people Israel and put much into their hands that they might send to the poor Deut. xv 9. The abundance of Corinth is endebted to help the want of Macedonia 2 Cor. viii The Christians of Antioch no sooner heard that there would be a great famine in the days of Claudius but presently they sent aid to the Brethren in Judea among whom says Orosius most memorable was the bounty of Helena Queen of the Adiabeni Nay the very Ravens what God did put into their mouths they brought it to Elias if the Prophet had lived among the Rooks and Ravens of these days they would rather have taken all away than have brought him any thing But the Instruments which obey God not only rational but sensible insensible are all for distribution as for the proper use of their creation He made the Sun to give light the Fire to give heat the Water to quench thirst the Sea to give fish the Earth to give fodder the Cattel to give milk and wool and surely think you that he hath made any man so un-uniform to all his Creatures that he should take and gather and give nothing Artaxerxes Longimanus plaid upon his own infirmity that he was born with the right hand longer than the left that his right hand which was fair and large might give magnificently and that his left hand which was short and shrunk up might receive but sparingly What he inferred out of the infirmity of his natural birth may better be applied to every of us out of the sanctity of our regeneration But Artaxerxes though an Heathen yet he had moral justice in him What say you to Julian the most profligate of Idolators yet you shall hear as good a passage from him he was desirous to transplant-some of the best and most plausible Vertues of the Christians into the stock of the Pagans and he wrote a Letter to one Arsacius the chief Pontif of the Superstition of the Gentiles to borrow three things from the practice of the Christians 1. To sing sweet Hymns and Psalms when they assembled together as we did 2. To appoint some Canonical Penances for Delinquents as we had 3. To provide for the sick the decayed and such as were in misery in Hospitals and Mansions of charity for says he I blush that they should provide for their own Poor and for ours and we are not compassionate to help our own Well might Julian smell the sweet odour of the Christians charity but he and his could never imitate it It is not Philosophy on which he doated but Faith which he had renounced that teacheth us to love God and our Neighbour with our own detriment which instructs us to wash away our sins with tears to wipe them with alms and to dry them up with fasting Julian and his Sectaries had the Vein seared up which should open to give alms because they did not believe in the reward to come The reversion of an hundred fold for that which is given in this life is that which visits Prisoners redeems Captives For if the Heathen as Pliny says canonized Tyrants that were bountiful and made them Gods will not the Lord do glorious things for his Servants in that Title and make them Denisons with the Angels But would you drink of the Brook in the way and not await so long for the futurition of a recompence Why look into the business we have in hand Quantò plura dederis tantò plura largius confluent the more the Disciples distributed to them that were set down the more they had to distribute they spent so well that they fared the better and abounded Avaro semper aliquid deest a pinching sordid wretch is always whining and somewhat he wants that he would have for the Soul is of that capaciousness that it is made to receive God and not this World capacem Dei quicquid Deo minus est non implebit says Bernard very well nothing which is infinitely less than God can fill that which is capable of God Therefore a griping Chremes must needs be indigent whereas he that is merciful and free-handed shall have sufficient to content him for the present and a portion to spare for the time to come Some Monks that are good at telling Tales have jobb'd in an odd Story upon the occasion of my Text that Pope Hadrian the Second brought out forty pieces of silver to give to so many poor that were at his Gate and when he had dealt to every one to a penny there
trials of obedience Yet though their number was so great and cumbersom their weight had been more easie if they had been plain and perspicuous but the people underwent much geare and I think not one among an hundred did know the signification The substance of Religion was so darkly involved in the Types that happy was that Prophet or Prophets Son that could crack the shel to eat the kernel Who of the Vulgar rank could penetrate into the moral signification of those vices which were forbidden in the unclean Creatures Vt homines mundarentur pecora culpatu sunt says Tertullian The Law did seem to loath some beasts that we might know what God did love Was not the Salvation in Christ propounded to them in Signes And his death resembled in a Bullock slain at the Altar And what small comfort was there in that Pardon which was not intelligible to the poor Offendor Luther says well upon my Text that mans knowledge is unshackled it is at liberty when he discerns the naked truth in it self Cognitio est ancilla quando subjecta est velaminibus figurarum Our Wisdom is made a bondwoman subject to the captivity of Ignorance when it sees nothing but in the dark Glass of typical Obumbrations Thanks be to God that we are Scholars of the New Testament We are called to the manifestation of faith and love in Christ that we do not grope in darkness but walk in light for the Gospel is like a Glade which is cut through the grove of ancient Ceremonies Let me speak to this point once more Beside their excess in number and their cloudy obscurity there were unpleasing remembrances in them some that seemed to be mysteries of grace were likewise mystical Exprobrations and therefore referred by good Expositors to the hand-writing of Ordinances which is against us Col. ii 14. For Ceremonies take them not as Sacraments or Circumstances of Evangelical Service but as Yokes of the Law Nihil aliud erant quà m miseriae humanae publica professio They were imprints of humane misery not Expiations but Confessions of our iniquity Circumcision it accused the Israelites that they were born in sin Their frequent washings did testifie that there was filthiness in the Object The life of the Sacrifice spilt upon the ground pronounced him guilty of death that brought it to the Lord. I go no further because I would be compendious and I have said enough for this discovery that the Law of Ordinances was our Adversary But thanks be to that Saviour who blotted out the hand-writing payed the grand debt which we did owe and discharged the interest likewise when he evacuated the Levitical Ceremonies which is the first mark of the freedom of Jerusalem Yet be advised that we do not claim more immunity by this Chatter than is granted for that is ordinary to stretch out the name of liberty like cheveril Leather to what length we please some have assumed that they have good ground to blow up all our Modern Ceremonies with this Mine because Jerusalem is free from the yoke of Ordinances It is true our Jerusalem is free and therefore we are free for partus sequitur ventrem the Church appoints her own Orders of decency now and is not appointed nothing is imposed upon it with bond of necessary and perpetual observation the principality is upon her shoulders to make her Children submit to her prudent Constitutions But if particular men might challenge interest in this freedom as if they had scope to serve God with what order and comliness they pleased this were an uproar and not a freedom and a looseness like that of mad men when they have broke their Chains Certainly the liberty which God hath granted in setting our feet at large from these things with which the Priesthood of Aaron was charged it was to accommodate us with great grace and favour but if this should repel the bringing in of those Ceremonies which are means to beget the greater veneration of Religion the bounty of God which cannot be would turn to a prejudice his blessing to a cross and such as love the welfare of Sion might cry out O Lord we are oppressed with liberty Touching the substance of divine Worship it is written with Gods own finger in holy Scripture we must not add unto it Only God is pleased to try our judgment how we will administer it in the particular fashion His Worship is the Bread of Life sent down from heaven and not invented upon earth but for the manner of his Worship 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Clemens says of humane Philosophy it is like the sauce in which the bread is dipt to make it savoury to this conditement Jerusalem is allowed to put her skil providing for comliness and honesty as a wise dispenser of the mysteries of God Was ever any thing of moment transacted without some graceful solemnity Or is man so governed by the Spirit that he can lift himself up to Heaven sufficiently by interiour Meditation I forget not that some will say yea the Body also serveth God by the tongue And I allow it for an excellent way to warm our zeal with the loud voice of prayer But this warmth will quickly cool unless some devout actions concur together and deeds are far more durable in the fancy than the memory of speech either to teach the understanding somewhat which it ought to consider or to move the heart to due reverence and regard which it ought to have in the performance of sacred matters Here let the new Jerusalem act her part this is her liberty to enjoyn such Ceremonies for the eye as may prepare the heart the better to feel the power of the grace of God and to prescribe such visible signs as will leave a deeper print behind them than bare exhortation I will add that by this power bequeathed to the Church some Jewish Ceremonies may be reteined as far as the state of the things will bear if they be followed only for outward order and not returning to that obstinately which must be disannulled because Christ is come in the flesh I confess that Spiritual Worship is best for it is most correspondent to his nature whom we worship God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit This is the reason that he says he hates Incense and effusion of bloud at his Altar such kind of service hath no assimilation with him who is incorporeal give him the Sacrifices of righteousness of prayers and mercy and thanksgiving qui corpus non est umbram non habet Approach not to him with shadows for he is a Spirit and not a Body yet in respect of us though not of himself he entertains the lowliness of bodily Worship as it hath a conveniency and conjunction with our nature The Lord is a Spirit and he even he alone gives law how he will be worshipped in spirit but we that worship him are bodily creatures and
Jerusalem our Mother hath indulgence to appoint all external administrations of holiness It is no small ease as I have shewed it to be disingaged from the incumbrance of the old Ceremonies but that which comes next in order is so essential to our happiness that from thence we may say truly and from nothing else the Lord turned the captivity of Sion The time is past when salvation was offered to them turned the captivity of Sion The time is past when salvation was offered to them that did the works of the Law O those were days of bitterness and desperation the Covenant is renewed unto us in another form through the promise of mercy to them that believe in Jesus Christ Now Sin that great Tyrant shall have no dominion over us for we are not under the Law but under Grace Rom. vi 14. Mark the two Covenants and the severe exaction in the one and the mild temperature of the other the one comes blustering like the whirlwind and breaks down Mountains before it the other is the still voice which beats sweetly upon the ear of Elias the one hath nothing but dayes of trouble and reproach the other is a continual Jubilee of rest and peace The Law may be compared to those wretched men that work at the Oar in a Gally they strein their sinews and their strength to plow the waves and yet they meet with such strong tempests that they cannot recover the Haven but the Gospel is a Ship whose sails are spread with faith and hope and the winds of mercy blow them fairly on that the Passengers are carried as in a dream to the Port with speed and tranquillity Hear them both speak Rom. x. 5. for that 's the clearest Scripture I take it for their distinction The righteousness of the Law saith the man that doth these things shall live by them but the righteousness which is by faith speaketh on this wise if thou shalt confess the Lord Jesus thou shalt be saved The man that doth these things shall live but the Lord looked down from Heaven and found no such man upon all the earth Be the imperfections in our manners that are not scandalously culpable yet the law hath not pardon for them that which must be weighed in Gods Balance it must not want a scruple Correct the wandring of your eye bridle your tongue watch your heart â—r servent in prayer be vigilant against tentations yet there is that repugnancy to the Law that unruliness in this body of death that the evil which you would not you shall do and then the Law turns to be that Adversary in St. Matthew which delivers you over to the Tormentor till you have paid the utmost farthing This was not only a bondage under a churlish Nabal that would not be satisfied with such diligence as a Servant could perform but the condition of a beast whose qualities cannot excuse him totally but that sometimes he shall be spurred and beaten Yet none were ever born that can impeach the Law of rigour no not in the equity of humane reason if you will examine them from first to last it will come but into the Margent of our Enditement that our actions have not been so pure and holy and fervent as the bounty of the Divine goodness towards us requires turpitudes of life abominable desires of the heart bruitish intemperance scalding malice unclean passions will fill up our accusations O what a perturbation what unquietness of consciences what a hell of fear it is to know that our Arraignment is just and to have nothing but the Law that inexorable letter of condemnation to comfort us Imus imus praecipites we should feel our selves tumbling down and see no bottom Sin is so ponderous that if the Ship had not been lightned of Jonas it had sunk the Heaven could not hold the Devil and his Angels from falling the Earth could not support Core and Dathan but it is more massy and leaden upon the conscience than in all the Elements What need I to tell you that God did give the Law in an angry form upon Mount Horeb or that he delivered it to Moses a Servant to bring to note the bondage of the Letter I have looked back enough to this let me bring you from this Ergastulum this Prison of Works into the Courts of Gods House into Jerusalem above which is free Jerusalem at the time when this Epistle was written to the Galatians was in bondage two ways in Civil servitude under the Romans in Legal servitude under Moses a miserable case that they should not feel the oppression they were in under Moses car'd not for a Deliverer nay did as much as in them lay to curse their Deliverer Christ that came to set them free they used him as a Servant in crucem servus they crucified him which was a most servile punishment Thus their stupidness in their bondage did make for our freedom and thereby was consummated the Covenant of Faith that we might believe in him who died to be a propitiation for our sins O what a pleasant condition it is what a free what a Princely state of life to wait upon Gods mercy and to be subject to the Ordinance of Faith Upon it depend Pardon Forgiveness Reconciliation Grace Adoption of Saints the Inheritance the Kingdom the Promise of everlasting life With how much diffidence did the Lawgiver intercede in the behalf of Israel Forgive the sin of the people if not blot me out of the book of life To supplicate forgiveness is a message sent from Faith but the Law plucks it back with this distrustful Omen if not if there be no hope then is my confusion before me for ever This is noted in the Generation of Ismael the Son of the Bond-woman Says Sarah to Abraham Go in to Hagar it may be I may obtain children by her This is the Law which despairs and doubts whether God will be gracious but Faith never speaks so faintly looks for no denial how unworthy soever to obtein its Petitions Publicans invite Christ home Adulteresses wash his feet Thieves recommend themselves to be received into his Kingdom and all this not because they are free from the Law but from the Covenant of it which is the bondage of the Law Had their conscience misdeemed that they must be saved by Works they had run away like Bond-men from an austere Lord their tongue had been tied that it durst not wag but light shining in their hearts revealed unto them that Jerusalem was free that the Inheritance came by the Promise of Grace they flock unto him who is the Mediatour of a better Covenant who vindicates his Portion from the bands of Sin and Death and Hell and hath given power to his Ministers to bring those that seek for mercy out of the prison and servitude of Satan for whatsoever they loose upon Earth shall be loosened in Heaven Hold here and stir not from this rock put not the point to
served under Decius the Emperour in Affrica banished hundreds of Christians out of Affrica threatning death unto them if they returned Divers of them did creep in secretly giving reason that they came to comfort their Brethren and to strengthen them in the faith St. Cyprian writes to them out of Prison to exile themselves again and to return no more else if they suffered they should be reputed not for Martyrs but for Malefactors I will not load them with envy though it be true that many of their Tenebrioes crept into England with damnable intentions make the best they can of their own actions St. Cyprian says if banisht men will enter into a Realm against the Law they shall die as Malefactors It is the Cause and not the Punishment that makes a Martyr What more trivial If a Virgin choose to die rather than to be ravished she is slain for the Word of If a good man be ruined rather than give his assistance to the ruine of an innocent it is for the Word of God c. But if he be brought to the Stake for confessing there are no Gods made with hands and that Jesus Christ God and man is the Saviour of all that believe if he stand to it and will not flinch for any terrour that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to hold his Testimony then he is slain for the Word of God and for the Testimony of the Lamb as the Dragon fought with them that kept the Commandments of God and had the Testimony of Jesus Christ meaning such as were holy and faithful very godly in their works very Orthodox in their belief This is that mixture of sweet Spices in whose exhalation a Martyr becomes an odour of a sweet savour unto the Lord. They were victimae altaris and thymiamata altaris Sacrifices slain upon the Altar of burnt-offerings and therefore became sweet Spices offered up upon the Altar of Incense which shall be the conclusion of this Point and the beginning of the next where the Apostle did behold those Saints that had exchanged their lives to glorifie God under the Altar And where doth St. John mean Where about is that Every curious itching ear will be more attentive to it than to any instruction that can be raised out of the Text A Traveller that asks his way if many of the Country Folk be present at his question it is ten to one but they will diversifie in their opinions and set him in so many ways that he shall never be wiser for their direction So I have consulted with more than a few Expositors to learn where I may find this Altar and not miss of it one points this way another that way Et incertior sum multò quà m dudum Among their variety of directions I know not which way to move Cosmography is a very easie part of learning to design the confines or distances of City from City Kingdom from Kingdom But it is one of the most difficult tasks in Divinity to understand the several quarterings and Mansion-places of heaven I confess I have no skill in Ouranography But to cut off all Proem I will be brief in my relation what is said to it and more brief in my determination The discordious opinions may be drawn to three heads some mean by the Altar an allotted place some relate it to the condition of their body some refer it to the state and condition of their Spirit Whosoever give the words a local meaning that the Souls were under the Altar they all agree in this that it imports that the Saints are kept back awhile from the uppermost part of Heaven where the Angels do offer up Praises continually upon the Altar of Incense which is next to the Holy of Holies and they that have not the nearest access to the Vision of God in form of Prophetical speech may be said to be under the Altar Some who pitcht upon this Interpretation had such fumes in their heads that they did not see the light Tertullian conceived that their Mansion was an earthly Paradise whither Enoch and Elias are translated Origen you may be sure hath some roaving excursion it is thus that the souls of the Faithful are put to School in some secret places before they go to heaven where they are purified from ignorance by degrees and then exalted Victorinus Afer a better Rhetorician than a Divine thinks that to be under the Altar is as if the souls were under the earth in some ample and pleasant regions like the Elysian Fields All these are humane Phantasies and I slip them aside But the most beaten rode to this purpose is that the souls of the Martyrs have a remuneration for their labours and sufferings past but not a consummation of that glory which shall be revealed unto them a share in Heaven but not a possession in the highest Heaven In atriis non in domo They are kept a loof off from the perfect Vision of God in the fulness of time they shall see him face to face Which is Bernards meaning when he says the blessed that are under the Altar because they are admitted to see the Humane Nature of Christ and not the Divine Not so as if totally they did see nothing of the Divine Nature but because they see it with less perspicacity than they shall hereafter so St. Ambrose and St. Hilary close with him And St. Chrysostom upon the Eleventh to the Hebrews Praeveniunt nos in certaminibus non praevenient in coronis they have fought a good fight before us but they shall not be crowned before us not because our Resurrection shall be at once the words will not bear it and the body is but the Robe which we shall put on the glory with which we shall be filled brim full that is the Crown which we shall wear in our Fathers Kingdom I know this is much distasteful to the Prelates of the Florentine and Tridentine Councils who have defined that the pure Souls in heaven enjoy the clearest Vision of God before the day of Judgment and want nothing to their integral happiness but the resuscitation of their bodies It may be so as they will have it But I am contented to say their state is Heaven and will go no further Neither can I see cause why the Churches of Christ should dissent if one say without pervicacious obstinacy the Spirits of righteous men are in the highest Heaven and another will say nothing peremptorily but that they are in Heaven indeed and do live with the Lord. Malo timidus esse quà m temerarius The Conclusion now is thus much That if this be granted for a Local Posture that the Souls are under the Altar there is nothing against Analogy of Faith to say they are in the outward Rooms of Heaven and stay there in expectation of more abundant glory Secondly Some relate this to the condition of their bodies And the Jesuits Ribera and à Lapide will have no
worship that which was base and despicable like Gods of Silver and Gold then cause might be shewn why flesh and bloud should disdain it O Beloved it is the King of Kings and the excellency of Jacob He sits upon a Throne that is circled about with a Rainbow Rev. 4. A Rainbow was his first Covenant which He made to spare the World and reason good that his Throne should be compassed about with Mercy Next unto the Rainbow sate Twenty four Elders that had Crowns of Gold upon their heads supposed to be Twelve Patriarchs and Twelve Apostles that propagated his glory unto all Nations both Jews and Gentiles as who should say All Kings shall fall down before him all Nations shall do him service To shut out all objections It is certain that Majesty and Dominion lose the hearts of men that should obey and purchase Envy and Hatred which cannot shift it self sometimes into Lowliness and Humility O see and be astonished at it if God have not submitted himself to the fashion of man For as the Ark of God when it was in the Wilderness had Pelles caprinas supra byssinum a Covering of Goats hair upon the silken Curtains which were costly and precious So the Lord Almighty who most properly is cloathed with light as with a garment hath also put on flesh of our flesh and bone of our bones that by all means He might allure us unto his Love sometime adoring him in Honour sometime admiring his Humility And I give them over as past all good that are as stubborn as Cato of whom it is said Dictatorem odit nec minùs Caesurem He neither lov'd the Dictator in his great Office nor Caesar in his private Calling that are not affected with the poor Nativity of the Son of man nor with the excellency of God in the highest heavens Love Jesus that was made man or where is thy thankfulness Honour and praise his name that ruleth over all or where is thy devotion I know it will be more profitable to my Hearers to instance in those particulars of Honour and Worship wherein God especially is delighted and I propound these four to your Christian practice 1. We must magnifie his Name 2. Obey his Word and Commandments and thus far the Angels go with Man and no farther but it is not enough for us Angelis dimidium mundi factum est sed nobis totum Heaven is but half the World which is made for Angels but Heaven and Earth the whole compass of the World is made for Man Therefore 3. in the third place we must give reverence to his Sacraments as to the Seals of his Love and Mercy And 4. obey his Magistrates Let us draw this division to some rule that you may be sure it is full and complete First you know God is to be considered in his own Essence bare and naked by it self next these three Attributes and properties are most inward unto it his Wisdom his Goodness and his Power Now the Essence of God is declared by his Names his Wisdom is revealed in his Word his Sacraments convey his goodness unto us and Kings and Princes bear the Image of his Power and Authority If any man can find out more ways to honour the Lord let him go on and prosper I had rather praise his name upon a ten-stringed Lute with David than with St. Peter set up three Tabernacles and no more and come short of one of those which I have propounded But first of the honour due unto his Name As the Sun is the cause of our knowledge to distinguish the hours of the day upon the Dial and yet we know not our time by the Sun it self immediately but by the shadow it casteth So the Essence of God is the cause of all things and yet we have not his Essence but his Name revealed unto us this is the Oracle of the inward Temple and the Star that leads unto holy Bethlem where Christ is laid Unto this Name we should lift up our hands in Prayer and for this Names sake stretch them out in Alms unto the poor And as David ask'd if there were any of the Race of Jonathan left to whom he might shew mercy and Mephibosheth was brought unto him an impotent Cripple but the Son of Jonathan So let us enquire if there be any thing of the Lord remaining among us if all be not lost by the Fall of Adam that we may do honour unto it alas it is but a small thing it is but the Name of our God but let us make much of it as he did of Mephibosheth let it be in great esteem and veneration When I speak of the honour due unto his Name I mean the honouring of God himself at the mention of his Name Our Mother-Church of England as careful that I may not enter into comparisons as any Church in the world to take away the yoke of superfluous Ceremonies and yet very provident to make the body of man submit it self to a decent outward worship of holiness hath prescribed unto us by a Canon that while we are in Gods House at the mention of the Name of Jesus we should do reverence with the Knee and uncover the Head I know not by what peevishness of some or by what presumption of others it is more neglected in many Congregations of this City than elsewhere throughout all the Realm Doth that Name which imports Salvation and Redemption from your sins no more affect you Or do you give no more obedience to the Church-Authority Are you not Fidelis in minimo faithful in a small matter How do you look that your heavenly Father should appoint you to be faithful over much I am not ignorant that some have made Sorcery rather than Religion and Blasphemy than Devotion of the holy Name of Jesus as among others that Frier that said when our Saviour did bend his head upon the Cross it was not as the Scripture says to give up the Ghost but he did bow it unto the Title Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews And Pope John the Twentieth gave an Indulgence to any body for the pardon of one enormous sin that should do reverence at the hearing of that Name yet on the other side me thinks they set light by their Salvation that neither will do reverence themselves nor love to see if in another at the mentioning of that holy name To make a difference between the names of God that one is more holy than another it is not my opinion and I think is scarce honesty in the Schoolmen to distinguish as they have done that when we call God the Just one Omnipotent Wise and the like they are Attributes belonging to the Divine Nature from everlasting and therefore to be respected with the highest Adoration but when we call him Lord Creator and Redeemer what 's that but Jesus they are Nomina in tempore à Deo sumpta relative names assumed since the beginning of the
world and therefore Dulia a petty Worship will serve for them to cross this absurdity I confess that God is honourable alike as in one Appellation so in another but our eternal happiness is granted unto us by this Appellation more than any other But when as Samuel came to anoint one of the Sons of Jessai for a King Eliab was beautiful in his eyes and so was Abinadab and so was Shammah but God would have the Horn of Oyl poured only upon the head of David So let every tongue confess that the names of Jehovah Elohim Immanuel and Christ are reverend and glorious and worthy that our knees should stoop unto them as low as Earth and our lips carry them as high as Heaven But Peter hath wrought Miracles by the Name of Jesus and Paul hath preach'd glorious things of the Name of Jesus therefore my Soul and Body shall be prostrate to that Name especially which is wonderful and holy The neglect of this is an undutiful omission yet I reckon it not in the place of the greatest sins But the greatest reproach and dishonour which the Name of God doth suffer is in the mouth of the Swearer and Blasphemer that is the Tongue whereof St. James speaks that is set on fire from Hell Yea and Nay the trial of all truth is accounted in this dissolute Age precise and simple communication What God is he that you swear by so often Is it not he that gave you breath and can stop your breath at a moment Whose Bloud is that you swear by Even that Bloud which should wash away your sins is unto you an occasion of more pollution Whose Wounds are these you swear by Even those Wounds wherein you should bury your sins make them live unto condemnation as St. Hierom said Ipse aer constupratur scelestis vocibus that ribald obscene talk did adulterate the air So I may say of Oaths that are vomited up from the superfluity of sin Ipse aer profanatur scelestis vocibus the Air is prophaned and unhallowed by abusing the Name of God Lord to what an excess this windy airy sin of Swearing is come to I think for one reason the Devil may be called the Prince of the Air because he is the Prince of such blasphemous language And so much for the Honour due to the Name of God But secondly to Honour his Name and to disobey his Word is to imitate those disloyal Subjects of the Emperour Maximilian they called Maximilian scornfully Regem Regum a King of Kings it was because the Nobles that were under him lived like Kings without subjection or obedience Or it is to make such a God to our selves as the Church of Rome makes Bishops in the East the one is called Bishop of Antioch another called Bishop of Jerusalem and Title enough they have if that would maintain them but nothing else Keep your Masters Commandments and love his Ordinances to do them and then God is Honoured Concerning Obedience read and observe the life and death of Saul he would sacrifice to God and that of the fattest Cattel among all the Flocks of the Amalekites Why this was Honour one would think No it was not juxta Verbum Domini according to the word which was brought unto him by the mouth of Samuel and God prefers Obedience before Sacrifice This is the reason says Aquine in Sacrifice we offer up the flesh of a beast but in Obedience we offer up our own will unto God The Jews did so much esteem the killing Letter of the Law that they wore it as the chief ornament of their Vesture in the Fringe of their Garments as Frontlets before their eyes and about the wrists of their hands mark but that before their eyes for meditation about their arms for practise and execution There is a rule in Physick says a learned Bishop Per brachium fit judicium de corde The Veins come from the heart to the hand and there Physicians take their Crisis by their Pulse and motion So it is in Divinity you must make conscience of your knowledge by your practice and obey the word David held the word of God super mille pondo auri argenti above thousands of Gold and Silver Solomon esteemed the Law to be as bright as the Sun in the Firmament Praeceptum Domini lucidum illuminans oculos You have heard of Idolaters that have worshipped the Sun and Moon Much more let true Believers reverence the Law of God which is brighter than the Sun in the Firmament for so Elias thought and he covered his face with a Mantle as soon as ever the Lord spake as if the voice of the Lord were eyes sufficient to see by and he needed not the eyes of this body But far above Kings and Prophets and all the Sons of men the holy Angels are so ready to do Gods will that you shall scarce once read in Scripture that they were bid to go of Gods Errand but before you could say Do this they were gone to dispatch the Lords Employment Surely as it was a great abasement for the Word which was God to be united to the flesh of man so it is a great Honour for man who is but flesh to be united in obedience to the Word of God To contract my self in this Point Remember what manner of Law it is that we should obey St. Paul says it is sancta justa bona holy in respect of God that gave it just toward all men in civil commerce good for our selves to live in peace and safety What yoke then is more easie than the yoke of that Law which is holy and just and good Now in the third place as the Air which we hear sounding in our ears by concretion says Philosophy becomes clear water and may be seen so the Word of God which we hear preached unto the Ear in the holy Sacraments of Baptism and the Lords Supper becomes verbum visibile a visible word in wine and water Honour one and honour the other for though they be twain in the administration yet in effect they are but one and the same one in application of our Saviours merits and the mercies of God one in fruit and efficacy to wash away our sins and to cleanse our Soul For as the bright Constellation which we call the Morning and Evening Star is one and the same So Christ in Baptism is the Morning light which illuminates Infants anon after they peep into the world and Christ in his Last Supper is the Evening Star Vltimum viaticum a light to shew every man the right way out of the world that is going to Heaven As one said of Prayer that it was due unto God when we rise and when we go to bed as a Morning and an Evening Sacrifice and therefore it might be called Clavis diei sera noctis the Key to open the day and the Bolt to lock in the night So I may say of the two Sacraments that they
in hand to drive the money changers out of the Temple than to correct the Publicans and Tole-gatherers at the Custom-house who were the greater Extortioners A tree that was made to bear fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire if it continue barren but wild Plants from which neither Figs nor Olives were expected God never threatens them with the Axe but lets them stand till they decay with age and rottenness This is the reason of it that although God had no more in Sodom for his share but a very little houshold yet one of his own Domesticks that look'd back upon Sodom perish'd as well as those his Enemies that never came out But if God spared not his own what remains for them that were never folded up in his flock never called by his name Si flagellantur filii quid debent sperare servi nequissimi says S. Austin If the Sons of the Family be scourged what can Runnagates hope for If King Josias a Saint worth all the men of Judah beside was brought to an untimely end that stroke was but a forerunner that all the stubborn Nation beside should soon after be cast out into a most woful captivity Quando justis non parcitur propter perficiendam purgationem non parcetur impiis tanquam sarmentis praecisis ad combustionem so St. Austin goes on in a sweet similitude If God do not forbear the Righteous but prune them off sometimes to trim the tree certainly the unrighteous shall not be endured who are dead sear boughs and most combustible for the fire Vpon the Land of my people shall come up thorns and briars how much more upon all the houses of the joyous City Isa xxxii 13. As waters are still and shallow near the Spring-head but run with the swifter Current as they are further off so the indignation of Divine Justice which begins calmly in the Church which is near to God will increase more violently among the out-casts of Satan among whom at last it will end Says St. Peter 1 Epist iv 17. The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God and if it first begin at us what shall the end of them be that obey not the Gospel of God The House of God shall be punished and severity begins at them but it is not finis eorum that is not their final doom nay it is no more but a twitch by the way but punishment in St. Peters own words is the end the last cast of impenitent sinners What shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel Inchoatur ira judicii divini à correptione justorum ut in reproborum damnatione conquiescat so Gregory in reference to St. Peter The Rod of Gods Power begins with the chastisement of the Just that it may give over in the damnation of Reprobates And as Gregory expounds St. Peter so our Vulgar English Margin makes St. Peter to expound Solomon Prov. xi 31. Behold the Righteous shall be recompenced in the earth much more the wicked and the sinner Finally as God spares not the nearest to him so let us take up the same justice my meaning is let no man spare himself Proximus egomet mihi If thy right eye offend thee thine own eye thy right eye pull it out and cast it from thee Beati qui cum omnium misereantur sibi nunquam penitus ignoscant says Salvianus Happy are they that are pitiful to all men only they will not pity themselves but avenge themselves of themselves that God may shew them mercy Secondly She became a Pillar of Salt even she that was one of four that were brought out of Sodom to be delivered and yet there wanted one of those four before they got into Zoar. I will not move that question hereupon that one did to our Saviour in the Gospel Luk. xiii 23. Lord are there few that be saved No answer can be given to this directly but either curious or uncomfortable Our Saviour replies unto it in that same place thus Strive to enter in at the straight gate for many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able But because St. Matthew says of that straight gate that leadeth unto life few there be that find it Therefore Cajetan says that in effect our Saviour rejoyned to that mans question few should be saved Ex angustiâ portae significans paucos esse qui salvantur the narrowness of the way did signifie how few should hit upon that path that conducteth to eternal life But I had rather take in light at another window and receive St. Austins Exposition that Christ did purposely decline to give punctual and affirmative satisfaction to that question deriving his words to this scope rather to make us study which way every man may be saved than to know how many or how few shall be saved Ad questionis vaniloquium nihil dicit sed transfert suum sermonem ad rem magis necessariam He would not reply to such an impertinent interrogatory but raised doctrine out of it more necessary to edification Let not that curious investigation then lie in our way what a small number of souls four were in respect of so many thousands that were burnt to ashes in the destruction of four Cities and yet how much that portion decreased because one of them four was cut short by the way rather I will turn the Point into this consideration that the Devil is always detracting and abating from that small portion and remnant which God hath set apart for himself Could our Saviour have chosen fewer than Twelve Apostles to testifie over all the world what they had heard and seen And yet the Devil entred into one of these to make him the guide unto those that betrayed Jesus God cantonized out for himself but Twelve Families or Tribes out of all the Kingdoms of the Earth with whom he made a Covenant by Sacrifice and Ten portions of those Twelve revolted both from God and the King and fell into Idolatry and Treason I might be infinite both in Sacred and Humane Histories but our own experience is as sure a touch unto us The Christian Faith you know is received but into few Regions of the habitable world I may say according to Nathans Parable that Europe was unto God as that only Ewe Lamb all that the poor man had but the Devil is like that rich one that had many Flocks and Herds besides in all places under the Sun yet you see what a great stride Mahomet hath stept into Europe though the Church complains of her small number as Micah did Woe is me I am as when they have gathered the Summer fruits as the grape-gleanings of the Vintage there is no cluster to eat yet the envious one would abate the Lord of that small Remnant among all the Inhabitants of Sodom he thought four too great a number to escape and one of them relapsed and became
a Pillar of Salt But let us come from persons to things that concern Gods Worship and Honour and note how we defalk and rob God in them Of two Testaments of holy Scriptures the Manichaeans Hereticks in ancient times and now our modern Anabaptists do reject the Old Of two parts of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Bread and Wine to signifie the body of Christ crucified and his bloud spilt the Layty you know where have lost the use of the Cup. Of four Commandments in the First Table of the Law the Second among some is either snapt off for brevity sake or crouded into the First to make it lose its force and vigour Instead of Faith and good Works which are both necessary to salvation we are much too slow with our good Works and think to come off well enough with a dry barren Faith Instead of our Prayers early and late as a Morning and Evening Sacrifice dissolute men and women think a short good-night will serve the turn as they go to bed Instead of glorifying God in our bodies and in our spirits many do subtract their humility of bodily worship and suppose it is abundantly well done to serve him in Spirit Finally instead of devoting our whole Age to repentance and newness of life many will not abandon their sins till their sins are forsaking them in their last years nay perhaps in the last hour nay God help them perhaps but in the last gasp or two of that latest hour thus the Devil hath envenomed the World with a Sacrilegious Poyson and perswades us that all is well gotten which is lost to God But in deed and in truth God loseth nothing He will be honoured either in our Conversion or in our Confusion As his mercy was content to be glolified in the deliverance of Lots Wife so his justice was exalted in her punishment Thirdly This woman was come out of Sodom come out of the Plain hard by the Gates of Zoar at the very last Furlong of the way as Adrichomius describes it and cast her self wilfully away when she was almost past all danger as the Proverb is In portu naufragium she had pass'd the Waves of a perilous Journey but shipwrackt and lost all when she was come home to the Haven Quod quisque vitet nunquam homini satis cautum est in horas None perish so soon as they that think they cannot perish now they are past the worst and so become less wary of their safety When Caesar had it divin'd unto him that the Ides of March should be fatal to him he should never out-live that day he was jocund and secure about afternoon and frumpingly told his Wizzards the day was far-spent and he felt no sign of death O but says one that Prophesied evil to him the day is come but it is not pass'd yet and the event of the day was the slaughter of Caesar So many are wound up to the last minute of confidence and security and there began their ruine where they thought to consummate their felicity Abimelech marched against the City of Thebes he took it he besieged the Tower close to the Gates of the Tower and was about to set fire to the Gates thus he stood in limine victoriae as his Victory was come to the just complement a woman cast down a piece of a Mill stone and brake his skull that he died Judg. ix 22. Thus as a Gamesters whole Stake and winnings may be lost at the last cast so many men have had a long progress in prosperity and for want of due thankfulness of that they had received their conclusion and shutting up of their eyes hath been bitterness Relapsing in sickness a thing as frequent as the water that runs by us it is not unskilfully imputed to the heedlesness of him that was too adventurous upon recovery and some other indisposition of natural causes but when we see a man brought down to the Grave with infirmity and brought back again by Art and skil and yet in the midst of his joy to be strangely cast back into the former languishment Let not the sound judge anothers servant but let the sick party judge himself that either he returned to the vomit of his former sins which he did abandon upon fear of death or promised restitution of something got by fraud which afterwards he would not perform or forgave his enemies at the point of extremity and being restored renewed his old grudge or forgot his Vows which he had made or flubbered over the benefit which God had done for him with careless ingratitude Certainly some offence did intervene that when the bitterness of death did seem to be past the Lord should cause his very recovery to be his ruine For there is nothing more dangerous than deliverance out of danger if we do not use our fortune reverently and stand in awe of God even in the midst of his mercies And this is more conspicuous in the soul than in the body Gods grace leads a penitent man along by the hand in the narrow way of righteousness but if he begin to think that he can go alone without a supporter when he thinks he hath one foot in heaven he shall be thrown down to hell or as our Saviour speaks the latter end of that man shall be worse than the first How many have revolted from the true Faith through the deceivable wit of seducers even upon the last bed of their sickness How many have repulsed Satans tentations oftentimes and have yielded as you would say at the last time of asking As Samson denied Delilah sundry times but betrayed his life into her hands at the last onset and importunity What a courage had Peter against the whole band of the Priests servants And how much discouraged at the voice of a silly Damosel and made to forswear his Master This was in extremo actu deficere to be far from Sodom and almost at Zoar and yet to fall back from God when we are within sight and almost within touch of the Crown of life this is that turpitude which is most ignominious to our Christian Warfare With shame enough shall back-sliders hear that reproach from God You did run well who did hinder you You were almost at the top of my holy hill why did your feet slip Why did you look back to Sodom Wherefore my Beloved when your conscience tells you that hitherto your heart hath been right with the Lord you have plaid your part well to the last act why then be most sollicitous that you be not defective in the end and lose your reward and the fruit of all your labour that went before But pray with David Forsake me not O Lord in mine old age when I am gray-headed Let me not forget thee as Lots Wife did when I am almost at Zoar and then the Lord will say Even to your old age even to your hoary hairs will I carry you Isa xlvi 4. So much be