quaetis artem ubivides dominari affectum and when passion is up sorrow stirring method is then commonly laid aside As one saith of Jeremy's book of Lamentations Do you seek for art or method amongst sighs and lamentations So art might well be excused here where affection is so strong yet because method is the mother of memory you may if you please help your memories with this division There are presented to us out of this Text two things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e The love of Paul to the Ephesians and the love of the Ephesians to Paul his to them theirs to him 1. His love to them is set forth in two acts 1. Preaching Having so said 2. Praying He kneeled down and prayed 2. Their love to him you have it exprest in three acts 1. Kissing They kissed him 2. Weeping They all wept sore 3. Conducting him They accompanied him to the ship Other particulars there are which I shall handle in their place these propounded are the chief of which in their order so as may be most pertinent to the occasion drew me hither at this time to wit the decease of my worthy friend your good Pastour who having set his face to Jerusalem I mean that which is above hath now finished his course Scaligeriqu od reliquum est Scal. Epitaph his soul is at rest with God The remains of him his Corpse having wept over it and sprinkled it with your tears you have accompanied to the grave Considering this accident I knew not what I should discourse of more seasonably at this time then of these two generall Points my Text presents you withall under the persons of Paul and the Ephesians namely the love of a faithfull Pastour to the people and of their love to him I begin with the first which as was said hath two acts Preaching and Praying First Preaching in these words When he had thus spoken that is when he had preached this Sermon unto them Doct. Preaching is an act of love in Gods Ministers it was you see the first act of Pauls love to the Ephesians 1 Thes 2.8 Rom. 1.11 We were willing to impart the Gospel unto you because ye were dear to us And I long to see you that I may impart to you some spirituall gift What makes men give gifts send tokens to their friends is it not their love So it was his love that made Paul so free of his spirituall gifts Tom. 5. pag. 110. because they were dear to him Thus Chysostome to the people of Antioch I am your Father saith he and must needs instruct my children and give them good counsel If the nature of the flesh or naturall love move earthly parents how much more shall the grace of the Spirit move us to do this Preaching then is an act of love a testimony of that affection and good will Ministers bear to the souls of Gods people Simon Jona lovest thou me John 21.26 feed my sheep We herein shew our love to Christ our love to his sheep when we feed them with the word of Life It is an act of love to feed mens bodies an act of love to cloathe their bodies how much more to feed their souls with this heavenly Manna of Gods Word As workers together with him 2 Cor. 6.2 to cloathe their souls with the rich robe of Christs righteousnesse We help to do these things therefore the acts we perform are acts of the highest love Inference 1 This shews then first what depraved judgements men have in this matter if the Minister will eat and drink hawk and hunt with them they account him a kind companion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 9.18 especially the most loving a cheap Gospel if he be moderate in requiring the dues belonging to him or let them go upon easie terms Oh then they cry him up for a wonderfull quiet loving man though Preaching be a thing he seldome useth they see no such love in that whith is the highest of all When Ministers labour hard in the Word and Doctrine and when Christs stewards endeavour to break the bread of Life to his houshold herein they show their greatest love and if they minister to you in spirituall things 1 Cor. 9 11. is it a great matter if they reap your carnall things But secondly what shall we say to those that account Preaching a sign of enmity and Preachers enemies as Ahab did Eliah 1 Kings 21.20 Hast thou found me 1 Kings 21.8 O my enemy And Micaiah I hate the man said he he never prophecied good to me he is an enemy Many are ready to say of us Wisd 2.13 14. as they in Wisdome These Preachers were made to reprove our thoughts they upbraid us with our offending the Law they object to our infamy the transgression of our education they are enemies So we are we professe our selves enemies to your lusts but friends to your souls 1 Pet. 2.11 your lusts they fight against your souls therefore they are your best friends that are ever at war with and ever fighting against your lusts he is his own enemy that thinks otherwise Thirdly if this be an act of love it shews then the little love that many bear to Christs sheep in that they have so little care to minister to them this spirituall food to see them wandering in by-paths and not to endeavour to leade them out of those wayes that leade to destruction to be dumb when they see them living in ignorance and profanesse and not to warn them of the danger hereof this certainly is not love but cruelty and that in the highest degree O yee Corinthians saith Paul our mouth is opened to you 2 Cor. 6.11 our heart is enlarged these two will go together an enlarged heart and an open mouth Pauls heart was enlarged and that opened his mouth If love as a heavenly fire hath given us a dilatation or enlargement of heart it will be as a key also opening our mouths to declare Gods truth unto men Preaching then is an act of love Paul out of his love came and preached this Sermon to the Ephesians and it was an excellent Seâ—mon Oratio praeclara eximia singularis Camerar in vita Pauli we have not time now to look into the contents or matter of it but if you cast your eyes back and take onely a generall survey of it you shall observe four remarkable particulars touching the manner of Pauls preaching His 1. Painfulnesse 2. Faithfulnesse 3. Prudence 4. Affectionatenesse All which set forth the excellency of this sermon First his Painfulnesse 1. Painfulnesse two or three dayes before he preached this Sermon travelling to Miletus he sent away his company before and went himself afoot it may be Paul was then studying this elaborate piece however it smells as we say of the lamp we see a great deal of pains in it The Apostles though Divinely inspired yet we may think they
punish you if you offer disgrace to the Lord Christ who is the image of God and the engraved form of his person If you tear his blessed body in pieces by your oaths and blasphemies he will never hold you guiltlesse if you continue to do thus Words spoken in season Prov. 25.11 are like apples of gold in pictures of silver we should therefore desire the Lord to give us the tongue of the learned Isa 50.4 that we may know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary as when we see a man cast down through any sad accident le ts labour then if we can to make him sorry for his sinnes when joyfull or merry through any good befalln him make his joy spirituall if we can we are Fisher-men and must bait our hooks with such baits as may catch Seed-men our greatest skill therefore is to fit every ground with seed fit for the soile and to sowe it also at such a season as it may take root and grow for seed though never so good cast into the ground out of season doth not fructifie To end this We are to endeavour to speak seasonably both in publick and in private we must take our fit opportunities of doing good for opportunities are like water in a runing stream come to a river with a rod in your hand Aquin. you cannot touch the same water twice for it runs away So is it with opportunities we must lay hold of them when they are offered or they are gone Paul was never to preach more to the Ephesians therefore he will by no means hold his peace now And this is the third thing I noted to you his Wisedome and Prudence Zeal There is a fourth yet remaining which is his Zeal and affection he tells the Thessalonians that he was affectionately desirous of them 1 Thes 2.8 so he was very affectionate when he preacht this Sermon he warns he exhorts desires them to look backward how faithfully he had dealt with them forward to consider what impostors were like to come in amongst them now he speaks to them that they would have a care of themselves Act. 20. â—â— .28.31.32 and beware of seducers then he turns to God and craves help from heaven Thus you see abundance of affection is shewed in this Sermon his spirit is now upon the wing the fire is kindled within and his heart inflamed with a holy zeal Spiritus Pauli exemplar Ministri he should be a pattern to us in this also The sonne of Syrach saith Ecclus 48.1 Joh. 5.35 that Elias was like fire and his word like a burning lamp John Baptist was a burning and shining light and Chrysostome saith that Peter was like a man made all of fire walking amongst stubble This holy fire of zeal will make us like them Zeal is a greater converter of souls to God then Learning Bellarmine tells us that with them in Lent-season there are thirty or fourty Preachers in some great Cities Scal. ascens p. 100.102 daily preaching against sinne yet no change afterwards appears in their lives the same vices remain the same coldnesse as great dissolutenesse I can give no other reason of it saith he but this Their Sermons are Learned and very Elegant adorned with flowers of Rhetorick but the Soul the Life the Fire is wanting the Fire of Divine Love which onely is able to animate the words of the speaker and inflame the hearts of the hearers This is not to be understood so as if strength of lungs contention and loudnesse of a mans voice or the motion of his body carried it many lay about them lustily make a mighty noise but that 's not the thing Guns having no Bullets or Shot onely Powder in them yet make a great noise when discharged but without doing any thing This therefore is the thing required that we be affectionately desirous of Gods glory and of the salvation of mens souls and that this affection be true and unfeigned not extorted but flowing naturally from the fountain of the heart Let us labour therefore for this endeavouring in our preaching to get affections suitable to the matter we have in hand that our words coming from our hearts may go to the hearts of our hearers A corde ad cor for all the former are in vain if this be wanting for admit a Minister take great pains at his study admit he be faithfull say he be prudent too in taking fit occasions when and what to speak yet if he be not zealous withall his hearers will be little moved with his words for how should he move them that is not first moved himself with that he delivers Tacent plurimi eorum aut similes sunt tacentibus etiamsi loquantur Salv. 160. Oxon. Coronidis loco as Salvian writes Many Ministers saith he are silent never open their mouths to preach Gods word and others are little better then silent even when they are speaking they do it so faintly and coldly Let this therefore be added as the upshot and perfection of all that we be zealous Thus you have heard what manner of Sermon this was that Paul preached to the Ephesians what labour and pains what plain-dealing and faithfulnesse what wisdome and discretion what zeal and affection there was in it Paul was a painfull faithfull wise and zealous preacher Shall I tell you one thus qualified stood not long since in this place But I know your thoughts are quick and have prevented me onely this short application let me make of it If preaching be an act of love then Preachers are to be loved if you ask which especially I answer such as I have spoken of when God gives you Ministers thus qualified think no blessing under heaven comparable to it should the Lord give you riches as great plenty as Croesus heap upon you as many titles of honour as the great Turk hath filling almost half a sheet of a paper Phil. 2.29 1 Tim. 5.17 1 Cor. 9.7 denying this you wanted still the best means of your spirituall and everlasting good Count therefore such highly in reputation count them worthy of double honour consider the equity of it if they feed the flock should not the flock feed them If they spend their strength for you is it a great matter if you spend part of your means on them If they break their sleep for you should not you watch all oportunities to do them good If they for their faithfull and impartiall dealing be evil spoken of should not you stand up and defend them where ever you come If their zeal and affection in delivering Gods truth consume their strength waste their spirits causing them to end their lives in a kind of martyrdome Magnes amoris amor Amor est motivum amoris Aqun do they not deserve your love Love they say is loves load-stone let their love then being such draw you to love and honour them And thus much
you come together be exhorted to use that reverence that becomes the presence of the Divine Majesty abstract your thoughts from all earthly things When you sing Psalmes and set forth Gods praise together do it as if you were bearing a part with the blessed Angels and when you pray joyn spirits together sending up the Ministers prayer with all your strength to heaven He prayed with them It follows with them all see how generall his love was as he preacht to all great and * Act. 26 22. 2 Cor 9.19.22 Coloss 1.28 small so he likewise prayed for all This great Doctour of the Gentiles condescends to the meanest man in this company and prayes with him It s no disparagement to greatnesse to be imployed in offices of love to the meanest Saint a Ladies hands are not too fair to wash a Disciples feet nor her eyes too beautifull to behold the diseases of those that lie in the Spittle nor her feet too good to carry her to the sick-mans bed to pray with him but it is the fault of too many to have the faith of Christ with respect of persons If an equall or Superiour be sick they may chance to lend him a visit but an Inferiour though he have ten times more grace in his heart may languish and perish ere he be visited or have any comfort sent him for body or soul it was otherwise here with Paul he preacht to all and he prayed for all Rom. 12.16 Psal 119. compared with 63.74 condescend therefore to men of low estate be your selves never so high King David did it They that fear thee will be glad when they see me that might well be they glad to see him but the question is Whether or no David would be glad to see them for many are ready to hide their heads will not be seen when men of low degree come to present themselves before them It was not so with him but saith he I am a companion of all that fear God not onely willing to see or to be seen of them but to keep company with them and not onely with some of the highest rank but all such I am a companion of all them He would descend as it were from his throne forget state become a companion of every one that feared God With them all Doct. Again It was a parting prayer this He prayed with them and so left them where you may further learn from hence That it is a laudable custome that Christian friends use at parting to pray one for another and to desire the prayers one of another T is true we are to pray for our friends when absent and God can hear our prayers for them though they be in the remotest corners of the world even as the exhalations that rise out of the valleys with us in this place being carried up into the air fall down in showres and refresh those places that are further off so those pious exhalations and prayers which we send up to heaven may bring down a blessing with them upon our friends wheresoever they be our prayers may find them out We should therefore pray for them when out of sight and absent from us for God sees them and can showr down his blessings upon them howsoever this be true yet the presence of a friend we wish well to How doth it stirre up to this duty when as Christ prayed to his Father in behalf of his Disciples I pray for these whom thou hast given me Joh. 17.11 these as if he had pointed to them with his finger so when a man shall say I pray for these these now in presence these here before me these whose faces I now behold but it may be shall never behold more how forcible will our prayers be as such a time When a man parts from his friend if his presence any whit moves him he hath it he is not yet gone if his absence his thoughts now give him absent being thus presens-absens having him in his armes yet seeing him vanishing out of his sight how are his affections then kindled and inflamed and then are our prayers most prevalent when affections as wings are ready to waft and carry them up to heaven This therefore is a commendable and religious custome to have God present at our parting from our friends when we leave God with them we leave them well Thus you see here Paul and the Ephesians commending one another to God in their prayers so the Disciples at Tyre in the next Chapter they kneeled down and prayed Act. 21.5 6. and so took leave one of another He prayed with them But what may we think this prayer was That God would strengthen them by his spirit in the inner man Ephes 3.14 was once his prayer for this Church Such it may be was his prayer for them now That they might be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might that being left as so many poore orphans Ephes 6.10 the Lord would take care of them and build them up by the word of his grace Such in all probability was the effect of his prayer It was our Saviours prayer for his Disciples I am now no more in the world holy Father keep throught thine own name those whom thou hast given me Joh. 17.11 Such its likely was Pauls prayer for these Ephesians that seeing he was to be no longer amongst them the Lord would keep them by his power and might And a hint hereof he gives us in his Sermon when he saith And now brethren I commend you to God and to the word of his grace Vers 32. he was then secretly lifting up his heart to God and beginning his prayer which afterward he prest and offered up with more earnestnesse to the Throne of grace if he commended them to God in his Sermon how much more in his prayer Caeterum obortae impediunt lachrymae Transitio ad secundam partem But Paul can now be no longer heard for tears sighs and tears shed on every side drown his voice and carry away the sound of his prayers from us Come we therefore from the first generall part of my Text Pauls love to them to the second their love to him For it was not here as it was with the Corinthians of whom he complains that he loved them but not they him Nay 2 Cor. 12.15 the more saith he I love you the lesse am I loved But here was love returned love for love Paul hath done his part exprest much love to them now they come upon the stage and endeavour to shew as much love to him But how Poor souls their words were few As Chrysostome observes of Peters weeping for the denyall of his Master He wept bitterly saith he but we hear him say nothing so these Ephesians wept sore but said little It may be they were in the Psalmists case so troubled that they could not speak Psal 77.4 yet their
how this should come to passe unlesse as it fares with us that our eyes do oft water when we look upon watry eyes so its likely here that one mans tears drew on anothers Humanitatis refugit affectum qui dolorem non sequitur alienum Cassiodor p. 374. Rom. 12.15 Humane affection makes us follow other men in their sorrow and to weep with them that weep But what ever the cause was certain it is that tears stood in every mans eyes the Text reports it for a generall weeping And we cannot but think that some of them were naturally men of harder constitutions dryer bodies then the rest but grace is stronger then nature for the hardest heart now relents the driest bodie now yields tears All wept Secondly Consider the excesse of it or depth of their sorrow 2. Wept sore They wept sore It had been much if every one had wept though never so little had he onely watered his eyes or let fall one tear it had been much here was more they all wept yea and they wept sore their sorrow therefore must needs be great Some say Lachryma quasi lacerrima à lacerando Camerar Cent. 102. because tears are bred of a laceration of the spirit and why may not the English word tears have the like Etymology from tearing of the heart certainly these were tearing tears renting as it were and tearing the very hearts of the Ephesians but the originall word signifies more then tears 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tears and throbs such as use to be the pain of a woman in her travell Paul had been in travell with them they are now in travell with him they cry and weep and take on without measure Great was that love that drew out such abundance of tears Inference Away then with that Stoicall Apathy which would make men like stocks or stones taking from us those affections which are reveted and ingrafted into our very natures so that to take them away were all one as to go about to take away meeknesse from the Lamb Evangelium non tollit sed vere regit naturales affectus Beza in loc Vid. Lactant p. 478.481 fiercenesse from the Lion fear from the Hare sooner may ye kill these creatures then take away these affections from them even so it is with man But the Peripateticks allow affections to be in us but modicè ac temperatè they are Lactantius his words We must rejoyce say they but not much grieve but not much which is as if they had said That a man must alwayes go fair and softly but never run whereas we know that he that goes foot-pace may go wrong and a man that runs as fast as his leggs will carry him may keep the right way So affections if set right though violent are not to be condemned I can tell you of a sorrow the least measure whereof is sinfull I can instance again in a sorrow which being excessive deserves no blame Such was this of the Ephesians They wept sore The third Circumstance is the place and manner of their weeping I put them both under one it was upon Pauls neck On Pauls neck It is said of Joash that he wept over the face of Elisha as he say a dying 2 King 13.14 Gen. 45.14 so Joseph and Benjamin wept one upon another when they met together in Egypt Joseph wept on Benjamins neck and Benjamin wept upon Josephs neck so here they wept on Pauls neck But had they no where else to weep I answer this was the fittest place they could chuse and that for these reasons First Reason 1. A more nihil velocius nihil acutius nihil subtilius ideo quiescere nequit donec in intimum dilecti pectus descendat Comp. spirit doct 182. it is the desire of lovers to expresse their affections in presence of those they love for it is the nature of love to go forth and embrace the object wherewith it is delighted therefore called an affection of union because it unites and knits two together and so makes them as it were one Therefore one saith thus There 's nothing so acute so quick so peircing as love is which cannot rest till it be got into the very heart of its beloved Again Reason 2. Psal 119.159 Tears are testimonies of our love now friends desire nothing more then to have their love taken notice of Consider saith David how I love thy law So a man is not content to love his friend but he must have his friend consider it and know he loves him he comes to him with a Testentur hae lachrymae let these tears be testimonials of my love to you for we may not think all that 's done openly to be done hypocritically The saying is He grieves with a witnesse that grieves without a witnesse yet our grief may be true Ille dolet vere qui sine teste dolet though it have a witnesse Indeed Hypocrisie may and doth oft mingle it self yet you see a man may weep openly in the presence of his friend yet those tears be without out hypocrisie When Saul purposed to kill David 1 Sam. 22 41. Jonathan went out to meet him in the fields and they kist one another and wept one with another surely it was to testifie that unfeigned love they had one to another therefore they vent their grief into one anothers bosome and lay their tears as nigh one anothers heart as they can So the Ephesians they might have wept at home and not here in Pauls presence but then they had lost a testimony of their love but that may not be they love him and he must see they love him therefore come they up to him as close as they can and weep upon his very neck That 's a second reason Reason 3 Thirdly It s a great ease to a mans heart to weep in the presence of his friend in the presence of one whom he loves those tears give him a great deal of refreshment Let a mother receive news of the death of her child what is the usuall complaint in this case Oh had I been with my poor child to have kist it to have wept upon it before God took it away it would have eased my heart neither her kisses nor her tears could do her child good but they would have done her good would have been as good as meat and drink to her Therefore saith Seneca Excidunt retinentibus lachrymae animum profusae levant Sen. Epist 445. Sedatur lachrymis egeriturque dolor Ovid. de trist Tears will out somtimes whether we will or no and when they are gone the oppressed heart finds ease Our Saviour Christ loved Lazarus and he wept for Lazarus being dead but where think you was it at his grave when they shewed him where he lay Jesus wept and he took a journey to come and weep there Mary she also wept and it was thought by the Jews Joh. 11.35 36. to
be at the grave too for when she rose up hastily and went out they said it was to weep at the Sepulcher they comforted her in the house now they thought she was gone to comfort her self at the grave Vers 19.31 as if it had done her good to lay her tears near her brother Lazarus I will draw one spirituall meditation from this point Inference If it be so comfortable weeping in the presence of a friend Oh what is it then think you to weep for our sinnes before God! nature oft teacheth the former oh that grace might teach us to do the later to weep in the presence of Christ with Mary to wash his feet with our tears shee came into the house Luc. 7 37. and stood at his feet weeping and washing his feet with tears her heart was full and she found no comfort till she came to Christ to weep in his presence then she heard that joyfull sentence thy sinnes are forgiven thee so that her tears as they washt the dust from Christs feet so through the mercy of God they washt away sin from her soul so if we go to Christ and wash his feet with our tears of Repentance he will wash both us and our repentance in his own blood and so cleanse us from all our sinnes When we offer up our prayers if we then let fall a shower of tears at his feet this rain being fallen there will be faire weather in our souls Therefore we see what a comfort it was to the Prophet David that he could powre out his tears before God and that God should take notice of his weeping Psal 6.8 Lachrymae pondera vocis habent The Lord saith he hath heard the voice of my weeping But to return where I was They wept upon Pauls neck that was the place Consider withall the manner of it falling upon his neck so saith the Text They all wept sore and fell upon his neck But was that good manners all to fall upon him thus Indeed love loves sometimes to be unmannerly When Christ after he was risen appeared to Mary she would fain have been falling upon him and touching him but hands off saith Christ Touch me not Love made her forget duty So the Shunamite coming to the Prophet Elisha caught him by the feet insomuch that Gehezi thought it a saucy part of her 2 King 4.27 to hold his Master in that manner therefore went and shoved her away Oh saith Elisha let her alone for her soul is vexed within her that which shee did she did it out of the abundance of her affection therefore the Prophet knew how to bear with her Love you see made her likewise forget manners Object But how then doth the Apostle say 1 Cor. 13.5 That love doth not behave it self unseemly or unmannerly T is true Answ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore I answer It is a very seemely unseemlinesse and if I may so speak mannerly unmannerlinesse that comes from love love puts a grace upon gestures otherwise undecent speeches otherwise rude When a Pagan offered water to King Artaxerxes in the hollow of his hand it was so well accepted because he did it out of love Drexel recta intent epist Nemo succenset amanti Pro. 23.26 that he put it into a viall of Gold We know not how to be angry with him that doth any thing to us out of love if a man doth truly love me I regard not his tongue but his heart God saith Give me thy heart That 's accepted with him though something be wanting in the outward man but the outward man cannot please without the heart So here If I have a mans heart whatsoever failing there may be outwardly I construe it but as an errour of love Neque salsum neque suave esse potest quicquam ubi amor non admiseetur but without the heart all shews and formalities are nothing worth If a man love me and that from his heart it being with me and for me what if his carriage be not so courtly nor his words so starcht and set out as other mens I can see no indecorum in that gesture no soloecisme in that speech that comes from love You have now seen the place of their weeping Pauls neck and the manner of it ruentes in collum Pauli they fell upon his neck and wept there Because they should see his face no more Vers 25. As Job speaks the ey of him that hath seen me shall see me no more Job 7.8 The fourth thing propounded concerning this weeping was The cause of it Paul had told them that they should see his face no more Behold I go bound to Jerusalem and I know not what afflictions I may live to see there but this I know that these eyes shall never see you more nor your eyes see me any more Hinc ille lachrymae this was the cause of their weeping Paul had said grievous wolves shall come in among you and he had said I am pure from the blood of all men Vers 29.26 A worull change instead of the face of an Apostle to see the face of a wolf terrible sayings these enough to make sad their hearts but that which grieved them most and put them into the greatest agony was this saying of his Ye shall see my face no more as if they had replyed and said Oh blessed Paul who can refrain tears that hears such words as these shall wee see thy face no more give us leave then to weep 1 Sam 30.4 till we can weep no more thou hast oft bedewed thy cheeks with tears for us suffer us now to shed tears for thee They wept most of all for the words which he spake that they should see his face no more that saying was like a Bucket let down into the bottom of their hearts which drew up such adundance of tears They wept sore Their sorrow was great as you have heard and no marvell you see here they had great cause had there been hopes of seeing him again the weather would soon have cleard and their tears dryed up but no seeing of him after this and that went to their hearts When our Saviour left his Disciples Be not sorrowfull Joh. 16.22 saith he for I will see you again but Paul here tels them flatly they should see him no more and how could their eyes chuse but water in beholding him now whom they should never behold more It was one of Augustines three wishes that he might hear Paul in a Pulpit no marvell then if these wept that heard him so oft but now should never see nor hear him more how are their eyes now fixt upon that face that was never to be seen more after this In some sense indeed they would see him the ofter for that face that now began to disappear being withdrawn from the sight of their bodies would questionlesse be the ofter presented to the eyes of their mindes yet
efficiunt prope 50 millia passuum Camer in locum Mat. 5.41 as you may see by these texts Rom. 15.24 1 Cor. 16.6 1 Joh. ver 6. So here the Ephesians do it to S. Paul he sends for them from Ephesus to Miletus and there was love in that in coming so far at his request a matter of fiftie miles from their own houses but they do not leave him here they will on further yet till they come to the Ship They observe that of our Saviour If a man desire thee to go amile go with him twain When Elisha had notice that his master was to be taken from him he went with him all the way from Gilgal to Bethel from Bethel to Jericho 2 King 2.1 and from Jericho to Jordan and beyond Jordan and then Eliah was suddenly taken from him and he saw him no more but yee see he went with him as far as he could so do the Ephesians here with Paul they went with him as farre as they could from Ephesus they come and meet him at Miletus from Miletus they go along with him to the ship and when they could accompany him no longer by land they accompanied him by water so far as their eyes could reach Inference 1 Let me here then in the first place present you with a picture of true love you heard before how their love broke out of their lips how at their eyes and here you see their very feet expresse it where true love is it will have command over the outward members of our bodies 2 Tim. 1.17 Onesiphorus loved Paul and this made him traverse the streets of Rome and never give over till he had found him and ministred to his necessities The Apostle calls it 1 Thes 1.3 Diligere The labour of love and in the Latine-tongue Love and Diligence come both from the same root to shew that love is diligent But alas it s key-cold very remisse and I may say negligent in these dayes our eyes cannot drop nor shed one tear for the miseries of the Saints our hands like Jeroboams are shrunk and dryed up we cannot stretch them forth to shew mercy to the poore our feet lame and cannot walk to do a poore man good onely we wagg our tongues saying alack poore man God help thee and I am sorry I can do thee no good c. call you this love no it deserves not the name love is a stirring affection Dost thou indeed love a good man it will both move thy lips water thy eyes and set feet also a walking to do him good Secondly See here again the love people ought to bear to those that are the dispensers of the mysteries of God they that wept so abundantly before we must think they did it much more now The word as I noted signifies the pain of a woman in her travell they had all this while been in travell with Paul and are now come to send him forth and to be delivered of him with sorrow now therefore their pangs were greatest They follow him to the ship as men follow the bere when they bury their friends Paul was now as a dead man never to be seen more of them therefore now sure their tears flowed they wept and as Christ said of Maries anointing his feet they did it for his buriall they wept before Mat. 26.12 Quae verba cum audiisset multo quam antea magis illachrymans c. Chrys de sacerd Act. 21.1 2 Cor. 11.26 they did not give over now at the ship now they begin afresh one sea runs into another a sea of tears into a sea of waters as the Israelites mingled their tears with the waters of Babylon so here a river of tears gliding through their eyes takes its course and runs into the sea of Miletus they bring him to the ship and there testifie their love with new embraces so that well doth the Evangelist say in the next verse When we were gotten from them much ado it seems he had to get from them they would have kept him still had he not broken from them by a kind of violence * Psal 56.9 Migrationes meas vel fugas meas c. quasi dicat Tu scis domine quod multis annis sum vagus homo profugus nec usquam datur mihi quies vid. Vatabl. in locum When we were gotten from them we lanched forth So that by all this you see what affection people ought to bear to those whome God hath set over them Love to Gods Ministers when it takes in the hearts of a people is without bounds without limits Thirdly you may hence likewise take occasion to consider the mutable estate of the Saints in this life they bring him to the sea set him a ship-board and there leave him he lanches into the deep and they return home with sorrow to their houses Psal 102.6.109.23 he is now entring into his perils by sea and they are as much distrest at land Such is the estate of Gods children here full of miseries full of changes sometimes their estates sink sometimes friends somtimes their teachers are taken from them thus like waves of the him-sea one affliction comes upon the neck of another David saith Thou tellest my flittings * David cum subinde mutaret latebras comparat se aviculae hinc inde volitanti oberranti cui nusquam nidulari conceditur Bucol chron 425. 1 Cor. 4.11 or wandrings and compares himself to a Pelican of the wildernesse to the Locust or Grashopper the Grashopper wanders and hops from grasse to grasse from flower to flower so do we in this world shift and remove from place to place and have here no certain dwelling place we never continue in one stay nor find any rest here till we arrive at the haven of happinesse They accompanied him to the ship We have now set Paul to Ship and our selves a shore I am come to the end of my Text I have done with that Onely give me leave by way of generall Application to commend to you two or three duties such as I conceive are both proper to the matter that hath been delivered and the present occasion The title of the 45. Psalme is A Song of loves so might the title of this Text be which I have opened a Text of love for therein you have seen Pauls love to his Ephesians and the return of their love to him The first duty therefore I would commend to you is this of Love but such a love as my Text commends that is operative When you look upon the Ephesians you see that their lips eyes feet spake nothing but love So that devout Mary Magdalen our Saviour saith of her That she loved much but how did it appear if it were the same Mary spoken of afterwards every member almost of her body shewed it her eyes in weeping feet in carrying her so early to the Sepulchre to seek him whom her soul loved her
tongue saying They have taken away my Lord and how can we think we love Christ or our brethren if neither our feet eyes nor tongues expresse it Object Oh but we have it we say in our hearts what and never let it come forth nor walk abroad Answ It cannot be It s against the nature of love No affection sends us more abroad puts us more upon action then this of love Let us then as these Ephesians and Mary make both our tongues our eyes our feet and our hands also witnesses of our love our tongues in warning reproving comforting our eyes in weeping in secret for the sins of others and for the miseries of Gods people if this heavenly fire of love be once kindled in our hearts our eyes as Limbecks will be sometimes dropping and distilling tears Again our feet in carrying us to the house of God Our feet saith David shall stand there Psal 122.2 and in carrying us to the beds of the sick to visit them and lastly our hands in giving to the necessities of the Saints This love of the hand I would especially commend to you that are rich and have wherewithall to do good God loved the world and gave his son think of that Joh. 3.16 his love was a giving love so should yours be remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said It is more blessed to give then to receive they are the words immediately preceding my Text for the former binds others to us by the latter we become bound and obliged Vid. Combis compend theo p. 444. the former is a mans own virtuous act and the former goes away with a reward from God therefore more blessed I beseech you therefore suffer this word of exhortation be ready to distribute willing to communicate so shall you make to your selves a glorious way to heaven He that hath so oft stood and spoken to you out of this place were he now here to speak and take his leave what duty would he rather commend to you then this Cranmer a Martyr in Queen Maries dayes as he stood upon a Scaffold in Pauls immediately before he went to the stake to be burnt commended three sentences of Gods word to the rich Citizens that were about him the first was this Luk. 18.24 How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdome of God! a hard saying saith he but he that spake it is the God of truth The second Who so hath this worlds good and seeth his brother in want 1 Joh. 3.17 and shutteth his bowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him And the third sentence was Jam. 5.1 Go to now ye rich men weep and howle for the miseries that shall come upon you This was all his farwell-Sermon to desire them to think of these Textes when he was gone So the Apostle Paul here parting with the Ephesians leaves this memento behind him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vers 33. support the weake remember the poore and mark how he brings it in I have shewed you all things how that ye ought to do thus that is to remember the poore and to support or shore up the weak He tells them he had shewed them all things yet mentions but one thing charity to the poore for that indeed is instar omnium the end of all our preaching and the end of all your hearing too charity is the summe and perfection of all I have stayed the longer upon this being so necessary a duty and the Text I have opened gave just occasion to mind you of it I will be briefer in the rest My second request therefore is you would carefully retain and keep in memory whatsoever good instructions and lessons have been delivered by your late Pastour as John to the Church of Thyatira That which yee have already hold fast Rev. 2.25 great pains hath been taked amongst you let it not be like water spilt on the ground Blessed saith Christ are such as hear the word and keep it Luc. 11.28 not they that onely hear but they that hear and keep you have oft heard the word from his mouth now therefore hold it fast keep it The seed hath been sown amongst you now the Lord water it with the dew of his grace that it may grow and be fruitfull Thirdly you have heard how full of changes this life is we must part and leave one another the Ephesians Paul and Paul his Ephesians and after a short time all of us leave this world Oh therefore let our hearts be where our treasure is where no change of weather shall alter us Ego ipse dum loquor mutari ista mutatus sum c. Senec epist 330. here are changes without and changes within we are not the same in our age that we were in our youth nor to day what we were two or three dayes agoe Joh. 14.2 Heb. 12.28 here we remove from place to place above are mansions A kingdome that cannot be shaken Fourthly and finally lest any that now hears me should be too much affected with grief by reason of this weeping discourse I will add one meditation that may help to sweeten these bitter waters Our friends are taken away from us never shall we see them more in this world in heaven it s to be hoped we shall these faces which disappear and vanish from us now we shall recover the sight of them hereafter Ministers and people shall then exult and rejoyce together Paul saith of the Thessalonians whom he had won to God and who were a comfort to him in his life 1 Thes 2.19 that at the presence of Christ at his coming they should be his glory and joy and crown of rejoycing that is he should take far more comfort in them then ever he had done in this world The like he saith of the Corinthians We are your rejoycing 1 Cor. 1.4 and ye ours in the day of the Lord Jesus Think of it beloved think what a happy meeting and what a happy greeting it will be when Ministers and people shall come together and greet one another in this manner we are your rejoycing and yee ours Isa 8.18 When Ministers shall say Here am I Lord and the people whom thou hast given me and they shall answer Here are we Lord and he to whom thou hast given us by whom thou hast converted us When Ministers shall turn and speak thus to their converts Ye are our glory and our joy and they shall reply and say and ye have been our faithfull guides that have brought us into these joyes Then there shall be no taking ship or horse to part any more but we shall continue together enjoying a heavenly communion one with another and following the Lamb wheresoever he goeth FINIS