eare-pleasing Madrigals and Fancies but the strong and loud voice of Cryers to call all men into the Court and summon them to the barre of Christs judgement hee that promiseth his Apostles and their successors to give them a b Luk. 21.15 I will give you a mouth c. mouth hath given mee at this time both the mouth and the Motto the Motto of the embleme viz. the words of my text Zelus domus tuae devoravit me In the uttering whereof if ever now I need to pray that the Lord would c Esay 6.7 touch my tongue with a coale from his altar with a coale that I may speake warmely of zeale with a coale from the altar that I may discourse holily of his Temple Saint d Homil. 3. Utinam daretur mihi de superno altare non carbo unus sed globus igneus offeratur qui multam inveteratam rubiginem possit excoquere Bernard made the like prayer upon the like occasion O saith hee that there were given unto mee from the altar above not one coale but rather a fiery globe a heape of coales to scorch the abuses of the time and burne out the inveterate rust of vitious customes By the light of these coales you may behold in this Scripture 1 In David as the type Christ 2 In Christ as the mirrour of perfection zeale 3 In zeale as a fire 1 The flame 2 The fuel The flame vehement consuming or devouring devoravit The fuel sacred me mee No divine vertues or graces like to Christs affection No affection in him like to his zeale No zeale like to that which hee bare or rather wherewith hee was transported to his Fathers house which even eat him up and may deservedly take up this golden moment of our most pretious time May it please you therefore Right c. to suffer your religious eares to bee bored at this present with these sacred nayles or points which I humbly pray the holy Spirit to fasten in your hearts 1 The vertue or affection it selfe zeale 2 The object of this affection thy house 3 The effect of this object hath eaten up 4 The subject of this effect mee 1 In figure David 2 In truth Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and who is sufficient for these things or able worthily to treat of 1 An affection most ardent zeale 2 A place most sacred thine house 3 An effect most powerfull hath eaten up 4 A person most divine mee Zeale is derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to burne or hizze as water cast on metall melted and it signifieth a hot or burning desire an ardent affection and sometimes it is taken 1 For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or emulation which is a commendable desire of attaining unto anothers vertue or fame 2 For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 envie which is a vitious affection repining at anothers fame or fortune 3 For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jealousie which is an irkesome passion arising from love wronged at least in opinion And no other fire wee finde on natures forge or the Philosophers hearth but on Gods altar there burneth another manner of fire fed with pure fuell which like a waxe light or taper yeeldeth both a cleare flame and a sweet fume and this is holy zeale All things that are cast into the fire make a smell but the burning of sweet odors onely makes a perfume so the hot and fervent 1 Desire of 2 Intention in 3 Affection to the best things onely is zeale Fire is the noblest of all the elements and seated next to the heavens so zeale sparkling in the soule is the chiefe and most heavenly of all spirituall affections Some define it to bee the fervour intention excellency or improvement of them all Heat 1 In e Rom. 12.11 Ferâ—ent in spirit devotion if it exceed becommeth zeale 2 In f Col. 4.13 affection if it be improved groweth to be zeale 3 In g 1 Cor. 14.12 desire of spirituall gifts if it bee ardent is zeale 4 In h 1 Cor. 7.11 indignation or revenge of our selves if it bee vehement is called by the Apostle zeale Fervent devotion ardent love earnest desire vehement indignation all are zeale or rather are all zeale for there is a 1 Zeale of good things which maketh us zealous of Gods gifts 2 Zeale in good things which maketh us zealous in Gods service 3 Zeale for good things which maketh us zealous for Gods glory And answerable to the three operations of fire which are to heat to burne to consume 1 The first heateth us by kindling a desire of grace 2 The second burneth by enflaming our hearts with the love of God 3 The third consumeth by drying up the heart absuming the spirits with griefe and hazzarding our persons and estates in removing scandals and reforming abuses and profanations of God his name house or worship as also revenging wrongs done to his houshold and servants In summe zeale is a divine grace grounded upon the knowledge of Gods word which according to the direction of spirituall wisedome quickeneth and enflameth all the desires and affections of the soule in the right worship of the true God and vehemently and constantly stirreth them up to the preserving advancing and vindicating his honour by all lawfull meanes within the compasse of our calling Rectum sui est judex obliqui If you set a streight line or rule to a crooked figure or body it will discover all the obliquities in it Hang up an artificiall patterne by an unskilfull draught and it will shew all the disproportions and deformities in it Wherefore Aristotle giveth this for a certaine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or character of a true definition to notifie and discover all the errors that are or may be devised about the nature of the thing defined which are in this present subject wee treat of sundry and manifold For as when there is publicke notice given of a ring found with a rich stone set in it every one almost that ever was owner of a ring like unto it especially if his owne bee lost challengeth it for his so all in whose temper affections or actions any naturall or spirituall divine or diabolicall heavenly earthly or hellish fire gloweth challengeth the pretious coale or carbuncle of zeale to bee theirs The Cholericke and furious the quarrelsome and contentious the malicious and envious the jealous and suspicious the Idolatrous and superstitious the indiscreet and preposterous the proud selfe-admirer the sacrilegious Church-robber the presumptuous and exorbitant zealot nay the seditious boutefieu and incendiary all pretend to zeale But all these claimers and many more besides are disproved and disclaimed by the true definition of zeale which is first a grace and that distinct from other not more graces or a compound of love and anger as some teach or of love and indignation as others for the graces of the spirit and vertues of the minde are incoincident As
where divers candles or torches in a roome concurre to enlighten the place the light of them remaineth impermixt as the Optickes demonstrate by their severall shadowes so all the divine graces conjoyne their lustre and vertue to adorne and beautifie the inward man yet their nature remaines distinct as their speciall effects make it evident to a single and sharp-sighted eye God was in the bush that burned and consumed not yet God was not the bush The holy Ghost was in the fiery cloven tongues yet the holy Ghost was not the tongues The spirits runne along in the arteries with the purer and refined blood yet the spirits are not the blood The fire insinuateth it selfe into all the parts of melted metall and to the eye nothing appeareth but a torrent of fire yet the fire is not the metall in like manner zeale shineth and flameth in devotion love godly jealousie indignation and other sanctified desires and affections it enflameth them as fire doth metall it stirreth and quickeneth them as the spirits doe the blood yet zeale is not those passions neither are all or any of them zeale howsoever the schooles rather out of zeale of knowledge than knowledge of zeale have determined the contrary 2 Secondly zeale is defined to bee not a morall vertue but a divine gift or grace of the Spirit the Spirit of God is the efficient cause and the Spirit of man is the subject which the Apostle intimates in that phrase i Rom. 12.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being fervent or zealous in Spirit This fire like that of the Vestals is kindled from heaven by the beames of the Sunne of righteousnesse not from any kitchen on earth much lesse from hell They therefore qui irae suae stimulum zelum putant they who imagine the flashes of naturall choler are flames of spirituall zeale toto coelo errant are as farre from the marke as heaven is distant from the earth No naturall or morall temper much lesse any unnaturall and vitious distemper can commend us or our best actions to God and men as zeale doth The fire of zeale like the fire that consumed Solomons sacrifice commeth downe from heaven and true zealots are not those Salamanders or Pyrausts that alwayes live in the fire of hatred and contention but Seraphims burning with the spirituall fire of divine love who as Saint Bernard well noteth kept their ranke and station in heaven when the other Angels of Lucifers band that have their names from light fell from theirs Lucifer cecidit Seraphim stant to teach us that zeale is a more excellent grace than knowledge even in Angels that excell in both Howbeit though zeale as farre surpasse knowledge as the sunne-beame doth a glow-worme yet zeale must not be without knowledge Wherefore God commandeth the Priest when hee k Exod. 30.8 lighteth the lamps to burne incense though the fire bee quicke and the incense sweet yet God accepteth not of the burning it to him in the darke The Jewes had a zeale as the l Rom. 10.2 Apostle acknowledgeth and the Apostle himselfe before his conversion yet because it wanted knowledge it did them and the Church of God great hurt No man can bee ignorant of the direfull effects of blind zeale when an unskilfull Phaeton takes upon him to drive the chariot of the sunne hee sets the whole world in a combustion What a mettled horse is without a bridle or a hot-spurred rider without an eye or a ship in a high winde and swelling saile without a rudder that is zeale without knowledge which is like the eye in the rider to choose the way or like the bridle in the hand to moderate the pace or like the rudder in the ship to steere safely the course thereof Saint m Inser 22. in Cant. Bernard hits full on this point Discretion without zeale is slow paced and zeale without discretion is heady let therefore zeale spurre on discretion and discretion reyne zeale fervor discretionem erigat discretio fervorem regat Discretion must guide zeale as it is guided by spirituall wisedome not worldly policy and therefore Thirdly I adde in the definition of zeale that it quickeneth and enflameth all our holy desires and affections according to the direction of spirituall wisdome For wisdome must prescribe zeale when and where and how far and in what order to proceede in reforming all abuses in Church and State and performing all duties of religious piety and eminent charity What Isocrates spake sometime of valour or strength is as true of zeale viz. n Isoc ad Dem. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. that zeale and resolution with wisedome doth much good but without it doth much mischiefe to our selves and others like granadoes and other fire-works which if they be not well looked to and ordered when they breake do more hurt to them that cast them than to the enemie Yet that we be not deceived in mistaking worldly policy for wisdome I adde spirituall to difference it from carnall morall or civill wisedome for they are too great coolers they will never let zeale exceed the middle temper of that * Vibius Statesman in Tiberius Court who was noted to bee a wise and grave Counseller of a faire carriage and untainted reputation but hee would o Juven sat 4. Ille igitur nunquam direxit brachia contra torrentem never strike a stroake against the streame hee would never owne any mans quarrell hee would bee sure to save one Such is the worldly wise man hee will move no stone though never so needfull to bee removed if hee apprehend the least feare that any part of the wall will fall upon himselfe The p Cic. de orat l. 1. Tempus omne post consulatum objecimus iis fluctibus qui per nos à communi peste depulsi in nosmetipsos redundarunt Romane Consul and incomparable Oratour shall bee no president for him who imployed all his force and strength to keepe off those waves from the great vessel of the State which rebounded backe againe and had neere drowned the cocke-boate of his private fortune Hee will never ingage himselfe so farre in any hot service no not though Gods honour and the safety of the Church lye at stake but that he will be sure to come off without hazzard of his life or estate Hee hath his conscience in that awe that it shall not clamour against him for not stickling in any businesse that may peradventure reflect upon his state honour or security In a word peradventure he may bee brought with much adoe to doe something for God but never to suffer any thing for him This luke-warme Laodicean disposition the lesse offensive it is to men the more odious it is to God who is a jealous God and affecteth none but those that are zealous for his glory he loveth none but those that will bee content to expose themselves to the hatred of all men for his names sake Hee q
worse may be is the case of Christs Spouse the true Inheritrix of his Crosse which he bequeathed her at his death having indeed little else to leave her for his soule he was to surrender to God his Father his body Joseph of Arimathea begged of Pilat his cloathes the souldiers parted among them onely his crosse and nailes and crowne of thornes remained to dispose of for his dearest Spouse which she continually beareth about with her and in this vision carried with her into the wildernesse whither she fled to save her life And the woman Fled This picture might have beene taken of the Church as she fled from Pharaoh into the wildernesse or as she fled into Egypt from Herod or as she fled into all parts of the earth in the time of the ten first persecutions from heathen Emperors or in the succeeding ages from the Arrian Emperours and last of all from Antichrist and his instruments in all which her trialls and troubles she gained more than she lost For as Justine Martyr rightly observed t Just apolog Id est persecutio Ecclesiae quod vineae putatio persecution is that to the Church which pruning is to the vine whereby it is made more fruitfull with whom Tertullian accordeth thus jearing at the Gentiles who made full account by their barbarous cruelty to exhaust the whole Church and extinguish the name of Christians u Tert. apolog c. ult Nequicquam tamen proficit exquisita quaeque crudelitas vestra illecebra est magis sectae plures esficimur quoties metimur a vobis semen est sanguis Christianorum What gaine you by your exquisite crueltie and studied torments which you inflict upon us they are no scarre-crowes to fright but rather baites and lures to draw men to our profession we ever grow faster and thicker after we are mowed by you the shedding the bloud of Christians is the sowing the seed of the Gospell And St. Leo x I eoserm 1. in nat Petri Pauli Non minuitur persecutionibus Ecclesia Dei sed augetur magis ager Dominicus segete ditiore vestitur dum grana quae singula cadunt multiplicata nascuntur The Church of God is not diminished by persecutions but increased rather the Lords field is cloathed with a richer crop whilest the seed or graines which fall one by one after they are dead in the earth rise up againe in great numbers Moreover whilest in the chief Cities those who are called by God to depose for his truth win many thousands to the Christian faith other servants of Christ to whom he hath vouchsafed meanes to escape by dispersing themselves into all parts of the world propagate the doctrine of the Gospell and plant new Churches Upon this flight of the woman in my text many of the learned Interpreters take occasion to handle that great case of conscience whether it be lawfull to fly in time of persecution or whether all zealous Christians are not bound to stand to their tackling and strive for the truth even to the effusion of their bloud y Aug. l. 22. de civ Dei c. 7. Pullulatura foecunditis cum in sanguine Martyâ—um seretur y Tert. infug in erscâ—ut Tertullian in his booke professedly written of this subject is altogether against flight grounding his judgement upon the words of our Saviour John 10.11 c. I am the good shepheard the good shepheard giveth his life for the sheepe But he that is an hireling and not the shepheard whose owne the sheep are not seeth the Wolfe comming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth the hireling flyeth because he is an hireling c. And Marke 8.35 38. Whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospels the same shall save it Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of mee and of my words in this adulterous and sinfull generation of him also shall the sonne of man be ashamed when he commeth in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels But Saint Austin and others allow of flight in some case and they bring very good warrant for it Christs expresse command Matth. 10.23 When they persecute you in this city flee into another And Matth. 24.15 16. When you see the abomination of desolation stand in the holy place then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountaines And to the end we should count it no shame to flye in this case they bring noble presidents for it and shew us the footsteps in Scripture of Jacob when he fled from Esau and Moses when hee fled from Pharaoh and Eliah when hee fled from Ahab and Jezabel and David when hee fled from Saul and Joseph and Mary when they fled from Herod They adde also that by this flight of many in time of persecution the Church reapeth a double benefit first hereby many worthy Doctors and eminent Professours reserve themselves for better times next they in their flight scatter the seeds of the Gospel whereby the great Husbandman gathereth a plentifull crop If the Apostles had not been scattered by the persecution of Herod and the primitive Christians by the persecutions of the Heathen Emperours and the true Professours in later times by the persecution of Antichrist many countries in all likelihood had not been sowen with the pure seed of the Word The resolution of this question may be taken from my Text in such a case as the womans was here we may flie that is when there is no safety in staying and God offereth us Eagles wings that is a faire and certaine meanes to escape danger Yea but Christian courage will rise up against this and object Is not Martyrdome a garland of red Roses is not the bloud of Saints the best watering of Gods field can wee shew more love to Christ than to signe the Gospell with our bloud will you perswade Christian souldiers to flye from their colours nay from their crowne God forbid I answer all are not appointed by God to bee Martyrs nor qualified for so noble and eminent service To a Martyr two things are required 1. A speciall calling 2. An extraordinary spirit Even in our Courts of justice a witnes that offereth himself is not accepted he must be brought in by order of law neither will Christ have any depose for him that are not called to it whom he calleth he endueth them with an heroicke spirit and armeth them with faith and patience like armour of proofe into which the fiery darts of the wicked cannot enter Every sincere beleever hath not a spirit of fortitude given him to conquer the violence of fire and dull the edge of the sharpest swords and weary all tortures and torments Moreover God like a provident Husbandman though he send much corne to the Mill to be ground as Ignatius and others that they might be served in as fine manchet at his owne table yet he reserveth alwayes some corne for seed I meane
mistaking of any other man should not take off the edge of our desires to gaine an invaluable jewell but whet our diligence the more to observe more accurately the notes of difference betweene the true and counterfeit stone upon which I shall touch anon after I have convinced our Romish sceptickes by evidence from the nature of faith the profession of Gods Saints the testimony of the Spirit and undeniable signes and effects that all that are called by the word effectually have this white stone in my text given unto them whereby they are assured of their present estate of grace and future of glory Doct. 1 The faith of Gods e Tit. 1.1 Elect is not a bare assent to supernaturall verities revealed in Scripture which may bee in a Reprobate and is in the f Jam. 2.19 Devils themselves Thou beleevest there is one God thou doest well the Devils also beleeve and tremble but a divine grace whereby being fully assured of Gods favour to us wee trust him with our soules and wholly rely on him for salvation through the merits of his sonne The sure promises of the Gospell are like a strong cable let downe to a man in a deepe pit or dungeon on which hee doth not onely lay hand by faith but hangeth and resteth himselfe upon it and thereby is drawne out of darkenesse to see and possesse the inheritance of the Saints in light To beleeve the communion of Saints is not onely to bee perswaded that there is a communion of Saints in the world remission of sinnes in the Church resurrection of the flesh at the last day and life everlasting in heaven but to bee assured by faith that wee have an interest in this communion benefit by this remission and shall partake the glory of this resurrection and the happinesse of life everlasting They who had beene stung by fiery serpents and were healed by looking upon the brazen serpent did not onely beleeve that it had cured many but that it would cure them Here the Logicians rule holdeth Medicina curat Socratem non hominem physicke is not given to mans nature to cure the species but to every man in individuo to heale his person and to every sicke soule that applieth unto it selfe the promises of the Gospell Christ saith g Mat. 9.22.29 Bee it unto thee as thou beleevest thy faith hath made thee whole goe in peace Hereupon Saint h Fides dicit aeternabona reposita sunt spes dicit mihi teposita sunt charitas dicit ego curro post ea Bernard bringeth in the three divine graces Faith Hope and Charity singing as it were a catch and taking the word one from another Faith beginneth saying everlasting treasures are layd up in heaven Hope followeth saying they are layd up for mee Charity concludeth I will seeke after them And verily no man by a generall Romish credulity but by a speciall faith in Christ can say with Job My redeemer with David My salvation with the Spouse My beloved with the blessed Virgin My Saviour with Thomas My Lord and my God much lesse can hee warrant these possessives with a scio i Job 19.25.26.27 I know that my Redeemer liveth and that I shall see him stand up at the last day upon the earth and though after my skinne wormes destroy this body yet in my flesh I shall see God whom I shall see for my selfe And k Psal 45.11.12 I know that thou favourest me thou upholdest mee in my integrity and fettest me before thy face for ever And l Rom. 8.28 Wee know that all things worke for the best to them that love God We know that when m 2 Cor. 5.1 our earthly tabernacle is dissolved wee shall have an eternall in the heavens n 1 Joh. 2.5 Wee know that wee are translated from death to life because we love the brethren Opinion and science a conjecturall hope and an assured beliefe as much differ as a shaken reed and a well growne oake which no winde can stirre To know any thing saith o L. 1 posterior c. 2. Scire est causam rei cognoscere quod illius causa sit quod res illa aliter se habere non posset Aristotle is to know the cause and that this cause is the cause of such an effect and that the thing it selfe cannot bee otherwise than wee conceive of it in which regard the Greeke Etymologist deriveth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because opinion waggeth and inclineth the mind by probabilities on both sides but science fasteneth it and maketh it stand unmoveable With these texts of scripture attributing knowledge of salvation to all beleevers our Trent Merchants are manifestly gravelled and sticke in the mud yet they endevour to boye up their sunke vessell by a distinction of a double knowledge 1 By common faith 2 By speciall revelation They yeeld that some who have been admitted to Gods privie Councell by speciall revelation have been assured of their crowne of glory but they will by no meanes grant that beleevers can attain to this certainty by their common faith yet such is the clearnesse of the texts above alledged for the point in question that they easily like the beames of the sunne breake through this popish mist For Job speaketh not of any speciall secret revealed unto him but of the common article of all our faith concerning the resurrection of the flesh I know that my Redeemer liveth and hee shall stand up and I shall see him with these eyes And what David speaketh of his knowledge of Gods favour and stedfast beliefe of his future happinesse p Ad Monim l. 1. â—ustus ex fide vivens fiducialiter dicit credo videre bona domini in terra viventium Fulgentius applyeth to every beleever The just man living by faith speaketh confidently I beleeve that I shall see the goodnesse of the Lord in the land of the living And S. John ascribeth this knowledge not to any singular revelation but to charity the common effect of faith We know that we are passed from death to life because we love the brethren whereupon S. q Tract 5. in ep Joh. Nemo interroget hominem redeat ad cor suum si ibi invenerit charitatem securus sit quia transiit à morte ad vitam Austin giveth this sage advice Let no man enquire of man let him have recourse to his owne heart if he find there charity let him rest assured that he is passed from death to life And S. Paul joyneth all the faithfull with him saying We know that all things worke for the best to them that love God and There is layd up a crown of righteousnesse which the righteous Judge shall give mee at that day and not to mee onely but to all them also that love his appearing In like manner Saint r Ep. ex regist l. 6. Hac fulti certitudine de ejusdem redemptoris nostri misericordiá nihil ambigere
And by o Luk. 1.68 69 74. Zachary in his Hymne Blessed be the Lord God of Israel which hath visited and redeemed his people And hath raised up an horne of salvation for us in the house of his servant David That we being delivered from the hands of our enemies might serve him without feare And by St. Paul p Rom. 8.15 Ye have not received the Spirit of bondage againe to feare And by q Luke 12.32 Christ himselfe Feare not little flocke for it is your Fathers pleasure to give you the kingdome This latter feare because it excludeth confidence in God is excluded it selfe but the former not onely standeth with certainty of perseverance in grace but mightily supporteth it For even for this end God promiseth to put that feare in the hearts of all true believers that r Jer. 32.40 they may not fall away from him Whereupon Tertullian acutely inferreth playing upon the double sense of the Latine word securus * De cult Jerâ—n Qui secutus est non est solicitus qui est solicitus potest esse secutus Hee that is secure that is carelesse of the meanes of his salvation is not solicitous or watchfull but hee that is solicitous or watchfull may bee secure that is free from all feare of unavoidable danger The last objection which our adversaries make against the doctrine delivered is taken out of the worme-eaten evidence of the ancient Pelagians as wee may see in Saint Å¿ Ep. ad August Dicunt lapsis curam resurgendi adunt sanctis occasionem teporis offerri eo quod electi nulla negligentiâ possint excidere Hage conference p. 12. c. Prosper They viz. the Pelagians upbraid that all care of rising out of sinne is taken away from those that are lapsed that to holy men is ministred an occasion of slacknesse in their devotion or lukewarmnesse inasmuch as the Elect according to our doctrine cannot fall away by any negligence howsoever they behave themselves that consequently this doctrine taketh away all praiers obsecrations obtestations exercise of mortification care of the means of renewing our covenant with God and watchfulnesse over all our wayes But wee answer with the ancient t Aug. de correp grat Prosp resp ad obâ—ect Vincent Fathers that the certainty of the end no way derogateth from the necessity of the means of salvation which on Gods part are admonitions threatnings promises commands counsels punishments and rewards on our part continuall prayer watchfulnesse progresse in godlinesse unfained desire of and earnest striving for perfection After Christ prayed for S. Peters faith that u Luk. 22.32 I have prayed for thee that thy faith faile not it might not faile Peter was assured of his perseverance yet Christ commandeth him with the rest * Mar. 14.37.38 Christ saith to Peter Simon sleepest thou couldst not thou watch with mee one houre watch pray lest yee enter into temptation to watch and pray lest they enter into temptation watchfulnesse therefore and assurance are not incompatible None ever had greater assurance of their salvation than the Apostles after Christ cheared their hearts x Luk. 10.20 In this rejoice not that spirits are subject unto you but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven yet our Saviour admonisheth them to y Luk. 12.35 stand with their loynes girt about and their lights burning and to take heed to themselves z Lâ—k 21.34 lest at any time their hearts be overcharged with surfetting and drunkennesse and cares of this life and so that day come upon them at unawares Questionlesse after Christ had given to Saint * Act. 27.24 Paul the life of all them that were in the ship with him hee was assured of their safe arrivall yet when the shipmen were about to flye out of the ship under colour as though they would have cast anchor Paul said to the Centurion and to the souldiers except these abide in the ship you cannot bee saved None may otherwise receive or apply to themselves the promises of grace and remission of sinnes than they are tendred to them in holy Scripture but in them they are propounded unto all upon condition of repentance faith holinesse of life new obedience and perseverance in it to the end To beleeve therefore the remission of sinnes and to bee assured of Gods favour notwithstanding wee hold on our sinfull courses is not spirituall confidence but carnall presumption Assurance of salvation is an effect of a lively faith which a Gal. 5.6 worketh by love and consequently all that have it the more they are assured of Gods love to them in Christ the more their hearts are enflamed with love towards God and their neighbour also for Gods sake the more zealous they will bee of his glory the more thankefull for his mercy the more desirous to please him the more fearfull to offend him the more carefull to obey him the more wounded with godly sorrow for their incurring his displeasure and the more ready to turne unto him by unfained repentance Admit what they so much clamour against us for that the adopted sonnes of God are in no feare or distrust that their heavenly Father will disinherite them yet neither may they nor can they presume hereupon wilfully to provoke him because they know that hee hath many sharpe roddes to chasten them with besides as temporall plagues painefull sicknesse irrecoverable losses terrours of conscience and spirituall desertion To conclude the certainty of our beliefe that wee shall undoubtedly arrive at the celestiall Canaan is no reason why we should flacke but rather mend our pace thither Thus having wiped out the spots and blots which the ancient and latter Pelagians have fast upon the white stone we shall more easily be able to discerne the characters engraven in it and read The new name Wee receive many new things from our Saviour 1 A b Mat. 26.28 new Testament signed with his blood 2 In this new Testament a new c Heb. 8.8 Covenant 3 In this new Covenant a new d Joh. 13.34 Commandement 4 To obey this new Commandement a new e Ezek. 36.26 heart 5 And answerable to this new Heart new f Mar. 16.17 Tongues 6 And consonant to these new Tongues new g Apoc. 14.3 Songs Behold h Apoc. 21.5 I make all things new a new i 2 Pet. 3.13 heaven and a new earth and a new k Apoc. 21.2 city and in it new l Eph. 4.24 inhabitants to whom the Spirit here promiseth a m 2 Cor. 5.17 new name upon which the Interpreters have many new conceits Alcazar the Jesuite whose profound head the Pope lately graced with a Cardinals hat in his prolixe commentaries upon the Apocalyps falling upon the words of my text will needs have this new name to be some derivative from Jesus as Jesuitae or Jesuati or the like For this name Jesus as out
even as a good Carpenter in stead of a rotten groundsill layes a sound The same trust then must we give to God which we must not give to riches him must we esteeme above all things looke up to him in all things depend upon him for all things This is to trust in God which the Psalmist in his sweet dittie saith is a good thing good in respect of God for our trust in him is one of the best pieces of his glorie Joseph holds Potiphars trust a great honour 2. For us for what safety what unspeakable comfort is therein trusting to God Our Saviour in his farewell Sermon John 16. perswading to confidence saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word signifying boldnesse and what is there in all the world that can worke the heart to so comfortable and unconquerable resolution as our reposall upon God The Lord is my trust whom then can I feare They that put their trust in the Lord are as mount Sion that cannot be moved Oh cast your selves therefore into those almighty hands seeke him in whom you shall finde true rest and happinesse honour him with your substance that hath honoured you with it trust not in riches but trust in God Riches are but for this world the true God is Lord of the other therefore trust in him riches are uncertaine the true God is Amen ever like himselfe ergo trust in him riches are meere passive they cannot bestow so much as themselves much lesse ought besides themselves the true God gives you all things to enjoy riches are but a livelesse and senselesse metall God is The living God Life is an ancient and usuall title of God he for the most part sweares by it When Moses asked his name he described himselfe by I am He is he liveth and nothing is and nothing lives absolutely but he all other things by participation from him In all other things their life and they are two but God is his owne life and therefore as Aquinas acutely disputeth against the Gentiles must needs be eternall because beeing cannot be severed from it self Howbeit not only the life he hath in himselfe but the life which he giveth to his creatures challengeth a part in this title A glympse whereof the heathen had when they called Jupiter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Those creatures which have life we esteem beyond those that have it not how noble soever other waies those things be Therfore he that hath the perfectest life must needs be the best God therefore who is life it self fountain of all that life which is in the world is most worthy of all the adoration joy love and confidence of our hearts and the best improvement of that life which he hath given us Trust therefore in the living God not in riches that is idolatrie yea madnesse What greater madnesse can there be than to bestow that life which we have from God upon a creature that hath no life in it selfe nor price but from men Let me then perswade every soule that heares me this day as Jacob did his houshold Put away the strange gods that are among you or as St. Paul did his Lystrians O turne away from these vanities to the living God who gives us richly All things to enjoy Every word would require not a severall houre but a life to meditate upon and the tongues not of men but of Angels to expresse it God not onely hath all in himselfe but he gives to us and gives us not somewhat but all things and not a little of all but richly and all this not to looke on but to enjoy Here the Preacher said it should content him to top the sheaves onely because he could not stand to thresh them out it shall content me with the Apostles to rub some few eares because I cannot stand to top the sheaves Whither can you turne your eyes to looke besides the bounty of God If you looke upwards his mercie reacheth to the heavens if downewards the earth is full of his goodnesse and so is the broad sea if you looke about you what is it that he hath not given us aire to breathe in fire to warme us water to coole us cloathes to cover us food to nourish us fruits to refresh us yea delicates to please us beasts to serve us Angels to attend us heaven to receive us and which is above all his sonne to redeeme us Lastly if we looke into our selves hath he not given us a soule rarely furnished with the faculties of understanding will memorie and judgement a body wonderfully accommodated to execute the charge of the soule and an estate that yeelds due conveniencies for both moreover seasonable times peace competencie if not plentie of all commodities good lawes religious wise just Governours happie and flourishing dayes and above all the liberty of the Gospell More particularly cast up your Bookes O yee Citizens and summe up your receits I am deceived if he that hath least shall not confesse his obligation to be infinite There are three things especially wherein yee are beyond others and must acknowledge your selves deeper in the bookes of God than the rest of the world First for your deliverance from that wofull judgement ef the Pestilence O remember those sorrowfull times when every moneth swept away thousands from among you when a man could not set forth his foot but into the jawes of death when piles of carcasses were carried to their pits as dung to the fields when it was crueltie in the sicke to admit visitation and love was little better than murderous Secondly for your wonderfull plentie of all provisions spirituall and bodily Yee are like the Sea all the Rivers of the land runne into you nay sea and land conspire to enrich you Thirdly for the priviledge of your governement your charters as they are large and strong so your forme of administration is excellent and the execution of justice exemplarie For all these you have reason to aske with David Quid retribuam and to trust in God who hath beene so gracious unto you And thus from the duty we owe to God in our confidence and his beneficence to us we descend to the beneficence which we owe to men expressed in the varietie of foure epithetes to one sense To doe good to be rich in good workes ready to distribute willing to communicate all is but beneficence This heape of words shewes the vehement intention of his desire of good workes and the important necessitie of the performance and the manner of this expression enforceth no lesse Charge the rich c. Hearken then yee rich men of the world it is not left arbitrarie to you that you may doe good if you will but it is layd upon you as your charge and dutie the same necessity there is of trusting in God is of doing good to men Let me fling this stone at the brasen forehead of our Romish Adversaries whom their shamelesse challenges
what face doe I see this is none of my workmanship I never drew this feature Saint r Jerom. ep ad Furiam Quid facit in facie Christianae purpurissa cerussa fomenta libidinum impudicae mentis inditia quomodo flere potest pro peccatis suis quae lachrymis cutem nudat sulcos ducit in facie quâ fiduciâ erigat ad Deum vultus quos conditor non agnoscat Jerome takes the like up in his time as sharply What makes paint and complexion on the face of a Christian it is no other than the fire of youth the fuell of lust the evidence of an unchaste minde How can shee weep for her sinnes for feare of washing away her paint and making furrowes in her face How dare shee looke her Maker in the face who hath defaced his image in her selfe But because I see it will be to no purpose to draw this their sinne of painting in its proper colours before them for they cannot blush I therefore leave them and come to her in my Text Which calleth her selfe a Prophetesse As Novatus the Schismaticke ordained himselfe a Bishop so Jezebel the Nicolait annointed or rather painted her selfe a Prophetesse that by this meanes shee might teach more freely and perswade more powerfully The true Prophets of God received their name and calling from God and wonderfully confirmed the sincerity of their doctrine by the truth of their miracles and the truth of their miracles by the holinesse of their doctrine So many tongues as they spake with with so many testimonies so many miracles as they wrought with so many hands they signed and sealed their calling but deceivers and impostors grace themselves with high and strange titles and glorious names to bleare the eyes of the simple So Psaphon called himselfe and taught the birds to call him magnus deus ſ Run Comment in Aristot Rhet. MS. Psaphon great god Psaphon Theudas said he was some great one Simon Magus stiled himselfe the great power of God and gave it out among his scholars That hee delivered the Law to Moses in Mount Sinai in the person of God the Father and in the reigne of Tiberius appeared in the likenesse of the sonne of man and on the day of Pentecost came downe upon the Apostles in the similitude of cloven tongues Montanus arrogated to himself the title of Paracletus the comforter and to his three minions Priscilla Maximilla and Quintilla the name of Prophetesses * Manes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Manes bare himselfe as if hee were an Apostle immediately sent from Christ and his followers would be thought to be termed Manichei not from their mad master but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but because they poured manna out of their mouthes The great Seducer of the Jewes who in Theodosius time drew thousands after him into the sea and there drowned them perswaded his followers that he was Moses and the abomination of the Turkes Mahomet calleth himselfe Gods great Prophet t Plin. nat hist lib. 1. Inscriptionis apud Graecos mira foelicitas favus Cornucopia ut vel lactis gallinacei sperare possis haustu◠Musae Pandectae inscriptiones propter quas vadimonium deseri possit at cum intraveris dii deaeque quam nihil in medio invenies Pliny derideth the vanity of the Greekes in this kinde who usually set golden titles on leaden Treatises And Heretickes alwayes like Mountebankes set out their drugs with magnificent words Nestorius though he were a condemned Hereticke yet covered himselfe with the vaile of a true Professour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ebion though he held with the Samaritans yet would be held a Christian The Turkes at this day though it appeares out of all stories that they descended from Hagar yet assume to themselves the name of Saracens The Donatist Schismatickes impropriate to their conventicles the name of the true Church And no marvell that the Salmonian off-spring of Ignatius Loyola christen themselves Jesuits sith the Prince of darknesse not only usurpeth the name but also taketh upon him the forme of an u 2 Cor. 11.14 Angel of light It is a silly shift of a bankrupt disputant in the schooles to argue a vocibus ad res from the bare name of things to their nature and yet Bristow in his motives and Cardinall Bellarmine in his booke of the notes of the Church and other of the Pope his stoutest Champions fight against us with this festraw We are say they sirnamed Catholikes therefore we are so By this kind of argument Pope Alexander the sixt his incestuous daughter might prove her selfe to be a chaste matron because she was called Lucrece Lucrecia nomine sed re Thais Alexandri filia sponsa nurus And Philemon his theevish servant might prove himselfe to be honest because his name was Onesimus and the three Ptolomies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 profitabl◠whereof the first killed his Father and the second his Mother and the third his Brother might prove themselves to be full of naturall affection because the one was sirnamed 1 A lover of his Father Philopater the other 2 A lover of his Mother Philometor the third 3 A lover of his Brother Philodelphus Were mens names alwayes correspondent to their nature x Eras apoph in Philip. Philip of Macedon had lost a witty jest which he brake upon two brothers Hecaterus and Amphoterus thus inverting their names 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He whose name is either of the two deserveth to be called both because hee is worth both and he whose name is both shall be called neither because he is of no worth at all But to throw away foyles and come to the sharpe Will they thus argue in good earnest Protestants are called Sectaries or Schismatickes and Papists Catholikes therefore they are so Will they condemne the Primitive Christians for Atheists because the heathen usually so termed them in regard they had no faith in their gods Will they brand St. Paul for an Heretick or the Truth himself for a Seducer because ignorance and malice fastened these calumnies and blasphemies upon them Protestants are termed Heretickes by Papists and are not Papists also by Protestants what gaine then the Papists hereby Papists are termed Catholikes I would know by whom If by any Protestant they know well it is but by a Sarcasme or Ironie as Alexander was called a god by the Lacedaemonians Quoniam Alexander vult esse deus sit deus Yea but they are so stiled by all that adhere to the Church of Rome and were not the Arrians called Catholikes by Arrians the Nestorians Orthodoxe by Nestorians the Novatians the best Christians by Novatians the Donatists sole members of the Church by Donatists the most impure Sect of Anabaptists the Family of love by those of their owne cut If this argument may passe for currant Papists terme themselves Catholikes therefore they are so what exception can be taken against these and the like The
for but what he loveth A man may beleeve the truth and be a false man he may hope for good things and yet be exceeding bad himselfe but he cannot love the best things but he must needs be good he cannot affect grace if hee have not received some measure thereof he cannot highly esteeme of God and not be high in Gods esteeme As the love of the world maketh a man worldly and the love of the flesh fleshly so the love of the Spirit makes the children of God spirituall and the love of God partaker of the divine g 2 Pet. 1.4 nature for God is love Now saith Saint Paul that is in this life abideth h 1 Cor. 13.13 faith hope and charity but after this life of these three charity onely remaineth For when we have received the end of our faith which is the salvation of our soules and taken possession of the inheritance which we have so long expected by hope faith shall be swallowed up in vision and hope in fruition but then love shall be in greatest perfection Our trust is that we shall not alwayes walk by faith and our hope is that we shall one day hope no more we beleeve the end of faith and hope for the end of hope but love no end of our love but contrariwise desire that it may bee like the soveraigne object thereof that is eternall and infinite To leap over this large field at once and comprise all in one sentence concerning this vertue of which never enough can be said Love brought God from heaven to earth love bringeth men from earth to heaven In which regard it may not be unfitly compared to the ladder at the foot whereof i Gen. 28.12 Jacob slept sweetly and in his dreame saw Angels climbing up by it to heaven For upon it the religious soule of a devout Christian resteth and reposeth her selfe and by it in her thoughts and desires she ascendeth up to heaven as it were by foure steps or rounds which are the foure degrees of divine love 1. To love God for our selves 2. To love God for himselfe 3. To love God above all things 4. To love nothing but God or in a reference to him First to love God for our selves or our owne respect whereunto wee are induced by the consideration of his benefits and blessings bestowed upon us and continued unto us The second is to love God for himselfe whereunto wee are moved by the contemplation of the divine essence and his most amiable nature The third is to love God above all things whereunto we are enclined by observation of the difference between God and all things else The fourth is to love nothing but God that is to settle our affections and repose our desires and place our felicity wholly and solely in him To which highest round or step of divine love and top of Christian perfection we aspire by fixing our thoughts upon the all-sufficiency of God who hath in him infinite delights and contentments to satisfie all the appetites of the soule whereof the Kingly Prophet David was fully perswaded when lifting up his heart to God and his eyes to heaven he calleth God himselfe to witnesse that he desired no other happinesse than what he enjoyed in him saying Whom have I in heaven but thee These words may admit â—f a double construction 1 Either that David maketh God his sole refuge and trust 2 Or that he maketh him his chiefe joy and whole hearts delight For the first sense viz. Whom have I in heaven but thee for my refuge and strength of my confidence we are to know that in heaven and in earth there are other besides God in heaven the elect Angels and the spirits of k Heb. 12.23 just men made perfect in earth there are men and the creatures yet a religious soule reposeth no confidence in any of these First not in the creature in generall for it is l Rom. 8.20 subject to vanity not in riches for m 1 Tim. 6.17 they are uncertaine Charge the rich in this world that they trust not in uncertaine riches not in n Jer. 9.23 wisedome or strength or power nor in the favour of o Psal 146.3 Princes nor any childe of man for there is no helpe in them I will yet ascend higher even to heaven and to the Angels and soules there For whatsoever power or strength or helpe may be in them we may not put our trust in them 1 Not in the soules of Saints departed for they p Esay 63.16 take no notice of our affaires here neither have we any order to addresse our selves to them Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel acknowledgeth us not q 2 Kin. 22.20 Good Josiah seeth not the evill which befell his subjects after his death 2 Not in Angels for though they excell in strength and are ministring r Heb. 1.14 Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heires of salvation yet we have no charge to worship them or relie upon them for our salvation Nay wee are charged to the contrary both from God and from themselves from God Å¿ Mat. 4.10 Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serve and t Col. 2.18 Let no man beguile you in voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels and from themselves also u Apoc. 19.10 22.9 And I fell downe at the feet of the Angel that shewed me these things and he said unto me See thou doe it not I am thy fellow servant worship God For the second sense viz. Whom have I in heaven but thee for my chiefe joy and sole hearts delight we are to know that the faithfull soule is wedded to God and like a loyall Spouse casteth no part of her conjugall affection upon any but him Love she may whom he loveth and what he commandeth her to love for him and in him but not as him if she doth so shee becommeth Adultera Christo as St. Cyprian speaketh and may not be admitted to sing in Davids quire or at least not to bear a part in this Antheme Whom have I in heaven but thee O Lord No more than the life of the body can bee maintained without naturall heat and moisture can the life of grace be preserved in the soule without continuall supply of the moisture of penitent teares and a great measure of the heat of divine love wherewith we are to consume those spirituall sacrifices of prayer and praises which we are now and at all times to offer lifting up pure hands and hearts unto God To kindle this sacred fire I have brought you a live coale from the Altar of incense Davids heart sending up sweetest perfumes of most fragrant and savourie meditations This coale the best Interpreters ancient and later conspiring in their expositions blow after this manner St. u Hier. in hunc locum Neque in coelo neque in terrâ alium praeter
not to bee Gods instruments for their eternall as they have beene for their temporall life Doubtlesse z Pro. 1.8 Solomon who injoineth children to heare their fathers instruction and not to forsake the law of their mother because they shall be as an ornament of grace unto their head and chaines about their necke implieth in the duty of children to receive the duety of parents to give them such instructions and lawes What yeares fitter to lay the ground colour of vertue and true religion * Quint. instit orat l. 1. c. 1 Sapor quo nova imbuis diutissimè durat Horat. ep Quo semel est imbuta recens servabit odotem testa diu Naturâ tenacissimi sumus eorum quae rudibus annis imbibimus nec lanarum colores quibus simplex ille candor mutatus est elui possunt Quint. il than those which are the more capable thereof because as yet without any tincture at all when better forming the mould of the heart and affections than when it is softest and who rather to doe it than a father whose workmanship next after God the child is If it have any blemish or deformity of body bee it a scar in the face or stammering in the tongue or wrinesse in the necke or disproportion in any limbe what will not a tender hearted parent doe to take away such a blemish and rectifie such a distortion All children are borne with worser deformities in their soule than these imperfections are in their bodie and yet how few parents take them to heart Scarce one of an hundred attendeth upon Gods ordinance and useth the meanes therein prescribed to cure the naturall blindnesse of ignorance or to purge the dregges of concupiscence in them or to breake them of many ill customes and habites growing upon them If children stammer out good words or pronounce them lispingly their fathers and mothers are offended at it and rebuke them for it but if they speake plainly and distinctly their words though they bee never so rotten and unsavoury they make much of them for it Verba ne Alexandrinis quidem permittenda deliciis risu osculo excipiunt Hence it commeth to passe that they can speake ill before they can well speake and drinke-in many vices with their mothers milke and get such ill customes and habites which afterwards when they would they cannot leave because according to our true Proverbe That will never out of the flesh which is bread in the bone It would touch the quickest veines in the heart of a Christian Parent to heare what a grievous complaint divers children made against their fathers mothers in a Cyp. ser de lap Nos nihil fecimus nec derelicto cibo poculo Dei ad profanas contagiones sponte properavimus perdidit nos aliena perfidia parentes sensimus parricidas illi nobis Deum patrem ecclesiam matrē abnegarunt S. Cyprian his dayes Alas what have we done that wee are thus pitifully tormented The negligence or treachery or misguided zeale of our parents hath brought all this misery upon us wee perish through others default our fathers and mothers have proved our murderers they that gave us our naturall life bereaved us of a better by depriving us of the wholesome nourishment of the Word and giving us a scorpion in stead of fish they plunged us in the mire of all sensuall pleasures when they should have dipped us in the sacred Laver of regeneration they kept us from God our Father and the Church our Mother But I will not longer insist upon this observation because as I conceive the Spirit useth this speech not so much to set an edge upon our religious care diligence as give a backe to our patience only I propose Monica the mother of S. Austin as a pattern to all parents b Aug. confes l. 1. c. 11. Illa magis satagebat ut tu mihi pater esses quam ille conturbata erat propter baptismi dilationem quoniam sempiternam salutem meam chariùs parturiebat Shee endured saith hee greater sorrow and was longer in travell for my second birth than my first and much more rejoiced at it shee continued her fervent prayers day and night with sighes of griefe and teares of love for my conversion Sometimes shee sought to winne mee by sweet allurements sometimes by sharpe threats sometimes by force of argument sometimes by vehemency of passion she dealt with many learned Bishops to conferre with me to convince me of my errors whereof one sent her away with this comfort * Confes l. 2. c. 12. Fieri non potest ut filius tantarum lachrymarum pereat It is not possible that a child should miscarry for whom the mother hath taken so much thought and shed so many teares This care of planting religion in the hearts of children as ground new broken up and watering the roots of grace in them by frequent admonitons and instructions is assigned for the chiefe cause of those extraordinary blessings which God bestowed upon Abraham for so wee read c Gen. 18.17 Shall I hide from Abraham the things that I doe seeing he shall be a mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall bee blessed in him for I know him that hee will command his sonnes and his houshold after him that they shall keepe the way of the Lord to doe justice and judgement that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which hee hath spoken of him Now because such is the wantonnesse and stubbornnesse of most children that they cannot be taught any thing without fear of the rod the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is in some sort appropriated to gentle corrections such as are used by Masters and Fathers in the nurturing and teaching their scholars and children Wherein God taketh a cleane contrary course to the custome of most earthly parents for they commonly beat those children whom they affect not and lay stripes upon them often without cause or mercy but they are most indulgent unto cocker up and never leave embracing and kissing their darlings God contrariwise scourgeth that childe most whom he most delighteth in Why taketh hee any pleasure to see his dearest childrens eyes swolne with weeping their cheekes blubbered with teares their flesh torne with rods Surely no for they that are in such a plight are rather ruefull spectacles of misery than amiable objects of love how then doth he that in love which he loveth not to doe Is not that elegant speech of Saint Austine a riddle Castigat quos amat non tamen amat Castigare Hee chasteneth whom he loves yet he loves not to chasten None at all for a Surgeon launceth the flesh of his dearest friend or brother in love yet he taketh no pleasure in launcing nor would doe it at all but to prevent the festring of the sore The best answer to the former objection will be to assigne the reasons why God in justice and in love cannot
love Nay how canst thou not be perswaded sith hee himselfe hath said it I chasten as many as I love which words that thou maist take more hold of he hath often repeated them in holy Scripture Desirest thou greater assurance than his words which is all that heaven and earth have to shew for their continuance yet if thou desire more rather helpes of thine infirmity than confirmations of this truth observe who are oftenest longest under Gods afflicting hand who are fullest of his markes if they are deepest in sorrow who are highest in his favour if they mourne in Sion who sing Halelujah in the heavenly Jerusalem if they goe in blacke and sables here who are arrayed in long white robes there if they lay their heart a soake in teares who are men after Gods owne heart if Benjamins portion be greatest in afflictions assuredly manifold tribulations and Gods favour may stand together In the truth of which assertion all those Texts of Scripture may establish us which set before us the sweet fruits that are gathered from the crosse as 1. Knowledge It is good for mee that I have been k Psa 119.71 afflicted that I may learne thy statutes 2. Zeale I will l Hosea 5.15 goe and returne to my place till they acknowledge their offences and seeke my face in their affliction they will seeke mee diligently 3. Repentance I truly am m Psal 38.17 18. set in the plague and my heavinesse is ever in my sight I will confesse my wickednesse and be sorry for my sinnes When the people were stung with fiery serpents they came to Moses and said We have n Num. 21.7 sinned for wee have spoken against the Lord and against thee And againe In their o 2 Chro. 15.4 trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel and sought him and he was found of them When the Prodigall was pinched with famine he came to himselfe and said How many hired p Luke 15.16 17 18. servants in my fathers house have meat enough and I perish with hunger I will arise therefore and goe to my father c. 4. Patience Tribulation worketh q Rom. 5.3 4. patience and patience experience and experience hope 5. Joy in the Holy Ghost Receiving the Word with much affliction with r 1 Thes 1.6 joy in the Holy Ghost 6. Triall of our faith which like Å¿ 1 Pet. 1.7 gold is purged by the fire of afflictions Though he t Job 13.15 slay mee yet will I trust in him Our u Psal 44.18 19 20. heart is not turned backe nor our steps gone out of the way no not when thou hast smitten us into the place of Dragons and covered us with the shadow of death 7. Righteousnesse No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but * Heb. 12.11 grievous neverthelesse yet afterwards it yeeldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousnesse to them that are exercised thereby 8. Holinesse It x Heb. 2.10 became him for whom were all things in bringing many sonnes unto glory to consecrate the Captaine of our salvation through afflictions The y Heb. 12.10 fathers of our flesh for a few dayes chastened us after their owne pleasure but hee for our profit that wee may bee partakers of his holinesse 9. Estranging our affections from the world and earthly desires Eliah requested that he might dye It is z 1 Kin. 19.4 enough Lord take away my life I am no better than my fathers We that are in this tabernacle doe * 2 Cor. 5.4 groane being burdened not for that we would be unclothed but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life 11. Humility The a 2 Cor. 12.7 messenger of Sathan was sent to buffet mee and that I should not be exalted above measure there was given mee a thorne in my flesh 11. Renovation and ghostly strength Therefore I b 2 Cor. 12.10 take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for when I am weake then am I strong and though our outward man decay yet our inward man is renewed day by day 12. Freedome from everlasting torments When c 1 Cor. 11.32 wee are judged wee are chastened of the Lord that wee should not bee condemned with the world 13. Encrease of celestiall glory For our d 2 Cor. 4.17 light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a farre more exceeding and eternall weight of glory The Heathen that never tasted the least part of these fruits yet feeling by experience that the mind cloyed with continuall felicity grew a burden to it selfe was deprived hereby of matter and occasion of excellent vertues and not so onely but infatuated and wholly corrupt thereby maintained this memorable Paradoxe e Demet. apud Sen. Nihil eo infelicius cui nihil intelix contigit That none was so unhappy as bee who knew no mishap nor adversity at any time Nay they went farther in that their conceit and thereby came nearer to my text affirming that store of wealth large possessions high places and great honours were not alwaies signes and tokens of the love of God God saith the wise Poet and the best Philosopher taketh it out of him f Aristot Rhet. l. 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sendeth many men great prosperity not out of love and good will but to the end that they may bee capable of greater misery and that the calamities which they are after to endure may bee more g â—uven sit Numerosa parabat excelsae turris tabulata unde altior esset casus impulsae praeceps immane rumae eminent and signall Tolluntur in altum Ut lapsu graviore ruant Misery is alwayes querulous and even weake objections often ruine them who are already cast downe with griefe such as are these Doth not God threaten to powre out his plagues upon the wicked Doe wee not read in Saint h Rom. 2.9 Paul Tribulation and anguish upon every soule that sinneth of the Jew first and also of the Gentile Are not losses infamy captivity banishment tortures and torments judgements of wrath how then can they bee arguments of love I answer that originally all the evils of this life came in with sinne and were punishments of it and they retaine their nature still in the wicked but in the godly by the mercy of God and merits of Christ they are changed from judgements of wrath into chastisements of love from stings of sinne to remedies against sinne from executions of vengeance to exercises of excellent vertues and the inflicting of them so little prejudiceth Gods love to his chosen that hee no way more sheweth it to them than by thus awaking them out of their sleepe and by this meanes pulling them out of hell fire And therefore the Prophets threaten it after all other judgements as the greatest of all that for their obstinacy and impenitency God would punish them no more
it the more vertue we shall finde in it and use to be made of it I have already counted many particulars in my former discourses upon these words and the supply of the rest together with the summe of the whole shall be my taske for the remainder of the time I will begin with the occasion which was a deepe wound of griefe which the Angel of Laodicea might seeme to have received from that keene and cutting reproofe Because thou art neither hot nor cold I will spew thee out of my mouth Now that he might not take on too farre by reason of so grievous and heavie a message the Spirit verifieth his name Paracletus and healeth and suppleth the wound with these comfortable words As many as I love I rebuke and chasten Gather not too much upon my former sharp reproofes and threats against thine owne soule there is yet place for thy zealous repentance despaire not of my favour nor wrong my love in thy over-weening conceit I would not have so rebuked thee if I had not loved thee Are those that are in Gods place to rebuke sinne and chasten offenders so carefull not to drive them to desperate courses will they daigne as God here doth to yeeld a reason of their proceedings and mitigate their sharpe censures with favourable expositions take away all scruples out of mens minds which their speeches and actions might otherwise leave in them Yee see the occasion and by it the scope of the Spirit and connexion of the words which carry this sense I rebuke with conviction and chasten with instruction all those whom I love not onely at large as I doe all mankind but in a speciall manner as I doe those whom I intend to make heires and co-heires with my only begotten Son Here wee have a speciall action of Gods carefull providence over his children Now the actions of God may be considered in a double respect either as they come from the Soveraigne of all power above us or as he is the patterne of all goodnesse to us as they are actions of soveraignty they require of us obedience and an awfull and a trembling regard of them as they are examples of goodnesse we are to seeke to imitate them and expresse them in our lives According to the former consideration these actions of God and words of my Text rebuke and chasten strengthen those that are under the rod but according to the latter they direct those that are to use it the former when they are chastened the latter when they chasten are to take notice of the severall circumstances set down in the Text. More particularly and plainly thus 1. We learne out of the words Gods care of his whom he reclaimes by threats and chastenings from their evill courses 2. The condition of the Church militant which is seldome without rebukes and chastenings 3. The imperfection of inherent righteousnesse and difficulty or rather impossibility of performing the Law now after our fall all Gods deare children are rebuked and chastened by him and therefore are not without blame or fault These are the speciall observations Their use must be to informe our judgement in the true estimate of the things of this life to stirre up our love to God who taketh such care of and paines with us as it were to call us home unto him by threatning of judgements and correcting us with a fatherly and compassionate affection Let us yet resume the words and consider the proceedings of the Almighty and wee shall see in God his actions the Magistrate his direction and charge and in the Magistrate his charge of distributing these tokens of Gods love the duty of all inferiours to receive them with the same affection wherewith they are given The Minister is to reprove the Judge to convince the Father to nurture the Magistrate to punish the Master to discipline those that are under them without partiality with moderation and in love those that are under their authority they may not revile but rebuke not torment but chasten not some in a spleen but all in love by the example of the Spirit in my Text God rebuketh whom he liketh and chasteneth whom he rebuketh and loveth whom he chasteneth Amor ille fraternus saith Saint d Aug. confes lib. 10. c. 4. Respirent in bonis suspirent in malis Austine we may say paternus sive approbet me sive improbet me diligit O that fatherly mind which whether it approve mee or reprove mee still loveth mee is worth all Amor saith the old man in the Poet est optimum salsamentum Love is the best sawce of all it giveth a rellish to those things that are otherwise most distastefull and loathsome It is most true of Gods love for it maketh rebukes gratefull and even chastenings comfortable I rebuke and chasten as many as I love Happy are we if we are of these many for e Job 5.17 blessed is he whom God correcteth Howsoever all chastening seemeth grievous unto us for the present yet it after bringeth the f Heb. 12.11 quiet fruit of righteousnesse to those that are exercised thereby Wherefore it is worth the observation that David prayeth not simply O Lord rebuke mee not neither chasten mee for that had been as much as to say O Lord love mee not for God rebuketh and chasteneth every one whom he loveth but he addeth g Psal 6.1 Rebuke mee not in thine anger neither chasten mee in thine heavie displeasure or as Junius rendereth it out of the Hebrew in aestu irae tuae in the heat of thy wrath I rebuke Was it enough to allay and coole the boyling rage of the young man in the comedy Pater est si non pater esses were thou not my father shall not this word I in my Text and this consideration that Gods hand is in all our afflictions be more forcible to quell the surges of our passions within the shore of Christian patience that they break not forth and fome out our own shame It was the speech of Laban Bethuel though devoid of the knowledge of the true God h Gen. 24.50 This thing is proceeded of the Lord we cannot therefore say neither good nor evill We who are better instructed must alter the words and say This thing is proceeded of the Lord this crosse is sent us from him therefore we cannot but say good of it we must thanke him for it In this losse sicknesse disgrace banishment imprisonment or whatsoever affliction is befallen us the will of our heavenly Father is done upon us and is it not our daily prayer Fiat voluntas tua Thy will be done Looke we to the author and finisher of our salvation hee bowed his will to take upon it his Fathers yoake shall we with a stiffe necke refuse it Father saith he let this cup passe let it passe if it be possible let it passe Ye heare he prayeth thrice against the drinking of it with all
they may see your workes and glorifie your Father which is in heaven it is your part to endeavour to take your candle from under the bushell which covereth it and set it on a high candlesticke that is some eminent place of dignity in Church or Common-wealth that it may give light to the whole house of God But latet anguis in herbâ there lyeth a foule affection under this faire pretence For such as are overtaken with this temptation of Sathan seeke not their owne advancement for Gods glory but Gods glory if so at all they seeke it for their owne advancement they pray that the Sunne may cleerly shew forth his beames but it is that their gifts which are but as moates in comparison may be seen and glissen in his raies They are like false friends and cunning spokesmen they beare the world in hand that they wooe for God but they speake for themselves Otherwise it would be indifferent to them if any other of as good or better parts than themselves should be preferred to those dignities they aspire unto and howsoever they could not but rest satisfied with the answer of God himselfe I have o Joh. 12.28 glorified my name and will glorifie it God hath a greater care of his glory than they can have neither is there one only way by which he setteth forth his glory for the wayes of the Lord are mercy and justice All that are exalted are not exalted in mercy some are exalted in justice as malefactors are carried up to a high scaffold for more exemplary punishment God bestoweth no gifts in vaine he will make the best benefit and advantage for his glory feare they it not he knoweth the value of all the jewells of his grace and he will sort and ranke them where they may most decke and adorne his Spouse take they no care for it As for their condition what doth their obscurity and privacy disparage them their Father who seeth their good parts in secret will reward them openly I fore-see what may be further objected against the doctrine delivered if he that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted how commeth it to passe that none are usually more vilified and dis-esteemed than they who make themselves cheap Tanti eris quanti te feceris a man is accounted of according to that he valueth himselfe his gifts of mind and body are never thought worth more than himselfe priseth them at Who get sooner into the highest places of preferment than those who are still climbing Doth not pride and ambition exalt many or at least are not those that are in high places high minded and consequently neither are the humble exalted nor those that are exalted humble I answer that the proud are often exalted in this world yet not by God but either by the world who like a cunning wrestler lifteth up his adversary above ground to give him the greater fall or by the Divell who doth his best by his instruments to set them in high places that through giddinesse they may fall and ruine themselves Or if it be by God it is in justice not in mercy as souldiers condemned to the strapado are drawne up to the highest round that they may be more tortured in their fall My collection out of this Text standeth yet firme None are exalted by God in mercy especially to a Crowne in heaven of which the Apostle here speaketh but such as are dejected in themselves and beare a low saile in their minds For God acknowledgeth none for his but those that deny themselves he is pleased with none but those that are displeased with themselves he accounteth none worthy of honour but those that account themselves unworthy Now the reason why God exalteth the humble is apparent for he hath promised Honorantes me honorabo Them that p 1 Sam. 2.30 honour mee I will honour and none more honoureth God than the humble who ascribeth nothing to himselfe but all to God If Princes most willingly advance those to high places under them who they are perswaded will most honour them and doe them best service in their offices whom then should God rather raise than the humble who the more they are exalted the more they extoll him the more glorious they are the more they glorifie him the more light of honour they receive the more they reflect backe Besides to whom is honour more due than to those who flye it who fitter to governe than they who know best what it is to obey who are like to be freer from oppressing and depressing others than they who in the height of their fortune most deject their minds Those vertues which are most attractive and are aptest to win our love and affection are all either parts or adjuncts of humility None so religious as the humble who by so much hath a higher conceit of God by how much he hath the lower of himselfe None so thankfull as hee who acknowledgeth all Gods blessings undue None so patient as hee who acknowledgeth all the chastisements that are inflicted upon him most due unto him None so obedient as hee who utterly denieth himselfe and bringeth every thought in subjection to Gods Word None so fervent in prayer as he who is most sensible of his wants None so penitent as he who abhorreth himselfe for his sinnes and repenteth in dust and ashes None so mercifull as he who accounteth himselfe the greatest offender None so free in contribution to others as hee who maketh reckoning that any better deserves Gods blessings than himselfe These graces and beautifull ornaments of the humble soule kindle an affection in God himselfe and shall they not inflame our love to this vertue Looke we not to the acts of it which seem vile and base but to the effects which are glorious and honourable It is called q Mat. 5.3 poverty in spirit yet it enricheth the soule it is in name and nature lowlinesse yet it exalteth it is vile in the eyes of the world but precious in Gods esteem The grasse upon the house top withereth and the July-flowers on the wall soon lose their sent but the Violets and other flowers that grow neere to the ground smell sweeter and last longer What doe the twelve precious stones shining in the foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem signifie but so many Christian vertues laid in the ground of humility Neither let it trouble any that men who put not themselves forth though they are of extraordinary parts are often forgotten in states and neglected by those who should tabulas benè pictas collocare in bono lumine bring them into the light for such men are most fitly compared to the statues of Brutus and Cassius that were not brought forth nor carried with the rest in the funeralls of Junia of whom the wise Historian saith Eo ipso praefulgebant quod non visebantur If true honour as all wise men judge consist not in pomp and retinue or lands or possessions or houses plate or