so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until he have mercy upon us 2. Tu venis Dost thou come in humility Dost thou come in infirmity Let it suffice to say to that who should be humbled but God to expiate for the pride of man No humility could be meritorious but from him who in his own person did abound with glory an humble Prince is a rare sight a beggar if he be not humbled there is nothing more disdainful if our soul cleave unto the earth it deserves no reward for such a poor estate belongs to our sinful condition but if the Son of God come down from heaven and make himself less than the Angels that humility is stupendious and will satisfie for our presumption And as humility was infinitely meritorious in Christ so it became him to be suspected for infirmity Factus quasi unus ex aegrotis eo gratior erat medicus in that he would seem to be sick for our sakes it was more chearful to us that he became our Physician 3. Ad me venis Thou who aboundest with all things dost thou address thy self to him that wants When Solomon had built a most stately Temple to the Lord He admired that God would come down into it in the brightness of his glory But will God indeed dwell on earth The heaven of heavens cannot contain thee how much less this house which I have builded Alas here was no such sumptuous receptacle at Jordan to entertain Christ and comest thou to me Let it suffice to say He that would suffer by the hands of cruel enemies would make no difficult thing to be baptized of a friend Did he endure that Judas should kiss and betray him What marvel if he did permit a good Prophet to wash and anoint him to his Priestly Office Thus St. Austin to good purpose Did Christ admit a servant to baptize his heavenly Master Nullus à conservo non dignetur accipere Then let no man think his fellow servant too mean an Instrument to offer him the blessing of the Sacraments Good news were brought by Leapers to Samaria and they were entertain'd with joyfulness Let him be a Leaper let him be a sinful man to whom the dispensation of Gods mysteries is committed yet his weakness shall not diminish from the invisible power of Christ who in all Congregations and at all times is the High Priest that blesseth the outward means for the use of thy salvation If Judas did baptize it was not hurtful to them that did partake of his Ministry a leaden Seal may imprint the stamp of God upon thy soul as well as one of better mettal Should Paul refuse to warm himself because Barbarians did kindle the fire 4. Comest thou to me that baptize none but unto remission of sins Let it suffice to say unto it out of the Lyturgy of our own Church that Christ did sanctifie the floud Jordan and all other waters to the mystical washing away of sin Therefore he came no otherwise to Jordan than as his Angel is said to come down into the Host to battel Non ad periclitandum sed ad vincendum not as if danger could come near unto himself but to repel danger that might come near to his own people but of this I must make a full treatise the next day and at this time no reason so ponderous as his own by which he helpt John Baptist out of doubt Suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us c. These words Christ spake to John in a double style of speech Sicut Dominus imperans sicut Magister docens As a Lord by his absolute power over his Subject Suffer it to be so now As a Master willing to instruct his Disciple For thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness In the first of these I will be brief the latter is of more copious observation Suffer it to be so now A word to the wise is enough says the Proverb it seems so that John Baptist was aw'd with these two short words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suffer it to be so now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now he means in the state of exinanition being made of no reputation among men and having taken upon him the form of a servant in this low condition the Son of man came not to be ministred unto but to minister and to lay down his life for many therefore howsoever the days will come that the world shall see him in his power and great glory yet suffer it to be so now One distinction therefore makes all streight and even between Christ and his fore-runner For let the person of our Saviour be considered God and man united together so John was not mistaken if he thought it unexpedient for him to be baptized But weigh him in another scale in his Office of Mediator as he came to do all servile things thereby to gain unto us the adoption of Sons so he must bring that most desired work to pass by Baptism Fasting and Tentation by his Agony and bloudy Sweat by his Cross and Passion by his precious Death and Burial and through all other shapes of Poverty Vileness and Humiliation My Beloved there is such an exceeding distance such an interval between the most excellent person of Christ and the lowliness of his Office that the conceit of an Arch-angel is not able to measure it Videas potentiam regi sapientiam instrui virtutem sustentari says Bernard You may see him that had all rule in heaven and earth obey and be govern'd the wisdom of the Father taught and instructed that vertue which holds up all things it self supported Let me not lose a Syllable of that Fathers Elegancy in this Point Videas pavere fiduciam salutem pati vitam mori fortitudinem infirmari That which gives us all confidence it self did fear and was amazed safty it self did suffer strength it self was weak life it self did die Thus eloquence runs wittily upon this discord the most glorious person and the most inglorious Office of our Saviour St. Austin makes Elisha the Type of our Saviours humiliation by very agreeable proportions when he raised up the dead child of the Shunamite to life Elisha sent his servant Gebazi with his Staff before him so the Law came into the world by Moses long before the Incarnation of our Saviour At last the Prophet made hast in his own person Venit grandis ad parvulum salvator ad salvandum vivus ad mortuum The great one came to the little one the Saviour to that which was lost the living to that which was dead And as Elisha laid every part of his body upon the Child and so shrunk up his body to make it no larger than the childs body So Christ did make himself equal to us little ones Vt efficeret corpus humilitatis nostrae conforme corpori gloriae suae to make our vile bodies conformable to his most glorious body Finally as that
faciem Because in this life we see darkly as in a glass but hereafter we shall see God face to face As concerning natural Causes and Effects says Aristotle we see into them but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with Owles eyes by day that discern nothing clearly but as concerning the Mysteries of Godliness we look upon them as Moses did upon the Land of Canaan when Jordan was between we are in one Country and see afar off indistinctly the prospect of another As Rebecca took away her vail when Isaac came toward her that she might see his face so this vail shall be taken from the Church which is the Spouse of God when he draws near unto it Now Lazarus his Napkin is about our face O that thou wouldst rent away this vail O Lord that we might see thy glory Behold as the eyes of Servants look unto the hand of their Masters and as the eyes of a Maiden unto the hand of her Mistress even so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until he have mercy upon us AMEN THE FOURTH SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION JOHN XX. I. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark unto the Sepulcher and seeth the stone taken away from the Sepulcher THis is the day which the Lord hath made and thus begins the Gospel appointed for this great day of the Lord. A Gospel of which I may say it is full even to the brims of Divine Meditations For here are those two Christian Pillars that uphold the Church of God such as shall never be removed Fides Fidelis the faith of the Elect and relatively an elect Vessel that receiv'd the faith a principal Article of our Creed that Christ rose again the third day from the dead and a very illustrious instance of Mary Magdalene who was brought to believe in that Article 1. The Faith which must be believ'd to sanctifie our contemplations 2. The Faithful that did believe to bring us to a godly practice So the Spirit of God hath led Mary Magdalene to the Sepulcher to see that Christ was risen from the dead and the self-same Spirit hath led us to see the love and piety of Mary Magdalene And as this devout woman hath obtained a place of memorial for her name among the blessed of the New Testament because the example of her zeal did shine before us So our names shall find a place among those that are recorded in the Book of Life such honor shall they have that follow after My Text begins a story concerning that first witness to whom our Lord and Saviour's Resurrection was revealed Now upon so much of the Story as is recorded in this verse five things shall be handled First the Condition of that Witness before whom our Lord did first appear after he came out of the Grave Mary Magdalene 2. You may note the Constancy of her love that she remembred him after death and came unto his Sepulcher 3. It is to be ascribed to her Faith that she chose the right season the first day of the week 4. The Expedition which she made is a token of restless diligence that she came early when it was yet dark 5. An Accident of admiration encounters her that she seeth the stone taken away from the Sepulcher No Witness more classical for Gods use than Mary Magdalene a repentant Sinner No love more expressive than to shew affection even after death no season so fit to be watcht as the same which Christ foretold how the third day he would rise which fell out on the first day of the week no fruit that doth better become Faith and Love than vigilant diligence without sloth Repentance Love Faith Diligence shall ever be thus requited that God will shew them a sign from Heaven beyond their expectation The condition of the person is the first thing that we encounter Mary Magdalene cometh unto the Sepulcher She came not alone but other Associates did bear her company such as were devout women and loved our Lord. But our Evangelist knew a reason that she alone was worth the mentioning instead of all besides and upon her name only his Narration runs that Mary Magdalen came unto the Sepulcher The Scripture hath not forgot some of those that were her Associates in other Gospels St. Matthew says Mary Magdalen went forth as it began to dawn and the other Mary St. Mark names three Mary Magdalen and Mary the Mother of James and Salome St. Luke speaks of an indefinite number but every Divine Writer begins with Mary Magdalen she and Joanna and Mary the Mother of James and other Women that were with them But this Woman in my Text was more fervent and passionate in the cause she incited all the rest to go with her to the Sepulcher wherefore she is remembred by our Evangelist in a kind of singularity above all the rest John himself was the Disciple of Love and was careful to eternize her name in this story which did abound in Love above all her Fellows Some antient Writers knew not how so good a Work could be done wherein many religious Women conspired together without the most Blessed Mary the mother of our Lord. Rather than it should turn to her disesteem to stay behind Sedulius Nyssen and Nicephorus were willing I think to mistake that the Woman whom St. Matthew calls the other Mary was the Holy Virgin The disadvantages which this Opinion brings with it were not thought upon that another name should stand before hers to be past over with such an easie mention as the other Mary and not the mother of our Lord a thing which especially St. Luke useth not to forget And what an instance of moment were this that among all others our Lord did first appear to Mary Magdalen after he was risen from the dead Surely his mother had been partaker of that sweet Vision as soon as any if she had been in place to behold him Bernard invents a reason to satisfie himself though perhaps it will not satisfie all men why the Blessed Virgin did willingly absent herself from coming to the Sepulcher the first day of the Week because her Faith abounded more than all the rest She was constantly persuaded that Christ was risen upon the third day even as he had spoken before and she would not go to the Sepulcher to seek the living among the dead But if any man should cast a doubt that the Holy Scriptures would not have concealed such a superexcellent strain of Faith in the Blessed Virgin if she had believed the Mystery of the Resurrection when the Disciples and all other were mistaken besides that none of the Church did perfectly understand the Scriptures until the Holy Ghost fell down upon them at the Feast of Pentecost I say if any should cast in such a doubt I know not how it would be resolved I have no Warrant to affirm any thing in this point neither doth the Scripture
dishonoured nor declining bad occasions nor intending renovation of life this hath not a grudging of true Religion in it it is no more than the trembling of an unregenerate mans conscience who hath not tasted of the heavenly gift But if you say that man hath a servile fear who dares not but do his Masters will lest he be beaten with many stripes be not ashamed of this fear Our Saviour goes it over and over and commends it again and again Luke xii 4. Fear him which hath power to cast into Hell yea I say unto you fear him The fear of the Lord says the Wiseman is the beginning of wisdom How is it the beginning Why Faith is the first cause of Religion and fear is the first effect as the foundation is the beginning or an house so after true conversion it begins to go on from vertue to vertue and this is the first ground work that it lays Stand in aw and sin not Psal iv It is such a beginning that I will say this it is impossible to come to a true consolation in Christ without it Serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling Psal ii 11. Timor Domini est fidei fundamentum firmamentum says St. Cyprian Faith which includes our hope in Christ had no firmness nor sure footing but that it knows in it self it fears the Lord Love fell asleep with her beloved in her arms Cant. iii. i And her beloved was gone in the mean time So if their be not a mixture of fear with our love it falleth asleep it waxeth secure and loseth her Beloved If the comfort of our joy be not allayed with some fear 't is madness and presumption Again if our fear be not intermixt with the comfort of some joy 't is sullenness and desperation As the Earth cannot be without Summer and Winter to make it fruitful the pleasure of the one and the austerity of the other make up the revolution of a good year so Faith is the Parent both of a cloudy fear and a smiling hope Faith begets fear in us in regard of our own weakness and hope in regard of the goodness of God hope ariseth out of the faith of the Gospel and fear out of the faith of the Law These cannot be parted Indeed servile fear is an unpleasing word because it grates our memory with this remembrance that our nature is in bondage and that we are Thralls and Captives to death and punishment and therefore the words of Aquinas are very weighty Timor servilis bonus est sed servilitas ejus est mala That bondage which makes us liable to judgment is naught but the fear which issues from a conscientiousness of that bondage flying to God that it may fly from judgment is holy and good Briefly let them thus be compared together a filial fear which loves God for his own goodness is like a bright day which hath not a cloud to disfigure it A servile fear that dreads God because it dreads the wrath to come is like a day that is overcast with clouds but it is clearer than the fairest moon-shine night It is good to have the spirit of Adoption but it is better to have the spirit of bondage than the spirit of slumber it is good to be in Canaan but it is better to be in the Wilderness than in Egypt it is good to be a Child but it is better to be a servant than a stranger to the Lord. David most sweetly puts them together Psal xxxiii Behold the eyes of the Lord are upon them that fear him and that put their trust in his mercy So I conclude this Point that the Angels Nolite timere fear not doth neither cry down filial fear which is the modest bashfulness nor yet servile fear which is the sharp spur of true Religion Hitherto we have spoken of fear quà donum as it is a gift of the holy Spirit Now that I may make my discourse complete I must speak of it quà passio as it is a sensitive passion and so when it is moderate it is tolerable when it exceeds and will not hearken to the governance of reason it is condemnable I will speak but a few words of the first Nature is excusable when it shrinks from those things that would offend it and desires to save it from harm by fair and direct means for in such a case our conscience pleads that there is a reasonable cause and occasion These are Aristotles words upon the Point that a man were stupid or mad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That it is neither dismay'd at violent tempests on the Sea nor at earthquakes on firm Land like the fool-hardy and confident Celts in Scythia But the day doth admonish me to take my instances from our blessed Saviour and so I can no example so fit for Allegation For why did Christ and his Mother fly into Egypt soon after he was born when Herod was in a fuming chase Why did the Angel admonish Joseph to do so in a dream The Lord could have saved him as he did Elisha the Prophet in the midst of his enemies whose eyes he blinded that they could not see him And again says the Text when he returned out of Egypt he went aside to dwell in the Coasts of Galilee for fear of Archilaus that reigned in Judea in his Father Herod's stead Great caution as might be and yet all this needed not but because our Saviour would allow a circumspect fear in time of persecution to shift for life Moreover you must not think that Christ did fear as we do will nill we upon the compulsion of necessity for he had all passions and humane infirmities under subjection so that he could be cast into no consternation but when his own will did consent and accord unto it yet he chose a fit time to cast himself into a great agony of fear when he sweat drops of bloud in the Garden lest we should think it a sin at all times to be afraid upon just occasion This then is another fear which belongs to our allowance but there is a fear which hath a Nolite set before it an immoderate horror of heart a symptome of desperation or at least of infidelity and diffidence this is that quivering with which God strikes his enemies as a tree is shaken by the wind to unfasten it from the root That mark which he set upon Cain was a continual trembling at the sight of man and beast Pharaoh was never at rest in his mind lest the Children of Israel should grow too fast and multiply so much that they would be too potent for the Tyrant that opprest them He sent darkness to astonish the Egyptians and they were troubled with strange Apparitions Wisd xvii 3. He sent such a Panick fear among the Syrians that they verily believed they heard the noise of an Host and Chariot wheels when there was no such thing so they fled and left to besiege
Cross To this end our Church hath made this Chapter one of the Lessons for this day the first that was read in Morning Service and I have warrant that the practice was ancient because I find it was so in St. Austins days for excusing himself that he had not expounded this Scripture to his Auditors all the time of Lent He gives this reason In Vigiliis Paschae propter Sacramentum dominicae passionis reservatur it was ordained to be handled upon a Good Friday because of the mystery of our Saviours Passion There is a Text John viii 56. which Christ alledgeth to the Pharisees Abraham rejoyced to see my day and he saw it and was glad Which of his days Or when did he see it It is not mentioned I confess and that makes a variance among Expositors St. Austin glosseth upon it that Abraham and all the Prophets had a Revelation of the Incarnation St. Hierom conceives it to be that day when the mystery of the Trinity was opened unto him Gen. xviii Tres vidit unum adoravit He saw three Angels and worshipped but one But divers whom I could name especially St. Ambrose that wrote whole Books upon the story of Abraham say that my Text was the glass wherein he saw that joyful day Vidit diem immolationis in Ariete He saw the day wherein Christ was crucified for our Redemption in this Ram that was burnt upon the wood instead of Isaac and shall not the Children of Abraham look so far into this Type to see the Oblation for our sins which is past and gone already when Father Abraham so many years before did discern the day to come Elevemus oculos as it is specified of him in my Text let us lift up our eyes and look about and we shall find it plainly dividing the whole Text into these three parts 1. Here is Studium sollicitum a careful and a sollicitous heart upon the matter Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked 2. Here is Presens auxilium help at an instant in the best opportunity behold behind him a Ram caught in a Thicket by his horns 3. Here is Sacrificium succedaneum one Sacrifice answering for another or coming in the place of another as it is in the words following and Abraham went and took the Ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his Son Every one of these shall be subdivided as we handle them in order the leading part of the three is Studium sollicitum the carefulness and sollicitousness of Abraham That he lifted up his eyes and looked Isaac was not nearer to be slaughtered when the Sacrificing knife was at his throat than we were to be condemned when God was wrath with all the Posterity of Adam for the disobedience of that one man but the timely voice of mercy was heard from heaven the Angel of the Covenant appeared as if he had said Miserebor cujus miserebor the remnant of the Election are appointed to be spared Isaac shall live God hath spoken it and he shall not see destruction then at the instant when the Angel bad Save the Child and lay no violent hands upon him then Abraham lifted up his eyes So that the first emergent observation is this It was Gestus benedicentis The gesture of him that blessed the Lord because his mercy was revealed Indeed if God had not said that Isaac and in him the promised seed should live our countenances would look like death and be cast down as Cains was guiltiness would not let the sinner look towards heaven for corruption cannot enter into these incorruptible places our transgressing Parents withdrew from the Lord into the thicket of the Garden and could not abide to appear Nuditatem non audebant ostendere talibus oculis quae displicebat suis They durst not shew their shame and nakedness to such glorious eyes which was irksome to themselves Hezekiah turned his face to the wall when his doom was told him that he must die and not live And our Saviour doth insert that passage into the story of the Publican surely afflicted for his sins that he would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven all did not please him that he saw there be it never so glorious a body As St Basil spake like an eloquent Orator in his Homily concerning Paradise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Rose was a delightful flower but it made him ashamed to use it because that thorns and pricks grew upon it Gods curse for the sin of man So the firmament of heaven sheweth the chief handy-work of the Maker yet to some it is a dreadful sight because the God of vengeance will shew himself from thence when he comes to judge the earth As David said to Absalon the Son of his displeasure let him turn to his own house and let him not see my face So the severity of God said unto man In terram reverteris turn again into your own place from whence you came into dust and clay but you shall not lift up your head to stand before me in the Kingdom of my glory O but mercy begg'd the life of Isaac Et levavit oculos And Abraham lifted up his eyes Anatomists say that there is one Nerve more descending from the brain to the eye of man than in any beast that it may turn up it seems with greater readiness and facility Now to stand gazing up into heaven a thing which the Angel reproved in the Disciples Acts i. 11. but as if the voice of the tongue and the affection of the heart were encircled in the eye to laud and magnifie his name that remitted vengeance and spared our soul from death I appove the old Philosophy Visus fit intramittendo species but allowing this divinity Visus fit extramittendo gratias if nothing else yet an eflux of thanks goes out of the eye when we look up to heaven At the cxx Psalm begin those Psalms of David which are called the Songs of degree And see by what steps he marcheth up in those degrees to the Mercy Seat of God In the cxx Psal I cryed unto the Lord in my distress there his voice ascended In the cxxi I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills there his eye ascended cxxii Our feet shall stand in the gates of Jerusalem there his feet ascended cxxiii Unto thee lift I up mine eyes O thou that dwellest in the heavens at every other step or degree his eyes are cast up for Christ hath not only opened the Kingdom of heaven but also opened our eyes and put courage into all believers to look up unto the Kingdom of heaven and therefore as I said it is gestus benedicentis the gesture of him that blesseth the name of the Lord. Secondly It is gestus admirantis an expression of wonder and astonishment Abrahams heart was full so overcome with the loving kindness of the Lord that he stood dumb and
Altar it is an indignity second to none and God doth greatly disdain at it if his Churches beg your liberality for their reparation beg they must by a Brief and that impudently or else they shall lie in the dust but when they do crave your help pour in plentifully into the Corban He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly If his Priests plead for the due and true portion that belongs unto the Altar do not construe Divinity so much amiss as if the Doctrine concerned their profit only but did nothing pertain to inform your just dealing Your voluntary benevolences though they be large and bountiful shall excuse no man of Sacriledge where that which is due is pinch'd and impaired He that wrongs the Altar I mean the Church in Shillings nay in Pence that are due to it they are not his Pounds of benevolence shall make him an honest man in the sight of God Do not flatter your selves in what you are not and let me tell you the truth one of your poor Farmers that occupies under you but one hundred pound Land by year in the Country pays as much to the Church Demeans by due as five nay as ten wealthy Landlords in the City And yet you think your selves the best pay masters to the Church but no man of understanding believes you He is called a wise Steward in the Gospel but his deeds were the actions of a Reprobate that bad his Masters Debtors set down fifty for one hundred and fourscore for another I should be this unjust Steward my self if I should not tell you justly and faithfully what you owe to my Master in Heaven they have more cunning than faithfulness that teach you how to strike off part of the Sum. And yet I beseech you mark one passage in the unjust Steward He doth not come with Quid dabis How doth your mind stand for a benevolence What are you pleased to give my Master But Quid debes What do you owe my Master Pay your Debts first and talk of your Supererogation afterwards as if you should stop the free passage of a Spring and then think to recompence the Owner with a Glass of Rose-water Such a kindness it is to stop the rights of Gods Ministers and then think to make them amends with some contribution of courtesie O let not this fair object of your manifold charity before mine eyes be blemish'd with Sacriledge for when the Sacrifice is withdrawn from the Altar is it not a great sign that God is despised So much of that general Point drawn out into the several branches Ignominia indigna a disdain much undeserved that God should be despised in the opinion of Man The upshot of all that I have to say is in that which follows ignominia dignissima a scorn and disdain justly deserved that the abusers of Gods Glory shall be set at naught in his eyes They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed Mercy and Justice are in all the works of the Lord. Behold the sweetness of Mercy in two things gathered out of that which is before us 1. The order of these parts will insinuate it unto us for promise doth go before minacie the affection of love before the destruction of anger Them that Honour me I will Honour God begins at that end where there is a reward in the right hand They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed that is the conclusion the last refuge upon which he is thrust with vengeance in the left Mount Gerizim is the first hill that God mentions Deu. xxvii the Mountain upon which Levi and his fellow Tribes should bless Israel Mount Ebal is prepared in the next place the Mountain upon which Dan and his fellow Tribes should curse the People Behold I set before you this day life and death blessing and cursing Deut. xxx 19. As Medicine is the first offer of Chyrurgery Amputation of the putrified part is the last and desperate help that Art doth administer 2. God will Honour the Good he takes it upon him that benediction is his proper act It is set down passively and no otherwise that the wicked shall be lightly esteemed Come you blessed of my Father Mat. xxv Benediction is from God Go ye cursed says Christ in his anger cursed by your own sins cursed by the malice of the Devil he doth not say cursed of my Father Surely somewhat is in it that God will never take the act of Malediction upon himself Isa xxviii 21. The fury of his wrath he calls alienum opus his strange work his strange act that he will perform Non est opus Dei perdere quos creavit says Lyra. It is a strange work and comes as it were unwillingly unto God to destroy those whom he hath made And therefore we have it in a Prayer of our Liturgy especially against the visitation of the woful Pestilence God whose nature and property is â—ver to have mercy and forgive Peregrinum opus est ut puniat qui Salvator est says St. Hierom upon the forenamed place it is an improper work for him to curse who is the Author of blessing for him to destroy who is the Saviour of the world for him to put any man to light estimation from whom proceedeth all honour and glory And as Mercy gives a sweet relish to this Text so Justice is no less conspicuous for here is a punishment so proportioned to the fault committed as if God had studied to retaliate may I express it as we do barbarously in a Vulgar Proverb Qui meccat mockabitur he that despiseth me shall be despised You do well know Adonibezecks confession his Thumbs and Toes were cut off as seventy Kings having their Thumbs and Toes cut off gathered meat under his Table as I have done so God hath requited me says the Tyrant So might Pharaoh and Egypt have confessed that as they did exercise cruelty upon the Infants of Israel so the Angel slew all their First-born in a night As the Seed of the Righteous was cast into the water to be drowned so Pharaoh and all his Hest were drowned in the Red Sea So Charles the Ninth of France who publish'd himself to be the Author of that bloudy Massacre committed upon many thousand innocent Protestants in the Streets of Paris bloud was his end in great quantity says the famous Annalist of our Island sanguinis profluvio inter longos graves dolores expiravit the bloud could not be stanched which gushed out from many parts of his body and so after long and grievous torments he gave up the Ghost An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth bloud for bloud Children for Children drowning for drowning ignominy for ignominy this is the retaliation of true Justice They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed Where is the advancement of the Proud Where is their honour that would be noble and yet tush at the true nobility of Vertue and Religion Like as I have
to comfort us whether coals of fire be kindled at his nostrils to consume us or whether he blow upon us with the breath of his compassion to revive us whether he give or whether he take away you know what follows in Job The effects upon our bodies are divers but the effect upon our spirit should be one and the same do you say Blessed be the name of the Lord. But to visit is also taken in good part as an act of grace and compassion Exod. iv 31. the people had heard that the Lord had visited Israel and looked upon their afflictions then they bowed their heads and worshipped Thou hast granted me life and favour and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit Job x. 12. And once more for all Thou visitest the earth and dost greatly enrich it with the river of God Psal lxv And welcome be that visitation which brings with it peace and good will such was the appearance of him that was born this day of a pure Virgin he did look out his sheep and visit them as a Shepherd doth visit his flock Ezek. xxxiv so the people of the Jews did well express the significancy of the word when our Saviour raised up the widows Son of Naim to life again a great Prophet is risen up among us and God hath visited his people Luke vii 16. God could have sent his Son to have judg'd the world but he did not send him to condemn us but that the world through him might be saved This is a benign and a courteous visitation But because the word will extend to divers particulars of grace and love I will do it right to lay them forth distinctly 1. To visit is the work of one that comes to do a charitable office to a sick person according to that place Mat. xxv I was sick and ye visited me So Christ came into this world because it languished of a sore disease Miseri erant quos visitavit captivi quos redemit we were far gone in the infirmities of sin when we had need to be visited we were wretched bond-men under the yoke of Satan when we had need to be redeemed Visitavit Dominus plebem longa infirmitate tabescentem says Bede upon my Text long had the Jews consumed in their sins faint and feeble they were destitute of all spiritual succor near to the brink of death then came the great Physician to bind up their wounds and to heal the broken heart as virtue went out of him and he healed all manner of fleshly griefs if they did but touch him so much more now he is in heaven he is an indeficient fountain of virtue and whosoever toucheth him by a living Faith he shall be cured of his ghostly imperfections or at least their malignity shall be asswaged 2. Visitare in the Latin tongue is a diminitive from videre to see a thing in a glance and so to pass it by without any great heed but the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is used in my Text is a Composit and is more than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is rem penitus inspicere cujus egeat to look upon things very remarkablely with that purpose to know what it wants In the tenth of St. Luke the Priest saw the man that was wounded and passed by the Levite looked on and passed by but the Samaritan saw him and had compassion of him that was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to look on him with a commiserating eye and a tender heart and to none can it be so well applied as to the Son of God he looked upon us stedfastly and with a melting mercy he looked upon us as if his very bowels were in his eyes 3. To give a visit to another is a voluntary courtesie an act of kindness that hath no compulsion or unwillingness in it for he that visits any place or persons if he did not like them he might keep away but you cannot imagine more promptness and readiness in any one than there was in our Saviour to be humbled to that baseness to take our nature upon him When the Prophet had said Sacrifice and meat-offering thou wouldst not have but a body immediately follows Christs willingness to accept the motion O my God I am content to do it loe I come to do thy will O Lord Heb. x. how could any thing be entertained more heartily more chearfully he that says in Solomon hearken unto me ye children and blessed are they that keep my ways he says also my delights were with the sons of men Prov. viii 31. 4. There is not only willingness but friendliness in the appellation no man visits another but in the profession of a friend therefore St. Paul says upon the Incarnation Tit. iii. 4. the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was a sign that he did not abhor us nay that there was peace and bounty toward us because he did condescend to have such familier conversation among us When God talked with Moses face to face the Scripture expresseth with the admiration of Gods love that he talk'd with him as one friend talketh with more but to dwell among us and visit us as one neighbour and well-willer doth another surely there must be much more amity and familiarity in that strain of love This very word therefore that he visited us is enough to exalt us to be the friends of God Because he frequented the company of those that had led scandalous lives to call them to repentance the Pharisees gave him a character that he was a friend of Publicans and Sinners and Lazarus is called his friend John xi because he did often resort to Bethany to the house of his Sisters Mary and Martha Beloved since this visitation hath declared us his friends let us be at enmity with all those things which are opposite to the glory of Jesus Christ. 5. It is more than all which I have said before that he hath visited us that he did burst the heavens to come down that is offer violence as it were to the God-head to unite it in one person with our corruptible substance God spake in times past to the Fathers by the Prophets but in these last days he spake unto us by his Son nay he sent unto us his Son The Prophets were holy men yet they were but men here was a nature that visited us far more perfect than theirs theirs the nature of Almighty God They were faithful servants in the house of God but a servant is an unperfect condition in comparison of a Son neither were we visited by any of the sons of men but by his own Son the Son of God You know that they of Lycaonia were strangely taken with it Gods are come down among us in the shape of men when they supposed Barnabas to be Jupiter and Paul Mercurius since they were in such an extasie at their own deceit how should we be affected with the
to offer him up for an whole burnt Offering I conceive very well what a straight Abraham was in and that the bowels of nature were never at such a quandary what to do Yet he yielded at the first warning and said it should be done But this trial wherein Christ assayed what his fore-runner would do when he came to be baptized is more perplexful a great deal God proved his servant Abraham what he would do for his bidding with a mortal Son that must die Here God proves John Baptist what he will do to his own immortal Son by whom he made the worlds And to take away the life of Isaac was nothing so hard a case of demur as to make the least abatement from the glory of Christ When God offered so much was it not very disputable with man to bethink him how to take But howsoever this was the greatest appearence of scruple that could be imagined yet I must lay my hand upon my mouth and say with Job How should man contend with the Almighty The way of the Lord is equal though the best Saints on earth may fail in their judgment and know not how to find it out As none of the men of Timnah could guess at the meaning of Samsons Riddle but Samson himself revealed it so none could interpret the paradox of Christ why he would be baptized but Christ himself Suffer it to be so now For thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness So much as I shall narrate to you of this Story at this time consists of these two parts in general 1. How John Baptist lost himself in a doubt And comest thou to me 2. How Christ helps him out of it And Jesus answering c. John makes a question of that which Christ commanded Christ commands him again and puts it out of question The doubt of John is no pertinacious error but an admiration mixt of love and humility Comest thou to me Our Saviour accordingly deals gently with him not with the least check to betray any offence but after these two ways Sicut Dominus imperans sicut Preceptor docens First As his Lord he lays his strict command upon him Suffer it to be so now Secondly As his Preceptor he teacheth him cause for if For thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness His power to say the word and impose upon him had sufficed but he gives him reason likewise for his better satisfaction These are the particulars to be handled It is the small pittance which remains of my Text since last day how the Prophet hath lost himself in admiration Comest thou to me At which words I am now to enter my Treatise and shall soon dispatch them John puts his speech into a form of wonder how could he do less When he saw the Lord of heaven and earth put himself into the form of a sinner and into the condition of a servant Do you ever read in the Gospel that the Angels brought tidings of his low estate that he would be made flesh but that they cry out in their Preface Ecce behold as if they could not utter the message without admiration Faith is nothing else but a long continued astonishment which knows not how to utter it self because the Lord hath done such marvellous things for us But above all this exinanivit seipsum this exinanition and making himself almost nothing for our sakes it puzzles them most who are best able to consider it Something we would fain say to it and when we have brought it forth it 's nothing but wonder and exclamation So did Elizabeth the mother of this Prophet Whence is it that the mother of my Lord doth come unto me So doth the Prophet himself break forth when the undefiled came to the waters of cleansing Comest thou to me Dost thou wash my feet Says Peter to his Lord. Quis dicere poterit quantum inter hoc Tu illud mihi intersit discriminis says St. Austin O how far are those two words remote one from another Thou the great Jehovah and I an abject worm and dost thou wash my feet The self-same infinite odds John Baptist acknowledgeth between himself and the Messias The breadth of the earth may be measured the height of heaven may be taken but the distance between these two terms cannot be fathomed Thou and I Thou an incomprehensible God and I a small fragment of thy works And comest thou to me And let me add this to the rest John Baptist had greater reason than Peter to cry out at our Saviours humiliation and to say to this effect What meanest thou Lord This shape of a servant doth not become thee for Peter had seen long trial before that Christ was made poor that we might be made rich and made himself of no account that we might be exalted but John was put upon the first proof of all hence he began to depress himself and to communicate of those things which sinners did when he came to be baptized in Jordan Besides it is a greater sign of infirmity to come as it were to be cleansed among the polluted than to take the office to cleanse the defiled therefore it was a greater argument of humility to come to be wash'd in Baptism than to take a Towel and girt himself withal and to wash his Apostles feet It was no small thing therefore that made John Baptist speak like an astonisht man Comest thou to me Thus you see how not only an ordinary person such as we are but a great Prophet whose stile above all others was the Friend of the Bridegroom such a one may loose himself not only by searching into the height of Gods glory but by meditating likewise upon the depth of his humility St. Chrysostom says John Baptist should have taken the rise of his admiration a little further off not from the Baptism but from the Nativity of our Saviour The wonderful abasement was that the infinite God would be made a miserable man all other parts of humiliation fall in sweetly because he would be made in the form of sinful flesh When you consider how he would be inclosed in a Virgins womb be tempted be despised be buffeted be crucified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among so many sorrows and contempts never marvel if he would be baptized There were four things that might seem doubtful to John but to which of them may not a most answerable satisfaction be given according to the mystery of our Redemption which Christ had undertaken 1. Comest thou As who should say I am thy Messenger to go before thy face Why didst thou not send for thy servant but hast come unto him Let it suffice to say to this that the Sacraments must not be commanded except in case of necessity to wait upon us at home but we must come to them behold as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their Masters and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her Mistris
to consider upon these words and as I begin at Satans demand so I make two branches of it the Motion and the Mover The Motion is tumbling headlong to be cast down and the Mover must be himself Cast thy self down To the handling and use of these are required your ear my utterance and Gods grace to both I begin with the Motion and if the meaning of him that counselled it had been well carried it were a motion easily perswaded to him that is of an humble spirit a good man is ever ready to be directed to go and sit down in the lowest room and to be abased to the very center of humility When the heart is in good awe of God the joynts will bend unto the earth O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker This we are sure is far from Satans purpose and can be no construction of his words Optat omnes cadere qui se sentit prae omnibus cecidisse says St. Austin He would have all men fall in that sort as himself hath done with aspiring and presumption that they might never rise again The Beast in the Fable which had lost his tail made an Oration before all the Beasts of the Wood what a comly thing it was to want a tail and very useful and so concluded that they would all cut off theirs but the Fox made answer You intend not to make us decent like your self but to have us all as deformed After the same manner the Devil Preacheth unto Christ to descend from the top of the Pinacle to the bottom not to set him in the posture of an humble man but to make him arrogant like Lucifer for such a violent precipitation says he can do no hurt at all to such a one as you are a most holy one that are called the Son of God I will use Bonaventure's saying upon it Satan did interlace lofty pride with this lowly seeming motion Vt descendendo corporaeliter faceret cum superbire spiritualiter ut simul esset ascensus vanus descensus verus That he might fall down bodily and be proud spiritually and so he thrust together a frivolous presumption and a dangerous descension How much is humility abused when Pride will wear the colours of that good vertue to deceive the world There was grose ambition in Absalons stooping to steal the hearts of the people The Scribes and Pharisees would dop to the ground when they greeted their friends in the Market place The same Bishop that hath more Princely Augustious titles ascribed unto him then would fill up a Sermon by themselves subscribes himself very often Servus servorum Christ the servant of the servants of Christ As a Kite will sweep the earth with his wings that he may truss the Prey in his Talons and fly aloft to devour it So all the crouches and submissions which an ambitious man makes are to get somewhat which he seeks for and to clamber to promotion This is observed because Satan impels Christ to cast himself down not for true humility sake but upon vain glory to flutter in the Air that all Jerusalem might take notice how precious he was to the care and custody of all the Angels In the next place convert your thoughts to this see what kind of Miracles they are which the Devil delights in the working of Miracles is reduced to Gods Omnipotent Prerogative beyond the ordinary Law of Nature And Christ did often put it in act to save to revive to comfort the body to convert the soul Nay but these are no part of the Devils asking neither cure the sick nor give eyes to the blind nor raise the dead nor help up Eutiches again as Paul did when he fell from the upper window of the house to the ground none of these good offices of mercy doth he require but mitte te deorsum if you be the Son of God tumble down and confound your self Non signa humano generi salutaria sed perniciosa requirit says Bernard Do some pernicious Miracle and then you please him Beware of those men whose wit whose counsels whose directions tend to nothing but to some mens ruine and destruction Hic niger est hunc tu Romane caveto you see who is their Leader and whose steps they follow The Heathen could say how that Orator must needs have much malice in his complexion who was a better Accuser than a Defender that could sooner find a hole in his Adversaries cause than help his own Client so it is Satanissimum let me use a new word in this case he is a very Satanist upon whom that description of David lights Destruction and unhappiness is in their counsels and the way of peace they have not known The Magicians of Pharaoh could bring forth Frogs upon all the Land of Egypt as well as Aaron when he stretcht forth his rod but the Magicians with all their Inchantments could not rid the Land of those Frogs as Aaron did when he cried unto the Lord. Inchanters are permitted to work strange mischiefs but the Lord hath reserved it to himself to work strange mercies Ahitophel was exceeding wise no doubt accounted the Oracle of his age yet we know no instance of his wit in all the Scripture wherein he had his hand but in most turbulent and seditious propositions The Devil made use of his craft to serve his own turn but a wit that is sanctified with Gods grace know it by this character it had rather make than mar advance than pull down preserve than destroy reconcile than put at enmity When the voice from heaven spake to Peter as he was in a trance Arise Peter kill and eat the meaning was he should eat of such things as the Gentiles did which were prohibited before communicate with the Gentiles convert the Gentiles Now do you think that Cardinals mouth was not full of gall that made this Exposition of the Miracle Arise Bishop of Rome wage war with the Venetians and kill them because they will not obey yout Interdict Certainly this mans breath was like the strong East Wind that brought most of the grievous Plagues of the Land of Egypt I do not like such Prophets though Micaiah was wrongfully reputed such a one by Ahab that never prophesie good but evil nor such Disciples as would shew their authority by calling down fire from heaven nor such unlucky spirits that are like the malignant Planets which produce nothing but maleficous effects When Songs were sung in every Street of Greece that Philip had eraced the fair City of Olynthus O but when will he build up such a City Says a silly woman and then I would sing too An ill turn is quickly watcht for beside the venomous inclination of our own nature to do hurt You shall have the Devil to boot to help it on he counsels like an enemy no miracle which brings good with it to mankind but destruction Mitte te deorsum Cast
of them and behold Angels came and ministred unto him From this note or preface of attention I pass on to their person that came to minister unto Christ and they are Angels As the Philistins stood on a Mountain on the one side and Israel on a Mountain on the other side and there was a Valley between them from whence both the Armies might behold their two Champions David and Goliah fight it out So I dispute not against their conjecture that say the good Angels stood gazing from one prospect and the bad Angels from another to mark which way the Victory of this Duel would incline between Christ and Satan On the good Angels part this is certain we are put to no trial by our enemies visible or invisible but they come gladly to the speed of it and look upon us both with compassion and admiration We are made a spectacle unto the world and to Angels and to men says St. Paul As the Heathen did flock in multitudes to the Theaters to see the Christians cast unto wild beasts to be eaten which was no little part of their persecution that their enemies fed their eyes in sport with their misery So the blessed powers of heaven came to behold the same spectacle to compassionate that cruelty and to fortifie the sufferance of the Saints And if they can be content to be present at the skirmishes of the Scholars can it be supposed they would be away at this time when the Master of the fence was to play his Prize Beloved to put this further sometimes the Angels gave attendance to Moses Law and the Law it self was delivered by a Mediator in the hands of Angels But their study and delight was such in the Gospel of Christ that they gave all diligence to learn and understand it in all the mysteries St. Paul says that he was a Minister to preach the grace of God and to teach the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ says he To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God Eph. iii. 10. A most observable Text of Scripture that the Angels of heaven are the learneder for noting those passages which are taught touching the Mysteries of our salvation in this Church on earth And St. Chrysostom the loudest Trumpet of that Apostles glory among all the Fathers cries out See if Paul be not an Evangelist as well unto Angels as unto men This is marvellous and not to be admitted as if the good Angels knew not the Incarnation of Christ before and the calling of the Gentiles For how could they be ignorant of those divine Lessons which were so obvious and common in all the Prophets Admitting then that the whole substance of that Doctrine was known unto them long before yet many circumstances were revealed unto them by the actions and passions of the Church in after-time What then Was Paul or are we able to explain any thing for the better capacity of Angels No certainly Non addiscunt per Ecclesiam docentem sed per ea quae geruntur in Ecclesiâ Those principal intellectual spirits do not profit by the preaching of our Ministry but by things managed experimentally in the Church which were not so clear in Prophesie or speculation as when time revealed them They knew that Christ should bruise the Serpents head but when they saw it actually performed in repelling the three antecedent temptations then the mystery of God was made known unto them experimentally by the Church Those significations of the Gospel which the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven even those things the Angels desire to look into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to stoop down and look into as Peter and John stoopt to look into the Sepulchre that is bowed down in humility to look into the great mystery of the Resurrection They are not inanes speculatores fond and curious gazers but most observant and most humble learners they will stoop unto the knowledge of the wisdom of God And that the Angels did note and pry into all things which our Saviour did in the dispensation of his Mediatorship the posture of the Cherubins upon the Ark is no unsignificant Figure Says God The faces of the Cherubins shall be toward the mercy seat Exod. xxv 20. As if the Angels did never cast their eye off from Christ our Propitiator from the Mercy Seat but did continually desire him in the fulness of time to have mercy upon Sion So I have made it known that such diligent attendants who listned faithfully to all the occurrencies of the Gospel must needs be at hand when Christ had ended his combate vvith the Devil And so ready at hand that it is noted these Angels are not said to descend from heaven as if they had been far off in another world but to come and minister which betokens a near attendance They came and ministred unto him And now Satan sees more by the event by this officious service of the Angels than he could extort by all his temptations Homo est quem ipse tentat Deus cui ab Angelis ministratur He must be a man that suffered such temptations but he must be a God that had such Ministers Christ came not to be ministred unto but to minister Mat. xx 28. That is in St. Pauls words He took upon him the form of a servant Phil. ii 7. For the very form of a man is the form of a servant Yet this servant thinks it no robbery to be equal with that God to whom all the powers in heaven and in earth do bow and obey But wherefore came the Angels now Do they come to bring assistance when the Devil was vanquished and had left our Saviour This were as the Adagie goes Post bellum auxilium Choraebus brought succours to the Siege of Troy when the fray was ended They miss of the right intention that think the Angels came for this end It was not to strengthen him against his enemy that was beaten and vanquished but to minister and stand before him for these reasons First possibly to spread a Table for him in the Wilderness and bring him meat because he had now fasted forty days and forty nights without intermission Not as if he could not be supplied without their provision but it was his pleasure they should attend upon his diet to let his enemy see there was another way to feed his body than to make stones of bread And this was it it may be that plurally many Angels came to minister unto him Had they been required barely to provide him necessaries one Angel could have brought enough of sustenance to give one man a meal but because this was intended not for any necessary relief towards his person but to shew his excellency above those heavenly hosts Behold a multitude stood round about him and Angels came and ministred unto him Secondly they might come to comfort him after
knew not what to say but in admiration of his mercy lift up his eyes to heaven as if these thoughts did rise up in Abrahams fancy Sarah the Mother of my Son did muse how a Child could be born unto her in her old age but she did ill to laugh because the Lord had spoke it then give me leave to ponder how this Child can live any more when the mouth of God hath spoken that he must be sacrificed for a burnt offering Nay O Lord Non unum redimis sed unitatem In this act thou dost not so much redeem this one from death as the unity of all the faithful in this one all those Nations that shall be blessed in my name wilt thou spare them all as thou sparest Isaac What are our merits What justice is in us What is man that thou wilt not visit him with indignation Thus the soul of Abraham was in an extasie to consider the mercy of God wonder had possessed him we see it in this cast of his eye that he looked up to heaven When the Lord turned the Captivity of Sion then we were like unto them that dream says the Prophet The deliverance was so fortunate so much it did out-strip their hope that they did receive it at first not as that which was done indeed but as a delightful dream As Livie relating how the Graecians were strangly strucken with sudden joy upon the day when the Romans sent them unexpected liberty says he Mirabundi velut somni speciem arbitrabantur they thought it was a pleasing vision in their sleep and not the happiness of them that were broad awake So when God did really make good that Promise which the Devil pretended that he would bring about Non moriemini You shall not die The faithful Patriarch knew not how to apprehend it at the first but his eye did testifie that his soul was ravished with the mercies of the Lord. The wicked shall not end half his days the seed of the ungodly shall be rooted out eternal fire is prepared hereafter for them that shall be turned over to the Devil and his Angels there shall be much wrath and vengeance every where among the dwelling places of the unrighteous but as for Isaac and they that are born according to the Spirit Noli tangere says the Angel the hand of violence shall not come near them as the Poet in his Eclogue brings in Melibaeus wondring at the clemency of Cesar to his fellow-shepherd when all the neighbour-Cottages were burnt and wasted Vndique totis usque adeò turbatur agris So when God shall work so much destruction in the world redemption is an admirable thing where it lights John Baptist as we read it in the vulgar Latine blazeth out with two notes of astonishment one upon another Ecce Agnus Dei ecce qui tollit peccata mundi Behold the Lamb of God I and again Behold him that taketh away the sins of the world In two respects it is to be wondred at without any prejudice to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or fulness of our faith as I will shew by the examples of two memorable women in holy Scripture Whence is it that the mother of my Lord comes unto me says Elizabeth Why did she marvel at it Quia non sui meriti sed divini fatetur esse muneris says Beda because it was a favour of mere grace and not a recompence of merit And again the blessed mother of our Saviour astonished at the Angels message that she should conceive and bear a Son Quomodo says she How shall these things come to pass Tanquam certa de facto querit de modo fiendi as it is the common answer She was sure it should be so she marvelled how it should be so and that was a blameless admiration Both these passions did Abraham suffer he knew there was no worth in man that God should release him from condemnation he knew not the manner what should be paid for his ransom his eye did fix it self upon the throne of God to find the mystery out and so you see it was Gestus admirantis the expression of wonder and astonishment that Abraham lifted up his eyes Thirdly It is Gestus inquirentis besides that he lifted up his eyes he look'd about him from the tops of Moriah it is the demeanour of him that did seek out for a Sacrifice to be offered up unto the Lord. Reges Parthes non potest quisquam salutare sine munere says he No man was admitted to salute the Parthian Kings unless he brought some Present in his hands so because Abraham came to this Mountain to worship before the Angel of the Lord he look'd and enquired for some Oblation that he might not turn back until he had laid a gift upon the Altar Many will lift up their eyes but they list not to seek an Offering for the Lord. Such are best pleased with devotion when it comes off with as little cost as may be Nay says David when Araunah would have born his charges I will not sacrifice to God of that which shall cost me nothing An Objection is framed in the School that the Piety of the Jews was more acceptable to God than the piety of Christians because they in their daily Service were at great expense to provide beasts for the Altar we are at no such charge in our Spiritual Worship it is enough if we offer up a broken heart in mortification a thankful heart in Praise and a devout heart in Prayer But this puts not our Purse to any trial like the Oblations of the Jews To cancel and wipe out this opposition it is answered that we supply that charge of the Sacrifice of beasts In Sacrificio Eleemosynarum in the Sacrifice of Alms to the poor The hand must look about it where to give as well as the eye look upward where to be thankful A distribution to the wants of the needy it is Pro sacrificio and prae sacrificio in place of sacrifice and to be preferred before all sacrifices Mercy is a better Oblation than a Beast that is slain this day you know how much was paid for the price of your redemption but not the price of corruptible things as Silver and Gold Spare O spare some portion of that which you spend profusely in the consumption of vanity at this solemn time of redemption to redeem the distressed in Prisons that are fast bound in misery and iron Look about you as Abraham did and you shall find I assure you Arietes prehensos in Vepribus Rams shall I say Nay they have scarce any fleece upon their back but they are catch'd fast poor Souls by the horns in the Thicket thence they cannot stir unlâ—ss Abraham will take them and offer them up for an Oblation to the Lord. Above all other casts of the eye this same Gestus inquirentis pleaseth me best to look about that we may present some gift upon the Altar
Et fuit in toto corpore sculptus amor says a Christian Poet the thorns of the field catch the Fleece and tear off locks sometimes that is more the Shepherds loss than the Sheep but Blessed Jesus thou wert stript of thy Garments and the skin was flaid off and then the thorns were dinted into the flesh the least touch of pain was too much for thee but let not thy Cup seem too sower to thy Children the greatest dose that can be given is not too much for us Secondly as Tertullian said abstulit omnes aculeos mortis dominici capitis tolerantia there will be tribulations there will be sorrows in the world but the mortal sting is gone the thorns of all our persecutions and vexations are stuck in the Temples of our Saviour his sufferance hath blunted their sharp points that they shall not run in so far as to our heart to make our spirit sad and heavy within us quite contrary to Synesius his Art of Gardening 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he would have strong and unsavoury roots planted neer to Rose-trees that the neglected root might draw the ill sap and venom of the earth into it self and save the Rose-trees harmless but here the Rose of Sharon did save the Garlick and the wild Roots harmless and drunk up the bitter juice into it self lest God should come and root us out of his Vineyard Thirdly we read of a purple Robe put upon the back of Christ of bowing and bending to him of a Reed in his hand of a Crown upon his head alas it was thorns all these Ensigns of Majesty were put upon him in scorn What doth this mockery express Quod regnum Christi in hoc mundo ludibrio futurum sit because the Kingdom of Heaven in this world that is the Kingdom of Christ in his Church should be made a taunt and a by-word to them that sit in the Chair of the scorner the Power Ecclesiastical and the Hierarchical Dignity of it is flouted at by them that would neither allow the Head of it a Crown nor the supreme Priests their Miters but trample all Rule and Order under their feet Fourthly and lastly to end this part the place where the Ram is caught is a Thicket of thorns but what place was this afterward Quantum mutatus ab illo as I told you before from St. Hierom that the Cross was set up upon the very plot of ground where the Ram was sacrificed so upon the next part of this Hill of Moriah Solomon built the Temple for so it is 2 Chron. iii. 1. Then Solomon began to build the House of the Lord at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah and why may it not be that the Jebusites who inhabited that Hill are called thorns in the eys of Israel why may not that be their Nick-name because thorns had overgrown their Habitation certainly in the Thickets of thorns there are the Walls of the Church reared up such a choice was made as the famous Antiquary of this Island hath wrote for the foundation of the Abbey which is the next to this place the ground was sometime called Thornega Thus you see we must lay our foundation in thorns we must sow in tears the higher we build from earth the further from the briars then our sorrows will be trampled down and we shall reap in joy and though thorns were a curse which was laid upon the vast World yet to plant in thorns shall be a blessing to the Church whose faith shall be refined in affliction as Gold is tried in the furnace Remember how St. Paul stil'd himself to Philemon Vinctum Christi a Prisoner of Christ not the Jews Prisoner not Festus his Prisoner not Caesars Prisoner but rejoycing in his Bonds for the Gospel a Prisoner of Jesus Christ And so far of the second General Part praesens auxilium Abrahams necessities were supplied at an instant Behold behind him a Ram caught in a Thicket by his horns In the handling of the last Part I must obey the time I called it Sacrificium succedaneum one Sacrifice answering for another or coming in the place of another And Abraham went and took the Ram and offered him up for a Burnt-offering in the stead of his Son 1. Abraham went and took the Ram so to apprehend and lay hold upon Christ that 's our duty 2. And offered him up that 's only consonant to God the Father 3. For a Burnt-offering there comes in Christs part 4. Instead of his Son there 's the redemption of the Elect I hope there comes in our part The hand of faith the good will of God the Father the full satisfaction of God the Son The full redemption of all that shall be saved With these four Points briefly we will end And Abraham went and took the Ram. It was the comfortablest hand that ever Peter felt when upon the danger to sink and perish in the Sea Christ stretched forth his hand and caught him So it was the most comfortable thing that ever Abraham caught hold of to apprehend this Ram in the Thicket partly out of natural affection partly supernatural the life of Isaac lay at the stake just before all the Sons of promise that he had and if he be cut off call him no more Abraham call him Abram again for how can he be the Father of many Nations or if that be made good in Ismael yet shall Isaac die the joy and laughter of his Father as his name goes quasi nusquam alibi gaudium ei restaret as if there were no joy without him Once Abraham had fought valiantly against five Kings when He was young 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostom what a hard thing was it for him in his old age to fight against nature O had not his natural affections a brave occasion of joy to work upon when a Ram was put into his hands instead of Isaac and all this sorrow prevented but the Spirit 's comfort is the eye-sight of the Spirit into supernatural blessings hereby there was the gladness as Jacob laid hold of an Angel so did Abraham of this Ram the principal of the Flock the Leader of all the Sheep in the Pasture he was sure of a blessing before he parted with him Joabs hands may be pluckt from the Altar of refuge Sauls hand may be rent from the Garment of Samuel the Children of Bethlem may be pluckt from the arms of their own Mothers and slain before their eyes but who so apprehendeth the merits and mercies of Jesus Christ he that doubteth not as Thomas did and yet approacheth by faith so near as to put his hand into his wounds as if he would bury his sins in that Grave he shall lie safe in that Harbour and never be removed from the love of God in Christ Caius Caesar his foot slipt landing upon Affrica and the palm of his hand fell upon the ground verso in meliùs omine teneo te inquit Affrica turning it to the
made him cry out These men came not in by Gods honorabo and therefore they went out with a mischief infelicity was the end of that honour which was not begun in humility Let my speech sink into the heart of all those whom God hath advanced to the rule of his People let the meanest find favour in their eyes as well as the greatest mercy and justice love and charity you owe them alike to all the world to Caius and Titius alike to Neighbour and Stranger An elegant Minstril if his Musick be delicious a sporting Stage-player and the like shall be admitted into the noblest Assemblies and I am sure it is better than sport and musick to a worthy Magistrate to hear a man oppressed with wrong relate his grievances and redress them Pudeat aspernari fratrem quem Deus non aspernatur filium says St. Austin Do not despise him for thy Brother whom God hath accepted for his Son This I have spoken for the first share of honour which God giveth in this life and that for these two ends in utilitatem humilitatem First to promote the publick good Secondly to be depress'd in humility But alas what do we speak of Promotions in great places this is small comfort to the poor man although it came from God A poor Philosopher told a rich man that invited him He was set at the lower end of the Table ut ultimum locum cohonestaret to bring the lowest room in credit So divers and very rare Personages are but underlings in this life ut ultimum locum cohonestarent but these may partake of honours in the second life from the voice of fame for the memorial of the just shall be blessed saith the Lord. Very briefly of this You have known loving Fathers bequeath somewhat to their Posthumi to their Babes which should be born after their decease in whom they could never take joy nor comfort so divers at the last gasp of their life have bequeathed Monuments and places of liberality to charitable uses to reap that glory after their decease which they should never hear of A question may be asked in this place if it be lawful to call Colleges or Free-Schools or Hospitals after the Founders names that posterity may know them and testifie their pious affection I must mollify the answer propter duritiam cordis vestri because of the hardness of mens hearts for I had rather allow it as good and give some indulgence to human infirmity which itcheth after praise than Structures of Charity should fail and the hands of the liberal should quite be dried up But this is truth without yielding one whit to mans frailty good works offend not because they are seen but when their upshot and scope is to be seen that their praise may be divulged Si times spectatores non habebis imitatores says Gregory as who should say it is good to have our light shine that men may behold and imitate it not that they may behold and applaud it as the Schoolmen express it ad profectum aliorum non ad ostentationem sui not for our own reputation but for our Brothers edification 'T is a sign of a generous and noble spirit to do good things among other scopes and intentions to purchase a good name contemptu famae contemnuntur virtutes Certainly the propagation of a good name when it is not ambitiously coveted and affected it is a leaf of Gods own Chronicle and a blessing of many days wrought by his power who is the Ancient of days He that compared glory unto vertue as the shadow unto the body hit of a good similitude sometimes the shadow is cast before the body as when our glory is reported in our own ears Sometimes the shadow is cast behind the body as when the memory of our good deeds remains after us and this is from the Lord. Oblivion cast upon some is like the Plague of darkness cast upon Egypt Three Kings of Judah sprung from a wicked Race of whom our Saviour came touching the flesh are quite omitted in his Pedigree Mat. i. as if they had never been and who they were it shall not be named for me since the Holy Ghost despised to reckon them Tola judged Israel twenty three years and all that he did is not so much remembred as that Paul left his Cloak at Troas Joabs valour is forgotten among the Worthies of David because of his cruelty It is Alexander Hales his observation that the Scripture doth spend some Chapters to relate the Fall of Adam because Man recovered himself by the Promise made in Christ But not a word is spoken concerning the Fall of Lucifer and the Evil Angels neither in Moses nor the Prophets except it be under Parables and since it was their sin to rise against God they could not procure such an instance of their memory in Gods Books as to have the story of their Fall But a good name is a precious ointment an Ointment which is consecrated and made holy by the blessing of God Well let us proceed to the third and last portion of Gods Honour in tertio seculo aeterno in the life everlasting and here is comfort in the end For let the worst be made of the good mans fortune his calling is not honourable but private and his infamy perchance not private but publick Naboth dies for Cursing and Stephen for Blaspheming and both were innocent Now where is Honorabo What is become of the Honour that God promised And yet who deserved it better than such a man Nemo virtutem Sanctius coluit quam qui boni viri famam perdidit ne conscientiam perderet No man loves Vertue more than he that had rather die with an ill name than with an ill conscience Where is such a mans Honour Where the Philosophers Country was when he pointed up to heaven Blessed are you says our Saviour when men revile you and speak all manner of evil falsly on you for my Names sake rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven There no Julian is an Emperour no Sanballat a Magistrate nor Caiphas an High Priest Si Honor diligitur illic quaeratur ubi nemo indignus honoratur says St. Austin Double my portion there O Lord and as Mephibosheth said Let Ziba take all and surely this Honour is best agreeable to the Text Honorabo I will honour him It is a blessing in future at such a time I may say when time shall be no more Not as the Gloss hath it Qui benè utitur dignitate conservabo eum in statu dignitatis suae He that manageth any promotion of Honour justly and faithfully I will keep him in it and not cast him down Nay admit that faithfulness and just dealing be an occasion to cast him down the sooner as it befel Aristides still Honorabo is a good promise when greatness is eclipsed upon Earth heaven stands sure and there the condition of this promise
that he passed into heaven without death is twâ—fold Quoad alios quoad ipsum partly in regard of others partly in regard of himâ—â—lf In regard of others what greater consolation upon the proof did befall the Church in that Age than from hence that there was an apparent instance that after this life God had prepared another for his Saints These are the very words of life Non solùm in verbo sed in facto God did not only give a promise but took this man away as a real pawn of his favour that Death should be swallowed up in victory Two things had hapned which shook the world with much fear First that Abel who had offered a good and a pleasing Sacrifice should be slain by Cain Is this the reward of the Righteous Shall Sinners always have the upper hand Hold ye contented says God do not ye see that Enoch is accounted worthy to decline Fate and Mortality because he was found obedient and just in the sight of God Put Abels persecution in one scale Enochs glorification in another and you will find how equally the lives of the Saints are mixt with afflictions and consolations The other discomfort was that Adam the Father of all flâ—sh was dead before their eyes and this struck wonderful terrour into their hearts till their fears were mitigated in the Assumption of Enoch For he that assumed body and soul together into heaven for power he was able and for mercy very willing though he marred the bodies of his Children with corruption to repair them again There was Seth the fifth Patriarch above Enoch then living far stricken in years and every day looking for his dissolution within fifty years after he was carried to the grave like a timely fruit dropping from the tree What a comfort it was unto him to see a Son of his own loins caught up alive into the Mansions of Beatitude As who should say at last such honour have all his Saints Such as love to put forth curious questions demand why Adams eyes were shut that he never saw this blessing for it fell out 150. years after his death why he alone of all the good Patriarchs was excluded from this common consolation It is ingenuiously answered that he had as much comfort as that came to proper to himself for he received the very words of the Covenant out of Gods mouth The Seed of the woman shall bruise the Serpents head No man else was so happy to have the living Oracle of the Lords voice sound in his ears that Christ should prevail against the enmity of the Devil Therefore to see or hear of the rapture of Enoch was not necessary for him but for all others it was that had not heard the primitive consolation Can you imagine but it kindled great desires in all them that believed to fly away like a bird unto the hills and to possess that requium which Enoch enjoyed Did not their hearts burn within them to see that glory which one of their Brethren and Kindred enjoyed How much more should the same mind be in us to be with Christ Who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the way-maker unto life who is gone before to prepare a place for us No Enoch no Abel is our pattern but Christ himself hath shewn us by his own Ascension how our thoughts should ascend upward to sit at the right hand of God for evermore Hitherto I have declared that Enochs rapture was a comfort to all true believers against the terrours of death but I do not say as some do that the Resurrection of the body was any way exemplified in this mans translation The Scripture hath left it out among the Arguments of the Resurrection and the best instances are those which are applied by the Holy Ghost As our Saviour propounds the Prophet Jonas who was three days and three nights in the belly of the Whale and came forth alive St. Paul proves it to the Romans by this Argument If you have the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead he will also quicken your mortal bodies As if he had said being it is the same Spirit it will produce the same effects And he perswades it to the Corinthians with many strong demonstrations this is the principal if Christ be risen from the dead then are we also assured of our Resurrection for it is not possible that the head should live and we that are his members remain in death These are Apostolical reasons and we are not sent to learn this Lesson from the rapture of Enoch or Elias For indeed those ensampies belong to another purpose to that refining of the mortal body and not putting off of the flesh which shall befall them that shall be found alive at the great day of the Lord. The Mystery which was opened to the Thessalonians The dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds So says Tertullian Enoch and Elias never slept with their Fathers Quare documenta sunt futurae integritatis therefore they shew that body and soul shall be indissoluble which he calls integrity in them that shall be the last Generation of the world And Irenaeus The translation of Enoch makes it manifest that these gross bodies of ours shall be no impediment to meet the Lord in the clouds For as the hand of God which made man of the dust of the earth put him into Paradise so the same hand though he be still but dust and earth can exalt him to a better Paradise And that exaltation though it prove not the Resurrection so absolutely yet directly it proves that the body is fit and capable to be carried away with the soul into the Kingdom of God Thus far upon the benefit quoad alios which redounded unto others from meditating upon this story that Enoch was not and the Lord took him I must joyn a little to this of the benefit quoad ipsum how commodious and good it was to himself for two respects I told you in my last Sermon that instead of walking with God the Jerusalem Targum reads it and Enoch laboured in the truth before the Lord he was an assiduous Teacher of the wicked world to reclaim them from their vices a Prophet that spent himself and his strength like a candle to give light to others all the impediment was that it is an hard matter to gain credit to good Doctrine from them that are hardned in their sins and it is a great honour from God to the Labourer in his harvest when scornful men do not despise his Message Therefore to win authority to Enochs Prophesies the Lord did as it were stretch out his arm from heaven and take him away in the Palm of his hand this was a sure seal indeed to all people that his Doctrine was given by divine inspiration Many false Prophets have commended their vain impostures to the world giving out
Brethren let your word be pure able to endure the fiery trial even for his sake who in the beginning was the Word and that Word was God As for such double tongues whose Heart is a Jew and their Tongue a Christian and for those aequivocating Jesuits who teach you to adulterate Truth in mental reservation let them have their portion with Sisera that told a lie and so spake his last for he warned Jael to deny him if any did enquire for him and then says the Text he slept and then he perished So much hath been spoken for these Celestial Graces Truth and Mercy considered in disjunction but as the Wings of the Cherubins touched one another in the midst of the House so there must be a copulation of these spiritual Blessings for Mercy and Truth are such a Pair as will either lodg together or leave together There was such a similitude of nature between the Twins of Love Eros Anteros that at once they wept and at once they smil'd they fell sick together and they recovered joyntly Such are the Twins of Grace Truth and Mercy she that would have them cut in twain and parted is an Harlot she that cries spare and preserve them whole she is the Mother and must enjoy them Look upon them in a state of policy Mercy without Truth is a sweet shower dropping on the barren sands quite spilt and no blessing follows it Truth without Mercy is extreme right and extreme injury Mercy without Truth is a dangerous pitty Truth without Mercy is not verity but severity Consider them towards God and Heaven and then most unfit it is that either should be alone A Faith of meer Protestation without Good Works such is Truth without Mercy it might have been in the Gergasens Swine for such a Faith is in the Devil says St. James and therefore might have been in the Gergasens Swine to bear him company and all the integrity of the Heathen all the goodness that Socrates could teach because it is not in Christ such is Mercy without Truth it comes tardy like Esaus Venison and the Blessing is remov'd upon the head of Jacob. St. Austin compares them thus A Pagan living without blame before men is a man with his eyes open in the dark midnight and he that professeth Christ and not mercy but is sold to commit iniquity is one with his eyes shut in the clear day and he sees as little Such an unadorned Faith is like a fair Shield which the Tyroes among the Romans carried to the battel it is a piece of Harness indeed as Faith is called by St. Paul but it makes no shew it hath not the imprese of any Stratagem upon it Our holy Life and conscionable Conversation must be engraven upon our Faith like the Posie of the Lover upon the Tree Crescetis amores as the bark grew so the letters waxed bigger if the one prospered the other thrived as well For the whole Jury of our Creed the twelve Articles will not save us unless the Law be on our side Though not altogether that is impossible yet by endeavour and pious industry to acquit our selves of many trespasses The sum of all is Two are better than one I know that some rely too much upon the Example of the Penitent Thief the eyes of whose Faith were not opened until his hands and feet were pierced with the nails of death but look a little better into his Practice and you shall see that he prov'd himself so good a Christian in the last hour as if he had been reprieved from the Cross for another Assizes First he reproved the scorner Secondly he preached Moses Dost thou not fear God Thirdly he confessed his guiltiness But we suffer justly Fourthly he justified the innocent This man hath done nothing amiss Fifthly he consented to the power of the Magistrate We receive the reward of our deeds Sixthly he acknowledged Christs Divinity as he did his Humanity before saying that Heaven was his Kingdom Lastly he prayed and believed Lord remember me in thy Kingdom See what a Swarm of Bees hang upon his lips in a few words lest in this one Example the mercies of Christ might be made an occasion to excuse the mercy of man But Faith and Truth are our Wedding Garment Good Works and Mercy are the Broidering upon it Haec est tunica filii mei this is my Sons Coat says the Lord and the Spouses Cloathing is of wrought needle-work Psal xlv Let them hear of this especially who by their Profession are the Pillars of Truth in the Church and should be the Censors of sweet Perfume also let them look to it that these Wings of Truth and Mercy be equally poised that their knowledg preach continually in their holy life lest it prove with us as St. Austin spake of Antony the Eremite that grew exceeding devout when all the Cloisters were idle and lascivious and the Eremite being so ignorant that he knew not letters rapiunt indocti regnum coelorum literati excluduntur the great Clerks studied for Heaven but the simple People took it by violence and possessed it What should I speak more If Man be a little World and his Soul a great Heaven in it then these are duo magna luminaria Truth is the Orient Star of the Understanding and Mercy is the bâ—ightness of the Will like the Sun and Moon in the Firmament like the faithful Witness in Heaven But take heed that the Stars themselves be not swept away from the Sky with the Tail of the Dragon take heed lest like the dastard Ephramites being harnessed and carrying Bows we turn our backs in the day of battel for so it follows in the fourth part of my Text there is a deserant Gods Gifts may forsake us and let him that standeth take heed lest he fall Mercy and Truth they may forsake us What will some man say our Justification our Righteousness in Christ may that forsake us Superbia quo ascendis Why doth the presumption of man move such angry questions But Beloved I have no such uncomfortable Doctrine at this time to deliver I wish it prosperously that the head of the Serpent may be bruised that there be no leading the free-born into Captivity and no complaining in our streets But Sanctification shakes her leaves sometimes like the accursed Figtree Mercy in King David spilt the bloud of an innocent truth forsook truth with a curse in the mouth of St. Peter Now every quality may cease to be and grow to nothing three ways as it is distinguished in Philosopny 1. Defectu firmae inhaesionis seu radicationis 2. Admotione contrarii 3. Desitione subjeoti I will explain them in order First I say defectu firmae inhaesionis When Truth and Mercy want root and have no hold to stay long As a luke-warm heat quickly evaporates out of the water if the fire be not maintained An Inceptor that proceeded not was a fool among the Galatians and with
King Agrippa's leave almost a Christian was three parts an Atheist Such a glimmering light of zeal is like a Morning mist which quickly vanisheth away and it is Christus suffuratus as the Souldiers said Christ stoln away and pilfered out of our heart I know not how He that never saw the Sea is as near his journeys end to pass it over as he that wades but to the ankles The hands of Zorobabel have laid the foundation of this house and his hands shall finish it Zach. iv 9. that was a blessing from the Lord. To be of Caesars mind Nil actum credens cum quid superesset agendum to think nothing done when any thing was undone that was a Spirit to make a Conquerour My love is a bundle of Myrrh Cant. xiii As if she were like Seleucus shafts which could not be broken in the cluster Such a bundle of Myrrh is in St. Peter 2 Epist i. 5. Give all diligence and add to your faith vertue to your vertue knowledge to knowledge temperance to temperance patience to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to all these charity What will all these serve the turn when they stand as thick as corn in harvest Yes says the Apostle Si abundaverint if they abound in you they will make you you shall not be barren and fruitless Thus then Truth and Mercy will forsake us if we do not further the gift of God take away the single Talent and give it to him that hath ten more The next way to make our heart cast this happy brood and to miscarry when it travels with Truth and Mercy is admotione contrarii by taking part both with God and Belial Asahal was not more nimble than St. John to fly away when he spied Cerinthus the eldest Son of Satan in the same Bath with him and therefore do not think to make your soul an Ark for the clean and unclean beasts to lie together A little frosty air is so forcible that it bursts the clouds and forceth out the hot exhalation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is spirted out between the fingers and gone before you can think of it Beloved that field in Israel was hated like Aceldama which was sown with divers seeds and Nehemiah cursed the children that spake one half in the Hebrew Tongue and another part in the Language of Ashdod Covetousness is so wealthy and it thrives so fast that it easily purchaseth the whole heart of man and whom at first you entertained like a foreiner to have one moyety in your heart it buys the whole possession over Mercies head Veios migrate coloni and so casts it forth And likewise so incompatible is truth with the least falshood that the haters of the Lord were found liars at our Saviours arraignment when he spake nothing Is it not strange Very strange That Christ should come before unrighteous Judges be impeached by malicious Adversaries all this while hold his peace and yet the Witness not agree Will you know the reason There came two false Witnesses Mat. xxvi Averring that this fellow said I am able to destroy the Temple of God and to build it again in three days There is another tale told Mar. xiv We heard him say I will destroy this Temple made with hands and will build another without hands But what said our Saviour in very deed You shall find his saying Joh. ii 19. Neither I can destroy with the former nor I will destroy with the latter But vos solvite do you destroy and solvite templum hoc the Temple of his body and in three days I will raise it up You cannot clap good and bad together but with waxen pins if you move them a little they fly asunder the wax melteth and it confounds the Chariot and his Rider For what agreement hath light with darkness or the Temple of the Lord with Idols Touching the third manner and the last how a quality may cease to be desitione subjecti when that faileth wherein it is it hath no place only in Truth and Mercy Other things indeed we can expect to remain no longer than the house of our body lasteth beauty ceaseth with the bloud and strength faileth with the sinews nay tongues shall cease and knowledge shall vanish away but mercy and charity abideth for ever Yea and truth also but veritas in visione not in fide Truth in the clear vision of God and not darkly in faith In a word as Joseph furnished his Brethren both with food for their travel and Corn to keep house with in the Land of Canaan So there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. James gifts for our Pilgrimage in this life and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gifts to abide with us in our Country above perfect gifts descending from the Father of lights So some endowments drop away with this house of flesh but after glorification this voice shall no more be heard in our ears let not Mercy and Truth forsake thee But this uncomfortable deserant that Gods gifts may forsake us is to view Jacob but as a Criple halting and failing in his combate but nè deserant let them not forsake thee shews Israel wrestling with the Angel and keeping God as I may speak it with reverence fast unto him with a chain of Faith To begin therefore with Mercy there are two ways to keep a firm possession of it by Meditation and by Petition The Meditations also shall be twain and very short ones for the time sake First Consider that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Greek Fathers call it the deep engagement of our Charity in the Lords Prayer Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive our brethren and no otherwise Lord what a deep curse do we bring upon our soul if this be not said in earnest Secondly Consider the compassion of all the Members in that mystical body whereof Christ is the head He that is hard hearted against a Christian is cruel against a part of himself Nero might fill the streets with the slaughtered bodies of the Saints For why he was none of ours but a Lion in the Sheepfold but a little bitterness a disdaining contempt a reviling malediction the neglect of the misery of a Christian at the hands of a Christian is more unnatural It was St. Basils counsel and most elegant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that as he that looks upon the sore eye of another man may chance to provoke the rheum in his own eyes so our eyes should grow feeble and conceive tears when we see the tears of our brother If we chance to offend against Mercy and to forget one of these Meditations it is very likely that it will stop at the other but if both fail then we must fly unto uncessant Prayer and Petition That is Anchora sacra for the last refuge let us fall down before his footstool and confirm Gods grace to our soul as Elias made the heavens of brass I do not mean so
may observe they were high attempts when the Son of God did use this Ceremony to look up to heaven It came from a good principle it tended to a good end and very good use is to be made of it The first good principle or impulsive cause is mercy He saw a great Multitude in want and destitute of sustenance and that was the provocation to make him fix his eyes upon the heavens to call down relief Our Evangelist in the fifth verse of this Chapter notes that he lift up his eyes meaning that he did affectionately behold a multitude of People all bescanted of food and that was the preparative to make him look higher to look up to heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is his own word in St. Mark My bowels yearn to provide for this people in their extremity of hunger These entrals of compassion make us bold to look up to God compassion is that Optique Nerve that draws up the eye lid and encourageth us to seek for grace because our eyes send forth the visual rays of Charity Better it is to want Eyes and Legs and Arms than to lack these entrals of Pity You may carve the proportion of a man in Stone or cast it in Brass a fair Figure it shall be but it hath no Bowels So he is no better than a Lump of Brass or Stone that hath not the Affections of Clemency an Idol that hath Ears and hears not that hath Eyes and sees not but he that hath the tender heart-strings of mercy in his bosom he may have confidence to look up to heaven Secondly It is Devotion which draws up our looks to God It is a sign that the interiour contemplation is directed thither when the exteriour glances fly aloft The Eye cannot refrain to fix it self upon that object which the mind doth passionately desire Therefore it is become an act of Latria or religious veneration to advance the eyes to heaven in the fervour of Prayer Vnto thee lift I up mine eyes O thou that dwellest in the heavens Psal cxxiii And to look up to Idols is all one as to worship Idols in the Phrase of Ezekiel Cast your eyes therefore to the Throne of God when you address your self to Prayer that Love and Zeal may be struck out of the fire of the Eye I do not press it as inseparable Ceremony for the humble Publican did well when he thought so abjectly of himself that he durst not lift up his eyes to heaven says St. Chrysostom like an Orator lest he should find the Catalogue of his sins written in the Firmament to accuse him Yet a perpetual affectation of winking or covering the face in Prayer seems not to me so laudable for why should we debar our selves to praise God with our most heavenly sense Next of all it carries us along with it to know what end Christ had in working this Miracle The root of all was above and he work'd downward he set his Fathers glory before his eyes and he directed this and all his actions to the propagation of it To feed such a scattered Rout so liberally so unexpectedly you may be sure it would spread his renown far and wide they would cry him up for a bountiful Lord in all places This was the fashion of the rising men in Rome about the time that Christ lived to fill the People with congiaries and Feasts and win their applause by cramming their belly But our Saviours conceit was above this earth he had none but coelestial intentions And therefore when the People out of admiration would have prosecuted it to a most honourable issue and have made him a King he shifted away into a Mountain that he might not be found at the fifteenth verse of this Chapter He neither began this work for temporal glory nor would let it end in temporal glory for he looked up to heaven Whether it be in sustaining the poor or in any other Christian work that flows from charity do it that ye may have honour of God and beware of the leaven of Ambition that you have no flat sinister thoughts in it or humane policies Popularity is like a thief in a Candle it makes it blaze much but it quickly wastes it He that doth good and looks up stedfastly to heaven makes God his Debtor he that looks asquint to the praise of men shall be paid with ignominy You know now out of what Principles Christ did this you are sure for what end he did it From both we have this Lesson Let our eyes look unto the eyes of our Master When he looks upward let not us look downward but let us mind heavenly things The frame of our bodies heaves us thither Erectos ad sidera tollere vultus it bids us look to God and that way should our soul turn it came from thence and thither it should draw again The composition of Nature therefore would not have us to be Moales rooting into the earth but grace goes further and would have us to be Eagles flying above the Clouds Aquila nidum sibi in arduis construit Job xxxix 27. The Eagle builds his nest on high It is the Emblem of a Christian whose Spirit is so transported with the meditation of a better life that he walks as it were among the Stars The soul is not where it lives but where it loves Therefore St. Paul said that his whole Negotiation was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a conversation which was in heaven Here is hunger and thirst there is indeficient satiety Here are Envyings and Seditions there are sweet Hymns and Halelujah's Here are Worms and Corruption there are Angels and Immortality And what a joyous thing is it to have a pledge of this happiness by looking towards it before the time be come about that we should possess it Most willingly therefore will I send up mine eyes as Harbingers before me to make room for the whole man both soul and body Laertius says of Empedocles that he answered one that asked him what was the end of his life Vt coelum aspiciam to view the heavens What could be the meaning of this Philosopher To pore upon it like a Star-gazer I cannot but imagine more acuteness in him that he discerned the felicity of man was laid up in those supernal places God is every where We circumscribe him not in heaven when we look up thither It is not the Throne of his Presence but of his Glory But because we should have narrow and gross cogitations if we sought him only in these fading things Therefore for our Hope sake for our Consolation sake especially for the elevation of our mind we turn our eyes towards him in that place where there is no mixture of mutability Exalt your Spirit that you live as fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God Eph. ii 19. Ascend up on high as belonging to that Church which hath the Moon under her feet Rev. xii 1. Fix your nest in
people was and we seek a Country in the heavens What are five Loaves and two Fishes the poor pittances of Nature to procure us felicity Some say send them to the next Village for succour to the intercession of Saints and Angels No sweet Saviour but as the eyes of a servant look unto the hands of his Master so our soul waits upon thee until thou have mercy upon us Nor did our Saviour distribute his Largess only to stop the gap of necessity For had they been runnagates David doth award them to be unpitied Let them continue in scarceness but flagrante ptetate when their hearts were set upon zeal and their ears attentive by the space of an whole day to hear the Doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven then this Miracle falls out as a reward of their Piety For even as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Feasts of Charity were wont to be celebrated among the Christians in the Primitive Church immediately after the divine Mysteries had been solemnized So when these Jews had lent their patience to a good Sermon I am sure for never man spake like him by his enemies confession the close of it was that they eat bread together joyfully with singleness of heart And I do not amiss to say that this diligence to hear and learn did attract his love to do this for them for did they importune him by Prayer Did any one among so many beseech him to shew his power and pity them no but they had done enough to open his bowels though they held their peace for first seek the Kingdom of Heaven and the righteousness thereof and all these things shall be added unto you Hallow his name advance his Kingdom and do his will and that which follows comes in by course you cannot fail of your daily bread In this Assembly that sanctified the whole day in the Desart to wait on Christ you may imagine there were sundry of them that lived by their sweat and labour from hand to mouth Will not these be much damnified by their godliness The night was come they had earned nothing by their labour they may go home and starve yea nothing less they that had committed themselves to his providence like the fowls of the air shall fair as well as the fowls of the air For the Lions do lack and suffer hunger but they that fear the Lord do want no good thing Psal xxxiv 10. The Apostles not long before this accident in my Text were sent abroad without Scrip without provision without change of raiment Lacked you any thing says our Saviour the Heathen could not say that the Christians were the poorer for not working the seventh day your Trade is increasing while your shop is shut up on Holidays if you serve the Lord. Godliness is profitable unto all things having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come 1 Tim. iv 8. We had Brethren in diebus illis in those noble times that came near to the Apostles who durst urge the Lord upon his word in the face of Infidels that the soul of the righteous should not famish In the year 176 Marcus Aurelius was ready to give battel to the Marcomans but the day was so hot and the drought so sore that his Army fainted and could not strike a stroke The Christians that served under him to shew the glory of their great Master Jesus the Son of God joyned their Prayers together and instantly obtained so much rain as refreshed all the Roman Legions and so much thunder as consumed the Marcomans with fire and lightening I make not the Doctors of the Church my Authors for it but Dion Cassius an Heathen confesseth the accident and Xiphiline another of the same ascribes it to the Christians and that Legion which consisted of Christians was called from hence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the thundring Legion long after The blessings of the Lord they are not viscata beneficia they do not hang in his fingers like birdlime when his Children need them but they drop like an Honeycomb without straining But men are so apt to object against this as if they stretcht their wits to make God a liar they will tell you that they have known and heard of righteous men that have been forsaken and destitute Digito terebrare Salinum contentus perages si cum Jove vivere tentas Poverty ever was and will be the obloquy of honesty Neither is bread to the wise nor riches to men of understanding nor favour to men of skill Eccles ix 11. Well the knot is soon untied if you do not over-reckon with God and extend his word to a greater proportion of temporal blessings than he hath promised There is a Son that grudged at his Father Luke xv quia nusquam haedum dedisset he had never given him a Kid to make merry with his friends Must every one that is a Son look for a Kid and for enough wherewith he may be merry and voluptuous no no if you have pabulum latibulum any thing to stay hunger and a Cave to put your head in God is not in your debt and you may do as well as they that have the Kid for life is oftner lost by surfeiting than by starving Every Levite that serves faithfully at the Altar must not think to wear a Mitre like Aaron as St. Hierom speaks of Praetextatus that would be baptized and become a Christian if he might be Bishop of Rome All men must not look to be requited like Valentinian that refused the Tribune-ship of Julian upon condition of Idolatry and became an Emperor They that gape for so much tenter Gods promise to the stretch of their own greediness First They seek dominion and wealth and think the Kingdom of Heaven will come into the vantage Miserable souls that do not fear lest their dignity should be their total recompence and all that ever they shall have for their service They that put themselves upon Gods providence as these men did in the Desart they shall not want but remember then that they must accept of barley loaves for current payment Peter and John had neither silver nor gold yet they had food and raiment and for the most part the most fortunate are they that be no such Camels but they may pass through the eye of the needle I will work out of the point but this little more these five hundred men that waited upon Christ had kept their Fast to the full Canonical time they had eat nothing until night therefore he distributes the loaves dissolves their fast and would not suffer them to continue it any longer than might do them good A man in the fervour of his desire will pursue that he desires so hard as he will quite forget his meat so Esau felt no hunger when he was in the chase a hunting but as soon as that was over he longed for meat upon any terms so during the whole day that our Saviour
honour of God did infect the air and provoke this immediate putrefaction in Herods bowels Beloved We do all hold up our hands and bless our selves from such a vengeance as fell upon him that the very flesh should putrefie in his body and breed stink and loathsomness yet our lustful Gallants will take no warning but incur a more odious disease a more putrefying corruption of the body by their uncleanness and fornication than ever Herod had It is very strange to see how one Country will shift off the name of that disease to another which for reverence to your ears I will not mention The Indian will not own it The Naopolitan shuns the disgrace to have it pinn'd upon him the French translates it upon another People whole Kingdoms were ever ashamed of the infamy and yet this man and that man and the other that haunts Stews incurs it knows of it professeth it Beloved is such a putrefied Carkass fit to make a Temple for the Holy Ghost to dwell in or rather fit to make a Hog for Satan to enter in and run him headlong to his ruine O you are sure all shall be cured by Baths and Chirurgeons when the Angel of the Lord may strike you immediately that you give up the Ghost So indeed our Saviour himself is said to give up the Ghost but with much difference from Herod in the very original phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. John 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Luke and St. Mark 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Matthew still there is mention of the Spirit in all the four Evangelists because Christ was full of the Holy Ghost But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says my Text of Herod he breathed out his soul no mention of the Spirit for he was homo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Paul says Efflavit animam he disgusted out his soul which no doubt did loath the body To conclude all If you ask me what became of Herod after these words He gave up the Ghost I have no Commission from the Scripture to search into it he had much cause to give God thanks if he were saved who gave him five days repentance after he was struck to be sorry for his sin If he were condemned we have cause to give God thanks who hath made Herod an example unto us and might have made us had we been created sooner an example unto Herod Like Davids Arrows about Jonathan so are Gods Judgments about us on this side and beyond round about our eyes his name be blessed for evermore that we are not the mark of his indignation Which mercy that he may continue towards us we beg for the merits of Jesus Christ To whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit c. THE FIRST SERMON UPON GAL. iv 26. But Jerusalem which is above is free which is the Mother of us all AN odd conceit that came into the head of the Cosmographer who said that if two Eagles equally strong in flight should be chosen out the one being set at the furthest part of the East in Asia the other at the furthest part of the West in Europe if these two should take the wing just in the same moment and not rest till they came together they would meet both at Jerusalem as if it were the Navel of the habitable World I rehearse it as a Dream and I give it this Interpretation The Synagogue under the Law of Moses was the Occidental Eagle the Gospel of Grace the Oriental Eagle which did rise with Salvation in its wings why these two holy Professions which soared aloft when all other Religions crept upon the ground I say these two when St. Paul wrote this Epistle to the Churches of Galatia did conspicuously meet in Jerusalem as in that Theater whereon they did act their most principal part There was the Chair of the Scribes and Pharisees advanced that taught the exactest way of the Law there was the Temple wherein the Rites and Ceremonies were performed daily which Moses commanded And likewise from thence began the Gospel to go forth into all the Earth and had gained more ground there than in any other place You have filled Jerusalem with your Doctrin say the High Priests Lo this is the Rendezvouz of the Cosmographers two Eagles and this is the Explication of his Fable You know they continued there a short while for about the space of forty years like Twins strugling in one Womb. And though at first the Propugners of the Law would in no wise consent that the College of the Apostles the Preachers of the new Covenant of Grace should have any room in their Principality yet in a short time the Devil saw it best for his purpose to let them share together Nec meum nec tuum sed dividatur let it neither be Moses alone nor Christ alone but let them mix together This was the bane of sincere truth for every Metal that is mixed with gold embaseth it And yet it was entertain'd as a motion sent from Heaven to make peace and amity in all the Churches of Galatia till the Lord stirred up the spirit of St. Paul to dissolve this Combination which he performs with most approved success in this Chapter And because Similitudes and Figures will hold faster in the memory of the unlearned who are the greater number than powerful Arguments after weighty Reasons premised the Apostle concludes with an Allegory at the end of his Disputation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a Banquet after a Meal of solid meat And thus it runs that they who sought righteousness by the Law were no better than Ismael the Son of Hagar they that sought righteousness by Faith were as Isaac the Heir of his Father That the Law came from Sinah which was seated in Arabia a Mountain quite out of the Confines of the Land of Promise the Gospel began at Sion or Jerusalem which was the heart of the Holy Land Or let Jerusalem be compared with it self and it was under servitude and malection by the Profession of the Law but it gained honour and a beautiful Portion by the Profession of the Gospel Jerusalem which now is in bondage with her Children but Jerusalem which is above is free which is the Mother of us all Out of this contention between St. Paul and the Galatians those suspensive men those neutrals that would be half Jew half Christian and so were rightly neither Jews nor Christians I say from hence the legitimate Church which is the undefiled Spouse of Christ hath purchased this description which I have read unto you wherein divers of her Privileges are collected together I do not say all for under the Title of the Kings Daughter she is described circumamicta varietate Psal xlv clothed with as much embroidering and varieties as could be rehearsed in a long Psalm In this little Abstract of the excellency thereof six Portions of its glory are conteined in six words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉