altitudinem invocat One height cryes unto another this Height and Depth will make up Infinitenesse Now infinite Sinnes cry unto infinite Miseries there are the two Deepes Againe infinite Miseries cry upon infinite Mercies and infinite Mercies upon infinite Truth there are the two Heights Once more Shame is a consequent of Sinne and death of Shame and of such a Death Misery here is a Great deepe On the other side the strength of Goodnesse is Power and of Power God and of God Eternity There 's a Great Height Now between this Height and Depth what Medium have wee Mercy still and how this Mercy but from Truth and how this Truth but from God and how from God but as a Father And therefore S. Paul calls him Pater misericordiarum Deus totius consolationis The father of Mercies and God of all Consolation 2 Cor. 1.3 2 Cor. 1.3 Marke he is not barely Pater misericordiae but Misericordiarum Generall offences presuppose generall Pardons and therefore the Father of Mercies not of Mercie and he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Father of them there is no other Besides he is Deus totius consolationis Vniversall distresses require universall comforts S. Ber. Serm. 5. de Natal Dom. and therefore not only the God of This or That but the God of All comfort Againe he is call'd Miserationum non ultionum Pater The Father of Mercies not of Revenge For in this he were rather a God than a Father and a severe Judge than a God A Father then of Mercies not of Judgements Quià non tam decet patrem indignari quà m misereri filiorum saith S. Bernard Mercy is more proper in a Father than Indignation and therefore a Father of Mercies still or if these be sometimes mixt with Indignation Tamen miserendi causam sumit ex proprie ulciseendi ex nostro The cause of being mercifull is from Himselfe of being angry from us and our sinnes On the other side He is Deus totius consolationis The God of all Comfort S. Ber. ut supra Quià micificè dum misericordiam exercet omnes mortales consolatur He hath a Salve for every wound a Cordiall for every languishment for every calamity a Comfort And therefore according to the diversities of Benefits we receive from him we returne him as well diversities of Attributes as Thankes In Weaknesse wee call him Strength in Sicknesse Health in Misery Mercy in Distresse Comfort In time of War he is the Sword and the Bow Psal 18.2 of danger the Buckler and the Shield of Persecution the Castle and the Tower of Trouble Psal 27.1 the Rocke and the Sanctuary And here the Apostle belike calls him The God of hope and peace the God of Patience and comfort Rom. 15.5 13. Of Peace in Warre of Hope in Danger of Patience in Trouble of Comfort in Persecution Of all These he is a God that is Largitor saith Theophylact the Benefactor or Disposer his very Deity doth include Comfort Theoph. in loc and by his Essence he is not onely Tota but Totus consolatio or rather Totum consolationis a full Tide and Sea of Comforts which hee powres out in this life upon his Servants in Tribulation with such a bountifull hand that mortall heart is not capable either of receiving or expressing it but inforc'd to cry out with that blessed Martyr Satis est Domine Satis est Lastly he is call'd Pater misericordiarum intransitivè that is multum misericors or by the same Hebraisme Misericordissimus as both Cornelius and Carthusian glosse it Father of mercies Cornel. a lap in 15. cap Rom. v. 5.13 for most mercifull or full of mercies and in that sence he is said to be the Father of them as elsewhere hee is the Father of Raine Job 38.28 't is a quaint speculation the Iesuite hath because his blessings come in showers and are not so properly drop'd as powr'd downe upon his inheritance Iustin Gen. in 2 Cor. cap. 1. Moreover 't is the nature of raine to cherish and refresh the dry and barren ground and of Mercy the languishing and thirsting Soule And therefore the Psalmist cryes My soule gaspeth unto thee as a thirsty Land Psal 143.6 Psal 143.6 Now the thirsty Land gaspeth after him as the God of Raine but the thirstie Soule as the God of Mercy And yet these as they are one in substance so oftentimes in effect and operation too Mercy extends as well to the unjust as to the just Mat. 5.45 So doth the Raine He raineth saith the Evangelist as well on the unjust as the just Mat. 5.45 And doubtlesse both the just and the unjust want it and desire to be refresh'd with those two dewes of Heaven Providence and Mercy Hence is that elegant similitude of the Prophet As the Hart brayeth after the Rivers of waters so my soule panteth after thee Ps 42 1. Here the Sic wil answer punctually the Sicut the Hart you know for 't is a trodden observation when he is hard chas'd wounded immediately betakes himselfe to the next water or River which is to him both balme and refreshment and the heart of man when it is sore chas'd and wounded by his manifold sins flyes to the water and the River too the River of everlasting waters and these waters everlasting comforts comforts from him that is everlasting the God of comforts and who is that God of comforts but he that was before the Father of Mercies And who this Father of Mercy but he that is the Father of Raine From the noise of whose water-spouts streame all those blessings which we here call Mercies and Comforts and these sometimes both in measure and manner extraordinary And indeed it was requisite saith Saint Bernard that many should be Gods Mercies and Comforts because many were the tribulations of the just and so Miseria nostra multiplex non medo magnam misericordiam sed multitudinem quaerit miserationum as the Father in his 5. Sermon De natali Domini a manifold misery doth not onely require a great but a manifold Mercy And therefore David touch'd it seemes at the quicke with the smart and sence of his transgressions gives not off his suit with a single importunity but closely prosecutes the Lord with a Fac mihi gratiam fac mihi gratiam Domine Be mercifull unto me O Lord be mercifull unto me Psal 57.1 And why this doubling upon mercy except his miseries were double And doubtlesse they were doubly double and therfore be mercifull unto me be mercifull unto me why thus unto me unto me why Because my soul trusteth in thee in the 1. v. of that Psalm Now in what or in whom should it trust but in the Father of mercies Or from what or whō should it expect redresse but frō the God of comfort hereon the same Prophet wounded in soul and under the bitter pangs convulsions of a griping conscience dogg'd and pursu'd
at the very heeles by the Hue and cry of two foule sinnes Murder and Adultery is at length brought unto the barre and after arraignment and conviction done calls for his Psalme of mercy and insteed of an Exaudi me Domine hee comes with a miserere mei Deus 'T was before Heare me O Lord for thy righteousnesse sake as if hee stood upon termes of justification but now both the Tune and the Plea is alter'd And therefore have mercy upon me O God after thy great goodnesse according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my offences Psal 51.1 Here we finde Saint Bernard againe with his Magna misericordia and his Multitudo miserationum great sinnes require great goodnesse offences that are not common the multitude of Gods mercies the multitude of his tender mercies and according unto those Have mercy upon mee the Psalmist cryeth upon mee thy servant thy Prophet the man after thine owne heart My sinnes are such that they require thy goodnesse thy great goodnesse my offences so capitall that they looke for thy mercies thy tender mercies the multitude of thy tender mercies for their sake and onely for their sake blot out these my foule corruptions which if they should still continue in that uglinesse which they now are whither O whither should I flye No flesh is righteous in thy sight nay no righteousnesse in me as man meerely but is as flesh in thy sight fraile imperfect rotten not able to indure the touch of thy judgements If thou shouldest marke what is done amisse who should be able to abide it Psal 130.3 Surely not flesh blood not I I that am the miserablest of flesh and bloud I cannot answer thee one for a thousand Job 9.3 not one for a thousand thousand so desperate are my sins without thy goodnes thy great goodnes so hainous my transgressiōs without thy mercies thy tender mercies the multitude of thy tender mercies And this ever was will be the plea of Gods Children in their great extremities all their thoughts words endeavours then tread no farther the way to heaven than a miserere mei Deus If any brain-sick or upstart speculation have found out a newer cut or a neerer for mine owne part I give it the Pasport and good speed that Constantine did the Novatian Hereticke Tollescalas Acesi Socrat. lib. 1. cap. 7. in coelum solus ascendas let Rome suggest me it is in him that willeth or Geneva in him that runneth Saint Pauls miserentis Domini carryes the Palme at last It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy Rom. 9.16 Those vaine-glorious opinions of merit and perfection here are but the dreames or delusions rather of two opposite and wayward Sisters Popery and Puritanisme Non sum dignus Nonsum dignus was the true and ancient ensigne both of sanctity and martyrdome And therefore the great Patriarch of the Romish Church was inforced at last to come in with his Tutissimum est It is most safe most safe Cardinall Bellar. de justif lib. 5. cap. 7. most just In sola Dei misericordia only in the mercy of God to repose our hope our confidence our eternall exectation And to this purpose one of the candles or rather stars of the same Church speaking of the mystery of our redemption Stella in 1. Lucae calls it mercy Quia tale tam divinum opus sub nullo merito comprehenditur sed sola divena misericordia factum est He that hath heard of Bellarmine or Stella knowes where the Quotations lie Heere then mercy and mercy only is embrac'd and those old presumptions of merit casheird by some of their greatest Rabbies Now if I could but reade or heare of so much modesty or so much mercy from some Perfectists of ours men so pretendingly immaculate and pure as if their hands and hearts were wash'd in innocence and they could goe boldly to Gods Altar as if they rather dar'd his justice then implor'd his mercy I might at length beleeve as I doe not yet that it were possible for a sincere or a learned or a not discontented man to turne Chatharist and so finde out a new way to Heaven by the spirit of opposition and singularity If any such Pharisees there be here standing about the Temple which yet dare vaunt in their plumed righteousnesse and tell God sawcily to his face that they are not as other men Extortioners vnjust Adulterers no not as this Publican let them enjoy the fruite of their insolent and uncharitable devotions whilst others and my selfe addresse our Orizons to God in his pensive and humble posture where wee may find a heart more stooping then a knee and a looke then either an eye so dejected and intent that it dares nor so much as glaunce where it offended as if one cast of it towards heaven were enough not only to dazzle but confound him Besides a hand so trembling or rather so feeble that it moves only to the striking of a sinfull breast no higher thoughts so mortified and gesture so lowly and language so modest that wee can discover nothing but penitence and submission and these rather express'd by groanes then words or if words broken ones Luke 18.13 God be mercifull to mee a sinner And here by the way we must remember that as mercy and truth meete so peace and righteousnes must kisse too nay righteousnes and mercy God is as well a righteous as a compassionate God a God of justice as of mercy nay his mercy sometimes shines the cleerer for his justice as the Sunne doth neere a storme or thunder-clapp His mercyes saith the Prophet are above all his workes All his workes Psal 145.9 That as you have heard is without Quaere not all his attributes too No though the Apostle seemeth to intimate so much Misericordia Dei super-exaltat judicium mercy doth super exalt or gloryes above or as some reade it Against judgement James 2.13 There is nothing in God majus or minus His attributes as I tolde you are himselfe and therefore to make one lesse or greater then another were to make God lesse or greater then himselfe God is summe simplicissimus not only one but very onenesse and therefore whatsoever is in himselfe must be himselfe and if himselfe therefore infinite infiinite then his justice as well as mercy and all his attributes as either and yet though mercy and justice as they are referr'd to God may bee styled infinite and are yet in relation to his workes they have such a reason of their magnitude as the worke it selfe is either proceeding from mercy or justice And therefore when God suffers sinnes to passe by unpunished as sometimes hee does hee is sayd to bee exceeding mercifull But when hee doth scourge a little his justice was not home to the desert of the offender so that his mercy is said to be greater than his justice though both be infinite
Rivers of Oyle will be in the Canaan above The earthly Jerusalem may abound with Silver and Gold and Arabian spices But what are These to the gates of pearle to the streets pav'd with precious stones Sheba and Tharshish and Ophir may supply her both with treasure and delight Ivory and Apes and Peacoks 1 King 10. But these are comparatively Toyes in respect of those rich and glorious Constellations which shine in the heavenly Ierusalem The Emerauld the Saphire and the Chrysolite are there The Iacinth the Topaz the Amethist are above Rev. 21.20 Honorificentissima praedicantur de Te Psal 87.3 O Civitas Dei Summè honorifica Great and excellent things are spoken of Thee thou City of God Thou everlasting City Great and excellent indeed for there is neither true Greatnesse nor Excellency but There where we shall grow up to the perfect Man Indeed as S. Paul tells us And to the measure of the ture of the Fulnesse of Christ Ephes 4.13 when we shall lay hold on that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Aeternum pondus Gloriae The excellent and eternall waight of Glory 2 Cor. 4.17 No Defect there no Sinne no Temptation no Lust no Infirmity no Sorrow but we shall be filled with all the Fulnesse of God Ephe. 3.19 The Sun shall not burne us by day nor the Moone by night Nay there shall be no need of Sunne and Moone for the Glory of God shall shine there and the Lambe is the light thereof for evermore But whilst we wander as strangers and pilgrims here on earth there will be a daily tempest betweene the Flesh and the Spirit a wildernesse of sin must bee past through and a fiery pillar requir'd to guide us in our night of errors And though God by his great mercies in his Sonne Christ Iesus hath brought us out of darkenesse into his marvelous light yet even in this light darkenesse sometimes over-shadowes us And therefore as in the Creation of the greater World God ordained two principall lights the one to rule the day and the other the night So in the restauration of this lesser World Man God hath set two lights also a Sunne and a Moone Christ and his Church the one to governe him by Day when the beames of the Spirit doe enlighten him the other in the Night when the fogs and mists of the Flesh doe overspread him and as those naturall Planets doe sometimes meet with their Clouds and Eclipses so doe these mysticall also Now as the interposition of the Earth betweene the Sunne and the Moone causeth an Eclipse in the Moone and as the interposition of the Moone betweene us and the Sunne causeth an Eclipse in the Sunne So the interposition of the Flesh which is as our earthly part betweene God and the Soule causeth an Eclipse in the Soule whereby her saculties are over-clouded and the interposition of concupiscence or lust betweene our Spirit and the Spirit of God causeth an Eclipse in the Spirit whereby Grace is darkned and that Sunne of Righteousnesse which would otherwise arise in our hearts is many times over-shadowed by our corrupter motions insomuch that the best Saints and Servants of God have often groan'd within themselves and powr'd out their complaints in bitternesse of Soule with an Vsquequo Domine Jesu usquequo How long Lord Iesus how long How long this Tyranny of the Flesh this bondage of corruption this body of Death this captivity to the Law of finne Psal 120.5 Wretched wretched that we are who shall deliver us Woe that we are thus constrained to sojourne in Mesech here and to dwell in the Tents of Kedar But even in these spirituall convulsions they have their lucida intervalla their Divine solaces and refreshments this being not the language of desperation but complaint Ieb after all his passionate expostulations with God tell 's Bildad that hee knowes his Redeemer liveth Iob 19.25 And Saint Paul after his sad and manifold disputes with his owne frailties here can give thankes to God through Iesus Christ our Lord Rom. 7.24 which sacred ejaculations of theirs preach no other Doctrine and use but this That wee feeling this thorne in the flesh and the messenger of Satan ever ready to buffet us 2 Cor. 12.7 should not be exalted above measure but when wee begin to bristle and advance our selves in the whitenesse of our feathers swell in the opinion of our owne Justice and perfections wee should cast downe our eyes upon the blacke and ugly feet of our infirmities and so humble the pride of our imaginations with the modest language of the Prophet Lord blot out my transgressions as a mist and as a thicke cloud my sinnes Isai 44.22 Melior est peccator humilis quam justus superbus D. Aug. serm 49. de temp a sinner in his humility is a more acceptable Sacrifice than a just man if such a one may be in his pride And yet as we should be thus sensible of our infirmities how daily how hourely how minutely how unavoidably they are so we should not humble our selves below our selves forgetting the great Pilot and Anchor of our Soules but whilst we have armes and Oares and plankes to waft us in let us not voluntarily plundge our selves in that depth which may occasion our everlasting shipwracke diffidence and despaire but knowing that Prophers and Disciples themselves have beene in the like Tempest the Ship ready to sinke and her Great Steeres-man asleepe they crying amazedly we perish we perish yet if we invoke him by our zealous importunities rouze him with a Master Master hee shall awake at length and rebuke the churlish windes and the waves Luke 8.24 and a blessed calme shall follow The greatest servants of God have had their great infirmities and yet none so great but have had a faire audience in his Court of mercy and met both with excuse and pardon from the mouth of a compassionate Iudge who acknowledgeth that their spirit is ready though their flesh be weake and their minde following the Law of God though the Flesh the fraile Flesh bee led captive by the Law of sinne And this peculiar Plea of Gods chosen Servants is at length become an Apologie for the customary sinnes of those who in their conversations are most wicked and deprav'd the prophanest Esaus Pet. Mart. in cap. 7. ad Rom. v. 25. the loosest Libertines that are Illae pestes furiae temporum as Peter Martyr calls them those plagues and furies of the times lay title to it and 't is made not onely the excuse of their sinnes but their very patent and priviledge of sinning who under the colour of their carnall frailties can blanch and palliate their deepest enormities make Scarlet Snow and Crimson Wooll crying out with those wretches in the times of S. Augustine Vide D. Aug. Serm. 46. de Temp. Ser. 13. deverbis Dom. Serm. 6. de verbis Apostol Non nos sed Caro non nos
eye they coozen it Iustice no doubt is as visible as Mercy but that Flesh and Bloud is apt to turne the perspective the contrary way and so beholds Iustice in a small letter but turning it againe views Mercy in a large print In such a case I should rather chide than counsell did not the Sonne of Syrach put in his caveat here Ecclus. 5.5 6. concerning Propitiation Bee not without feare to adde sinne to sinne and say not His mercie is great he will be pacified for the multitude of my sinnes for mercy and wrath come from him and his Indignation resteth upon Sinners Ecclus. 5.5 6. 'T is true the Mercies of the Lord are infinite but his promises of them are for the most part conditionall and restrain'd like as a Father pittyeth his owne children so is the Lord mercifull Psal 103.13 but to whom Timentibus eum to those that feare him Psal 103.13 So againe the mercyes of the Lord are throughout all generations All generations How Timentibus eum to those that feare him throughout all generations Luke 1.50 No feare then no mercy But is there alwaies mercy where there is feare yes this Timentibus eum joyn'd with a Credentibus ineum if feare goe with beliefe and filiation with feare not else Yea but the Divells beleeve and tremble too is there not mercy for them Origen will say there is and after some expiration of yeeres Salvation too And for the better colouring of his tenet he hath as well text for the Divell as the Divell had for Christ Hath God forgotten to be gratious or will he in his anger shut up his tender mercyes for ever Psal 77. From which words he endeavours to lenifie those often breathings against the wicked Vt terribilus dicta quam verius as if they had more horrour in them than truth and us'd only to awe malefactors not to punish them But this wilde fancy of his the Church long since spewed out as erronious and interprets that anger of God which he formerly urg'd in the behalfe of the damned not any divine perturbation but their owne damnation which is frequently in scripture call'd anger and that anger endlesse and therefore the Psalmist sayes Inira sua non ad finiendam Lib. 4. dist 66. or post iram suam as the Master glosseth it And doubtlesse as the glory of Gods children is endlesse so is the destruction of his enemies The text oftentimes resembling their torments unto fire fire unquenchable everlasting fire Everlasting in respect of time though sometimes not of rigour And herein is mercy still though no salvation mercy in that there is a qualification of punishment not salvation because no termination of time for that punishment Hereupon Saint Augustine in his enarrations upon that of the Psalmist The mercy of the Lord endureth for ever Psal 106. From a double version of the word ever gathers a double observation of mercy The Septuagint reades it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In aeternum Saint Ierome whom the Father followes In seculum Now there is a mercy saith he Qua nemo sine Deo beatus esse potest by which no man can be blessed without God that is not injoying him And this he calls mercy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In aeternum There is a mercy besides Quae miscris exhibetur which is afforded to men in misery such a mercy as either involves barely a consolation or else such a mercy as presupposes freedome and this he calls mercy In seculum D. Aug. ad Psal 105. that is as he interprets himselfe In finem seculi in quo nòn decrunt miseri quibus misericordia praebeatur At the generall and dreadfull assize at the last day some shall not cease to be miserable to whom mercy is allowed and so to the Divell his Angells and the reprobated drove there is a mercy granted a mercy not of inlargement but relaxation and so that mercy may be said to be eternall on their eternall misery Non aeterno supplicio finem dando Lomb. lib. 4. dist 66. sed levamen adhibendo not by Ending but by Easing their everlasting torments And here D. Aug. ut sup Quis audeat dicere saith the Father who durst say this Easing is not Mercy or this Mercy not Eternall His mercie endureth for ever His mercy endureth for ever His mercy endureth for ever 'T is the burden and under-song the Prophet useth thrice in one Psalme and 26. times in another Whither then O God shall wee flie from thy Power or whither so flying but to thy Mercy If wee climbe up to Heaven Mercy is there If we goe downe into Hell Mercy is there If we take the wings of the morne and flye to the uttermost parts of the Earth Mercy is there also 'T is in Glory Exile Torment Psal 118. Above beyond under us with thy Friends thine Aliens thine Enemies thy glorified thy dispersed Psal 13. thy condemned Mercy Before the world and Mercy After the world Mercy From everlasting and Mercy To everlasting Mercy when there was no Time and Mercy when there shall be Time no more Mercy from that immortality which hath No beginning and Mercy to that immortality which hath Noend Infinite Incorruptible Aeternall For his Mercy endureth for ever for his Mercy endureth for ever for his Mercy endureth for ever Well then Is God the God of Mercie And Christ the Christ of Mercie Are we Christs and Christ God's Let us then be the Sonnes of Mercy too being mercifull as our Father in Heaven is mercifull forgiving one another as God for Christs sake forgave us Let there not be a Nabal murmuring within us no heart of stone for the hammer of the Law to batter but hearts of Flesh soft and pliable to the miseries of others And as God hath powred out his bowells for us so let us powre out our bowells for our brethren our bowells of Pitty and Compassion Remember what the counsell of S. Ierom was to Demetriades the Virgin S. Hieron parte 3. Tract 5. Ep. Epist 17. Laudent te esurientium viscera non ructantium opulenta convivia Let the great mans Voyder be the poore mans Basket the emptying of his Abundance the Accommodation of the others wants Hunger will not be fed with Ayre nor misery with good words they must have a taste of the Meale in our barrell and of the Oyle in our Cruse Let 's abate somewhat of our superfluities to supply their necessities Sint tua supersiua pauperis necessaria Sen. ad Lucil. Ep. 51. Bleed this Plurisie of ours and Cordiall their Consumption Let the Naked be cloth'd the Hungry fed the Impotent provided for the Sicke visited Give not for Bread a Stone nor for a Fish a Scorpion But let our hands speake what our hearts meane our Almes tell that our thoughts are compassionate And not like those flinty professours which turne Gospell into Law Christianity into Barbarisme A poore widow
tells the Gods his Judges in the fenced Cities of Iudah Take heed what you doe for you judge not for man but for God who is with you in the judgement Wherefore now let the feare of the Lord be upon you take heed and doe it for there is no iniquity with God no respect of persons nor taking of gifts 2 Chron. 19.6 7. Doubtlesse the matter is of great weight and consequence that is thus prefac'd with a double caution Take heed Take heed The formér Cavete is for a Quid facitis the latter for an ut faciatis first take heed what you doe and then take heed that you doe it too so that in matters of Judicature a deepe consideration should alwayes precede Action Deliberation Judgement And the reason of the quid sacitis if you observe it is very ponderous For you judge not for man but for God and God as the Psalmist speaketh Iudgeth amongst the gods Psal 82.1 You gods that judge men here that God shall judge hereafter and as you judge these so shall he judge you The reason of the ut faciatis is no lesse weighty neither for there is no iniquity with God he loves it not and what he loves not you are to condemne and judge and that this judgement may carry an even faile there must be no respecting of persons nor taking of gifts The eares must be both open and the hands shut the complaint of the Widdow and the Orphan and the oppressed must be as well listen'd to as the trials of the rich and mightie aswell and assoone too nay sooner for the one gives onely the other prayes and mens devotions goe with us to heaven when their benevolences with the giver moulder upon earth Let the Sword then strike where it should in the great busines of life and death let the ballance hang even in matters of nisi prius that there bee no selling of the righteous for a peece of silver Amos 8.6 or of the needy for a paire of shooes no cruell mercy in the one in remitting incorrigible of fenders no partiality in the other in siding with particular men or causes but fiat justitia et ruat coelum And when justice is thus done in your part it is not done in all manifold experience tells us that when causes have been prosecuted by all the fidelity and care of the sollicitor pleaded by all dexterity of counsel attended by al the vigilancy of the Iudge yet the mystery the wicked mystery of a decem tales shall carry them against wind and tide and a heard of mercenary ignorants for mnay of them are no better shall buy and sell a poore man his estate for eight pence This is neither christian nor morall nor scarce humane therfore for reformation of this capitall abuse it is both just necessary that such substantial men as are returnd in Iuryes should attend in their own person and not shuffle of the waight of publike affaires upon the shoulders of those who either understand not a cause when it is debated or else use not a conscience as they should in giving up their verdict but make their foreman their primus motor whom they follow like those beasts ' in Seneca non qua eundum est sed qua itur No man is to good to doe his God or King or Countrey service nay every good man thinkes it rather his honour then his burthen and therefore where there are delinquents this way let the mulct the fine bee laid on according to statute that where admonition cannot prevaile imperet Lex compulsion may And now I have performd my office done the part of a spirituall watchman blowne the cornet in Gibeah and the trumpet in Ramoth told Israell aloud her sinnes and Iudah her transgressions The next act is from the Pulpit to the Tribunall where it will bee expected that Moses should doe all things according to the patterne shewed him by GOD in the mount beere that lawes be not only written or prescribed or remembred but put in execution also and for your better encouragement herein observe what the same Moses saies to Ioshua Deut. 31.8 Bee strong and of a good courage for the Lord thy God hee it is that goeth with thee hee will not saile thee nor forsake thee To that God and to his sonne Christ Iesus with the blessed spirit bee ascribed all honour glory power and dominion both now and forever Amen Gloria in excelsis Deo FINIS The Christian Duell THE SECOND SERMON Ad Magistratum Preached at the ASSIZES held at TAUNTON in Sommerset 1635. By Humphrey Sydenham ROM 8.6 Quod sapit Caro Mors est Quod autem sapit Spiritus Vita Pax. LONDON Printed by IOHN BEALE for Humphrey Robinson at the Signe of the Three Pigeons in PAULS Church-yard 1637. TO THE NOBLE AND MVCH DESERVING Sr. WILLIAM PORTMAN BARONET SIR STartle not my Noble Sir This is no Challenge I present you with but a Flag of truce for though it have an Alarum in the Front and the subject speakes warre altogether and discord yet it prepares to peace such a peace as presupposeth victory and victory life and life Eternity To tell you here the nature of this warre it's feares stratagems dangers sufferings were but to preach by Letter and degrade a Sermon to an Epistle The following discourse shall give you a hint of all where shall find that he that is a true Christian souldier must be at peace with others though he have no concord with himselfe This is the modell of the whole fabrick and this I offer to your Noble hands which when it shall kisse be confident you cannot hold faster than please you try the heart of him that offers it Sicknesse and Age both my companion now are but ill Courtiers and as little acquainted with the nature of Ceremony as the practise A Complement then you cannot stile this but an expression of my zeale to the merits of your dead Brother to whom as I was of old a faithfull Servant so still a true honorer of his Name though not O my unhappinesse an Attendant which I cannot so much ascribe to negligence or error as to Fate But suppose either or all or others I murmure not but blesse rather and blesse thus God preserve you and yours and send you length of dayes and accumulation of honours and fruitfulnesse of Loynes that as your Fortunes looke greene and flourishing so may your Name also to the glory of your God the service of your Countrey the hope of your friends the Ioy of your Allies and the Prayers of Your wel-wishing Honorer HVM SYDENHAM THE CHRISTIAN DUELL The second Sermon GAL. 5.17 The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit lusteth against the Flesh T Is not my intent to perplex either my selfe or Auditorie with any curiositie of Preface or division the words are already at variance betweene themselves and so instead of farther dividing them the Text at this
presume you will not refuse though presented by the hand of your poore Servant Now it is yours indeed but it is yours chiefly to peruse not to protect for such a subject will looke above all humane Patronage there being nothing fit either to owne or protect Omnipotence but GOD himselfe to whom I consecrate both my selfe and It. And yet though the subject be Sacred and points directly at the Creator of us all yet there may be and are by all likelihood frailties in the discourse which as they will meete with some cavill or opposition so they will require a Bulwarke and defence also and from whom more properly than from a Great man who both in place and nature is nearest to his God if Goodnesse as it ought shake hands with Greatnesse and of that no man dispaires in a Noble disposition where but to question vertue were to profane it Your Countrey hath often tasted of the Greatnesse of your Spirit and where there is Spirit truely there must be something that is divine also which cannot but speake your Goodnesse without controule from me especially Your old and if you please to preserve him constant Servant HVM SYDENHAM IEHOVAH JIREH PSAL. 59.16 I will sing of thy Power and sing aloud of thy Mercy I Thinke it not unseasonable Preach'd Ad Magistratum nor besides my errand to sing of the Power and Mercy of one God in the presence of another Greatnesse is a kind of Deity God himselfe affording Rulers Nobles no lower Title than his owne of Gods But Gods by Office or Deputation not by Essence and yet so Gods by Office that they personate that God by Essence Power they have a mighty one and Mercy too or should have and both these the people sing of onely mortality puts the distance and divides betweene civill and sacred or if you will sacred and celestiall attributes I say yee are Gods Gods with a Moriemini mortall Gods there is a but annexed to the Deitie But ye shall dye dye like men and fall as one of the Princes Psal 82.6 And now that I may not beguile time nor you with any curiositie of preface the Text being onely a parcell of a Psalme I have formerly resembled to the whole where I observ'd the ground the parts the descant the Author or Setter of it the time when it was sung and the occasion of the singing The Author and his descant I have already opened in two words Cantabo and Exaltabo I will sing and I will sing aloud Now method leades mee to the parts Power and Mercy Mercy is a plausible Theame and a large one enough of it selfe to fill up discourse and time and attention with exquisite varietie And therefore I shall dwell for the present onely in the expressions of divine Power A Subject I confesse like the Ocean wide and deepe and not without some danger to him that shall either steere or sound it But that God who was a staffe to his Patriarke to passe over Iordan will be a Pilot to his Disciple in the Sea too that hee sinke and perish not this vast and troubled Sea of his Omnipotence where some learned Wit have beene overwhelm'd either by a bold curiositie venturing too farre to shoot the Straight and Gulfe they should not or else by a vaine glorious conceit of their owne Tenets have proudly borne sayle against winde and tide the maine drift of Scriptures and current of the true Faith and so at length have runne themselves on the shelves of Heresie or Blasphemy or both Against both which I shall ever pray in the language of the Disciples in the great storme Master save mee lest I perish Mat. 8.25 And thus by Thee in safetie I shall daily sing of thy Power and sing aloud of thy mercy because thou hast beene my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble I will sing of thy Power THis word Power in respect of God is Homonymon and of various signification in sacred Story Sometimes it is taken onely for Christ so by Saint Paul unto the Iewes and Greeks which are call'd we preach Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Power of God 1 Cor. 1.24 Sometimes for the Gospell of Christ so by the same Apostle I am not ashamed of the Gospell of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for it is the power of God unto salvation Rom. 1.16 Sometimes neither for Christ nor his Gospell but the enemies of both So the Samaritans said of Simon Magus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Man is the great power of God Acts 8.10 But here wee take Power for that Essentiall property of God by which he is able and doth effect all in all and all in every thing And whereas Divines distinguish of a double power active and passive the one Ad agendam the other Ad suscipiendam formam 'T is manifest that this latter is not in God because God who is a pure Act and simply and universally perfect is not passive nor capable of any forme but in himselfe from all eternity containes the perfection of all formes this active power being in him principall and most eminent and indeed the very Mynt and Forge where all things had their first stampe and hammering Now this Power of God is not onely infinite in its owne nature and perse as it is the very divine Essence Pol. Syn. lib. 2 cap. 29. but in respect of Objects to which it is extended and of Effects wich it can produce and of Action too by which it doth or can worke miraculously which Action is never so valid and intense for so Polanus words it but it may be set to a higher pin and screw and woon'd up even to Infinitenesse And therefore it is not onely call'd Power or Strength or Efficacie or Fortitude but Omnipotence Insomuch that though it have some rationall and modall distinction by reason of our feeble capacities yet no reall and substantiall difference from Gods Will Knowledge Providence but are all wards of the same Key shut and open to the same Essence For when wee name his providence wee conceive it ut dirigens his Knowledge ut apprehendens his Will Estius in lib. 1. Sent. dist 42. Sect. 1. ut imperans and his Power ut exequens So that Apprehension and Direction and Command shine more properly in Gods other Attributes but Execution principally in his Power And therefore it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vim efficacem as Beza translates it the Working power whereby God is able to subdue all things to himselfe Phil. 3 21. And as this Power is alwayes so it is onely active and that Saint Paul intimated when hee stiled it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ephes 3.20 The Power that worketh in us so worketh in us that no power of any Creature can hinder that operation for the Throne of it is a fiery flame and the wheeles of it a burning fire Dan. 7.9 The Fathers it seemes heretofore were much
that can both protect and pardon infinite as well in Mercy as in Power Are thy wounds grievous there is balme in Gilead Thy ulcers in the eye of man incurable the Samaritan hath Oyle he searohes and poures in and bindes up and heales the maladies of those that seeke him with a true heart Psal 72.1 Ah quam bonus Israel Deus iis qui recto sunt corde saith the Psalmist Doubtlesse he that watcheth his Israel will neither slumber nor sleepe but preserveth his children as tenderly as the apple of that eye that watcheth them hee is their staffe and crutch and supportation in all their weakenesse he erects them if they fall directs them if they erre succours them if they want refresheth them in the heate of their persecutions mittigates the tempests of their sorrowes moderates the waves of their bitter passions smiteth their enemies upon the cheeke bone Psal 3.7 breakes the teeth of those that rage and grin so furiously upon them Insomuch that God hath sworne by his Prophet to have mercy upon the dwelling places of Iacob and all they that devoure her shall be devoured and they that spolle her shall bee made a spoile and all they that prey upon her shall be made a prey And he will restore health unto her and cure her of all her wounds Jer. 30.16 17. Jer. 30.16 17. This should arme us with resolution against that triple assault of the world flesh and divell and make us buckle on our harnesse as that good King of Israel did I will not be afraid saith hee for ten thousands which should compasse mee round about Afraid Psal 3.6 No for ten thousand of men and dangers If calamities hover over me God is my Tower if they would undermine me God is my Rocke if they come before me he is my Sanctuary if behind me he is my Castle if about me he is my Trench if on my right hand he is my Sword if on my left hand he is my Buckler if any way he is my shield and for tresse and mighty deliverer Then put not your trust in Princes nor in any child of man Psal 146.3 5 6. for there is no helpe in them Blessed is hee that hath the God of Iacob for his helpe and whose hope is in the Lord his God which made heaven and earth the Sea and all that therein is which keepeth his promise for ever This made our Prophet awake his Harpe and Lute and cheerefully sing that Magnificat of his Praise the Lord Psal 146.1 O my soule praise the Lord yea as long as I have any being I will sing praises unto my God I will bee like a greene Olive Tree in the house of my God my trust shall bee in the tender Mercie of God for ever and ever Psal 52.9 Once more and but once Is God thus indeed a God of power Questionlesse and only a God of power No the text tells us he is a God of mercy too his goodnes keepes pace with his greatnes his sanctity with his fortitude Luke 1.49 He that is mighty saith the blessed Virgin hath done great things for mee and holy is his Name Luk. 1.49 Vpon which place Stella hath an adverte lector A note it seemes worth observation Mary there to Gods name joyning both sanctity and power Quia imperiumet potestas fine sanctitate Tyrannis est Stella in 1. Lucae v. 49. saith he Commaund not season'd with holines is but Tyranny Let Nabuchedonozer and Pharoah stand for instance whose wickednesse got them the nick-name of Tyrants which by their power otherwise had the title of Gods Empire there fore must acknowledge it selfe indebted to religion godlines being the chiefest top and welspring of all true vertues even as God is of all good things So naturall is the union of true religion with power that wee may holdly deeme there is neither truely where both are not Insomuch that where there is commaund without holines there is not power properly but cruelty and therefore God is not only stiled powerfull but holy also Sanctum et terribile nomen ejus and Consiteantur nomini tuo magno quoniam sanctum et terribile est in the 98. and 110. Psalmes And 't is this mixture of Sanctus and Potens that divides betweene the God of Heaven and those others of Earth Power and sanctity conjoyn'd proclaime a God Power without sanctity sometimes a Divell Mistake mee not I come not here to schoole the gray haire to cast dirt in the face of the Magistrate no I remember well what Elibu said unto Iob Is it fit to say to Princes yee are ungodly Job 34.18 By nomeanes I leave such reproofes to those saucie and pragmaticke spirits which will undertake to catechize a God teach Divinity what it hath to doe for whom the reply of Iob to Zophar shall passe for a counter checke O that you would altogether hold your peace and it should bee counted your greater wisedome Job 13.5 My drift and purpose in this point is onely to shew you how prone and head-long those dispositions are to all manner of depravednes which project rather to bee great then Good and this an instance or two from antiquitie shall cleere in which the relation onely shall be mine the application as you bring it home to your owne brests yours It was but an itch of Ambition and a thirst of Greatnesse not rectified as it ought that was the ground worke and first staire of Iulians Apostacie his fiercest enemies did acknowledge that hee was once a man of rare dexterity and forwardnesse both in Wit Vertue and these not without their salt and seasoning of true Religion D. Aug. lib. 5. de C. D. cap. 21. Sed illam egregiem indolem 't is both Saint Augustines phrase and testimony Amore dominandi decepit Sacrilega detestanda curiositas his love of Empire and a little curiosity to boot blew off his devotions from Christianity to Paganisme So that the Altars and Oracles of the true God are now left for those doubtfull and false ones of the Heathens where instead of Prophets inspir'd from Heaven hee now consults with the very factors and promoters for the Divell Wizards and Necromancers incited principally thereunto by the suggestions of Libanius the Sophister So fatall sometimes it proves to unstable greatnesse that where men more subtle than sound hang at the eares of it there 's commonly a trench dig'd no lesse for ruine than innovation Who knowes not that Nero the meteor and comet of the times he mov'd in had at first his faire promises of youth the glowings as it were and sparks of future Clemency and Goodnesse For when he was to signe the death of a Malefactor which was a solemne custome among the Romanes his unwillingnesse to doe with an Vtinam literas nescirem was if hee dissembled not a great argument of his mercie But when his Power once began to mount his Cruelty tooke wing
also And at length soar'd so high D. Aug. lib. 5. de Civ Dei cap. 19. Vt nihil molle habere crederetur si nesciretur There was not so much as a thought of Mercie left because none of Goodnesse And now to be savage is no lesse his inclination than his sport Sloth and Cruelty two rare Eminencies in Superiours must innoble him to posterity where hee seemes to be as greedy of Fame as before of Bloud Rome must be called Neropolis and that moneth and season of the yeare which was for his recreation and disport Annot. Lud. viv Ib. dem Neroneus What projects will not ungodly men set on foot first for the advancement of their name and then the perpetuity But such a perpetuity is not without a kinde of rottennesse 'T is a curse the Spirit of God breathes against the wicked that Their memory shall rot nothing shall remaine of them but their Vices and they sometimes of that stench and loathsomnesse that the Sent of them is quick though unsavoury in the nostrills of Posterity Eccles 9.5 What lives there of Herod besides his Lust and Cruelty but the manner of his death which was no lesse a prodigie than his life the story of the one being written by the bloud of Innocents of the other by the fury of Wormes And yet how cautelous this Monster was to propagate his honour to After-ages who doubting the basenesse of his parentage should in future be discovered burnes the Genealogies of the Jewes that hee might be thought to have had his discent as royall as the rest of his Predecessors And this is the customary Plea of the Aspirer the Gourd and Mushrome in Common-wealth hee cares not whose name be obliterate so his owne flourish causing other families to vanish in a snuffe whilst his owne must shine like a light in a Watch tower or a Beacon flaming on the top of a mountaine I could wish we had not such Foxes in our Vineyards such Boares about our Forrest which will not onely feed where they enter but root out and destroy like a steepe Torrent driving all before them or as A sweeping raine saith Salomon which leaveth no food Pride Violence Pro. 28.3 oppress on are too low for them nothing stands up with the greatnesse of their Spirit or designe but a Generall devastation laying house to house and field to field like Ravens of the valley Prov. 30.17 pecking out the very Eyes and Heart-bloud of those that come under the Tyranny of their Bill And thus They gather stones for other mens buriall in which they interre both their Fortunes and their Name not onely scarifie them alive but Torment them when they are dead also strip them of their monumentall Rites the solemne pompe and Trophies of the Grave ravish their sepulchres deface those ensignes and inscriptions which should remarke them to succeeding Times A Barbarisme or rather Sacriledge abhorr'd amongst the Heathens as a Capitall injury and violence to their Manes and infernall Gods the prophaners whereof they threatned with the torture of all the Furies O consider this All you whom God hath advanc'd either in Title or Bloud above others thinke it not enough to be Great or Fortunate but to be Good also that men may as well sing of your Mercy as your Power rather magnifie your compassion than murmure at your rigour you are exalted to protect the innocent not to oppresse them to relieve the poore man not to grinde him The Lazar and Widow and Orphan should proclaime your care and pitty not your insultation acknowledge your Power rather by their Love than Feare Remember the greater you are in place the nearer you are unto God and he that is neere unto God hath a Greatnesse as well of Mercy as of Power And as of these you sing unto God so the afflicted must sing unto you and as in their calamities you have been a strength and resuge for them so in all your troubles God wil be a Sanctuary for you and then you may boldly rejoyce in the words of our Prophet here I will sing of thy Power and I will sing aloud of thy Mercy in the morning because thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble Gloria in excelsis Deo Amen Osculum Charitatis OR MERCY and JUSTICE kissing A SERMON PREACHED ON CHRISTMAS DAY Anno Dom. 1635. By Humphrey Sydenham Osculetur me osculis oris sui sunt enim Amores tui meliores vino Cant. 1.2 LONDON Printed by IOHN BEALE for Humphrey Robinson at the Signe of the Three Pigeons in PAULS Church-yard 1637. TO THE TRVLY GENEROUS AND NOBLY DISPOS'D DENYS ROLE Esquire This. SIR IT was not thought of Old however the Conditions of Men and their Times vary either Presumption or Rudenesse in the Divine to salute his Superior with a Kisse Prophets have done so to Kings themselves at their Regall Unctions in the very Dawne of Soveraignty And Apostolicall men to their greatest Proselites in the first rising of the Christian Church where the prime Ceremony was a Kisse And a Kisse like This I present you with Osculum Charitatis a Kisse of Charity A Kisse indeed of your owne choice in your first honouring of it from the Pulpit and now in all justice of your countenance at the Presse A Kisse much like your selfe and Actions where there is such a sweet mixture of Charity with Power that I know not well whether I should rather magnifie Fortune that you are Great or Vertue that you are Good Your Noble Deportment in the publike Services of your Countrey your great and unpattern'd Supplies of your ingag'd and necessitated Friends your courteous and liber all respects to those despised ones of mine owne Coate besides the daily flowings of your Elëemosinary Bounties can speak what temper you are of In all which though you wanted not a Trumpet to proclaime you yet you blew it not your selfe So just you are to your owne merits that doing Courtesies you scorne to blabbe them Maxima Laus est non posse laudari Tua non velle It is the greatest argument of Praise to be beyond it of Noblenesse without it Merit will be Merit without popular acclamations and common applause doth not alwayes give Lustre to particular honours but sometimes Suspition For mine own part my Style and Disposition both are too rough for a Panegericke And indeed to sow pillowes under Elbowes I ever thought fitter for an Upholster than a Divine However let the world know I no lesse hate Rudenesse than Flattery And as I would not be thought clawing so not uncivill especially in religious Ceremonies in this holy one of the Kisse which I shall desire you to entertaine fairely and cheerefully with an even Brow and not like the coy Dames of our Age turne the Cheeke for the Lippe and so lowre a Kisse into a Scorne That were to lessen you in your former ingenuities and cast a cloud over
those vertues which so make you shine in the opinion of others and me The unworthiest of your Honourers HVM SYDENHAM Osculum CHARITATIS OR MERCY and JUSTICE KISSING PSAL. 85.10 Mercy and Iruth are met together Righteousnesse and Peace have kissed each other EVery Attribute of GOD is God himselfe and God himselfe is principally discovered by those Attributes Now where we finde Mercy and Truth and Righteousnes and Peace and all these meeting and kissing in one substance we cannot conceive lesse than a God there the true God for the true God is the God of all these Had the words run onely in the Concrete mercifull and true and righteous and peaceable David perhaps or who ever else was Author of this Psalme might have understood here some earthly God a King a Good King as David was for these also meet and kisse in a religious soveraignty But since they are in the abstract mercy and truth and righteousnes and peace there is a greater Majesty inshrin'd A King of Kings and a God of Gods And what is that God here In Generall and at large the * Triune Triune GOD the One God in Three persons In Speciall and more particularly the second person in that One God CHRIST For if we sunder and untwist the Attributes as they now lie folded in the Text and so set Righteousnesse to Truth wee shall finde God the Father if Mercy to Truth God the Sonne if Peace to Truth God the Holy Ghost In Righteousnesse there is the Creator in Mercy there is the Redeemer in Peace there is the Comforter in Truth All Three But if we ranke them again as they stood in their first order and so make Mercy Truth meet and Righteousnes and Peace kisse they kisse meet properly in the Anointed and the Saviour the King and the Priest the God and the Man and the Iudge betweene Both CHRIST JESUS Mercy there 's the Saviour Righteousnesse there 's the Iudge Truth there 's the King Peace there 's the Priest or if you will have it Peace there 's both King and Priest Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech Heb. 7.17 Now Melchisedech was King of Salem and Salem signifieth Peace so that he is not onely a Priest but a King of Peace a Priest and a King so for ever When the Earth was first in a generall Combustion and her sinfull Rebellions smoaking against Heaven when between God and Man or rather from God to Man there was nothing to be expected but Fire and Sword Christ stands betweene like Moses in the Gappe He is the Attoner and Pacifier the Propitiation and Reconciliation for all our sinnes 1 Joh 2.2 And here was Peace indeed and this Peace could not be procured without Mercy an infinite Mercy for a Sonne to interpose betweene an angry Father and an obstinate offender nay a wilfull enemy for so was Man then was an Argument of Mercy you 'll say But to hunger and to bleed and to dye for him and to dye ignominiously and in that death to beare the Curse due to the malefactor too was an infinite mercy Thus God commendeth his Love towards us his exceeding great Love that when wee were yet Sinners Christ dyed for us Rom. 5.8 I will not trouble the Text nor Time nor you nor my selfe with a Division what God hath thus ioyned together let not man separate Mercie and Truth meete Righteousnesse and Peace kisse and let them meete and kisse still onely give me leave to shew you How Mercy and Truth have met and in whom and How Righteousnesse and Peace kiss'd and For What. Mercy and Truth are met together Righteousnesse and Peace have kissed each other I beginne with Mercy and there doubtlesse we shall finde Truth Mercy and Truth have met together FOr Mercy here the Originall hath the word Rachen from Racham which signifieth Diligere to Love but such a Love as is inward and from the very Bowells Now the Bowells you know are the Seate of Mercy and therefore S. Paul presses his Collossians with an Induite viscera misericordiae Put on the Bowells of Mercie Col. 3.12 But because of this Mercie there are manifold Effects the Greeke hath it usually in the plurall Origen in cap. 12. ad Rom. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mercies Ad judicandam immensam Dei misericordiam To shew the Greatnesse saith Origen and not onely so but the Tendernesse of Gods Mercies And therefore wee reade sometimes Miserationes sometimes viscera miserationum sometimes Viscera miserationes so Phil. 2.1 If there be any Bowells and Mercies where the Text hath not only the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cornel. a lap in cap. 2. ad Phil. v. 1. which are the same with the Hebrew Rachamim miserationes for Viscera misericordiae So Christ when he saw the people scatter'd in the wildernesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sayes the Text His bowells did yearne or He had pitty on them Mar. 6. Hence compassionate men are call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bonorum Viscerum Men are good bowells which we translate Tender-hearted or mercifull Ephes 4.32 So mercifull that touch'd even at the marrow and intrails for the miseries of another they could poure out their very Bowells for him And such were the Mercies of God to Man when he powr'd out his owne Bowells His onely begotten Son for us So the Evangelicall Zachary Prophetically of Christ By the tender Mercies of God where the vulgar reades Per Viscera misericordiae Dei By the bowels of the mercy of God the Day-spring from on high hath visited us Luk. 1.78 And to this purpose Saint Paul labouring the conversion both of Iew and Gentile Rom. 12.1 doth beseech them by the mercies of God as tender-hearted mothers their immorigerous children per abera et ventrem suum Pet. Mart. in cap. 12. Rom. saith Peter Martyr by the wombe that bare them and by the paps that gave them sucke Nay more per viscera misericordiae by the bowells of mercy farther yet per viscera Iesu Christi by the bowells of Jesus Christ hee that is wombe and bowels and paps and all mercy God is my record how greatly I long after you all in the bowells of Iesus Christ Phil. 1.8 And certainely if there were ever bowells of mercy his were or ever miseries for those bowells to worke on ours were when hee not only pour'd out his affections but his very bloud for us us then his enemies and without him perpetuall captives and gally slaves to sinne and Sathan And therefore the Evangelist having it seemes no word more Emphaticall to expresse the mystery of incarnation by calls it mercy Luke 1. vide St llamin cap. 1. Lucae and the Apostle charity Rom. 8. Mercy and Charity the Analasis of heaven and earth God and man epitomiz'd nay God the man and therefore those two great vertues or rather attributes Symeon in his song calls salutare
Domini Luke 2.30 The salvation of the Lord or rather the salvation from the Lord from the Lord for man Hence David rapt in the spirit and desiring to see the sonne of God incarnate pour's out his request to the Lord with an Ostende nobis misericordiam tuam et salutare tuum da nobis domine shew us thy mercy O Lord and grant us thy salvation Psal 119 41. thy mercy and thy salvation because from thee but thy mercy and our salvation because for us And this Salvation for us was a mighty salvation So runnes the prophecy Blessed be the Lord God of Israell why Hee hath raised up a mighty salvation for us in the house of his servant David Luke 1.68 A mighty Salvation and therefore a mighty Mercy such a mercy as the Apostle cal's Divitias misericordiarum riches of mercy mercie so wonderfully rich that it is above all Gods workes all his workes of nature or miracle or glory or mystery In his workes of nature there was only flatus or spiritus Dei the breath of the Lord used what breath his Dixit et facta sunt which were the breathings of the Almighty upon his creatures he spake and for the most part they were made and where they were not so he spake and breath'd and they were made good So God breath'd into man the breath of life Gen. 2.7 and man was a living soule Gen. 2.7 In his workes of miracle there was digitus Dei the finger of God so in those done before Pharach and his wisemen When magicke was at a stand and all her spells and inchantments non-plust in the production of lice out of dust the Sorcerers and Wizards insteed of manifesting their skill acknowledge their impotence and that great Master of their blacke art who had hitherto tutor'd them in lyes now lectures them a way to truth with a digitus Dei hic This is the finger of God Exod. 8.19 In his workes of glory there is manus Dei the hand of God so those roling torches of the firmament those bright eyes of Heaven Sunne Moone and starres with all that spangled and glorious hoast the Apostle calls the worke of Gods hand Heb. 1.10 But in his workes of mystery especially in this greatest of incarnation as if nature and miracle and glory were subordinate and the breath or hand or finger of the Almighty too weake for so mighty a designe there was Brachium Dei the arme of God his mighty arme the strength of his mighty arme And therefore the blessed Virgin Mary in a deepe contemplation of it professes Stella in 1. Lucae Dominum potentiam in brachio forti demomstrasse The Lord hath shewed strength in his mighty arme Luke 1.51 In that ransome of the Israelites from the Egyptian vassalage the text sayes he did it with his arme his outstretched arme Psal 77. with his arme why not as well there with his finger or his hande as with his arme why Their freedome from that temporall captivity by Moses was a type of our redemption from our spirituall slavery by Christ and therefore as the arme was exercised in the one so in the other too Wee were in our Egypt here in darkenesse darkenes so thicke that it might bee felt made slaves to the grindings of a Tyrant though not a Pharaoh yet a Prince as he was of darkenes and worse then hee was then of utter darknesse under his Iron rod and scepter all the fetters and manacles of sinne and Sathan till God by the vertue of his Arme knock'd off those yron shackles and brake asunder the bands of death and darkenesse And herein was the worke of his Arme his mighty Arme the Strength of his mighty Arme nay it was not so properly the strength of his own Arme as that strength which is the Arme it selfe the Arme JESUS And here in two Prophets meet Paravit Dominus brachium suum and Dominus in fortitudine ventet brachium ejus dominabitur The Lord hath made bare his Arme so Isaiab His holy Arme hath gotten him Victory so David And why hath the Lord thus made bare his Arme or what is that Victory his holy Arme hath got What Isai 52.10 All the ends of the world shall see his salvation Isa 52.10 And His salvation is made knowne in the sight of all the Heathen Psal 98.2 Here then still Psal 98.2 this Arme is Salvation and this Salvation Mercie and this Mercie Eminent and this Eminencie in Truth All the ends of the world shall see it and it shal be made known in the eyes of all the Heathen all the Heathen all the World all shall see it shall See it but not enjoy it and yet to see it is the way to enjoy it and that we may finde that way and at length enjoy it as we should Isa 52.9 Breake forth into melody sing together ye waste places of Ierusalem and not onely those but the whole Earth Sing aloud unto the Lord all yee Lands the round world and all that therein is ye sowles of the Ayre Psal 98. that sing among the branches ye Beasts and Cattell upon a thousand Hills yee that sport also in the deepe Psal 104. v. 8. 11 12. that goe up as high as the mountaines and downe to the Valleyes beneath Let the Sea roare and the fulnesse thereof let the floods clap their hands and the little hills dance for joy Let the Nations also be glad let them sing upon the harpe upon the harpe with a Psalme of Thankesgiving Praise him on the Cymballs ye sons of His praise him on the Wel-tuned Cymballs with trumpets also and shawmes praise his Name Powre out all your acclamations and shouts of Joy all your Hosannahs and Hallelujahs yee Saints of his Sing and sing aloud unto the Lord that his mercie is thus made knowne upon Earth and his saving Health among all Nations And here we cannot complaine of the Lord as the Prophet did of old Isai 63.15 Where is now the sounding of thy bowels and thy mercies towards us For it is gone you heare into all Nations but rather where is the sounding of our Thankfulnesse our singing aloud in Magnificats and Regratulations unto him Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantobo saith David I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever Psal 89.1 And certainely if they be Mercies of the Lord they are Mercies for ever Psal 89.1 and if Mercies for ever great Mercies and if Mercies and Great and For ever too worthy for ever to be sung by all those that are in misery even by Kings by David himselfe if a King as he was in misery For Misery hath aswell a For ever as Mercy hath And therefore it was necessary that God's Mercies should be infinite because of our miseries and it was just that our miseries should be infinite because of our sinnes Here then Abyssus abyssum invocat One deepe cryes unto another and here Altitudo
because in his workes Ad extra he doth more use mercy in forgiving than justice in punishing offences Thus Misericordia Dei plena est terra Psal 119.64 The Earth is full of the mercy of the Lord and it need be full the mercifull Lord knowes for the earth wants it miserably wants it And Domine in coelo misericordia tua Psal 36.5 Thy mercy is in heaven also Heaven is full of it and yet heaven never wanted it for there is no misery but fulnesse of joy for evermore And are Heaven and Earth thus full of his mercy where then doth his justice raigne in both these but that his mercy is sometimes superintendent and so doth qualify the other though not impaire it When justice is at the barre mercy interposeth ventures on the very seate of judgement and not only sits by it but sometimes in respect of man over it It doth mellow and sweeten justice and takes away the acrimony and sharpnesse of it Gods threatnings I confesse have sometimes a fearful browe and like a skie troubled flak'd with red intimate fire and bloud but scatter none They are sparkles perchance of his indignation but not coales sent onely to menace not to destroy Or if his vengeance once begin to kindle indeed so that from his Throne proceed Hailestones and coales of fixe lightnings and hot thunderbolts yet his mercies are still sprinkled on those flames and the very dregs of the cup of Gods sury are temper'd with some compassion nay God is seldome seene in any of his workes or his Attributes but mercy is there either as an agent or looker on Mercy in his goodnesse fortitude providence wisedome Power nay in his very justice To bee mercifull and just and mercy and justice mercifull and mercy just and justice are one with God Essentialiter though not Denominativè Concretes and Abstracts alter not the God-head but are the same in substance though not denomination And therefore whereas some workes of his are said to be of Iustice others of Mercy Non diversitas subjacentis sed varietas sensuum effectuum in creaturis monstratur saith Lombard there is no diversitie express'd of the thing signified by the words but the variety of sences and effects manifested in the Creatures Moreover in some of his workes there are said to be effects of his mercy in others effects of his justice not that Iustice doth produce one thing Mercy another if we referre them to his essence but because of some effects hee is understoode to be Index of others Miserator or as some please Iustus et Misericors In every worke therefore of God secundum effectum mercy and justice doe not alwaies concurre but in some mercy in others justice in others mercy and justice as some of the Schoole-men would suggest us and yet withall confesse that whatsoever God hath done Misericorditer egit Iuste referring the reason of the speech to the will of God which is Iustice and Mercy not to the effects of Iustice and Mercy which are in things and yet others conjecture and they more rationally that as God is said to doe all his workes justly and mercifully so it is to be granted that in every such worke there is mercy and justice Secundum effectum too because there is no worke of God in which there is not an effect or at least a signe of equity and clemency either conceal'd or open for sometimes his clemency is apparent and his equitie hid and sometimes E converso as the Master of the Sentences more at large in his 4. Booke 66. distinction Now as Mercy and Iustice goe hand in hand in respect of God the Father so they doe also of God the Sonne Omnia quae Dei sunt Christus est saith Origen Christ is Gods All Wisedome Sanctity Providence Fortitude Iustice Mercy and all these One but one here as before by way of Essence not Denomination To be Iustice then is to be as Essentially Christ as to be mercy and to bee iust as to be mercifull wee cannot divorce nor sever them for loe mercy and truth here meet together righteousnesse and peace doe kisse each other meet and kisse in the same Christ Thus Isaiah calls him the Prince of peace Isai 9.6 and Ieremy The Lord our righteousnesse Jer. 23.6 Here Righteousnesse and Peace kisse againe and as they kisse mercy and iustice meet mercy as hee is the Prince of peace Iustice as the Lord our righteousnes One Prophet sayes that he is Fons misericordiae another that he is Sol iustitiae So that belike hee hath as well the face of a Lyon as of a man of a Judge as a Mediator and therefore hee came not onely to governe but to iudge the Nations Government presupposes mercy and iudgement truth and therefore he is called mercy and truth towards Israel Psal 98.3 Loe here mercy and truth kisse and as they kisse peace and righteousnesse meet meet and kisse in the glorious Bridegroome Christ Iesus Thus All the wayes of the Lord are mercy and truth Psal 25.9 Misericordia quâ placabilis est D. Aug. ad psal 24. v. 9 veritas quâ incorruptus est allam praebuit donando peccata hanc opera 〈◊〉 faith Saint Augustine 'T is mercy then makes God not implacable and 't is truth that speakes him not corrupt by the one he is ready to forgive by the other to censure and scanour Actions His mercy therfore still leaneth to his truth and his truth declines not from his iustice All the wayes of the Lord are heere all the waies by which he either descends unto us or by which we ascend unto him By his truth heaven first came down unto earth and by mercy earth climb's up again to heaven 't is truth qua a malo declinamus 't is mercy qua bonum facimus Lom lib. 4. dist 66. In these two are all Gods workes included and these two goe hand in hand with his iudgements Towards his Saints all his waies are mercy towards the wicked all his wayes are Truth Quià in judicando subvenit sic non deest misericordia in miserando id exhibet quod promisit nè desit verit as To all those then that hee doth either pardon or condemne all his wayes are Mercie and Truth Quià ubi non miseretur vindictae veritas datur as S. Augustine pleades it in his 19. Sermon upon the 5. of Matthew They then that would divide and sunder the Lord of Life and cleave as some doe his mercie from his Iustice deale with him as some curious Limners and Painters doe who commonly picture him with a halfe face That which is of mercy is transparent and lovely to the eye the other of Iustice is shadowed and understood But certainely they that would looke upon him as All mercy deale too much with the spectacle and the multiplying glasse where the thing they desire to see shewes greater than it is and so endeavouring to aseist the
shall thy seamelesse coate be thus rent and divided how long those wounds in thy side this spittle in thy face these thornes on thy head these lashes on thy body How long these daggers and darts in the bosome of thy beloved Spouse The Church hath the same ground for complaint now that it had of old Filij matris meae pugnaverunt coutra me My mothers children were angry with me or fought against me Cant. 1.6 Et pulchre filios matris meae saith Saint Bernard non autempatris sui illos vocat quia non habebant patrem Deum sed Diabolum Solomon was in the right when he call'd Mutineers in Religion Sonnes of their Mother the Church not of their Father God there are many In and From her that are not of her some by-blowes through Faction and Hypocrify not all legitimate and therefore the sonnes of my Mother not my Brothers nor the sonnes of my Father as if God had nothing to doe with Assacinates and Rebells in the Church nothing as a Father or a God as a Judge he hath as a Father he hath not He saies A Kingdome or Family divided cannot stand as a God hee hath not Hee is called The God of peace not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. Cor. 14.33 Incompositi status as Beza translates it The God of a state or condition incomposed where there is neither Vniformity of things nor Manners Hee is the God of Order Decency Method Vnity And where these are not God is not to be found no Deus pacis there but that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spoken of by Saint Paul Vnquietnesse Exagitation Tumult or as we newly render it Confusion And indeed that word is most proper to the State and Church where the Deus pacis hath nought to doe Confusion there there necessarily Peace is the Nurse both of strength and plenty if it be Fax Dei But there is a kinde of peace that the Deus pacis will not father and there he is Deus eversionis as Tertullian tolde the Marcionist in his 4. booke 3. chapter In Schismes Heresies Seditions there is a kinde of peace in respect of the Agents though not of their Ends and Agreement in their Intentions though not in their Execution if this be not more properly a combination than an agreement Now God is not there Deus pacis but Deus eversionis 'T is true God is not the God of confusion but of peace saith Saint Paul But where is hee so In all the Churches of the Saints 1 Cor. 14.33 So that amongst his Saints onely hee is Deus pacis but amongst their enemies disturbers he is Deus eversionis Of the Arke which was a Type of the true Church and the Flouds on which it was toss'd of the troubles and persecutions of it God was heretofore Deus conservationis But when men to preserve themselves from the flouds of their own fancies will raise up an Arke of bricke a Tower whose top should even reach the Heavens as if the earth were not large enough for their pride and folly God was Deus confusionis And doubtlesse when the Walls of Ierusalem are pulling downe and those of Babel raising up the peace and unity of the Church demolishing and Anarchie building on so fast God will not bee long there Deus conservationis hee will be at length Deus confusionis Though thou build aloft Obad. 4. and nestle among the Clouds yet I will bring thee downe into the dust saith the Lord God And 't is well that what the God of Heaven thus threatneth the Gods of the Earth will put in execution Authority which this way hath been long time asleepe begins to rub up her eyes againe and Aarons Rod which seem'd in our latter times to droope and wither doth at length blossome and bud afresh Canons Constitutions Decrees which were formerly without soule or motion Oh blessed be the religious care of an incomparable Soveraigne a powerfull Metropolitan and by them here an active Diocesan have recover'd a new life and vegetation Ceremonies harmelesse Ceremonies which some in the heat of their foolish spirit had Anathematiz'd and thrust out of our Church as Antichristian and superstitious have gotten their former lustre and state againe The Academicall Hood and Surplesse so long in exile and disgrace amongst us are visible here in our Congregations Churches are new swept of their dust and Rubbish and put on a more decent and ornamentall dresse Those knees that were heretofore so stubborne and stiffe-joynted that they would not stoope at a Sacrament begin at length without feare it seemes of their murmur'd idolatry to bowe at the Name of JESUS Nay those tongues which were set on fire and Mar-Prelated you know of old against the Ecclesiasticke Hierarchy can pray now how humbly or heartily I know not for the most Reverend Arch-Bishops and the Reverend Bishops And whereas that place of * Sacrificium incruentum Sacrifice which not long since was so odious to them that they beslabber'd it with their greasie imputations of Dressers and Oyster-boords they now begin to re-mould their language and restore it to the primitive Title and Stile of The Holy Table at least though not the Holy Altar Though there are still I confesse some black-mouth'd censurers which will not onely barke and snarle at this Reformation but if they were not muzzel'd by Authority bite too Men that this way even hate to be reformed stopping their eares at the voyce of our charmings and crying downe the Ordinances of our Church as the Edomites of old did Ierusalem Downe with them Psal 137 7. down with them even to the ground for such is ordain'd that Apostolicall sword Abscindantur qui disturbant vos Gal. 5.12 Let them be cut off that trouble you Here Aaron and his Oyle must part and exercise his Rod onely remembring that of Saint Ierome to his Heliodorus Solum pietatis genus est in hac re esse crudelem Cruelty in this kinde is a great piety nay a mercy that those who have beene so gratiously invited to this supper of the good King and they refusing to come that of the parable may at last castigate and bring home Coge ingredi Compell them to come in Luke 14.23 There are among us right Reverend and I even bleed to speake it Qui dum volunt esse Iudaei Christiani nec Iudaeisunt nec Christiant Hos 7.8 certaine Hermophrodite Divines meere Centaures in Religion Saint Austines Amphibions in resemblance Iewes and Christians both in truth neither Cakes on the hearth not turn'd certaine dow-bak'd professors which have a tongue for Geneva and a heart for Amsterdam their pretence for Old England and their project for New to the Iew they become as a Iew to them that are under the Law as under the Law to them that are weake as weake but not with the same intention of the Apostle 1 Cor. 9.20 to gaine some but to betray