was stung by the Serpent so in Paradise was hee cured by the seed of the Woman The Patriarchs in their order Heb. 11. not onely knew but felt the vertue of this Childe this Sonne St. Paul comprehends it in a short Rule Iesus Christ yesterday and to day and the same for euer Hee was a Lambe slaine not onely borne from the beginning of world Neither onely did the efficacie of his person worke but in a sort his presence also was vouchsafed vnto the world It is an ancient opinion of many of the Fathers and not a few of the worthiest late Diuines approue it that all apparitions of God in the Old Testament were of the second Person In the eighth of the Prouerbs himselfe saith that his delight was to be amongst the Sonnes of men Yea and to say nothing of other shapes how often did hee appeare in the shape of a man which apparition the Fathers call Praeludium incarnationis It was a faire intimation of that which in time hee should bee for euer after hee had once taken vpon him the nature of man which death it selfe should neuer seuer from him O Lord that wouldest not only become Man but also bee Gods gift to Man thou which wert before all time wouldest be bestowed in time bestowed vpon Iewes bestowed vpon Gentiles and make them both one Israel of God Notwithstanding there was nothing in them to demerit thee much in them to prouoke thee yet hast thou out of thine own goodnesse so tendered Man as to satisfie thy Iustice that it might bee no hinderance vnto thy Mercy but that thy Mercy might remedy both our Woe and Sinne We beseech thee that wee may all be new borne by vertue of thy Sonnes birth and giue our selues to Thee as he is giuen to Vs that so we may be in the number of those which with the Prophet may say Tovs a Childe is borne to vs a Sonne is giuen Which grace he vouchsafe vs that is giuen vnto vs To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be giuen all honour and glory now and for euer Amen THE THIRD SERMON The Gouernment shall be vpon his shoulders THe Doctrine of this Scripture containes the Truth and Excellencie of Christs Person and State Of the truth of Christs Person I haue already spoken and shewed you both the Natures wherein it subsisteth and the People to which it belongs The Natures wherein it subsists are two The Nature of God and of Man which haue a most streight vnion in one Person and yet without the least diminution of eyther nature This Person belongs vnto the Iewes not according to the flesh but according to the spirit euen to the whole Israel of God which consists of beleeuing naturall both Iewes and Gentiles To this People doth Christ belong But of what degree is hee amongst them For euery companie that consists of many persons if they bee incorporate hath men of sundry degrees by the Ordinance of God and the common rules of discretion there are superiours there are inferiours some which command some which are commanded Of which ranke is our Sauiour Christ Of the highest it appeares in his State The Gouernment shall be vpon his shoulders Although then the Scripture affirm that Christ appeared in the forme of a seruant and himself said That he came not to be ministred vnto but to minister et must we not mistake his Ministery was not of the foote but of the head it was not an obeying but a commanding Ministeric The Head ministers and so doth the Foote in our body naturall but they minister not both alike The head ministreth to the foote by way of commanding the foote ministreth to the head by way of obeying Christs Ministery was of the former not of the later kinde his Foes and his Friends in the Gospell both salute him by the name of Rabbi or Rabboni which is by interpretation Master And our Sauiour Christ telleth his Disciples in St. Iohn You call me Master and Lord and you say well for so I am And elsewhere he calleth himselfe The Heire of the Vineyard The Lord of the Sabaoth The Name of Christ or Messias is a most cleare proofe hereof for none were anointed but to be superiours and the Acts which Christ did exercise beare witnesse hereunto which were all of them eyther Propheticall when hee taught or Priestly when hee sacrificed or Kingly when hee wrought Miracles These bee the things which were done by him and the Gospell relates no other kinde of acts or at least none in comparison And all these are commanding acts they are acts of a Superiour exercised in the dayes of his flesh in the dayes of his greatest humiliation So that the forme of a Seruant and the ministring of Christ shew that he had not the attendance for worldly respect that was due to such a Superiour hee had not so much as a house to hide his head in much lesse had hee any Princely pompe But they deny him not to haue been a Superiour they deny him not that which was giuen him in my Text and my Text giueth him the State of a Superiour To come then vnto it There are two things to bee obserued in the words 1. Of what sort the Gouernment was 2. and Wherewith Christ did sustaine it The Gouernment was of the best sort it was Regall it appeares in the next Verse where Christ is said To sit vpon the Throne of Dauid And this Gouernment he sustaines by his owne carefull Power for it is layd vpon his shoulders These two Points we must at this time looke into briefly and in their order I beginne with the Gouernment If wee looke backe to the Story of Genesis we shall finde that when God promised Isaac which was a Type of Christ he changed both his Fathers and his Mothers name shee was called Sarai but God new named her Sarah which is a Princesse and Abram was new named Abraham a Father of many Nations And me thinks when I reade these words here in the Prophet and those that follow wherein Christ is described I see the application of those names to this Person I see the Principality I see the Posterity I see in Christ the truth of Sarah and of Abrahams name And surely the word which here signifieth Gouernment hath great affinity with the name of Sarah But of Gouernments some are subordinate some are absolute Some so command as the Centurion in the Gospell I am a man set vnder authority though I haue diuers vnder mee and I say to one come and hee commeth and to another go and he goeth But some so command as Salomon speaketh of a King against whom there is no rising vp whose Lawes must not bee disputed on earth and his Commandements bee obeyed by all that are his Subiects Christs Gouernment is not of the subordinate but the absolute sort it appeares by the Throne by the Kingdome vpon which he sitteth places of absolute power especially if
the Text wee sound another merit and that is meritum dignationis the interest therein vouchsafed vs. Were there none but meritum dignitatis there were ground enough of our loue but this meritum dignationis the interest that we haue doth quicken vs to take notice of the worth that is in the thing Euery man naturally loueth that which is his owne and if the thing bee good it doth him the more good to looke vpon it Let a man walke in a faire Meadow it pleaseth him but it will please him much more if it bee his owne his eye will be more curious in prying into euery part and euery thing will please him the better so it is in a Corne field in an Orchard in a House if they bee good the more they are ours the more contentedly doe they affect vs for this word meum is suauissima amor is illecebra it is as good as an amatorie potion Then marke put tuus to Dominus and if so bee the Lord be louely how much more louely should hee bee in our eyes if hee bee our Lord and doth appropriate that infinite good that hee hath vnto vs hee holdeth of none but of himselfe and who would not ioy to bee owner of that good which is independent Hee is whatsoeuer heart can desire and who can but reioyce in hauing him in hauing of whom wee can want nothing Put tuus to Deus and see how it doth improue the motiue of loue there also Had wee nothing to doe with so tender hearted a Father so sweet natured a Sonne so gracious a Comforter as is the holy Spirit we could not but loue them if we did know them But when wee doe heare that these bowels of the Father doe yearne vpon vs that wee are the Spouse whom the Sonne of God doth wooe and that the holy Ghost vouchsafeth to make his Temple of vs how can wee bee but loue-sicke how can our Hearts choose but melt and our Affections gaspe and bray like the Hart after those Persons which haue in them so strong so manifold persuasions to loue But alas wee that in regard of our carnall loue are easily transported by any seeming good are altogether senslesse when wee are sollicited by our spirituall good so senslesse that God is passionate in his Prophets when hee doth taxe our more then bruitishnesse herein Isay 1. Hearken O heauen heare O earth for the Lord hath spoken I haue nourished and brought vp children and they haue rebelled against mee the oxe knoweth his owner and the asse his masters crib but Israel doth not know my people doth not consider Ier. 3. Can a mayd forget her ornaments or a bride her attire yet hath my people forgotten me dayes without number Wee doe loue our corporall benefactors at least while they are doing vs good but our spirituall benefactor wee forget euen while hee is doing vs good for when is hee not doing it wee cannot looke vpon our soules our bodies our state but wee see the perpetuall influence of his goodnesse and yet Tuus worketh little here and though God vouchsafe vs a great interest yet are wee little moued therewith Wee can loue a man in whom there are so many defects to allay the regard of his goodnesse and from whom we may receiue as much wrong as fauour how much more should we loue God in whom there is no defect and from whom thou canst receiue nothing but good I haue shewed you the reason of loue which is included in the name it followeth that I now come on to the dutie that is required and that is Loue. Wherein we are first to obserue that God speaketh not vnto vs as vnto seruants but as vnto friends hee would not haue vs in his seruice expresse a spirit of seruitude in feare but of adoption in loue hee would not bee feared as a Lord but loued as a Father O derint dum metuant is a Tyrants voyce God will haue all his seruants ingenuous hee will haue our seruice as naturall as is our allegiance Wherein the King of Heauen giueth a good patterne to all Kings and Gouernours in earth Though God hath qualified vs many wayes to doe him seruice yet doth hee in this word diliges Loue shew what hee doth principally respect and his eyes are vpon nothing so much as our Loue not on our wit our wealth our honour c. yea all other things are valued according to our Loue and without Loue they are nothing worth And why Loue is that which setteth all a worke for he that loueth will keepe Gods commandements hee will doe no euill But wee may not forget that seeing this Loue hath for its obiect him that is so farre aboue vs wee must not seuer it from Reuerence which must qualisie the loue which we owe to our Superiors in expressing our affection wee must not forget our distance yea and our feare in regard of our flesh may bee seruile to awe it and keepe it downe though it must bee also filiall in regard of the spirit to keepe it in heart I should now if the time would giue leaue shew you how those things that are required in loue must be applyed vnto this obiect The first propertie of Loue is Vnion and we should endeauor to become one with the Lord to bee transformed into him and as neere as a Creature can partake of his Creator partake of the diuine nature Wee should desire Vnion also with God with God the Father by Adoption with God the Sonne by a spirituall Wedlocke with God the holy Ghost by entertaining him as his Temple wee should so grow one with all three persons From this Vnion our Loue should come on to a Communion Communion in that infinite good which you heard is in the Lord for though Vnion bee a great aduancement of our Nature yet doth our comfort stand in the Communion neither did God euer intend the Vnion but for the Communion As wee must haue Communion with the Lord so with God also as Children wee must communicate in the inheritance of our Father as a Spouse in the honour and state of a Bride-groome as the Temple in the ornaments and endowments thereof Yea in this Communion there must appeare Beneuolentia Benesicentia there must appeare an intercourse of good will and good deeds betweene the Lord God and vs otherwise wee doe not loue as wee should This is not all the seate of Loue must be exercised also the Heart for the loue of God must bee free God doth not respect forced Loue. The Minde God will bee knowne before hee is loued and hee will haue them that loue him to meditate vpon him hee will not regard an vndiscreete Loue. Thy Soule must bee exercised if thou dost not long after him earnestly and take sweet content in him thou dost not loue Finally thy Courage must bee employed thou must bee as resolute to compasse this spirituall Vnion and Communion as carnall wooers are
must not onely cease for to hate him but beginne to Loue him also Secondly Christ founded both these partes in our Redemption for Hee dyed and rose againe Saint Paul telleth vs there is a morall in that mysterie it lessoneth vs to dye vnto sinne and to rise vnto righteousnesse finally the Sacrament of Baptisme which in the Scripture is called the Baptisme of repentance Symbolically preacheth both vnto vnto vs the dipping into the water and the taking out of the water what doth it figure but the drowning of sin and the recouering of a sinner The vse that wee must make hereof is that we must not onely desire to be rid of the vncleane spirit but also to be possest of the holy Ghost if wee doe not change one for the other we are not changed so fully as we ought to bee and we must feare his doome out of whom the vncleane spirit was cast in the Gospell whom because the holy Ghost succeeded not the foule spirit repossest the person with seuen worse then himselfe Matth. 12. and made the latter end of that man worse then his beginning And thus much of the nature of Repentance which is the first worke Gods worke which changeth vs from bad to good not onely cleansing sinne but also giuing grace I come now to the second worke which is mans worke in handling whereof we must consider the Order and the Nature of it A word of the order Gods worke goeth before mans man could neuer doe good if God did not first make him good as truely as the dew doth first fall from heauen before there can bee fatnesse in the earth Psal 1. euen so must Gods grace change man before any alteration will appeare in the conuersation of man the tree must be planted by the Riuers of waters Ephes 2.10 before it can bring forth her fruites and we must bee Gods workmanship created vnto good workes before we can walke in them Wee must not therefore take such pleasure in beholding the Tree bee it neuer so richly loaden with fruites as to forget the roote which yeeldeth the iuice without which the Tree could beare no fruit we must so regard mans worke that wee giue the precedencie alwayes to Gods and acknowledge this to bee the off spring of that but enough of the Order I come now to the Worke which is bearing of fruites That which is here called fruites Acts 26. is called workes whereby we gather that good workes are fruites and indeed onely good workes deserue this name for if Saint Austins definition bee true Fructus est quo quis cum gaudio fruitur That is fruit which a man may with comfort enioy how should sinne be reputed fruites Who can take any content in it Not the sinner himselfe for though it be sweete in his mouth as Iob speaketh yet when it commeth downe into his maw Iob 20. it turneth into gall of Aspes Deut 22. well doth Moses compare it to the fruites of Sodome and Gomorrah for as the Booke of Wisedome describeth that fruit faire on the out side but the in-side nothing else but cinders euen so the appearance of sinne is pleasant but the substance of it is very vnsauorie If onely our lustes should be iudges howsoeuer at first they taste it as fruit yet euen they also loath it if they bee long vsed to it but if they swallow it and find no offence in it as too often they doe yet when it commeth to our conscience and thither sooner or later it must come Saint Pauls question will then come seasonably Tom. 6.21 What fruit had yee then in those things whereof yee are now ashamed Sinnes then may not passe for fruits fruits properly so called this title belongeth only to good workes they are fruits indeed they may say as the Vine in the Iudgess They cheare God and Men Chap. 9. God taketh delight in them they are to him a sacrifice of a sweet smell yea hee taketh as much content in them as if he did feed vpon them we learne it in the fiftieth Psalme Thinkest thou saith God that I will eat Buls flesh and drinke the bloud of Goats Offer vnto God praise and call vpon his Name in denying the former he acknowledgeth the later to be his food not that God is the better for ought we doe but so is hee pleased for to honour our workes as the Angels that came to Abraham did partake of his meâ—te not to refresh themselues but to doe him honour As God accepts them for fruits so are they fruits vnto men also vnto others and vnto our selues but with this difference that whereas God was not the better for them men are other men by our good workes are either brought to goodnesse or confirmed therein and as for our selues wee grow thereby in grace and fauour with God and feele more comfortable ioy in our owne soules therefore well may good workes beare the name of fruits And I the very name of fruits distinguishing good workes from bad containeth a good motiue to doe well and forbeare sinne for Who would labour for nought and spend his strength in vaine being not to haue so much as his labour for his paine for he must write vpon his wages not only vanitie but also vexation of spirit And againe Who would bee wearie of well doing that knoweth his labour is not in vaine but that in good time he shall eate the fruit of his labours O well is hee and happie shall he be But wee must marke that our worke is called fruit and not flowers not but that the flower goeth before the fruit but it is the hope of the fruit that maketh the flower to bee esteemed and God counteth that flower little worth that neuer commeth to be fruit we see this in the parable of the seed where that ground only goeth for good in which the feed giueth not ouer vntill it be fit for the Barne and hee that puiteth his hand to the Plough saith Christ in the Gospel Luke 9 6â— and looketh backe is not fit for the Kingdome of Heauen I obserue this the rather because here we may see many faire flowers which in their youth shew good effects of their Gouernours care and paines who no sooner are set at libertie as too often they are before the flowers become fruit but they wither and faile neither Church nor Common-wealth nor themselues are the better for their breeding whom I would haue to carrie this Lesson with them That Goodnesse is not a flower it is fruit and they must aswell ripen as blossome otherwise it will appeare that God in them hath done his worke but they come short of their owne Neither is Goodnesse only called Fruit in the singular number but the word is plurall our worke is many workes wee must beare Fruits we must as the Apostle speaketh be fruitfull in all good workes Col 1.10 The soule of a man is but one but
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not in the nature of man but in the nature of God hypostatically vnited vnto man In the twentieth of the Acts God is said with his owne blood to redeeme his Church An impossible thing were it not for the personall Vnion which maketh that to be ascribed vnto God in Concreto which indeed belongs vnto Man But the reason of the Phrase is God is one with Man Yea all the nature of merit is founded in this Vnion Loose the vnion and ouerthrow the merit For the ability of the Sonne closeth not with that aptnesse which before you heard of in the Child to performe the blessed Act of Redemption but by this meanes of personall Vnion Against so pestilent an Heresie was assembled the Councell of Ephesus that defined that God and Man made but one Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that the nature of man assumed by the Son of God was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it had no personality but that which before was in the Sonne And the Reason of it is very cleare For seeing Christ came to saue not any one person but the seed of Abraham as the Apostle speaketh Heb. 2. he was to assume not a person but the nature of Man that so he might be the common Sauiour of Mankinde Nestorius being put downe vp starteth Eutyches and he in stead of a personall Vnion of the Natures forged a Confusion of them He would so ioyne them that two should become one not Person but Nature and so of God and Man wee shall neyther haue God nor Man one shall be swallowed vp in the other at the least the Manhood in the Godhead And this ouerthrowes not only the apparant Texts of Scripture which speaking of Christ after the Incarnation call him sometimes God and sometimes Man and particularly as Rom. 1. Phil. 2. and elsewhere reckon vp eyther Nature but it abolisheth all the comfort of those sweete Texts which affirme that the Law was fulfilled in our flesh that wee were crucified with Christ that wee rose with him and that with him wee sit in heauenly places but especially that Text to the Hebrewes which biddeth vs come with boldnesse vnto the Throne of Grace because wee haue not such an High Priest as cannot be touched with our infirmities seeing he is like vnto vs in all things sinne only excepted Against Eutyches was assembled the Councell of Calcedon which prouided for the sincerity of our Faith in this Article and hath defined against this confusion of Natures the compounding of the Nature of God and Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the learned Writings of Leo the First Vigilins and others are excellent Commentaries vpon that Councell But to what end haue I opened all this Surely that you might see the riches of this first branch of my Text teaching vs what Christians must beleeue maugre all Hereticks guided by those famous Generall Councels namely foure things there are to be considered therin 1. The truth of the Godhead 2. The fulnesse of the Manhood 3. The Personall Vnion of both 4. and yet without abolition of eyther So that wee may in these words reade the whole Mysterie of the Incarnation But one Caution I must giue you and not I but the Fathers generally and that is You must acknowledge these Mysteries but you must not pry too farre into them lest that befall you which is in the prouerbe Qui scrutator est Maiestatis opprimetur à gloria While you will know more than is permitted you mistake that which is reuealed In euery Article of our Creede especially in this that of Moses holds The secret things are for the Lord but the reuealed things are for vs. That these things are so is the reuealed part of the Article but how they come to bee so is the secret part thereof Let vs bee contented with that which is ours and leaue Gods vnto himselfe Licet scire quòd natus sit Christus non licet discutere quomodo natus sit illud negare mihi non licet hoc quaerere metus est Nam generationem eius quis enarrabit saith St. Ambrose And it was this Quomodo that was the bane of all the fore-recited Heretickes and I pray God their harms may make vs to beware Let vs be wise vnto sobriety the seedes that they sowed are not yet all dead they fructifie too much in other parts and something haue they shewed themselues of late in our Country lest they possesse vs this Caueat must be marked by vs. The last thing which I will note on these words is they are most sweet words The name of Child and Sonne make Christ most louely in the eares in the eyes both of God and Man If man were put to his choyce what nature hee would wish to bee vsed in his Redemption is there any that he could desire rather than his owne And what nature can better content God in the Redemption than his owne Looke vpon the Childe Man hath what he would and looke vpon the Sonne God hath what hee would both cannot be but well pleased You heare not all the sweetnesse of it looke againe vpon the Childe The Physicians and Diuines druide the life of man into many ages some after one fashion and some after another but the very first is that which most properly is noted by this word it signifieth that age which begins vpon the conception that moment wherein the nature of man taketh beginning No sooner is the Child quickned but it is jeled it is that which is noted by this Child and the English word seems to come thence The loue of Christ to children appeared many waies when he rebuked his Disciples that would not suffer them to be brought vnto him when he accepted Hosanna out of their mouthes when he vouchsafed them to bee Martyrs at his death but neuer did hee expresse so much loue vnto them as he did in being like vnto them euen the yongest and tendrest of them lodging in his mothers wombe borne in his mothers armes sucking at his mothers breast and learning to speak from his mothers mouth could Christ euer haue taken a more gracious course to sanctifie their simplicity plicitie their infirmity and shew how deare they were vnto him I wonder not now at those other words of Christ The childrens Angels continually behold their Fathers face in Heauen and To them belongs the Kingdome of Heauen yea They that will enter into the Kingdome of Heauen must be like vnto them And who would disdain to be like vnto them to whom Christ was pleased to be so like And is not the Child then a sweet word Haue not Parents therein a great comfort Children oftentimes dye in their mothers wombe and often so soone as they come out of the wombe dispise them not despaire not of them they cannot be so yongue but Christ was as yongue and what he was he sanctified they are holy vnto him and by him to God their
Father The name of Child is sweet then sweet in regard of the nature of man and yet more sweet in respect of the first beginning as it were and infancie of mans nature The name of Sonne also hath in it a sweetnesse and why The Sonne is in nature nearest and dearest in affection to his Parents especially if he be vnigenitus then is he vnicè dilectus the only begotten is the only beloued This word then shewes that Christ can bring vs most neare and make vs most deare vnto God Most neare for the Sonne is of the same nature most deare for hee would bee one with vs that hee might make vs one with God This word then lookes most cheerfully vpon the case of Man Wee had been Sonnes but by reason of the fall we were not and bee againe that which once we were we could not but by the Sonne The Recouery then of our state our former state but in a more excellent manner is promised in this word The Sonne by nature comes to make vs Sons by adoption this title of the Person putteth vs in hope of that recouerie When we heare this can we but exclaime Lord what is man that thou art so mindefull of him and the Sonne of man that thou so regardest him we cannot we must not No we must roote our Faith in this substantiall Mediation as the Diuines call it and comfort our selues therewith if euer we meane to haue comfort of the actuall Mediation Therefore was the Sacrament prouided as a looking glasse wherein wee might see and partake that Spirituall Manna that Bread of God that came down from Heauen to giue life vnto the world Theodoret in one of his Dialogues hath an excellent parallel betweene the Incarnation of Christ and the Condition of the Sacrament which withall shewes how vnsound the Doctrine of the Church of Rome is concerning Transubstantiation Neither indeed can there be a more liuely representation of the one than by the other As in Christ there are two Natures of God and Man so in the Sacrament are there two Substances the Heauenly and the Earthly As in Christ these two Natures are truly and intirely so are those substances in the Sacrament As after the Vnion the two Natures make but one Person so after the Consecration the two Substances make but one Sacrament Finally as the two Natures are vnited without Confusion or Abolition of eyther in Christ so in the Sacrament are the Substances heauenly and earthly knit so that each continueth what it was and worketh answerably on vs. These things we should obserue when wee come to the Sacrament and so shall wee reape the greater benefit thereby the rather if wee not only behold the one mysterie in the other but possesse our selues also of the one by the other as indeed we ought For if we feed vpon the Sacrament aright wee become thereby what Christ is Bone of his bone and flesh of hu flesh yea wee are made partakers of the diuine nature as St. Peter speaketh And what more can be wished of a mortall man But I must conclude LOrd cherish in vs this Faith Lord let vs as wee ought acknowledge the Child acknowledge the Sonne our own Nature in thy Sonne and thy Sonne in our Nature Let vs neuer seuer that which thou hast conioâ—ned Let vs neuer confound that which thou hast distinguished Let vs beleeue without disputing So shall our Faith bee free from errour and our soules be full of comfort comfort in hearing of comfort in receiuing that Child that Sonne which hath so made vs Children that wee are the beloued Sonnes of God Amen THE SECOND SERMON For vnto vs a Child is borne vnto vs a Sonne is giuen c. IN handling the Substance of Christs person we were to consider the Natures wherein it subsists and the People to whom it belongs I beganne the vnfolding of the Natures and shewed you that they are two and that betweene these two there is some odds The two Natures are the Nature of Man and the Nature of God noted by the Childe and the Sonne Solemne necessary strange sweet words Solemne because receiued amongst the Iewes to signifie their Messias Necessary because they import the aptnesse and ability which is requisite in a Sauiour Strange if they be throughly considered the foure Mysteries obseruable in Christs Incarnation appeare in them 1. The truth of his Godhead 2. The fulnesse of his Manhood 3. The vnion of two Natures in one person 4. and yet the distinction of these Natures in the Person Sweet because they giue contentment vnto God and Man That these things are so it is plaine by the Text. How it is so Faith must not enquire it must onely entertaine the Vnion as a great honour done to the meannesse of Man which is assumed by the Maiestie of God for which we must giue glory vnto him Thus far I came and farther the time would not suffer me to goe Let vs now see the People to whom hee is vouchsafed Hee belongeth to Vs saith the Prophet But who are Wee whom meaneth the Prophet by Vs of what Nation of what condition were We By Nation Iewes for it is Esay that speaketh and Esay was a Iew. When hee saith He is borne to Vs he is giuen to Vs it is as if he should say He was borne to the Iewes giuen to the Iewes And indeed so it is God conditioned to be their God and that they should be his people he entred into a Couenant with them and placed the seales of his Couenant in them they had the Tabernacle and the visible presence of God with them all the types of Christ personall reall were amongst them yea from them was Christ to take his Nature St. Paul Rom. 2.9 sheweth what Prerogatiues God vouchsafed them yea and in the 14. Chapter goeth so far as to call Christ The Minister of Circumcision Christ himselfe in the Gospell seemeth to appropriate himselfe to the Iewes when he saith to the Woman of Canaan I was not seâ—t but to the lost sheepe of Israel But this notwithstanding the Prophesies must hold true whereof a briefe is deliuered by old Simeon Christ was to be the light of the Gentiles not only the glory of Israel Christ was borne and giuen not only to the Iew but also to the Gentile The 87. Psalme is excellent to this purpose shewing vs the Christ was borne not only amongst the Iewes but among the Gentiles also But we must marke that the Gentiles haue no other interest in Christ than if they become Iewes The Law is to goe out from Sion Esay 2. and so to come to them the forecited Psalme imports as much Esay sheweth Cap. 49. 60. 44. Rom. 11. that they must become Sonnes and Daughters of Ierusalem that they must submit themselues to her they must all speake the language of Canaan as it is Esay 19. But St. Paul is most plaine who to the Romanes sheweth that the
a man which takes into his thoughts the Law of God must by his Meditation chew vpon it and when hee hath found out the sweete matter that is in it his Affections must swallow it greedily and he must not cease to worke vpon it till hee hath made the power thereof appeare in his liberall hands in his godly lips and in a word euen in his whole outward man for the Law is giuen to the whole man Mat. 5. the Commandement Thou shalt not kill by the Glosse of the Pharisees was restrained to the hand as if Thou were nothing but thy Hand and to Kill were nothing but to shed bloud It is true that what a man doth by a part the whole becomes guiltie of it but then he must know that there iâ— no part but may contract his guilt a man may commit Murder with his tongue and he may commit it with his Affections this the Pharisee knew not and because he knew not he taught not and his Disciples practised not and so both of them for want of Meditation scanted the entertainement which they were to giue vnto the Law And so shall we if we tread in their steps and learne not how to Dedicate our selues to God whose Law we must Delight in Meditate vpon and Affect that so wee may occasionally set on worke the tongue and the hand and may vtter and Act with the outward man those things which wee conceiue and loue in the inward man Thus you see How we must be Dedicated But how long Day and Night saith the Psalme For first we must Meditate Day and Night Which words some take properly some improperly improperly the Day notes Prosperitie and the Night Aduersitie these significations are frequent in the Scripture and then the meaning is that be we as happie as Solomon or brought as low as Iob neither condition must make vs forget our Meditation this is a worke for all times for hereunto shall we bee beholding for our temperate vsing of Prosperitie and resolute bearing of Aduersitie But take the words properly and then because the Proposition is Affirmatiue some thinke that it holds Semper but not Ad semper that though habituall Meditation must neuer bee wanting in vs yet the Actuall neede not be exercised but as occasion is offered vnto vs but if we take Meditation together with the fore mentioned Actions which must goe with it we neede not doubt but the Proposition will hold semper and Adsemper for when are we not doing speaking or thinking and which of these can be perfect without Meditation And how then should not our life be a perpetuall Meditation and why may it not be said that we should Meditate on Gods Law Day and Night Sure I am Deut. 6. that Moses speakes thus vnto Israel These words which I command thee this Day shall bee in thy heart and thou shalt teach them diligently vnto thy Children and shalt talke of them when thou sittest in thy house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou liest downe and when thou risest vp and thou shalt binde them for a signe vpon thine hand and they shall be as Frontlets betweene thine eyes and thou shalt write them vpon the posts of thine House and on thy Gates And the Apostle 1. Cor. 10. Whether yee eate or drinke or whatsoeuer yee doe doe all to the glorie of God The enuious man will alwayes bee sowing Tares therefore we must neuer sleepe the enemie will bee alwayes giuing an assault therefore we must alwayes stand vpon our gard No man putting his hand to the Plow and looking backe is fit for the Kingdome of God Luke 9 Secondly as we must Meditate vpon the Law so we must Delight in it Day and Night This circumstance of time must not be restrained onely vnto Meditation but enlarged also vnto Delight neither must it onely belong to our Dedication but to our Abrenuntiation also For Meditation when it goeth so far as to season the Affections with that which is knowne as I expounded it presupposeth Delight in the will and the Dedication presupposeth the Abrenunciation it is impossible the later should subsist without the former therefore as long as wee are bound to obserue this last wee must continue all the rest which must needes goe before it Whereupon it followes that except this Text be vnderstood of our Sauiour Iesus Christ who onely hath performed this Vow which is vndertaken by vs it rather shewes vs what we should then what wee can doe and sets vs vp a marke whereat all our endeauours must bee ayming in this world in hope that we shall hit it in the world to come I conclulde The summe of the Christian mans Vow is Psal 37.27 We must Decline from euill and doe good from all euill must we decline whereunto we are prone by nature and we must doe all good which is recommended vnto vs in Gods Law That must rellish pleasantly vnto vs and therein must we continually exercise our selues our inward our outward man fully constantly fare we well or fare we ill PSAL. 1. VERS 2. Blessed is the man THis Psalme containes the Couenant betweene God and Man so that we are therein to obserue the Parties to the Couenant and Articles whereon they are agreed the Parties are God and Man the Articles man vowes his Duetie God promiseth a Reward of the first Partie and his Article I haue alreadie spoken It followes that I now come on to the second Partie and his Article The second Partie is God God is a partie to a Couenant with man A Mercie to be wondred at for God is a Creator man his creature therefore God may require whatsoeuer man can doe a man is bound to doe it were there no other inducement but this that hee is Gods creature for he cannot owe his being but hee must with all owe his seruice and to whom he oweth the one to him hee oweth the other also And yet see how gracious God is vnto man hee will not haue man serue him for nought This is signified in that he vouchsafeth to enter into a Couenant If a man haue a bond-seruant and make him his Farmer the Law saith of bond he makes him free and inables him as well to implead his Master as to be impleaded by him And doth not God in a maner doe vs the like fauour when hee doth contract to giue a Reward vnto our seruice whereby he becomes bound to performe and we may bee bold to challenge it It were honour enough done vnto our Nature if onely it were vouchsafed some neere attendance vnto God and it caries with it a great Reward to haue our person so imployed how much more honour then is done vnto vs when God not onely yeelds that but a much higher aduancement also for that It is a question whether a man may serue God for a Reward The nature of a Couenant doth cleare this doubt For seeing God puts on the person
Peccatum if they meane Vitium morale as they must needs in this Argument grant what they deny though they would shift it by acknowledging nothing to bee sinne but that which hath a concurrencie of our will which is too scant a Desinition if it be admitted will excuse not only habituall corruption but our Ignorances also and Omissions from being sinne But enough of this poynt A second thing that is to be obserued in the name giuen to this Corruption is that it is called Sinne in the singular number And indeed that which is Originall is but One euen the first One that was committed by Adam only that and the euill of that is propagated to Posteritie The difference betweene the Couenant of the Creation and the Euangelicall Couenant stands in this that without any imitation of ours or sinning after the example of Adam wee are guiltie of his first transgression and the consequents thereof fall vpon vs whereas hee communicates no other of his sinnes and all other successiue Parents vntill the time of our birth communicate no sinnes of theirs but such as we imitate and make our owne by imitation and in this sense must we vnderstand the 18. of Ezekiel where it is said Vers 20. that the Children shall not beare the iniquitie of their Fathers the second Commandement must haue the same interpretation Although we may not deny that temporally God doth visit the sinnes of the fathers vpon the children to the terror and example of others whom Magistrates in their Politicke Lawes imitate herein for the good of their State Therefore that extension of punishment must be vnderstood Non absolutè but Secundum quid not of Originall but of Actuall sinnes and those not propagated but imitated The Sinne then is but One but yet that One is such a One as is Vniuersall and Seminall Vniuersall if you looke to the Act which Adam committed for it was an Vniuersall Apostasie and the Diuines which looke curiously into it doe finde in it all kinde of sinnes both of the first and of the second Table But time will not suffer me to particularize As it is Vniuersall in regard of Adams Act so in regard of the corrupt Habit that followed thereupon and is an expresse image thereof it is Seminall it containeth the Seede of all kinds of Sinne so that there is no kind of Sinne whereunto the nature of man is not prone Saint Iohn reduceth all that is in the world to three Heads 1. 1. Ep. 2.6 The lust of the flesh 2. the lust of the eyes 3. the pride of life that is Couetousnes Voluptuousnes and Hautinesse and who is there in whom this seede is not found and from whom doth it not fructisie more or lesse as men haue more or lesse of the grace of God Saint Paul speaketh significantly when he sayeth that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sinning sinne Rom. 7.13 and that operatur omnem concupiscentiam it worketh all kind of lusts in man Rom. 7.8 and the Septuagint whom the Vulgar imitates may happily meane the compound nature of this sinne when it rendreth the word in the plurall number which the Originall hath in the singular These properties must be obserued because by them we may stop the mouthes of all profane persons that extenuate the greiuousnesse of Originall Sinne. As that which hath befallen our nature by Adams Fall may iustly bee called Sinne so is this Sinne fitly called Natiue or Originall for as the text teacheth Man is shapen therein and therein doth his Mother conceiue Him it is such a sinne as wee deriue from our Parents But our Parents are of two sorts earthly and heauenly wee haue our being principally from God so saith Iob vnto him thy hands haue made mee Iob. 10. vers 10. c. and fashioned me together round about thou hast powred me out as milke crudled me like Cheese thou hast cloathed me with skin and flesh and fenced me with benes and sinewes thou hast granted me life c. Vers 15. Vers 3. 1. Ep. Ioh. 2.16 Gen. 1.31 Iam. 1. Feelesias 15.10.11 c. Ecclesias 25.24 Rom. 5.12 DAVID obserues the very same Psal 139. and Psal 127. Lo saith hee children are an Heritage of the Lord and the fruâ—â— of the wombe is his reward But Concupiscence is not of that father for All that he made was good and only Euery good and perfect guift commeth from him Therefore must we fetch this from other Parents our Parents that are below from the wombe that bare vs and the paps that gaue vs sucke The Mother is here named and indeed from the woman was the beginning of sinne and in her we all die but not in her only for the Apostle tells vs that By one Man sinne came into the world and that Man was Adam Philosophie teacheth that in generation the man is Principium Actiuum he is the principall cause of our Being and therefore of our being Corrupted And indeed the woman could not conceiue which is a passiue action except a man did infuse the seede therefore is he implied in this Text though he be not exprest And as wee receitie from both our Parents our being so doe wee our being Corrupt Serm. de Excell Eatust Apolog. Dauid c. 11. What Saint Bernard sayd of Adam and Eue is true Prius peremptores quà m parentes they had first murdered before they ingendered their Children and what of successiue generations Ambrose Ante vsuram lucis originis excipimus iniuriam et antequam nascimur maculamur contagio our parents beget Children after their owne Image Ephe. 2.3 dead in sinne and by nature children of wrath And how can it bee otherwise 1. Pet. 1.23 Iohn 3.6 the seed whereof wee are made is Corruptible seede so that that which is borne of flesh must needs bee flesh neither can any man draw that which is cleane Ioh 14.4 〈…〉 8. Psal 58.3 out of a nature which is vncleane Therefore seeing old Adam is propagated in all All must bee called transgessors from their youth But there is a curious Question how this Sinne is conueyed from the Parents to the Child from the dayes of Pelagius it hath much troubled the Church argued by the Fathers by the schoolemen by the Reformed Diuines yet so as that the most iudicious haue beene most sober and least aduenturous to define the manner I will not trouble you with that altercation Saint Austine hath said enough for the Pulpit in those few words The propagation is continued iusto but occulto Dei indicio God in so punishing hath done no more then he threatned in the Couenant although how he doth execute this Iudgement hee is not pleased to reueale but leaueth men rather to adore such secrets then to prie too farre into them Especially if their curiositie proue so vaine as to denie that which is euident because they cannot finde out that which is hidden as Hereticks haue
our nature and so farre as it doth diminish it of something maketh it nothing for nothing can truly be sayd to be farther then it is partaker of God of the being which he giueth vnto it who only can say I am that I am Besides the Truth that is opposed to Vanity there is another which is opposed to Hypocrisie and that is the correspondency of our outward actions to our inward affections for as our outward affections must haue their stamp from God so must they endeauour to print their true stampe vpon our Actions for as the seede that is sowne in the ground beareth the like seede aboue ground and the fruit is not vnlike the Tree no more should it be in our moralities wee should not sustayne one person in our bosome and another in our countenance bee painted sepulchers full of dead mens bones we should be Iacobs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plaine men Nathaniels without all guile Mat. 23.17 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Basil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Chrysostome the character of an honest man is to be single minded Gen. 25.27 single tongued he that hath a heart and a heart a tongue and a tongue hath not truth in his inward parts This being the nature of Sincerity if wee will try the world by it I thinke we may iustly breake out in to King Dauids complaint in another Psalme Helpe Lord there is not a godly man left Veraces defecêrunt a filijs hominum truth is perished from among the sons of men the periuries which are frequent at Assizes and Sessions Psal 12.1 the deceit of Citizens which haue denominated deceit it selfe for from them is astutia deriued quia nihil lucrantur nisi admodùm mentiuntur whose thrift is fitly called craft because did they not circumueÌ„r they would come short of much of their wealth As for Statesmen all Chronicles do witnesse that they vse the Foxes case more frequently then the Lions skin and Policie is one of the words that is degenerated from a laudable to an infamous signification and is become a Synonymon for Machiauelisme This is the cause that Leagues and Contracts though confirmed with neuer so religious bonds are rather snares whereby one State seeketh to intrap another then pledges of their mutuall security But the quintessence of all falshood is the Popish Aequiuocation and Mentall Reseruation then which the Diuell neuer hatched a more pestilent fraud to bane Societies and desame Christian Religion The reason of all these obliquities and aberrations from Truth is for that euery man squareth vnto himselfe a measure of his owne but that measure of Sincerity which here God hath squared out is euery where neglected The Papist hee maketh the Catholique cause his measure the Politician his Greatnesse the Citizen his wealth the Iurour the preseruing of his Customes or pleasuring his friends these and some such like to these cautions and conditions doth the world patch vnto Truth without which they will not entertayne it The way to reforme all is to trie our Sincerity by the rule here set down by truth in the inward parts first that Truth that is opposed vnto Vanitie for hereby must wee correct our inward affections reduce them to the temper which God first gaue them and keepe them within the bounds which Gods Law doth set vnto them and when we haue done this then must we come on to the Truth that is opposed to Hypocrisâ—y let our conuersation be the looking glasse of our affections and let not any thing appeare in the Outward man that is not in the inward so shall wee be sincere wee shall haue truth in our inward parts And let this suffice for the nature of Sincerity Such Sincerity is of great regard that appeareth first in the Affection wherewith it is entertained The Affection is Desire and Desire is a compound affection of Louing and wishing for wee cannot desire that which we doe not loue and what wee loue if wee want it for that wee wish so that Sincerity is a louely thing And indeed how can it choose but be louelie that holdeth together all Societies Domesticall Politicke Ecclesiasticall without which iealousies must needs arise and so destruction follow euery man commits himselfe securely to him in whom he suspecteth no guile as where he doth suspect it hee thinketh himselfe safest when he hath least to doe Secondly as it is louely where it is so where it is not there it is longed for for man being by nature sociable cannot but wish for that qualitie in euery man without which there can be no society therefore those whom otherwise wee hate because wee cannot but haue to doe with them wee wish them all this Vertue Truth in the inward parts which should make all sorts of persons carefull to nurture those that are committed to their charge Parents their Children Masters their Seruants Pastors their People Magistrates their Subiects in this Vertue and sharpely to correct their pronenesse to the contrary the World groaneth vnder the mischiefes of falshood yet as if it yeelded no mischiefe euery where may you find a Schoole thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euery such master breedeth such a scholar as maketh him a proofe that he hath profited in his Art But the Affection only doth not shew the regard it is improued much by the Person in whom this Affection is found I shewed you that Sincerity is louely and longed for but it skilleth much who the Person is that loueth it and longeth for it for our nature is corrupt and with our nature our affections wee mistake euill for good and we misplace our affections often vpon euill rather then good It is not so with God as hee is so he affecteth he is most Holy and such are his Desires also what he loueth is louely indeed because he cannot loue amisse and what he longeth for that we want because if we did not want it he could not long for it And indeed he must needs loue Sincerity because it is the Image of himselfe for he is Truth and there is nothing counterfeit either in him or from him yea his Truth is the ground of all our Faith our Hope our Charity were it not for that these could haue no ground Faith could haue no ground without his Truth in promising Hope could haue no ground without his Truth in performing Charity could haue no ground without his Truth in louing Therefore there is Truth in him and who what is in Him he loueth in others for euery thing delights in his like when God had made all things and beheld that they were good he presently kept a Sabaoth which importeth nothing else but the sweet content that he tooke in the worke of his owne hands If in all things specially in those that did best resemble him and he is resembled in nothing more then in diuine vertue so that Sincerity must needs bee exceeding louely in his Holy Eyes As it is louely so it
18.14 and it is worth you reading that you may clearely see the truth of that saying of Salomon A wounded spirit who can beare What body can choose but languish that is possest by a languishing Soule A man cannot be so wounded in the Inward man but you may read it plainely in the Outward The Fathers doe Allegorize the Phrase and by the Bones vnderstand Vertues Vertues that are to the Soule as Bones to the body for a man as hee is a reasonable creature doth subsist in them euen as the body is borne vp by the bones as it is a liuing creature the Cardinall vertues the Theologicall are our supporters those as we are men these as wee are Christian men The conscience of Sinne shiuers these figuratiue Bones also for looke vpon a man distressed by a guiltie conscience what Prudence in him that can giue no good counsell to himselfe And as for Iustice he cannot haue that for he is vnsociable his Temperance is to starue himselfe and his Fortitude to sinke vnder his griefe there is not a Cardinall vertue that hath place in him as a Man and as a Christian man Theologicall vertues haue as little place hee maketh no vse of his Faith to sustaine himselfe with the promises of God his Hope is heartlesse for he forecasts onely fearefull things and little sense hath he either of Gods loue to him or his loue to God Not one of these Bones continueth sound all of them sinke and are crusht vnder the burthen of sinne A pitifull case and yet such is the case of euery one that secleth the worme of Conscience of euery one that is stricken with the sting of that Serpent But whence hath sin this power who giueth this wounding strength to sinne Surely God the Text saith so Tufregisti thou hast broken my bones Vose 2. and so in the 38. Psalme Thy arrowes sticke fast in me thy hand presseth me sore It is true that God vseth meanes our Conscience within vs and Satan without vs to afflict vs for sinne but both worke vpon his command and according to the measure which he prescribes touching Conscience 〈◊〉 â— Saint Austins Rule is very true Iussisti Domine factum est vt omnis anima inordinata sibi ipsi esset paena God to hold vs in from sinne hath placed in vs a Conscience whose office amongst other things is this to torture vs for sinne and as for Satan we see in Iob that hee is but Gods Executioner and stirreth not but when and as farre as hee hath leaue leaue giuen vnto him of God but whether it be Conscience or Satan that which they harrow vs with is the arraigning of vs before Gods Tribunall setting him forth in the dreadfull Maiestie of a Iudge and amplifying our vilenesse that cannot denie the Indictment that is brought against vs These be the Engines wherewith they set vpon vs this is the painefull racke wherewith they torture vs. And no wonder if such a spectacle distresse them who are guiltie of some enâ—rmous sinne that hath distressed the most Religious seruants of God Cap. 6. v. 1. â— Esay saw God sitting vpon his Throne of iudgement high and lifted vp his traine filled the Temple c. Then said he Woe is me for I am vndone because I am a man of vncleane lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of vncleane lips for mine eyes haue seene the King the Lord of Hosts Habakkuk had the like vision and what saith he When I heard Cap. 3.16 my belly trembled my lips quincred at the voice rottennesse entred into my bones Cap. 10. Daniel that is called Vir desideriorum when a Vision was presented vnto him being in the companie of others obserueth that a great quaking fell vpon them and they fled to hide themselues as for himselfe hee saith that his comelinesse was turned in him into corruption and that he had no strength in himselfe Moses that had his prerogatiue to talke with God face to face yet when God appeared in his Maiestie to deliuer the Law when he beheld the flaming fire heard the sound of the Trumpet and felt the Earth trembling vnder him Saint Paul hath obserued Heb. 12. That he said I exceedingly feare and quake But what doe I instance in these Our Sauiour Christ who knew no sinne but yet put on such affections as belong to a sinner when our sinne was imputed vnto him presenting himselfe in the Garden before God and apprehending his Maiestie armed with vengeance to repay the sinnes of the world how was he afflicted into what an Agonie was hee cast The Gospell doth tell vs that hee sweate great drops of bloud If the Prophets if Moses which were not priuie to themselues of any enormous sinne if Christ himselfe that was free from all sinne was so affected and distressed at the sight of Gods iudgements if their Bones were so broken how shall they be ground into pouder that come before him laden with enormous with crying sinnes 1. Pet. 4.18 If the righteous scarcely be saued where shall the vngodly and sinner appeare Surely when God with rebukes doth correct such men for their iniquitie hee shall make their beautie to consume away like a Moth Psal 39.11 Psal 90.6 Psal 68.2 they shall be like the withered grasse when he consumes them in his anger As smoake is driuen away before the Wind and as Waxe melteth before the fire so shall the wicked perish at the presence of the Lord. And thus much of the punishing power of sinne what it is whence wherein you may behold two things most liuely set forth before vs the true nature of griefe and the cause that it hath such a nature The Philosophers teach that Dolor is solutio continui the renting in sunder of that whose content stands in vnion and the breaking of bones what is it but a rent the soule denyeth succour to the body the parts of the body each denieth his seruice to the other yea the powers of the soule grow strangers betweene themselues and vertue it selfe is bereft of vertue he cannot want woe thathath such a distraction in his little common-weale Griefe there is then Aug. de verâ Relig. and that hath a cause Saint Austin shall tell you what it is fluendo deserit amatoreÌ„ suum corpus quia ille hoc amando deseruit Deum your bones are broken and you are payned therewith will you know why the body breaketh with the soule because the soule first brake with God if your soule doe rend it selfe from God by sinne it shall find litle rest in that house of clay whereon it doteth this will make hast to returne to dust when our better part giueth it selfe ouer vnto vanity And let this suffice touching the disease Let vs now come on vnto the Cure That is exprest in two words Ioy and Gladnesse although the words may note one the selfesame thing yet may we
is to be found in another Plaâ—◠〈…〉 pâ—sin Therfore the Mythologists haue wittily conceited that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is plentie penury were the parents of loue because these two mutually affect the one the other and Loue is nothing else but that strong attracting and full contenting power which bringeth them and holdeth them together The Hebrew Ahabh and Habha and the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 import as much if you will giue credit to the Etymologists But to open the nature of it a little better Charitie hath in it the power of Vnion and Communion Vnion of Persons Communion of their Abilities Vnion of persons mutuall Austin deordâ—â—li 2. ca. 18 for amicitia non est si vel vnus tantum sit vel vnus tantum amat Now vnion requires 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ratione intellectus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ratione voluntatis â—regor Mag. â— 2. p. 1582. 1583. Therefore vnion is only betweene those that are good for onely good men are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they can tune well together so cannot the wicked they are like discords in Musicke though they ioyne their tunes there will bee but a iarre in the sound If you put gold to gold they will agree well and hold fast together but mingle Iron and Clay you may read in Daniels Image they will presently fail asunder And indeede how should wicked men euer entertaine vnion with others They hold not long like themselues but change like the Moone and therefore they are vnfit for Vnion Vnion requireth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a correspondencie in disposition and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a familiaritie in conuersation But this is to be found onely in vertue vertues are all agreeing betweene themselues so are not vices and therefore vertuous men of all sorts can consort together not so the wicked they cannot long continue societie A momentanie conspiracie there may be but a louing vnion there can neuer be such a vnion as should make seuer all Persons to become as one and transforme the louing into the beloned person and so â—oyne the Soule of one to the other that it seemeth not to be vbi animat sed vbi amat it liueth as it were it enioyeth it selfe not in the body wherein it breathes but in that person whom it loues according to the definition of Loue est passio animi qua erga aliquem ita afficimur vt nostri obliti toti in eum eiusque obsequium feramur Vpon this first act of Charitie which I called Vnion followeth a second act which is called Communion what the persons haue that they communicate each communicateth with the other all that it hath There are three kinds of Good as the Philosophers call them first Honeslum secondly Vtile Thirdly Iucundum and they teach vs tot genera amorum as they doe bonorum But Christians are to know that their Charity must be full it must containe a Communion in all kinds of good and obserue in them a due order First the Communion must be in bono honesto in vertue and vertuous actions for therein is the sure foundation of Charity and without that there can bee none non est bonitas vnioms nisi sit vnio bonitatis Vpon this first communion followeth a second and that is in bono iucundo for each Person taketh content in the other and they striue mutually to make each the others life sweet and comfortable Vpon these two followeth a third Communion and that is in bono vtili each doth communicate in the wealth of the other and each supplyeth the others wants You haue an excellent patterne of this Charity in the Acts of the Apostles both in regard of the Vnion and Communion read it Chap. 2. from the 41. verse vnto the end thereof And obserue the threefold Communion betweene those Christians that were first vnited into the body of the Church But worldlings communicate some onely for thrift as tradesmen some onely for pleasure as good fellowes and these Communions attend not any Communion in honestie and therefore come not within the compasse of our Communion neither will they hold long because of naturall hatred take away the necessary outward tye and it will appeare But to open the Communion a little farther wee may resolue it as Philosophie doth in Beneuolentiam Beneficentiam Good-will and Good-deeds The persons doe repay each the other hearty Affections Whereupon followeth a sympathie a fellow feeling that each hath of the others state 1. Cor. 12. which S. Paul doth excellently amplifie the effect of it is in the 26. Verse Whether one member suffer all the rest of the members suffer with it or if one member bee honoured all the other members reioyce with it Men that are in Charitie beare one anothers burdens and partake each of the others comforts and that as feelingly as if anothers were their owne case And this is the beneuolence of the Communion Secondly there is in the Communion Beneficence or Good-deeds each doth not seeke his owne De sect Philo. Tom. 3. but anothers good and where there is Charitie Meum Tuum are verba frigtda as Saint Chrysostome speakâ—th they melt at the heat thereof Men haue all things in common and no man thinketh ought to bee his owne his owne quoad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in regard of the vse though it continue his quoad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in regard of the propertie For it is an Anabaptisticall dreame to make a perpetuall Rule of that which was but temporarie for some part of the Apostles dayes and to turne an extraordinary case into an ordinary But good will is cherished by mutuall good offices in society And the good offices doe consist in 2. things principally in donando condonando giuing and forgiuing In giuing louing Christians striue euer beyond their ability as Saint Paul speaketh of the Macedonians And the reason is plaine 2. Cor. 8. nonest vectigalis amicitia they do not merchandize their good deeds but prouoke each the other to emulation And as for Forgiuing Salomons Rule is true Charitie couereth a multitude of sinnes Prouorb 10.10 and will forgiue not onely seauen times but seauenty times seauen In other things a meane is commended but in regard of Charitie hee is most commended that doth least keepe a meane a meane in good will or a meane in good deeds the more of either the more perfect is the Charitie for the haruest of Charitie holds all the yeare long and it is a treasure that can neuer bee exhausted cum soluitur non amittitur sed multiplicatur Will you haue a true description of the Properties thereof read 1. Cor. 13. Will you haue a true exemplification of it read the Song of Salomon Of these two Vnion and Communion the latter is the fuell of the former and by Communion the Vnion is continued alitur ijs rebus quibus gaudet Whereupon it followeth that there is
speaketh properly to them that are vnder the Law and so Thou an Israelite and teacheth vs which are the Israel of God In this word Christ taxeth the Pharisees glosse who straightened the extent of neighbourhood Matth. 5. as appeared by the Addition they made to the Law Thou shalt loue thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemies they confined neighbourhood to their owne sect at least to their owne Nation And wee see at this day the Iewes mention not Christians without reproch no more then Papists doe Protestants But a Christian must know that in Iesus Christ there is neither Iew nor Gentile Coloss 3.11 Grecian nor Barbarian male nor female bond nor free Saint Austin hath a conuicting reason De Doctrina Christiana c. 30. which is that otherwise there would bee some persons with whom we might commit adulterie whose goods wee might steale whose bodies we might murder without any sinne against them which is absurde The case of the Canaanite was extraordinarie Austin tract in Iohannis cap. 15. we may not match our affections with Gods precepts as if they were alike lawfull Wherefore let vs beare fruit answerable to the seed which God hath sowen in our hearts and though our nature bee prone to satanisme and hatred for this charitie is a straine aboue nature and knowne only to those of the Church yet let vs mortifie it and subdue it to the Law of God Let vs not define whom we must loue other wise then we are taught of God let vs not thinke we loue as many as we should if we exclude any from our loue for our loue must be the fulfilling of the Law therefore it is impossible for vs in regard of any man whatsoeuer to performe the Law which bindeth vs to him without Loue. NOw therefore the God of Loue season all our hearts so with Loue that Hatred being cleane rooted out we may all be of one minde of one heart and out of the sweet sense and comfort hereof we may all say and sing Ecce quam bonum Behold how good and ioyfull a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in vnitie The sixth Sermon MATT. 22. VERSE 37 38 39. Thou shalt Loue the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soule and with all thy Mind This is the first and great Commandement And the second is like vnto it Thou shalt Loue thy neighbour as thy selfe THe last point which I opened vpon this Text taught vs vpon whom we must bestow our Charitie we learned that we must bestow it vpon The Lord our God and our neighbour vpon these persons and vpon those things that haue reference vnto them must it bee bestowed Therefore though the Commandement seeme in nature to bee but one for it is onely Loue yet Christ breaketh it into two and these two vnequall As it must be bestowed on them so in bestowing it we must obserue an Order and a Measure both are plainely prescribed in the Text. The Order for here is a Frist and a Second commandement mencioned The Measure for here is mentioned the great commandement and a commandement that is onely like it We are willed to loue first The Lord our God secondly Our neighbour this is the Order And we are willed to loue the Lord our God with all our heart soule and mind c. and our neighbour as our selues this is the Measure Order then and Measue are to be obserued in the bestowing of our Charitie And indeed without Order and Measure no worke hath either Beautie or Perpetuitie looke vpon the frame of heauen and earth were not the parts thereof so well ordered had not each of them his limits it could neither be so goodly nor so lasting a Creature want of Order would blemish the goodlinesse and want of Measure would shorten the lastingnesse thereof Euen so is it in Charitie inuert the Order alter the Measure required therein by the Law wee doe foulely deforme it and all societie grounded thereon bee it heauenly or earthly will quickly bee disolued This time will not suffice for the opening of both wherefore I will now onely handle the Order and reserue the Measure for some other time Touching then the Order that is to be obserued in Charitie wee must know that it is twofold there is Ordo ad intra and ordo ad extra an order in the generation of it or the working of it into our soules and an order in the employment of it as we expresse it in our liues Of the first Order you heard when I opened vnto you the seate of Charitie and shewed you that it is either Primitiue or Deriuatiue it must begin at the Heart and from thence spread it selfe into the Soule the mind the strength With that Order we haue nothing to doe now my Text leadeth me to speake of the second Order the Order of employment the bestowing of it vpon others after we are seasoned with it our selues To come then to this Order to vnderstand it we must take this Rule Scire quid facere debeamus nescire ordinem faciendt perfecta scientia non est moralitie requireth that we not onely know what we ought to doe but also in what order otherwise the knowledge of our dutie is imperfect therefore imperfect because it will be indiscreete discretion being that which doth distinguish and digest the parts of De Cinit Dei lib 5 cap. 22. and points in our dutie So that take away Order vertue will presently degeâ—erate into vice especially if we admit that definition of Saint Austine short but true Vâ—rtus est ordo amoris vertue is nothing else but the well ordering of our Charitie Wherefore the Order of Gods precepts must not bee passed ouer vnregarded because therefore doth God keepe an order in commanding to intimate vnto vs what order we must keepe in our liuing Whatsoeuer is good may be beloued well or ill well if you obserue the order and if you neglect it then you loue it ill But let vs come closer to the Text. Here we find a first and a second Commandement It is doubted by some whether they are rightly so called seeing that which concerneth our Neighbour was first deliuered Leuit. 19. vers 18. and therefore deliuered on mount Sinai Leuit. 27.34 Comp. numb 10 ver 11 12 with Deâ—â—r 1 6 vide Deut. 2 1â— and that which concerneth the Lord our God was deliuered afterward Deutro 6. vers 50. and therefore deliuered in the land of Moab Deutr. 1.5 The distance of times wherein they were deliuered was thirtie eight yeeres But we must not insist vpon these words as referring to the times wherein Moses deliuered the Commandements but as expounding their sense as they are a Summe of the Decalogue and point out the principall duties prescribed therein Now because the Decalogue was engrauen in two Tables and the briefe of the first was our dutie toward God therefore is that called the first Commandement
and our duetie toward our neighbour being an abridgement of the second Table it is therefore called the second Commandement Where by the way you may take notice that those Iewes erre who breaking the ten Commandements into two fiues thinke there were siue grauen vpon either Table whereupon it would follow that the first Commandement which commandeth our dutie towards our neighbor was ioyned with those Commandements which enioyne our duetie toward God which cannot stand with this first and second of my Text. Hauing found in regard of what Scripture these Commandements are called First and Second Let vs now see how well the matter contained in them doth deserue these names And here we shall find that this Order is very naturall for as in their being so in being the obiects of our Loue these persons are to goe the one before the other God before our Neighbour God hath the first right vnto our Loue and then our Neighbour But let vs looke into the Commandements a sunder The loue of God is termed the first Commandement and it is two wayes first Ordine naturae dignitatis whether you looke to the originall of the Louelinesse or to the worthynes that is therein You cannot denie the Lord our God to bee the originall of louelinesse if you remember what I obserued vnto you on the name of Lord God and our Lord God not a branch of these obseruations which doth not strongly proue this primacie of Loue but I chuse rather to represent it vnto you by two or three familiar Similes The first is of Consanguinitie Brethren loue each the other but their Loue is not immediate it passeth vnto them by their Parents in whome they both meete and there groweth the roote of their loue take away that dependencie which they haue thereon and brotherly affection will presently wither Euen so it is betweene vs and our neighbour Loue we must and why Because we are sonnes of the same Father Malachi pointeth out this ground Haue we not all one father Chap 2. 〈◊〉 10 Wherefore doth any man wrong his brother You see here is a faire ground of Primacie There is as faire in our body wherein our members haue a fellow feeling each of the others case and they bestirre themselues for their mutuall comfort but whence commeth this but from the Head where is the fountaine of sense and motion The members haue no vertue for which they are not beholding to the Head The Church is a body whose Head is Christ and Christ is the fountaine of fellow-feeling whereof if he doe not communicate an influence we shall be absurd if we seeke it in the body yea we shall seeke it in vaine Take a third Simily of an House or a Temple these buildings hane a foundation whereupon the whole pile is reard the parts support the one the other but it is the foundation the corner stone that knitteth them that holdeth them all together you ruine the house if you loose the foundation And the Temple of God which we are or the Communion of Saints wherein we liue where shall wee find the sinnewey bands of it but in the Spirit of Christ wherof we all drinke which foundeth vs all on him I might amplifie this point by the title of Creator which belongeth vnto God which cannot bee acknowledged but it will enforce his right to the first fruites of our loue from whom our being taketh beginning In order of nature then it is cleare that our first loue belongs to God Now I will make it as cleare that in Order of worthinesse it belongeth to him also Loue is an affection of our Will our Will naturally is carried vnto good where then wee find apparently the preeminencie of good thither must the precedencie of our loue deseruedly bend now the preeminencie of Good is out of all question in God he is so good that Christ telleth vs there is none good but he Matth. 19.17 When I opened the name of the Lord our God I fell vpon this point and I said enough to cleare it wherefore I will now be the more briefe I will onely point out three grounds the least of which doth argue God to be worthy of our first loue if that which we loue be good First God is good ase he hath no other originall of his goodnesse but himselfe and this no other can bee but God Others as they haue their being so haue they their goodnesse from him Enerie good and euerie perfect gift commeth from him 〈◊〉 1.17 which is himselfe the Father of lights As God is good ase so hee is perse good by nature yea Goodnesse is his Nature In all Creatures Nature and Goodnesse I speake of morall goodnesse are two distinct things so that Goodnesse may bee separated from the nature and be recouered by it againe Angels by Creation had and lost it it was Adams case but hee recouered it againe both of them were like the Moone betweene whose brightnesse and Bodie there is no such vnion but that they may admit a separation as appeares in the Eclipse but Goodnesse and God are as Light and the Sunne one so essentiall to the other that they cannot bee seuered except they cease to bee A seeming Eclipse there is of the Sunne but that seemeth to vs which indeed is not euen so though God neuer cease to bee good yet may flesh and blood conceiue worse of him but it is onely a carnall conceipt Iam 1.17 for in Gods goodnesse there is no variablenesse nor shadow of change Thirdly God is good propterse he hath no end of his goodnesse without himselfe other things haue their goodnesse giuen them for a farther end their goodnesse is not onely for their perfection but for their vnion to some other to this they tend and are restlesse till they attaine this but Gods goodnesse is absolute it is its owne end and beside it selfe it needeth nothing as appeard before the Creation while it enioyed it selfe and it is no necessary but an arbitrary Graciousnes out of which God vouchsafeth to entertaine communion with his Creatures If then the most worthy good doe iustly challenge our first loue then certainly our first loue is vndenyable due vnto God whose Goodnesse hath this threefold preheminence whereupon it will follow that we are bound first to loue the Lord our God and the commandement that enioyneth this is for good reason called the first But though the first yet not the onely Victor Antiochenus hath a good note Primum eò magis vocat vt secundum quoque quod a primo diuelli non debet commodiùs inferri queat The Pharisee moued his question concerning the Great Commandement Christ telleth him there are more Great Commandements then one and therefore beginneth with the first that hee might the more fitly teach him the second a second inseparable from the first This second it did concerne the Pharisee to know for whatsoeuer his loue was to wards God it is
preserued by that Kings daughter and bred as if hee had beene her sonne There was a mysterie in it God typed out in his person the condition of his people whose deliuerer he was then designed to be Hee was vnexpectedly to set them free when in their owne eyes their case was most desperate Neither was his person only typicall his qualities also were heroicall Acts 7.22 first his Intellectuall skilfull in all the learning of the Egyptians to say nothing of his fortie yeares contemplation in Midian of which Philo Iudaeus there are foure morall vertues which they call Cardinall he had them all in a high degree Prudence God gaue him the spirit of Policie Numb 11. as it appeares by the storie of the seuentie Elders to whom God gaue part of his Spirit when they were made his assistants in the gouernment Iustice the apologie which he maketh vpon the rebellion of Korah Dathan and Abiram witnesseth that I haue not taken one Asse from them Numb 10. neither haue I hurt one of them the Holy Ghost giueth him this testimonie Heb 3.2 that hee was faithfull in all Gods house Temperance how little was hee transported with the loue of profit Heb. 11. or pleasure that thought the rebuke of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Egypt and chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enioy the pleasure of sinne for a season Fortitude no man can doubt of that who considereth that being a single man in shew a meane man hee should aduenture to goe to so mightie a King in so vnpleasing an errand not fearing the Kings wrath when hee had exasperated him nor desisting from vrging what hee had in charge though hee were threatned by him certainly God that sent him on that message indued him with an extraordinarie courage Besides these Morall he was renowmed for his Theologicall vertues his Faith and his Hope Saint Paul hath chronicled Heb. 11. and ranged him with the most famous Worthies And in Charitie hee did exceed them all hee is not only commended for the meekest man that liued Numb 12 3. but so indulgent were his bowels towards his vngracious charge that hee desired rather to be blotted out of Gods Booke of Life Exod 32 v. 3â— then they should be punisht as they deserued Finally no Nationall Gouernour of the Israelites besides Moses did euer communicate as a type in the threefold honour of Christ Moses was a Prophet Deut. 34. and there neuer liued such a Prophet as Moses was for his Bookes containe the foundation of all prophesie therefore doe the Fathers call him Oceanum Theologiae the great Sea of Diuinitie He was a Priest yea Sacerdos Sacerdotum Nazian hee did not only act the function but also consecrated Aaron and his sonnes therevnto Finally hee was a King a mightie King not only ruling the twelue Tribes but also conquering their enemies the Amalekites the Midianites the Ammonites the Bashanites but aboue all the Egyptians and also he sacred his successor Iosuah giuing him part of his glorie I haue insisted the longer in this delineation of Moses perfections to the end that you might perceiue that though God Almightie can compasse his will by the weakest of meanes yet he vseth to endow men proportionably to that wherein he meaneth to employ them he doth performe waightie workes by worthy men such a one was Abraham the Father of faithfull men Dauid the Father of faithfull Kings and our Moses called to be the Law giuer of Israel This Person so eminent a person went betweene the parties to the Couenant The Parties are two each called by two names The first is called the Lord God Lord that is the name of his nature Iehouah hee is of none and all things are of him God that is the name of the persons subsisting in the nature or in whom the nature doth subsist Elohim signifieth all three so that we haue here Trinitie in Vnitie and Vnitie in Trinitie euen the true God and such a one is he that is the first partie to the Couenant Neither is it enough to conceiue of God in grosse wee must so as it were resolue him We must behold God the Father that becommeth our Father God the Sonne that maketh vs sonnes and God the Holy Ghost that vouchsafeth vs to be his Temple all three persons act their part in the Couenant Notwithstanding all three concurre yet must wee take speciall notice of the second Person Verbum Dei as the Chalde Paraphrase calleth him here Esay 63 v 9. Mal 31. Acts 7. and throughout this Chapter The Angell of Gods presence the Angell of the Couenant that is Christ he was the Angell that conuersed with Israel in the Wildernesse And indeed it was hee that in this Couenant became the Bridegroome of the Church for the day of the Couenant was a wedding day as anon I shall shew you more at large The true knowledge of this first partie maketh much to the Dignitie the Commoditie the Constancie of the Couenant Dignitie for with whom can wee contract more honourably then with our Lord God The higher he is aboue vs the more honour in the contract is done vnto vs. And this Partie maketh the Contract as Profitable as it is honorable 〈◊〉 2. Ezâ—k 16. not only because he can doe vs good that is the Lord God but also because he will doe it because his contract maketh vp a marriage knot Finally a Couenant made with such a partie is a Couenant of salt Iames 1.17 an vncorruptible Couenant there is no variablenesse nor shadow of change with him and therefore in regard of him we need not feare any diuorce The second Partie is also set forth by two names the house of Iacob the children of Israel which yeild vs a Ciuill and a Mysticall Obseruation The Ciuill is in the first name therefore are they called the house of Iacob because they were his ofspring Reade Genesis the tenth and you shall finde that all Nations in the beginning of the World did this honour to their first Ancestours they were called by their name after this patterne were the Edomites Moabites Ammonites Ismaelites distinguished by the stocke from whence euery one sprang Conquests and Colonies haue long since altered this fashion neither can wee now tell the true originall of any Nation vnder the Sunne except that of the vagrant Iewes who by Gods special prouidence remaine yet vnconfounded with other Nations The mysticall obseruation is in the second name the same people are also called children of Israel Israel was a second name giuen to Iacob signifying that hee had preuailed with God and his Enemies should not preuaile against him Now because that blessing was to be not only Personall but Nationall his posteritie communicated in his second name and Iacob confirmed it vnto them in the benediction which he gaue to the twelue Patriarches In these two names then we are
that is consorts with Angels and wee were by times or by turnes to intend no lesse our Heauenly then our worldly vocation the things of a better no lesse then the things of this present life To take off our thoughts and desires our care and endeuour from this world and bestow them vpon the world to come from the earth place them vpon heauen is that that which the holy Ghost meaneth by Sanctifying of our persons And verily before the Fall no more was required thereunto then such a change of our employment but after the Fall more is made necessarie for sin cleaueth vnto our nature we are conceiued and borne therein Psal 51. Not only those that are without the Church whom Saint Paul describeth Rom. 1. but also those that are within the Church whom hee describeth in the third of that Epistle And this sinne doth defile vs read Esay the first Chapter and Ezech. 16 there you shall see how lothsome how vgly we are by reason of our sinne Esay 64. v. 6. All our righteousnesse as the Prophet speaketh is like a menstruous cloth Neither doth sinne only defile vs but by vs it defileth all other creatures Concupiscence is a contagious thing Contactu omnia foedo inquinat what it toucheth it staineth Titus 15. Vnto the impure saith the Apostle nothing is pure nothing is pure to a sinfull man because his mind and conscience is defiled So that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are synonyma Acts 10. the common thing or things vnseparated the things of this life that are not hallowed are all impure Wherefore to sanctifie now is not only to change our imployment but also to clense our selues from sinne and before we doe dedicate our selues vnto God wee must remoue not only our imployment from the world but also our corruption from our persons Corruption not only that which is inherent in vs but also that which by our meanes is adherent vnto our goods and to other creatures whereof we make any offering to God This which in grosse I haue said concerning Sanctification is distinctly taught in the rest of my text and the rest of my text is a faire Commentarie vpon this word for therein you shall see first the separation of sinne from them in the washing of their Garments Secondly the seperation of their employment from the world in not comming to their Wiues and last of all that which is the vp-shot of all their preparation to meete God Let vs looke into these points orderly First into the ceremoniall obseruance The Israelites were to wash their clothes God fitted his Law in the old Testament vnto the nonage of his Church so the time before Christs Incarnation is called by the Apostle Gal. 4. 1 Cor. 10. and all things came to his people in types and figures much of their Law was ceremonial But those ceremonies of Gods institution were as the fathers call them Sacramenta they were mysticall things they had an out-side and an in-side an out-side corporall an in-side spirituall wherein they differed from Heathenish and Pharisaicall ceremonies for example to instance in the ceremonie which we haue in hand The Heathen the Pharises had their washing Touching that of the Heathen we read in the prophane Authors and in the Gospell we read of that of the Pharises both of them had Lauacrum but not Mysterium the out-side but not the in-side of the washing their thoughts reached no farther then the Carnall worke ascribing to the Carnall worke a supernaturall power which the Poet taxeth in the Heathen Ah nimium faciles qui tristia Crimina coedis Tolli fluminea posse putatis aquâ And our Sauiour Christ taxeth it in the Pharisies who thought when they had washed their hands they were quit from their briberie Neither is the Romish sprinkling of Holy water much better whether wee looke to the consecration of it or the confidence that is put in it In the the consecration the Priest doth pray without a promise and as for the people they rest vpon Opus operatum the doing of a worke that hath no warrant and so trust in a lye Ceremonies of significancie the Church may institute but ceremonies of efficacie it cannot institute God onely who is the fountaine of grace can institute those Conduits by which hee will conuey them to vs. But to leaue these carnall ceremonies and come to the mysticall Saint Austin giueth this good rule to guide vs in vnderstanding them Epist 49. Quest vet Humana Consuetudo verbis Diuina potentia etiam rebus loquitur It is vsuall with men to expresse their meaning in words God hath moreouer another language sutable to his power hee speaketh by things by corporall things to let the Israelites vnderstand spirituall and their ceremonies were Symbola pietatis sensible Images as it were of their morall duetie But least we mistake we must obserue three differences betweene the cutside and inside of the ceremonies First the corporall part of it was to be considered not according vnto its owne nature but according to its reference not according to that which it was in it selfe but according vnto that whereunto it was ordained of God so Sacrifices were to be considered not as beasts or birds c. but as Types of Christ that was to die for the sinne of the world but the spirituall part of the ceremonie was to bee considered and esteemed according to its owne and absolute nature A second thing is that the Type containeth good or euill in regard onely of the Commandement which requireth the doing or the forbearing therof whereas otherwise the thing in it selfe is indifferent but the inward part of that ceremonie is commanded or forbidden because in its owne nature it is good or euill Thirdly man can onely performe the Corporall or outward part of the ceremonie the inward and spirituall can be done onely by the speciall grace of God and we may not ascribe vnto the Creature that which is in the power and gift onely of the Creatour These rules being considered in generall must also discreetly bee distinguished according to the maine parts of Religion which are two 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that wherein God doth exhibite ought vnto vs and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that wherein wee doe present some thing vnto God The ceremonie wherewith we haue now to doe is of the later sort for washing our clothes is a part of mans sernice which he doth to God-ward In all the Purifications of Moses Law washing of Clothes was alwayes one as you may find in the Booke of Leuiticus where those Lawes are set together and the Iewes from this precept gather the practice of baptizing them whom they receiue into their Couenant and Church Neither was this an Introductorie Law of Moses but a declaratorie for we read of it in the story of Iacob when he did purge his family Gene. 35. one of the ceremonies practised was the shifting of Garments which
last agreeth better with the old Translations the Septuagint and Chaldie and the most iudicious Diuines pitch vpon it and wee will follow them Though I will not rashly define whether the symbolicall presence of God left the Hill before it rested vpon the Tabernacle which almost was a twelue moneth after But this I note That positiue Precepts are not perpetuall when their end ceaseth the Law is at an end Yea and the vigour of it sensibly decayeth when the people become vnsit to vse it so that God doth not tire out their care and feare of danger but setteth them free in due time whom for a time hee doth restraine After God was departed that Hill was no more a Sanctuarie well might the Israelites beare a ciuill respect vnto it a religious they might not without impietie Which I note the rather because of the common superstition especially of Papists who continue a religious opinion and respect vnto the places which Christ frequented in the dayes of his flesh and the Apostles after him Canaan for example which they tearme the holy Land Whereas God hath long since as hee long before threatned prophaned that place neither may we expect any heauenly vertue from it but out of grosse superstition Yet will we not denie vnto all those monuments a due respect so that it be no more then ciuill But to our purpose The ceremoniall prohibition is ceased but the morall contained vnder it must neuer cease we must neuer cease with reuerence to come to Gods house Psal 5.8 and not forget in his feare to worship towards his holy Temple Moses bad the Israelites Take heed to themselues he discharged his dutie in commanding this modestie and the Israelites obeyed they did not passe their bounds nor came before they were summoned Verse 17. and therefore scaped the punishment a blessed concurrence both of Pastor and people And what can I say but bid vs Take heed to our selues Let vs take heed of the sinne here forbidden Let vs take heed of the punishment here threatned Let vs bee as readie to obey that I admonish not in vaine and we shall neuer vndergoe the punishment if we auoid the sinne And a better way to auoid it I cannot commend vnto you then that which was practised by King Dauid you haue it in the Psalme Lord mine heart is not haughtie Psal 131. nor mine eyes loftie neither doe I exercise my selfe in great matters or in things too high for mee surely I haue behaued and guieted my selfe as a child that is weaned of his mother my soule is euen as a weaned child Here I should end but I may not forget to bid you ioyne this Sermon with the former That taught you Puritie this Modestie It is not enough for a man that com◠〈◊〉 vnto God to be pure he must bee modest also wee are apt to presume vpon our Holinesse but modestie will keepe vs humble Modestie will teach vs that bee we neuer so pure in our owne eyes 〈◊〉 15.15 we are not so in Gods The Heanens are not cleane in his sight and Hee layeth folly to the Angels How much more to men who dwell in houses of clay and who drinke iniquitie like water Wherefore Let vs neuer thinke our selues more worthy then God thinketh vs yea let vs acknowledge our selues vnworthy of the least grace that God doth doe vnto vs so may our humble holinesse make vs more capable of Gods goodnesse heere and blessednes hereafter To God the Father God the Sonne c. The tenth Sermon EXODVS 19. VERS 16. 16. And it came to passe on the third day in the morning that there were thunders and lightnings and a thicke cloud c. to the end of the twentieth verse WHen God and the Israelites were prepared in such manner as at seuerall times I haue shewed you God to deliuer the Israelites to receiue the Law then they met together This their meeting is the onely point in this Chapter that remaineth vnhandled my purpose is God willing to dispatch it at this time that so hereafter I may come on to the next Chapter which containeth the principall matter of my arrant We are then first in this meeting to consider when and What it was When it was vpon the third day and that in the morning To know what it was we must see Pirst In what manner Secondly by what Mediatour The manner hath two remarkable things the Signification which God gaue of his readinesse to come and the Impression which that made vpon the Israelites The signification was full of dreadfull state for the haâ—bingers came before to prouide Gods place Thunder lightning the cloud the trumpet c. And these harbingers were very dreadfull some to the eye the slashes of lightning that brake out of the cloud the duskie flame that ascended from the whole Hill on fire some to the eare the claps of thunder and the loud sound of the trumpet As the harbingers were dreadfull so they made an answerable Impression in the Israelites the Impression was hopefull feare Feare the Israelites quaked in their Tents yea and Moses himselfe quaked vpon the way Neither will you wonder that the reasonable Creatures did quake at such a presence when you read in my text that the mountaine the senslesse mountaine became as it were sensible at this foretast of Gods accesse vnto it it trembled exceedingly Such was the feare But this feare was not without Hope for notwithstanding it they set out from their Tents and came onto their standing to the foote of the Hill the place where they were to attend Gods comming downe vpon the Mountaine and this they could not doe without some hope But in this interuiew we must take notice of the decorum or decencie obserued by the Israelites and the gracious benignitie exprest by God The decorum or decencie was this the Israelites came first to their place before God came to his And you know it is good manners when vnequall persons meete that the inferiour should waite for the comming of his superiour The benignitie was this no sooner did man make towards God but God vouchsafeth to meete man halfe wayes Out of both these will arise another note That except man ascend aboue himselfe and God descend below himselfe there can be no meeting of God and man These things we shall consider in the manner But this manner sufficeth not vnto the meeting except there be moreouer a Mediatour for persons so farre distant in nature as God and man cannot come together except some body come betweene And here we find Moses acting that person hee puts heart into the quaking Israelites and led them out of their Tents to the place where they were to attend God and he kept them in heart standing betweene God and them while the Articles of the Couenant were proclaiming I haue pointed at the particulars which I purpose God willing to handle at this time briefly and in their order God
Testament Whensoeuer God began a new reformation of his Church he did alwayes accompanie it with some new Ceremonie which serued to shew the beginning of that worke and to keepe it in remembrance When Adam fell God altered the Ceremonies whereunto he was vsed before the Fall namely the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and euill into Sacrifices that might prefigure the Redemption by Christ When the world degenerated againe and God renued this Couenant with Abraham hee instituted a new Ceremonie that of Circumcision When Abrahams posteritie degenerated God reformeth againe and to point out this new Reformation hee instituted the Tabernacle the Priesthood of Aaron And when this could not hold the Iewes in the truth of Religion God commeth to his last Reformation and that hath his Ceremonies also whereof the first was Baptisme Baptisme whereby men were admitted into the Church of Christ And this Baptisme was the easier entertained by this â—ultitude because the Prophets had foretold that when the Messias came he should poure forth cleane waters Ezâ—k 36 v 25. and cleanse the filthinesse of Israel with them Galatinus saith that the old Rabbins did vnderstand it of such a worke of the Messias But whatsoeuet is to bee thought of his iudgement who doth oftentimes make the most of the Rabbins sayings sure it is that the Prophets words doe sound that way reade Ezech. 36. Esay 44. Zacharie 13. where this point is enlarged and Baptisme foretold 〈◊〉 5 which also was prefigured in Naamans cleansing and in the curing vertue of the poole of Bethesdah In a word hearing that by this Ceremonie they might be admitted into the kingdome of the Messias they frequented it A dispute there is whither Saint Iohns Baptisme and Christs were all one Some difference is pretended out of the Fathers but they are mistaken as Zanchius hath well obserued in the Annotations vpon his Confessions Neither is it likely that the Baptisme of Christians should differ from the Baptisme of Christ although the efficacie of Saint Iohns Baptisme was not from his sprinkling of the water but from Christs giuing of the spirit The defect of these persons that came to be baptized was that they did affect Baptismum fluminis but not flaminis and this Saint Iohn apprehended and this made him to be quicke with them as he shewed himselfe to bee in the manner of his reproofe I come now to that wherein you may perceiue the spirit of Elias Notwithstanding their great number and faire shew whereof the one would haue terrified the other deceiued ordinarie men this Prophet of whom Christ saith Matth. 11.9 more then a Prophet reuealeth and declareth the bad case of these Iâ—wes as by the holy Spirit it was no doubt discouered vnto him for Christ elsewhere vseth the same phrase and that to the same persons And marke that he doth not only in generall preach repentance but he doth discreetly apply himselfe to the persons and tempereth his language as is fitting to them And so should wee doe for nothing is more absurd then vniformitie of language when wee haue to doe with different hearers But yet herein we must not be indulgent to our corrupt affections but the fire that kindleth our zeale must bee heauenly Wee must reproue those within the Church more sharpely then those without and the leaders more sharply then the followers those that are Hypocrites then plaine dealing men And it was fit that the Pharisees and Saduces that were so selfe-conceited and so domineered ouer the consciences of the common people should heare how little they did answere the opinion they had of themselues and the people should see there was no reason they should haue their skill in the Scriptures or holinesse of life in so great admiration The Saduces and Pharisees were at oddes betweene themselues but all agreed in this qualitie of Vipers And if they that pretend so fairely are so reproued how should they bee reproued that are openly prophane There are but two heads whereunto we reduce all euill Malum Culpae and Malum Poenae Sinne and the Wages thereof he sheweth that they were noâ— free from either First not a Malo Culpae not from Sinne for they were a generation of Vipers few words but they reach home and challenge these persons as being gone as farre as may bee in sinne For behold the three dimensions thereof the Intensiuenesse noted by the word Viper Secondly the Extensiuenesse noted by the word Generation and Thirdly the Protensiuenesse the generation of Vipers The word Viper sheweth that they were corrupt euery one in his owne nature and the word generation sheweth that the corruption had ouerspread whole multitudes for a generation is a multitude of persons that liue at the same time put Generation and Vipers together and that will import that the infection reached from Parents to children whereof the later were no better then the former It is a wofull thing if sinne be only personall and defile the nature of any one man but yet there is good hope that the righteousnesse of a multitude may slay Gods hand from proceeding against the personall sinne If of personall sinne become Nationall the case groweth much worse and yet some hope remayneth euen for a whole sinfull Nation if their Parents were not such for God doth oftentimes spare the children farre gone in sinne in remembrance of their Parents which had serued and feared him But when they also haue beene bad and sinne is become naturall to a Nation what hope none for sinne can goe no farther then of personall to become Nationall and of Nationall to become naturall So farre was sinne gone in these persons whom here Saint Iohn calls a generation of Vipers But to single the words a Viper is a beast the persons of whom Saint Iohn speaketh were men behold that vnto men hee giueth the name of beasts Man that was created after the Image of God was to better his estate and become like an Angell but by the Fall he made it worse and fell below himselfe to the condition of a beast Man being in honour saith the Psalmist hath no vnderstanding Psal 49. v 20. but becommeth like the beasts that perish Hence is it that the Scripture doth often giue him the name of a beast Basil in Hexameron Hom 8. 9. Tertull. contra Iudaeos cap 4. of a Lion of a Leopard of a Wolfe c. yea what beast is there whose name the Scripture doth not fit vnto man giuing vs to vnderstand that he is a compound beast compounded of all those ill qualities that are obserued in any beast so that no one beast bee it neuer so bad can bee matched vnto man seeing man can transforme himselfe into the sauagenesse of all be as cruell as any Lion as rauenous as any Wolfe as implacable as a Beare as craftie as a Fox as filthy as a Swine c. But of all beasts he is most compared vnto
to loose all those that will make vse of the flight amongst which these Iewes were none For who hath forewarned you saith Saint Iohn vnto them Before I come to the question I must a little describe the persons they were Sadduces and Pharisees There are but two extremities of Religion into which men run Superstition and Atheisme these fell the one that is the Pharisees into the one extremitie and the other that is the Saduces into the other extremitie Now sinnes are of two sorts some whose nature is in opposition to the flying from the wrath to come and some which are such as they doe not exclude the same A Drunkard an Adulterer a Murderer are grieuous sinners and in danger of the wrath to come but the Principles are not corrupted vpon which the forewarner must worke when hee perswadeth then to flie they doe beleeue the iudgement to come and in cold bloud will easily belieue that there is euill in their liues therefore vpon such good counsell may worke and wee see daily that many such are reclaimed But there are many whose sinnes are opposite vnto this counsell of flying either because they thinke there is no wrath to come as the Saducee or that they are out of danger of it as the Pharisee vpon such it is hard working Now come to the question Who hath forewarned you I am not ignorant that sundrie Writers ancient and later suppose that this is Quaestio admirantis and make Saint Iohn Baptist who receiued all others quietly when these persons came to stand amazed and wondring Is it possible hath Gods grace preuailed with Saduces with Pharisees and will they also bee Christs Disciples Is Saul among the Prophets Can hee that thought there was no Hell be brought to flie from Hell and hee that thought himselfe righteous prouide against the Iudgement day Surely such examples are rare not that God doth not yeil◠some to shew nothing is impossible to his grace but he yeildeth but few because men should take heed of such sinnes and wee see by experience how Pharisaisme in Papists and in Atheists Saducisme frustrate the labours of many painfull Forewarners the corrupt Principles of their conscience hinder their preuayling Who forewarne them to flie from the wrath to come But I take the Question rather to bee Negatiue and that as Christ often so Saint Iohn here doth detect their hypocrisie and telleth them that they aimed little at that which was intended by Baptisme The Kingdome of God happily in their sense they could bee content to enter into by the Baptisme of Saint Iohn for their Messias was to bee a worldly King or if so be they thought vpon wrath which they desired to escape it was wrath present not wrath to come the wrath of men not the wrath of God they would shake off the yoke of the Romanes they feared not the paines of Hell when they perceiued that Saint Iohns Baptisme sorted not with their desire it is obserued that they despised it to their destruction and when Christ asked them Whether it were of heauen or of men they durst not answere him from Heauen least Christ should come vpon them with Why did you not then belieue it Adde hereunto that it is not likely Saint Iohn would haue reproched them with these words generation of Vipers had there not bin hypocrisie in them I conclude then that the Question containeth a negation and that S. Iohn herein doth set forth the second euill of these Iewes They wanted meanes of forewarning which might apply to them the Remedie which God hath appointed against the wrath to come Matth. 21. v 25 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orat. 31. p. 501. Nazianzen obserueth well It is not the Nation but the disposition that maketh a Pharisee euery Countrie may haue Pharisees and Saduces for it is not the name of a Nation but a conuersation and therefore this question may concerne vs and we must inquire into our selues whether wee haue either a Pharisees or a Saduces disposition And indeed wee shall find too many of both Heretickes Atheists vpon whom Forewarners cannot worke and if we be better disposed wee must acknowledge Gods great mercie that as hee hath appointed wrath so hee hath appointed a Remedie wee must learne both of our Forewarners and so learne both that we be the better for them and scape the vengeance that is to come The summe of all is sinnes and punishments are not inseparable God hath set a space betweene them and appointed a Remedie to the one for the auoyding of the other for the knowledge hereof hee referres vs to our spirituall Pastors and we must take heed we haue neither Saduces nor Pharisees eares which may make vs vncapable of their forewarnings O Lord that hast appointed Forwarners to thy Church so blesse their paines that they may fixe our thoughts on and resolue our reason of that wrath which is to come not only the sight of it but also the flight from it Let vs not despise the riches of thy goodnesse forbearance and long-suffering nor with hard and impenitent hearts treasure vp vnto our selues wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2. Eccles 18. but knowing that thy goodnesse leadeth vs to repentance let vs so thinke vpon the wrath that shall be at the end that we may flie from sinne to grace and so bee thought worthy to escape this euill and stand in the last day with comfort before the Sonne of man stand for euer to giue glorie vnto thee the Father of mercie through Iesus Christ our only meanes to obtaine this mercie in the Communion of the holy spirit who only teacheth vs to make the right vse of this mercie Amen The third Sermon LVKE 3. VERSE 8. Bring forth therefore fruites worthy of Repentance SAint Iohn Baptist hath in his Sermon hitherto shewed the Iewes of their bad case in regard both of sinne and woe If he had here ended he should rather haue seemed to bee a minister of Moses then an harbinger of Christ and although happily he might haue awakned the worme of Conscience to bite them with the terrours of the Law yet should hee not haue answered his fathers prophecie by giuing light to them that sit darknesse Luke 1. and in the shaddow of death and guiding their feete into the way of peace wherefore to shew that hee came indeed in the spirit of Elias and meant to turne the hearts of the fathers towards their children Malachi 4.6 and the children towards their fathers before the Lord came and smote the earth with cursing as he vnpartially gaue the Iewes to vnderstand the euill of their case so doth he carefully endeauour to set them in a better course The ground and scope of his words is in effect this Euerie Iew is to haue a double being in the Couenant an hereditarie a possessorie in that he is the of spring of Abraham he hath a title to the promises but possession of that whereunto
More distinctly to breake vp this Application I will obserue therein Argumentum and Argumentationem What is affirmed and How it is inferred That which is affirmed is in a word this The Religious deuotion of the Militant Church is very powerfull but is not very lasting The Church is here called the Elect of God but we haue to doe with no more of them then are on earth that limitation is in the end of my text wherefore no more of the Church is here mentioned then that which is militant The Church being militant is made deuout by the Crosse the Elect therein are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being conscious to themselues of their owne weaknesse they call for helpe against their aduersaries The text telleth vs to whom and how They call vnto him that is best able and most willing vnto God and to him they call earnestly for they crie and constantly for they cry day and night Such is the religious deuotion of the Church Militant And such deuotion is Powerfull marke with whom and to what effect It is powerfull with him to whom the Church prayeth it preuailes with God And the effect to which it preuaileth is vindicatio cum vindictà the deliuerance of the Church to the vtter confusion of her foes God will auenge his Elect. But yet in this auenging festinat lentè God maketh no more haste then good speed for he forbeareth long and yet he stayeth not so long as to come too late hee will auenge speedily The deuotion is powerfull But it is not very lasting the rest of the text will teach that Neuerthelesse c. though deuotion steed vs so much yet become wee most lither when we should ply our helpe most And here marke first how the word is changed Before our deuotion was called crying here it is called faith There is good reason for the change for Prayer if it be religious is Oratio fidei it is endited by and vttered from our saith This crying faith or faithfull crie hath a wayning the nearer the world is to an end the older it groweth and becommeth weaker The end of the world is here meant by the comming of the Sonne of man at that time the dotage shall I call it or rather death of this deuotion shall appeare for it shall be sought for then but it will not then bee found there will bee then found no such praying as is powerfully deuout These things shall you find in that which is affirmed After that you must see how they are inferred And we shall find that the inference is made strangely but strongly Strangly for whereas God should be a patterne to the best of men here one of the worst of men is made a paterne vnto God And that is strange But yet the conclusion is strong for if there be any sparkle of compassion in stonie hearted man how tender are the bowels of our most gracious Father Whatsoeuer good the best of men will doe God will doe the same insinitely much more You haue the contents of my text what remayneth but that wee beseech God that I may cleere them so plainly and you so religiously entertaine them that whereas the ends of the world are hastening vpon vs our languishing deuotion may so be quickned that we may come with boldnesse to the throne of Grace obtaine mercie and find grace to helpe in all our time of need The first particular which I pointed out was the Title that is here giuen to the Church it is here called Gods owne Elect which is all one in the Originall Tongue with Ecclesia the things as well as the words haue a neere cognation And if you looke vpon them well they are though a short yet a full definition of the Church for the Church doth consist of a number of persons exempt from the common condition of men and none can so exempt them but only God More plainly Men by the common condition of their nature since the fall are children of wrath a Masse of Perdition they are without God without Christ without the Spirit without the Couenant without hope without all true life To be elected is to be taken not only out of the number but out of the condition of such wretched men to be made vessels of mercie a new lumpe vnto the Lord to be admitted into Gods house to bee incorporated into Christs bodie to be possessed of the Holy Ghost to be made parties to Gods Couenant partakers of the Communion of Saints and heires of euerlasting life This is the Exemption or Election here remembred And such an Exemption such an Election none can make but God God only can forgiue sinnes release punishments giue grace adopt for sonnes finally doe whatsoeuer was before exprest in the Exemption euerie branch is a Royall Prerogatiue of the King of Heauen But I must not omit to obserue vnto you That if Gods Election I speake not of the eternall Decree but the manifestation thereof in the Church militant there are two Acts. The first is the admission of persons into the outward Congregation and vnto the Sacramentall Obsignation which is nothing else but the outward profession of man that he is a partie to the Couenant of God Deut. 7. Psal 146. and so Moses telleth the Israelites that God hath chosen them to be his peculiar people which is no more then that God hath giuen them his Law which he had not done to euery Nation Rom. 9. Saint Paul addeth more particulars of this kind and in this respect giueth the name of Elect to whole Churches of the Gentiles But besides this Outward there is an Inward Act of Election and that is the operation of the Holy Ghost giuing vnto vs spirituall Wisdome and Holinesse making vs Gods children and members of the mysticall Bodie of Christ And that Church which wee beleeue in the Creed is partaker of both these Acts of Election aswell the Inward as the Outward and these latter are Electi ex Electis whom Christ doth designe when he saith in the Gospel Many are called but few are chosen Because there are none in this world actually of the Church inuisible but those that are in the visible and men cannot distinguish betweene the persons that partake either only one or both of the Acts of Election therefore in my text we will take the definition of a Church in the widest sense according to the rule of Charitie which the Scripture obserues although the power of denotion doth properly concerne the whole visible Bodie by reason of the better part thereof those which are aswell inwardly as outwardly of the Church The vse that wee must make of this definition of the Church is by the first word to be remembred of our Prerogatiue If we doe partake only the outward Act of Election how much are we better then the Heathen that know not the true God nor the Sauiour of the world Iesus Christ and are destitute of all those meanes by which
pray in him marke the forme of his words they are all plurall We confesse wee beseech wee pray c. he is the Minister of the Church and it is the whole Churches Deuotion that he presenteth vnto God Fourthly whether we pray or other members of the Church or the Minister wee must obserue that in all these prayers there is something transient and something permanent the Act is transient the Memoriall is permanent 1 Kin 18. learne this out of Salomons Dedicatorie Let these my words wherewith I haue made supplication before the Lord be nigh vnto the Lord our God day and night but you will say this is but a wish reade the beginning of the next Chapter and you shall see that there God granted it 〈◊〉 10. and the Angell told Cornelius that his prayers were come vp for a memoriall before the Lord. Fiftly The Church Triumphant prayeth for the Militant in generall as not ignorant of the condition out of which it selfe is come and out of which it wisheth the Militant freed as appeares by that voice of the soules vnder the Altar their crying loud voice which saith Reuel 6. How long O Lord holy and true doest thou not iudge and auenge our bloud on them that dwell in the Earth This is Piè credibile wee may defend it without any offence to Pietie But that which the Church of Rome buildeth hereon the Innocation of Saints because they make Intercession we may not admit it trencheth too much vpon diuine Attributes and hath too much cognation with their Doctrine of Transubstantiation therein they giue as it were an vbiquitie vnto Christs Bodie and here to the soules of the Saints But I will not trouble you with Controuersies neither is that point so naturall to this Text only take this Item that out of the generall Intercession of the Saints for vs wee can neuer gather our particuar Inuocation of them no nor generall neither Finally our Sauiour Christ doth only put sweete odours into our Prayers that they may come acceptable vnto God Reuâ—l 8. 〈◊〉 8. but also himselfe maketh perpetuall intercession for vs vnto him his bloud cryeth better things then doth the bloud of Abel Put now all these together Christ the Head his Bodie the Church that part which is Triumphant that which is Militant all the members all the Ministers thereof you cannot doubt but the Elect do pray day and night But euery man in his owne case must remember a good obseruation of Saint Chrysostomes That Oratio propria our owne prayers make all the other prayers vsefull vnto vs They auaile for vs by way of Impetration but if wee desire to be accepted of God wee must contribute our owne deuotion with theirs for they doe not pray to make vs idle but to supply the interrupting of our prayers which is occasioned by our honest vocation or necessarie refreshing during which time we need not doubt but that we are remembred aswell to God as of God This constancie of prayer fauoureth not the Euchites who turned all Pietie into Prayer as if there were nothing else to bee done the Church hath long since branded them and many of the Friers may goe for their Cousin Germans Matth. 6. Neither doth it fauour the Heathenish Battologie which Christ condemneth De Orandâ— Deâ— ad Probam Saint Austin helpeth vs out with a distincton Absit ab oratione multa locutio sed non desit multa precatio si fernens perseuerat intensio Christ forbiddeh bare Lip-labour but Heart-labour hee doth not condemne pray as long as you will so your heart pray as well as your tongue Put now together the Persons and the Deuotion and then wee see the Elect must pray or else they shall not haue what God doth purpose them for as Christ saith Aske and you shall haue so Saint Iames saith you haue not because you aske not How absurd then are they that make this prophane Collection I am elected therefore it skilleth not whether I serue God Thou vaine man he that electeth to the end electeth to the meanes yea the election mentioned in my Text is vnto this Seruice for when thou art elected into the Church thou art elected to be a Priest thy person is elected to be a Temple and prayer is that Sacrifice which euery man must offer in that House of Prayer Can any man bee more elect then Christ was And yet the Gospel teacheth that hee sought for all things vnto God by prayer yea in our owne case when he was in an agonie he prayed most earnestly most constantly But how can wee doubt of this that the Elect must pray whereas it is most true that no Prayers are acceptable vnto God but those that come from the Elect Iohn 9. For God heareth not sinners but if any man be a worshipper of God and doth his will him hee heareth The Sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord saith Salomon but the prayer of the righteous is his delight There is a quarrell betweene vs and the Church of Rome Prou. 15. whether 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those things which God offereth vnto vs doe worke ex opere operato produce their effects out of their inherent or adherent efficacies but wee are both agreed that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those things which we tender vnto God are accepted of God ex opere Operantis according as the person is religiously disposed in acting them wherefore we must wash our hands in innocencie and so compasse the Altar of God and pray as beseemeth the Elect in Faith Austin Epist 121. Hope and Charitie I haue dwelt long enough vpon the Nature of Deuotion let vs come at length vnto the Power thereof I told you that the religious deuotion of Gods Elect is very powerfull Saint Iames telleth vs that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 very effectuall a little before my text wee reade that it will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bring vnder those things which it hath to doe withall In thâ— Law it is figured in Isha â—euit 1. that is Ignitio or a fierie thing which you know is piercing and so preualent Chrysostome saith it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is Defensiue it is Offensiue it hath in it all power requisite for preseruation of our selues and confusion of our enemies hee that can doe nothing if hee can pray can doe all things neither can any thing conquer him that can be vigilant and feruent in prayer But to come closer to my Text that sheweth vs with whom it preuayleth euen with him to whom the Church doth pray that is with God We reade that Iacobs name was changed into Israel to signifie a Prince with God or as the Angell himselfe openeth it one that hath preuailed with God and so by Gods power shall preuaile with men but marke the reason of this was because of his importunitie in prayer for the Text saith Gen. 32. he
commeth from Edom and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Thankesgiuing in the Reuelation But I draw to an end The conclusion of all my Text is this If at any time wee bee distressed and not relieued the fault is not in God it is in vs for our Deuotion is tired ouer-soone wee are all modicae fidei men of little faith and though the spirit be willing yet the flesh is weake and the weaknesse of the flesh preuaileth more then the willingnesse of the Spirit Wherefore we must all pray vnto God to giue vs the Spirit of Grace and Prayer ANd Lord we beseech thee helpe our vnbeliefe and increase our faith yea Lord pray thou that our faith faile not and the more thou doest exercise our patience the more earnest let vs be for thy deliuerance deliuerance from our corporall deliuerance from our spirituall foes that well ouercomming our Militancie here on earth we may bee Triumphant with the Saints in Heauen where wee shall turne our Prayers into Prayses and sing day and night honour prayse strength and power bee vnto him that sitteth vpon the Throne and to the Lambe for euermore AMEN SVNDRIE SERMONS DE TEMPORE PREACHED VPON SEVErall Occasions by the Right Reuerend Father in God ARTHVR LAKE D. of Diuinitie Lord Bishop of Bathe and Welles LONDON Printed by R. Young for N. BVTTER 1629. יהוה EIGHT SERMONS ON THE NINTH CHAPTER Of the Prophecie of ISAIAH ISAIAH 9. VERS 6 7. For vnto vs a Childe is borne vnto vs a Sonne is giuen and the gouernment shall be vpon his shoulders and his Name shall bee called The wonderfull Counsellour The mighty God The euerlasting Father The Prince of Peace Of the increase of his Gouernment and Peace there shall bee no end vpon the Throne of Dauid and vpon his Kingdome to order it and to establish it with Iudgement and Iustice from henceforth euen for euer The zeale of the Lord of Hosts shall performe this THis is the first Lesson appointed for this Morning Prayer and appointed fitly For the Argument well fits the Time We are now met to praise God for the Morning of the Church Zacharie Luke 1. doth so call the Birth of Christ saying The day spring that is the Morning from on high hath visited vs Yea Christ himselfe Reuel the last vers 16 doth call himselfe The bright Morning starre And verily his Birth was the most blessed Morning that euer the Church saw whether you respect the Night that went before or the Day that followed after it was the blessedest Morning that euer the Church saw The Night was long and darke a Night of want of warre so wee reade in the last of the former and the first verse of this chapter But the Day that followed was a cleare and lasting Day a Day of haruest a triumph Day so we are taught in the foure verses that goe immediately before my Text. A great alteration Who could worke it who could turne that night into this day what Sunne shone forth in so great strength In such a case man was like to moue such a doubt therefore the holy Ghost hath resolued it and his resolution of that doubt is my Text. Loe here is one that can vndertake that work who he is How excellent he is we are taught here and that in regard of his Person and of his State For of his Person here are the Natures wherein it subsisteth here is the People to whom it belongs It subsists in two Natures 1. The Nature of Man Hee is a Childe 2. The Nature of God Hee is the Sonne The Person subsisting in these two Natures belongeth vnto whom To Vs was hee borne he was giuen to Vs saith the Prophet Esay and Esay was a Iew. Christ then belongeth to the Iewes though the Iewes must not bee vnderstood according to the flesh but the spirit To these Iewes was he vouchsafed by taking and giuing Natus he tooke his nature from them and Datus what he tooke he with aduantage bestowed vpon them But of what degree was he amongst them here commeth in his State He was a King The Gouernment shall be vpon his shoulders The Gouernement that was Royall for verse 7. it is called The Throne The Kingdome of Dauid He shall sit vpon that and that is the Gouernment that shall bee layd vpon his shoulders And happy are the People that haue such a King You will confesse it if you consider his Excellencie The Excellencie both of his Person and of his State Of his Person that appeares in his endowments Of his State that appeares in his managing thereof The Endowments of his Person are Royall Reade his Titles He shall bee called and what he is called that he certainely is Hee shall be called by those names that expresse such vertues as most beseeme a King our King For a King ouer and aboue the Vertues which are common to him with his Subiects must haue more than ordinary Wisedome and Power And see this King is called for his Wisedome The wonderfull Counsellour for his Power The mighty God But mistake not his Kingdome it is not of this World He that is our King is The Father of Eternity that is Of the World to come And as his Kingdome is not of this World so is not the condition of his People worldly it is Peace and Peace is not the portion of this world but of that which is to come Our King is the Prince of this Peace You see how the Person is endowed and thereby how excellent the Person is There is an Excellencie in his State also it appeares in the Effect in the Cause The Effect for of this Kingdome there are no bounds and the felicitie of the Subiects is also boundlesse so saith the Text Of the increase of his Gouernment and Peace there shall be no end Such an Effect must haue an answerable Cause it hath Iustice and Iudgement are the Pollicie of this State with these as a wonderfull Counsellour he doth order as a mighty God he doth support his State And he doth it vncessantly From henceforth and for euer As the Effect so the Cause this is eternall therefore that These Truthes concerning Christs Person and State are not onely affirmed in the body of the Text but also assured in the close thereof Much you haue heard and yet no more than shall bee He that hath promised can doe it such is his Power Hee is the Lord of Hosts Nay hee cannot but doe it such is his Loue for his Loue is Zeale So concludes the Prophet The zeale of the Lord of Hosts shall performe this You haue heard the summe of this whole Text and therein see a most exquisite picture of our Sauiour Christ certainely it is the fullest the liueliest that euer the holy Ghost in so few words exprest in any part of the Old Testament For here Christ is not only drawne from top to toe but drawn also with those varieties that befell him from eternity to eternitie
from the eternity that was before the world beganne for it looketh as farre backe as his eternall Generation vnto the eternity that shall be after this world shall cease to be for it looketh as farre forward as his Glorification Yea whereas Christus is either Naturalis or Mysticus considered alone in himselfe or ioyntly with his Church lo here are both both are clearely reuealed vnto vs. So that what is there that you would desire to see in Christ that you may not see in this Text See it no doubt you doe but yet not so fully as I wish Wherefore let me point more distinctly at the meaning of my Text and follow mee I beseech you with a religious eye and a diligent view thereof The whole Text doth breake it selfe into two parts a Doctrine and a Warrant thereof The Doctrine openeth the Person and the State of Christ and of both these it deliuereth the substance and the eminencie I begin at the substance of the Person Wherein first wee are to see the Natures wherein this Person subsisteth The nature of Man noted by the Childe The nature of God noted by the Sonne Though the later Iewes in hatred of Christ whom they will not haue to bee their Messias mis-apply these words to Ezechias who was indeed a Type of Christ Esay 32. yet not the Truth it selfe notwithstanding the ancienter Iewes not only the Christian Fathers refer them to the Messias as may bee gathered out of the Septuagint and Caldee Paraphrase The Child then and the Sonne are plaine but they are solemne words The holy Ghost is not curious in paraphrasing them or setting limitations to them such as happely might make his meaning more apparant and let vs know what Child what Sonne he meaneth because these words were more frequent in the mouthes of the Iewes by them did they ordinarily note their Messias from the fall of Adam were they vsed to these Phrases In Paradise Christ was called The seed of the Woman which is but the Periphrasis of a Child Iacob speakes of Shilo which should come from Iuda and come when the Scepter and Law-giuer were both gone Acts 15. This appeares to be meant of Christ who as St. Iames obserues out of Amos came to repaire the Tabernacle of Dauid which was quite fallen downe Touching the Sonne most liuely is the Prophecie made to King Dauid 2 Sam. 7. concerning this seed of whom God said He shall be my Sonne and I will be his Father St. Paul Heb. 1. applies this vnto Christ it must bee vnderstood of him as likewise that place Psal 2. Thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee St. Luke Chap. 3. fetcheth his Pedigree from Adam from God The Gospell calleth him The Sonne of Dauid and the Sonne of the Highest I need adde no more places This you must obserue that by the Child by the Sonne the Old Testament the New Testament warrant vs to vnderstand Christ who was vsually called The Child The Sonne These are solemne words As they are solemne so are they necessary also the Child was not enough neyther was the Sonne enough in our case Supposing Gods decree wee must haue a Person apt and able The Child was apt but hee was not able the Sonne able but not apt Put them both together and then you haue ability and aptnesse to worke the Redemption of man There is aptnesse in the Child to obey to suffer to vndergoe whatsoeuer cannot beseeme the Sonne But that he may do and suffer meritoriously acceptably the Child must be inabled by the Sonne from the Sonne must the Child receiue both strength and worth Therefore wee haue both a Child and a Sonne and if not both none no Sauiour for neyther could alone suffice As the words are solemne and necessary so are they strange It is strange the Sonne of such infinitencsse the Child of such finitenesse the Sonne of such glory the Child of such meanenesse the Sonne of such power the Child of such weakenesse should come so neere together as to make one Person a deified Man And because strange therefore many haue stumbled at them some at the Sonne some at the Child seuerally considered some at them both considered ioyntly The Arrians they set vpon the Sonne the Godhead of Christ and would haue him a creatitious God or at the best but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Against them the first Councell of Nice was assembled and defined that Christ was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 truly God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the same substance with his Father God of God as it is in the Creed light of light very God of very God begotten of his Father before all worlds When they were quelled the Apollinarists set vpon the Child and pared away the best part of the Manhood of Christ They granted Christs Godhead and so much of his Manhood as concerned a Body but a reasonable soule they would not grant him they thought that his Godhead supplyed that The Vnderstanding and the Will of Man is not requisite say they seeing both are found in God Against them was assembled the Councell of Constantinople which defined that Christ was not only perfect God but perfect Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of a reasonable soule and humane flesh subsisting as it is in Athanasius Creed And miserable were our case if their definition were not true Damascene his Rule might strike a terrour into vs Quod non est assumptum non est curatum And what shall become of man if the better part of man nay that which onely maketh a man for Forma dat nomen esse be not saued by Christ When these Heresies were stopped which set vpon the parts of Christs Person seuerally then began those which set vpon them ioyntly Nestorius hee acknowledged the truth of the Godhead and fulnesse of the Manhood but he brooked not that Vnion of these two in one person without which Christ could be no Redeemer A friendly and louing association and cohabitation he would haue of two Persons The Child of Marie and The Sonne of God but hee would not endure that both should be accounted but one Person or that the Virgin Marie should bee called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Mother of God expresly crossing the saying of the Angel That holy thing that shall be borne of thee shall be called the Sonne of God Yea razing the comfort of many passages of Scripture which by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Fathers call it not reall but verball whereof there is no other foundation but this personall Vnion doe attribute to the Child in Concreto that which springeth from the Sonne and to the Son in Concreto that which springeth from the Child As for example No man saith Christ ascendeth into Heauen but hee which descendeth from Heauen euen the Sonne of Man which is in Heauen Take away the personall Vnion this speech cannot be true For the sonne of Man was not in Heauen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
which I enioyed with thee before the foundations of the world were lay◠Himselfe then receiued nothing which hee had not for euer but in him wee receiue the honour to be loyned in one person with God Christus esse voluit quod homo est vt homo esse poss it quod est Christus Cypr. de vanit Idol in that person to conquer sinne death and hell after the conquest to receiue all power both in heauen and earth and possessed of this power to sit vpon the Throne of God It is not the Godhead but the Manhood in Christ and so it is Wee that haue receiued these Blessings So that we must begin the obseruation of Gods fauour vnto vs at that dignitie which our nature hath attained in Christ These different words Natus and Datus Borne and Giuen imply that they were not both of one time The Manhood beganne when Christ was incarnate but the Godhead was long before It was though it were not manifested vntill the time of his birth So that being and being manifest make the difference for that the Manhood receiued then his beeing but the Godhead only his beeing manifest And yet wee must not make such a difference without taking heed of Nestorius his errour For if the words be soundly vnderstood if they bee vnderstood of the Person not of the Natures we may apply Natus and Datus to eyther of them the Godhead may be said to be borne and the Manhood may bee said to bee giuen That the Godhead or rather God may be said to be borne it is cleare Luke 1. The holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Sonne of God And the Virgine Mary by the Fathers is as you heard called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 St. Bernards obseruation is true speaking to the Virgine Mary as it were in the person of the Angell Quod natum est ex ipso Deo erit tuus quod ex te nascetur erit eius vt tamen non sint duo Filij sed vnus licet aliud ex te aliud ex illo sit ita tamen non cuiusque suus sed vnus vtriusque Filius So that vnderstand it of the Person and Natus will agree with Filius vnderstand it also of the Person and Datus will agree with Puerulus for the Childe was giuen also and had a being before euen as ancient as the Sonne of God to whom he is inseparably vnited Whatsoeuer attribute of God may be verified of Man so long as we meane no more but the Person But if our meaning doe once point at the Natures then Natus is peculiar to the Childe which beganne in time and Datus to the Sonne which was before all time so the Diuines ancient and later doe vsually distinguish these words Thirdly note that Natus goeth before Datus Christ is before hee is bestowed And the Holy Ghost would haue vs to consider two distinct Acts of God 1. The Constitution of our Sauiours Person 2. And then the Donation thereof vnto Vs And it is requisite that our meditations confound not Gods Workes Wee must multiply our meditations as Gods works are multiplied The Constitution of the Person is as a means which God prouideth and prouideth for an end which was his Donation So that Christs Incarnation is not to be taken as a speculatiue but a practick thing God therein did not onely reueale his Wisedome and his Power which wee may speculate with our wits but thereby doth giue vs a taste of his Goodnesse also to affect our hearts So that wee may not separate Datus from Natus lest we proue ignorant how vsefull this Incarnation is and so depriue our selues of the comfort thereof Lastly if Datus be the end of Natus and he that is Borne is Giuen vnto Vs we must make St. Paules Conclusion God that spared not his onely Sonne but gaue him for vs what is there that he will not bestow vpon vs He hath nothing nearer and dearer he that is vouchsafed this may presume to speed of whatsoeuer else We cannot haue a better encouragement to pray nor anchor-hold of our prayer nay we cannot learne better how to demeane our selues towards God than by imitating Gods dealing herein with vs. Let Natus or rather Renatus goe before Datus in vs Let vs first bee new-borne before wee giue our selues to God Except we be prouided of this gift we are not fit to make a Present and if wee be prouided and vnfainedly make this Present vnto God what haue wee that shall not be deuoted vnto him our honour our wealth our friends Hee will neuer deny ought vnto God that first giueth himselfe to him And thus much for the odds betweene the two Natures implied in the words Borne and Giuen Moreouer we must obserue that the Childe borne and the Sonne giuen if they be separated from Vs they make an Article admirà ble but comfortable it is not except you adde vnto it Vs. When this Clause is put vnto that our Faith is Faith indeed and taketh place as well in our heart as in our head and we listen diligently vnto the Annunciation which the Angel made vnto the Shepheards Behold I bring you glad tidings of great ioy that shall be to all the People for vnto you is borne a Sauiour which is the Lord Christ In a word you haue the true Description of Immanuell God with vs which then proued true when this Childe was borne vnto Vs and to Vs this Sonne was giuen Finally marke the Tense of these words Natus Datus it is the Praeter-tense they speake of Christ as if hee were already borne Christ was not borne in sixe hundred yeares after The reason is the stile is Propheticall The Prophets speake of things to come as if they were present or past they speake of the Workes of God answerably to the Nature of God In the Nature of God there is no time because it is eternall When Moses asked after Gods name he receiued this answer I am that I am In the Reuelation that Name is resolued into all the parts of time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it imports that all parts of time are together in God they are all present in him As it is with his Nature so it is with his Workes Nothing falleth out in time that was not decreed before all time and whatsoeuer is in the decree is euer present to God And because present in the decree therefore as concluded God may speake of it as a thing past because the Conclusion is before his eyes he may speake of it as a thing present and as his hand shall produce it he may speake of it as a thing to come And the holy Ghost vseth libertie to speake of such things so diuersly But for their speaking of Christs birth as if it were passed when it was yet to come there are moreouer two speciall Reasons The one is for that the efficacie of his birth began immediately vpon the fall As in Paradise Adam
exceede all creatures such eminencie as we must adore because wee cannot comprehend it for they are wonderfull Euen the name of wonderfull be longs vnto them as appeares by the answer that was giuen to Manoah in the booke of Iudges when hee enquired after the name of the Angell which appeared Why askest thou after my name seeing it is wonderfull It were easie to shew how this title fits Christ by running through the whole story of the Gospell which to euery part setteth a marke of wonder to his birth to his life to his death to his resurrection to his ascention I will instance only in his birth because we now solemnize the memory thereof In that appeare three great wonders 1. That natures so farre distant as God and Man should bee ioyned in one person 2. That the nature of man should be conceiued in a Virgins wombe that neuer knew man 3. That she should being her selfe conceiued in sinne conceiue a Sonne without sinne Were there no other wonder these were enow to style Christ wonderfull and to make it one of his peculiar titles But because the Fathers following the Septuagint and the Caldee haue coupled these words Wonderfull and Counsellour together and made of them but one title and their opinion is made probable by the Hebrew Text and the other titles which are all compounded Almighty God Father of Eternity Prince of Peace I will so ioyne them and handle them as one title whereof there are two parts Counsellour and Wonderfull Christ is a Counsellour And here also marke the odds betweene mortall Princes and this our King mortall Princes and their Counsell are distinct persons the weakenesse and the idlenesse or both of mortall Princes wits maketh them to vse the counsell of others as it is euident in all States whereupon is grounded that prouerbe of Salomon In the alundance of Counsellours there is welfare But here our King is the Counsellour also hee is both King and Counsell And that which the Apostle hath out of the Prophet Who euer was his Counsellour may well be applied to him His vnderstanding is so large so cleare that it reacheth to all things and pierceth into the depth of all as St. Paul describeth it Heb. 4. and by it hee meaneth Christ as it appeares by the close of his speech The word of God is sharper than any two edged sword and entreth in to the diuiding of the ioynts and the marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts all things are naked before his eyes And Dauid sheweth that the night and the day to him are all one and the darkenesse is as cleare as the light And as such is his ability so is his care answerable His wits are not idle He that keepeth Israel doth neâ—ther slumber nor sleepe as it is Psalm 121. His eyes are vpon his charge from the beginning of the yeare till the end thereof as it is Deut. 11. Not a Sparrow lights vpon the ground without his prouidence So that he needes no counsell besides his owne he well deserues the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of whom Aristotle alledgeth that Verse out of the Greeke Poet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But let vs come nearer the Point You haue heard that he is a Counsellour but whereof I cannot expresse better than by two of his vsuall titles the Wisedome the Word of God He is Consiliarius ad intra and ad extra beeing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 St. Iohn comprehendeth both in that sentence The Son which is in the bosome of the Father and so is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath declared himself vnto vs so is become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And our Sauiour Christ Those things which I haue heard of my Father being Consiliarius ad intra haue I opened vnto you as Consiliarius ad extra and so Prouerbs 8. Wisedome describeth her selfe as a Counsellour both ad intra and ad extra with God and to the world But what is the Matter of this Counsell surely the principall is the Conenant betweene God and his Church which St. Paul Heb. 6. calleth the vnchangeable Counsell of God and God in the Prophets speaking of the Kingdome of Christ calleth it his Counsell not excluding all other secrets of God for Christ is priuy to them all He is the Lambe mentioned in the Reuclation that only can open the sealed Booke of Gods hidden Mysteries especially those that concerne his Church Now Christ as the Wisedome of God was of counsell when this Mysterie was resolued on before all time he was of counsell with God and when God was pleased to reueale it then Christ also became the Counsellour vnto men as he was the Word of God These two things are comprehended in his Counsellourship and in regard of both these may hee bee called wonderfull It was a wonderfull course that this wisedome of God found out to worke the Redemption of man by coupling of these Natures and satisfying Mercy and Iudgement and that by Man without sinfull man And as the course is wonderfull so likewise is the communicating thereof seeing the power of God vseth such weake instruments When wee behold the meanes wee cannot but wonder at the effects when wee see such heauenly treasures in earthen vessels and see such efficacie of the one shine through the infirmity of the other and behold the euidence of the spirit in the foolishnesse of preaching and see it casting downe of strong holds and captiuating vnto Christ euery thought this must needs make it wonderfull And wonderfull certainly will we acknowledge him to be if we consider these things for that is wonderfull which is aboue the reach of the vnderstanding Wee see the first royall title and Christs first royall vertue which is his Wisedome The second followeth which is his Power Primò opus est consulto deinde cum consulueris maturè opus est facto said the Heathen Orator for as it is true that Vis consilij expers mole ruit sua so is it no lesse true that if wisedome â—aue not strength to execute her designes it is fruitlesse Therefore our King is as well armed with power as furnished with wisedome So that he is able to execute whatsoeuer he doth resolue Therefore his second style is The mighty God El of it selfe signifieth mighty but it is communicated to others besides the true God to Angels to Men that are tâ—e Lieutenants of God or vsurpe the state of God all these haue a power but it is but a weake power in comparison and it is often times checked and curbed limited and stinted The Angels that are great in power are no farther powerfull than to doe Gods will much more are men at Gods controll Hee refraineth the spirit of Princes and maketh the stoutest of them to know that they are but men The story of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel who was for seuen yeares cast out of his Pallace to
for they that trust in the Lord are like vnto mount Sion which shall neuer be remoued LOrd guide vs by thy Counsell support vs by thy Power that wee be neyther circumuented nor quelled but by thy direction and protection we may escape both the craft and the force of all our Enemies So shall we euer glorifie thee as our admirable Counsellour and our most mighty God THE FIFTH SERMON The euerlasting Father the Prince of Peace THe Excellencie of Christs Person consists in the indowments thereof which are Regall but Spirituall That they are Regall appeares in his two first titles whereof I haue already spoken and that they are Spirituall it will appeare by the other two whereof I am now to speake Whereof the first sheweth that Christs Kingdome is not of this world He is the Father of eternity the second sheweth that the condition of his people is not worldly Christ is Prince of Peace To begin with the first In the Originall the first of these two titles is so exprest as I haue read it The Father of eternity And the words beare a double sense for either Aeternity is made the Attribute of the Father and so by an Hebraisme The Father of eternity is no more than the eternall or euerlasting Father so some Translations reade it or Aeternity may note that which is subiect to the Father and so the title imports that he is a Father of eternall things and so some Translations reade The Father of the world to come We need not to bee troubled with this variety for the words will beare eyther Translation and both these things concurre in the same person He that is the euerlasting Father is a Father of euerlasting things We will therefore handle both and first shew you that Christ is an euerlasting Father The phrase doth distinguish betweene our Father and our Father the Father of our flesh and the Father of our spirits of whom St. Paul speaketh Heb. 12. Of these two the first is Temporall the other is Aeternall that the first is but temporall wee may gather out of the fift of Genesis where are reckoned vp the longest liued Fathers that euer were in the world but of them all it is said that they begat children and then they dyed they left their children to the world And as they so their posterity come within the compasse of that of Iob Man that is borne of a Woman is but of a short time or as Dauid speakes His dayes are but a spanne long When he hath serued his course he goeth the way of all flesh and sleepes in his graue Neyther is he temporall only in regard that he must dye but also in regard that his affection is mutable Some parents destitute their children inforced by death but not a few put off the affection of Fathers euen in their life and they in that respect also may be termed but temporall Fathers Our Sauiour Christ speaking of the later times telleth vs that the Father shall rise against the Sonne as the Sonne against the Father Saint Paul speaking of former times Rom. 1. amongst other wicked ones reckoneth vp persons that were without naturall affection and it were an easie matter out of Histories to report that many haue dis-inherited many haue murdered many haue deuoured their own children so farre vnnaturall haue they beene In opposition vnto these two cases which apparantly conclude that the Parents of our flesh are temporall temporall in regard that they are mortall in their nature and temporall in that they are mutable in their affections our Sauiour Christ is termed an euerlasting Father death cannot take him from vs for euen in his death wherein notwithstanding his abode was so little that hee saw no corruption the hypostaticall Vnion which made him a father did not cease And as for his affection it is immutable Whom he loueth hee loueth vnto the end of the perpetuitie of his being excellent is that place Esay 63. Doubtlesse thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of vs and Israel acknowledge vs not Thou O Lord art our Father and our Redeemer thy name is from euerlasting And touching the perpetuity of his louing the Church there speaketh also Looke downe from heauen and behold from the habitation of thy holinesse and of thy glory where is thy zeale and thy strength the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercy towards me 〈◊〉 9. â—â—al 27. are they restrained No they cannot bee restrained For as God in this Prophet speaketh elsewhere Can a Mother forget her child If she can yet will not I forget thee saith the Lord And King Dauid When my father and my mother forsooke me the Lord tooke me vp This is the reason why our Sauiour Christ in the Gospell biddeth vs Call none father vpon earth for that we haue but one father which is in heauen hee liueth when the other dye and when the other hateth he continueth his loue and therefore is deseruedly called the euerlasting Father Two good Lessons are implyed herein the one teaching Piety the other Charity We are taught Piety when we are taught that he whom we obey is our Father for if I be a Father saith the Lord where is mine honour Mal. 1. and Moses to Israel Deut. 32. Doest thou so reward the Lord O thou foolish people and vnwise is not he thy Father that made thee c. And as the very name of Father teacheth Piety so doth the name of Euerlasting teach it much more St. Paul argueth so Heb. 12. If so bee wee honoured the fathers of our flesh which are mortall as is our flesh how much more should we honour the father of our spirits which is immortall as is our spirits Great reason haue we to reuerence this Father that neuer ceaseth to be our Father that hath prouided that euen when we lose our fathers we should yet stil haue our Father haue him for our Father which is the Father of Orphanes It is no small comfort nor weake pillar of our faith that we neuer want a Father yea our double birth readeth vs this Lecture For as we come out of our mothers wombe by the help of our mortall Parents so to signifie that we haue immortall parents we are then borne againe in the Churches wombe Neither doth this title teach vs only Piety but Charity also charity one towards another For whereas our mortall parents extend their consanguinity and affinity but to a few this euerlasing father extends his vnto all Malachy worketh vpon this Haue we not all one Father Cap. 2. wherefore then do you iniury one to another The blood should neuer be cold seeing wee are all kinne in the first degree all brethren sonnes of one father euen of him that is here called the euerlasting father But how commeth Christ to be called father who otherwise is called our brother he being the sonne of God and God being his father as hee is ours If you respect the Communion of
According to these Principles the points which wee are to consider in this description are the Soueraignity and Community of that good which we must seek and shall find in Christ in Christ as he was incarnate or first came into the world But before I come to these particulars I must cleare my Text from some ouer-shallow interpretations that haue fastned thereon For whereas in Christs first comming two things are to be obserued 1. the principall and 2. the accessories his person and those things that did attend him many passe ouer the principal and apply these words only to the accessories The Prophets doe speake of two remarkeable Accessories The one is the Munificencie of the Gentiles the other is the Obedience of their Persons both were to be of the best sort The Psalme touching the Munificencie Psalme 72. saith that the Kings of Tharsis and of the Iles should bring presents the Kings of Seba and Sheba should giue gifts The Prophet Esay cap. 49. 60. doth particularize the Gold the Siluer the Iewels the Plants the Beasts all kindes of choyce things that were to bee tendred vnto Christ And the Story of the Church shewes that this was accomplished not only mystically but euen literally We commemorate on this * Epiphanie Mat. 2. Day the oblation of Gold of Myrrhe of Frankincense which was made by the wise men vnto Christ In the Acts cap. 4. verse 37. we reade that those Christians which had possessions sold them brought the price and layd it at the Apostles feete The first Christian Emperours how open handed were they in erecting and prouiding for Places and Persons dedicated vnto Christs seruice And as of other Countries so the Christian Kings and People of this Iland haue left honourable memorials of this kinde in their magnificent Foundations and munificent Endowments thereof All these followed the rule of Gods Law whatsoeuer they offered vnto him it was euer of the best But by the way let me obserue vnto you That the floud of our Ancestours liberality rose not so high but their Posterities sacriledge hath taken it downe to as low an ebbe and the saying of a great but no good King of this Iland pleaseth too many that liue on the spoyles of the Church William Rufus Christs bread is sweete They are farre from offering 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Septaugint doe render my Text the choyce Treasure of the Nations the first of those Accessories which was to attend the comming of Christ A second Accessorie foretold by the Prophet are the Persons that should honour him euen the choysest of persons For although Saint Paules rule be Brethren you see your calling not many wise not many noble not many mighty c. yet that negatiue doth containe an affirmatiue and implyes that some euen of the best ranke should submit themselues and be homagers vnto Christ bee nursing Fathers Esay 48. and nursing Mothers of his Church Where the Prophets speake of the wealth they speake also of Persons reade the fore-cited places and take notice withall of a difference in this kinde that God was pleased should be before the comming of Christ and after Before the comming of Christ many of the Persian Kings as likewise of the Grecians gaue their goods but not themselues vnto God they prouided sacrifices for the Temple at Ierusalem but themselues went on in their Idolatry After the comming of Christ it was otherwise great personages gaue themselues first and then their goods vnto Christ the Wise men vpon this day first prostrated their bodies and worshipped then they opened their Treasures and offered vnto Christ Nicodemus and Ioseph of Arimathea great and rich men first beleeued then bestowed a funerall vpon Christ the like may we say of all Christian Emperours Kings Potentates And indeed Christ seeketh not ours but vs and careth not for our goods 2 Cor. 8. if wee dedicate not our selues vnto him both will doe well and wee shall doe well if wee deserue the Macedonians commendation of whom St. Paul saith that they gaue themselues first and then were bountifull to the Saints These were Accessories where with God was pleased Christs first comming should be honoured But these doe not containe the true at least the full meaning of my Text for surely these were not the cause of shaking the great and little World neither were these either persons or goods improuements of the glory of Zorobabels Temple for little of this Prophecie was accomplished while that Temple stood Malachie cap. 3. therefore giues vs a better interpretation and more agreeable to the words of my Text The Lord whom you seeke shall suddenly come to his Temple the Angell of the Couenant whom yee delight in or desire behold he shall come saith the Lord of Hosts And indeed Christs Person was the true attractiue of all other persons of their goods also they had neuer come except hee had come first Therefore the Iewish Rabbins Galatinus though they doe not beleeue that Iesus is the Christ yet doe they vnderstand this Text of the Messias And St. Hierome renders the phrase Desideratus Omnium Gentium The Person that is desired of all Nations purposing in those words to point out our Sauiour Christ Finally St. Paul Heb. 12. if you marke well his drift fauours this interpretation Wherefore I take it for a plaine truth that if not solely yet principally Christs person is meant by this phrase The desire of all Nations Let vs come then at length to the Points which I obserued in it The first is the soueraignity of good that cannot be lesse which is the desire of all Nations And marke that the word is abstract not concrete the Text calleth him not the person desired but the desire Now these abstract titles when they are giuen to God or Christ import two things The first is That all his nature or whatsoeuer is in him is that which he is called and secondly That all whatsoeuer is comprehended vnder that title is in him and cannot be had but by participation of him In this sense is God and Christ called truth righteousnesse holinesse c. these attributes are his nature and are not imparted to any but those that haue communion with him To our present purpose Christ is called desire it followeth by vertue of the word that he is totus desiderabilis altogether and in euery part desirable and totum desiderabile whatsoeuer the heart of a man can desire And if he be these two then certainely hee is the soueraigne good Take them asunder And first see how he is totus desiderabilis I might send you to the Song of Salomon where the spouse limmeth out his amiablenesse from top to toe or to the marriage Psalme which in few words tels vs Psal 45. That he is fairer than the sonnes of men or to those words of Saint Iohn 1 Epist c. 3. The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst vs and wee
saw his glory as the glory of the only begotten Sonne of God full of grace and truth But beyond all is the testimonie of God the Father whether deliuered by the Prophet Psay Cap. 42. Behold my seruant whom I vphold mine elect in whom my soule delighteth or vttered by a voyce from heauen This is my welbeloued Son in whom I am well pleased Mat. 3.17 For can he be lesse than altogether desirable that is Gods delight But passing by all these I will insist vpon three Titles of his which haue speciall reference to our good The first is Immanuel the name of his Person for it signifieth God with vs and how desireable is hee that hath knit that knot hypostatically in himselfe which is the ground of that mysticall knot which is to bee betweene God and vs wherein stands our eaerlasting blisse Certainely in regard of this name hee is most desirable the name that so linketh together heauen and earth a mortall wretch with the immortall God especially if you obserue that he is vnited totus toti the whole person of God to the whole nature of Man that we may be wholly ioyned and so doth he become wholly desireable of vs. His second name is Iesus that maketh him as desireable St. Bernard hath sumâ—ned vp the pleasurablenesse thereof in few but very sweet words Nomen Iesuest mel in ore melos in aure iubilum in corde all our reasonable acts are diuided into speaking hearing and thinking and loe we cannot speake of him but he is as honey in our mouthes and if wee heare of him the talke doth make the best melody in our eares finally the greatest ioy of our heart and the truest also springeth from our meditation vpon him The reason of all which is this Name soundeth nothing but Saluation and Saluation is the most wished most welcome thing to a childe of wrath to him whose sinnes can promise no better than a neuer-dying worme and an euer burning fire Well may we terme thee sweet Iesu that deliuerest vs from these plagues especially seeing there is no part of thee that hath not borne a part in sauing vs. His third name is Christ a most desireable name and why it signifieth a person anointed with no other than that which the Psalmist calleth the oyle of gladnesse This precious oyle poured vpon his head Psal 4â— 143. 45. ranne downe to vs the skirts of his garments insomuch as we now smell of Myrrhe Aloes and Cassia and are now through him become a sweete sauour to God who in the corruption of our nature were loathsome vnto him Hee that was Christ that is anointed that hee might so perfume vs with the sweetnesse of his graces must needes bee to vs as hee beares that title wholly desireable But for your further insight into the louelinesse of this name resolue it into those three offices whereunto he was anointed and being anointed or consecrated vnto them was called Christ First hee was Christ a Prophet such a Prophet as wee cannot desire a better hee was the very wisedome the word of God grace was poured into his lips and they that heard him wondred at the gracious words that came from him and well they might for that which he vttered was Euangelium glad tidings of good things His Priesthood was more desirable than his Prophecie for hee offered the sacrifice of sweet sauour vnto God which expiated all our sinnes and propitiated all his wrath and vpon his crosse he prepared that delicate feast that Esay speakes of cap. 25. Fat meate full of marrow and pleasant wines throughly refined from the Lees His flesh and his bloud were made such a feast for vs though in dressing of them he endured much paine Finally hee was a King and in regard thereof hee is most desireable for his Kingdome is righteousnesse peace Rom. 14.17 and ioy in the boly Ghost Hee is such a King as maketh all his subiects kings and that of the same Kingdome which he himselfe hath euen the Kingdome of Heauen I need say no more to proue that hee is totus desiderabilis altogether desireable But he is more for he is also totum desiderabile all that can be desired which is not granted to any Creature The Scripture labours to make vs vnderstand that all that we seeke out of him is to be found only in him Happy saith Salomon is the man that findeth wisedome and the man that getteth vnderstanding Pro. 3. for the merchandise thereof is better than the merchandise of siluer and her gaine than fine gold hee goeth on and parallels it with all that worldly men desire In Esay cap. 55. you haue the same parallel Ho yee that thirst come vnto the waters Christ himselfe to the Church of Laodicea presseth the same point Reuel 3. Thou thinkest that thou art rich and wantest nothing whereas thou art poore blinde miserable come to me and buy c. When St. Paul Phil. 3. had reckoned vp all his prerogatiues he concludes vers 8. I accompt all these but dung and losse in comparison of the excellent knowledge that is in Christ Iesus But most full is that place of St. Paul 1 Cor. 1. Christ of God is made vnto vs wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption Where obserue how he fitteth vs with supply from Christ as well for the Church Militant as Triumphant In the Church Triumphant we must haue vnderstanding heads and pure hearts that we may see God and enioy him and Christ giueth vs such heads such hearts for hee is made vnto vs wisedome and sanctification As for the Church Militant we neede therein discharge from our sinnes and deliuerance from woe and Christ is made vnto vs righteousnesse that wee may come with boldnesse before the iudgement seate of God and redemption from the curse which is due to the transgressors of the Law Wisd 16.21 So that what the wise man saith of Manna is certainely true of Christ he is vnto euery man what he can reasonably desire hee serues to the appetite of euery eater and is tempered to euery mans liking The Septuagint as if they had intended to teach vs that all things desireable are in him haue vsed the plurall number 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wherefore we conclude that Christ is totum desiderabile and wee may all say with King Dauid What haue I in heauen but thee and what is there in earth that I desire with thee To end this point two things we must learne from this soueraignty of good which are concluded in this one rule Primum in vnoquoque genere est mensura reliquorum seeing Christ is the soueraigne good he must season and stint all our desires Fire is the originall of heate and the Sunne of light and we see that other things haue neyther heat nor light but as they doe partake of fire or the sunne and their measure of both is answerable to the participation of those originals So
his workes which we haue sauour of so great Mysteries for he was an Egyptian and from the Egyptian Priests had the Platonists their more than heathenish Theologie But when the tenne Tribes were carried into Assyria and after them the Iewes into Babylon this mysterie was spread much more by the dispersed of the twelue Tribes whereof there were some dwehing in all Nations vnder heauen as you may gather by comparing St. Lukes words Acts 2. with the entrance to the Epistles of St. Iames and 1 Peter It could not bee but that by these the world should haue some notice of a Messias to come especially after the Bible was translated into Greeke Surely the Sybils wrote so plainely hereof that not onely the Fathers alledge them against the Heathens to proue the comming of Christ but the Latine Poets also relate what they finde in them though they mis-apply it witnesse that Verse Iam noua progenies Coelo demittitur alto Yea they so misapplyed it Baron apparat ad Annal. that sundry did affect a Kingdome in the Common-weale of Rome onely working vpon the common opinion that was in the hearts of men that a great King about that time should be borne into the world Thus farre wee finde in histories that there was an indefinite report of a Messias to come whom the world therefore had an indefinite desire to see But this will not yet satisfie our Prophet and indeede his words are a prophecie rather of that which should be vpon the comming of Christ than a report of that which should be before And not he only but other Prophets testifie that Christ should bee no sooner reuealed vnto but hee should be receiued by the world that the Nations should flocke to him as if they had formerly longed for him The Nations I say in opposition to the Iewes Luke 1. Mat 8. not but that many of the Iewes did looke for him and entertaine him but few in comparison of the Gentiles themselues therefore he was rather the expectation of the Gentiles The Gentiles entertained what the Iewes refused as appeares Acts 13. Rom. 11. and it was foretold Deut. 32. Matth. 8. The propagation of the Gospell amongst the Gentiles was strangely sudden the Psalme compares it vnto the dew Psal 110. The fruit of thy wombe is like the morning dew Malachie to the rising of the Sunne And you know Cap. 60.49.11 that both of them as it were in an instant couer the face of the earth Esay's similies are of a Woman that is deliuered before she is in trauell and of the flocking of Doues vnto their house Zachary tels vs that they should come so fast that the City could not containe them Christ that the kingdome of heauen should suffer violence In Apol. Tertullian reckons vp the Nations which in his daies beleeued and shewes that Christianity had out-spread the Romane Empire Which was the more to be maruelled because the conquest was made by so meane men and that not ouer the bodies Iustin Martyr Dial. cum Tryphon but ouer the soules of them with whom they dealt They subdued the soules of the greatest Potentates and brought them vnder Christ and made the simple pesants that followed the plow to sing hymnes and psalmes vnto his praise And no maruell for the Apostles were inabled to speake to euery Nation in their owne language and their tongues were tipt with the fire of Heauen which suddenly illightned their vnderstandings to whom they preached and filled their hearts with a deuout zeale by this efficacie Christ became the desire of all Nations And vntill wee come thus farre we haue not the full meaning of our Prophet though I haue brought you hereto by many degrees all comprehended vnder common desire A common desire there could not bee except God had purposed that Christ should be a common good neyther could it be that this common good should take place except there were a propension thereunto in men And this propension is euident in the miserie of mans state without Christ more euident in the feeling that man hath thereof the euidence increased when men discouered but an indefinite hearkning after him but it is made compleate when they distinctly discerne him and their affections desire ardently to be partakers of him There is one point more which I may not omit and that is the strange construction of the words in my Text they are desiderium venient the desire they shall come a nowne singular and a verbe plurall There is a mysterie in it As the Articles of our Faith are beyond the strength of nature so doth the holy Ghost often times in vttering them vary from the prescript of Grammar rules I will shew it you in the two first Articles of our Creed The first is of the Trinity of Persons wherein there is an Vnitie of Nature to note this in the beginning of the Bible you haue a plurall nowne ioyned with a verbe singular Elohâ—m bara The second Article is this is Christs incarnation wherein though there bee but one Person yet are there two Natures and to note these two Natures in one Person doth the holy Ghost vse this phrase desiderium venient A significant phrase and puts vs in minde that eyther nature in Christ will not satisfie our desire if hee come only as God his maiestie will be too great for vs to endure if onely as man his infirmity will bee too weake for to relieue vs he that comes must bee both God and man Againe though the natures that come bee two yet is our desire but one because it apprehends them both in one person and it is the vnitie of the person whereupon our desire doth finally rest it selfe But I will conclude This Text doth checke our cold zeale and should make vs blush when we try our selues by it or by them that in the Primitiue times did iustifie the Truth of it their early flocking to pray and to heare their long perseuerance at it and often returnes to it shewed that they delighted to sit vnder the tree of life and that the fruit thereof was sweet vnto their soule they were euen loue-sick with the spouse and their thirstie soules did with King Dauids Cant. 2. Psal 42. like the chased hart breathe as it were and bray after the water brookes Euen in our Fathers daies vpon the reuiuing of Gods truth amongst vs some of this heauenly fire burned in the hearts of our people but it is long since quenched and our liues manifest the difference betweene factus Tertull. and natus Christianus when a man first becomes a Christian hee is at the best and then if euer his soule will poure out those passionate speeches In the way of thy iudgements O Lord haue I watted for thee Esay 26. the desire of my soule is to thy Name and the remembrance of thee with my soule haue I desired thee in the night yea with my spirit within me
the shadow of death yet will I feare no euill if thou O Lord art with me thy rod and thy staffe shall comfort me c. In all assaults of our peace wee shall at last bee conquerors And this is enough ad pacem viatoris to the peace of the Church militant that wee shall neuer so be deiected but we shall haue strength enough to rouse our selues with King Dauid and say as Psalme 42. Why art thou cast downe O my soule and why art thou disquieted within mee hope in God for I shall yet prayse him who is the health of my countenance and my God and be as resolute as St. Paul Rom. 8. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect it is God that iustifieth c. who shall condemne it is Christ that is dead c. with the temptation God will make a way for vs to escape that wee may be able to beare it 1 Cor. 5. Wee may expect no more than this in the Church militant because as Christ came to preach peace so hee came also to send a sword and if the worke of the house prosper in the hand of Zorobabel and Iosua Tobia and Sanballet will impugne it no sooner doth Christ rest gloriously in his Church but there wil be many that will professe enmity against it But the time commeth when all enmitie shall cease all enemies shall be put downe wee shall be fitted for and admitted vnto the sight of God when our glorie shall be consummated and withall our peace bee made perfect so perfect as that it shall be euerlasting What shall we say then to these things Liuie When the Romanes by conquest might haue giuen law to the Grecians at Corinth in the solemne time of the Istmian games their Generall by an Herauld vnexpectedly proclaimed freedome to all the Cities of Greece the proclamation did at first so amaze the Grecians that they did not beleeue it to bee true but when it was proclaimed the second time they gaue such a shout that the very Birds flying in the ayre were astonished therewith and fell dead to the ground Ps 126. Or if you will haue a better storie take that of the Iewes who when at first they heard of Cyrus proclamation and that the Lord thereby had turned the captiuitie of Sion they confesse that at first hearing they were like men that dreamt but afterward their mouth was filled with laughter and their tongue with singing Now the peace that the Grecians and the Iewes had was but a temporall a corporall peace how much more reason is there that our affections should bee strained to the highest pitch of ioy and thankes when wee heare the proclamation of our peace which is so true so perfect peace the peace not of our bodies but of our soules a peace not of our earthly but of our heauenly state a peace that shall so be begun here that it shall endure for euer Wherefore let vs acquaint our selues with God Iob 22. that he may giue vs peace Christs peace Iob 5. which maketh God at peace with vs reconciles vs to our selues and maketh vs at concord with all the world So may we lay our selues downe in peace and take our rest and God which onely can will make vs dwell in safety Psalme 4. NOw the Lord of peace himselfe giue you peace alwaies 2 Thes 3.16 by all meanes Amen THE SIXT SERMON Thus saith the Lord of Hostes. THese words thus saith or saith the Lord of Hosts haue often come in my way since I first beganne the vnfolding of this Text and I still past by them you may thinke I did forget or neglect them but it is not so they are of greater moment than that I should doe the one or the other I reserued them to the last because then I thought I might handle them best For they are the warrant of Gods vndoubted truth and a warrant is then seasonably opened when that whereunto it is annext hath beene fully declared You haue heard of the blessed presence of Christ in Zorobabels Temple of the preparation thereunto of the description thereof the description of the person that should come of the good that he should doe his bountie in giuing set forth first absolutely then comparatiuely the security of his gift consisting in a foure-fold peace These be many they be great blessings lest we should feare that they are too good to bee true our eye must bee vpon the warrant that will ascertaine vs that nothing is promised which shall not be performed In opening of this warrant I shall informe you of two things What it is and Why it is reiterated so often It is the signature of a most powerfull Person There is a double power Internall Externall this Person is mighty in regard of both in regard of the Internall for he is the Lord in regard of the Externall for he is the Lord of Hostes. As for his signature it is such as beseemes so great a Person plaine and peremptorie thus he saith And these words taken ioyntly are the full warrant of the preachers message and the peoples faith He saith enough to assure and command if he say only Thus saith the Lord of Hosts and they must neither dis-beleeue nor disobey if hee say no more The reason why the words are reiterated so often is the weightinesse of the matter expressed in the reiteration The holy Ghost hereby would worke in vs a regard answerable to the matter which hee hath declared to vs and cause vs to ponder it as it deserues Let vs then in the feare of God listen to the vnfolding of those particulars which I haue pointed at whereof the first is the power of the person The first branch of his power is his internall power it is noted by the name Lord. In the originall it is Iehouah and Iehouah is that name which signifieth the first moment of Gods nature for it noteth his being and being goeth before liuing as likewise doe the attributes of being goe before the attributes of liuing the later doe necessarily suppose the former Mistake mee not I meane not that Gods nature is compounded but wee cannot conceiue the onenesse of all his perfections therefore wee helpe our selues in our contemplations by distinguishing them as they are in the creatures which are a shadow of the Creator a shadow like a body which receiues distinct beames from the Sunne all which in the Sunne are but one for so those perfections are but one in God which grow manifold as they come from him to vs. But to our purpose When Moses was desirous to know Gods name the first that he exprest vnto him was this I am or I am that I am the meaning is all one with the title of Iehouah which is here rendred Lord and giueth vs to vnderstand that all other things in comparison vnto God indeed are not though they seeme to be for they haue not the two characters
Exod. 34. the fare Esay 22. both apparrell and fare in Ioel Ioel 2. Ionah 2. and in Ionas the couch is added to them Amos 6. We must then note that euery thing hath his appointed time Eccles 3. and it is not a sinne to be drowsie for nature requireth refreshing but to bee drowsie at an vnseasonable time when grace doth not ouerrule nature and the body is not made seruiceable to the soule willing to do her duety to God this is a sinnefull drowsinesse And such was the drowsinesse of the Apostles and it was extraordinarily in them for the Text doth amplifie their sinne by two circumstances first of the time then of the persons the time the space of one houre When God requireth that our bodies should attend our soules though he did require more time in that attendance than reason conceiueth can stand with the strength of nature we should not sticke at it because the same God that strengthened Moses in the Mount twice to fast forty dayes and forty nights and Elias not onely to fast but also to walke so many dayes without eyther sleepe or meate can support vs employed in his seruice so long as therein hee is pleased to employ vs. But if he limit the time within the strength of our fraile nature what excuse haue we if we faile in our duety the time required of the Apostles was but an houre and who doth not vpon all occasions of profit and pleasure put off his sleepe more than an houre The couetous man riseth early and goeth late to bed to increase his wealth the voluptuous man in gaming and rioting is well content to adde the night vnto the day and though it be a winter night the ambitious will be contented to trauaile in it rather than misse the preferment whereunto he doth aspire And doth not then the naturall man condemn the spirituall when the one watcheth so long and the other cannot watch so short a time But why seeke I so farre the Apostles are condemned by their very enemies Vt iugulent homines surgunt de nocte latrones Vt teipsum serues non expergisceris the high Priests sate vp all this night in consultation Iudas and their seruants were busie all night about the execution of their wicked designes the Apostles cannot watch no not an houre will not their enemies rise vp against them condemne their drowsinesse They will especially if this houre were the very first houre of the night which might best be spared for the farther the night goeth on the more weaknesse commeth on and lesse blameable is drowsinesse in the dead than in the beginning of the night now happily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an Hebraisme and is put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 elsewhere so that it noteth not onely the space of an houre but also pointeth out which houre it was but howsoeuer wee vnderstand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is out of all question that the Disciples drowsinesse ouertooke them the very first houre which addeth much to the aggrauating of their fault As the circumstance of time so also of persons makes to the amplification of the sinne as well the persons who are drowsie as his person in whose company they were so First of the drowsie persons they were the Apostles all the Apostles were drowsie but Christ singled out three Peter Iames and Iohn to accompany him vnto that place in the Garden in which himselfe chose to pray wherein Christ shewed that hee had more than an ordinary conceit of them and did expect more than ordinary seruice from them And well might it be so for hee had shewed them more fauour than the rest they onely were with him when hee was transfigured in the Mount and saw his glory As he shewed them most fauour so they were most forward to offer their seruice St. Peter Mat. 16.33 Though all the world be offended with thee yet will not I be offended Iames and Iohn Matth. 20.22 Wee 〈◊〉 drinke of the Cup whereof thou shalt drinke and bee baptized with the Baptisme wherewith thou shalt be baptised Had they been only Disciples they were bound to doe what their Master commanded but the more trust he reposed in them the lesse were they to faile him especially seeing they were so farre indebted for extraordinary fauour and had vowed their liues in his defence all these things are included in the drowsie persons necessary voluntary obligations but neither worke though there was so much reason why they should yet did not these Apostles Watch nothing is remarkeable in their persons that makes not their drowsinesse more inexcusable And if their sinne bee amplified by their owne persons how much more by the person of Christ it was a fault not to watch in danger a greater fault not to watch the space of one houre especially seeing they were Apostles such Apostles but what accesse is made to this sinne when they neglect to watch in the company of their Sauiour Had Christ sent them alone to the place then because of Vaesoli this fall had not been strange for it is not strange to see a man disheartened with danger and ouerwhelmed with woe but Christ went with them his presence was enough to keepe them in heart Though I walke saith Dauid in the middest of the valley of death I will feare no euill for thou art with mee O Lord thy rod and thy staffe shall comfort mee Psal 23. and this good Shepheard was now with the Apostles why then were their hearts heauie Nay he was not onely with them but he was watching and praying and was not his example a strong meanes to keep them from being drowsie As iron whetteth iron so doth the face of a friend quicken his friend Had he been onely a companion in the work their eyes should haue been on him they should haue blushed not to imitate him but hee was their Captaine their Master and what a shame for a Seruant to sleepe when his Master waketh and when his Master watcheth to shew himselfe drowsie And yet this commeth not home enough for this Companion yea this Captaine did watch did pray for them it was for them that he stood out he presented himselfe to God and prepared himselfe for the Crosse but he did both for them himselfe needed neither we wretched sinners needed both God layed our burthen vpon him our teares our sighes our groanes our stripes our death It is a generall rule of Piety that we should weepe with them that weepe how much more should we be affected with the like passion if any one bee distressed for vs It was a strange stupidity in Ionas when God pursued him with a tempest to get vnder hatches and there sleepe securely while the poore Mariners toyled out their bodies in rowing and brake their hearts in praying to their gods to free them from the tempest how much more stupid are these Apostles who lay them downe to rest
the Lord and wee must with him answer for our selues I will take the cup of saluation and praise the name of the Lord vnto this end is this Sacrament called the Eucharist Thus Christ conscerateth the Elements But why what good came to the elements by consecration surely much good for they are made the body and the bloud of Christ so saith Iesus This is my body this is my blood The interpretation of these words is much controuerted and it is much disputed What change of the Elements the wordes of Christ did make for that Christ changed the bread when he consecrated it wee make no doubt Whereas then there are three things in bread and wine 1. the name 2. the vse and 3. the substance wee confesse a change in the two first but deny it in the third First wee confesse a change in the name directed by St. Austines rule Ad Bonisaâ— ep 23. Because of a similitude Sacraments commonly beare the names of the things themselues the Sacrament of Christs body is after a sort the body of Christ and the Sacrament of Christ blood is after a sort the blood of Christ Of St. Aducrsus Iudaeos Austins opinion in our case was Tertullian Christ saith hee calleth bread his body And Cyprian the signifying elements and the thing signified De â—nctione Chrismatis are caded by the same name Our Sauiour saith Theodoret changed the names and called the signe by the name of his body Ambrose Chrysostome Ambros de Sacraments l. 5. c. 4. Chrysost ad 〈◊〉 sarios â—â—â—nachos and others might bee alledged to this purpose Secondly wee acknowledge a change in the vse of the Elements for there must be some ground for which the signes may beare the names of the things themselues and that is The vertue the power the operation of the flesh and bloud of Christ beeing mystically vnited to the signes doe in a wonderfull sort manifest these things by the signes through the operation of the Holy Ghost This we learne of St. Cyprian De â—nctione Chrismatis to the Element once sanctified not now their own nature giueth the effect but the diuine vertue worketh in them more mightily the truth is present with the signe and the spirit with the Sacrament De Sacramentis l. 4. c. 4. so that the worthinesse of the grace appeareth by the efficiency of the thing Ambrose also If there be so great strength in the word of the Lord Iesus that all things beganne to be when they were not how much more shall it bee of force that the mysticall Elements should bee the same they were before and yet be changed into another thing Theodoret. The signes which are seene Christ hath honoured with the names of his body and blood not changing the nature but adding grace vnto nature Thus farre wee goe in acknowledging a change of the Elements by consecration farther we goe not wee acknowledge no change in the substance of the nature of the Elements De Sacramentis l. 4. c. 3. and herein we are guided by the Fathers also Ambrose Thou camst to the Altar and sawest the Sacraments thereon and wondredst at the very ereature De Coena Domini and yet it is a solemne and a knowne creature Cyprian After consecration the Element is deliuered from the name of bread and reputed worthy to bee called the body of the Lord notwithstanding the nature of the bread still remaines Ad Coesarios Monacbos Chrysostome The substantiall bread and cup sanctified with a solemne blessing is profitable for the life and safegard of the whole man To proue this the Fathers vse to parallel the Sacrament and the Person of Christ De ieiunio 7. mensis in their disputes against Eutyches Gelasius As the bread and wine after consecration are changed and altered into the body and blood of Christ Dialogo secundo so is the humane nature of Christ changed into his diuine Theodoret hath the same parallel and so hath St. Austine as hee is cited de Consecratione distinctione secunda Hoc est quod dico Now a generall Councell not onely particular Fathers haue resolued that both natures continue in Christs person vnaltered so doe their properties so doe their actions only this honour the diuine doth to the humane nature that as it hath associated it into one person so doth it manifest her properties by it and performe her actions Euen so is it in the Sacrament the heauenly the earthly thing are both vnited to make one Sacrament but each keepeth vnaltered its owne nature properties and actions onely the heauenly doth worke by the earthly and doth not ordinarily without it manifest its operation If in the person of Christ there was no alteration of the diuine nature though the Scripture say the word was made flesh much lesse may we dreame of any alteration in the earthly part of the Sacrament though it be said the bread is the body and the wine is the blood of Christ Out of this distinction of changing of the Elements you may perceiue that Christs consecration was effectuall though not effectuall to Transubstantiation For in a sacramentall argument both substances must remaine and by reason of the mysticall vnion Disparats may be affirmed the one of the other without absurditie Whether the sacramentall vnion doe require moreouer a Consubstantiation may also here be disputed for some vrge it out of these words But their answer is briefly this The earthly and the heauenly thing may bee conioyned really though not locally And as they may be conioyned so they may bee receiued seeing the proper Exhibiter of the heauenly is the Holy Spirit and the Receiuer is our faith Our faith may ascend to Christ in heauen and the Spirit beeing infinite may vnite vs vnto Christ though we be as low as the earth Whereas then the words may haue their truth without any recourse to a miracle or contradicting any other Article of faith or forcing strange senses vpon other passages of Scripture we content our selues with this mysticall relatiue vnion and forbeare all other vnnecessary speculations Although we must needs confesse that the words make more for Consubstantiation than they make for Transubstantiation We confesse then that in the Sacrament there is the body and blood of Christ and that three manner of waies though we admit neyther of the two false waies Transubstantiation and Consubstantiation First in regard of the signe for it was not chosen for it selfe but with reference to Christ Secondly in regard of the resemblance it doth most fitly set forth the efficacy that is in Christ the strengthning the cheering efficacie you heard before out of the 104th Psalme that those properties are in bread and wine Strength is eyther increased or recouered and cheerefulnesse followeth eyther vpon the recouered or increased strength wee are Babes and must grow in Christ we are Souldiers and lose blood in his quarrell we must finde that which
conquest did attend his Chariot and were disposed at his pleasure Lo here our Sauiour Christ his person is lifted vp on high and it doth not ascend single but leades captiuitie captiue and diuideth the spoyle He gaue gifts to men such an Ascension was a Triumph indeed And as it was a Triumph so was it a deserued one for Christ descended before he ascended yea he ascended not so high but he descended as low for he that ascended aboue all heauens descended before to the lower parts of the earth the same person did both and so became the Ascension the reward of his descension And so haue you the Contents of the first branch of my Text whereof I shall now God willing vnfold so many as the time will permit I beginne at the Gift And the gift is called grace and grace is a free gift it is such a gift as can neyther bee deserued before hand nor bee required after it is receiued Between men there passe three sorts of gifts The first is Salarium when a man giueth that which another hath earned of which the rule is The labourer is worthy of his hyre such a gift grace is not for though God impose workes vpon vs yet are they not as they ought done by any of vs Adam failed much more doe we we can claime no salarie The second kinde of gift is Honorarium it is such a gift as testifieth the inferiours reuerent regard of his superiours eminencie such a gift grace is not for if the Angels light be darkenesse in comparison of God and their perfection is imperfection as Iob teacheth how vile and base is man who is but dust and wormes meat there is nothing which God should honour in him The third gift is called Eleemosynarium the almes which the rich giues to the poore this comes nearest to the nature of grace and yet it comes farre short of it For the rich are bound to relieue the poore partly by Gods Law and partly out of a consideration reflecting vpon themselues that be they neuer so rich they may become poore and stand in neede of the same reliefe which they afford to others But God is bound to none neyther can he possibly neede the helpe of any therefore his gift and only his is properly grace and comes within St. Austines definition that tels vs that Non est gratia vllo modo si non sit omni modogratuita no gift deserues the name of grace except it be absolutely free and such are Gods gifts The more are we indebted if we receiue them and the lesse proud should wee bee for whereof should he be proud whose tenure is altogether pura perpetua Eleemosyna meere Almes and the most free Charity of God Nay the very word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Loue of God for the Gift proceeding from loue doth put vs in mind that our eyes should not be fixt so much on that which we haue as on him that gaue it and we must not take so much content in our owne state as in his fauour But it is moreouer to be noted that grace in the Scripture is contradistinct to nature and the workes thereof are different from those of the creation and preseruation of the world It is true that all the workes of God wherein hee doth communicate of his goodnesse vnto the world spring freely from his fauour for hee might haue chosen whether hee would at all haue made the world or bestowed such excellent endowments vpon any man but yet the Holy Ghost is pleased to vnderstand this word of those blessings which belong to the second Couenant the Couenant of the Gospel it is an Euangelicall word and signifieth only those gifts wherein the Euangelicall Couenant doth consist and whereby it is furthered They are of two sorts in the Schooles the one is called gratia gratum faciens the other gratia gratis data not but that both are gratis datae freely giuen for in that respect the members of the Distinction are coincident but because they are not reciprocall all grace that is freely giuen is not that grace which doth recommend vs vnto God This is the peculiar of the grace of adoption the grace of aedification reacheth not so farre But that which we must principally note is the heeding of the Pelagians Heresie who confounded nature with grace and grace with nature who as they did too shallowly thinke of the Fall so they did derogate much from the fauour which God vouchsafed in restoring of man But we must learne as to neglect no gift of God so to set a right estimate vpon the gifts of the Gospel these gifts are by an excellencie called Grace And thus much of the nature of Grace wee come now to the property thereof which is to fill Some refer this word vnto the person of Christ as if that did fill all places and indeed it liued on earth descended into hell and so did enter into heauen it was successiuely in euery of these places Others straine it too farre that would haue the Manhood to communicate with the Deity in vbiquitie and to be at the same time in euery place But as we grant Attributa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that supernaturall endowments in the highest degree were conferred vpon the Manhood of Christ so may we not admit any Attributa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therein we may acknowledge no Attributes that destroy the nature of his Manhood the truth of his Manhoode is the greatest comfort of a Christian whether wee respect what he hath done for vs or the blessed conformitie that we shall haue to him It is true that these words of filling doe concerne Christs Manhoode or rather his person as hee was no lesse man than God for it speaketh of some thing that Christ did after his Resurrection there is no doubt but he filled all things with his Godhead before which is euer infinite but the Manhood making one person hath diuers prerogatiues by vertue of the Hypostaticall vnion First it is euery where present though not with yet to his Godhead and Christus is totus vbique though totum Christi is not vbique the whole person fils heauen and earth though the manhoode be finite Secondly both the natures are associat in their Actions the Manhood is priuie vnto and consents with the Godhead in all the works of Christ yea and the merit of Christ whereunto the Manhood concurred doth moderate all the Actions of the Mediatour Thus farre wee may safely speake of an Vbiquity of Christ but the proper sense of this place is not of the person but the worke it is true that he that fils is Christ but that wherewith he fils is his grace And grace is the only thing that fils And it fils two manner of waies first sistendo appetitum for whereas all other things which wee desire grow quickly loathsome and tedious vnto vs and wee are faine to shift because wee
finde wee haue not lighted vpon that which should giue vs content as we may gather out of the Preachers censure Vanitie of vanities and all is but vanity when wee come to grace there wee rest St. Austine giues the reason of it Fecisti nos Domine propter te irrequietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te and K. Dauid expresseth it most passionately Psal 73. Whom haue I in heauen but thee and there is none vpon earth that I desire besides thee my flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for euer And no wonder for nothing can giue constant content but that which is verum and summum bonum that which is good indeed and is our soueraigne good these are found only in God none finde them but they that partake of him Secondly the same grace that doth sistere appetitum doth also explere as it doth giue vs content in that we desire no other thing so of that only we may haue our fill Other things are not onely worse than that wee principally desire but they are lesse and we therefore doe loath them not because they are not good at all for they are the creatures of God and they are made for our vse but because they beare not proportion vnto our desire when we haue them we finde a great want of something else besides them let a man haue all the riches in the world all the honour yea all the wisedome they will not satisfie him yea let euery power haue his distinct obiect yet they will not satisfie him There is a common obiect that they all desire and which onely can fill them the desire of them all and that is Grace Grace is the fulnesse of God as the Apostle cals it Ephes 3.19 and the Prophesies of grace doe promise fulnesse Ieremie 21. God will not onely prepare a table for vs but our cup shall ouerflow Psal 23. here we hunger and thirst for a time but if grace be our portion we shall be satisfied and we shall be admitted to the tree of life and drinke our fill of the riuers of Gods pleasure But I told you that this which you haue heard is nothing else but a Periphrasis of the Spirit for the filling grace is nothing else but the Holy Ghost This day as we read Acts 2. when hee came he filled and filled not only with the Type but also with the Truth That you may vnderstand this you must obserue that as Christ our Passeouer was sacrificed iust at the time of the legall Passeouer and as he became the first fruits of them that stept rising that very day that the first fruits were offered euen so the Spirit was giuen vpon the very same day when God with his owne mouth pronounced the Law in the hearing of the People the mysterie whereof was this that man can neuer haue the benefit of the Law but by the grace of the Spirit iustifying him by faith and making him a new man But by the Spirit we must vnderstand not only the grace but the person also or else it will neuer fill For as the corne that is sowne is but a small graine but being watered with the dewe of Heauen and comforted with the Sunne it comes to a full eare euen so grace when it beginnes in man it is very scant there must bee some bodie to foster and cherish it that it may come to perfection and that is the Spirit And herein appeares a difference betweene Adam created and Adam restored Adam created was furnished with grace and being so furnished was left to himselfe whereupon he quickely became an vnthrift and brought to nought that portion which he receiued of his heauenly Father but being restored he is better prouided for hee hath the person of the Spirit bestowed vpon him as a liuing roote so that although hee haue his Winters and his Autumne he doth not alwaies spring nor is alwaies loaden with good fruit yet he hath life in the roote which will shute forth againe and he that seemes to be dead will reuiue and like corne that stockes better when it is nipt with frost will afterward beare the more fruit You haue heard the Gift what it is now heare of the Giuer and the Giuer is Christ Christ is the Giuer of the Spirit duplici iure originis meriti in that the Spirit doth proceede from him so he is said to bestow him because ordo ad extra is answerable vnto ordo ad intra He hath also a right by merit he deserued in doing the worke of a Redeemer to haue the bestowing of the Spirit in this later sense must wee vnderstand it in this place and of this sense in the next part of the text And here we must consider the difference betweene the Hebrew of the old Testament and the Greek of the new Accepit dona saith the Psalmist Dedit dona saith the Apostle They are easily reconciled if you marke Christs second power of giuing the Holy Ghost for Accepit quae daret accepit ex merito quae daret ex arbitrio therefore St. Austine saith well Vtroque verbo altero Prophetico Apostolico altero plenissimus sensus redditur The Apostles are the best Commentators vpon the Prophets and when we parallel texts that are found in both wee must not oppose the one to the other but expound the one by the other which we may safely doe because in vtroque est diuini sermonis auctoritas as the same Father speaketh Seeing then Christ receiueth what he giues receiues of his Father what he giues to vs these words must be vnderstood of Christ incarnate as God he could not receiue because he had all things wherefore if he receiue it must be as he became man so indeed he was Christus anointed and his name was as an oyntment poured out Cant. 1. the precious oyntment poured on his head ran downe vnto the very skirts of his cloathing hee was made the Sonne of righteousnesse and became the father of lights precious promises are giuen vnto vs by him and of his fulnesse we all receiue grace for grace Finally we must marke that though hee receiued as he was Incarnate yet he giues as he is God for though Accipere be meriti humani yet Dare is potestatis diuinae though in neither giuing nor taking wee must seuer the person yet must wee in eyther obserue which nature is principally respected As Christ is the giuer of the Spirit so doth he giue him discreetly and vniuersally discreetly for he giues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee keepes a measure in his giuing There is this difference betweene the Head and the Body of the Church the Head hath the Spirit without all measure but the members of the Body haue it in measure neither doth this argue any impotency in Christ the Giuer but his wisedome It is true that as it is in Christs power to giue or not
place of mortality But enough of the place Christ ascended not onely in place but in state also in a blessed place he had a blessed state and his state is reduced to two branches Glory and Power for he sate downe on the right hand of God and the right hand of God singifieth both first glory They that come neare in place to the person of a King come neare also in glory and dignity vnto him St. Paul saith he was receiued vp into glory Dauid Psal 8. he was crowned with glory and worship The Author to the Hebrewes he is set downe at the right hand of Maiesty farre aboue all powers and principalities hauing a Name giuen him aboue all names And this is opposed to the forme of a seruant which Christ tooke in the dayes of his flesh while hee was in the world he emptied himselfe of glory and made himselfe of no reputation becomming as the scorne of men and out-cast of the people not a house to hide his head but after the Resurrection he appeares in another habit In the first of the Reuelation and other passages of that Booke Iohn saw him as the King of Glory and the Fathers interpret those words in the Psalme Be opened O ye gates and be ye lifted vp ye euer lasting doores and the King of glory shall come in of the Ascension of Christ and entring into his glory for then did he lift vp himselfe aboue the Heauens and his glory aboue all the Earth As his state was full of glory so was it also of power for all power was then giuen vnto him both in heauen and earth and all knees bowed vnto him all things were put vnder his feet and he became King of kings and Lord of lords Heb. 4. yea he heares vp all things with the word of his power it usharper than any two-edged sword The Psalmist compares it to sharpe arrowes Psal 45. he hath an tron scepter in his hand wherewith he breakes the wicked as a Potters vessell finally he reignes in the middest of his enemies And this power is opposed to that weaknesse wherein he appeared in the dayes of his flesh the condition of that time is amply set downe Esay 53. wherein you shall see nothing but passion and subiection and the Gospell confirmes that Prophesie wherein you shall finde that from the day of his birth vntill the moment that he gaue vp the ghost Christ endured as if hee were the subiect of euery wicked mans blasphemous tongue or bloudy hands but the case is now altered for his enemies are now the patients and he the agent they are subiect vnto him and hee can as hee will bridle and crush them for his Kingdome is ouer all This is the summe of the Exaltation of Christs person and our nature in his person for hee made vs sit with himselfe in heauenly places that will appeare better in the second part of the Triumph Wherein I noted two particulars the first was that the monuments of the Conquest did attend the chariot of the Conquerour Incedunt vinctae longo ordine gentes Quam vartae linguis habitu tam vestis armis to this allude these words He led captiuity captiue and indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 notes that which is taken by force 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ was the Lyon of the tribe of Iudah and Esay cap. 63. he is described as a glorious Conquerour Shah the prey be taken from the mighty or the captiuity of the iust be deliuered Thus saith the Lord the captiues of the mighty shall be taken away and the prey of the terrible shall be deliuered Esay 49. Christ the stronger man entered the strong mans house he bound him he rifled him But St. Austin on these words obserues a distinction of captiues and captiuity In Psal 67. Austin on these words obserues a distinction of captiues and captiuity there is inuolunt aria captiuit as and voluntaria whereof the former is misera the later faelix the fiends of Hell were taken captiues Christ triumphed ouer them and made a shew openly of them and the children of God were taken captiues Col. 2. 1. Pet. 2. 2. Cor. 10. for they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a purchased people And St. Paul tels vs that the weapons of his spirituall warfare are mighty through God to the pulling downe of strong holds casting downe imaginations and euery high thing that exalteth it selfe against the knowledge of God and bringing into captiuity euery thought to the obedience of Christ The children of God are deliuered from captiuity but to continue captiues still for they must take vpon them Christs yoake and they must account themselues not their owne but his The very same doth St. Paul meane Rom. 6. when he saith that of seruants of sinne we are made seruants to righteousnesse for servus and captivus are Synonoma's But betweene these captiues there is this difference that the first are vnwillingly captiues and in their captiuity are miserable for they are reserued in chaines of darknesse for the iudgement of the great day and they take little content in this thraldome But as for the children of God they are glad that they haue so changed their Master and well they may be for they are made happy by the change for their seruice is perfect liberty and what can our heart more desire In this difference captiuity being vnderstood of both sorts it is true that they attend Christs chariot the wicked vincti as Prisoners the godly coronati as being Conquerours for what Christ did hee did for them and there is a sense thereof in euery one of them But how is this true that eyther the one or the other are so captiues seeing this our Apostle in this very Epistle doth tell vs Cap. 6. that we striue not with flesh and bloud but with powers and principalities and spirituall wickednesse in heauenly places We must therefore obserue that Christ hath taken away from Sathan two things ius in nos and dominium in nobis His right vnto vs hath Christ taken away absolutely in his owne person for Christ hath the keyes of death and hell and Sathan cannot stirre but when and as farre as Christ giues him leaue As for dominium in nobis Christ hath taken that away by putting his spirit into vs and thereby mortifying the old man but yet so that wee still consist as well of the old as of the new the flesh rebels against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh Thus Christ is pleased to exercise vs that wee may imitate his Triumph and by experience of our trampling vpon Sathan be vndoubtedly assured that Christ hath bruised his head St. Paul was buffeted by a messenger of Sathan he prayed and Christ answered him My grace is sufficient for thee my strength is made perfect in weaknesse If we would but resist the Deuill he would fly from vs if we would resist I say stedfast in faith
into the lowest part of the earth not onely to the earth the lowest part of the world but euen to the lowest part of the earth for wee say in our Creed He descended into Hell he tooke his rising from the lowest place to ascend into the highest And herein doth Christ reade a good Lecture to vs hee teacheth vs that Humility is the way to glory and the more we are humbled the more wee shall be exalted Adam and Angels were both ambitious both did desire to climbe but they mistooke their rising and so in climbing tooke grieuous falls If wee would climbe without a fall wee must learne to climbe of Christ so shall wee bee sure to tread the steppes of Iacobs Ladder which from earth will reach as high as heauen I may not omit to obserue that the Apostle speakes significantly when hee saith that He that ascended is the same also that descended Non ascendit alius licet aliter Nestorius was condemned for an Hereticke who distracted Christs two natures and made of them two persons but as it is Gods truth so it is our great comfort that the person is but one and these are the workes of one and the selfe same person they both concerne the same person in the nature which hee tooke from vs Hee that was humbled is the same person that was exalted And so will God deale with vs crowne no other person than him that doth conflict and in the depth of our Humiliation euery one of vs may say with Iob Chapt. 19. Though after my skinne wormes destroy this body yet in my flesh I shall see God Non alius Sed aliter though the same person of Christ ascended which descended yet hee ascended otherwise than hee descended for hee descended Metaphysically ascended Physically hee descended not by changing of place but of state the Godhead that is infinite could change no place but it could exinnanite it selfe and become of a worse condition than it was But in the Ascension the person changed place the manhood remoued from earth to heauen hee that in his Incarnation being onely God became man in his Ascension went into heauen God and man hee that to make way to his passion suspended the influence of his Godhead into his Manhood did in his Ascension permit the one to indowe the other so far as a Creature was capable of the influence of his Creatour And wee shall ascend though not other men yet otherwise than wee descend wee descended morally but wee shall ascend physically in our descending wee put on other affections than before wee had wee exchange our naturall pride for Christian humility but in our Ascension wee shall change our place remoue out of this wildernesse into Canaan from earth to Heauen and the same God that is pleased here for a time to make vs sowe in teares will then yeeld vs a plentifull haruest which wee shall reape in ioy wee shall then see the fulnesse of his loue towards vs which too vsually wee misdeeme by reason of the Crosse which hardly can wee conceiue that it can stand with his good will towards vs Castigo te non quod odio habeam sed quod amem is a proposition more true than euident the combination is so strange that it is no wonder if we be hard of beleefe but God will then cleare it and we shall confesse we had no reason to discredit it One Note more and so an end Before you heard of Grace now you see that grace is a spoile a spoile taken from that enemy that tyrannized ouer vs and this is no small improuement of grace Before you heard that grace did fill vs but now you see that wee were captiues and the condition of captiues is to endure hunger nakednesse all kinde of miserie and how welcome is that grace that fils such empty persons Before you heard that this grace was a gift but here you finde that Christ payed dearely for it the more it cost him the more precious should it bee in our eyes What shall I say then to you but wish you to couple this third Sermon with the first that you may bee more feeling of the loue of God in Christ O Lord that wouldest descend before thou diddest ascend grant that wee may make our way through Humility to Glory giue vs grace to consummate thy Triumph by manfully resisting and conquering of Sathan Let vs not feare to tread on him whom thou hast disarmed yea enrich vs wee beseech thee with the spoyles which thou hast taken from him and make vs euer willing and deuout captiues of thine Let it neuer grieue vs to serue thee who hast so mercifully saued vs Let vs now ascend in heart whither we hope to ascend in place and so prepare vs on earth by a holy conuersation that wee may partake with Christ of a happy condition in the kingdome of Heauen Amen IHS A SERMON PREACHED IN WESTMINSTER BEfore his Matie the Lords and others of the vpper House of Parliament at the opening of the Fast Iulie 2. 1625. 1 KINGS cap. 8. vers 37 38 39 40. If there bee in the Land famine if there bee pestilence blasting mildew locust if there bee Caterpillers if the enemie besiege them in the Lund of their Cities Whatsoeuer plague whatsoeuer sickenesse there be What prayer and supplication soeuer bee made by any man or by all thy people Israel which shall know euery man the plague of his own heart and spread forth his hands towards this House Then heare thou in Heauen thy dwelling place and forgiue and doe and giue to euery man according to his wayes whose heart thou knowest For thou euen thou onely knowest the hearts of all the children of men That they may feare thee all the daies that they liue in the Land which thou gauest to our Fathers THese words are a Clause of that Prayer wherewith King Salomon did dedicate the Temple and expresse that vse thereof which commeth very neare our present case Our case is twofold we suffer from Gods wrath wee are suppliants to Gods mercy And lo two like cases are presented in these words the case of Sufferers verse 37. and in the three next verses the case of Suppliants But more distinctly to rip vp the Text We will consider therein first the manner of the deliuerie and secondly the matter that is deliuered The Manner it is a Prayer the words are conceiued in that forme In the Matter we shall see 1. Whom these words concerne and 2. Wherein they doe concerne them Those whom they concerne are the inhabitants of Canaan the children of Israel the People of God this you may gather out of the 37. and 38. Verses And they concerne them in two maine Points for they shew first that they may vnderlye the heauie hand of God secondly that they must then haue recourse vnto the Throne of Grace The heauie hand of God is here set downe first definitely it may afflict Israel eyther only in
in Baptisme which is a conformitie to Christ dying and rising from the dead In a word all Christs commandements are eyther affirmatiue or negatiue In regard of the affirmatiue wee must imitate Dauid a man after Gods owne heart Acts 13. who did facere omnes voluntates Dei doe all that which God would haue him doe And touching the negatiue wee must imitate the same Dauid who saith of himselfe that All wicked wayes he did vtterly abhorre Psal 119. If thus we liue we shall doe as we pray Gods will in earth as it is done in heauen But who can doe so it is more than is possible for this fraile life wherefore we may vnderstand All two manner of wayes secundum partes and secundum gradus According to the parts of our duety wee must omit no part but must exercise our selues in euery thing which Christ requires As for the degrees though we must striue to attaine the highest yet if we reach not so farre we must not despaire Austin Quisquis non potest implere quod iubet Christus amet eum qui impleuit in illo implet that which was impossible for the Law by reason of the weaknesse of our flesh Rom. 8. God sending his sonne in the similitude of our flesh for sinne condemned sinne in the flesh that the righteousnesse of the Law might bee fulfilled in vs Cap. 19. which walke not according to the flesh but according to the spirit Hitherto you haue seene how the Minister must praeire praecepto lead the people by good Instruction now see in a word how hee must lead them by good Example The commandements that Christ gaue he gaue to the Apostles meaning that they should make vse of them themselues as well as perswade the people to it St. Paul vnderstood it so who saith of himselfe 1 Cor. 9. I beate downe my body and bring it vnder lest when I preach vnto others my selfe become a Reprobate and biddeth Timothie bee an example to his flocke we must not be like Scribes and Pharisees Mat. 23. that bound heauie burdens and layd them vpon the peoples shoulders whereat they would not lift with one of their fingers It is too foule a reproach for a Minister so by his liuing to contradict his preaching as to deserue to be replyed vnto in that Prouerbe Medice cura teipsum and so destroy more than he can build This dishonour I wish you to auoyd And so at length I haue done with the Charge come we now to the Comfort That I told you standeth in the powerfull and perpetuall presence and assistance of Christ Christs presence is noted by Ego vobiscum I am with you which doth shew vs the truth of Christs name Immanuel God with vs Mat. 1. Esay 8. the Holy Land was called Terra Immanuel the Land of God is with vs and because that was but a Type look into the place where God put his name Ezekiel in the vision of the new Hierusalem telleth vs that the name of that Citie is Iehoua shamma Cap. 48. Dominus ibi the Lord is there both in the new Testament and in the old that saying of Wisedome in the Prouerbs cap. 8. is receiued My delight is to be with the sonnes of men But how can Christ which is ascended into heauen be with them vpon earth the name of Christ containeth the Manhood as well as the Godhead now the Manhood is finite therfore cannot be both in Heauen Earth True the Manhood cannot but the Man may No man saith Christ Iohn 3. ascendeth vnto heauen but hee that descended from heauen the sonne of man which is in heauen this Christ spake when he was vpon the earth If the sonne of man could bee in heauen while Christ was on the earth surely the sonne of man may bee on the earth while Christ is in heauen We must vnderstand it of the Person which is but one though two Natures subsist therein and both natures concurre in the production of the seuerall workes of the Mediator in a manner which wee cannot conceiue But we must take heede of the Lutherans racking of this conceipt who would make the Humanitie of Christ to haue a double existence one finite which they call Physicall the other infinite which they call Hyperphysicall which distinction is such as I thinke themselues doe not vnderstand I am sure they doe not expresse it so that it may bee conceiued no more doe Papists that to beare out Transubstantiation haue coined the like But to leaue them Christ that is man is present euery where though not in his Manhood yet in his Godhead If this bee too obscure take a plainer manner his Presence by his Holy Spirit Misit Vicarium spiritum sanctum as Tertullian speaketh If I go not away saith Christ the Comforter will not come Iohn 14. but if I goe I will send him to you from my Father and where the Spirit is there is Christ St. Iohn teacheth vs so By this wee know that he abideth in vs by the Spirit that he hath giuen vnto vs. 1 Epist 3. But it is not a bare presence that we haue to doe withall I told you it is a powerfull presence the word Ego I must bee vnderstood with an Emphasis I that haue all power giuen mee both in heauen and earth that haue ouercome the world in my owne person and in my own person cast out the Prince of this world that haue all iudgement giuen vnto me from the Father whom all the Angels doe worship And indeede the Presence of such a person was behoofefull whether you respect those to whom they were sent or that which they were to doe the Apostles though they carried heauenly treasures it was but in earthen vessels themselues were but plain men of no great parts nor parentage in outward shew likely not only to be scorned but also to be persecuted when they had deliuered their message the Dragon and all his Angels were like fiercely to oppose them ea Christ told them that he sent them as sheepe amongst wolues And how vnlikely might they thinke themselues to preuaile with all sorts of men and perswade them to forsake their Idolatry and turne to God to beleeue in Christ crucified take vp their crosse and follow him The vndergoing of such a danger the compassing of such a designe require a powerfull Presence without which the Apostles would neuer haue ventared to vndertake their charge When God bid Moses goe to Pharaoh and command him to let Israel goe out of Captiuitie how doth he excase himselfe dis-inable himselfe what adoe hath God with him nothing could put him in heart but Ero tecum I will be with thee Exod. 3.12 that so emboldned him that being but a single and a silly man at least the companie that hee tooke with him were of no great regard yet they ventured into Pharaohs Court into his presence and without feare of him or his greatnesse deliuered
spirituall which a Pastor hath from Christ with the temporall which he deriueth from Princes the confusion hath shed much Christian blood and we must take notice of this that we neuer be engaged in the like vniust quarrell But enough of the Historie There is a mysticall meaning which the holy Ghost aymeth at in mentioning the Staffe and that is the Analogie betweene the care that is taken for irrationall sheepe and that which must bee taken for the rationall God that trusteth Princes and Pastors with the gouernment of his people will haue them to set before their eyes a Iacob feeding Labans sheepe or a faithfull Shepheards care and thereof doth he put them in minde in this phrase But I forget my principall Note I told you that the Staffe is the Hieroglyphick of power and indeed power is here meant Virga potentiae as it is called in the tenth Psalme it is a Rod of power the titles that are giuen vnto Pastors they all sound superioritie Episcopus Oeconomus Bishop Steward Leader Architect Ghostly father This cannot bee denied vnto the Pastor of whom this Text speaketh who as you haue heard is not Seruus but Dominus is Lord of the house and therefore rules 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with soueraigntie and with power Touching the Seruants there may bee some question because to them is committed onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are onely Ministers But their Ministrie must not be mistaken for it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they doe administer indeede but it is the power of Christ that they administer so saith Christ himselfe As my father sent me so send I you A Steward is a seruant in a house but such a seruant as vnder the master commands the whole familie wee are Stewards the Keyes are committed vnto vs we are to rule not to be ruled by the people But this Power brancheth it selfe into two parts for there is baculus directionis and baculus correctionis the Pastors power is first to teach the people their dutie they must receiue his words as the words of God and Gods words are commanding words and they are binding Lawes it is not left vnto the peoples choyce whether they will or will not obey them they proceede from the staffe of direction that directs in foro Poli not Soli the consciences of Christian people As the Power is of direction so is it of correction also not ciuill T is true that the Bishop of Rome hath patcht such a power to his pastorall Staffe but we can claime none such from Christ our Censuâ—es are spirituall we binde or loose mens soules we remit or retaine their sinâ—es open or shut the Kingdome of Heauen vnto them But though the weapons of our warfare are not carnall but spirituall yet are they mighty through God to the pulling downe of strong holds 2 Cor. 10. and to reuenge all disobedience Iustly therefore is this branch of Power to be awed that is contained in the Staffe the staffe that is the embleme of the power of Correction I will obserue no more vpon the first part of the furniture the Pastors Authoritie that is noted by the Staues I come on to his Abilities which are gathered out of the properties of the same Staues whereof one is the Staffe of Beautie the other of Bands I might tyre out both my selfe and you if I would scan the seuerall coniectures of the learned commenting on these words some by them distinguishing the Sheepe eyther into the Families of Noah and Abraham or into the Nations of Iewes and Gentiles some distinguishing the Shepheards into good and bad some the furniture of the good Shepheards which they will haue some to bee the Law of Nature and the written Law some restraine it onely to the written word and finde in these words the sweetnesse of the Gospel and the seuerity of the Law The grounds and mistakes of these seuerall opinions I list not to discusse the truest Commentarie is that which wee finde in this Chapter At the tenth verse then we reade that when the Shepheard brake his staffe of beauty he disanuld with that fact his Couenant that he had made with all people And what was that but the Couenant of Grace At the fourteenth verse where he breaketh the staffe of bands he addes that by that fact hee did dissolue the brotherhood between Israel and Iuda And what is that but the band of Charitie Whereupon it fairely followes that these words doe note the properties of the Shepheard the properties of the Euangelicall Shepheard who must be well seene in the Gospell and keep Christians at one Veritie and Charitie are meant the one by the beauty the other by the bands of the Staues And indeede these are the two grounds of a blessed Church Veritate nihil pulchrius nihil fortius Vnitate there is nothing that allures more than the Gospel or that holds faster than Charitie the losse of eyther of these will much distresse a Church For it will thereupon be either deformed or distracted deformed with heresie if it want the truth and distracted with Schisme if it want charitie it will become Tohu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bohu without shape and voyde returne to its former Chaos Christ the great Shepheard was Melchisedech King of Righteousnesse and King of Salem also that is King of Peace hee not onely beautified his Church with Righteousnesse but fortified it with Charitie also And whatsoeuer Pastor vnder him doth not herein resemble him he is too like the Idoll shepheard mentioned at the end of this Chapter and hath eyther his arme dryed vp or his right eye darkened he wants a staffe of beauty or of bands and so will be the cause through defect of his Abilities that the Church be eyther despised by Schisme or with Heresie disfigured But let vsâ—ake these Abilities asunder and looke into them seuerally First into the staffe of beauty The word in the Originall signifieth Pulchritudinem Suauitatem Fairenesse and Sweetnesse whereof the later is a consequent vpon the former for the fairest persons if they degenerate not are most commonly the sweetest natures Certainely it was so in our Sauiour Christ who was the fairest of the Sonnes of men and grace was poured in his lips and so the Gospell that commeth from him beareth both the characters of his nature fairenesse and sweetnesse Touching fairenesse Cyrillus Alexandrinus on this text giueth this Note 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the doctrine of the Gospell is eminently beautifull but hee addes well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wee must not mistake it is no corporall but a spirituall beauty for the Kings Daughter is all glorious within But the corporall may teach vs what to obserue in the spirituall Corporall beautie consists of figura and forma proportion and complexion euery member of a body must haue his iust lineaments and his proper die and then the body is beautifull Something answerable hereunto there is in spirituall beautie in the beautie
that we should bow before him the knees of our hearts no lesse then the knees of our bodies when we lift vp our hands vnto GOD we should lift vp our Soules also and our eyes should not behold Heauen but our faith should pierce vnto the Throne of GOD. Finally there is no Ceremoniall Law which should not attend some Morall as the shadow doth the body or the body should the soule the Sonne of SYRACH hath made a whole Chapter that teacheth this Lesson But the Iewes put a sunder what GOD had conioyned Cap. 35 they shewed much zeale for the Ceremoniall but were carelesse of the Morall Law expressed much submission of their bodyes but little deuotion of their Soules and drew neere with their lips but their hearts were farre from God Of this GOD complaineth ESAY 1. and doth passionately vary tearmes to expresse his dislike thereof they solemnized their Feasts and offered Sacrifices and assembled themselues in his House Esay 1 But what saith GOD To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices Who required your presence to tread in my Courts I hate your solemne Feasts The cause of all is Your hands are full of blood In the last of ESAY GOD is much sharper He that killeth an oxe is as if he slew a man Cap. 66. he that sacrificeth a lambe as if he cut off a dogs necke he that offereth an oblation is as if he offered swines blood he that burneth Incense as if he blessed an Idol Marke the Reason They haue chosen their owne wayes and their soule delighted in their owne abominations You see then that in seruing GOD we may offend him grieuously if we seuer those things which he hath coupled for our seruice then will be plaine hypocrisie and Hypocrifie is by a Prouerbe noted to be double iniquitie And iustly is it so noted for therein we do first Interpretatiuè deny that GOD is the Searcher of the heart in that we doe not approue our heart to him Secondly we doe expresly preferre the Diuell before GOD in that we giue the better part I meane our Soule to the Diuell and reserue onely the worser part that is our bodyes for GOD. This should all that present themselues in GODS House seriously thinke on especially you that make shew of a solemne Penitent but such a shew as betrayeth that there is no broken heart within you nor contrite spirit seeing there appeareth so little euidence thereof in the outward man Be you assured that so repenting for sinne you doe but add vnto your sinne you are a transgressor of the Law in regard of your Separation of the Ceremoniall from the Morall Law But there is an other transgression of the Law which is the direct and immediate violation of the Morall part thereof This is the greater sinne and doth more apparently deserue such a name for the former though it be a sinne yet it is a cloaked sinne it maketh some faire shew in the eyes of men how vgly soeuer it is in the eyes of GOD but this walketh vnmasked and appeareth as it is Secondly the former is Malum quia prohibitum euill vpon no other ground but because by a positiue Law it is forbidden it is onely extrinsically euil the other is prohibitum quia malum by no meanes to be done though there were no positiue Law that did forbid it the euill thereof is intrinsicall for it is the violation of the Image of GOD according to which man was made and according to which he should liue In the particular Case that concernes this Penitent GOD that gaue a rationall facultie vnto the soule of man whereby he should order the sensitiue in the vse thereof would haue a man shew himselfe to be better then a beast And how doth a man differ from a beast that hath vnbridled lusts and neglect not onely sacred wedlocke but the degrees of Affinitie and Consanguinitie within which GOD and Nature require that his lusts be stinted This should you that are the Penetent seriously thinke on and measure the grieuousnesse of your sinne by this these things as well the transgression of the Morall as the seperation thereof from the Ceremoniall But the grieuousnesse of sinne is argued not only from what is done but also from the doing of the same Aliud est peccare aliud peccatum facere saith St AVGVSTINE It is one thing to sinne another thing to be giuen ouer to sinne and his distinction is not idle for it is grounded not onely vpon St IOHNS phrase 1 Iohn 3. but also vpon St IAMES his gradation Men are first inticed by their lusts Cap. 1. then lust conceaueth and brings forth sinne and sinne being perfected brings forth death and this perfecting of sinne is properly the doing of sinne All men sinne but they that haue grace take heed of doing sinne feare and shame are both shaken off by those that goe so farre they endeauour not so much as to hide their sinnes Of these Iewes our Psalme saith They sate they spake they ran they wrought euill they consented one with another and were professors of a wicked life And little better is the case of this Penitent who for many yeeres hath openly in the eyes of the world notwithstanding the clamor of many that iustly did detest it liued in abominable Incest which doth much aggrauate his sinne There is a third Aggrauation in my Text taken from the Person that doth commit the sinne Thou hast done these things And the circumstance of the Person doth much improue the foulenesse of a fault No man should sinne against GOD but they that are most bound should forbeare most Now the Iewes had a double Obligation one by Nature the other by the Couenant They were GODS Creatures and GOD vouchsafed to contract with them Not to performe the dutie which we owe especially when we haue solemnly vowed it maketh vs guiltie in a high degree And euerie one within the Church if he doe sinne is so farre guiltie his Vow in Baptisme will presse him no lesse then the Condition of his Nature And this must you that are the Penitent ponder in your Soule that you may answerably hereunto feele the burden of your sinne I doe not amplifie these things without Cause they must be the rather marked because the deeper the Iewe was in guilt the greater was GODS Patience Notwithstanding their double offence their Seperation and Transgression their double Obligation of Nature and Vow their double sinning in that they did not onely act but professe sin yet did GOD hold his peace he proceeded not against them but with great Patience GODS Patience is noted by his Silence the word signifieth to be deafe and dumbe and putteth vs in mind of a double voyce a voyce of sinne and a voyce of Iudgement That sinnes haue a Voyce you may read Gen. 4. where ABELS blood doth cry and in the Storie of Sodome Gen. 18. the voyce of whose sin came vp to
Soule and we serue euery one his seuerall Lusts so that though we consist of a Soule and a Body yet the Scripture calleth vs carnall as if so be we had no Spirits In our worldly state euerie man laboureth to range himselfe with the best and we account them base that being of noble blood affect not the companie of their equals but in our spirituall state we are not sensible hereof we are not ambitious but base euerie one stoopes below himself and loues to grouell rather then stand vpright we loue comming downe But this comming downe is not all the euill of our fall it is accompanied with a bruise our nature by it doth not onely become more base but more feeble also for euerie sinne giueth a wound it impayreth grace in euerie power our vnderstanding groweth more dimme our will more impotent and our affections lesse capable of controwle Sinnes are like rebels that not onely reuolt but also keep castle against their Soueraigne whence they are not easily remoued euerie mans experience yeelds profe hereof and warrants this truth that sin doth not onely disgrace but also disable a sinner But sinnes are not all equall and therefore produce not all equall effects the Stoicks paradoxe is long since condemned and whether we looke to that wherein we sinne our dutie to GOD or our Neighbor or that wherewith we sinne I meane the degrees of our wills that concurre in our acts we shall find great odds and confesse that one sinne is greater then another and that all fals are not alike whether we look to the disgrace of the person or the weakning of our nature Not to goe from my Text or rather from this present occasion Incontinencie hath diuers degrees Fornication Adulterie Incest all communicate in Incontinencie but so that Adulterie is worse then Fornication and Incest worse then Adulterie Fornication violateth the good order that should be betweene single persons through vnruly Lusts Adulterie addeth thereunto a confusion of Families and taketh away the distinction of Heires and Inheritance but Incest moreouer abolisheth the reuerence which is ingraued by nature to forbid that persons whom nature hath made so neere should one vncouer the others shame as speaketh the Law and not onely that but adds that for such incontinencie the Land did spue out the Canaanites Leuit. 18. So that when you come to consider your fall you must consider not onely the nature but also the degree of it and your repentance must be answerable vnto your fall looke how farre you haue debased your selfe so farre must you be humbled and be afflicted with sorrow as deeply as you haue wounded your selfe with sinne Thus much you are taught in that your sinne is a fall But it must farther be learned whence these fals come and we find in the Text the occasions and causes of them The occasions are implyed in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth a stumbling at some thing that lyeth in our way we are apt to fall by nature because we are mutable but we doe not commonly fall except some occasion be giuen And the world is full of occasions The Diuell hath euerie where his stumbling blocks he knoweth whether our corrupt nature bendeth and worketh accordingly he hath a wedge of gold for couetous ACHAN a crowne for ambitious AESOLON a DINA for SHECHEM finally he knoweth what will worke our affections and our dispositions with that he plyeth and with that he wooeth our consent to sinne and these things the Scripture cals stumbling blocks and are the occasions of fals We all walke in the middest of them and are to take good heed vnto them but yet so that we doe not conceiue otherwise of them then they are strong motiues they are but they are but motiues perswade they may compell they cannot therefore they are not enough to giue a fall except the true cause be added to the occasion and we may not so dwell on the occasion as not to looke forward to the true cause we may otherwise blame others while we should be blaming of our selues and we are too apt to excuse our selues by making others guilty of our faults But we must passe on from the occasion to the cause and the cause will tell vs who doth most deserue the blame The cause appeareth in these words If a man be ouertaken whereon St HIEROME giueth a good note Praeuentio dici non potest cum quid praemeditatò fit so that this phrase importeth a difference of sinners whereof some fall through malice some through frailtie Through malice they fall in whom the principles of conscience are corrupt who wittingly and willingly commit sinne with greedinesse neither before the fact feeling any reluctancy neither after the fact conceiuing any sorrow Esay 5. these account euill good and good euill light darknesse and darknesse light sweet sower and sower sweet these are not within the compasse of my Text for they are not ouertaken This phrase reacheth onely those which sinne Dum aut latet veritas aut compellit infirmitas as BEDE speaketh either they are sophistically circumuented or vnawares transported and so take a fall We should weigh the validitie of the perswasions and bethinke our selues what we doe before we set our selues a doing we should enquire what GODS Law doth forbid or allow before we giue or withhold our assent But our affections vsually outstep our discretion and bring either false or rash intelligence whereupon we yeeld and slip verie often dum latet veritas for want of making diligentenquirie but more often dum vincit infirmitas while we are too indulgent to our affections And indeed howsoeuer in errors of Faith and mistakes of truth those that are without the Church or being within are not Orthodoxe Rom. 1. become vaine in their ratiocination as the Apostle speeketh and their ignorance is apparantly the child of negligence Yet in the default of manners and breach of the morall Law we haue little colour of ignorance all the blame lyeth vpon the impotencie of our affections the thiefe the drunkard the lyer the blasphemer all must yeeld that they knew what they should doe but obeyed their corrupt lusts in doing the contrarie And no other plea hath this incestuous person though her tongue should be silent yet her teares doe speake that this is her plea for the sacrifice of her broken and contrite heart sacrificed for that which she hath done testifieth that she knoweth well that she hath done amisse but did it being ouertaken for sorrow after a fact is the iudgement that the penitent passeth vpon his own fact in weeping for it she doth condemne it Our lesson is that we must be watchfull ouer occasions lest by them we become causes of our owne fall and if we sinne GOD grant vs grace to sorrow lest otherwise as we displease so we dispise GOD Such despisers are not to be accounted in the number of those that are ouertaken and so they
the present occasion for we haue to doe with a sinne and a censure euen such a sinne and such a censure as is contained in this Text. The sinne is first exprest then it is amplyfied It is exprest first in regard of the kind it is fornication secondly in regard of the degree that fornication is Incest yea it is Incest of the worst sort that a man should haue his fathers wife The Incest being so bad it is not onely exprest but also amply fied in respect first of the haynousnesse it was such as was not so much as named amongst the Gentiles secondly in respect of the notoriousnesse the fame thereof spread farre and neare it is commonly reported Now sinnes call for censures great sinnes for seuere censures they doe but the Corinthians were deafe they heard not they were not moued with the cry of this sinne though it were verie loud they sinne in not reforming sinne St PAVL therefore telleth them whence their sinne sprang and wherein it stood It sprang from too much selfe-conceit they were puffed vp and too little fellow-feeling for they sorrowed not from these roots sprang their senslesse carelesnesse they put not away from them the man that had done the sinne But St PAVL had a more quicke eare and a more tender heart as a lawfull superiour he supplieth their negligence and censureth the incestuous person whom they spared as it appeares in the rest of the Text wherein we see what the censure was and whereunto it serueth The censure was Excommunication but it is set out in very high termes for it is called a deliuerie vnto Satan the words imply more then they expresse Excommunication consists of two parts a priuatiue and a positiue an excommunicate person is excluded from the Communion of Saints and subiected to the Prince of Darknesse the latter part is here exprest but the former is presupposed and is therefore omitted because it was mentioned before in the Corinthians fault this is the censure which St PAVL inflicted And the inflicting of it is performed by two acts the first is St PAVLS he doth iudicially pronounce it in his owne person But here is some thing markable in his person which is said to be absent and present wheresoeuer he was as an Apostle he was neuer out of his Dioces neither was any of his Dioces any where out of his reach for though he was absent in his body yet was he with them in his spirit Vpon these prerogatiues of his person though he were as farre off as Ephesus is from Corinth yet did he giue sentence against the incestuous Corinthian so saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I haue already iudged What he pronounceth iudicially that doth he require the Corinthians to denounce solemnly this act is implyed when as St PAVL would haue the man excommunicated at Corinth he would haue it there denounced that himselfe had excommunicated him And he would haue it denounced solemnly First In regard of the place for he would haue it done in the face of the Church the Corinthians being gathered together and his spirit with them Secondly He would haue it done solemnly in regard of the proceeding for he would haue it done with the authoritie and by the efficacie of our Lord Iesus Christ with his authoritie in his Name by his efficacie by his Power So that although St PAVL haue a hand in this censure and the Corinthians also yet would he haue neither of them reputed other then Delegates from and Instruments of Christ he giueth the warrant and he maketh good the censure Lay all these parts of the doome together and you will find that it is tremendum iudicium a very dreadfull sentence for how dreadfull a thing is it for a man to be cast out of the Church To haue him that hateth him made Lord ouer him I meane Satan To haue this done by an Apostle In the assembly of the whole Church Authorized by Christ and by Christ inabled to inflict this censure Certainly this must needs be a most dreadfull Iudgment you would thinke him that is vnder it to be a most forlorne wretch But yet despaire not of him the last clause of my Text will tell you that the sentence is not mortall but medicinall Now you know that a medicine hath two properties first it doth paine then it doth ease and if you will beleeue the Prouerbe Nulla medicinat'am est salutaris quà m quae facit dolorem the more it doth paine the more it will ease Certainly it fareth so with a ghostly medicine it doth paine it serueth for the destruction of the flesh but it will ease thereby the spirit shall be saued And this saluation you shall then feele when it is most behoofefull in the day of the Lord Iesus Christ We beleeue that he shall come to iudge both the quicke and the dead and thrice happy may an enormous sinner thinke himselfe if he can haue boldnesse then to stand before the Sonne of Man And herein standeth his hope that this Iudgment will preserue him from that this lesser from that greater this temporall from that eternall if an enormous sinner make that vse of it which Christ intendeth So that these last words must be marked as a mitigation of that sharpnesse which was in the sentence and a consolation of the true Penitent And so haue you the briefe of my Text. That we may all be fore-warned and this Penitent recouered let vs in the feare of GOD listen to that which shall now be farther but briefly obserued and applyed out of this both sinne and censure I begin with the sinne the kind of it is fornication Fornication though it be often vsed to note the vnlawfull coniunction of single persons which otherwise may lawfully marrie yet doth the word import properly the generall nature of all incontinencie or vnlawfull coniunction the sinfulnesse whereof that I may the better set before you I must first acquaint you with certaine vndeniable principles The first is That though it be common to man and beast to couple male and female in their seuerall kinds for procreation yet because the body of a man is inhabited by a reasonable soule euen these sensuall acts should be reasonable by participation reason should haue such power ouer the body that a man should not come vnto this coniunction out of a disorderly lust but a regular couenant not aduenturing vpon it but admitted thereunto by Marriage he must testifie that he is a man and not a beast The second principle is The same reason of state that preseribeth proprietie in all other things doth require it especially in the choyce of mates in those which are to come together so neere as to become one flesh for proprietie is the whetstone of loue and care neither of which would be so great as they should be except they were grounded in wedlock in which is a mutual appropriating of the wedded bodyes each to the other whence it is that
such women is verie vnnaturall it is no lesse then Incest Incest in the highest degree Such is the fact And verily such a fact is most haynous it is wickednesse Wickednesse is a common name to all sinne but it must here be vnderstood in a speciall sense for abominable for intollerable wickednesse Now such as the sinne is such is the doome the sinne is haynous and the doome is grieuous But in the doome take notice of two things First it is impartially seuere impartially doth GOD deale he spareth neither man nor woman neither him nor them And he dealeth seuerely with them both they shall burne him and them with fire and you know fire is a painfull tormenter and an vtter destroyer of that which it tormenteth Great seueritie and yet no greater then was necessarie to keepe the State from being guiltie that there be no wickednesse amongst you No wickednesse not absolutely none that is impossible in this world but no tantum nefas as the Vulgar expresseth the sense well no heynous wickednesse must be amongst you amongst you that is suffered by you which will make the State guiltie and prouoke GODS wrath against it You haue the briefe of my Text which I purpose GOD willing to enlarge GOD grant that what I shall say thereon may make these Penitents truly sorrowfull for their fault and vs that behold them carefull not to be ouertaken with the like fall Come we then to the particulars But before I distinctly vnfold them I must in few words cleare the phrases wherein the fact is exprest Obserue then first that to take a woman in this Law is to vncouer her nakednesse as MOSES expresseth himselfe vers 17. Cap. 18 or as we commonly speake to haue carnall knowledge of her Secondly Isha in the Hebrew tongue signifieth as well a woman as a wife and therefore some translate it if a man take a woman some if a man take a wise It is not materiall which way you render it because it is an vndoubted truth that whom a man may not marrie with he may not know carnally out of mariage if he doe it is incest no lesse Incest if he make her his strumpet then if he tooke her to be his wife Thirdly It is all one for the daughter to be the wife and the mother the strumpet or for the mother to be the wife and the daughter the strumpet the Incest will euer be of the same degree because the persons are both wayes of the same neernesse I note these two last points the rather because these Penitents may happily thinke they are not within the compasse of my Text whereas if it be vnderstood as the truth is and I haue shewed you my Text speaketh directly of them and the fact here mentioned is their fact The fact is but one but there are two sinnes in it whereof the first is Adultery it is adultery for one man to take more women then one As GOD made but one EVE of one ADAM so in mariage he coupled but one EVE to ADAM and he coupled them so neere that they two should be one flesh that is that the man should not haue power ouer his body but the woman nor the woman should haue power ouer her body but the man and the obseruance of this is the keeping of Pactum Iehouae the Couenant of the Lord which had accompanying it magnum benesicium and magnum mysterium a great blessing for their seed was semen sanctum a holy seed and GOD promised to be the GOD of those children which were borne of such parents The great mysterie was that liuing in such wedlocke they were a perpetuall monument vnto themselues of the heauenly mariage of CHRIST and his CHVRCH Marke now especially you that are Penitents what the sinne of Adulterie is First It maketh them two againe whom GOD made but one for a man cannot be one with two women because whose he is he must be hers entirely and he cannot be entirely more then one womans so that his first sinne is that he diuideth that which is indiuisible I meane coniugall affection Secondly He bestoweth that which is none of his owne for his body in this respect is his wiues she onely hath right vnto it and to this vse of it Thirdly In breaking GODS Couenant of wedlocke he defraudeth his children of the couenant of grace For obserue it in the storie of ABRAHAM he had children by two wiues SARA his first and his lawfull wife AGAR his second and vnlawfull wife but what saith the Scripture Cast out the bond-woman and her child Gala◠4.30 for the child of the bond-woman shall not be heire with the child of the free woman Besides the great mysterie you may there-hence gather this morall that although GOD may out of his mercie receiue that child whom the parents as much as lyeth in them cast away yet GODS couenant is made with the parent for no children but those that are begotten in lawfull wedlocke Finally Adulterers defraud themselues of that blessed memoriall of CHRIST's eternall coniunction with his CHVRCH the contemplation whereof should be our greatest solace seeing we haue a blessed interest therein There were euill enough in the fact if it were onely Adulterie seeing Adulterie hath so manifold euill in it but there is a greater sinne which is Incest for the women are of verie neere reference the one is a mother the other is her daughter neerer kin they cannot be and being so neere it is vnnaturall that they should be knowne of the same man he that knoweth them both committeth Incest in the highest degree But I will some-what more open vnto you the nature of Incest Know then that GOD purposed by wedlocke not onely to multiply mankind but also to preserue charitie Naturall charitie is founded in Consanguinitie but consanguinitie the farther it spreadeth the more doth charitie grow cold To repaire and as it were quicken it GOD instituted Affinitie which doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make domesticks of strangers and naturalizing those that are forreiners to our stocke And indeed it is much like graffing for as in that art the Sien is taken from a sweet Cherie or Apple tree and entred into another growne wild for example a Crab-tree or wild Cherie-tree and art doth worke as nature in making them one so is it in Affinitie it maketh persons as neere as nature it selfe doth and charitie out of this re-vnion should grow as strong as if the persons were of one blood euen as beames of the Sunne which growing weaker the farther they goe by reflection into themselues recouer their former strength so doth the charity of consanguinitie when it is waning waxe againe by the helpe of Affinitie Where by the way note That whereas we call persons fathers-in-Law mothers-in-Law and so brothers and sisters we must not vnderstand it of meere positiue Law but it is a secundarie Law of nature vnalterable sauing onely by GOD and this Law of
saith the Apostle that you are the Temple of God speaking of our whole person But lest question should be made of any part in the sixth Chapter he distinctly expresseth both Body and Soule He that is ioyned vnto the Lord is one Spirit with him that is cleere for our soule And lest we should vnder-value our worser part Know you not saith he that your bodyes are the Temples of the Holy Ghost So that no question can be made of either part of our person both are liuing stones 1 Pet. 2. and built vp into a Spirituall House And if we be Spirituall Houses then God is in vs of a truth 2 Cor. 6. for so the Apostle collecteth Ye are the Temples of the liuing God saith GOD and I will dwell in them and walke in them St Peter is not afraid to say 2 Pet. 1. We are made partakers of the Diuine nature and the Fathers that we are deified Although there be no personall vnion betweene vs and GOD as there is in CHRIST yet such a mysticall one there is that Philo Iudaeus his words are verie true Deus est animae bonorum incola malorum tantum accola though GODS generall influence be wanting to no Creature yet his gratious inhabitance is the prerogatiue of the Church And all they to whom GOD commeth so neere haue presently erected in them an Oracle and an Altar the Spirit by the Word reuealeth their eyes to see the maruailous things of GODS Law they are all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They haue an vnction that teacheth them all things 1 Iohn 2. 1 Cor. 2. yea they haue the verie mind of Christ yea the same Spirit that erecteth the Oracle erects an Altar also an Altar of Incense in their hearts which sendeth forth Prayers intelligibiliter suaueolentes Spirituall but acceptable vnto GOD. as Origen answereth Celsu◠obiecting to the Christians that they had no Altars And how can we want an Altar of burnt sacrifice when our broken and contrite hearts offer vp our bodies a liuing sacrifice holy and acceptable to GOD which is our reasonable seruice of him This is enough to let you vnderstand that we are if we are Christians Houses of God answerable vnto Christ I would it were enough also to perswade vs so to esteeme our selues as such grace requireth at our hands for what an improuement is this to our persons and what a remembrance should this be to euerie one to keepe his Vessell in honour but more of that anon I must first speake a little of the description of the Market it is in my Text called an House of Merchandize GOD that made vs Men made vs also sociable and vsed our wants as a Whetstone to set an edge vpon that propension but we should liue together as Merchants ordered by commutatiue Iustice whose Standard is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it requireth that men barter vpon euen tearmes otherwise one man will deuour another and the Common weale cannot continue To preuent this mischiefe GOD hath appointed distributiue Iustice the vertue of the Magistrate who dispencing praemium poenam Reward and Punishment should set euerie man a thriuing but suffer no man to thriue to the preiudice of others The euill of the dayes wherein we liue doe giue me occasion to complaine not onely that there is varietie of corruption in Trades dangerous because some are ouer-thriuing but also of the decay of Trades no lesse dangerous because there are so many thousands that haue no meanes to thriue at all Gouernours giue order for Houses of Correction and no doubt but if they were better vsed vagrants might be restrayned thereby but there must be moreouer an increase of Trades that must employ the Common-people multiplying as they doe in this blessed time of peace while the Gentleman depopulates the Countrey and the Vsurer and Victualer are become the chiefe Trades-men of Incorporations what wonder if contrarie to GODS Law and the Kings the whole Land be filled with miserable poore There is no true at least no full remedy for this euill but they to whom the care of distributiue Iustice is committed must reuiue and quicken the Commutatiue and make our Land according vnto that good opportunitie which GOD hath giuen vs an House of Merchandize This by the way vpon occasion of the phrase where out you may gather that in the Market the world taketh vp most of our thoughts and our dealing there is for worldly things Hauing sufficiently opened the description of the Temple and the Market The difference betweene them is euident to a meane conceit he will easily apprehend that the one place is Heauenly the other Earthly the one for the Communion of Saints the other for the Common-weale in the one place we need be no more then Men in the other we must shew our selues to be the Children of God And is it not a great fault to confound these things which GOD hath so distinguished Surely it is and it was the Iewes fault CHRIST doth open it as he doth forbid it for if we may beleeue the Rabbines the Law was pronounced in the eares of Malefactors while stripes were layed vpon their backes and it is most likely that while CHRIST expelled the Merchants with his whip he spake these words vnto them Make not my Fathers House an house of Merchandize Let vs come then to this Prohibition The best places are subiect to abuse Heauen was and so was Paradise no wonder then if the Temple be And seeing abuse can be excluded no where we must be watchfull euerie-where yea the better a place is the more doth the Diuel solicit vs to abuse it because he will doe GOD the more despite and worke man the more mischiefe Therefore the better the place is the more circumspect must we be It is a soule fault to dishonour GOD any where but specially in his owne House In estimating our owne wrongs we aggrauate them by this circumstance Esay 26 Ier. 11. and shall we neglect it when we ponder the sinnes we commit against GOD Nay rather the greatnesse of our contempt ariseth with the greatnesse of his Maiestie which appeareth in that place and the more gratious he sheweth himselfe there the more gracelesse are we if we yeeld him not a due regard Now what doth that due regard require at our hands Surely that we bring not so much as the world into the Temple we may not doe legitima in illegitimo loco saith St Austin we may not doe lawfull things in a place appointed for better vses Caelum est Caelum ingrederis Nilus the Temple is Heauen as you are taught before when thou entrest the Temple thou must suppose thou art entering into the Kingdome of Heauen Now in Heauen there is neither eating nor drinking marrying nor giuing in marriage buying nor selling therefore we must neither thinke of nor meddle with these things while we enter into that place 1 Cor. 11 Haue you not
should rise againe The last point of this Text remaines which is the correspondencie betweene the rising and the fall which I told you consists in three points First Peter was soone downe and soone vp the same night that he was wounded he was healed and cured the same night that he fell sicke many perish through their procrastination and their case becommeth desperate before they enter into consideration thereof no sooner did the cocke crow CHRIST turne and looke but Peter came to himselfe But what doe we doe What vse doe we make of the time giuen vs to repent How little doth aduersitie prosperitie words stripes preuaile with vs We are so farre from repenting quickly that we doe not repent at leasure And what is the reason We doe not make vse of good meanes whilst GOD doth grant them vs The Cocke did crow and Peter did remember CHRIST turned and lookt Peter went out and wept bitterly he did not receiue the grace of GOD in vaine It were to be wisht that we did herein resemble him and not frustrate either the outward or the inward Meanes Esay 47. But the Minister may complaine I haue laboured in vaine I haue spent my strength in vaine Yea GOD himselfe may complaine Rom. 10. All the day long haue I stretcht forth my hand vnto an vnbeleeuing and gaine saying Nation Or if we are not so gracelesse as to neglect the two former correspondencies certainly it is a hard thing to find the man that is like to St Peter in the third and proportioneth his Repentance to his Offence Great faults should not be a little sorrowed for but we should afflict our soules for sinne as much as we haue solaced them therewith Certainly St Peter did so Yea Clemens Romanus obserueth that St Peter euerie night about the crowing of the Cocke did rise and pray with teares vntill the morning If he did lament so vncessantly in whom inward pietie did not faile but onely the outward constancie was shaken what should we doe that sinne so willingly and with so high a hand We should better obserue and obserue more dayes of Humiliation then most of vs doe Bitter teares if euer are now most seasonable not onely the compunction for our owne sinnes but compassion also towards the distracted Churches woefull calamitie doth importune vs for them We make grieuous lamentation for a friend if his soule be departed from his body but who is much troubled for himselfe when GOD by sinne is driuen from his soule If but a neighbours House or some small Village be laid wast by casualtie of fire as many as heare of it are moued with compassion and readily afford some succour But how many Townes yea Countreys Members of the Orthodoxe Church are exhausted and made desolate by famine sicknesse the attendants vpon the blood-thirstinesse of the Sword and there are few Samaritans that haue any Bowels All like the Priest and the Leuite passe by yea and passe ouer these troubles as if they did nothing concerne them but onely to administer Table-talke or fill vp the wast of their idle times I will onely remember you of GODS censure of such stupiditie And I pray GOD it may make vs all more sensible of our owne and of the Churches case In the day of the Iewes calamitie did the Lord God of Hosts call to weeping and to mourning to baldnesse and to girding with Sack-cloth and behold ioy and gladnesse slaying Oxen and killing Sheepe eating flesh and drinking wine Let vs eat and drinke for to morrow we shall dye So said those senslesse wretches But it was renealed in mine eares saith the Prophet Esay by the Lord of Hosts Esay 22. surely this iniquitie shall not be purged from you till you dye saith the Lord God of Hosts He said it to them and in them to vs happie are we if other mens harmes make vs beware But I conclude This Text is an example and an example is the easiest doctrine for apprehension and most powerfull in operation so that if we doe not learne it there is something amisse in our head and there is something amisse in our heart if we be not the better for it Wherefore let vs all turne to him and humbly beseech him that we may be made mindfull of our frailtie and set in a good course of our penitencie that we may be as apt to rise as we are to fall and iudge our selues as seuerely as we gracelesly offend our God So may God accept our teares clense our soules and make vs all as he did repenting Peter his faithfull seruants in this world and glorious Saints in the world to come A SERMON PREACHED AT GREENWICH MATTHEW 3. VERSE 16 17. 16 And Iesus when hee was baptized went vp straight way out of the water and loe the Heauens were opened vnto him and hee saw the Spirit of God descending like a Doue and lighting vpon him 17 And loe a voyce from Heauen saying This is my beloued Sonne in whom I am well pleased IN this dayes Gospel our Sauiour CHRIST taught Nicodemus Ioh. 3. that Except a man be borne againe or from aboue he cannot see he cannot enter into the Kingdome of Heauen and St. Iohn the Apostle teacheth how a man may know whether he be so borne againe or no. He that beleeueth that Iesus is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Christ or Anointed of the Lord is borne of God Now a fairer proofe of that Article or a more sufficient warrant for our saith therein the whole Bible doth not yeeld then that which was deliuered at the Baptisme of CHRIST and is contained in those words that now I haue read vnto you For here you must my Text doth will you so behold GOD the FATHER anointing Iesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power as St. Peter speaketh Acts 10. And see with all how wel the Text fitteth the time for this is Trinitie Sunday and what is the Text but a report of the cleare the comfortable presence concurrence of the blessed Trinity in Sacring Iesus to be the Christ Here is Pater in voce Filius in carne Spiritus Sanctus in columba the Sonne in our nature receiues the Vnction the Holy Ghost in the shape of a Doue becomes the Vnction and the Father in a voyce from Heauen beareth witnesse to the grace that floweth from that Vnction In this great worke euery Person beareth his part But more distinctly in this Sacring of Iesus wee may learne from my Text First What were the circumstances Secondly What was the substance of it The circumstances were two First the Time when Iesus was baptized Secondly the Place without the water or vpon the Riuers side for Iesus came straight way out of the water and loe c. In the substance we shall see first Quis who it was that was Sacred it was euen the same Person that was baptized the Sonne of GOD in the nature of man it was Iesus Secondly
Quo modo how this Sacring was performed it was performed Signo visibili verbo audibili with a visible signe and an audible word The Signe commeth first in the Text we are told what it was and what it ment It was the shape of a Doue and by it was ment the Spirit of God But touching this Signe wee learne here moreouer Vnde and Quo Whence it came where it pitcht whence the Heauens were opened vnto him and the Spirit of God descended where it pitcht the Spirit that descended lighted on Iesus You see what was the Visible signe A visible signe of it selfe is but a dumbe shew it may amaze it cannot instruct therefore it must bee illustrated and it is here illustrated by an audible word the word is called Vox de Caelo a voyce from Heauen and it was fit it should be so for from whence came the vision from thence was the Reuelation for to come the vision was from Heauen therefore the Reuelation thereof also But this is not all that we learne here concerning the word goe on and you shall finde Cuius and de quo who it is that vttereth it and of whom He that vttereth it is not exprest but fairely implied in Filius meus my Sonne Iesus could not be the Sonne but of GOD the Father therefore is it GOD the FATHER that speaketh the word And the word that he speaketh concerneth Iesus it teacheth vs first What he is to God the Father and secondly What he doth for vs. He is neere because the Sonne and deare because his beloued Sonne adde to both the Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Sonne that beloued Sonne and then he will prooue neere and deare indeed From him that is so great with God we may not exspect small matters that which hee doth is answerable to that which hee is he doth that which neuer any other person could doe he propitiateth GODS wrath and by him we finde grace in the eyes of GOD These blessings of IESVS are contained in the last words In whom I am well pleased There is one Point more All this commendations that is giuen vnto IESVS referreth to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This this person that is in the middest of you that maketh so little shew and is so little regarded is hee whom I so esteeme and vpon whom depends your soueraigne good I will not you may not for his Humilitie defraud him of his Glory You haue seene a glimpse of the Sacring of Christ though I should not yet the Text would require you to entertaine it with your best regard for the visible signe the audible word both are prefaced with a particle of attention Loe loe the Heauens were opened Loe a voyce from Heauen the word doth summon your eyes your eares to behold to attend these holy Mysteries And I pray GOD so to sanctifie your eyes and your eares that while I take a sunder this Text and shew it you more fully in the parts the blessed Trinitie may vouchsafe by them to instill into you some fructifying drops of our blessed Sauiours heauenly Vnction Amongst the particulars where-into I resolued the Text the first was the circumstance of Time when CHRIST was baptized CHRIST was baptized before he was Sacred hee was receiued into the new Couenant by Baptisme before hee became a dispenser thereof And the Church neuer thought it fit to swarue from so good a Patterne and conferre Holy Orders vpon any that was not first incorporated into the Church Yea it hath alwayes gon for a grounded truth that it is Baptisme that maketh a man capable of other Holy rites and that being vnbaptized he is vncapable of them Secondly the circumstance of Time doth notifie the kinde of grace that was figured in the descension of the Doue he descended not in but after the Act of Baptisme Had hee descended in the Act it might haue beene thought that onely Gratia gratum faciens the grace of regeneration or sanctification had beene represented by the Doue but descending after some farther kind of grace is more ouer intimated What that grace was let vs breifely inquire Some fetch hence the Originall of Confirmation and suppose that Christ the Head confirmed himselfe here vnto his Body the Church So that as in the Church Baptizati recipiunt spiritum sanctum they that are first baptized are after confirmed so CHRIST would be confirmed after hee was baptized There is no doubt but the Right of confirmation is Apostolicall notwithstanding the friuolous exceptions that by some are taken to it and it may passe inter pie credibilia that CHRIST did vouchsafe in his owne person to sanctifie that as hee did many other sacred rites of the Church But yet it may not be denied that ouer and aboue here is ment another kind of grace a grace that is not common to euery member of the Church as the grace of confirmation is but peculiar vnto a publique Person such as CHRIST was now called to be And therefore I call it Sacring grace such a kind of grace seemeth to be intimated by the circumstance of Time The second circumstance is that of Place the Place was where CHRIST stood after he came out of the water that was the banke of Iordan which St. Iohn calleth Bethabara the very name doth containe a Monument of the children of Israels first passage there into the land of Canaan and then the Place is not without a Mysterie the choice thereof giueth vs to vnderstand that the Historie of Iosua was performed in Iesus that the waters of Baptisme were become a passage from earth to Heauen from the condition of Nature to the condition of Grace and that euen while wee liue in this vaile of miserie we are thereby enrolled among the Saints Adde hereunto that Bethabara was now a place of great concourse Hierusalem Iudaea all the Regions about Iordan and all sorts of men resorted thither to be baptized of Iohn and it was meete that so great a worke as CHRISTS Sacring should be performed in a great assembly Yea all the remarkeable manifestations of our Sauiour his Miracles his Sermons his Death c. are noted to haue beene publike they were not as St. Paul obserues to King Agrippa done in a corner the vnbeleeuing Iew or other that doubts or disputes of their truth is by the circumstance of Place conuicted to doe it out of affected ignorance And let this suffice for the circumstance I come to the substance of the Sacring where first wee must see who it is that was sacred Wee finde that it was the same Person that was baptized the Sonne of God clothed with the nature of man Where note that Iesus had two Abilities an Actiue a Passiue one to giue another to receiue the Spirit hee that was able for to giue was contented 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the diuine dispensation and humble condition whereunto for our sakes hee submitted himselfe to receiue the Spirit And indeed
so it behoued him to fulfill all righteousnesse whereof this was a Branch to shew that he was the Truth of former Types Cap. 8. We read in Leuiticus how solemnely Aaron was consecrated and seeing CHRIST came to bee what Aaron onely did signifie the high Priest of God it behoued that he also should haue an Inauguration but so much more excellent by how much the Truth exceedes the Type Luke 3. and the Lora the Seruant This correspondency is made the more probable because St. Luke tels vs that when this was done CHRIST was about thirtie yeeres old and of that age was the Priest to be when he entred vpon his charge the Holy Ghost by that Law Numb 4.8 and by this example of CHRIST giuing vs to vnderstand That maturitie of age is a necessary requisite in all that will vndertake a sacred function Marke withall the regular humilitie of our Sauiour though he were the Lord of Glory Hâ—b â— No man saith St Paul taketh the honour of Priesthoed vpon him but he that is called of God as was Aaron therefore Iesus glorified not himselfe but was glorified by him that said vnto him Thou art a Priest for euer after the order of Melchisedeck hee tooke not vpon him the office of a Mediatour vntill he was thereto ordained checking the sacrilegious pride of those which presume of their abilitie and intrude themselues without Imposition of hands into sacred Functions they cannot be so able they should not be lesse humble then was our Sauiour CHRIST St. Luke addeth that CHRIST was praying when the Holy Ghost descended As GOD doth promise so we must desire his guifts the greatest guifts with the most earnest desire CHRIST would herein bee exemplary vnto vs to testifie the humilitie that beseemes our nature and goe before vs in that which he commandeth he prayeth for that which he looked for from GOD. After this holy patterne haue all Christian Inaugurations and Ordinations beene accompanied with publicke and deuout Prayers And if CHRIST did not receiue the Holy Ghost from his Father but by praying how can they but blush at their vnmannerlinesse that refuse vpon their knees to receiue the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of CHRIST Finally we learne of CHRIST praying that after Baptisme we must not be secure for though all sinnes be forgiuen vs yet is not concupiscence wholy extinguisht neither haue we our full measure of grace we ought therefore to fall to our prayers and so prepare our selues to receiue the Holy Ghost which is our needfull guide and strength in our spirituall warfare But because I shall resume this second Person againe in the end of the Text we will passe on and see in the next place how he was consecrated He was consecrated first in signo visibili with a visible signe which was the likenesse of a Doue De Agone Christiano The word likenesse is not vsed saith St. Augustine ad excludenaam veritatem Columbae to denie that that which appeared was a true Doue but ad Ostendendum quod spiritus nâ—n apparuit in specie substantiae to shew that the Essence of the Spirit is a sarre different thing from that wherein he did vouchsafe to manifest himselfe It was then a true Doue and the end for which it was vsed sheweth there is reason we should thinke it to be so It was to be signum analegicum an apt signe to represent what was signified and the shape without the substance of a Doue could not so well signifie the properties of the Holy Ghost their correspondency is to the qualities that are obserued in a liuing Doue I am not ignorant that many thinke otherwise and that the shape onely was sufficient Some aduocates of Rome make vse of this shape without substance to confirme their Transubstantiation and the subsistence of accidents without the subiect Bread and Wine But I leaue them to feed vpon their fancies and will not contend about that which is no Article of Faith onely this I would haue obserued Iohn 1. that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Text doth not alwayes note a resemblance but some times a truth and seeing the phrase will beare both opinions as well that which holds that it was onely the shape of a Doue as that which defineth it was a true Doue I chuse rather the latter as most agreeable to the intent of the Holy Ghost and the difference that I put betweene the workes of GOD and the workes of the Diuell As GOD is an Omnipotent Creatour so those things which he exhibits are reall but the Diuell affecting to be thought what he is not maketh shew of that which he doth not his workes are spectra meere illusions Though this were a true Doue yet was it not assumed into one Person with the Holy Ghost as the nature of man was at the Incarnation of CHRIST St. Austin giueth the reason Non venit spiritus sanctus liberare Columbas he came not to redeeme Doues Ergo non est natus dé Columba therefore was not incarnate by a Doue but he came to signifie the properties of CHRIST therefore it was sufficient that by his Almighty power hee created a Doue of nothing and thereby gaue notice of his presence and residence in our Sauiour CHRIST which Doue as it was made of nothing so after the seruice was done was dissolued into nothing againe Wherein amongst other things appeares a difference betweene this Doue and the imposture of Mahomet and superstition of Rome both practised by a Doue whereof the later in a Romane Councill proou'd but an Owle S. Chrysostome giueth another note vpon this Doue In principijs spiritualium rerum c. when GOD first foundeth Religion he vseth sensible visions in commiseration of them which are not capable of incorporall natures but his purpose is that when once such things haue made faith vnto his truth we should continue our faith in his truth though he doe not dayly confirme it vnto vs by such things Which the Romanists should obserue who after so many hundred yeeres plantation of the Christian saith will still haue Miracles a marke of the true Church Finally we must obserue that signes come not Propter se but Propter aliud there is some other thing intended besides that which is presented so was it here the Doue appeared but the Spirit of God was meant thereby the Spirit was the Sacred Oyle wherewith our Sauiour was annointed The holy Spirit though in Person but one yet is hee infinite in the varietie of operations and so may haue answerable vaâ—ietie of resemblances out of which the Scripture maketh choice vpon seuerall occasions of such as come neerest vnto the Argument in hand And to this purpose must we referre signes they serue not onely for illustration but for limitation also they confine our thoughts which otherwise would bee confused and fixe them vpon that which is presently intended The grace then of the Holy Ghost here meant
is not indefinite because represented in a speciall signe the signe of a Doue this signe drawes our thoughts from plunging themselues into that infinite varietie of grace that was in CHRIST to contemplate that which beareth correspondency to a Doue In which contemplation we must keepe this rule to behold first Qualis Christus fuerit how CHRIST himselfe was qualified then Quales nos esse debeamus how wee as Christians must be conformable to him But let vs come to the speciall grace designed by the Doue Some obserue the neatnesse of that bird Aspicis vt ventant ad candida tecta Columbae Accipiat nullas sordida turris aues and they will haue the vertue here intimated to be Sanctity and indeed such an high Priest it behoued vs to haue as was holy harmelesse separate from sinners and higher then the Heauens the Angel at his birth calls him that holy thing Daniel the Holy of Holies his person his conuersation both were most pure hee was in nothing soild with the filth of sinne And what the Church must be we learne in our Creed where it is called the holy Catholique Church Holinesse beseemes Gods House for euer and from this 〈◊〉 haue wee the honour euen on earth to bee called Saints a Christian should not be an vneleane person neither should he delight in filthinesse Some looke vpon the sweete nature of the Doue which is louing and louely and indeede the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sounds that propertie the Doue is so called quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exceeding in loue St. Austin obserueth this propertie Tract 7. in 1. Epist Ioh De Columba demonstrata est charitas quae venit super Dominum quo nobis infunderetur the Doue was the Embleme of charity that was in CHRIST and from him streamed into vs And indeede greater charity could not be found in any then was in our Sauiour CHRIST who gaue his life for his friends yea for his Enemies and he commends no vertue more then charity vnto vs he prayeth that we may bee like to him therein and tells vs that by this shall all men know wee are his Disciples if we loue one another Ioh. 1â— Ioh. 13. the whole booke of Canticles is nothing but a commentary vpon this propertie wherein the name of Doue is more then once remembred But I will resolue this propertie of the Doue into two which will make way vnto some others The Doue is without Guile and without Gall a simple and harmelesse bird which figure two excellent properties of the Holy Ghost Sinceritie and Mercy the one a vertue of the Head the other of the Heart and they are opposed vnto the two maine properties of the Diuell who is noted to bee slie as a Serpent and cruell as a Lyon Our Sauiour CHRIST is especially recommended vnto vs in the Scripture as being farre from these hellish qualities That of the Head there was no guile found in his mouth Ioh. 14. Ioh. 18. Reuel 1. and no maruell for he was the Truth he came into the world to beare witnesse of the truth St. Iohn calls him the faithfull and the true witnesse the more blasphemous are they that draw any act or word of his to patronize or colour their impious Aequiuocations and mentall Reseruations we should conforme our selues vnto CHRIST bee true Nathaniels without simulation or dissimulation Satien cap. 1. Psal 15. be as good as our word though it bee our owne hinderance How farre then hath the World degenerated when Christians to excuse their owne fraud will fasten fraud on CHRIST Yet when I commend plaine dealing I doe not condemne discretion the good of the Serpent wee may haue though not the euill plaine dealing may well stand with Prudence and there is an innocent prouidence onely we must take heed that our tongues and our wits be not made snares and pitfalls but as CHRISTS word was not yea and nay but all the promises of God in him were yea and Amen so must our dealing not be fraudulent but sincere As CHRIST was without Guile so was hee without Gall so farre from taking offence when it was not giuen that when it was giuen he would not take it witnesse the checke which he gaue vnto his Disciples when they would haue had fire from Heauen to destroy the churlish Samaritans you know not saith he of what spirit you are Luke 9. the Sonne of Man came not to destroy Isay 42. but to saue mens liues Hee would not breake a bruised reede nor quench smoaking flaxe yea so tender were his Bowels that in the middest of his tortures vpon the Crosse Luke 23. hee forgaue hee prayed for his crucifying enemies It is this sweetnesse of CHRISTS nature that when the conscience of sinne holds backe doth encourage vs to come with boldnesse vnto the throne of Grace the Doue is not so free from Gall as our Sauiour is from reuengfull malice And what should a Christian be heare our Sauiour CHRIST Discite a mâ— quia mitis sum Matth. 12. Act. 8. Hebr. 13. we should imitate CHRIST in meeknesse we should not bee in the gall of bitternesse like Simon Magus neither should any roâ—te of bitternesse spring vp in vs Spiritus non generat accipitres sed columbas if so bee our nature be cruell it is signe it was neuer new moulded by the Spirit of grace Rom. 12 whose propertie it is not to bee ouer-come of euill but to ouer-come euill with good But here also marke that hee who forbids Crueltie doth not forbid Courage we may partake the good of the Lyon but not the euill It was and it is a grosse conceipt of Macheuilisme to thinke that these properties of the Doue to be without Guile and without Gall haue beene the baine of Christiandome while the Enemies thereof haue taken aduantage of their simplicitie to insnare them and of their pittie to deuoure them well may imprudent simplicitie and cowardly pittie disaduantage the prudent the couragious can neuer disaduantage nay sinceritie in the end ouercometh infidelitie and pittie triumphes ouer crueltie none euer dealt more plainely then CHRIST none was dealt withall more deceitful none vsed more pitie none was vsed more cruelly And what was the issue he prooued the wisedome of his Enemies plaine folly their fury turned vnto his greater glory Neither haue these properties prooued worse in Christians it were an easie matter to prooue it out of the Martyres story recorded both in the old and the New Testament Yea which maketh the opposit vices more odious neuer was there any craftie wit that was not vnto himselfe a snare nor cruell heart whose hands did not giue himselfe the deadliest woundes the Serpent the roaring Lyon that set vpon CHRIST what are they but monuments of the euill successe of their hellish qualities Wherefore though the world please it selfe in wilinesse and bloodinesse let it alwayes bee the care and comfort of a Christian
was the Embleme of the acceptable yeere Luke 4. it testified that GOD was now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that men had now communion with him againe But here are two rules that must bee obserued first that these wordes in whom I am well pleased must bee vnderstood exclusiuely Act. 3. CHRIST is the onely Mediatour neither is there any other Name vnder Heauen giuen by which we may be saued but onely the Name of IESVS so that he which hath the Sonne hath life 1 Iohn 3. and hee which hath not the Sonne hath not life CHRIST will yeeld this glory to none other Secondly that GOD is immediatly well pleased with CHRIST but mediatly with vs If we doe not so vnderstand the words wee haue but little comfort in them wherefore we must bee assured that we are made accepted in Gods beloued that the Church is now called Hephzibah My delight is in her saith the LORD By the Sonne Esay 62.4 wee haue all accesse vnto the Father through the Holy Ghost Finally all this is to be vnderstood of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hic this Person which seemeth so meane appeares in the forme of a Seruant yet hee is Filius meus my Sonne my beloued in whom I am well pleased GOD is not ashamed of his SONNE humbling himselfe in our nature neither doth he loue him the lesse And why his obedience was voluntary it was to doe his FATHERS will it was to doe vs good much lesse should we be ashamed for whose sake he became so humble yea God forbid that we should reioyce but in the Crosse of Christ if Hic and Meus sort so well in GODS iudgment they must agree much more in ours But to draw to an end In this Text there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a true Epiphanie And indeed the Church reades my Text but out of St. Luke vpon the Epiphanie day on which the Tradition holds that he was Baptized and this great manifestation of GOD was made vnto the world wherein all things are Augusta maiestati Christi congrua very solemne very heauenly no where is the Mystery of the Trinitie which is the first foundation of true Religion nor the comfortable actions thereof which is the foundation of Christian Religion so ioyntly so vndeniably reuealed The Mystery of the Trinitie is incomprehensible vnutterable Ego nescio saith St. Hilarie I professe my ignorance of it yet will I comfort my selfe the Angels know it not the world cannot comprehend it the Apostles neuer reuealed it cesset ergo dolor querelarum let not men murmurre or complaine that this secret is hidden from them let it suffice them to know that there is a Trinitie in Vnitie let them neuer inquire how it is for they will inquire in vaine Naztanzene giueth the reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 While I would contemplate the Vnitie my thoughts are daâ—led by the Trinitie and while I goe about to distinguish the Trinitie I am presently cast vpon the Vnitie the one doeth call my thoughts vpon the other And what wonder that a man should bee so puzled For Quo intellectu Deum capiat homo 3. Austin qui intellectum suum quo vult capere nondum capit How should he bee able to comprehend the Trinitie that comprehends not yet his reasonable Soule the onely helpe which hee hath wherewith to comprehend it and is indeede the best resemblance of it That which I haue said concerning the Trinitie is a good rule of sobrietie to hold in curious wits that will prie too farre into these diuine Mysteries And yet Epiphanius doeth well checke the incredulitie of Sabellius Non credis tres personas diuinae Essentiae doest thou not beleeue the Trinitie in Vnitie Comitare Iohanem ad Iordanem attend Iohn Baptist to the riuer Iordan there thou shalt finde them all three And indeed here the Trinitie is brought in some sort within the compasse of our conceipt for it is not set foorth as it is In se but ad Nos not simply as the foundation of true Religion but as the foundation of Christian Religion as euery Person contributes towardes our Saluation When such an Obiect is presented the word of attention is pressed seasonably and reasonably it is prest to the eye and prest to the eare these reasonable senses are summoned with reuerence and confidence to behold to attend these sacred Mysteries To behold them as they are deliuered in the Historie for euen the Historie it selfe being rare is able to allure our reasonable senses Did it nothing otherwise concerne him who would not willingly yea greedily heare the voyce of GOD the FATHER see the Holy Ghost in the shape of a Doue and see the SONNE of GOD so humbling himselfe in the nature of man How much more should we desire it when there is not onely Miraculum but Mysterium in it euen one of the greatest Mysteries of godlinesse The Heauens are opened that is a Miracle but they are opened for Vs the Holy Ghost descends in a Doue but the Doue is but an Embleme of the holinesse that must be in Vs that is the Mysterie the SONNE of GOD here appeares to bee the Sonne of Man that is a Miracle but he appeares to Sanctifie the waters for the regeneration of man that is a Mysterie when the Miracles present these Mysteries doe they not deserue a Loe deserue that the eye the eare both should be taken vp by which thou mayest be made partaker of them O but thou wilt say I would trauell farther then Iordan to see such a sight might my eye see the Heauens opened might my eare heare GOD speake from Heauen might I bee so happy as to come to such an Inauguration of my Sauiour my eye should not be satisfied with seeing nor my eare with hearing Heare what S. Ambrose answereth to such an obiection EisdeÌ„ sacramentis res iam agitur quibus tunc gesta est nisi quod gratia pleniore the life of that Mysterie continueth stil though it be not cloathed with the same Miracle then was the Trinitie seene with carnall eyes whom now we contemplate with the eyes of Faith Dominicâ— 6. post Pentecost Yea St. Ambrose is bold to say that greater grace is offered vnto vs then to them that were present at the Baptisme of CHRIST for vnto them as being incredulous GOD perswaded Faith by corporall signes but in vs that are the faithfull hee worketh grace spiritually And it is greater grace so to behold GOD as the faithfull doe then as doe those that are vnfaithfull so that the Loe doeth no lesse concerne vs then it did them Yea it concernes vs much more our eyes should dayly be lifted vp Heauen and behold how the grace of Sanctification descends from thence into vs and to behold how the benefit of Adoption is dayly offered vs our eares should be opened vnto Heauen The Holy Ghost commeth to vs but who seeth him GOD professeth that he accepteth