this whole Trinity in our Lord 1. Rationale the Rationall part for he teacheth what he learnt disputes with the Pharisees and instructeth the people in those wayes which reason commends as the best and readiest to lead them to the End 2. Indignativum the Irascible power which breaths it self forth in woes and bitter Invectives against the Scribes and Pharisees 3. Concupiscentivum the Concupiscible Appetite for he desires he earnestly desires to eat the Passeover with his Disciples We may be bold to say and it is Gratitude and not Blasphemy to say it angry he was and joy he did and breath forth his desires and grieve and feare similis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like in all things but with this huge difference In all these no ataxie or disorder not the least stoop nor declination from reason no storme in his Anger no frensie in his joy no woman in his Teares no wanton in his Love no coward in his Feare like unto us in passion but not bowed or misled by passion like unto us In us they are as so many severall winds driving us to severall points and almost at the same time our Fear hath a relish of Hope and our Hope is allayed with some Fear our desires contradict themselves we would and we would not and we know not what we would have our sorrow will ebbe out into Anger our Anger flowes uncertainly sometimes it swells into Joy if it be not checkt and if it be and we misse our end it frets and wasts and consumes it self and is neer lost in that flood of sorrow which it brought in nunquam sumus singuli we are never long the same men but one passion or another rises in us troubles us a while and so makes way for another such a perplexed middle such a lump of contradictions is man Thus it is in us but in him they are straight and even lines drawn to their right center his anger on Sin his love on Piety his joy on the great Work he had to doe his Feare was his Jealousie lest we should fall from him when he grieved it was that others did not so when he seemed most moved in better temper than we are when we pray All our qualities he had which were indetectabiles as the Schooles speak which implyed no defect of Grace nor detracted from his all-sufficient satisfactory righteousnesse poenam sine culpa those affections which might make him sensible of Smart but not obnoxious to Sin and in him they were not properly passions Euseb Episc Thessal apud Phot. Biblioth cod CLXII saith Eusebius Bishop of Thessalonica but rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 naturall operations which did shew him to all the world as it were with an Ecce Behold the man and thus he condemned sin in the flesh Rom. v. 3. that is in those punishments which his flesh endured he that tells us he was like unto us in all things brings in his exception at the fourth chap. v. 3 yet without sin for his miraculous conception by the holy Ghost was a sure and invincible Antidote against that poyson of the Serpent and so presented him an innocent and spotlesse Lambe fit for a Sacrifice We have now filled up S. Pauls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and found our Captaine God and Man Christ Jesus like unto us in all things we have beheld him in intimis naturae in the very bowels as it were and entrailes of our nature nay in sordibus naturae in the vilenesse of our Nature searching and purging the whole Circle and compasse of it and working out our corruption from the very root we have consider'd him in that height which no mortall eye can reach in his Divine nature and we have lookt upon him where he might be seen and heard and felt in his Humane nature we must now with a reverent and fearfull hand but touch at the passive sieri which points out to the union of both the Natures in one Person the Apostle tels us Debuit fieri similis That it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren And to the apprehension of this union as to the knowledge of God we are led by weak and faint representations drawn from sensible things and we are led by negations the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the quomodo is best answered by non hoc modo not after this manner Factus est he was made like unto us t is true but not so as flesh and Bloud may imagine or a wanton and busie wit conceive not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Basil not by any mutation of his divine essence Basil de Hum. Christi Gen. sine periculo status sui saith Tertull. without any danger of the least alteration of his state his glory did not take from him the forme of a servant nor did this Assimilation lessen or alter him in that by which he was equall to his Father nor did the mystery of godlinesse bring any detriment to the Deity G. Nyssen calls him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Tertullian Deum carne mixtum in his Apologie and Austin Greg. Nyssen Cath. or c. 27. and Cyprian and Irenaeus use the same phrase a God mixt with our nature but not so as a drop of water cast into a vessel of wine and turned into that substance in which it is lost as Eutyches fancied but as the soule and body though two distinct Natures grow into one man so did the Godhead assume the manhood without confusion of the Nature or distinction of the persons united as the Sunne and the light saith Justin Martyr as a graft to a plant say others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Basil as in a fiery sword there are two distinct Natures the fire and the sword two distinct acts to cut and to burne and two distinct effects cutting and Burning from whence ariseth one common effect to cut burning and to burne cutting all which with all the representations which the wit of man can find out cannot expresse it but leave us in our gaze and wonder whilst the manner of it is hid from our eyes and removed further out of sight then when we first lookt after it Those beasts which came too neer to this mountaine this high mystery were strucken through with a Dart and staggerd in the very attempt and left to walk uncertainly in that mist and darknesse which their too daring curiosity had cast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. saith Nazianzen Naz. orat 26. hot and busie wits they were Arius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a subtill sophister Nestorius of a quick wit and voluble tongue Apollinarius the stoutest Champion the Church had against Arius in comparison of whom some thought the great Athanasius to be but a child in understanding not to mention Cer inthus Valentinus Eutiches these pressing too forward upon this great mystery were struck blind at the doore and running contrary wayes met all in this that they ran
reignes in our mortall bodies and to such this lesson of the Spirit is as an Ax to cut them off But be their Originall what it will if this truth reach them not or if they bear no Analogy or affinity with that which the Spirit hath taught nor depend upon it by any evident and necessary consequence they are not to be reckoned in the number of those which concern us because we are assured that he hath led us into all truth that is necessary Some things indeed there are which are indifferent in themselves quae lex nec vetat nec jubet which this Spirit neither commands not forbids but are made necessary by reason of some circumstance of time or place or quality or persons for that which is necessary in it self is alwayes necessary and yet are in their own nature indifferent still veritas ad omnia occurrit this truth which is the spirits lesson reacheth even these and containes a rule certain and infallible to guide us in them if we become not lawes unto our selves and fling it by to wit the rules of Charity and Christian prudence to which if we give heed it is impossible we should miscarry It is the love of our selves the love of the world not charity or spirituall wisdome which make this noyse abroad which rend the Church in pieces and work this desolation on the earth it is the want of conscience the neglect of conscience in the common and known wayes of our duty which have raised so many needless cases of conscience which if men had not hearkened to their lusts had never shewn their head had been what indeed they are nothing the acts of charity are manifest 1 Cor. 13. She suffereth long even injuries and errours but doth not rise up against that which was set up to enlarge and improve her Charity is not rash to beat down every thing that had its first rise and beginning from Charity is not puffed up swells not against a harmless yea and an usefull constitution though it be of man Doth not behave it self unseemly layes not a necessity upon us of not doing that which lawful authority even then styles an indifferent thing when it commands it to be done Charity seeketh not her own treads not the publique peace under foot to procure her own Charity is not provoked checks not at every feather nor startles at that monster which is a creation of our own Charity thinketh no evil doth not see a Serpent under every leaf nor Idolatry in every bow of Devotion if we were charitable we could not but be peaceable if that which is the main of the Spirits lesson did govern mens actions there would be abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth Multa facienda sunt non jubente lege sed liberâ charitate saith Austin Charity is free to do suffer many things which the Spirit doth not expresly command and yet doth command in generall when it commands and enjoyns obedience to Authority which hath no larger circuit to walk and shew it self in than in things in themselves indifferent which it may enioyn for orders sake and the advantage of those things which are necessary which are already under a higher and more binding law than any Potentate or Monarch of the earth can make The acts I say of Charity are manifest but those of Christian prudence are not particularly designed Prudentia respicit ad siagularia because that eye is given us to view and consider particular occurrences and circumstances and it depends upon those things which are without us whereas Charity is an act of the will and here if we would be our selves or rather if we would not be our selves but be free from by-respects and unwarrantable ends if we would divest our selves of all hopes or feares of those things which may either shake or raise our estates we cannot be to seek For how easy is it to a disengaged and willing mind to apply a generall precept to particular actions especially if Charity fill our hearts which is the bond of perfection and the end and complement of the Law which indeed is our spirituall wisdome In a word in these cases when we goe to consult with our reason we cannot erre if we leave not Charity behind us or if we should erre our charity would have such an influence upon our errour that it should trouble none but our selves for Charity beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things And this is the extent of the Spirits lesson and if in other truths more subtill than necessary we are to seek it matters not for we need not seek them for it is no sin not to know that which I cannot know it is no sin to be no wiser than God hath made me or what need our curiosity rove abroad when that which is all and alone concerns us lies in so narrow a compasse In absoluto facili aeternitas Hil. de Trin. saith Hilary the way to heaven may seem rough and troublesome but it is an easy way easy to find out though not so easy at our first onset to walk in and yet to those that tread and trace it often as delightfull as Paradise it self See God hath shut up Eternity within the compasse of two words Believe and Repent which is a full and just commentary on the Spirits lesson the summe of all that he taught lay your foundation right and then build upon it because God loved you in Christ do you love him in Christ love him and keep his commandements than which no other way could have been found out to draw you neer unto God Believe and Repent this is all Oh wicked abomination whence art thou come to cover the earth with deceit with malice what defyance what contentention what gall and bitternesse amongst Christians and yet this is all Believe and Repent The pen the tongue the sword these are the weapons of our warfare What ink what blood hath been spilt in the cause of Religion how many Innocents defamed how many Saints anathematized how many millions cut down with the sword yet this is all Believe and Repent We hear the noyse of the whip and the ratling of the wheeles and the prancing of the horses the horseman lifteth up his bright speare and his glittering sword Nah. 3.2,3 Every part of Christendome almost is a stage of war and the pretence is written in their banners you may see it waving in the aire for God and Religion and this is all Believe and Repent Who would once think the pillars of the earth should be thus shaken that the world should be turned into a worse Chaos than that out of which it was made that there should be such wars and fightings amongst Christians for that which is shut up and brought unto us in these two words Believe and Repent for all the truth which is necessary which will be sufficient to lift us to our
the flesh persecuted him who was born after the spirit even so it is now The vail is drawn and you may behold presented to your view and consideration a double parallel 1. Of the times But as then so now 2. Of the occurrences the acts and monuments of these times divided between two the Agent and the patient those that are born after the flesh persecuting and those that are born after the spirit suffering persecution The them was not long it began and ended in a scoff for Sarah saw Ismael mocking of Isaac Gen. 21.9 and yet this scoffe began those 400. yeers of persecution foretold by God Gen. 15.13 and is drawn down by our Apostle to the times of grace But the now is of larger extent and reacheth even to the end of the World from the Angels Antheme to the last Trump when Christ shall resigne all power into his Fathers hand But because we cannot well take a full view of them both and the Church of Christ is one and the same from the first just man Abel to the last man that shall stand upon the earth though different in outward Administration as Tertul. speaks upon another occasion Tertul. de pallio nunquam ipsa semper alia etsi semper ipsa quando alia because receiving degrees of perfection yet alwayes one and the same when in some respects it appeared not the same we will therefore draw both times together both the then and the now the time under the Law and the time under the Gospel within the compasse of this one position and Doctrine That though the priviledge and prerogative I may say Royalties of the Church be many yet was she never exempted from persecution but rather had intailed it on her as an inheritance And when we shall have made this good 1. from the consideration of the quality of the persons here upon the stage the one persecuting the other Suffering the one born after the flesh the other after the spirit 2. From the nature and constitution of the Church which in this World is ever Militant 3. From the providence and Wisdom of God who put this enmity between these two seeds betwen those that are born after the flesh and those who are born after the spirit When we have passed over these we will in the last place draw it down to our selves look back upon persecution brandishing it's terrors upon them both and so learn to take up and manage the weapons of our warfare and prepare our selves against the day of trial But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted c. 1. The persons That no priviledge of the Church can exempt her from persecution we may read in the persons themselves the one born after the flesh the other born after the spirit the reason is hid but visible enough in their very Attributes For as the flesh lusteth against the spirit and these two are contrary Gal. 5.17 i.e. are carried by the sway of their very natures to contrary things so the children of the one and of the other are contrary Of the first our Apostle will tell us that they killed the Lord Jesus and killed their own prophets and persecuted the Christians and the reason follows 1 Thes 2.15 which indeed is against all reason but was the best motive they had for as they hated God so were they contrary to all men looking with an evil eye upon the graces of God in others and whatsoever savored of the spirit like Hannibal in the story can part with any thing but war and contention can be without their native Country but not without an Enemy and the reason is plain for that which is born of the flesh is flesh that is Hath all the qualities and malignity of flesh is full of the works of the flesh which are the very principles of contention and persecution From whence are wars and tumults saith Saint James Jam. 4.1 are they not from those lusts which fight in their members From envie and malice from Covetousnesse and ambition which are the works of the flesh and are raised from the flesh as one creature is from another of the same kinde or rather as a Serpent is out of carryon or a scarabee out of dung which if they cannot finde occasion of doing evil will work and force it out of good it self so Cain the first disciple of the dvil as Saint Bas calls him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eas de ◠invidia 1 John 3.12 slew his brother for no other reason but this because his works were evil and his brothers good for he was saith the Text of the wicked one for to be born of the flesh and to be born of the devil are one and the same thing From the father of envy though not as the Rabbies fancy born of the very filth and seed which the Serpent conveighed into Eve If there were no evil men there could be no persecution for I cannot see how ' its possible for good men to persecute one another It is more probable that Satan should rise up against Satan and one devil cast out another Evil men may rage against evil men a covetous man may rob and spoil a covetous man and a proud man may swell against a proud man and an ambitious man lay hold on him that is climbing and pull him back into the dust for that which made them brethren in evil may make them enemies Herod and Pilat may fall out and then be reconciled and joyn their forces as one man against Christ and then fall asunder and be at distance again The wicked may gather together and with one Heart and with one Soul pursue the innocent and hold out their swords together and joyn their forces to rob and spoile them and then when they are to divide the spoil turn the points of their sword at one anothers breasts for they cannot make way to the end of their hopes but by striking down them that seem to stand in their way cannot be rich but by making others poor cannot be at liberty but by binding others cannot soare to their desires height but by laying others on the ground cannot live at ease unlesse they see others in their grave which are the several kindes of persecution as it were the strings of that Scorpion For that which is born of the flesh is flesh Take covetousnesse and ambition the proper and natural issues of the flesh and as the Apostle joynes it every where with uncleannesse so may we with hatred and persecution for these make that desolation upon the earth the onely Incendiaries in a Church or Common-wealth and the great troublers of the peace of Israel These destroy the walls and break down the towers of a City these rend the Vaile nay dig up the very foundation of the Temple the spirit is named but from the flesh is the persecution For what did the Husband-men set upon the Lord of the Vineyard
us made like unto God exalted by his Humiliation raysed by his descent magnified by his minoration Candidati Angelorum lifted up on high to a sacred emulation of an Angelicall estate with songs of joy and Triumph we remember it and it is the joy of this Feast fratres Domini the Brethren of Christ Thus with a mutual aspect Christs humility looks upon the exaltation of our Nature and our exaltation looks back again upon Christ and as a well made picture lookes upon him that looks upon it so Christ drawn forth in the similitude of our flesh looks upon us whilst we with joy and Gratitude have our eyes set upon him They answer each other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and are parallels Christ made like unto men and again men made like unto him so like that they are his Brethren Christ made like 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all things will fill up the office of a Redeemer and men made like unto God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all things which may be required at the hands of those who are Redeemed his obedience lifted him up to the crosse and ours must lift us after him and be carried on by his to the End of the world And as we find it in Relatives they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is a kind of Convertency in these Terms Christ and his Brethren Christ like unto his Brethren and these Brethren like unto Christ Christ is ours and we are Christs saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 3. and Christ Gods And in the last place the modification the Debuit It behoved him carries our thoughts to those two common Heads or places the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Convenience and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Necessitie of it and these two in Civil Acts are one for what becomes us to doe we must doe and t is necessary we should doe it what should be done is done and it is impossible it should be otherwise say the Civilians because the law supposeth obedience Impossibilitas juris which is the Complement and perfection of the law and this Debuit looks equally on both both on Christ and his Brethren if in all things it behoved Christ to be like unto his Brethren which is the benefit Heaven and Earth will conclude men and Angels will inferre Debemus that it behoveth us to be made like unto Christ which is the Duty My Text then is divided equally between these two Termes Christ and his Brethren That which our devotion must contemplate in Christ is First his Divine 2. his Humane Nature 3. the union of them both for 1. we cannot but make a stand and enquire quis ille who he was who ought to doe this and in the 2. place enquire of his Humane nature For we find him here flesh of our flesh and Bone of our Bone Assimilatum made like unto us what can we say more Our Apostle tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all things and then will follow the union of them both exprest in this passive fieri in this his assimilation and the Assumption of our Nature which all fill us with admiration but the last rayseth it yet higher and should rayse our love to follow him in his Obedience quod debuit that it behoved him that the dispensation of so wonderfull and Catholique a benefit must be Translated tanquam ex officio as a matter of Duty The end of all is the end of all Our salvation the end of our Creation the end of our Redemption the end of this assimilation and the last end of all the glory of God which sets an oportet upon Man as well as upon Christ and then his Brethren and he will dwell together in unity Onely here is the difference our obligation is the easiest t is but this to be bound and obliged with Christ to set our hands to that bond which he hath sealed with his Bloud no heavy Debet to be like unto him and by his condescension so low to us to raise our selves neerer to him by a holy and diligent imitation of his obedience which will make up our last part and serve for application And in the first place we aske with the Prophet quis ille who is he that cometh who is he that must be made like unto us what is done and who did it of so neere a relation that we can hardly abstract the one from the other and if one eye be leveld on the fact the other commonly is fixed on the hand that did it Magnis negotiis ut magnis Comediis edecumati apponuntur actores Great Burdens require equall strength to beare them matters of moment are not for men of weak abilities and slight performance nor every Actor for all parts To lead Captivity Captive to bring prisoners to Glory to destroy Death to shut up the gates and mouth of Hell these are Magnalia wonderfull things not within the sphere of common Activity We see here many sonnes there were to be brought unto Glory at the 10. v. but in the way there stood sinne to Intercept us the feare of Death to Enthrall us and the Divell ready to devour us and we what were we Rottennesse our mother and wormes our Brethren lay us in the ballance lighter then vanity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men fallen below the condition of men lame and impotent not able to move one step in these wayes of Glory living Dead men quis novus Hercules who will now stand up for us who will be our Captaine we may well demand quis ille who he is Some Angel we may think sent from Heaven or some great Prophet No inquest is made in this Epistle neither the Angels nor Moses returned The Angels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in no wise Glorious Creatures indeed they are Caelestiall spirits but yet Ministring spirits in all purity serving the God of purity saith Naz not fit to intercede but ready at his Beck o Nazianz. Orat. 43. with wings indeed but not with Healing under them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but second lights too weak to enlighten so great a Darknesse their light is their Obedience and their fairest Elogium Ye Angels that doe his will they were but finite Agents and so not able to make good an infinite losse they are in their own Nature mutable and so not fit agents to settle them who were more mutable more subject to change then they not able to change our vile bodies much lesse able to change our soules which are as immortall as they but are lodgd in a Tabernacle of Flesh which will fall of it self and cannot be raised againe but by his power whom the Angels worship In prison we were and Cui Angelorum written on the doore miserable Captives so deplorably lost that the whole Hierarchie of Angels could not help us And if not the Angels not Moses sure though he were neerest to God and saw as much of his Majesty as Mortality was able to bear
cast not the least shadow for envy or detraction to walk in for amongst all the Heresies the Church was to cope withall we read of none that called his piety into question and all this propter nos for our sakes that in his Meeknesse we may shut up our Anger in his Humility abate our Pride in his Patience still and charm our Frowardnesse in his Bounty spend our selves in his Compassion and Bowels melt our stony hearts and in his perfect Obedience beat down our Rebellion not in the Cloud or in the fiery Pillar not in Darknesse and Tempest not in those wayes of his which are as hard to finde out as the passage of an arrow in the aire or a ship in the sea but in tegmine carnis as Arnobius speaks under no other Covert than that of our Flesh so like us that we may take a pattern by him This indeed may seem an indignity to God and in all ages there have been found some who have thought so not onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Heathen who in Tatianus in plain terms tel the Christians they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 betray too great a folly in believing it but even Christians themselves and children of the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Naz calls them ill lovers of Christ who did rob him with a complement and to uphold his honour did devest him of his Deity and whilest with great shew of piety and reverence they stood up to remove from God the Nature they unadvisedly put upon him the weaknesse of man drew him out to our distempers and sick constitution as if God were sicut homo as man like unto us in our worst complexion who are commonly very tender and dainty what likenesse we take and affect that similitude alone which presents us greater and fairer than we are For our pictures present not us but a better face and a more exact proportion and with it the best part of our wardrobe we are but grashoppers but would come forth and be seen taller than we are by the head and shoulders in the largenesse and height of an Anakim This opinion we have of our selves and therefore are too ready to perswade our selves that God is of our mind and that God will descend so low or take the likenesse of a mortall though he tell us so himself yet we will not believe it which is to measure out the immense goodnesse and wisdome of God by our Digite and Scantling by the imaginary line of a wanton and sick fancy to bound and limit his determinate will to teach God and put our owne shapes upon him to confine him to a Thought and then Christ hath two Persons or but one Nature a Body and not a Body is a God alone or a Man alone the whole body of Religion and our Christian Faith must shiver and flie to pieces Nos autem non sic but we have not so learned Christ not learned to abuse and violate his great love and call it good manners and then urge our fears and unprescribed and groundlesse jealousies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall his honour be the lesse because he hath laid it down for our sakes Naz. ib. shall he lose in his esteem because he fell so low for our advancement or can we be afraid of that Humility which purchased us glory and returned in triumph with the keyes of Hell and of Death He made himself a Sheepherd and laid down his life for his Sheep and shall we make that an argument that he is not a King He clothed himself with our Flesh he lights a Candle he sweeps the House descends to low Offices for our sake so far from being ashamed of our Nature that he made hast to assume it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and dost thou impute this to God No to us his Humility is as full of wonder as his Majesty Non erubescimus de Christo we are not ashamed of the man Christ expecting the leisure of nine moneths Travel passing through and enduring the loathsome Contumelies of our Nature born in a Stable cradled in a Cratch wrapped up in Clouts poor and despised non de crucifixo Christo not of our crucified Lord hanging on the Cross but wonder heighteneth our joy and joy raiseth our wonder and we cry out with S. Austin Oh prodigia oh miracula Oh prodigie oh miracle of Mercy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oh the strangenesse of this New Birth with the Wise-wen we open our Treasuries and present him gifts and worship him as a King though we finde him in a manger And this is signum è terra a sign from the depth from the low condition of our Flesh factus similis saith the Apostle Psal 40. made like unto his Brethren corpus aptasti mihi saith he himself in the Psalm a Body hast thou prepared me so like us that the Divel himself as quick-sighted as Marcion or Manes took him for no other and was entrapped 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the outward garment and vaile of his flesh and venturing upon him as man found him a God Naz. Or. 39. and striking at the First Adam was overcome with the Second beat down and conquered with that blow which he levelled But as he hath taken our Flesh must he take our Soul too may not his Divinity as Apollinarius fancied supply the place of our better part shall we not free him from those passions and affections which when they move and are hot within us our common Apologie is Humanum est that we are but men No to S. Hilaries Corporatio we must adde the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and if S. Hilaries incorporating of Christ will not reach home their inhumanition will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 draw them together and unites them both both body and soul he came to save both and both he took to free the body from Corruption and the soul from Sin to refine our Drosse into Silver and our Silver into pure Gold to raise our Bodies to the Immortality of our Souls and our Souls to the purity of the Angels perfect God and perfect Man of a reasonable Soul and humane Flesh subsisting And now being made up of the same Mould and Temper having taken from man what makes and constitutes man being the same wax as it were why may he not receive the same impressions of Love and Joy Grief and Feare Anger and Compassion affectus sensualitatis even those affections which are seated in the sensitive part Behold him in the Temple with a Scourge in his Hands you will say he was angry Goe with him to Lazarus his Grave and you shall see his Sorrow dropping from his eyes Mark his eye upon Jerusalem and you shall see the very bowels of Compassion Follow him to Gethsemane and the Evanglist will tell you he began to be grievously troubled Ecce tota haec Trinitas in Domino saith Tertull. Tert. de Anim. c. 1. Behold here is
the hazard of their own soules and of that which should be as deare to them the peace of the Church Be not then too inquisitive to find out the manner of this union for the holy Father seales up thy lips that thou mayst not once think of Asking the question Just Mart. and tells thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that thou art not like to meet with an answer and what greater folly can there be then to attempt to do that which cannot be done or to search for that which is past finding out or to be ever a beginning and never make an end Search the scriptures for they are they that testifie of him testifie that he was God blessed for evermore that that word which was Godw as also made flesh that he was the Son of God and the Sonne of man the manner how the two Natures are united is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil ib. unsearchable unfoordable and the knowledge of it if our narrow understandings could receive it would not adde one haire to our stature and growth in Grace that he is God and man that the two Natures are united in one person who is thy Saviour and mediator is enough for thee to know and to rayse thy nature up to him Take the words as they lye in their Native purity and simplicity and not as they are hammered and beat out and stampt by every hand by those who will be Fathers not Interpreters of Scripture and beget what sense they please and present it not as their own but as a child of God Then Lo here is Christ and there is Christ this is Christ and that is Christ thou shalt see many images and characters of him but not one that is like him an imperfect Christ a half Christ a created Christ a fancied Christ a Christ that is not the Son of God and a Christ that is not the Son of Man and thus be rowled up and down in uncertainties and left to the poore and miserable comfort of Conjecture in that which so far as it concerns us is so plain and easie to be known Doe thoughts arise in thy heart do doubts and difficulties beset thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Justin Martyr thy Faith is the solution and will soon quit thee of them and cast them by thy Faith not assumed or insinuated into thee or brought in as thy vices may be by thy education but raised upon a holy hill a sure foundation the plain and expresse Word of God and upheld and strengthned by the Spirit Christian dost thou believe Thou hast then seen thy God in the Flesh from Eternity yet born Invisible yet seen Immense and circumscribed Immortall yet dying the Lord of life and Crucified God and man Christ Jesus Amaze not thy self with an inordinate feare of undervaluing thy Saviour wrong not his love and call it thy Reverence why should thoughts arise in thy Heart his power is not the lesse because his mercy is great nor doth his infinite love shadow or detract from his Majesty for see He counts it no disparagement to be seen in our flesh nor to be at any losse by being thus like us our Apostle tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there was a Decorum in it and it behoved him to be like unto his Brethren Debuit It behoved him That Christ was made like unto us is the joy of this Feast but that he ought to be is the wonder and extasy of our joy that he would descend is mercy but that he must is our astonishment Oportet and Debet are binding termes and words of Duty Had our Apostle said It behoved us that he should be made like unto us it had found an easy belief the debuit had been placed in loco suo in its proper place on a sweating brow on dust and putrefaction on the face of a captive All will say it Behoved us much but to put a Debet upon the Son of God to make it a Decorum a beseeming thing for him to become Flesh to be made like unto us to set a Rubie in Clay a Diamond in Brasse a Chrysolet in baser Metall and say it is placed well there to worry the Lambs for the Wolf to take the Master by the throat for the Debt of a Prodigall and with an Oportet to say it should be so to give a gift and call it a Debt is not out usuall language on earth on Earth it is not but in Heaven it is the proper Dialect fixed up in Capitall letters on the Mercy Seat the joy of this Feast the Angels Antheme Salvator Natus a Saviour is born and if he will be a Saviour an Undertaker a Surety such is the Nature of Fidejussion and Suretiship debet he must it behoveth him as deeply engaged as the party whose surety he is And let us look on the aptnesse of the meanes and we shall soon find that this Foolishnesse of God as the Apostle calls it is wiser than men and this weaknesse of God is stronger than men 1 Cor. 1.25 that the oportet is right set For medio existente conjunguntur extrema if you will have extremes to meet you must have a middle line to draw them together and behold here they meet and are made unum one Ephes 2.14 saith the Apostle the proprieties of either Nature being entire and yet meeting and concentring themselves as it were in one person Majesty puts on Humility Power Infirmity Eternity Mortality by the one he dyes for us by the other he riseth again by the one he suffers as Man by the other he conquers as God in them both he perfects and consummates the great work of our redemption And this Debuit reacheth home to each part of my Text to Christ as God The same hand that made the vessell when it was broken and so broken that there was not one sherd left to fetch water at any pit to repaire and set it together again that it may receive and contain the water of life ut qui fecit nos reficeret that our Creation and Salvation should be wrought by the same hand and turned about upon the same wheele Next we may set the debuit upon his person and he is media persona a middle person and the office will best fit him even the office of a Mediator and then as he is the Son of God who is the Image of the Father and most proper it may seem to him to repair that Image which was defaced and well neere lost in us For we had not onely blemished this Image but set the Devils face and superscription upon Gods coyne for Righteousnesse there was Sin for Purity Pollution for Beauty Deformity for Rectitude Perversenesse for the Man a Beast scarce any thing left by which he might know us venit filius ut iterum signet the Son comes and with his blood revives again the first character marks us with his owne signature imprints the Graces of
some but to withdraw it selfe from others as shut out and hid from the light and force of it or having any Title to it long before ever they saw the sunne And thus they shorten the hand of God when it is stretched out to all bound his love which is profferred to all stint the bloud of Christ which gusheth out upon all and circumcise his mercy which is a large cloak saith Bernard large enough to cover all and the reason is no better then the position quod vis esse charum effice ut sit rarum to make salvation more precious and estimable it must be rare Then 't is most glorious when t is a peculiar when t is entayld on a few why should the love of God be a common thing I answer why should it not be common since he is pleased to have it so why should he cast away so many to endeare a few and can there be any glory in that priviledge which is writ with the bloud of so many millions why should it not be common since he would have it not onely common but communicated to all and expresses himself as one grieved and troubled and angry because it is not so why should we feare Gods love should be cast away by being proferd to many His love of friendship and complacency to those whom he calls his Friends cannot be lost but is as eternall as himself it assists and upholds them and will crown them everlastingly Nor is his generall love of good will and affection lost though it be lost for it is ever with him even when the wicked are in hell Plus est bonitas Dei quam beneficentia Christs bloud is ever in the Flow though there be but few that take the Tide and are carried along with it Gods goodnesse is larger then his Beneficence he doth not doe what good he can or rather he doth not doe what good he would because we fall back and will not receive it we will not suffer him to be good we will not suffer him to be mercifull we will not suffer him to save us This is the condemnation of the world John 3 19. that light came into the world and men loved darknesse more then light Apâ—l Flor. 1. The Philosopher will tell us of the Indians ad nascentem solem siti sunt tamen in corpore color noctis est they live at the very rising of the sunne yet their Bodies are black and swarthy and resemble the night so many there be who live in the very Region of light where the Beames fall upon them hot and pure and are darted at their very eyes and yet remaine the Children of darknesse Facit infidelitas multorum ut Christus non pro omnibus moriatur qui pro omnibus mortuus est saith Saint Ambrose Christ was deliverd for all is a true proposition it is Infidelity alone that can make it Hereticall and yet t is true still though to him that believes not it is of no more use then if it were false he was delivered for thee but thou wilt not receive it his passion is absolute but thou art impenitent he dyed for Judas who betrayed him but will not save Judas that despaired and hang'd himself Infidelity and impenitency are the worst Restrictives which limit and draw down to particulars a proposition so profitably generall and bound so saving a universall that contract and sink all into a few To conclude this Christs hanging on the Crosse looks upon all but all doe dot cast an eye and look up in faith upon him he was deliver'd to deliver all but all will not be deliver'd Omnis natura nostra in Christi hypostasi invixit Our whole nature was united in Christs person not the persons of a few but our whole nature and our whole nature is of compasse large enough to take in all and in that common nature of man he offered up himself on the Crosse for the sinne of all that he might tollere peccatum mundi take away the sinne of the world destroy the very species and being of it which though it be not done cannot be imputed to any scantnesse or deficiency of virtue in his bloud which is of power to purge out sinne wheresoere it is if the heart that fosters it be ready and willing to receive and apply it And in this common nature of man not from Abraham or David but from the first man Adam himself as Saint Luke carryes up his Genealogy did Christ offer up himself upon the Crosse and in this common nature he presents himself before his Father and now God looks upon Christ and mankind as our eye doth upon light and colours which cannot be seen without light before this light came into the world we were covered over with darknesse and deformity and God could not look upon us but in anger but through this common light we may be seen and be beloved we may be seen with pleasure for as he was delighted in his Sonne so in him he is well pleasd in those sonnes which he shall bring with him to glory but it we will fully withdraw our selves from this light then doth his soule hate us Christ is the brightnesse of his Glory light enough for God to look through upon a thousand worlds multiplyed a thousand times and if we doe not hide our selves from it hide our selves in the cavernes of Earth in the world If we doe not drown our selves in the bottome of the Sea in the deluge of our lusts if we doe not bury our selves alive in stubborne impenitency if we doe not stop up all the passages of our soules if we doe not still love darknesse and make it a pavilion round about us he will look upon us through this light and look lovingly upon us with favour and Affection he will look upon us as his purchase and he that deliver'd him for us will with him give us all things which is the end of all the end of this his being delivered and offers it self to our consideration in the last place The end With him he gives all things He delivered he sent he gave him for all these expressions we find to make him a Gift He is the desire and he is the riches of all Nations so that as whatsoever we do we must do so whatsoever we have we receive in his name The name of Jesus saith S. Peter of the impotent man Actâ— 3. hath made this man strong by his name we are justified by his name we are sanctified and by his name we shall enter into glory with him we have all things for in him are all the treasuries of Riches and Wisdome we may think of all the Kingdomes of the earth and the glory of them but these come not within the compasse nor are to be reckoned amongst his Donations For as the Naturalists observe of the glory of the Rainbow that it is wrought in our eye and not in the cloud
powerfull Lord shall be lifted up and crowned with glory and honour for evermore Which God grant c. HONI â—…T QVI MAL Y PENSE A SERMON Preached on Whitsunday JOHN 16.13 Howbeit when He the spirit of truth is come he will lead you into all truth WHen the spirit of truth is come c. and behold he is come already and the Church of Christ in all ages hath set apart this day for a memoriall of his coming a memoriall of that miraculous and unusuall sound that rushing wind those cloven tongues of fire And there is good reason for it that it should be had in everlasting remembrance For as he came then in solemn state upon the Disciples in a manner seen heard so he comes though not so visibly yet effectually to us upon whom the ends of the world are come that we may remember it though not it a mighty wind yet he rattles our hearts together though no house totter at his descent yet the foundations of our souls are shaken no fire appears yet our breasts are inflamed no cloven tongues yet our hearts are cloven asunder 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every day to a Christian is a day of Pentecost his whole life a continued holy-day wherein the Holy Ghost descends both as an Instructer and a Comforter secretly and sweetly by his word characterizing the soul imprinting that saving knowledge which none of the Princes of this world had not forcing not drawing by violence but sweetly leading and guiding us into all truth When He the spirit of truth is come c. In which words we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Epiphany or Apparition of the blessed Spirit as Nazianzen speaks or rather the promise of his coming and appearance and if we well weigh it there is great reason that the Spirit should have his Advent as well as Christ his that he should say Lo I come Psal 40. For in the volume of the book it is written of him that the spirit of the Lord should rest upon him Es 11.2 and I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh Joel 2.28 Christus legis Spiritus Sanctus Evangelii complementum Christs Advent for the fulfilling of the Law and the Spirits for the fulfilling and compleating of the Gospel Christs Advent to redeem the Church and the Spirits Advent to teach the Church Christ to shed his blood and the Spirit to wash and purge it in his blood Christ to pay down the ransome for us Captives and the Spirit to work off our fetters Christ to preach the acceptable year of the Lord and the Spirit to interpret it for we may soon see that the one will little availe without the other Christs Birth his Death and Passion Chists glorious Resurrection but a story in Archivis good newes sealed up a Gospel hid till the Spirit come and open it and teach us to know him Phil. 3.10 and the vertue and power of his Resurrection and make us conformable to his death This is the summe of these words and in this we shall passe by these steps or degrees First carry our thoughts to the promise of the Spirits Advent the miracle of this day cùm venerit when the spirit of truth comes in a sound to awake them in wind to move them in fire to enlighten and warm them in tongues to make them speak Secondly consider 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the work and employment of the Holy Ghost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he shall lead you into all truth In the first we meet with 1. nomen personae if we may so speak a word pointing out to his person the demonstrative pronoune ille when he shall come 2. Nomen naturae a name expressing his nature he is a spirit of truth and then we cannot be ignorant whose spirit it is In the second we shall find Nomen officii a name of office and administration 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the word from whence comes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a leader or conducter in the way for so the Holy Ghost vouchsafed to be their leader and conducter that they might not erre but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 keep on in a strait and even course in the way And in this great office of the Holy Ghost we must first take notice of the lesson he teacheth it is Truth Secondly the large extent of this lesson 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he leads into all truth Thirdly The method and manner of his discipline which will neerly concern us to take notice of it is ductus a gentle and effectuall leading he drives us not he drawes us not by violence but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the word here he takes as it were by the hand and guides and leads us into all truth Cùm venerit ille spiritus veritatis When He the spirit of truth c. And first though we are told by some that where the article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is added to fo there we are to understand the person of the Holy Ghost yet we rather lay hold on the pronoun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ille when he the spirit of truth shall come he shall lead you which points out to a distinct person For if with Sabellius he had onely meant some new motion in the Disciples hearts or some effect of the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had been enough but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He designes a certain person and ille he in Christs mouth a distinct person from himself Besides we are taught in the Schools Actiones sunt suppositorum actions and operations are of persons now in this verse Christ sayes that he shall lead them and before he shall reprove the world and in the precedent chapter he shall testifie of me which are proper and peculiar operations of the blessed Spirit and bring him in a distinct person from the Father and the Son And therefore S. Augustine rests upon this dark and generall expression The Holy Ghost communicates both of the Father and the Son is something of them both whatsoever we may call it whether we call him the Consubstantiall and Coeternall communion and friendship of the Father and the Son or with Gerson and others of the Schools Nexum Amorosum the Essentiall Love and Love-knot of the undivided Trinity But we will wave these more abstruse and deeper speculations in which if we speak not in the Spirits language we may sooner lose than profit our selves and speak more than we should whilest we are busie to raise our thoughts and words up to that which is but enough It will be safer walking below amongst those observations which as they are more familiar and easy so are they more usefull and take what oare we can find with ease than to dig deeper in this dark mine where if we walk not warily we may meet with poysonous fogs and damps instead of treasure We will therefore in the next place enquire why he is called the Spirit of Truth for divers
ever the Patient and the son of the Bond-woman he that is born after the flesh layes on sure strokes unus venter sed non unus animus saith Aust as the two Twins strove in the womb of Rebeckah so these two the Good and the Evill strive in the World the one by silence the other by noise the one by being what he is the other by being Angry that he is so the one by his life the other by his Sword Ecclus 2.1 Art thou borne of the Spirit a true member of Christ then prepare thy self for temptation as the sonne of Syrach speaks for when thou hast put on These Graces That make thee one thou hast with them put on also a Crowne of Thornes if thou be an Isaac thou shalt finde an Imsael 3. From the Nature of the true Church Thus then by looking on the persons in the Text you may plainly see the face and condition of the Church and that no priviledge she hath can exempt her from persecution which will yet more plainly appeare from the very Nature and constitution of the Church which is best seen in her Blood when she is militant which is more full and expressive then any other representation any other Title she hath For doe we say she is visible the best and truest parts of her are not so wee see the Professour but not the Saint all we can challenge is but a charitable guesse and conjecture for the Lord onely knoweth who are his 1 Tim. 2.19 Doe we call her Catholick and Universall Christi nomen regnum ubique porrigitur omnibus Christus aequalis omnibus rex omnibus Judex Omnibus Deus Dominus est Tert. adv Judaeos c. 7. she is so when her Number is but small she was so when Christ built her as a House upon a rock open to all and ready to receive them though not many rich not many Noble entred shall we give her that high and proud title of Infallible Although she be so in those Doctrines without which she cannot be a Church yet in many Things we erre all But when we draw her in her own blood when we call her Militant we bring her in wrestling not onely against flesh and blood against men but against Principalities and all those Powers of Darkness then we shew her as she is To say she is the Body of Christ filled with him who filleth all things is to set her up as a marke for the World and the Devill to shoot at and this To set her up as a marke is to build her up into a Church so that Though persecution comes forth in severall shapes with more or less Terror yet to say the Church is ever free from all is as full of Absurdity as to say A man may live without a soul But now take it with all its Horror accompanied with whips and Scorpions with fire and sword yet is it so farre from the destroying the true Church That it rather establishes enlarges and Adorns her For the Church of Christ and the Kingdomes of the Earth are not of the same making and Constitution have not the same soule and Spirit to animate them These may seem to be built upon Aire they are so soon thrown down This is rais'd upon a Holy Hill These have a weake and fraile hand to set them up and as weak a hand may cast them downe This is the work of Omnipotency which fences it about and secures it from Death and Hell These depend upon the Opinions upon the affections upon the lusts of men which change oftner then the wind upon the breath of that Monster the Multitude which is any thing and which is nothing which is it knows not what and never agrees with it self is never one but in a Tempest in Tumult and Sedition This is founded upon the eternall Decree and will of GOD and upon Immutability it self and shall stand fast for ever These when they are in their height and glory are under uncertainty and chance The Church under the wing and shadow of that Providence which can neither erre nor miscarry but worketh mightily and irrisistibly to its end His evertendis una dies Hora momentum sufficit These are long a raysing and are blowne downe in a moment but this is as everlasting as his love that built it in a word these are worne out by Time This is but melted and purged in it and shall then be most Glorious when Time shail be no more I know well Persecution appears to us as a Fury sent from Hell and every Haire every Threat is a Snake that Hisseth at us but 't is our sensuality and Cowardize that whips us yet the common consent of all men hath given her a fairer shape and they that run from her doe preferre the suffering part and as our Saviour said It is more blessed to Give then to Receive so is it vox Populi The voice of the People though they practice it not It is better to suffer then to Oppresse even they who have the sword in their Hand and breath nothing but Terror and Death will rage yet more if you say They persecute you and either magnify their Cruelty with the name of Justice or else seek to perswade the world that they and they alone suffer Persecution Every man flies persecution and every man is willing to owne it The Arrians complained of the cruelty of the Orthodox and the Orthodox of the fury of the Arrians vos dicitis pati persecutionem saith Austin to the Manichees August ep 48. et 68. you say you suffer but our Houses are laid waste by you you say you suffer but your Armed men put out our eyes you say you suffer but we fall by the sword what you doe to us you will not impute to your selves but what you doe to your selves you impute to us Thus it was then And how doe we look back upon the Marian daies as if the Bottomless Pit did never smoake but then and are not they of the Romish party as loud in their Complaints as if the Devill were never let loose till now we bring forth our Martyrs with a Faggot on their shoulder and they theirs with a Tiburne Tippet as Father Latimer calls it and both glory in Persecution We see then every party claimes a Title to it and counts it an Honor to be placed in the Number of those that suffer and indeed Floridi Martyres dicuntur à Cypriano ep 20 21. Persecution is the Honour the prosperity the flourishing Condition of the Church for it brings her out of the Shadow into the Sunne makes her indeed Vifible puts her to her whole Armour to her whole strength to the whole substance of her Faith That shee may suffer and Conquer which indeed is to be a Church Nazianzen I remember calls it the Mystery of Persecution Sacramentum sanguinis the Sacrament and Mystery of blood a visible signe of Invisible Grace where
Beatitude Blessed Poverty Matth. 5. blessed mourning blessed persecution blessedness set upon these as a Crown or as rich Embroyderie upon Sackcloth or some courser stuff And thus you see the Church is not cannot be exempt from Persecution if either we consider the Quality of the Persons themselves or the Nature and constitution of the Church or the Providence and Wisdome and Mercy of God As it was then So is it now In Abrahams Family Ismael mocks and persecutes Isaac In the World the Synagogue persecutes the Church and in the Church one Christian persecutes another It was so it is so and it will be so to the end of the World Let us now look back upon this dreadfull blessed sight and see what Advantage we can worke what light we can strike out of this cloud of blood to direct strengthen us in this our Warfare That we may be Faithfull unto Death and so receive the Crown of Life And first knowing these Terrors as the Apostle speaks seeing Persecution entaild as it were upon the Church seeing a kind of Providence and Necessity that it should be so Let us not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Saint Peter speaks Think it Strange or be amazed at the fiery Tryall not be dismay'd when we see that befall the Church which befalls the Kingdoms and Common-wealths in the world when we see the face of the Church gather blacknesse and not to shine in that Beauty in which formerly we beheld her For what strange-thing is it that Ismael should mock Isaac that a serpent should bite or a Lion roar that the world should be the world or the Church the Church For the Church so far as she is visible in respect of its visibility and outward form is as subject to change as any other thing that is seen as those things which we use to say are but the balls of fortune to play with for those things of the Church which are seen are but temporal those which are eternal are not seen 2 Cor. 4. last v the fashion of the world passeth away saith Saint Paul and so doth the fashion of the Church and when the scene is changed it comes forth with another face and speaks like a servant that spoke like a Queen in brief it is turnd about on the wheel of change subject to the same stormes to the same injuries to the same craft and violence which the Philosopher sayes make that alteration in States changes them not into those which may bear some faint resemblance of them but into that which is most unlike and contrary to them sets up that in their place leaving them lost and labouring under the expectation of another change Thus it is and ever was and ever shall be with the Church in respect of outward profession which is the face of the Church nor hath the seed of the woman so bruised the Serpents head but that he still bites at the heel Behold the Children of Israel in the wildernesse sometimes in straits and anon in larger wayes sometimes sighting Exod. 17. sometimes resting as at mount Sinai sometimes going forward and sometimes turning backward sometimes on the mountains and sometimes in the vallies sometimes in places of sweetnesse as Mithkah and sometimes in places of bitternesse as Marah Behold them in a more setled condition when their Church had Kings for her Nursing-fathers how did Idolatry follow Religion at the heel and supplant it and of all their kings how few of them were not Idolaters how many professors were there when Eliah the great Prophet could see but one and how can that have alwayes the same countenance which is under the power and wills of mortal men which change so oft sometimes in the same man but are never long the same in many amongst whom one is so unlike the other that he will not suffer that to stand long which a former hand hath set up but will model the Church as he please and of those who look upon it with an eye of distast will leave so few and under such a cloud that they shall be scarce visible Not to speak of former times of those seven Golden candlesticks which are now removed out of their place nor of those many alterations in after ages but to come home to our selves our reformed Religion cannot boast of many more years then make up the age of a man That six yeers light of the Gospel in the dayes of Edward the Saint was soon overspread and darkned with a cloud of blood in Queen Maries reign since when we willing to beleeve for we made our boast of it that it shined out in beauty to these present times which have thought fit to reform the Reformation it self and now for the glory of it for its order and Discipline which is the face of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where is it to be seen we may say of it as Job doth of the frailty of man It dieth it wasteth it giveth up the ghost and where is it talk what we will of perpetuity of visibility of outward profession Quod cuiquam accidere potest cuivis potest what we have seen done to one Church may certainly be done to another may be done to all what was done in Asia may be done in Europ and if the candlestick be removed out of one it may be removed out of any place nor is that Church which calls her self the mother and Queen of the rest secure from violence but may be driven from her seat and pomp though she be bold to tell the world that the Gatesof Hell shall not prevail against her Religion 't is true is as mount Sion which cannot be moved but standeth sast for ever no sword no power can divide me from it nor force it out of my embraces this hath its protection its salaogardium from Omnipotency but the outward profession of it the form and manner in which we professe it in a word that face of the Church which is visible is as subject to change as all those things are which are under the Moon All I shall say is Nolite mirari wonder not at it for whatsoever changes and alterations there be in the outward profession of Religion Religion and the Church of Christ is still the same the same in her nakednesse and poverty which she had in her cloth of wrought Gold and all her Embroyderie Marvel not then for this admiration is the childe of ignorance an exhalation from the flesh and hath more in it of Ismael then of Isaac The third Inference And that we may not think it strange let us in the next place have a right judgement in all things and not set up the Church in our fancy and shape her out by the state and pomp of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our mindes Rom. 12.2 For by looking to stedfastly on the world we carry the image of it about with us whithersoever we go and make
be who have subscribed to the venturus est that the Lord will come who have little reason to hope for his coming How many beleeve hee will come and bring his reward with him and yet strike off their own Charriot wheels and drive but heavily towards it how many beleeve there is a Judge to come and wish there were none Faith Saving Faith Hope Hope that will not make ashamed cannot dwell in the heart till Charity hath taken up a roome but when she is diffusa in cordibus shed and spread abroad in our Hearts then they are in Conjunction and meet together and kisse each other Faith is a Foundation and on it our love raiseth it self as high as heaven in all the severall branches and parts of it Because I beleeve I love and when my love is reall and perfect my hope springs up and blooms and flourishes my Faith sees the object my Love imbraceth it and the means unto it and my Hope layes hold of it and even takes possession of it And therefore this venturus est This coming of the Lord is a Threat and not a promise if they meet not If Faith work not by Love and both together raise not a Hope venturus est he will come is a Thunder-bolt And thus as it lookes upon Faith and Hope so it calls for our Charity For whether we will or no whether we beleeve or no whether we hope or no veniet he will certainly come but when we love him then we love also his appearance and his coming and our Love is a subscription to his Promise 2 Tim. 4.8 by which we truly Testify our consent and sympathize with him and say Amen to his Promise That he will come we eccho it back againe unto him Even so come Lord Jesus For that of Faith may be in a manner forc'd That of Hope may be groundless but this of Love is a free and voluntary subscription Though I I know he will come yet I shall be unwilling he should come upon me as an Enemy that he should come to me when I sit in the Chair of the Scornfull or lie in the bed of Lust or am wallowing in the mire or weltring in my own blood or washing my feet in the blood of my Brethren for can any condemned person hope for the day of Execution But when I love him and bow before him when I have improv'd his Talent and brought my self to that Temper and Constitution that I am of the same mind with this Lord and partaker of his divine Nature then Faith openeth and displayeth her self and Hope towreth up as high as the right Hand of God and would bring him down never at rest never at an end but panting after him till he doe come crying out with the soules under the Altar How long Lord How long How long is the very breathing and language of Hope Then Substantia mea apud te Psal 62.5 as the vulgar reads that of the Psalmist my expectation my substance my being is with the Lord and I doe not onely subscribe to the veniet to his coming because he hath Decreed and resolved upon it but because I can make an hearty Acknowledgement that the will of the Lord is just and good and I assent not of Necessity but of a willing mind and I am not onely willing but long for it and as he Testifies these Things and confirmes this Article of his coming with this last word etiam venio surely I come so shall I be able truely to Answer Even so come Lord Jesus come quickly The End of his Coming And now venturus est the Lord will come and you may see the Necessity of his coming in the End of his coming for qualis Dominus talis adventus as his Dominion is such is his Coming his Kingdome spirituall and his coming to punish sinne and reward Obedience to make us either Prisoners in Darkness or Kings and Priests to reigne with him and offer up spirituall Sacrifices for evermore He comes not to answer the Disciples question to restore the Kingdom to Israel for his Kingdome is not such a one as they dreamt of nor to place the Mother of Zebedees Children the one at his right Hand and the other at his left nor to bring the Lawyer to his Table to eat bread with him in his Kingdome These carnall conceits might suite well with the Synagogue which lookt upon nothing but the Basket and yet to bring in this Error the Jews as they killed the Prophets so must they also abolish their Prophecies which speak plainely of a King of no shape or beauty Esai 53.2 Zech. 9.9 Isa 9.6 of his first coming in lowlinesse and poverty of a Prince of Peace and not of warr of the Increase of whose Government there shall be no end Nor doth he come to lead the Chiliast the Dreamer of a Thousand yeares of Temporall Happiness on Earth into a Mahometicall Paradise of all Corporall Contentments That after the Resurrection the Elect and even a Reprobate may think or callhim self so may reigne with Christ a thousand years in all state and Pomp and in the Affluence of all those Pleasures which this Lord hath taught them to renounce A conceit which ill becomes Christians who must look for a better and more enduring substance who are strangers and Pilgrims Heb. 10.34 Heb. 11.13 and not Kings on earth whose Conversation is in heaven and whose whole life must be a going out of the World why should we be commanded and that upon paine of eternall separation from this our Lord to weane our selves from the World and every thing in the World if the same Lord Think these flatteries of our worser part these pleasures which we must loath a fitt and proportionable reward for the labour of our Faith and Charity which is done in the Inward man can he forbid us to touch and Tast these Things and then glut us with them because we did not Touch them and can it now change its Nature and be made a Recompence of those Virtues which were as the wings on which we did fly away and so kept our selves untoucht unspotted of this Evill But they urge Scripture for it and so they soon may for it is soon misunderstood soon misapplyed It is written they say in the 20. of the Revel at the 6. v. that the Saints shall reign with Christ a thousand yeers shall reign with Christ is evidence faire enough to raise those spirits which are too high or rather too low already 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no sooner is the word read but the crown is on To let passe the divers interpretations of that place some making the number to be definite some to be indefinite some beginning the thousand yeers with the persecution of Christ and ending it in Antichrist others beginning it with the reign of Constantine when Christianity did most flourish and ending it at the first rising of the
live and dye with them and yet do onely take her mantle and vizor and in it walk on the whole course of their life here beating their fellow servants here defaming one and defrauding another and defaming him that they may defraud him they sharply inveigh against and lash the iniquities of the time they are severe Justiciaries and chastise all but themselves Ausonii Cupido Crucisixus as the wanton women in Ausonius did crucify Cupid on the wall sibi ignoscunt plectunt Deum they know well enough how to pardon themselves for fraud for lying for false weights and measures for covetousnesse and malice and the whole body of their Religion is made up in this to fling disgrace upon the name of dishonesty and so punish it but in a picture For conclusion then to avoid these rocks at which so many have been cast away and lost Let us first look up upon this light of nature and walk honestly as in the day and not after those blind guides the love of our selves and the glory of the world which will lead us on pleasantly for a while and at last slip from us and leave us in the dark there to lament and curse the folly of our waies For Riches and Honour and Pleasure are not naturall unto us but adventitious and accidentall and that which is naturall should be prevalent against all that is accidentall Accidentali praevalâ—t naturale c. 3. ff de Tutelis say the Civilians This Relation by Nature should be strong against all forraign Circumstances whatsoever And therefore it is but a busie folly a studious kind of iniquity to come and frame distinctions which may wipe out this relation and so leave us at loose with line enough to run out unto a liberty and priviledge of encroching on others by fraud or violence As the Persians in Xenophon taught their children that they might lye or not lye with a distinction lye loudly to their enemies so they remember to speak truth to their friends deceive a stranger and not an acquaintance and I feare we have too many such Persisians in this our Island and if they do not utter and dictate it yet their hearts speak it and their hands speake it and their practice proclaimes it to the whole world He is a stranger he is an enemy of another Religion of another Faction I may make what advantage I can upon him undermine and blow him up and thus the man the image of God the brother is quite lost And what is the issue of this Diabolicall coynage even the same which Xenophon there observed to be of the Persian education Their children saith he soone forgot the distinction and grew up at last to be so bold as to lye to their best friends And so it is with them who find it an easier thing to call themselves Religious then to make themselves honest who first begin with these proviso's and distinctions to practice injustice and with so much gravity and demurenesse to deceive their brethren and to be dishonest by a rule at last they fall down to an universall and promiscuous iniquity Friends brother they of the same family they of the same Sect and faction all are the same with them when they look for advantage no respect of persons when they look for Balaams wages every man then is a stranger an enemy or as strangely used as if he were and this is to put out the light of nature and so to go a whoring after our own inventions which once kindled by the love of this world are those false lights which lead us into that darknesse which Saint John speaks of He that thus handleth his brother 1 Iohn 2.19 walketh in darknesse and knoweth not whither he goeth because darknesse hath blinded his eyes that he cannot see a man in a man nor a brother in a brother a man in the same shape and built up of the same materialls a man of the same passions with himself And therefore by this light of Nature let us check and condemn our selves when any gall of bitternesse riseth in our hearts and allay or rather root it out with this consideration That it is most inhumane and unnaturall that we cannot nourish it in our breast and not fall from the honour of our Creation and leave off to be men How art thou fallen from heaven O Lucifer and cut down to the ground Es 14.12 and how art thou fallen O man whosoever thou art that doest unjustly that takest from another that which is his either by violence or deceit How art thou fallen from heaven for on earth there is no other heaven but that which Justice and Charity make How art thou fallen to hell it self nay to be an hell a place for these foul spirits malice and fraud to reign and riot in and to torment others and thy self How art thou fallen from conversing with Angels to wallow in blood from the glory of thy Creation to burning fire and blacknesse and darknesse and tempest O what a shame is it That a man thus created thus Elemented and composed should delight in fraud in violence and oppression should feed on that bread not which his father who made him did put into his hands but which craft did purloine or violence snatch from the hands of others who were not so wise or so strong as himself That this creature of love made by love and made to be Sociable should be as hot as a fiery furnace sending forth nothing but sulphur and stench That this honourable Creature should be a beast nay a devil to ensnare to accuse to deceive and destroy his brethren This is a sad aggravation but if the light of Nature be too dimme and cannot lead us out of the world and those winding and crooked paths which the love of it makes in it every day let us in the last place look up upon that clearer light that light which did spring from on high and hath visited us why should not our friends be more powerfull with us then our enemies why should not Grace be stronger then a temptation why should not the rich and glorious promises of the Gospel be more eloquent and perswasive then the solicitations of the flesh which is every moment drawing neerer to the dust or of the world which changeth every day and shall at last be burnt with fire why should they not have the power to purge and clense us from all unrighteousnesse why should we chuse rather to be raised and enrich'd here for a span of time by craft and power then to be crowned by Justice and Integrity for ever For this is the end for which this great light hath shined to lighten every man that is in the world that they may walk in the paths of righteousnesse It is a light that leads unto blisse but it will not go before an oppressor a theef an Impostor a Tyrant to lead them to it because they delight