it renders thus I will make the kingdom of Davids glory to sprout forth Euthymius pleaseth me who gives the analogy thus the oil was poured out of an horn with which Kings were anointed you can instruct your selves that it was so both in David and Solomon and from thence an horn though an evacuation of nature and a mean thing became an ensign of Kingly Majesty Neither was this known only to the Jews but to the Heathen also so that their Kings did wear it among the honours and ornaments of their head as ours are painted with a mund and a Scepter in their hand Pyrrhus in Plutarch was known in the battail from all his subjects by wearing a Goats horn in his Helm and Villalpandus reports of an ancient piece of coin which had the image of Tryphon the Egyptian Monarch on the face and on the reverse it had his Crest with a Goats horn rising up before it Nay the same Author says that it was the fashion of David to wear the like thing in his head-piece And all this I have alledged because I would not want proofs that an horn was the representation of Kingly Sovereignty The meaning then of Zachary is this that Christ hath abased himself to be incarnate and to become our salvation yet he hath reserved this glory to himself in his humiliation that he will be a Saviour unto none but unto them that accept of him for their King and obey him in all things In almost all books of Scripture he is called a King I will not take so wide a scope to expatiate in but strictly I will touch at a little In Genesis he is resembled in Melchisedech the High Priest but he was also King of Salem In the Psalms yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Sion In one of the Lessons for the day he shall sit upon the Throne of David and upon his Kingdom Isa ix 7 At his Birth the wise men did inaugurate him in that honour Where is he that is born King of the Jews At his triumph when he rode into Jerusalem Blessed is the Kingdom that cometh in the name of the Lord of our Father David Mark xi 10. At his arraignment when Pilate askt him if he were a King he left him in suspence with this answer thou sayest it Finally upon his Cross he would not let the title be altered but there it stood Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews The right of this Kingdom was given him in his Incarnation promulged by the preaching of the Apostles perfected after his Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven and shall be consummated in the end of the world He is so fully constituted a King by being called the Christ that ever since it is the Dignity of all Kings to be called the Lords Christs Him hath the Lord anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power Acts x. 38. in which words St. Peter hath exprest both his Sacred and his Kingly Sovereignty and to match him for the Texts sake with David in this point you must call to mind that David was thrice anointed first at his Fathers house by Samuel the next time at Hebron after the death of Saul and finally anointed at Jerusalem a King over all Israel So Christ was anointed by shedding of blood in Circumcision by blood again at his Agony in the Garden and thirdly by the great effusion of his dearest blood upon the Cross Or will you lay it thus He was anointed by his Father from heaven anointed by Mary with her box of Spikenard upon earth and lastly his dead body was anointed by the women when it was laid in the Sepulchre So in proportion there is a three-fold Unction to make us Kings and Priests for ever the first of Regeneration in Baptism the second with the blood of Jesus in the participation of the holy Communion and the third of glorification in the Kingdom of heaven but nihil dat quod non habet he that crowns us in glory had title to a crown himself he that makes us Kings was the horn or prince of our Salvation This is the stone of offence against which the Jews stumble that the Kingdom promised so expresly and literally to the Messias was not verified in the person of Christ our Saviour had he sate upon the throne of David with Power and Majesty reason would that they should believe but this is it as they plead which enervates their faith that he who is set forth so often in the name of a King should be born so meanly die so ignominiously and be acquainted in all his life with nothing but weakness and poverty 1. Remember this for the ground of my answer that Jesus Christ was God's only Son and our Lord that is our King is an Article of our Belief and therefore his Kingdom appears only to the eye of Faith and is not to be discerned after an earthly manner in outward pomp and visible glory for then it were no Article of the Creed 2. No humane Kingdom came to him by descent for ought we know he was of the house and lineage of David but it appears not that he was the true and lawful successor in the right line to the Crown of David Armacanus makes much ado to no purpose to derive his pedigree so that the Kingdom of David might truly be hereditary in him I say to no purpose for since the right should come to him by his Mother and she out-lived him that temporal Kingdom had been in her and never descended upon him unless he had survived her 3. Note it that the Prophets who prophesied of the Kingdom of the Messias must not be understood literally that 's not the fashion of Prophesies How then why with Evangelical qualifications and they are clear that his Kingdom is not of this world that he was no King to the prejudice of Caesar his laws pertained to the spirit and conscience he rules over his Church and yet was obedient to Rulers but he had not the temporal seat of David even as David had not the spiritual seat of Christ In a regal Throne he did not sit for he came not to be ministred unto but to minister although he was made heir of all things by virtue of the Hypostatical Vnion Just as David after he was anointed by Samuel was debased a while as the meanest servant But Christ being of the line of David and having an heavenly Dominion given him which had influence into the soul and conscience commanding things in heaven and earth making all things in the world stoop to the word of his truth converting sinners to salvation drawing all the Gentiles to take up his Cross ruling thus for ever and to the worlds end I hope you will say O that the Jews would heed it that this is a more excellent Sovereignty than ever David had therefore God hath made good his promise and transcended it that God had given him the Kingdom of his
Prophet by prostrating himself did bring life again into that which was dead so Jesus by making himself an ignominious reproach to the world did justifie and acquit those who were appointed to everlasting death Thus you see why our Saviours answer strikes upon the circumstance of that present time Suffer it to be so now He came in the form of a Servant and as long as he emptied himself in that shape he would do the duties of a Servant Sine modo now I will be baptized of thee in water hereafter I will baptize my Church with the Holy Ghost and with fire As yet I stand for one of the multitude as yet the Holy Spirit hath not descended upon me to make me manifest to the world that I am the Son of God therefore suffer it to be so now Mark I beseech you how in the lowest depression of a servant he keeps the Majesty of a Lord For he makes himself a servant by his own command Sic volo sic jubeo it is my own pleasure to make my self a worm and no man yea a very scorn and derision of them that are round about me As Cesar did not lessen his own dignity because he would both command as General and yet work in the trenches like the meanest Pioneer Dux consilio miles exemplo and as Helen the Mother of Constantine was not under the honour of a Princess because she would dress the Blains and Ulcers of poor Cripples in the Hospital So the mighty Son of God was not diminished in his glory because he put himself into the rank of abject ones by his own yielding and accord not by compulsive necessity His obedience did not spring from any legal servitude as one whose Parents did beget him in bondage nor from any penal servitude as one that was enthralled by trespasses or violent captivity But he did put his neck into the yoke and did appoint himself certain years of misery and abasement therefore he lays his authority upon the Prophet that it should be so Suffer it to be so now And is not this example worth the learning That God is better served by him that hath a yielding spirit and will stoop in humility than by him that is stiff to maintain the honour of his person and will not condescend for the advantage of much good from his place and dignity You shall have them that will defend Augustine the Monk that would neither veile his head nor bend his knee to the Brittish Monks of this Island that were met to receive him Forsooth such courtesie did not become him because he was the Nuncio of the Apostolical See There was a great Clerk that bolstered up the fiery humour of Pope Paul the Fifth in the Venetian quarrel and bad him keep his dignity inviolable whatsoever became of peace with this Text to enflame him Arise Peter kill and eate O if there be any such evil Monitor that provokes you to stiffness and stubborness by the consideration of your Greatness and Principality answer him with our Saviour Sine modò frater whatsoever I be in pre-eminence of honour let me forget it now many things unworthy our person must be swallowed up for the glory of God When Shimei reviled David Abishai would have had his head for it suffer it to be so now says David though he were the King of Israel I must pass it over without revenge it is the Lord that will afflict me There are such as will blow coals especially to incense great men if their inferiours chance to trespass Are you not noble Of ample fortunes Of great power and reputation And will you not crush an underling that affronts you But such injuries as your bloud could not put up your office which you sustain must remit that you are members of Christ linkt together in love which is the bond of perfection Christs Office of Mediatorship made him be contented with those abasements which where far unworthy of his Majestical person But suffer it to be so now c. This Point which I have latest handled was the strict command of Christ over John Baptist as his Lord in that which follows as a Preceptor he teacheth his Disciple and gives him reason that he might know upon what ground he must obey Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness in which reason so many words so many notations six in all which will require discussion 1. What signification the word righteousness hath 2. What is required to fulfil it 3. How it was fulfilled in this Baptism for our Saviour hath put an Emphasis upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus I must fulfil it 4. How it can be said that the coming to Johns Baptism was the fulfilling of all righteousness 5. Why the Proposition speaks of more than one of us in the Plural 6. That Christ did fulfil all righteousness at this time not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a strict necessary rigour but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for decency sake because it did become him So you see every word is ponderous and observable Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness Of these as the scantling of the time will permit The significations of the word righteousness or justice are four First It is the name of all vertue taken in the lump where none is wanting So did the Philosopher state it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justice is not a part or a fragment of Vertue but the whole continent of it And so it is to be found in God only and in no other Creature And thus our Saviour did fulfil all righteousness because we had fulfilled all manner of wickedness And so St. Chrysostom understands this place that to make our peace with God Christ was tied to the exact performance of all the Commandments Secondly Justice is one particular branch of Vertue which is thus defined Constans perpetua voluntas jus suum cuique tribuendi A constant and perpetual resolution to give every man his own And St. Paul puts it in one Precept Rom. xiii 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Render therefore to all men their dues And Christ was most respectful to see that every one had their own both in heaven and earth according to that most admirable principle Give unto Cesar that which is Cesars and to God that which is Gods Thirdly Justice is taken for faithfulness in our word and being exactly true in our promises and certainly lying is a fraudulency most opposite to Justice Thus did our Saviour shine in righteousnes full of grace were his lips neither was any guile found in his mouth Yea let God be true says the Apostle and every man a liar that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings and overcome when thou art judged Rom. iii. 4. Fourthly Righteousness doth many times very properly signifie that integrity which is found in a man according to that special Office which he sustains There is a particular Justice belonging to every state and condition of
which thou puttest upon me I will bear But the Tempter says none of these defects should trouble Christ he would cull out for him all the choice and desirable things the power and the glory as the Poet said of his Stilicho the good things which were scattered and divided in many hands in te juncta fluent they should all meet in him as in their center Though the spiders web be made on the top of the house yet it is quickly swept away so all ambitious thoughts which scale up upon the Devils ladder are quickly dismounted if you will remember that no man can subsist on high who hath the plummet of iniquity to weigh him down though his excellency mount up to the heavens and his head reach unto the clouds yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung he shall fly away as a dream yea he shall be chased away as a vision of the night Job xx 8. When Herod sat in his Majesty but was exalted against God in the pride of his heart an Owl presented it self before him on the top of his Throne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Homer calls it a bird of fatal prediction and Herod himself took it for a presage of some sudden and miserable death and so it came to pass Methinks every one that hath hoisted himself into advancement by impiety should often see some such dismal Owl before him an infallible presager of great misfortune for God will be glorified in their ruin that did not account his service before all things to be their glory and the glory of the world O what an happy thing it is when God shall call a dignified and an honorable person his friend as it is in the Parable friend set up higher but I will never clamber up by base and sinful arts that God shall say art thou ascended higher O mine enemy God hath taught us to pray My will be done and mine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory in the Devils Academy the lesson goes thus worship me and let my will be done and thine shall be the Kingdom the power and the glory Satan cares not to whom he passeth away that Doxologie that chain of praise and honor which belongeth to God Kingdom power and glory for he pointed to the Kingdoms of the world they were included in the gift and said All this power will I give thee and the glory of them as who should say if Christ would make a God of him he would make a God of Christ ka me and ka thee fall down and worship me as if I were a God upon earth and thou shalt have Kingdom power and glory as if thou wer 't God in heaven This Satan spake not of himself but like Caiaphas he prophefied he knew not what I must not forget where one good turn hath deserv'd another much after this example The Conclave of Cardinals that know the Pope to be justly no more than a Bishop of one Diocess in Italy enstile him above Caesar and all free Monarchs that are anointed Kings and the Pope to requite it knowing the Cardinals in their original to be but Parish-Priests of Rome hath given them precedency above all Princes mulus mulum scabit This is my Text directly borrowed to make that match if you will fall down and worship me ye shall have power and glory But to return Get thee hence Satan sayes our Saviour in the next verse or as He chides in St. Luke Get thee behind me Satan He is behind all the servants of God in many degrees worse than the meanest Christian it cannot be in the capacity of such an underling to be the Patron of honor Medice cura teipsum why doth he not recover the glory which himself hath lost if he be an advancer beside such an ambitious spirit if he had any thing to give would never part with his Royalty or if he had ends to communicate and impart for certain he would pass over David Hezekiah Josiah that brake down Groves and Images and used all hostility against his Idols Away with such a giver He that seeketh honor and a blessing with it let him seek it of the Lord and look upon himself with that comfort that David did when God had brought him from following the Ewes great with young to set him with the Princes of his People David sings it merrily Psal iii. 3. Thou art my worship and the lifter up of my head As for Simon Magus that grew great with Nero by Sorcery and Vrijah the Priest who wonn King Ahaz favour for prophaning the Altar of the Lord and Rhehoboams young Courtiers that swayed all by flattery and giving evil counsel every dignity that such men get shall be an evil destiny unto them for God is a jealous God and will deface that Coat of honor where the Devil was the Herald that sold it for iniquity And whereas the wickedly advanced takes it upon Satans word that power and glory shall be the supporters of his Escutcheon it shall be much otherwise in the proof Is it power they look for God wot it shall be thraldom Falsam spondet potentiam Qui facit peccatum servus est peccati sayes St. Austin There is no such servitude in the world as to be sold over to sin and his servants ye are to whom you obey Is it glory they hunt for but it will fall out to be their description which the Apostle makes to the Philippians whose glory is their shame Either their memorial shall perish with them or their infamy shall be depainted in some better history to after ages To conclude this point stop your ears at such promises as kingdom and power and glory and pay such sacrifices of praise to him that ows them I will magnifie thee O Lord my King said David Psal cxlv and at the 12 verse he speaks it open that thy power thy glorie and mightiness of thy Kingdom might be known unto men Thus far I have proceeded to shew that promotion especially to the noblest honors to power and glorie is a fiery dart so dangerous to speed that Satan seldom casts it in vain Then imagin how far he hoped to prevail when he drew his arrow to the head and sollicited Christ with the promise of all the Kingdoms of the world All this power will I give thee and all the glory of them A magnanimous lye and he that would study for such a thing could not tell a louder Though by prestigiation or some hidden art he could shew all the Kingdoms of the world in the twinkling of an eye yet it is not so easie a task with his leave to give all the Kingdoms of the world in the twinkling of an eye he must have a strong stomach and a most robustious belief that could concoct this opinion that all the Rulers of the earth even the mighty Roman Monarchs the greatest of all Princes in that age would submit their Crowns and take law
this power and priviledge even while he debased himself in all humility Did he not consent to the destruction of the Gadarens Swine and curse the barren Figtree Because his jurisdiction extended to any thing in the world Did he not send for the Ass and the Colt with absolute command saying no more but the Lord hath need of them Did he not charge the Souldiers to let his Disciples alone And no man toucht them All these are Arguments of indefinite authority But this Government which is most ample perfect eternal was not after a Regal way as David and Solomon were Kings in Israel It was not contrary to the Rulers of the earth usurping any power to thwart and controule theirs but a transcendent exaltation above them and above all things visible and invisible yet withal he was most obedient and subject unto them paying Tribute unto Cesar and medling with no Humane Laws to divide their Inheritance that were contentious If he had professed himself an earthly King it had hindred the work which he had in hand to perswade men to the contempt of honour and glory Yet having all power given him of his Father it argued the more humility that he made himself subject to most vile men therefore it is put into the Creed that he suffered under Pontius Pilate meaning that he took his death with patience under the authority of a most unjust Governour Therefore St. Austin endites these words as from our Saviours mouth Hear me Jews and Gentiles hear me Circumcision and Uncircumcision hear me all ye Judges of the world Non impedio dominationem vestram in hôc mundo Enjoy the Principalities of this world unto your selves I do not hinder them In the third Conclusion I determined how in most proper and safe construction we must say that Christs Kingdom was a spiritual Kingdom I have set my King upon my holy hill of Sion Psal ii 6. The Psalm speaks of a spiritual Sion as St. Austin notes because it is termed an holy Sion therefore it must be understood of a spiritual King His Unction was not that Coelestial and not Corporeal With my holy oyl have I anointed him with the grace of Unction Such as the Unction is such must be the Kingdom a spiritual Kingdom His Priesthood was not carnal such as Aarons was but spiritual such as Melchisedechs was Like as was his Priesthood so was his Kingdom Those whom God had given him What were they His Disciples that never forsook him those that were born again of the Spirit His Subjects were Spiritual therefore his Kingdom could not be Terrestrial The Law of Moses was carnal so it was esteemed imperfect and is disannulled the Law of Christ which is set up instead of it is the Gospel which prescribes a reasonable and an holy service Where the Law of Christ is spiritual his Kingdom must needs be within us it is a Ghostly Kingdom Finally all the good things thereof concern the Spirit grace peace of conscience remission of sins and eternal life Says Fulgentius the Gold which the wise men of the East offered him in his Cradle shewed him to be a King but not such a King as will have his Image and Superscription in the Coin but such a one as seeketh his Image in the hearts of the Sons of men After the Angel had said The Lord would give him the Throne of his Father David Mark how divinely the words are qualified in the next verse And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever and of his Kingdom there shall be no end He shall reign and did reign here not in regno sed in domo in no Monarchy but in a Family in the house of Jacob that is in the houshold of the Faithful for alas they are but a Family to the potent multitudes of Unbelievers One question before I shut up the Point Christ was promised to Abraham Isaac and Jacob Principally to Abraham What means the Angel then to omit Abraham and Isaac and to speak of one and no more that he shall reign in the house of Jacob Why the house of Abraham had Ismael as well as Isaac but Ismael was the Seed of the bond-woman which figured those that pertained not to the freedom of the Spirit The house of Isaac had Esau as well as Jacob Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated He reigned not in all the house of Isaac But all the twelve Sons of Jacob were Circumcised all blessed all represented the Church all heirs of the Promise and because Christs Kingdom was totally spiritual in the Faithful and Elect the Angel very properly delivered his Errand that He should reign in the house of Jacob. This last part of my Sermon was very necessary to be insisted upon that our Lord Christ invested himself with no such honour as Satan tendred to him All this power will I give thee and the glory of them Yet he had a Kingly Office adjoyned both with Priestly and Prophetical Offices Those are holy Functions the Devil likes not them he never spoke of them Nay let us have the Priesthood to serve God or let us take nothing without it St. Peter tells us we shall be Regale Sacerdotium a Royal Priesthood We shall have a Kingdom and a Priesthood combined together far exceeding all the power and glory which mortal men do manage Run fervently to the end of the Race and you shall have the prize Deus vult omnes suos athletas coronari says St. Hierom God will have all that try Masteries for his sake receive the Laurel and the Crown of Victory Every Saint hath his Kingdom who is cloathed with immortality and honour to live with the Lamb of God for evermore But you will say What Abraham a King Moses a King Peter and Paul Kings Where are the Nations which they govern Where are their Subjects Regnum est ubi nulli inimico subjicimur non quia populus nobis subjicitur A full answer it is a Kingdom because all our enemies are trodden under our feet not because any of the Blessed are Liege-men and Vassals unto other In the fruition of that Kingdom a main part of the Soveraignty will be that he shall be trodden under our feet who is so impudent and audacious in my Text to offer all the Kingdoms in the world God replenish us with the Kingdom of his grace in this life and exalt us to his Kingdom of glory hereafter AMEN THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 9 10. All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me Then saith Jesus unto him get thee hence Satan OUR natural Philosophers say very truly that a Serpent lays not her eggs one by one but they come from her in a cluster like a rope of beads and hang one at another in a string Satan deserves no better comparison than a Serpent the sins which he suggests no better comparison than the eggs
the Monopoly of Scepters and Diadems at his command All these things will I give thee And before whom could he have told this tale to be taken in a lye so soon as by driving this bargain with Christ as if a thief should steal Plate and offer to sell it to the owner or a Plagiary filtch a great deal out of a book and rehearse it for his own before the Author so the Tempter had rob'd Christ of that Honor and Majesty which was most properly his own I mean he rob'd him of it by the blasphemy and falshood of his tongue and then brings it to Christ to barter it away for other merchandise Autori quae autoris sunt repromittit What theft more palpable than this the Father gives all things by the Son by him He made the worlds by him He hears the prayers and supplications of the Church by him He gives us health and salvation by him He gives Rulers and Princes to go in and out before his People and yet Satan intrudes as if he were our Mediator in part at least in setling Thrones and Monarchies he was the means for those things and it was his hap I say the more to discredit his impudency to tell this tale to our Saviour from whom truly and indeed the Kings of the Earth do hold their Royalty Vtrobique regnatur per Christum he sets the Crown on their heads that wear them both in this world and in the world to come Observe it that He rides upon the white horse with many Crowns upon his head Revel xix 12. This is a Vision and this is the interpretation of it that those that honor him He will honor he settles the Royalty on whom He pleaseth not one or two Kingdoms and bequeatheth the rest to the fortune of war to the free choice of popular elections much less is any such good thing deliver'd up to our adversary the Devil Christ had many Crowns on his head for the whole earth shall stand in aw of him he lifteth up whom he pleaseth and setteth him with the Princes of his people When Wisdom proclameth that of Solomon which I laid for my first ground in this point by me Kings reign indefinitely it is to be understood of God but restrictively of Christ the second person in Trinity he is appropriatively the wisdom of the Father he is meritoriously and by way of an Impetrator the conduit pipe of all benefits to high and low rich and poor therefore we endear all our prayers to God with this conclusion per Christum Dominum nostrum through Christ our Lord. But what dulness was in the Manichaeans to fall upon such Texts as this and to build upon them that the God of Heaven made all invisible blessings and that Satan had divisum imperium cum Jove he was Lord of all visible and material things What are any of these the sooner his because he said they were deliver'd to him and to whomsoever he would he gave them Why it was as cheap in his mouth and he could have said it with the same labour that he could help whom he pleased to the Kingdom of Heaven It is the Most High that ruleth in the Kingdom of men and he appointeth over it whom he will Dan. v. 21. The cause of preservation is the cause of constitution God rules the hearts of the Subjects to obey and gives them commandment for allegeance and fidelity if any commotion be like to rise the Lord stilleth the raging of the sea and the madness of the people from God is the power of soveraignty and through his good spirit the duty of obedience but Satan stirs up seditions jealousies and cross humors in people never to submit therefore he plucks down the Kingdoms of the world and obscures the glory of them he is not the founder of order but of confusion O but sayes the Manichaean if Satan have not the total managing of these Powers beneath yet a share cannot be denied him They that govern by tyranny and injustice they that lift up themselves in their pride against heaven shall we not yield that these are of his ordination No why the Prophet Hosea says chap. viii 5. Ipsi regnaverunt sed non ex me they have set up Kings but not by me they have made Princes and I knew it not In my opinion the literal and textual answer to that place is that they chose unto themselves Heathen Idols Gods of silver and gold and forsook the Lord Howsoever this distinction giveth unto Caesar that which is Caesars and unto God that which is Gods Regnaverunt non ex me quoad viam sed quoad potestatem that evil way which they chose to follow that perverse manner by which they reigned and troubled all was not from God but he gave power to Manasses to Rehoboam to Ahab as well as unto David unto Josiah and to the best Kings that rul'd with righteousness Or as another limits it a Deo bono sunt potestates a malo Angelo potestatis ambitio the Power on earth is Gods the ambition to usurp that Power is the Devils Take that which is thine Satan and leave the rest to Christ When occasion is given to speak of a wicked Magistrate the Phrase is Hos xiii 11. I gave them a King in my anger angry I was when I gave him but I gave him though and that which He gives we must take it and keep it be it scourge be it blessing it is most foul rebellion to say the Lord shall not fasten evil upon us we will not keep that which the Lord hath given us And so much for the claim of the Giver in my Text whom we have found to have no right or title to deliver unto any one the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them Indefinitely all Kings reign by Christ good and bad but the justice of the good more peculiarly is from the grace of God the tyranny and ambition of the worst is from the suggestion of Satan and nothing about them is his but that which is worse than nothing the iniquity of Princes Now I proceed The gift was furtum theft in the highest degree that which he profer'd was not his to bestow the giver mendacium he falsified his evidencies and laid title to that which was only Gods to bestow The condition now follows to be handled which is fire and sulphur mixt together blasphemy and idolatry he requires that Christ should fall down and worship him Let me begin upon this point as Solomon said when Adonijah askt Abishag to wife Let him ask the Kingdom also Satan himself was not able to speak such another word I think for horror and impiety it exceeds that sin for ought we know by far which provokt the Lord at first to cast him out of Heaven into chains of eternal darkness For Isaiah tells us in the Parable of the King of Babylon chap. xiii the insolency of that sin consisted in these
an Ordinance but the Laws of the Lord are pure and just like Silver purged seven times in the fire without dross or corruption yet Jonadab is obeyed and God despised 2. Where was Jonadab now composed in the Grave of silence dust to dust the end of all men The Lord liveth for ever and there is no end of his dayes Yet Jonadab preacheth being buried and the words of the Lord are like a Dream which he that waketh hath forgotten 3. Jonadab was austere and his yoke exceeding heavy to dwell in no Houses but Shades and Tents not to till the ground the happiness of Cain above his younger Brother To live in poverty in Canaan where it was easie for all to be rich but Israel that I may not run into many particulars had but ten Commandments to keep and ten thousand Blessings for their Guerdon Et merces ab eo qui jubere potest vim necessitatis affert sayes Tacitus the days work may be well done when the Bondman is made an hired Servant Yet Jonadab finds duty in his Children and God finds rebellion in Israel Lastly was there any thing to give advantage to the Rechabites in the way of godliness more than Israel had did they want the snare of a delicious Table to make them wanton read what a Banquet Jeremy spread before them in the former verses But they said c. St. Austin says of the Syrophaenecian Woman who was both hardly spoken of by out Saviour at first and anon commended highly before her face quae contumeliam maximam sine dolore pertulit etiam laudationem perferret sine superbiâ she that took not her reproach in scorn would not wax arrogant upon her commendation so these Rechabites who lived with good content in a life full of neglect may the better endure to have their good deeds scanned without fear of begetting ostentation And therefore I will branch out my Text into these four parts in every of which they will justly deserve our praise and in some our imitation First when the Prophet Jeremy did try them with this tentation whether they would feast it and drink wine they make him a resolute denial a Prophet could draw them to no inconvenient act nolumus we will not 2. Very dutiful and religious was their obedience to the Orders of their Father Jonadab ask them if they will rebel and transgress no for obedience sake nolumus we will not do it 3. Junquets and banquetting were provided for them but they had weaned their Bodies from the Paps of luxury and thus says Temperance nolumus we will drink no wine 4. Here is stedfastness in their Vow made unto God For this is more than a frugal Diet it is the Vow of Sobriety nolumus in aeternum say the last words of this verse We have said for ever c. Some are good men of themselves but easily drawn aside by allurements such are not the Rechabites Some will lead well but they cannot follow good Masters but bad Servants all for freedom and nothing for obedience So are not the Rechabites Some are sober in their Diet but will not endure the Laws to interdict meats for a season and enjoyn Fasts and Abstinence such were not the Rechabites Some will protest unto God and oblige themselves to many performances which are instantly dissolved into wind and air such were not the Rechabites Resist Enticements love Obedience follow Temperance promise unto God and perform your Vows These are the praises of the Rechabites these are the four Distributions of my Text and of these in order I begin with Nolumus Jeremy hath no answer but they will not It is a hard case in earnest and the World will never run otherwise a Prophet must be acquainted with nolumus and look to be denied Do you speak for God and for his Altar Practise patience with that old Philosopher that solemnly begged alms among the Statues and Images in Athens and thus he tried how to bear with hard fortune when living men should refuse him Nolumus we will not Is this all the account may some man say of a Prophets words Our Saviour might excuse the Woman of Samaria a weak Vessel like the Pitcher wherewith she drew her water Hadst thou known who it is that asked of thee then thou wouldest have granted it but the Rechabites could not plead ignorance that they knew not Jeremy who was set up for a Sign against Judah and Benjamin Again our Saviour did commend St. Peters judgment that there might be many worse men than the churlish Son that said He would not to his Father yet he turned his mind and did as he would have him But with these men non is as much as nunquam they will never do it repentance is hid from their eyes Resolve we therefore that this is such a request where the Petitioner sued for nolumus and to be said nay is the fairest courtesie For that which Jeremy propounded it was not petitio beneficii but probatio fidei So Christ asked Philip for bread to feed the Multitude in Philippo non desideravit panem sed fidem he did it to prove his faith This is the Doctrin Let not thy Soul consent to be enticed unto folly When Syrens and Allurers come with honey in their mouths be you as wise as they were that had wax in their ears Like a sure Musician maintain your part and though some be out of tune be not carried away with their discords to offend against good harmony Vt rupes immota c. says the Poet let a wave dash against you and a billow break it self in twain and fome but for thy part give no ground unto the Tempter Jeremy nor any man alive must look to obtein more than the Servants of Naaman thought fit to be granted si magnum if the Prophet ask a great thing it must be done for the Prophets sake si malum if it be an unlawful thing si per amicitiam patris atque suam the highest Power upon earth hath not power to command it O what an excellent Court did King Saul keep not one of his Servants no not one about him would slay the Priests of God for the Kings Command Turn and slay the Priests of God says Saul unto his Guard 1 Sam. xxii they durst not do it those mighty men of volour durst not draw a sword in a bad Cause because they feared the Lord. Then Doeg is called for from among the Beasts a Herdsman more brutish than the Flocks he kept and he slew that day 85 persons that did wear a Linnen Ephod Such another was that Tribune of the Roman Army that had rather worship Idols with Gallienus the Emperor than serve the true God with Fructuosus the Martyr Jussum est Caesaris ore Gallieni quod princeps colit haec colamus omnes But Amram the Father of Moses is recounted among St. Pauls Saints Heb. 11. because he hid the Child three months and would
perfume the sweetness overcomes our sence Here 's one line for a copy and enough to be taken out at one time Vnto you is born this day c. The Text cannot be divided into equal parts for here is one word among them which not only in this place but wheresoever you find it it is like Saul higher by head and shoulders then all the rest As Painters and Guilders write the names of God in glass or upon the walls with many rays and flaming beams to beautifie it round about so the name of Saviour is the great word in my Text and all that is added beside in other circumstances is a trail of golden beams to beautifie it First then with reverend lips and circumcised ears let us begin with the joyful tidings of a Saviour 2. Here 's our participation of him in his Nature natus he is born and made like unto us 3. It is honourable to be made like us but it is beneficial to be made for us and natus vobis unto you is born a Saviour 4. Is not the use of his Birth superannuated the virtue of it long since expir'd no 't is fresh and new as a man is most active when he begins first to run hodie natus he is born this day 5. Is he not like the King in the Gospel who journeyed into a far Country extra orbem solisque vias quite out of the way in another world no the circumstance of place points his dwelling to be near in civitate David he is born in the City of David 6. Perhaps to make him man is to quite unmake him shall we find him able to subdue our enemies and save us since he hath taken upon him the condition of humane fragility yes the last words speak his excellency and power for he is Christus Dominus such a Saviour as is Christ the Lord for unto you is born this day in the City of David c. The beginning of our days work is from that word which magnifies him that is the word of God above all things for he is a Saviour Time was when the children of Israel had rather Moses should speak unto them than God Speak thou with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we dye Exod. xx 19. Now let Israel say let not Moses speak with us nor the Law for then we shall surely die Above all tongues let the Angel speak with us that proclaims a Saviour and we shall surely live If all comfort in the world were forgotten nothing but darkness and weeping and captivity over all the earth yet here 's a word which is enough to turn all that sorrow into gladness yea to turn Hell it self into Heaven This day is born unto you a Saviour it comprehends all other names of Grace and blessing as Manna is said to have all kind of sapors in it to please the taste When you have call'd him the glass in which we see all truth the fountain in which we taste all sweetness the ark in which all precious things are laid up the pearl which is worth all other riches the flower of Jesse which hath the savour of life unto life the bread that satisfieth all hunger the medicine that healeth all sickness the light that dispelleth all darkness when you have run over all these and as many more glorious titles as you can lay on this one word is above them and you may pick them all out of these syllables a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. Abraham could endure to live in a strange Land nay he could endure to want his only Son Isaac if God pleas'd Elias could want his bodily sustenance for forty days John Baptist could want the comfort of all society in the Wilderness Peter could leave all he had and want his substance Paul could live in bonds and want his liberty Paphnutius could want his eyes yea the Martyrs for Christs sake could want their lives but they could not be without the redemption of their soul they could not want a Saviour The Prophet Isaiah hath foretold that the heaven and earth should joyn their strength together to make a Saviour Isa xlv 8. Drop down the heavens from above and let the earth open and let them bring forth salvation that 's the effect and the 15. verse speaks of the person O God of Israel the Saviour The heavens must drop down from above and the earth must open and concur beneath the whole universe must be put together the Divine Nature and the Humane tantae molis erat to make a Saviour To confuse the Jews with this place I have read of a learned Scribe of theirs one Rabbi Accados who wrote thus before the coming of Christ that the Messias should come into the world to save men and the Gentiles should call him Jesus or the Saviour of the world Indeed the Gentiles did not only do so after our Saviours ascension into Heaven being taught unto it by the Apostolical preaching but in the time of Idolatry which is very strange Tully says in the 4. Oration against Verres that he saw an Image at Syracuse in Sicily with this Inscription upon it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Saviour and he admires at the strong significancy of the word Hoc quantum est magnum est ut latine exprimi uno verbo non possit to give salvation or to be a Saviour is such an appellative that all the Latine tongue was not furnished with a word to set it forth But what if their language could have fit it that 's nothing unless the soul do unite it to it self and write it upon the tables of the heart But that the name may not be an empty sound to us as it was to them consider these three things 1. With what honour it was impos'd 2. What excellency it includes 3. What reverence it deserves For the first of these an honour in the imposition of a name will ever stick by the person and the origen hereof came from the chiefest that is above all Phil. ii 9. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name It was ever of old in the right of the Father to give a name unto his child Zachary when he could not speak call'd for writing tables to appoint the name of John the Baptist therefore Christ having no Father on earth his Father gave him a name from Heaven His Father gave it but he did commit it to the trust of an Angel to bring it for the Angel was the first that ever mention'd it to Joseph the husband of Mary in a dream Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins Matth. i. 21. God gave it the Angel brought it and men did assign it the eighth day when he was circumcised his name was called Jesus which was so named of the Angel before he was conceived in the Womb. Hereupon Bernard casts in
two observations 1. It appears in St. Matthew that the Angel called him Jesus before he was born yea before he was conceived Luke i. 31. it was Gabriels message to Mary Thou shalt conceive in thy Womb and bring forth a Son and shalt call his name Jesus Men called him so after he was born and circumcised Idem quippe Angeli salvator hominis hominis ab incarnatione Angeli ab initio creaturae for the same Lord is the Saviour both of Angels and Men of Angels before he was born from the beginning of the world of Men in the fulness of time after he was born That is the second person in Trinity being the eternal Son of the Father did confirm the good Angels in grace that they should never fall and the same person incarnate being the Mediator of God and Man did redeem the Elect that they should rise again from their sins and reign with him in glory 2. The complete imposition of the name was at his circumcision when he first shed his Blood as if his Death had been foretold as soon as he was born it would cost him blood not a few drops of the foreskin but the very blood of the heart to be called Jesus In Circumcision he was called a Saviour at his Passion the word Jesus was wrote upon the Cross then his enemies confest he was a Saviour In circumcisione non fuit actu perfecto sed destinatione salvator in Circumcision it was told by destination what he should be and incompleatly and by inchoation what he was It was a sign of servitude and of taking the guilt of sin to be Circumcised it was a sign of ignominy and reproach to be Crucified but this name exalted him and defended him against the bad opinion of the world when he was called at the one time in the Temple and entitled on the Cross at the other Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews To drive this point no longer about the honour of the imposition of the name this is the sum Angels and Men had their several shares in the dignity to give this attribute to our Lord but the name was grounded in his own nature of exceeding mercy and in his office of reconciliation therefore God alone could give him this name Innatum est ei nomen hoc non inditum ab humana aut Angelica natura says Bernard the name was bred with him and not imposed by men or Angels A name so royally impos'd must include a great deal of excellency that 's the next point Gallio the Deputy of Achaia was a great scorner of Religion and because Paul magnified Christ and the Jews blasphemed him Gallio said it was a controversie of words and names and he would not meddle with it it was not worth the while The name of Christ was beyond Gallio's reach to judge upon it David makes a great account of that which he did villifie Thou hast magnified thy name and thy word above all things Psal cxxxvii The names of God Jehovah are his names as a Creator and yet to be magnified above all things but the name of Jesus adds above his power of creation his goodness of saving and redemption Nihil nasci profuit nisi redimi profuisset it had been unbeneficial to be created unless we had been happily redeemed His Words his Actions his Miracles his Prayers his Sacraments his Sufferings all did smell of the Saviour Take him from his Infancy to his Death among his Disciples and among the Publicans among the Jews or among the Gentiles he was all Saviour The Jews were under the condition of thraldom at this time when Christ was born under the thraldom of their enemies and the tidings of a Saviour was sweet news at such a season yet the Shepherds could not so mistake that an Infant born but that day could go out with their hosts to subdue their enemies No person upon earth hath such need of a Saviour as a sinner whether it be peace or war Pandora's box of mischiefs all the miseries that can be named are the just reward of a sinner therefore the Angel doth not specifie to the Shepherds from what calamities he should redeem them and be called a Saviour indefinitely and absolutely from all A few particulars would but derogate from the honour of his salvation he sweeps away all evil at once like a Spiders web ab omni malo he saves us from the whole mass of evil a Saviour which is Christ the Lord Jer. xxiii 7. It shall no more be said the Lord Liveth which brought up the children of Israel out of the Land of Egypt but the Lord liveth which brought the house of Israel from the North Country the land of Chaldaea Alas both these are easie redemptions to that which calls him Jesus in the New Testament the Lord liveth who saveth his people from their sins there begins his mercy at that point to break the heavy yoke of sin from our necks to repress the dominion of the flesh rebelling against the spirit to take away earthly desires from our will and affections in a word to clear us in Gods Court that our iniquities may no more be imputed to us Who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood Revel i. 5. 2. He is a Saviour that delivers us from the sting and punishment of sin which is death He destroyed our death by dying on the Cross and repaired our life again by his own Resurrection 3. He is a Saviour that delivereth us from the power of Satan that although the enemy tempt and oppose vehemently yet he should not overcome his Saints Now is the judgment of this world now shall the Prince of this world be cast forth John xii 32. and so cast forth that he shall never renew his tyranny again For through death Chrst did destroy him that had the power of death the Devil Heb. ii 14. 4. He is a Saviour that frees us from the wrath of God and when we were enemies we were reconciled unto God by the death of his Son Rom. v. From sin from death from Satan from the wrath of God These are the four heads of our Redemption and these are the excellencies included in the name of Saviour After these things thus declared methinks the third point should fall in directly without any contradiction Methinks of our selves without bidding men should strive to do abundant reverence at the hearing of this word a Jesus a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. We have not that feeling of our sins which we ought to have nor of the wrath of God for if we had we would hear this name with greater joyfulness but the destruction is not near enough to affect us Hell and damnation are not represented before our face if those things were so nigh that we did feel their horror we would not captiously gainsay that Ceremony of the Church to vail the head and bend the knee and to
sidepieces of the tree do resemble horns he might as well have said that the Metaphor was taken from the Altar in the Old Law upon which the Sacrifices were presented because the Psalmist says bind the Sacrifice with cords unto the horns or extremities of the Altar Into the number of these that are more elegant than litteral in their allusions let me cast in Lombard thus he an horn is an altitude above the flesh and because it grows higher than the flesh therefore Christ is called an horn rather than a buckler of salvation because our hope in him is not carnal but spiritual and it is he that gives us grace and power to overcome the flesh These and such like subtilties I think it fit rather to name than to prosecute But Theophylact hath collected the solid reasons of this Appellation into few words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it betokens either the mighty power or the Kingdom of salvation An horn is the weapon and strength of that Creature out of which it brancheth and therefore it is usual almost in every book of Scripture to borrow a Metaphor from it as the Lord shall give strength to his King and exalt the horn that is the power of his Anointed 1 Sam. ii 10 and Psal lxxxviii In my name shall his horn that is his strength and fortitude be exalted and to break the horns of sinners is to pull down their pride and dominion Psal lxxiv. I spare to recite innumerous quotations which are extant every where in Scripture but in this phrase the Holy Ghost intends that according to the translation which is in our Morning Service God hath raised up a mighty salvation in the house of his servant David O puissant Lord and Saviour who is able to comprehend what infinite power did concur to this effect that the everlasting God should be incarnate and become man This birth may seem to the outward man to be nothing but a spectacle of weakness and misery Look upon an Infant laid in a Manger wrapt in swadling clouts the Son of a poor Maid espoused to a Carpenter and from these circumstances the question might be askt Where is this horn Where is this strength which Zachary hath laboured to express so emphatically I answer That the Nativity of Jesus was the greatest demonstration of the power of God that ever the world received The Virgin Mary hath commended it to be very true in her Song verse 49 of this Chapter He that is mighty hath done unto me great things And St. Basil says that the Incarnation was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the evidence of the Divine Omnipotency It is a strange efficacy of nature to conjoyn repugnant Elements in the composition of our flesh as fire and water It is yet more strange to put an Elementary body and an immaterial soul into one composition but to joyn an increated and eternal God in one union of person with these things it exceeds all other marvels Neque Adami de limo terrae formatio neque Evae de viri carne plasmatio Iesu Christi potest ortui comparari says Leo the creation of Adam from the dust of the earth the efformation of Eve from the rib of Adam both are things to astonish our weak understanding but neither of these are comparable to his Nativity that was the Son of God and the Son of Mary this is the very firmitude of the horn whereof I am to speak there are other rights and branches of it For as Gods power doth astonish us that the Word should be made Flesh so it brings our admiration to more excess that he should become a Saviour he did overcome his own justice in that act and an Orator would say he grew mightier than himself if it were possible by sparing us Certainly there is good reason in that Axiom of the School that it was more to save a sinner than to create a world The heathen had their Saviours from wasteful diseases and pestilentious contagions as Pandion and Esculapius the Israelites had their Saviours from thraldom and the peril of the Sword as Moses and Joshuah But he that delivers us from the wrath of God and from the pit of hell he is the strong deliverer he is the horn of salvation Finally The Salvation which he hath brought us hath not only set us free but it hath put vigour and animosity in us to subdue our Adversaries that held us in thraldom What the Heathen spake of another thing I may fitly apply to Christ Tu spem reducis mentibus anxiis viresque addis cornua pauperi such as were poor and in misery being fast bound in the fetters of their sins thou hast refresht them with joy and given them horns to push down their enemies The dominion of sin is abated the edge of infernal tentations is rebated Death is swallowed up in victory the Devil cries out in the Gospel that he is tormented the gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church this is salvation obtained for us not by compounding with our Foes and asking their leave but by strong force and puissant victory Cornu salutare nobis sed impiis terrificum It is a soveraign horn to us but an instrument of offence against the wicked His horns are the horns of an Vnicorn with them shall he smite the heathen even the ends of the world Deut. xxxiii 17. the false flattering Prophet Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah put on horns to sooth up Ahab Antichrist is described with ten horns and seven heads Revel xvii 3. to denote that he is armed to bring destruction upon those that cleave in sincerity of truth unto the Lord. The Goat and the Ram which Daniel saw in his Vision chap. viii had terrible horns rising up between their eyes These were outragious tyrants whom God permitted to goar the innocent like mad Oxen but here 's an horn in my Text to break their malice as if it were but a slender reed The Judge that trieth the cause of the helpless against oppressors and casts them down for ever but our horn of salvation Indeed that 's his proper work to save and help his chosen it is by accident that for their sakes he wounds and offends their enemies he came not to destroy but to seek and to save that which is lost he would not the death of a sinner but that he should repent and be saved therefore it is due to be called not an horn of mischief but an horn of salvation Nor doth this word betoken his power only but his kingdom likewise as if Zachary had said God hath raised up a King of salvation to us in the house of his servant David So said St. Peter before the Council of the Scribes Acts v. 31. Him hath God lift up with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour The Chaldee Paraphrast who is very ancient agrees greatly with this for what the Psalm hath I will make the horn of David to flourish
since he was tempted of Satan Lord let me not fight alone lest my foes prevail against me Thus tentation begets fear and fear begets prayer and prayer calls for succour and heavenly succour will assist us to be conquerours Gregory incloseth it in his meditation Vnde pertimescit homo enerviter cadere inde accipit fortiter stare that tentation which makes a just man distrust he shall fall affordeth him occasion to set his feet upon a sure place Cast not your selves therefore into tentation Brethren but when you are in them endure them with joy and courage as it is said of the Machabees that they fought with chearfulness the battels of Israel so go on with alacrity against those innumerable evils that take hold upon you The just man triumphs with David against the powers of darkness as if he saw them already made subject unto him they are cast down and faln but we are risen and stand upright Pelopidas being environed with an Ambush alas says his Lieutenant we are faln into the hands of our enemies And why not rather our enemies faln into our hands says Pelopidas So let not the name of Satan and tentation be dreadful unto you he hath more cause to fear he shall be repulsed than you have reason to fear he shall prevail since Christ hath blunted his weapons in this conflict The Fathers call that verse the Saints Jubilee after their trial with the evil one Psal lxvi 12. We went through fire and water but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place And therefore I bequeath St. Pauls exultation to your use Thanks be to God who hath given us victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Fourthly Christ was tempted to give us an example how to encounter with the roaring Lion and to win the Mastery As a young Learner will observe diligently every ward and thrust that an experienced Gladiator makes so the Holy Ghost hath set down for our advertisement every passage how Christ did turn and wind the delusions of the Serpent These things had need to be scanned beloved we had need to be cunning at our fence for if the Devil sought our overthrow in Christ how much more will he do it in our selves If these things were done to the green wood what will be done to the dry But mark how the man of Gods right hand chased away the enemy mark how he demeaned himself from first to last and you are fortified with the best president that ever the world afforded Ut cujus munimur auxilio ejus erudiremur exemplo says Leo he looks upon our conflicts from heaven and helps the weaker side both by the presence of his grace and by the president of his example Observe him that we might instance in all his ways retiring into a desart from the contagion of the world observe him fasting observe him drawing his shafts out of the quiver of the holy Scripture to maintain his cause and say this is the true Charm to make the evil Serpent break as Daniel in the Apocryphal story choakt the Dragon with lumps of strong confection Christ himself could not receive increase of the Spirit either by being baptized or by being tempted for he had the fulness not of sufficiency but of abundancy before without measure but it was for the proficiency of his members that were under him And therefore the Schoolmen have a disceptation since Christ was much greater than the Angels and did far excel them in grace why he should be tempted of the Devil For we do not read that any of the Angels confirmed in grace were ever tempted One of them answers Quia Angelus non habet membra sub se quomodo Christus habet Christ is head of a body and hath members under him to give erudition unto by his example and so have not the elect Angels Wherefore if the Children of Israel lookt up by faith upon the brazen Serpent in the Wilderness that they might be healed when they were wounded how much more should we look attentively upon Christs Tentation in the Wilderness that we may not be wounded of the Serpent The Fathers in their piety say it is easier to avoid ten sins that compass us round about and have not yet taken hold of us than to recover our selves sound again from any one sin that we have committed It is the Angelical part of Christianity to take out this Lesson Prevent us O Lord from evil in all our doings There is a great deal of the old man and his ragged lining in the best repentance You may learn repentance from Christs Gospel but not from Christ himself but innocency and clearness of life and to be impregnable against tentations not Verbum Christi but Christus Verbum not the Word of Christ but Christ the eternal Word makes you cunning in that by his own example He that knows not the experience of many tentations doth not well know himself says St. Austin Nescit se homo nisi in tentatione discat se But he that knows not the experience of Christs combate will not know how to deal with tentation Fifthly Says Bonaventure very acutely he began in the ministry of the Gospel first to refute the false Doctors before he taught his Disciples the truth first to beat down the Synagogue of Satan and then to build the City of God First root up the Tares and bind them in bundles and then dress the Wheat A Bishop must be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince gainsayers Tit. i. 9. Conviction of falshood requires the greater care and diligence and the great Bishop of our souls begins with that How soon were all divinity learnt What little pains would go to Preaching and Exhortation if it were not that Heresies and Falshoods beget us a most laborious drudgery to refute them Innumerable errors are disseminated that they are like Augias his Stable so foul that they are never to be cleansed It held our Saviour forty days in the Wilderness to untie all the knots of Satan and thus we must build up Hierusalem like Nehemiahs builders with the Sword in one hand with the Trowel in the other Having the Sword of the Spirit to cut in twain the snares of the wicked one you shall the sooner build up the walls of Sion Sixthly And then I take off my hand from this Point Let no man say I am cast out from the face of the Lord because he is beset with daily tentations God had one Son that was free from sin but he hath no Son that is free from the incumbrances of Satan If there be no more in it than an outward occasion cast before you to try if you will bite which is Exterior pulsatio as a man that comes not into the house but stands without and knocks at door This is your praise in the highest respect that your vertue is impenetrable As the Lord sent a blast upon Sennacharib and made him return to his
and confer it upon our Saviour I will look back no farther upon that which I have deliver'd already but the other half of his gift to which now I must proceed smels more rank of boasting for if it please you he will turn all the Kingdoms of the world into one Monarchy and settle it upon Christ all this power will I give thee and the glory of them This will bring his ends to pass indeed or nothing he that will not be bought with honors no not with great advancements no not with Princely Royalties to swarve from righteousness you may turn him loose against all the enticements of Hell for a Christian that is unvanquishable But the Tempter hath sound out by long experience that such pure matter is rarely to be found in the dross of this world he sees that men do seldom deny him any thing if he can accomplish the desires of their aspiring thoughts He makes good bargains of his petty promotions how much more of his greatest There are enough and too many that for a little command a vulgar title for a mean remove will turn their backs to God and their faces to Satan There are undergrowing ambitions which shall not need to be carried to the top of a mountain and have Kingdoms shewn unto them let them be lifted but to the lowest Steeple in a Diocess and they will commit Simony and forswear it To be a Ruler over thousands will shake an ambitious mans honesty very far to compass it nay to be a Ruler over ten which is the lag end of all honor some will violate their conscience rather than go without it what if it were to be but Doeg the chief Heardsman of Saul to have the greatest superiority over beasts Why Doeg was both a promoter and a blood-sucker for that contemptible promotion The twelve Disciples Christ himself walking just before them fell out among themselves into hot words and contention quis esset major which of them should be the greater If one had been the greatest as in very good sense they were all equal what should he have got by it to be the chief over eleven that had left all and were worth nothing If the Tempter be aware of this as our infirmities are not hid from him that men will tread virtue under foot to crawle up to a petty advancement then he would easily think this provocation in my Text were irresistable all this power and glory will I give thee and all the Kingdoms of the world If Balaac will say to some I will promote you to great honor as he did to Balaam all the Angels of heaven should not hinder them from going to it ambitious persons will break through the hedg of all honesty for a title of high preeminence and when their indirect courses carry them down to the deep their fancie flatters them that they go up like Elias in a whirl-wind to heaven There was nothing hanging with Christ upon his Cross except a title over his head Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews And why a great title crucified with him though he deserved that Inscription and a far greater than Pilat or all the world could invent yet above all the sins of men ambition and great titles which too often are obtained by crooked courses they deserve to be crucified Mans thoughts fly upward like the sparks from the fire Core and Dathan cannot endure to be less than the greatest Every man would be a Moses in the Common-wealth every man an Aaron in the Church Brethren forget brethren in way of Soveraignty as Joseph's brethren did consent to kill him or sell him away rather than bow unto him Absolon a Son and Subject abjures his duty to his Father and his Prince Athaliah defrauds her own child to get the supreme authority in her own hand This strugling for greatness especially for a Crown and Scepter hath occasion'd more iniquity more flagrant sins than any one storm that ever was rais'd Si violandum est jus regni causâ violandum sayes C. Caesar he would do no body wrong for less than to gain a Kingdom but he thought it impossible for a man to temper himself in that tentation that had opportunity And why should the appetite of supreme honor bewitch a man sooner than any thing else from the fear of God and draw him from it because power and glory are two such specious and attractive things which are intrinsecal to the dignity of Princes and Satan I warrant you did not forget to cast those two words in Christs way All this power will I give thee and the glory of them There is power in Princes as well to advance where they like as to punish offendors and reason good they should be serv'd with all humble reverence and have the highest glory on earth ascrib'd unto them because they are set over us for our good to maintain publick peace and true religion The power which Pharaoh had oh how it pleaseth an hauty spirit he tels Joseph what he would do for him in this phrase without thee shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all Egypt Gen. xli 44. or that majestical terror which Nebuchadonosor put upon all that were under him nothing more greedily sought for Says Daniel to Belsbazzar The most high God gave Nebuchadonosor thy Father a Kingdom and glory and honor whom he would he slew and whom he would he kept alive whom he would he set up and whom he would he put down Dan. v. 19. Satan knew that to manage such power as this is a whetstone able to set akeen edg upon any mortal appetite But if any one love to govern with a soft hand and affect not the execution of that awful power to put terror upon inferiours yet the glory with which Soveraignty is bespangled will rob a man of his heart and steal it from him Who would refuse to be a Solomon his Palace was beyond all buildings his Throne so costly that there was not the like made in any Kingdom the Meat of his Table the Attendance of his Ministers and their Apparel the Queen of Sheba had never seen or heard of the like Such pomp as this would make a man believe he had built his nest in the stars Satan thought his tentation struck home when he promised such glory as this unto our Saviour How much more was this motion most perswasive when he beleaguer'd him with this offer to pluck the fairest feather out of every Monarchy and invest him with it where there was any power or any glory fit for his wish it should be cast upon him David had a Kingdom of much power yet of little glory for his reign was full of trouble and rebellion Hezekiah had a Kingdom of much glory great treasures great magnificence in his house yet it was of small power for he was an Homager and a Tributary to the King of Assyria and he sent him word that
death was contrived and his accusation laid before Pilate he that maketh himself a King is not Cesars friend I have often both read it and seen it that Pride Vain-glory Faction and I know not what have been laid to the charge of the Innocent by some uncharitable mouths who have spread it so far that for all their innocency they could never wipe off the stain Many times the more they decline those crimes the more occasion is taken to accuse them Every thing that Paul could say or do to purge himself wrought him envy and misreport that he was turbulent and a mover of sedition He could never shake it off with all his meekness and modesty Well if mischief and defamation must have their course the remedy is easie though it be desperate commend your innocency to God The Lord of life himself was haunted with a wrong opinion from the time that Satan made this motion to his death that he had a purpose to be a Monarch and to display his Banner against Cesar in the quarrel of the Jews for their ancient liberty The people would have made him a King Joh. vi and he hid himself out of the way yet that would not acquit him his very Disciples not seldom but even till after his Resurrection till they saw him taken away to heaven lookt for honourable command and superiority under him It cost the sweet Babes of Bethlem their lives that the Wisemen of the East called him a King It lost him his own life as I toucht upon it before that the children of Jerusalem entertained him with that acclamation Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord Luk. xix 38. That question was and is scandalous to the Jews was and is a stumbling-block to some Gentiles what manner of Kingdom belonged to Christ as he was man Before ever the Magi of the East said Where is he that is born King of the Jews The Angel upon the first tidings of his Incarnation told the blessed Virgin his Mother The Lord shall give unto him the Throne of his Father David And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever and of his Kingdom there shall be no end Luk. i. 32. From hence some Papalins whom I formerly refuted stile him a Temporal King who bequeathed all his Dominions to his chief Apostle St. Peter and he to one that is his Successor if it please God in all but his Sanctity Then the perfidious Jews object since the Prophets say that the Messias shall be a King and sit upon the Throne of David the Messias is not yet come because Christ did not triumph and exercise Lordly authority upon the Throne of David To draw out truth against both these at once like a two edged Sword I lay down these three things 1. That neither the Prophets nor St. Luke do teach that Christ had a Temporal Kingdom 2. That he had Dominion given to him by his Father over all earthly things but not by way of ruling all things like a King in his Kingdom 3. In most proper and safe construction we must say his was a spiritual Kingdom I will be brief in all these especially in the former To make much ado that Christ had no temporal Kingdom were to light a Candle at Noon-day The case is clear for I hope we will believe him rather than his enemies These are his words Joh. xviii 36. My Kingdom is not of this world if it were my servants would fight for me that I should not be delivered to the Jews but my Kingdom is not from hence He meant say some Papalins that the world gave him no Kingdom neither chose him a King yet he doth not deny but he received an earthly Kingdom from God A most empty Objection For Pilate sate his Judge to examine if he made himself a King to injure Cesar The same Pilate liked his answer so well that he told the Jews he found no fault with him But would Pilate have put it up if he had answered no better That he claimed a Kingdom indeed by a right and title derived from heaven frivolous and the Cavil of the Jews comes to nothing that God would set the Messias upon the Seat of his Father David Stretch not the Phrase too far and the meaning is 1. The Messias should come out of Davids Loins 2. And be a King as David was 3. Not after that way an earthly Potentate but after a more noble glorious perfect way than ever David governed And I pray you how could it be that he should be a King over Judah and Israel as David was when that Kingdom was taken away from Davids house before Christ was born and a Prophesie denounced it should never return to that house again So it was foretold to Jeconiah Jer. xxii 30. Write this man barren there shall be no man of his Seed to sit upon the Throne of David and to have power any more in Judah In a word Scripture elsewhere shews that to sit upon Davids Seat was to have the Jews subject unto him not after a carnal way but to be worshipped of them in spirit and to enjoyn them to keep his Laws and Commandments for their salvation So it is Hos iii. 5. They shall seek the Lord their God and David their King and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days Secondly I said Christ had Dominion given to him by his Father over all earthly things but not by way of ruling all things like a King in his Kingdom for by uniting the Humane Nature to the Godhead through the admirable influence of that Hypostatical Union So the very Manhood was made Lord over all things according to those places Mat. xi All things are delivered unto me of my Father And in these last days he spake unto us by his Son whom he made Heir of all things Heb. i. 2. And that you doubt not how he had power over all things as being man united with God he whose name was called the Word of God had a name written on his thigh King of Kings and Lord of Lords Rev. xix 16. Super femur mark that Vpon his thigh that is upon his Humane Nature Now this in him was of a more eminent and sublimed condition than all Regal Authority on the earth It came to him the most glorious way that ever was by the Hypostatical Union not by Conquest Inheritance Election Donation or any earthly sort 2. His power reacheth not only to command the outward actions but the very thoughts and conscience 3. He is over things sensible and insensible Men and Angels quick and dead heaven and earth and the very Regions of darkness 4. When men die their glory perisheth with them but of this mans Kingdom it is often testified there is no end Yea after his death he rose again and then began his Dominion to be most absolute by many exteriour works It was his pleasure oftentimes to exercise
the numbers of the Saints nay rather it speaks of them with the least many are called but few are chosen and fear not little flock it is your fathers pleasure to give you a Kingdom But Satan thinks to have credit from his multitudes and pretends to the whole retinue of them that have power and glory in the world whereas divers carry the true virtue of nobility in their heart as well as the title of nobility in their name and owe no service to him God doth permit the wicked sometimes elsewhere to reign for the sins of the people his antecedent will is upon all men especially upon the most renowned that are next and immediately under him Be ye holy as I am holy but he permits Ahab and Manasses to take their turn in the Kingdom of Israel to scourge the people for their sins and therein the adversary prevails against Gods velleity and complacency now that inch which God gives Satan calls it an ell and boasts that all the Princes of the Earth do hold in fee of him What saies he to Christ do you think to sit upon the seat of your Father David by fasting and prayer and by retiring for the discipline of your soul into the Wilderness no if you will rise and be some great one you must come to it by me frame your self to the fashion of the world the disposing of all Royalties and Honours are delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will give them Omne mendacium est in aliquo vero that 's the ground of this first point which I handle every falsehood leans upon some truth that it may appear not to halt lamely but to go upright To that end doth the Tempter cogg in this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for that is delivered unto me fatetur tradentem he doth acknowledge by that word that there is one above him who gives the Letters Patents of all honor and glory he is only intrusted as a Minister to deliver it Well this will not serve his turn like those conjuring Oracles which abused the Heathen of old which had alwayes an ambiguous meaning so the Devil in every proposition he makes as in this particularly hath some concealed aequivocation This is delivered unto me but by whom let us discover his pol-foot which he would conceal not by God he durst not bely his Maker so much but by the custom and practice of the world and custom is the strength and soul of a Law we have corrupted the pure stream of honour with flattery with gratuities with slavish services with Simony they that bid for advancement by such crooked means trust the Devil to keep stakes and if you will have them you must ask him to deliver them We have put the conveyance of many promotions into his power by the sinful practice of ambition as if he were our great Feoffee in trust as King Darius in the story of Esdras yielded himself up and all the power of his Majesty to Apame his Concubine she might take his Crown from his head and put it upon her own and he waited her courtesie to receive it again In such a sense it is true Satan hath a great share of honours to bestow but he received no such authority in Gods name as his words darkly convey'd do seem to challenge it for that is delivered unto me and unto whomsoever I will give it Some there are that make this climax or gradation to cast another shadow of truth upon his meaning Man was created Lord of the whole world and God bestowed the dominion of all things upon him which this Globe of creatures contains afterward by transgression man became the captive of sin and Satan for his servants ye are to whom ye obey that 's Gospel so that the Devil having Lordship over him who was Lord of all the whole world and the pomp thereof became to be his fee in our title that were captivated to him But I list not to stretch so many conclusions to make him speak truth who was a lyar from the beginning This shall suffice for that deceitful likelihood of truth which is in this motion it will be more glory to God and more benefit to our selves to examine the unlikelyhood The Devils Ministers have dared to contest with those Powers that were ordeined of God the contentious Hebrew asked Moses Who made thee a Prince or a Judg The Pharisees maundred at Christ By what authority dost thou these things and who gave thee this authority and doth the Devil suppose it shall go unaskt when this imperial sway was put into his hands to deliver all Kingdoms to whomsoever he will give them Promotion says the Psalmist cometh not per spiritum ventorum it cometh neither from the East nor from the West nor from the South no nor per spiritus infernorum it ascends not up from the pit with the spirits of damnation for why God is Judg of the Earth he setteth up one and plucketh down another Psal lxxv 6. This excessive claim of Satan to impute unto himself that all Kings hold their Scepters of him calls his whole faith in question that Charter cannot stand with Solomons Verdict which he hath given upon that title for thus he speaks for the Lord Prov. viii 15. By me Kings reign and Princes decree justice by me Princes rule and Nobles even all the Judges of the earth In true and exact propriety rendred the learned in the original tongue render the word not by me Kings reign but in me Kings reign God reigns in them as his Deputies they reign in God as their Author and Authoriser wherefore it is elegantly noted by one of our own Writers that Melchisedech is the first King spoken of in Scripture and he is brought in without Father without Mother upon earth to shew that Kings are Gods generation who only his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 none can declare his Generation St. Chrysostom says very well that this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the especial dignity of Kingly estate that it comes from God and therefore Popes who now assume most unchristianly if not anti-christianly to depose anointed Princes and translate their Kingdoms to their enemies they were wont to write to Kings with all lowliness of stile wishing them health and long happiness in eo per quem Reges regnant in him by whom Kings reign that is in God under whom in their own Dominions they are next and immediately supreme Governors David sware by the Lord unto Bathsheba that Solomon his Son shâ—uld reign in his stead an Oath is the strongest proof of humane faith so that by an Oath God and man have put it out of all doubt that the Most High alone doth appoint who shall sit upon the Throne of David but huic injurato crederem we would sooner believe David though he had not sworn that the Power and Principality of Kings depends upon God than Satan with all his promises and protestations that he hath
Shepherds and not like Wolves That is the just Latitude of this Precept This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear him The first part of the Text would require much more to be spoken but here must be the end of that because much more remains behind Therefore in the second Point that the Church might the better admit Christs sole Authority to hear him and no other all other persons of excellency vanisht and he was left alone The Disciples lookt up says St. Matthew and lookt about says St. Mark and when the voice was past Jesus was found alone Whether they that come back from the dead depart from us again as did Moses and Elias in this place or whether our living Friends whom we tender dearly go from hence for ever unto the dead let this comfort remain with you that the best Friend of all sticks by you Christ is with you and stays behind And much better it is to find him alone than all the world beside without him Vnus Iesus satis superque nobis est So I think Gregory It is an happy solitariness to be forsaken of all other and to be left with him alone St. Austin enumerating the several Temples which the Romans built to their Deities reckons up one for Vertue another for Felicity another for Fortune Says the Father If the Heathen had been wise men at least they would have spared the Temple of Fortune and made no use of that Quid ei sufficit cui virtus felicitasque non sufficit He that hath vertue and felicity hath enough or he will never be contented So he that can keep our Saviour hath the fulness of joy abiding with him and he cannot choose but be satisfied What small hearts-ease had the Blessed Virgin to find all her Kindred at home and to miss him And if his Room be empty the house is in a pitiful case though it be furnish'd with all manner of store beside When the whole World was lost in the Deluge of waters one Ark was unto Noah instead of all the world beside to save him so when all things flit away and consume by little my Father and Mother forsake me our friends our means our strength our health our life Tu autem Domine non dereliquisti one Redeemer is all and more than all As when the leaves drop off from the Tree yet the Sun continues to comfort it and make it spring again so the reliefs and pleasures of this Age shall wax old with time and be shaken off as the leaves before the wind but nothing shall separate us from the love of God and nothing shall separate God from the love of us And as Christ is enough for all so this one reason is suficient why the Disciples found him alone yet I have another to spare which is this Postquam legis Prophetarum umbra decessit omnia in Evangelio reperiuntur When the Shadows and Types of the Law and Prophets are dispersed away the Gospel abides for ever and is the true repertory of all things that belong to salvation The Law of Moses is a killing Letter no flesh living shall be justified by the works of the Law The Spirit of Elias breaths nothing but fire and perdition to them that sin against the Lord. O God what will become of us miserable offendors if we meet with such as these O remove these away and let us find Jesus alone who came into the world to seek and to save that which is lost A poor Prisoner must needs suspect that he should have a bloudy trial when such angry Judges came from heaven as Moses and Elias let them rise off from the Bench and depart and leave our cause to be heard before a Saviour so full of pity who is all bowels all compassion An potior judex Puerisve quis aptior orbis He will not recompence us according to our misdeeds but deliver us from the Tormentor The poor woman taken in Adultery had a sweet taste of this Doctrine Christ cast a scruple of conscience before her bitter Accusers which made them slip away one after another then the day began to go on the poor sinners side When Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst Joh. viii 9. Beside I have repeated it to you very often that the Transfiguration was an Idea or Model of the Resurrection and therefore Christ was left alone to let you see the condition of that period of time when all things shall pass away at the end of the world Vt Deus maneat omnia in omnibus when Christ shall be our portion alone and the glory of every thing in earth shall vanish and come to nothing And he alone is an hundred fold those all things else which we enjoy'd in this life according to the reckoning of the Gospel and yet that is but a modest comparison a finite proportion for an infinite In this course of life which now we lead every man acts his part in the mutual Communion of Saints and we have all need one of another For as the members depend upon the head so every member doth want his fellow member to support him the hand cannot say it hath no need of the foot nor can the eye say it hath no use of the ear we must have the help of Moses and Elias and all those bright shining stars that have gone before And the Ages to come shall acknowledge that they were the better for the help of those good men which these times produce But after the final consummation of all things we shall no more be put to these shifts to require the assistance one of another though there were no Moses no Elias no Peter no James and John yet every one shall be perfect in Christ and shall be filled with the fulness of him that filleth all in all St. Hierom in a certain Epistle to Amandus takes upon him to interpret the words of St. Paul 1 Cor. xv 28. on this wise All things shall be subject unto him that God may be all in all Says he our Lord and Saviour is not now all in all but according to the several distributions of his gifts a part only in every several man For example Wisdom in Solomon Zeal in David Patience in Job Interpretation of dreams in Daniel Power of Miracles in Paul Faith in Peter Virginity in John In caeteris caetera but when the end of all things shall come then he shall be all in all Vt singuli sanctorum omnes vertutes habeant ut sit Christus totus in cunctis That every Saint may be filled with all vertue and the fulness of Christ may be in all alike And so far on the second part that Jesus was found alone This is the Argument of the third part of the Text that when God from heaven had commanded the Disciples to hear his Son and left him alone to be heard instead of the Law and the Prophets Christ
sed facta non diluit says St. Ambrose he will never wash off his crimes yet certainly it was a Ceremony which will rise up in judgment to the confusion of the Jews 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they could not but be prickt in conscience says St. Chrysostom for it was no Roman Custom but the Ceremony of their own Law Deut. xxi that if a man were found slain in the Feild and it was not known who had slain him the Elders of the next City should behead an Heifer in the Valleys and wash their hands upon it saying our hands have not shed this blood neither our eyes seen it And according to this Ordinance David did meditate Psal xxv 6. I will wash my hands in innocency and so will I go to thine Altar And to this Statute Pilat did allude but as one objected to Cicero that his Accusations were powerful and his Defences slender so this was as sharp as the sting of a Cockatrice to wound the Jews but as weak as paper proof to defend Pilat Xanthe retro propera never let water have the operation so much as to clense his hands since he condemned Christ who was the fountain of living water springing up into everlasting life Yet in every circumstance that I have laid open I must confess he doth shew some motion of a relenting heart and I think he would have been constant if the People had not took upon them to over-rule the Judg qui me tradidit tibi majus peccatum habet Pilat hath his share in the sin but the death of Christ will be most burdensome to his own Nation This is the preposterous course of the world when the Tail must lead the Head and the Head go backward yet the inconsiderate many had rather wander so they may go formost than keep the right way and let others go before them that know how to lead In the multitude of counsel there is peace and a good Senate is stronger than a wall of brass but to be carried away as Moses was with the murmuring of these people at Massah and Meribah to save Amalech and the fattest of the Sacrifice as Saul did because it went by most voices this is a dangerous popularity The greatest sedition in the Roman State fell out in the Tribunship of the Gracchi when they rather chose to give attentive ear to those that walked in the Market-place than to the sage and prudent Body of the Senate-house They both made an unfortunate end and better cannot come of it says Plutarch when the same man will be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both the Magistrate and the Servant of a multitude There are two things which David wondred at in the power of God to still the raging of the waves and the madness of the people Psal lxv 7. both will swell as high as the clouds in an hour and grow calm in a minute If there had not been a wiser Captain in Jerusalem when Paul preached in the Temple Act. xxi that ruled his place with authority Paul had been stoned to death for his Doctrine but he commanded the multitude and they obeyed I would Pilat had learnt but one lesson from his own Master Tiberius these are his words in Tacitus I will endeavour ut offensionum pro utilitate publicâ minimè pavidum me credant the Fathers of the Senate-house should know he was not afraid in a good Cause to offend the multitude This Precept had qualified Pilat not to give up the Messias of the World unto the rage of the people then not so much had troubled him as his Wife suffered in a dream as innocent had he been of the blood shed upon the Cross as he was clear of the bloody sweat which our Saviour cast himself into by a miraculous agony in the Garden Somewhat there was in it beside the rude importunity of the people why Pilat had but half an heart either to absolve or to crucifie our Saviour Somewhat was in it indeed for Satan was in it if we may believe Alexander Ales. It was the Devil that tempted Judas to betray his Lord and there his tentation prevailed but being suspicious upon some alteration that Christ was the Eternal Son of God and ready to suffer death for the redemption of Man collecting it as we conjecture out of Isaiahs Prophecy that this was the Lamb standing dumb before the Shearers now he casts jealousies into Pilats mind to save his life as I have read concerning the Parthians that although they hated the flourishing Common-wealth of Rome yet nothing did displease them worse than to hear of any great casualty of fire that had wasted the City because the ruins were but an occasion to make the reparation more glorious So the old Serpent bestirs himself that the sentence of death may not be denounced against our Saviour lest his ruin be an occasion to build up mankind with an everlasting reparation Therefore horror is struck into Pilats mind but the suggestion prevails not the Sacrifice is offered upon the Altar of the Cross suggerendo vicit suggerendo vincitur he suggests a motion into Judas his mind and was a Conqueror he suggests a motion into Pilats mind but himself is conquered This opinion of Ales glisters but it is not gold for the Revelation which Pilats Wife did suffer in a dream to warn her Husband not to meddle with this just man it came from God it is St. Austins opinion in somniis patitur ut ne ampliùs pateretur she that suffered that good motion in a dream shall not suffer any more for ever Nay if the Devil were so forward to cast in hinderances that our Saviour might not suffer why did he not turn the stream among the vagabond multitude that cried out Let him be crucified I am sure they did rather run headlong as if their heads did swim with such a spirit as was in the Swine of the Gergasens Therefore I leave this opinion as fidei dubiae if not as false yet at least as suspected and apocryphal What need any other cause be given why Pilat should halt between Justice and Popularity why he should be half for Christ half for Barabbas but the modest answer of St. Paul Deus quos vult indurat he was a Vessel of dishonour and therefore to be dasht and broken To open the heart of a Thief upon the Cross non minus suit quà m petras concutere it was as great a wonder as to open the Graves of the dead Pilats heart was only rent in twain like the Veil of the Temple but it was not opened The Fathers have a subtle resolution of this case and yet a profitable Pilat bore the person of the Gentils and in their person his bowels did a little earn to pluck the Son of God out of the hand of his Enemies but when he grew unstable and was vanquisht he cast the curse upon the Jews vos videbitis you shall see to it It was the providence
have taken away the Body of my Lord. It savours therefore of justice that she is the first that after his resurrection profest her self his Servant and said Rabboni which is Master Now in the manner of this appearance three things are eminent among many that may be observ'd First Christ was known by the tone of his voice when this holy Saint mistook his person Therefore you see by this where you shall always have Christ seek him in his Word and there you shall find him He sends us unto them Joh. v. 39. Search the Scriptures for in them ye look to have eternal life and they do testifie of me In the works of nature we may understand that God is good by the crisis of reason we may beat it out that he is a rewarder of them that serve him by the tenour of the Law we may read what Ceremonies will please him but if you would meet with Christ look him out in the words of that sweet and blessed Covenant of our salvation the Gospel O how sweet is that word of God which is the only instrument and none but it to make us see Christ our Redeemer As we have heard so have we seen says David love to hear his word and then you shall see him see him here in his Sacraments of grace and hereafter face to face in his Kingdom of glory Secondly it lies in his own breast I may say and in the power of his own saving grace when his Word shall be effectual to bring us to the knowledg of him Mark it that Christ spake more largely and more distinctly one would think to this pious Matron when she mistook him than when she came to take notice of him He began thus with her Woman why weepest thou whom seekest thou Was not this Sermon enough to bring her into the right way yet the darkness of her mind continued and she had no stronger faith but that his sacred Body was transported out of the Sepulcher by some malicious injury and not revived by his omnipotent Divinity Yet after this he speaks unto her again speaks but a very little no more but Mary and her heart was opened Like that celebrated piece of Rhetorick which C. Caesar used to his Souldiers with no long oration but with one word Quirites he drew them to accord and appeased their mutiny So that there is hope as we pray and put our trust in God that although some have taken arms in this Island and will not lay them down notwithstanding much hath been said by way of treaty much hath been written by way of motive and perswasion yet God knows his own time and will bring it to pass we trust when some few lucky words to which the Lord will give his blessing shall distil down as a joyful rain to bring forth the sweet fruits of peace and obedience It is not line upon line word upon word but the assistance of the Divine Spirit with the Word that works knowledg and salvation With a short invitement follow me and I will make you Fishers of men Peter and Andrew left their Nets and followed their Master With a little call or beckning rather Matthew forsook the Custom-house and became an Apostle A little was said to Zacheus and it produced wonders in him Less was said to the Saint of my Text than to any of them all no more but Mary and she saw and believed Thirdly here the doctrin of St. John is verified chap. x. 14. I am the good Shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine Do you not spy an excellent order in the words the Sheep do not know him first but in the first place he knows the Sheep and then it follows that they know their Shepherd and his voice So he knew Mary Magdalen and called her aloud and then she was brought to confess the Lord. St. Paul corrected his own language to keep close to this method Gal. iv 9. Now after that ye have known God or rather are known of God our salvation begins at that end God hath chosen unto himself a people zealous of good works as who should say first he knows who are his but it is very preposterous to invert this as if first of all we did our endeavour to be known that is to be elected of God and to this is a witty allusion made Cant. ii 9. My beloved looketh forth at the window shewing himself through the lattess As if Christ did look through a Grate and saw us when we saw not him It is enough to have said thus much of the Apparition The remainder of my Doctrin must be raised out of the person of Mary Magdalen c. If this be the same Mary that was Sister to Lazarus of Bethany many learned Pens contend for it and let them for me but if it be the same woman Christ hath made good his promise to her and gone beyond it his promise was that wheresoever the Gospel was preached it should be told for a memorial of her how she had poured an Alabaster Box of Ointment upon his head to bury him but far more than so wheresoever the Resurrection is preached of she is enwrapt into the story and extol'd by a kind of singularity above all other persons he appear'd first to Mary Magdalen a thing which I dare say she did not request neither was that ambition in her to aspire to such a prayer that she might see the Lord before any of the faithful but it was a favour that was cast upon her Some immoderate zelots to the honor of the Blessed Virgin do little less than offer violence to the Evangelists for omitting that Christ declared himself immediately after he was risen to his Mother before Mary Magdalen saw him To prove it is impossible therefore to believe it is incredible None of the Ancients but Sedulius a Poet do adventure to affirm that Christ made any apparition to his Mother to shew he was no accepter of persons in way of carnal affinity He did appear to the Eleven and to those that were gathered together with them Luke xxiv 33. I suppose she was there at that time because she was St. Johns charge to take her with him He did appear to more than 500 Brethren at once it may conveniently be concluded she was one of that Assembly always preserving this priviledg to Mary Magdalen that he appeared first to her she was the first that saw Christ risen from the dead and the first that preached he was risen from the dead for she told it to the Apostles Yet that ye may know what soundness there is in Traditions Nicephorus pleads Tradition that after he rose to life first he made himself known to his Mother So Rupertus who allows to Mary Magdalen that she saw him first inter testes praeordinatos a Deo as a witness that should first preach him But the Blessed Virgin saw him before as one that did first rejoyce in him Bernard
they be driven from the presence of God And I pray you what credit is it to our Church to make such a bustle as some private men have done about scandalous Ministers as if the Clergy were grown so disordered that the most necessary thing to be provided for in the Weal Publick were new Laws for the rectifying and deprivation of scandalous Ministry When sundry Petitions were put into the hand of Constantine the Great at the famous Council of Nice against some Bishops and Priests and Deacons he threw them all into the fire with this answer He would not have complaints in that kind so publick but if he knew how to cover their trespasses he would cast his own royal Robe upon them As you wish that God might not be despised as you wish the Jesuits might not triumph at your Ministers beware to make such a mountain of that which private advertisement might better rectifie Many of my Brethren of good parts are unfurnish with means and where poverty and wit meet together I confess they seldom make an honest man between them God give them grace to bear their wants more religiously and with less scandal but I hope you will not think the whole Loom is bad because the List is coarse But for those that are so ready to blur their reputation whom God hath appointed to burn Incense before his name that is to pray for his people is it not a sign that God is despised by them Fifthly To step into the observation of a judicious Commentator it is an apparent disgust of contempt Minimè ad minas contremiscere not to tremble at his anger that threatens Primos in orbe Deos fecit timor says Statius not so soundly that fear was the first thing that made a God but I am sure that want of fear is the first thing that will make an Atheist and perswade a man there is no God The Prophet Isaiah could say no worse of the Idols made of stocks and stones but that they could do no evil that we should be dismaid at them Isa xli 23. Every part of our Saviours Passion was undergone to satisfie in the kind wherein we had most prevaricated Our Extortion wounded his hands our Gluttony gave him Gall to drink our want of fear put him into the strongest part of his Passion that Agony full of great fear in the Garden when he sweat drops of bloud as for them that hear lamentations read unto them that have heard the vengeance of Captivity and the Sword threatned to a wicked Land and yet their heart is not quail'd their courage is undaunted it shall fall out unto them as it did unto the Philistines they brought out Samson to play before them and made a mocking-stock so long of his Arms of Steel that at length he plucked down their Temple about their ears and brained them A filial fear that loves God for his goodness is like a bright day that hath not a cloud to disfigure it a servile fear that loves God for fear of the wrath to come is like a day that is overcast with clouds but it is clearer than the fairest Moonshine night It is good to have the Spirit of Adoption but it is better to have the Spirit of bondage than the Spirit of slumber It is good to be in Canaan but it is better to be in the Wilderness than in Egypt It is good to be a Child but it is better to be a Servant than a Stranger to the Lord. The Lions roar and the Beasts of the Forest are moved at his mighty voice the winds arise and the sowls of the air flutter and lay them down in their Nests the thunder-claps rend the air and the Spirits of Princes are dismaid and troubled but if the God of the Winds and of the Seas and of the Thunder threaten and menace us for our sins shall we not much more dread his fury and look pale at his indignation But when we bear all prodigious signs and wonders without crouching when we esteem not the terrours God help us that are now round about us is it not a sign that God is despised Sixthly To take another Arrow out of the same Quiver it is a sign we under-value the power of another Minimè ad opem ejus consugere not to fly to his help when we had need of relief so when the Israelites blurted at Saul as if he did not look like the man that could lead out their Armies against the Philistines Nunquid iste salvare potest Israelem Can such a man as this save Israel It is a manifest token that they did despise him God is much offended when we neglect him in prosperity and he is no less displeased when we do not fly to him in misery You are for the God of Ekron in your sickness says the Prophet to King Ahaziah when he sent thither for remedy is it because there is no God in Israel A word if you mark it that relisheth of most sharp indignation it is because there is no God in Israel Invoca me Psal ◠Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will hear thee Invocantibus miseteri desiderat qui monet ut invocetur says Gregory God hath a great good affection to be gracious unto them that invoke him when he puts us in mind to be invoked The Children of Israel were miserably oppressed with bondage under Pharaoh yet their curs'd hearts had rather put up their wrongs and suffer them than be beholding to the Lord for their delivery Trajan had rather pine away with Leprosie than call upon the name of Christ whose Servants he had persecuted Wizzards and cunning Soothsayers so called some run to these for relief Tutelary Angels that have the Patronage over several Kingdoms so well do they know what God hath appointed in Heaven imaginary Saints that are fortunate in expelling some particular disease as it is thought some run to these for protection Non defensoribus istis our hope is not in such miserable comforters as these but the Lord is our refuge in the day of trouble If we say unto the needy that God is his portion and he must not steal if we say unto the sick that the Prayer of the Faithful availeth much he must not fret and be disquiet and yet he rageth and curseth at his afflictions if we say to the opppressed that God will judge their cause and yet they desire to break the net that held them in by violence and to take private vengeance into their hand Where is their patience Where is the testimony that they fly to the Almighty in the evil days Is it not a sign that God is despised Seventhly and lastly to end this Point let me borrow but the speech of the angry Goddess when she thought she should be contemned Et quisquam numen Junonu adoret Praeterea aut supplex aris imponat honorem that is when Sacrifice comes not in plentifully to the