toto totum in qualibet parte whole in the whole and whole in every part and yet not In loco not included in place 2. Again in time God is mindfull of man secondly in preserving him For God is not like a Shipwright or Carpenter who leaveth his work or building to it self as soon as he hath set it up but God is mindfull of man as well in preserving as in creating him Yea this also to the expresse of Gods perfection may be said that he cannot do he cannot make any thing to be or subsist of it selfe without him For so there should be something where at his power should be limited and whereto his strength should not extend And so hee should not be infinite he should not be almighty he should not be himself he should not be God therefore 't is of necessity that to every work which God maketh hee adde also a butteresse a prop or supporter of his of his power to sustain it which whensoever he taketh away the work what ever it be soon decayeth and perisheth For in him we live and move and have our being Act. 17.28 And when thou hidest thy face they are troubled when thou takest away their breath they die and are turned again to their dust Ps 109.29 And in that Psalme we have a large discourse of the mindfulnesse of God towards man in providing him wine that maketh glad the heart of man and oile to make him a chearfull countenance and bread to strengthen mans heart Yea his providence extendeth to the least things that do concern us There cannot a tear fall from our eyes but he doth bottle it up Put my tears into the bottle P. 56.8 there cannot an hair fall from our heads but he doth take notice of it for even the hairs of our head are all numbred Luk. 12.7 Yea which is of us more considerable because to us more terrible there cannot a word fall from our mouths but he doth register it for every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account hereof in the day of judgement Mat 12.36 3. Again God is mindfull of man thirdly in time in redeeming him And this work hath many parts too many for me to speak of at this time I can but name them His miraculous incarnation his charitable life and peregrination his painfull and shamefull death and passion descension resurrection his ascension And hereto also pertaineth his calling us his sanctifying us his justifying us and his pawning and pledging everlasting life unto us 4. Again fourthly and lastly God is mindful of man in time in raising him hee is mindfull even of our very dust and ashes when we be dead and rotten For saith Job I shall see God in my flesh Job 19.26 And he shall change our vile body and make it like to his glorious body saith Saint Paul Phil. 3.21 And this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortall must put on immortality 1 Cor. 15.53 And then shall Ezekiels mysticall or parabolicall vision be literally fulfilled Every bone shall come again to his bone and the flesh and sinewes shall grow upon them and the skin shall cover them Ezek. 37. And Saint Aug. de Gen. ad lit lib. 3. ca. 17. is very punctuall and emphaticall upon this point Quasi vero quicquam intersit ad nostram utilitatem ista caro jam examinis per quos transitus eat c. As though saith he it were any thing considerable what becomes of our body being dead seeing that by whatsoever passages it shall go It shall thence be drawn out again by the almighty power of the Creator to be new formed And again in another place Enchirid. ad Laur. cap. 88. Non autem perit Deo terrena materia de qua mortalium creatur caro the earthly matter of mans body is never lost to God sed in quemlibet cinerem pulveremve solvatur but into whatsoever dust or ashes it be dissolved In quoscunque halitus aurasve diffugiat Into whatsoever spirits or airs it fly away In quorumcunque aliorum corporum substantiam vel in ipsa elementa vertatur Into whatsoever substance of other creatures be it into the very elements it be turn'd In quorumcunque animalium etiam hominum cibum cedat unto whatsoever food of other creatures be it of mankind it be converted Illae humanae animae puncto temporis redit It shall at last in a monent of time return to that soul Quae illam primitus ut homo fieret cresceret viveret animavit which did at first it that it might be made a man and live and grow 3. As before time in time so also 3ly and lastly after time God is or shall be mindfull of man in or by eternal everlasting glorifying him After time I say after nunc finiens or terminationum the end or consummation of created time For the day of judgment is called the last day Jo. 6.39 40. and Rev. 10.6 the angell sweareth that time shall be no more Yet then I say when all distinction of time shall grow up into one perfect constant day of eternity then shall God be mindfull of man in bringing him to and preserving him in the fulnesse of joy and pleasure for evermore For we shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we be ever with the Lord. 1 Thes 4.17 O infinite love O unmeasurable mercie O beginlesse O endlesse providence what is man O Lord what is man that thus before time in time and after time thou art mindfull of him I shall include this point and so the whole text with a brief touch of a twofold use This last Doctrine of Gods mindfulnesse of man teacheth us to be thankfull and it teacheth us not to be carefull 1. Vse First it teacheth us to be thankfull For seeing Gods providence is such and so great toward us and it is all Gratis It is but our thankfulnesse that hee requireth for all for he saith who so offereth praise glorifieth me Ps 50.23 And David saith My goodnesse extendeth not to thee Ps 16.2 what a shame will it be for us then to be found unthankfull Praise him therefore for thy soul and for spirituall blessings praise him for thy body and for temporall blessings according to that Ps 101.1 Blesse the Lord O my soul and all that is within me blesse his holy name Blesse the Lord O my soule and forget not all his benefits which forgiveth all thine iniquities there 's for the soule and for spirituall things And ver 5. which satisfieth thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the Eagles ther 's for the body and for temporal things 2. Vse Again it teacheth us not to be careful This is our Saviours teaching Mat. 6.35 I say unto you take no thought for your life what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink c. And why ver 26. behold the foules of the air they sow not neither do they reap c. And ver 30. If God so cloath the grasse of the field shall he not much more cloth you Oye of little faith Hee argueth à majore ad minus from the lesse to the greater I may therefore doubtlesse in this argue a majore ad minus from the greater to the lesse He doth the lesser saith Christ therefore he will much more do the greater may I in my sense say therefore he will much more do the lesser He provideth for the soul spirituall things here and eternall things hereafter And if he deal so freely and liberally in those greater matters shall he not much more do the same in these viler earthly things what man having received wine of his friend will be doubtfull whether he would afford him water or no What man seeing his friend send his son to help him will make question whether hee would spare him his servants or no What man seeing his friend offer his life for him will suspect or be jealous whether hee would impart unto him his goods or no And seeing God hath given us the wine of spirituall joyes shall we be doubtfull whethether hee will afford us the water of temporall comforts Seeing God hath sent his son to help us shall we make question whether he will spare us his servants his creatures to serve us Seeing our Saviour hath given his life to redeem us shall we be jealous that he will not impart to us his goods his corne and wine and oile to sustain us No no but cast all our care upon him because he careth for us Yet cast it in humility acknowledging our vilenesse acknowledging our unworthinesse For so humbling our selves we shall be sure to be exalted FINIS
whether with the Oxe or the Asse the clean or unclean beast so that the ground and the seed be good God taught Balaam by an Asse before he taught him by an Angell Num. 22. And the sowing upon or beside all waters that is in all lowly grounds is blessed whether the feet of the Oxe or of the Asse be driven Is 32.20 And as not in good so neither in evill should small beginnings be neglected or passe unregarded For the serpents body is so shaped that it will all easily slip after his head Give him but his inch and he will quickly have his whole ell Ahab first looked then liked then lusted then sickned for Naboths Vineyard David not checking his first view proceeded to affecting effecting accumulating lust with murther Saint Peter first following a far off and shrinking grew to denying cursing forswearing The vastest grants Giants are at the first small embryoes the foulest sinns even the Children of Babylon begin in weak imaginations Blessed therefore shall he be that taketh all those children Ps 137. even in their first conception and dasheth them against the stones But some in stead of dashing them do defend them For they will not have lust to be sinne untill it be ripe and ready to fall But Christ saith Out of the heart proceed evill thoughts murthers adulteries Mat. 15.19 And Gen. 6.5 The imaginations of the thoughts of the heart are said to be evill And what is evill to or with God but sinne All his workes are good and hee makes all but sinne therefore that which is evill with him must needs be sinne Sinne is sinne as well in the first conceit as in the last consent The Cocatrice is venemous in the egge as well as in the bird Take heed therefore of hatching it the egge is laid low thou maist crush it with thy foot but the bird will mount up over thy head and above the reach of thy reformation The spiders first thred is a very slender one yet being drawn it holds the frame of all her work And our first motions are commonly weak and slender but being once firmly fastned they quickly grow to a whole web of mischief let it be therefore their and not ours which is objected Is 59.5 They hatch Cockatrice egges and weave the web of spiders But besides the swelling and spreading leaven hath also another propertie and that is sowring which indeed is most proper in this place where it is stronger to in the evill sense For of all evills none is stronger to sour good and to make it turn the stomack of almighty God If I may so speak then this one of Hypocrisie For to shew how he loatheth it it pleaseth God to threaten the punishment of it in such kind of loathsome phrase even that he will spue the hypocrit out of his mouth Rev. 3.16 For the hypocrit is fitly compared to a brazen vessell For brasse is apt to sowr the liquor which it holdeth And such is the hypocrite the Poets sincerum befits him best it is a word most proper to living vessells Sincerum est nisi vas quodcunque infundis acescit If the vessell be not sincere whatsoever you power into it it sowreth Whatsoever yes whatsoever For though I have prophecie and all knowledge and all faith to move Mountaines and all bounty to give all my goods to the poor and all patience to give my body to be burned And though I speak with the tongues of men and of Angells and have not love good affection truth in the inward parts I am but as sounding brasse that is but a sowring Vessell 1 Cor 13. But that I be not tedious let me leave the Genus of this metaphor in Leaven fall upon the Species or particular of it as it is here expressed namely in the Pharisees The leaven of the Pharisees It will not be much materiall to make question or discourse of the order calling condition or profession of these Pharisees It may suffice that Saint Augustine tells us they were Nobiliores doctiroes the nobler and the learneder sort of the Jewes which is confirmed Ioh. 5. where Nicodemus the Pharisee is called both ruler of the Jewes ver 1. and also A master or teacher of Israel ver 10. The most doe fetch their title from division or separation And that not onely Habitu they were severall and divided from others in their habits but Observantiis too they were singular in their performances which Saint Paul's speech implyeth Act. 26.5 where he calleth this profession the chiefest sect of their religion In a word the Jewes were Populorum separatissimi a the choicest of all people and the Pharisees were Iudaeorum separatissimi the choicest of all the Jewes Note therfore here the vanity of worldly state and dignity Not many mighty not many noble are called Note the insufficiencie of learning and knowledge Where is the wise where is the disputer of this world Note the debility of free will and naturall strength It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth Note the deficiencie of all strictest outward observance He is not a Iew which is one outward But especially to the purpose note that the strongest wine makes the sharpest vinegar the sweetest things in smell and in tast are most loathsome and noisom in their putrifaction The tongue if it be good is the best member but if it be naught it is the worst Strength in a lion is most outragious Wisdome in a serpent is most mischievous knowledge in an hypocrit is most pernicious The Pharisees those precisest separatists were most abhominable hipocrites They were noble and so was their hypocrisie too even Nobilitata by by Christ himself fet forth to be most notorious And that especially in these 4. particulars To wit that their justice or righteousnesse was 1. verbalis 2. formalis 3. partialis 4. vanè gloriosa It was verball formall partiall and vainglorious Either they did but talke or if do it was but outwardly or if inwardly it was with foolish partiality and preposterous difference And in all it was with much pride and vain glory First their righteousnesse was Verball in word onely they were good speakers they could talke well but bad doers they did live ill Whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and doe but do not yee after their works for they say and do not Mat. 23.3 A very dangerous evill both waies both inwardly and outwardly both to themselves and to others Inwardly to themselves For he that speaketh well beareth witnesse against himself for doing ill that out of his own mouth shall the evill servant be judged without farther witnesse They give evidence against themselves and make up their own condemnation before God as the messenger of Saul's and of Ishbosheths death did before David 2 Sam. 1.16 4.10 Outwardly also to others it is dangerous for it makes men afraid of goodnesse For by speaking that which thou dost not do saith Saint Chrysostome
imbraceth his body and spurneth his feet No no but Quicquid propter Deum fit aequaliter fit Hee that serves God aright serves him with an equall mind and saith with the Psalmist I have respect unto all thy Commandements Ps 119.6 and resolves with Saint James that he who faileth in one point of the Law is guilty of all But in their later falshood ye may behold and wonder that they should be precisest in smallest matters O but there was great skill and cunning in that for thereby they stayed the world from looking after their greatest businesses For it could not be easily imagined or suspected that they who were so conscionable as to tyth herbes yea the basest and vilest of their herbs would be unconscionable in the greatest matters of judgement and mercie that they which did strain at a gnat could possibly swallow a Cammell Let the discovery of this evill be enough of it self to make us not to learn it but to loath it to learn that of Christ This ought ye to have done and not to have left the other undone The greatest duties are first to be respected and the least after not to be neglected 4. Lastly their righteousnesse was vainglorious Yea this was that whereof all their other services did relish and whereby their imperfections were as it were perfected and made up For why was their righteousnesse verball why formall why partiall but for vainglory sake And if this sauce sowreth the best service as indeed it doth how tart then did it make their services which were every one so harsh in themselves and how fulsome a messe did they make being all put together Yea in their vain-glory wee may observe which indeed is naturall to all pride not onely the advancing of themselves but the abasing of other This I say is prides propertie for every ascent is by pressing or treading somewhat down This no doubt the Pharisees were guilty of else Christ would never have taxed and charged them with such a boasting as Lu. 18. to set them forth speaking so proudly to the contempt and condemning of all others I am not as other men are Whereupon Saint Augustine De ver Dom. ser 36. Diceret saltem sicut multi homines Quid est caeteri homines nisi omnes praeter ipsum He might have said not as many men but now he saith not as other men what is it but that he condemneth all men And that not in a few or light things but many and great Extortioners Unjust Adulterers Yea he is not content with indefinite or generall speaking but dares touch upon particular saying Or even as this Publican Whereupon again Saint Augustine Insulat non exultat Hom. 44. Hee doth but insult upon his fellowes hee doth not rightly rejoice in himself There is a holy rising of the soul a rising by humility as the Eagle is said to rise highest out the lowest Valley So the virgin mothers rising was My soul doth magnifie the Lord saith she and my spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour for he hath regarded the low linesse of his hand mayden but the Pharisees rising was both presumptuous and contemptible to rise by trampling on the necks and crowns of others Thus yee see how still they dip their soules in a double die of sinne breaking the rule of faith which saith Christ came into the World to save sinners of whom I am chief 1 Tim. 1.15 And breaking And breaking the rule of of faith which willeth that every man esteem another better then himself Phil. 2.3 Acquitting where they should condemne I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing Rem 7.18 and condemning where they should acquit Charity thinketh not evill believeth all things hopeth all things 1 Cor. 13. Beware therefore as of double sin in every kind for in one sin shalt thou not be unpunished so especially of this swelling and trampling pride For every one that exalteth himself shall be brought low and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted Finis Serm. sive tract 6. Trino-uni gloria Per me Gulielmum Gaium Two SERMONS upon Ps 8.4 The former of them for a Funerall farewell to the late Honorable the Conutesse of Manchester preached in my place in Manchester house in Canon Row Westminster in a Right Honoable presence Ian. 8. 1653. Text. Psa 8.4 What is man that thou art mindfull of him IT is a naturall thing to naturall men to affect knowledge therefore our first parents in Paradise could not be content with all the trees in the Garden but they must needs have a tast of the tree of Knowledge though God himself had forgiven them But it is a supernaturall thing to regenerate men to affect the Knowledge of themselves Therefore though the heathen men had that excellent saying among them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 know thy self Yet they had it as from the Oracle of Apollo and they held it for no humane but for a Divine precept Therefore also when Adam forgetting himselfe desired that high Knowledge which was forbidden him God himself came and told him his own and what he was Dust thou art and dust thou shalt return Upbraiding his pride and condemning his folly that he would presume to desire so high Knowledge which was too wonderfull and excellent for him and in the mean time neglect that Knowledge which was more proper and sutable to him namely the knowledge of himself Indeed Saint Paul saith Knowledge puffeth up 1 Cor. 8.1 but no doubt hee meaneth outward Knowledge of things without us which is called Scientia as for the knowledge of our self which is rather to be called Conscientia if it be right and true it can not puffe us up it will rather beat us down and humble us For he that knoweth himself knoweth that he is a creature therefore that he hath a creature that he is not of himself nor by himself nor for himself but that his creation is from God his preservation by God and his whole being in God And so the knowledge of a mans self brings him to the knowledge of God So that as Saint John saith of Love 1. Joh. 4.2 How can he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen love God whom he hath not seen So may I say of Knowledge How can hee that knoweth not himself whom he hath seen know God whom he hath not seen Hugo lib. 3. de Anima Frustra cordis oculum erigit ad Deum qui nondum idoneus est ad videndum seipsum Hee doth in vain lift up his eyes to see God who is not yet fitted to see himself Chrys Est primum hominis sapientiam affectantis contemplare quod ipse sit It is the chief property of a man that affecteth wisdome to contemplate what himself is Wherefore this holy Prophet David was very carefull in seeking for this knowledge and very diligent in searching the state and condition of himself And howsoever no doubt he studied