upon their bare knees to procure them that happiness to be readmitted into the union of the body of Christ Rowl those words in your conscience which Christ spake to the Apostles Whatsoever ye bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and it would gripe you as if the knot were tied about your Heart to be shut out of the Fold of Christs Flock by the Sentence Ecclesiastical They that are set over your soul have not the use of the material Sword but the words of Discipline that proceed out of their mouth are sharper than any two-edged Sword Having in readiness to revenge all disobedience says St. Paul 2 Cor. x. 13. In promptu habentes What so ready upon all occasions as the Tongue If this Mother be offended by the impenitency and contumacy of her degenerous Sons she will suddenly smite them with such a wound as nothing can heal but her own forgiveness and the grace of God But a Mother is soon intreated if the Child seek her with tears and lowliness It is a gentle caution which Bernard gives to them that sway the authority in spiritual censures Discite subditorum matres vos esse non Dominos studete magis amari quà m metui si interdum severitate opus sit materna sit non tyrannica Let not your severity be tyrannical but with the compassion of a Mother Thirdly Forasmuch as the Church is our Mother we must carry that venerable duty towards her that great heed must be had to her determinations of Faith not as if it were the rule of truth that is the prerogative of Sacred Scripture but because it holds out the rule of truth and the Ministry thereof is the condition subordinate under God to find out truth My Son forsake not the teaching of thy Mother says Solomon Prov. vi 10. Means he our natural Parent only Nay says Mercer Potes ad Ecclesiam si velis referre You may refer it to the Church if you will And a good reason why that not only it may be but most aptly it should be applied to our mystical or spiritual Mother for the blessings reckoned up in that place to those that will be taught by the wisdom of their Mother are so many as they are not like to be the fruits of obedience to a natural mother only To make my self way the sooner out of this vast Point by distinctive conclusions First If we call that Jerusalem that Church our Mother which St. Paul doth here the most Primitive Church which includes the Apostles Evangelists it is bootless to dispute in a thing so evident that it is to explain the sense and decide the meaning of all Articles of Faith for the Apostles spake as God did give them utterance who is the Author of all hidden and heavenly truths and we are to rest in him as the fountain of all illumination Secondly Excluding the Apostles Evangelists and others conversant with them who were immediately inspired to know all truth which makes a perfect Christian in their own person take the Vniversal Church from their days unto this time and I conceive that the uniform practice and general judgment of all Gods servants that went before us is a certain and undoubted explication of all those Points contained in Scripture that concern our salvation We are taught in the Articles of our Creed that this Church is a witness which we ought to listen unto I believe the holy Catholick Church It hath the promise that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Also Isa lix 21. This is my Covenant with them saith the Lord my Spirit which is upon thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy Seed nor out of the mouth of thy Seeds Seed from henceforth and for ever This is a Promise that the Church dispersed in all places and continued in all times shall keep the trust of saving truth inviolably So Tertullian so Vincentius Lir. upon this subject Quod apud multos unum est non est erratum sed traditum says the former That which is uniformly taught by many much more by all is no lie but a truth delivered by that Church to which God hath entailed his blessing that it shall not forsake it I do not say yet that this Vniversal Church is absolutely free from error but from such error only as would shake the stability of faith Some things that may be unknown without prejudice were ever concealed But the whole Church that is and was is so free from error and ignorance that it knows and possesseth all the truth which Christ hath revealed The Churches are the Golden Candlesticks in the midst whereof the Son of God did walk Rev. i. 12. Thirdly take the Church for all those Christians that are now presently living in the world and among those there will ever be some whom God will preserve from pernicious Error yet those some are not necessarily and always such as are in place of Authority or palpably notorious that we may have recourse unto them In a populous Congregation I have heard a Psalm sung quite out of tune by the greater part and those few that sung tunably could not be heard for a long time till at last their good harmony gained a considerable number to listen unto them and to imitate them So false Doctrine may spread far and the soundest judgments be silenced in the Plurality of opposition If their tunable Notes beget good Musick in others it is the working of God which is stronger than the violence of men But from hence I collect that there is no man living nor any Society of men living which hath such indubitable authority from God that they may pronounce a judicial definitive Sentence to oblige and convince the Consciences of others in Controversies of Religion To relie upon one mans Oracle it were a ready way indeed if it were a certain But that man whom we mean is of such little credit with those that cry him up that he cannot make his Partisans submit unanimously to him in his own cause And for general Councils the great Army of Jesus Christ his pitch'd battel since the former may be corrected by the later and have been corrected their judgment is so awful as may quel the resistance of private men but not so irrefragable upon their decision as to tie their Conscience You will say then hath God provided no certain and external judicial authority to Umpire differences of Religion in this or that present Age I answer First he hath given the complete and perfect Rule of Faith in holy Scripture which hath spoken so plainly in things necessary to be believed that it needs no Gloss to make it plainer As Aristotle says That Laws which are penn'd with the best wisdom do leave but little to the will of the Expounder Secondly We are not Brutes that know not our right hand from
took away all power from it against penitent sinners and so preserved Adam and other just men from that place of torment his Judgment is right but if his Sentence be flat for the other meaning that any of the damned were redeemed of those pains that so he loosed the sorrows of Hell then we forbear to give him credit But you shall hear him in the right anon Secondly there are more than many that think they have found their so much contended for fire of Purgatory in my Text for neither the Schoolmen nor almost any other of the Church of Rome do take the word Hell in the Creed properly and litterally as they ought for the Hell of the Damned it is their Doctrine that Christ went virtually thither but not locally no in their common Tenent he descended but to the Limbus of the Fathers or to the place of temporal sorrows where some were deteined for a while for the satisfaction of some venial sins Therefore Bellarmine having laid his conclusion at first that Christ descended to the nethermost Hell afterward went from it and held with their common way that in his substantial presence he went at the most no further than Purgatory This Pill being commonly swallowed among men it purgeth this fancy out of divers of their Authors that Christ redeemed not the damned out of Hell but He released many by a Plenary Indulgence out of Purgatory This is nothing else but to make the Scriptures chime according to that idle conceit that runs in their brains And thirdly Aquinas shuts this opinion out of doors to take in another to wit that to loose the pains of Hell was to loose the pains of the Patriarchs and Fathers who were sequestred in a Receptacle of ease but not admitted into any joys of Heaven till Christ had first ascended but what pains had these that were to be mitigated if they lived in quiet refreshment and in no pain at all he answers that they were full of sadness and affliction of mind because their deliverance was so long stopt and Christ staid so long before He came in the flesh to release them But I rejoyn if they were in such a state as they describe dato non concesso they might be full of desire and expectation but without any molestation or anxiety All these opinions which I have rankt formost as they miss the meaning of the Text so neither are they right according to analogie of faith But the last Paraphrase of the words though it rove from the meaning of the Text yet it is sound according to analogie of faith 't is thus that Christ loosed the sorrows of Hell not as if ever He had felt the sorrows of Hell in himself and shook them off but He subdued Satan for our sakes and delivered us from those pains with which we should have been held and captivated And herein St. Austin speaks to this point most intelligently that it is easie to understand how these sorrows were loosed to set us free quemadmodum solvi possunt laquei venantium ne teneant non quia tenuerunt as the snares of Hunters may be untied not to redeem that which is caught but that they may never catch any thing No man will ever deny but that we may be as well delivered from that torment which is deserved as from that which is inflicted and to prevent the Devil that he should not tyrannise over us is to loose and break in sunder the fetters that he had prepared for us and enough to make us confess with David Thou hast brought my soul out of hell thou hast kept my life from them that go down into the pit The three headed Monster that fights against us is the strength of Sin and Death and Hell put together Sin must not reign Death must no more sever Soul and Body Hell must have no power to receive and torment us all these must be vanquished or else Satans Kingdom is not quite destroyed and Christ subdued them all but the greatest and most perfect Conquest that He made whereof we most triumph in this life is that He overcame Hell or loosened the sorrows of Hell For Sin doth remain in us here though the force be broken Death also prevails against our body though it shall be but for a time but here is the fulness of our Redemption and of Christs Victory that Hell is absolutely conquered and shall never lay hold of them that believe And I must go one step further with them that follow this interpretation wherein my judgment favours them for true Doctrine that Christ did locally go down into Hell when He loosed the sorrows of Hell for his Elects sake Christus inferos adiit ne nos adiremus says Tertullian Christ went into Hell that we might never come thither and Fulgentius is a great light to this Article of the Creed It was fit that the Son of God being without sin should descend as far as man had faln by sin and so He freed all the faithful of the world from the beginning to the end that they should never come thither I will fill the Scale with no more authorities than St. Austin's this is his Sentence it was convenient that Christ should descend into Hell to procure us freedom from Hell as it behoved him to die and to rise again the third day that we might not die for ever but rise from death Some that affect not this way of Christs local descending into Hell rejoyn thus that no man denies but Christ delivered us from the power of darkness and that He spoiled Principalities and Powers and made a shew of them openly but it is not certain by what means this was done by his Divinity or by his Humanity or both by the vertue of his Sufferings Death Burial Resurrection or by the real Descending of his Soul in that place nay one Lutheran Confession is not averse to think that He went thither both in Body and Soul in the very moment of his Resurrection I believe by the penetration of the gross body of the Earth they would bring in some succour to help forward their Consubstantiation The most equal way to try this is the express Letter of the Scripture the clearest exposition of the Apostles Creed and the greatest consonancy of reason The Testimonies of Scripture most firmly to be insisted on is Ephes iv 9. That he ascended what is it but that he first descended into the lowest parts of the earth I know this may well be expounded that Christ was humbled to be a man upon earth in the form of a Servant But if the learned and pious Fathers that were of old may be the Judges of the interpretation And who fitter the lowest parts of the earth are the nethermost Hell Beza hath cited a parallel place out of the Psalms to make these words of the Apostle agree unto the Incarnation of our Lord Psal cxxxix 15. My substance was hidden
from thee and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth But St. Paul doth not use to obscure plain Doctrin with strange Poetical Phrases and Estius hath requited Beza with another place out of the Psalms to confirm my Doctrin Psal lxiii 9. Those that seek my Soul to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the earth that is the enemies of the innocent should go into the place of the damned The other Testimony of Scripture for I will press no more is Psal xvi 10. and rehearsed by St. Peter in this Chapter Thou shalt not leave my Soul in hell c. What pains some men have taken to no fruitful end that I know to make these words bear any sense rather than that which is literal no man that marks their diligence must deny but the Soul in divers Authors is taken for the Body and Hell for the Grave and so they patch it up Thou wilt not leave my life in the Sepulcher but why should literal Scripture be so eluded St. Austins rule is that when the literal sense of the Text sounds somewhat that is sinful or impossible then discreet and learned Interpretations must mollifie the letter but it is not to be suffered where good divinity is conteined in the letter as there is in this the meaning is as no flesh in the Sepulcher was ever free from corruption but only Christs so no Soul in Hell was ever supported and assisted by God and not forsaken but only Christs So Fulgentius most divinely anima immunis à peccato non erat subdenda supplicio carnem sine peccato non debuit vitiare corruptio Christs Soul knowing no sin went not to Hell to pay any debt of punishment for an innocent could not be obnoxious to those flames and torments and his Body never executing any evil act could not be tainted with corruption and putrefaction Is it not therefore consonant to reason to stick to the letter of Scripture when it bears an Orthodox exposition of faith and whether we say that Christ being free among the dead to walk whither he would his Soul being separated in death first shewed it self to the Saints in Joy to their exceeding comfort then to the Unbelievers in Hell to their woe and confusion or whether we say He descended that such as believed may never be thrust into that infernal Prison or rather that He brought his triumph over death with him before the face of Hell and brought those unruly spirits under his yoke entred upon the strong mans house and spoiled his house as it is in the Parable Matth. xii All these ways are agreeable to Gods word and to be admitted without contention Thus far upon Scripture attended by reason Indeed Stapleton says that two Articles of the Creed are not to be found in Scripture this of Christs descent in to Hell the other of the Catholick Church I confess in his sense they are not to be found in Scripture but in ours they are But last of all attend what light the very Creed it self will give to the confirmation of this Doctrin The ground that a learned Father of our own Church lays I take to be most rational Thus take these words properly and not figuratively as it is fit in a short abstract of faith next let them have a sense different in matter from all other Articles or else they were a superfluous repetition then let every Article keep a true consequent order of time one after another or else it would make a strange confusion and all other Expositions will give place Some of the Romish and some of our own part have taught that when Christ was crucified he susteined the pains of Hell but observe against them how this Article should come in most preposterously after his death and burial which was in time before Others make this sense of it that he was dead and deteined in death others to be no more but that he was buried but according to these opinions there shall neither be property of phrase nor difference of matter in this Article from them that went before To be dead and buried are as plain speeches as be in all the Creed and should these be explained by an enigmatical Phrase to descend into Hell rather to obscure than to explain the former Observe how our Church of England hath differenced it from death and burial art 3. As Christ died for us and was buried so also it is believed mark that 's another point that He went down into Hell And the thirtieth Article of the Church of Ireland doth not satisfie me that this line is in one comma I know not whether by the negligence of the Printer He was buried and descended into Hell I cannot come to the third part of my Text and I have done as much as the time will permit upon the second only let me add let weak capacities be no ways discomforted though they cannot explicitly understand the meaning of this controverted Article of the Creed Christs descending into Hell they must believe that Christ vanquished the Devil for our sakes that 's necessary both for their comfort and salvation And all Articles of Faith are not equally necessary and fundamental Gregory Valenza and many others I think not imprudently hold that the main and necessary points for unlearned simple people to believe are the great works of God remembred in the principal Feasts of the year Christs Nativity his Passion Resurrection Ascension into Heaven and the coming of the Holy Ghost And though this Article of the Descent into Hell contein an excellent mystery of Faith yet it comes not near the excellent knowledg and use of the former Suarez the Jesuit writes confidently that if by an Article of Faith we understand a Truth which all faithful people are bound explicitly to believe so he did not think it necessary to reckon it among the Articles of Faith The Nicene Creed in our Common-prayer Book hath left it out Ruffinus says that after 400 years it came into the Latin Church and like enough for St. Austin expounds the Creed five times and Chrysologus of Ravenna ann 440. six times and never glance it For that Creed called the Apostles was not so drawn up by the Apostles for ought we can find in good antiquity but called so because it conteins the sum of all Apostolical Doctrin one part of it was laid too after another and this I believe was the last addition of all Therefore it is a main arm of faith that Christ loosed the sorrows of death and a Truth it is no doubt though not of such prime consequence that He descended into Hell to loose those sorrows for our liberty but the main Pillar of Faith is the first Comma of my Text that God raised up Jesus from death and it was impossible He should be holden of it AMEN THE SECOND SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION JOHN xi 43. And when he had thus spoken he cried with a
England One Month in the long Vacation retiring with his Pupil afterwards Lord Byron into Nottingham-shire for fresh air there in absence from all Books and having no other more serious studies he made Loyola which needs no other Commendation than to remember that it was twice acted before King James and what an ingenious Pen says in a Prologue You must not here expect to day Leander Labyrinth or Loyola After his return to the Colledge from this Diversion he began to set himself wholly to the study of Divinity being egregiously skilled in the preparatory learning of Logick Physick Metaphysicks and Ethicks with which he had most largely informed his mind and adorned his soul and then as Diers having dipt their Silks in colours of less value do afterwards give them the last Tincture of Crimson in grain So our young Scholar having given his mind a large dip of Secular Arts and Sciences became more fit for Divine Speculations therefore though but a very young man his first Sermons at St. Maries and at the Vicarage of Trumpington which he held with his Fellowship were so singular and like himself that as the learned Bishop Creighton told me the eyes of the whole Vniversity were cast upon him as a Star that would be as bright as any in the Constellation beside He received his holy Orders by the hands of John King Bishop of London in December Anno 1618. This good Bishop had a singular affection and kindness for him which he expressed upon all occasions once by accident his Lordship passed through St. Pauls Cathedral where old Mr. Hacket was walking as the custom then was his Gentleman who attended him whispered to his Lordship that the goodly old man who was walking there was young Mr. Hackets Father of Trinity Colledge in Cambridge The Bishop thereupon beckoned him to come to him and gave him joy of his hopeful Son at Trinity Colledge and bid him when he wrote commend him likewise to him and let him know in due time he would be a means to bring them two together again So the matchless Andrews that great Rewarder of all learning and worth would oftentimes send him Commendations and Counsel and Money to buy Books sometimes ten Pieces at a time But above all others he was taken notice of by that Renowned Prelate John Williams Dean of Westminster and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England Anno 1621. a Prelate of incomparable learning and knowledge not only in Divinity and the Tongues but in all Laws Civil Canon and Common who presently upon his receiving the Seal sent for Mr. Hacket of Trinity Colledge and admitted him to be his Chaplain whom of all his Chaplains he ever most loved and esteemed And on the other side our Bishop would to his last breath acknowledg the Bishop of Lincoln to be the most happy Instrument of Divine Providence that made him known to the world and to his death bore a most grateful memory to his great deserts and dignity notwithstanding all his eclipses and slanders cast upon him When Mr. Hacket was now a great Tutor and the very Darling of the Colledge generally beloved and so contented as like to have long there continued my Lord Keeper would have him to his Service saying withal As his Majesty King James had been blamed by many for making so young a Keeper so he expected to be Censured for chusing so young a Chaplain but his Lordship knew his abilities very well and would trust no body with the choice of his Servants but himself Two years he spent in the Keepers Service before his time was come to Commence Batchelor in Divinity but then begg'd leave to go down to Cambridge to keep the Publick Act Anno 1623. upon the two following questions Judicio Romanae Ecclesiae in Sanctis canonizandis non est standum Vota Monasticae perfectionis quae dicuntur sunt illicita The former question was given very seasonably for the year before Anno 1622. Pope Gregory XV. had Canonized Ignatius Loyola the Father of the Jesuits Franciscus Xavier the Indian Apostle Philip Nereus the General of the Jesuits and Madam Teresia a Spanish Virtuosa who had built twenty five Monasteries for men and seventeen for women He cast his Position into three parts 1. Because the holy Scripture saith The memory of the Just shall be blessed that all Canonization of Saints is not to be accounted superstitious but by Canonization he meant only a publick testimony of the Christian Church of any eximious Members sanctity and glory after death 2. That this testimony ought to be given by General or Provincial Councils at least of their own Members 3. By no means to be left to the breast of the Roman Pontiff and Colledge of Cardinals 1. Because they especially attended to false qualifications which they made undoubted signs of Saintship which were not such 2. Consequently had already Canonized unworthy persons not beatified in Heaven but rather damned in Hell 3. For perverse and impious ends which they ever thought to establish by their Canonization In all these respects the Pope of Rome who is their Virtual Church was apparently a most partial and unmeet Judg very apt to be imposed upon himself and likewise to impose upon others After his return to the Keepers service he preferr'd him to the Court to be Chaplain to King James before whom he preached several times to the great good liking of that most learned King and once upon the Gowries Conspiracy for which a Thanksgiving was continued all that Kings Reign upon August 5. and though some people have denied the Treason yet our good Bishop was assured that the most Religious Bishop Andrews once fell down upon his knees before King James and besought his Majesty to spare his customary pains upon that day that he might not mock God unless the thing were true the King replied Those people were much too blame who would never believe a Treason unless their Prince were actually murdered but did assure him in the Faith of a Christian and upon the Word of a King their Treasonable attempt against him was too true Anno 24. he was prefer'd by the Lord Keeper to be Parson of St. Andrews Holbourn About 12 at night the Keeper sent to speak with him when he came his Lordship told him he was not then watching for his own study but for his The Living of St. Andrews Holbourn was fallen and in the Kings disposal by reason of the minority of Thomas Earl of Southampton to which upon the mediation of the Bishop he was presented the next morning by King James The same year his Lordship procured for him the Parsonage of Cheam in Surrey fallen likewise into the Kings gift by the promotion of Dr. Senhouse to the Bishoprick of Carlisle the Keeper telling him that he intended him Holbourn for wealth and Cheam for health these two Livings being within a small distance of ten miles he held till the Troubles came and though he
unto the worlds end The Schoolmen collect a threefold opening of the heaven in holy Scripture and every way through the power and act of Christ Says Ales In baptismo aperta est coeli janua per figuram in passione per meritum in ascensione per effectum 1. The gates of heaven were opened at this Baptism as in a Type or Figure that they should be opened and God will certainly make good whatsoever he did but shadow in a Figure 2. They were opened at the shedding of his bloud upon the Cross as by those means which did meritoriously procure the opening Therefore we sing in the Te Deum When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers 3. They were opened effectually when his own glorious body entred in once into the most Holy of Holies when the heads of the everlasting doors were lifted up at the day of his Ascension And where the head doth sit at the right hand of God the Members of the body having their sins washed clean away shall reign also The Earth never opened in holy Scripture but upon some Curse for the destruction of man The Heavens never opened but that some mighty Blessing might distil down upon us the probatum whereof is in the second general part of my Text for the first Miracle which we have handled did but make way unto the second And after the heavens were opened he saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove and lighting upon him That John Baptist had this Miracle so clearly in his eye that he saw the Spirit of God I find it not so material to the business of the Text as to insist much upon it For although some observe upon it that the first Witness that preach'd of the Son of God is conceited to be the first Witness that saw the Holy Ghost yet the Miracle hapned not so much for Johns sake as to lead the whole multitude into a right apprehension that Jesus was that holy One which came into the world for the redemption of Israel John was born of a barren woman his Garments very strange and uncouth no better than the skins of Camels clapt about him as they were flay'd from the beast his austerity of life stupendious his Preaching powerful high in estimation so that all the Regions round about came to him to be baptized this drew them to conceit that none could come into the world to be compared with John But Columba columbam docuit the Dove taught the Dove the Spirit taught the Church who was the Christ the Saviour of mankind by the descending of the Dove That which I will speak to this Point briefly shall be brancht out into a threefold inquiry 1. Whether this were a living bird or no more than the figurative Apparition of a Dove 2. How aptly the Spirit came in one figure upon Christ in another of fire and cloven tongues at the day of Pentecost upon the Apostles 3. That the figure of a Dove doth sweetly admonish us of the properties of the Holy Ghost What manner of Dove this was is not a question of such doubtful resolution as the former how the heavens were opened for treading in the path of the Scripture as I adjudge it we may find the truth For three Evangelists say that the Spirit did sit upon him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it were a Dove then add St. Luke unto it that the Dove came in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a bodily shape and these put together me seems do strongly prove two things 1. That it was not viva columba a Pigeon out of the Dove-Coats with a living soul for to notifie that there was but the outward fashion and resemblance of such a bird in three Gospels we read it was but quasi columba like a Dove And yet that you may not take it to be mere Phenomenon a shadow to perswade the eye having no substance in truth St. Luke hath not omitted that it was a bodily shape Verae effigies columbae a body created for this service having the true lineaments of a Dove To make both these opinions good by several illustrations And first what need it to be of the true Species of Doves Was not miraculous Omnipotency as much seen to frame such a shape out of the Elements at an instant and to put motion in it to descend upon the head of Christ as if it had been a very foul It was a work which could not be effected but by the infinite and incomprehensible Trinity For the Dove was a representation of the Holy Ghost the voice which came from heaven did speak the Father only the humane nature was united only to the Person of the Son but the Dove the voice the humane nature were the works of the whole Trinity which coequally works all effects in the world You may fully conceive what natural composition this Dove had by those bodily shapes wherein the Angels or God appeared of old to the Patriarchs they were not actuated by a soul but moved about by God or his Angels for the present turn as a Ship is by the Pilot. When their Errand was dispatcht the body vanisht away into air So the use of this Miracle being accomplished at Jordan the Dove was no more seen but instantly resolved into Elements Besides that which came down upon the Disciples at Whitsontide was a cloven tongue like as of fire did ever any man say it was fire indeed So this Apparition upon the head of Christ was like a Dove But for what purpose or necessity should it be a Dove indeed For Christ was man indeed because he took upon him the nature of man to redeem it therefore the reason is forcible that the Holy Ghost should not come down in a Dove indeed because he took not upon him the nature of a Dove to redeem it Secondly I gathered from St. Luke though it had not the life of a Dove yet it had lineaments and compacture of true substance like a Dove Christ came among us bodily in the flesh wherefore says St. Austin to shew that the assumption of a corporeal nature did not make an inequality of persons in the Godhead a voice was heard from heaven in the Person of the Father as if it had proceeded from the instruments of the body and a bodily Dove did descend from heaven in the Person as it were of the Holy Ghost Likewise the coming down is the motion of a body The Spirit is every where and cannot descend to any place which was not filled with his presence from the beginning of the world but in hôc signo in this bodily shape and effigie he came down And mark Beloved the Devil is Spiritus cadens I saw Satan fall like lightning down he tumbles to the nethermost Pit and all that follow him but the Holy Ghost descends like an humble Spirit according as our Saviour bids us place our selves at
ingrafted into Christ by Baptism before they can perceive their insition and do not say this reason holds not in us we are of age to understand our own belief It is not our understanding that makes God gracious unto us but his own free mercy And in this respect many like new-born babes receive the kingdom of heaven I mean that divers go out of this World into Abrahams bosom who never overcome distrusts and tentations at least till they are even going out of the World But this charitable and most true assertion were invalid if particular application of Christs mercies by firm assurance did justifie a sinner I resolve it therefore unto you that general assent goes first in order that Christ perfect man and perfect God is the Saviour of all those that believe then we draw a particular assent that he is my God and my Saviour then our boldness and assurance that by him we shall pass from death and reign with him in glory is the effect of that particular assent and so the Scripture speaketh Eph. iii. 12. In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him Here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which causeth us to speak with alacrity to God here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which may assure it self any thing and these are effects produced by faith in him that is by justifying faith Not to cloy you with more than one other quotation 1 Tim. iii. 13. They purchase themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus The object of faith is verum the object of certitude and assurance is bonum Faith is a perswasion or assurance of the mind though working upon the heart Affiance is an affection of the heart though proceeding from the assurance of the mind Now hear the fourth Conclusion speak This affiance or special assurance is not alike in all that are justified nor at all times alike in any man This Conclusion will serve to quiet the troubles of the Conscience two ways First When the same man at sundry times finds himself so divers from himself now full of spiritual Consolation a few days after that his comfort is but luke-warm at another season almost stark cold let no man think his case remediless because of these alterations in his Spirit Many times doubts will arise and continue long with a terrible perplexity Nevertheless though I am sometime afraid yet put I my trust in thee says Dauid Psal lvi 11. When these flat contrary perswasions come into your mind yet God will never leave you so destitute of his grace but that you shall have some strength left to pray to be delivered out of those tentations that the bones which he hath broken may rejoyce and a happy wading out of those doubts may prove to be the greater confirmation The spirit of a good man is sometimes well enlightned with assurance sometime a little obscured sometime very dark after there shall be a long and a lasting serenity in his Conscience As a woman that hath newly conceived begins to suspect her conception by and by some other signs cast into her mind that she is deluded Afterwards she feels the fruit of her womb quicken and then her opinion is constantly confirmed Faith after the manner of alterative qualities hath its growth its declension its reparation It grows to an infancy then to youthfulness then to a stronger age and the more it lays hold of the Promise for its own blessing the more it cleaves fast to the foundation Besides this should procure them peace of mind who cannot alledge that great confidence for their own part and strength of assurance that others seem to challenge to themselves yea and truly have Every tree doth not shoot out his root so far as another and yet may be firm in the ground and live as well as that whose root is largest So every faith stretcheth not forth the arms of particular assurance to embrace Christ alike and yet it may be a true faith that lives by charity repentance and good works some faith abounds with one sort of fruits some with another God is delighted with all that are good and he will reward them In all kind of Divine Conclusions some are more doubtful spirited than others In our very meats one believeth that he may eat all things another eateth herbs Rom. xiv One man esteemeth one day above another another esteemeth all days alike Let not him that is strong in faith despise him that is weak So one hath examined himself is perswaded especially by his good endeavours to please the Lord and by the redemption of Christs bloud which he felt effectual in him in the Sacraments rests every way assured that Christ will glorifie him at his second appearance Another dares not take such solid comfort for he is more oppressed with tentations more afflictions come upon him and chiefly perhaps ignorance darkens his understanding give this man leave to say and he shall be heard Lord I believe help thou my unbelief Because I said that ignorance especially darkens the understanding of them that are so weak in faith you shall know wherein Many are pluckt back from particular affiance in Christ because they know not the method how to proceed For they are taught that nothing is to be believed with the certainty of faith unless it be contained in the Creed or in holy Scripture but they cannot find this or that mans Salvation written there therefore they are posed how to apprehend it with the certainty of faith I make my answer First how easie it is to reduce it to one of the Articles of the Creed or more than one but especially to this that we believe the forgiveness of sins But to the main Objection all the Doctrine of Faith which we believe is written or deduced out of holy Scripture but the act wherewith we believe is in our selves and not to be lookt for in Paper and Ink No but that is wrot in our own hearts through the testimony of the Spirit by good examination Now the Major Proposition is Whosoever believeth stedfastly shall be saved in Scripture The Minor Proposition but I believe stedfastly is wrote by the Spirit in our own heart therefore the Conclusion is divine and good And because it dependeth upon an Argument whereof the principal part which draws on all the rest is totally and immediately revealed in Scripture therefore the assurance of a mans particular Justification is lawfully reduced to the assurance and certainty of Faith Another fair pretence causeth divers men rather to leave place in themselves for some distrust than to aim at strong assurance because it relisheth much more of humility to be cast down at the recognition of our manifold sins Indeed it is good to ponder our own unworthiness and imbecillity so far as to make us humble and to acknowledge no good can come to us from any thing that is in our selves but it
is a false humility which makes us doubt of the faithfulness of Gods Promises So to be humbled is a fearful sin and perhaps a greater sin than any for which a man is humbled If we stay more upon our selves than upon God we shall distrust if more upon God than upon our selves we shall believe If you say you cannot believe because of your own unaptness and unworthiness I instance with St. Paul So did not Abraham Rom. iv 19. Being not weak in faith he considered not his own body now dead when he was about an hundreed years old nor the deadness of Sarahs womb Therefore keep your humility you speak of and lose it not yet rule it by this oppose not any difficulty in your self as if it could make frustrate the power and goodness of God The fifth Conclusion is a true and I suppose a very comfortable farewel to this Point no mortified humble Christian must despair or afflict his heart though he cannot attain to a strong confidence or assurance in Christs mercies he that can proceed but to a conjectural hope or some beginnings of gracious comfort shall receive the reward for Christ will not break a bruised reed or quench the smoaking flax Every may is bound to assent to the Promise of the Gospel upon pain of damnation for that is it which is called justifying Faith but it is no where threatned be thou certified of thy Salvation in particular or thou shalt perish everlastingly Whosoever doth truly believe shall not perish but have everlasting life Joh. iii. 6. It is not said Whosoever hath not examined himself in the reflexed act and knows not that he believes shall endure the wrath of God Let every man pray for it labour for it not shut his ears against good comfort let a weak Christian at the weakest estate believe his sins may be remitted let him desire remission and he shall receive forgiveness though he have a conjectural hope only and no infallible assurance It is not necessary in a true justifying Faith that all dubitation should be quite excluded it is well if at last it be overcome especially in the last enlightning before death Let such as have the drawings-back of infirmity chear up their spirit that many are undoubtedly received into glory who can say no more but I suppose the fruits of my faith though they were imperfect are without hypocrisie I suppose I believe therefore I suppose I shall be saved When we talk of Certitude and Assurance of Salvation in this life I am afraid the Ignorant extend the word so far as if they must be as secure and perswaded as that we see one another with our eyes Whereas indeed the word may well import no more than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spei as a learned Prelate of this Church did stile it a full comprehension by hope And mark how in two several Points much must be abated from that which we call a plain sensible evidence For first The Key which opens to all is to believe the Evangelical Promise made in Christ to all that believe And this we are certain of But how As we speak by the certainty of adherence not by the certainty of evidence Now that doth argue an imperfection in our faith Secondly A good Christian applies the general Promise to himself by a reflexed act and examining how he hath served the Lord with zeal and sincerity Now the circumstances of particular actions have much uncertainty in them howsoever this application being not pure Scripture is no way so certain and indubitable as the Articles of the Creed Therefore such sauciness is to be controuled if any say I know I shall be saved as certainly as I know Christ died for the sins of the World That Article of faith is immediately and totally revealed in Scripture this other Collection riseth out of the observation of a mans own qualities and actions Catharinus says That the Tridentine Council doth not gainsay but a man may know by faith that he is in the state of grace but it denieth only that this can be known by the certainty of faith And he that depends upon Christ for his mercies towards him by a lively comfortable hope may undoubtedly be said to depend upon his mercies by faith for all good graces grow from faith and Faith is called the substance of hope that is of things hoped for Heb. xi 1. Now I will take up and conclude Assurance or Affiance that we are born of the Spirit and are the Sons of God is that which we must labour which we must pray for which we must hope which we must believe Distrust and despair is the Devils engine to subvert this true Consolation and Rock of our Salvation therefore he did insinuate this mistruct or scruple to our Saviour If thou be the Son of God But From all evil and mischief from sin from the crafts and assaults of the Devil good Lord deliver us AMEN THE EIGHTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 3. If thou be the Son of God command that these stones be made bread A Roman Orator in the days of Tiberius the Emperour Afer by name had so often taken in hand the worst part of every Plea to defend it that at last his credit was prejudicated and it was enough to say Afer pleads on this side therefore the justice of the cause is on the other side So all that Satan can propound or alledge I damn it every syllable all that he exhorts unto is impiety all that he counsels is treachery if he say the Son of God should command that stones be made bread I say the contradictory is true and he should not And this I have proved before by discovering that this motion contained two great sins in it Gluttonny and Infidelity Gluttony obliquely Infidelity manifestly And already I have replied against this distrustful voice If thou be the Son of God and have proved that we must all labour for a fiducial assurance that God is our Father and we are his Children by adoption and grace that we must apply Christ unto our selves without suspicions and hesitations without the Devils I F If thou be the Son of God But as the later the night grows the darker it is so the further I go on to reveal the sinful mystery of this saying the blacker is the tentation and the more deformed It is either known unto you already or will appear manifestly unto you when this hour comes about that there are two opinions of which carnal men do especially surfeit Epidemical diseases which slay as many souls as any two vices you can name you may smell them in my Text out of the strong breath of the Devil First that every Son of God is always provided of bread and hath sufficiency if not satiety of all worldly necessaries and therefore if any man be in distress and want let him take it to heart that God hath cast him off he is none of
such the Lord doth ever provide for the building up of his Church who are able to convince the gain-sayers and the weaker brethren must be satisfied by them whose lips the most wise hath appointed to preserve knowledge Secondly Beware to trample upon Pearls as Swines do beware to touch the Scripture with defiled hands He that dispenseth this portion of meat to his fellow-servants should not only be a wise Steward but ought to have a clean heart and a sincere conscience I dare say it prospers much the better with a good man Let Paul deliver any thing out of prophane Authors and he makes it profitable Let Satan deliver any thing out of the Prophets or the Gospel and he makes it abominable Origen compared it so before me Paulus assumpsit verba de his quae foris sunt ut sanctificet ea Paul did sanctifie Poetry and Philosophy with his gifts the Devil did pollute Divinity with his distorsions What more pithy than this of Solomon Prov. xxvi 7. The legs of the lame are not equal so is a Parable in the mouth of fools For as the legs of the lame will not reach one another so the Scripture never fits his purpose that doth not use it to the glory of God When Plato said that certain Daemones I know not what aerial Spirits offered the Prayers of mortal men to the Gods Says St. Austin what Prayers do they offer Incantations Or holy Petitions Si magicas nolunt tales Dii si licitas nolunt per tales If they be Charms God will reject that they bring if they be good Prayers he would not have them to bring them So I may say Why do the Devil and his Angels or why do the Sons of Belial usurp those words which the Prophets and Apostles have written Unto the ungodly said God why dost thou take my Covenant into thy mouth If it be true and entire Scripture God will not hear it from them if it be ill applied Scripture God will not hear it at all Aquinas puts forth a question Whether a man may expound Scripture who hath committed any mortal sin whereof he hath not repented He answers it if it be a sin secretly committed he may do it for God will make Reprobates Instruments of his glory but if the sin be publickly known it is better for such a one to hold his peace because of the scandal I see no reason but rather to say whether the sin be secret or publick such a one should not dare to take Gods Laws into his mouth until he have made attonement for his iniquities by newness of life and repentance Obmutescit facundia si aegra sit conscientia The tongue will lose its cunning to perswade where the conscience is defiled I doubt not therefore but Satans woe and torments shall be encreased for mixing Scripture with his most presumptuous tentations They are not worthy here to be answered that baul at the Reformed Churches because they alledge Scripture for their Reformation but none of their Doctors wrought Miraracles to commend their Doctrine Nec Diabolus à Scripturis abstinuit says one of them no Sir Nec à miraculis The Devil says he did fly to the Scriptures but once Sir in these three Tentations to the Scriptures but twice here and often after and before to miracles It is for a faith newly planted to advance it upon miracles not for the most ancient faith emerging out of darkness where it was much obscured In that case our Doctors quote the Scriptures not like the Devil as these Rabshekahs say but like Christ in the verse following when he confuted the Devil And so much for the third general Point upon what authority he moves Christ to tumble headlong Scriptum est It is written In the last part of all Satan would be our Saviours remembrancer what assistance he may promise unto himself both Supreme and Instrumental The Supreme is God the Instrumental are the Angels Ille mandabit He shall give charge It was some modesty in the Devil that he would not name God with his blasphemous throat but understands him by the Pronoun of excellency and none other can be meant because he calls them his Angels that is his Domestiques and his Family There is nothing strange in these words how the very Devil knew that God is tender to preserve his Children Every living thing nay every inanimate thing hath some instinct that he supports all things with the word of his power When the Sea wrought tempestuously Jonas i. Every Mariner called upon his God An Atheist that in his jollity will know no God put him suddenly in fear of death then he will find a God to call upon O testimonium animae naturaliter Christianae When malicious wit is surprized unawares that it cannot corrupt Nature Nature being left to it self will fly to the Almighty for defence Quench not this spark of Nature I beseech you but call upon the Lord in time of trouble and he will hear you Take the Devil at his word that our heavenly Father will give his Angels charge concerning you Do not distrust that for shame which Lucifer durst not deny But first take this Weapon by the handle and turn the point against the Devil St. Hierom shews you how If God will keep me in all my ways as you confess certainly he will preserve me from you He will not give you over to him above all enemies in the world that he should oppress you He was not so busie about Peter but God was more vigilant Peter Satan hath desired to winnow thee but I have prayed that thy faith should not fail Secondly This tender charge unto which we are committed bids us by all means regard our safety and avoid our enemies Non tam magna pro nobis in coelo sollicitudo gereretur si non magna nobis necessitas incumberet All the powers of heaven would not be so sollicitous for us but that we are thrust upon great necessity God hath placed us in the midst of so many and so great dangers that we may keep our selves within the Walls of a good Conscience and within the Fortress of Prayer and supplication He that understands what hard adventures he must undergo will provide accordingly and he that is sollicitous to be saved did never want Salvation Thirdly Let not an innocent man be afraid of those enemies whom the Devil in all likelihood doth raise up against him be not out of hope because your foes are visible and your help is invisible If you were stedfast in faith an intellectual comfort is far greater than a sensible yet all things are knit together in such a link of Charity that if men be not Recreants and forget that heavenly order which puts the weaker under the protection of the stronger all people may feel and handle the succour which is appointed for them Not to draw your attention so high yet as the custody of Angels observe in
drawn by the copy of the Devils Charters impoverishing the right owner to give a stranger not robbing Peter as we say to pay Paul but robbing knowledge to pay ignorance robbing the Pulpit to feed lazie Lubbers in a word it was to pluck the fleece from the Sheeps back to keep the Wolf warm Antonius de Rosellis a Canonist of Naples defends this Position that the Pope as he is Christs Vicar on earth hath a right to all things in this world and may take from one whatsoever he will and give it to another without fraud or injurie This Book is licensed in Italy and never found fault with by the Inquisition I shall meet with this business more aptly when I come to open the next point where Satan boasts that he would give the Son of God all the Kingdoms of the World yet in the mean time is it not worth an objection that this power and privilege to give all things cannot belong to the Devil since another hath claimed it in print and Antonius de Rosellis proves it for his Client out of this Text Henceforth will I make you Fishers of men The scurvy luck of it is that those words were not spoken to Peter only for then it seems to be a Fisher of men had receiv'd this gloss to sweep all into his Net that the whole Generation of mankind doth enjoy upon the face of the earth But this is apparent here are two that lay claim they can give all these things to any man who shall carry it but perhaps there is no jealousie between them and they will agree among themselves Some man would imagin so from this Text the Dragon hath given to the Beast with seven heads all his power his seat and authority Revel xiii 2. And so much for that observation Somewhat else must be in it that Satan unaskt and unsought to is so ready to part with all that he can give God is very liberal and opens his hand and fills all things living with plenteousness but sayes the Apostle dives est in omnes qui invocant eum he is rich unto all that call upon him We must ask and seek and pray unto him good reason for it and then he will give us a blessing And is this greater dealer of riches in my Text the Devil more forward in liberality than God for he past his word voluntarily unpetitioned all these things will I give thee There is some guile in this you may be sure it cannot be otherwise Beloved the Lord God defers not to be gracious he stakes down and puts us in possession of his benefits and no good thing doth he withhold from them that lead a godly life But the Devil makes his adherents stay and look for reversions when they fall he dodges and deludes men with vain hopes of the time to come he will give all things let such as Ephraim take his word that fill their belly with the East wind for he doth give nothing He called Christ the Son of God in the two former Tentations do you think if he had riches or honors to dispose the Sons of God should be the better for his liberality ne're a whit A poor Philosopher that could get nothing among hard-hearted rich men said they were like trees hanging over the side of a rock which had fruit in great abundance but Vultures and unclean birds eat it up no man could come at it to gather it So whosoever fares the better for Nabols wealth David shall be sure to go without if he ask him any thing but it may be they shall have a fair promise if they can keep life with that like this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this future tense in my Text he is not furnisht for the present but dabo I will give thee Why are his Charriot wheels so long a-coming sayes the Mother of Sisera when she lookt for her Son that was slain and dead So with much vexation to be deluded shall the wicked say where is my hire which the Tempter promised when shall I receive my wages Oh it will come anon says this delayer stay for it and you shall speed at last Doth God deal so deceitfully with those that trust in him no says David I have been young and now am old yet I never saw the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging their bread For although the plentiful reward of the faithful is not on earth but in heaven yet they have a testimony of his liberality in this life that he doth deposit somewhat in earnest and lets us not build onely upon promises carnalis populus si parva non acciperet magna non crederet We are flesh and frailty and must have a little in hand that we may the better believe we shall receive an hundred fold hereafter Mark now the unequal wayes of the wicked who grumble at God as the Apostle sayes for delaying his second coming and that the glorification of the resurrection is not revealed whereas all things else which the Prophets have foretold in Scripture are exactly fulfilled and nothing but Christs second appearance remains to be revealed and yet these worldlings will believe the Devil without repining and yet among all his promises from nequaquam moriemini downward he hath performed nothing The first time that ever he pawn'd his word to mankind in three particulars he broke it every title 1. Ye shall not dye yet we are all become tenants to the grave and no man can escape death 2. Ye shall be as Gods far otherwise we are become as beasts 3. Ye shall know good and evil but alas we are blind and ignorant that refuse the good and take the evil And are not these promises as faithless all things will I give thee yes undoubtedly he would take away all that we have and all that we hope for and gives that satisfaction which Cesar Borgia did when he drew many of the noble family of the Vrsin together upon pretense of good will and then slew them sayes this arch-Hypocrite it was their fault that believed me St. Chrysostom had no faith in the Devils asseveration but speaks thus upon my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he makes shew that he will give much to man his intent is to rob him of all Will you reap this fruit from the observation before I leave it be faithful of your word and huddle not out promises you care not what which you never purpose to perform that 's the Devil's dealing If you separate your word from your meaning you separate your honesty from your conscience It is the common sin that follows buying and selling God be merciful to you your â—ords fall from you like leaves in Autumn the owner cares not which way the wind blows them The first thing that you break is your word and many times the whole estate breaks after it David asks who shall dwell in the holy tabernacle of the most High and he answers three times in
snow did not equal him His countenance was altered and his raiment was white and glistering Then for strange persons such as long since were departed and gone out of the world because the world was not worthy of them they return in visible shapes to play a new part upon the stage of the earth Behold there talked with him two men which were Moses and Elias I enter upon the handling of these Points without more circumlocution I have acquainted you before with two things of main consequence in this Miracle of the Transfiguration first the final cause why Christ was transfigured Secondly the efficiency from whence this exceeding brightness was derived Now I come to set it forth unto you first in his face then in his raiment Distill out the very best that all the Heathen have wrote and it is not able to teach us so much as is contained in this portion of Scripture touching the immortality of the soul and the beatitude of the life to come Here are the two last Articles of the Creed exemplified and set out in their real truth the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting The immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the flesh are confirmed in the persons of Moses and Elias who are brought forth to appear before mortal men face to face And our Saviour makes himself a spectacle of the happiness of the world to come for the fashion of his countenance was altered or thus in another Evangelists description his face did shine as the Sun I may say unto him as Daniel did to Nebuchadonosor upon the interpretation of his dream Tu es caput aureum Thou O King art the head of Gold Dan. ii 38. But we are sure if that head be gold the inferiour members under him shall not be iron and clay Of his glory we shall all receive and with the light of his face all the body shall be beautified This is a Beacon shining upon the top of an hill which shines from the East unto the West from one end of the earth unto the other But it is a pacificous Beacon which portends peace and not war where you read that the Lord looks like burning fire there he threatens us to beware of his indignation so John makes a character of Christ Rev. i. 14. His eyes were as a flame of fire in a great commotion of passion the eye will look like a forge of wrath as Tully displaies Verres ardebant oculi toto ex ore crudelitas emicabat His eyes did burn with anger cruelty did every where sparkle out of his face The Philosopher says that the Phancy is seated in the middle Region of the brain above the eyes which upon great and sudden wrath calls up the spirits hastily unto it self and with that swift motion they are heated and seem to flame in the eyes Flammea torquens lamina says the Poet of his Turnus Therefore this phrase of speech is borrowed from the manner of men that the eyes of Christ were as a flame of fire And it bids us kiss the Sun lest he be angry if his wrath be kindled yea but a little blessed are all they that put their trust in him But at this apparition which I entreat of he did recreate his servants with his looks Here is no mention of fâ—â—e in his eyes but of light in his face and that is always taken in good part for an auspicious Omen They looked upon him and were lightned and their faces were not ashamed Psal xxxiv 5. They that stand before him and have a reflection from the light of his countenance shall not knit their brow and look down for fear unto the earth as Cain did Yet more than so this Sunshine Majesty wherewith he was beautified doth not only dissipate shame but serve us with the hope of Salvation Make thy face to shine upon thy servant O save me for thy mercies sake Psal xxxi 16. It is a good thing to be safe under his mercy the chearful aspect of his face doth promise that at the least And doth not this glistering transmutation assure us likewise that his grace shall shine in our hearts to produce the fruits of life The life is the light of men says St. John and by inversion it is true to say that this light is the life of the soul Therefore this was not the irradiation of the Sun or any other star which though it be a comely creature yet it is but an inanimate thing but to shew it was Lux viva and Lux ad vitam living light and light that begetteth eternal life therefore it sparkled from the living flesh of the eternal Sun of God And it may be observed how usefully St. Matthew says his face did shine like the Sun not as if he did then illuminate half the world at once with his face for then the rest of the Disciples who went not up to the Mountain must have known somewhat of this alteration it being most probable that the Transfiguration fell out in the night but because the Sun doth enough on his part to shine unto all men and if any want the benefit it is not for defect of the light which is spread sufficiently abroad So Christ by himself and his Priests hath annunciated the truth openly that it is our own fault and not his if it be not tendered to all people and known throughout the world 2. The Sun before he ariseth sends out beams and gives some light to the Horizon but makes the day more clear when he is risen upon the earth So Christ did give the Patriarchs a glimpse of faith before he was incarnate and lived upon the earth but he did embrighten the Church much more with faith when the world had heard and seen with their eyes and looked upon and their hands had handled the word of life And do you mark who were present witnesses at the fulgor of this transfiguration Both Moses and Elias who had lived on earth in the Age before and three Apostles who did live in that present Age because he was that light which gave the lustre of faith both to the former and to the latter Ages of the world take heed your heart be not thick clay and gross earth which will not admit and give transparency to this spiritual light He that believeth not abideth in darkness It is perilous to be in darkness and most horrible to abide in it and without faith you shall abide in the darkness of Hell for ever Though this which I have said already be much yet this prospective of admirable light leads us further for in this Transformation the Master did shew what Liveries of glory the Servants should wear when they should dwell with him in his Kingdom for ever As Zalumna said to Gideon of Gideons brethren so doth this enlightened countenance of Christ say unto his Saints As thou art so shall they be each one according to the form of the Children
much therefore in Origen to amplifie an Error so far There may be Perversus error in excusando perversa delectatio in accusando A dangerous partiality in excusing a fault and a dangerous delight in accusing Pascasius Ratbertus doth very well to impute all to his amazement yet he also conceives him more amazed than I can imagine namely that waking out of sleep Putabat quod resurrectionis speciem solutus carne per extasin jam videret He thought he was out of the body and that in an Extatical phancy he beheld the Resurrection I apprehend him not so much deluded Bellarmine is so dim sighted when he list that he can find nothing in all St. Peters words to be called a sin no not when he would have enjoyed Heaven upon Earth and said Master it is good for us to be here Licet in tali excessu mentis errate potuerit Petrus certe peccare nullo modo potuit Though Peter might err in this extasie yet he could not sin for he knew not what he said Indeed Paul had been a blasphemer and a persecuter Yet he obtained mercy because he did it ignorantly in unbelief 1 Tim. i. 14. Though he did those things through ignorance yet those things were sins for why did he obtain mercy but because he had been a sinner So it betokens a sin that Peter said he knew not what Our Saviour told James and John they askt they knew not what Mar. x. 38. Was there not a trespass for all their ignorance They that crucified our Saviour knew not what they did Luke xxiii 34. Was it not a bloudy sin for all their Ignorance St. Paul says of false Teachers they understood not what they said nor whereof they affirmed 1 Tim. i. 7. God will pardon slips of ignorance that they shall not be judged with Hell fire but we must not excuse them so far that they shall not be judged for sins Therefore of all Opinions their moderation sounds to my ear most judicious that make this error of Peters a small sin because it proceeded from vehement love but yet a sin because it proceeded from precipitated ignorance Excellently Optatus against Parmenian touching some other slips of this Apostle Ipsius Sancti Petri beatitudo veniam tribuat si illud commemorare videar quod factum constat legitur Let not blessed Peter think amiss if I shew him offending where the fact is manifest and recorded in holy Scripture The Gloss took the right estimation of Peters words upon this hint that Christ gave him no answer again it was frivolous and inordinate he spake and Christ gave him no reply to approve it yet it was no impious speech therefore he gave him no sharp rebuke to condemn it St. Ambrose descants upon it many ways and gives this close Proximum indulgentiae est quod de excessu venit pli amoris That which comes from the excess of love is pardonable and will obtain indulgence As Poets and Orators make men speak strangely strong lines as some odd brain'd men call them so fear admiration joy rapture drew these words not well weighed from the Apostle And though we shall give account of every idle word yet the word of God hath taught us that not only where sins are of small growth but even where sin abounds grace will abound much more through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN THE SIXTH SERMON UPON The Transfiguration LUKE ix 34. While he thus spake there came a Cloud and overshadowed them and they feared as they entred into the Cloud UNruly passions can yield no cause why they are stirred up but our own natural impotency they surprize us of a sudden before we can meditate why we did admit them and therefore are obnoxious to many questions why they should be so but it is not easie to afford a reasonable answer Says David Psal xxvii 1. The Lord is my light and my salvation whom then shall I fear The Lord is the strength or protector of my life of whom then shall I be afraid He could pose himself to ask why he should be fearful yet he could not be rid of fear It is apparent in his Psalm that there were two arms of comfort to embrace him Light and Protection and the Gloss doth branch them thus illuminatio spectat ad animi consilia salus ad removenda corporis pericula that Light is to direct the counsels of the mind that Protection is to remove away all hurt and offence from the body Had not Peter all this before him that David speaks of and after the most ample manner that ever was seen upon earth and yet he was so weak in heart that his fear was exceeding strong Peter might truly say the Lord was his light for here was a Cloud to illuminate him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a bright Cloud says St. Matthew it was Gods Cloud above any other and God was in the Cloud as it is manifest in the next verse then he might truly say the Lord was the protection of his life for the Cloud overshadowed him and so he was safe as a Bird under the feathers of the Almighty but if you ask him with the Psalmist Of whom then shall I be afraid he is not able to reply In the compass of this accident of the Transfiguration I find him thrice exceeding fearful every time upon a new object and occasion but you must find out this by looking narrowly into the History as all the three Evangelists have related it Observe St. Mark and he implies that Moses and Elias appeared who preacht of our Saviours Sufferings as I have told you before Peter and the other two Disciples heard it and trembled at it so much that he spake distractedly says St. Mark He wist not what to say for they were sore afraid Then St. Luke as I have read it before you in my Text notes that they were perplext at another bout when the Cloud appeared and that Christ and Moses and Elias entred into the Cloud St. Matthew reveals another thing that troubled them how a voice from Heaven was heard This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear him When the Disciples heard it they fell on their face and were sore afraid I have met with no Expositor who hath observ'd these three distinct occasions and eruptions of their fear yet they are all apparent to him that will examine it And I mark it how every new passage of admiration in this Miracle took them with a quivering till at the third time Christ encouraged them therein St. Matthew hath helpt us with a passage which the others have omitted Matth. xvii 7. Jesus came and touched them and said arise be not afraid Therefore piecing that addition in St. Matthew to this Text in St. Luke which I must do to handle all occurrences in this Transfiguration faithfully the parts will arise to these two the Fear of the Disciples and their Succour In the first part I will
the dead and the resurrection of the soul from sin in this interview between himself and Mary Magdalen All men shall be restored to life good and bad for the Son of God redeemed the whole nature of man this day from the corruption of the Grave and the Devil did utterly loose jus mortis the dominion of death because our Saviour being an Innocent was put to death over whom he had no dominion But the glory of Christs victory was to conquer two at once Hell and Death So the Prophet Hosea cries out in form of triumph O Death where is thy sting O Hell where is thy victory and from his own voice Revel i. 18. I am he that liveth and was dead behold I am alive for evermore and have the keys of Hell and of Death So in his own person he shewed that he had conquered Death in the person of Mary Magdalen that he had conquered Hell Beloved this great day is Christs Festival and it is the Holiday of every penitent sinner because first he appeared to such an one to Mary Magdalen For our sakes both the Keys are turn'd and for our sakes both the Gates are opened that our bodies may escape the curse of corruption and that our souls may be delivered from the judgment of Hell through Jesus Christ the first fruits of the dead and that first appeared to an humble Convert AMEN THE EIGHTH SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION MAT xxviii 9 10. And as they went to tell his Disciples behold Jesus met them saying all hail and they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him Then said Jesus unto them be not afraid go tell my Brethren that they go into Galilee and there shall they see me YOU may call to your remembrance that my subject upon Easter-day the last year was How Christ was first seen after he rose again from the dead of one whom he had raised before from the death of sin he appeared first to Mary Magdalen And in this Text other women have the next turn to see him appear in order of story That Sex it is apparent had the honour of the day in the first and second bout that the power of God might be seen in the weaker Vessels The women brought sweet Spices to embalm his body and they encounter that which was sweeter than all the Spices in the world the Vision of the Lord who came forth from the dark places of the dead to life again There is not the weakest capacity among you but must needs observe that the relations of these things are very diversly set down in the four Evangelists And there is not the learnedst capacity among men that can distinctly unfold how they should be reconciled I suppose the Primitive Church I mean the Disciples that were taught by the Apostles and other Scholars taught by them were informed of the true Exposition how every thing hapned in its order but the tradition is lost And they who boast they have kept the Traditions of the Church faithfully are not able to give us a clear rule how to refer these confusions to a certain order St. Paul 1 Cor. xv rehearseth sundry ways how Christ was seen of many after he rose from the dead yet he utterly omits how he was seen of these devout women St. John Chap. xx speaks of the famous interview between our Saviour and Mary Magdalen and no more Our Evangelist in the beginning of this Chapter mentions Mary Magdalen and the other Mary that is the Mother of Zebedees children he goes no further St. Mark quotes another woman that is Salome St. Luke names also one Joanna she was the Wife of Chusa Herods Steward and indefinitely he folds it up that there were other women whose particular cognisance is not revealed And divers things are related divers ways of these which may be reconciled as divers ways without jar or contradiction The stiffest knot in the dissention is that although St. Luke and St. Mark record how the Angels appeared to the women and spake unto them of Christs rising yet they do not say that Christ was seen of them St. Mark relates that he was seen of Mary Magdalen So doth St. John they go no further St. Matthew holds him to Mary Magdalen and to one other Mary that is all Yet he involves at large that as the women not those women only went to bring tidings to the Apostles of what they had seen and heard Christ did meet them by the way For the perplexity of these Narrations some do argue that none of the women saw him this day risen from the dead but Mary Magdalen and that when this Scripture says that he did appear to the women plurally yet it is a Synechdoche speaking that of many which was verified but in one for but one saw him instead of all her companions This is not so probable for it would work better if this truth were manifested by a multitude of Witnesses Others also consider that Mary Magdalen saw him alone and was controuled at that time not to touch him therefore it must be another Apparition when divers women did touch him and worship him Some say therefore that in a very little compass of time Mary Magdalen saw him twice this day unless there were two Mary Magdalens as St. Ambrose would have it first alone and then immediately with her Consorts Yet that seems not so congruous I can say no more against it that two Apparitions should be granted to her in a few moments Therefore without any pertinacy in rejecting the conjectures of others I conceive this second Apparition of Christ which we have in hand to be made to Mary the Mother of James Joanna and Salom with other devout women of Galilee when Mary Magdalen was lately departed from them to tell her errand to the Disciples Laying my ground upon that opinion I deduct these parts out of the Text First I will treat upon it what proceeded from the women Secondly what proceeded from Christ Touching the women again I will handle first what they did before they saw Christ secondly what they did after they had seen him Before they saw him they went to tell his Disciples somewhat After they had seen him 1. They came to him 2. They held him by the feet 3. They worshipped him That which belongs to Christ is contained in his Action and his Words His Action is thus expressed Behold Jesus met them His Words are first a Salutation All Hail 2. A Consolation Be not afraid 3. A Commission Go tell my Brethren that they go into Galilee 4. A Promise There they shall see me These are the several talents which God hath committed to me in this and now I will employ them for my Masters profit The women before they had seen our Saviour went to tell his Disciples that must be our beginning They went and went to and fro sundry times upon this occasion It could not choose but be observed by the eyes
they prophesied and did not cease Num. xi 25. Elegantly St. Austin to favour this opinion Christ warned his Apostles not to stir from Jirusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father and that not many days thence that is 10 days after his Ascension they should receive the Holy Ghost But says the Father Christ gave this spirit not only to them but to ten times as many as the Twelve to sixscore in all Ea est fidelitas imo liberalitas Christi docens nos pauca promittere sed decuplo plura praestare this is the just dealing nay the liberality of Christ which bids us promise no more than we will perform but rather perform ten times more than you promise But whether the cloven tongues which lookt as if they had been of fire did descend upon the whole Congregation men and women may a little be doubted for they were Types and Figures that the Lord would send forth of his Servants to be bold and fervent Preachers in all Nations and women were interdicted from the public ministry of Preaching though in the beginning they were imployed in some private labours of the Word And if the women had the gift of tongues they did not utter them in this Chapter for when all were amazed to hear such diversity of languages from illiterate ones and such as never travelled some mocked and said these men are full of new wine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the masculine gender And 't is not to be despised for an observation that ver 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all are said to be full of the Holy Ghost and ver 3. the firy tongues are said to sit not upon all but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon each of them meaning I conjecture upon each of the Apostles but I will not strive for it In the old Missals I am sure I have not perused the latter it reads the Epistle thus omnes discipuli all the Disciples were with one accord in one place and Beza says in two antient Greek Copies he had found 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all the Apostles and none other mentioned Certainly they were primarily intended to reap the benefit of the day For it is well noted by the first Writers that there were four things proper and peculiar to the Apostles given them for the gathering together of the Saints which were not communicable to any other Servant of Christ The first was immediate vocation from Heaven St. Paul demonstrated he was not inferior to the best of the Apostles because of that property The second was infallibility of judgment in the necessary points of faith 3. A Generality of Commission to have the care of the whole world committed to every one of them to exercise their power in all places towards all persons 4. To speak in all the tongues and languages of the world to confirm their Doctrin by signs and miracles and by the imposition of their hands to give the like miraculous gifts of the spirit to others For although the having of miraculous gifts and the power to work miracles was not simply proper to the Apostles yet to have them in a sort as by the imposition of their hands to give the spirit unto others and to enable such as they thought fit to do signs and wonders through the finger of God this was a benediction upon the heads of the Apostles from the great day of Pentecost and only upon them Simon Magus that Mammonist you may remember would have bought it of them but had a curse instead of a blessing Nay when Philip the Deacon had baptized some at Samaria the Apostles went to confirm those whom he had baptized by imposition of hands that they might receive some extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost And as these graces were reserved only for the Apostolical honor in their time so were they never since passed over to any by succession Instead of immediate calling God be praised we can shew our Vocation derived by succession from the Apostles Instead of infallibility of judgment we have the direction of the Scriptures to guide us in finding out the truth instead of general Commission over the whole World we have particular assignment of several Churches and parts of Christs Flock to feed instead of their miraculous gifts and power to confer them to others we have that faith which was confirmed by the Apostles miracles And so I have declared that many even all the Believers that met together shared in the blessings of this day but the Apostles had an excellency and preeminency above them all for the government of the Church not disputing what particular irradiations and sanctifications the Blessed Virgin had which we may suppose to be incomparable beyond all others such as were fit for her to receive but they are not here revealed But of the persons hitherto I can spare no more time for that for it is worth much observation how they were prepared to receive the Holy Ghost which I handle in this order howsoever the words ly first that they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 first unà then unanimes they were all in one place To be altogether in one City in Jerusalem and not to stir from thence till they had received the Comforter even the Spirit of Truth to that purpose Christ laid his command upon them but they were met together not only in one City but in one house not only in one Vineyard but like Grapes they hung together in one cluster Behold how good and how pleasant a thing it is for Brethren to dwell together in unity In publick they consorted together Luke v. ult they were continually in the Temple praising and blessing God together in private they held fast the same friendship and amity by this says our Saviour shall they know you to be my Disciples if you love one another Whether it were the time of praying or hearing the Word or breaking of bread mark it in several places of this Chapter they did it with chearfulness and mutual friendship they were never asunder Unity in matter of circumstance in matter of place carries blessing and edification with it that we are Brethren it is the Lords doing to make men to be of one mind to dwell in one house Psal lxviii 6. We read it in our last Translation he setteth the solitary in Families that is he reduceth the dispersed into unity and outward conformity I told you and pressed it earnestly about this time the last year what an acceptable thing it was to God that when Noah and his Sons and Daughters were all the living of men and women that were left in the World that these should all praise the Lord together in outward unity with one voice and with one Sacrifice this was called a sweet smelling savour so much it delighted God this day to see the Church met together those 120 names that after Ages might know how well compacted the Primitive
upon the Jews until times of reformation Heb. ix 10. Nay whereas the Jewish Sacraments were nicely tied to days as the Child must be circumcised on the Eighth day and the Paschal Lamb must be eaten on the Fourteenth day of the First Month these Ceremonies being expired and Christ giving new Sacraments in their place Baptism and the Lords Supper no days are punctually prescribed for the use of them but in all Ages it hath been left to the liberty of the Church and that liberty hath been used piously and prudently without all manner of Scandal For there are no particular Laws for Circumstantial observations of what time and place with what Garments with what Liturgie of Prayers The reason is Christ hath called us to liberty and we are not hedged in such streights as the Jews were Yet if the right of the day be founded in any Apostolical Precept it is all one as if it were the immediate voice of God for they had the Spirit of Christ and they had his Commission Mat. xxviii 20. Go and baptize all Nations teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you If they have taught us any thing this way it is commanded by Christ Now in all the Epistles Apostolical there is but one place that hath any seeming to speak Imperatively 1 Cor. xvi 1. Concerning the collection for the Saints as I have given order to the Churches of Galatia even so do ye Vpon the first day of the Week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him c. Here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Constitution from St. Paul but about what Not for Church Assemblies to meet together on the first day of the week He doth not say when you are together give to the poor but let every one lay somewhat by him And that imports that they were to deduct somewhat from their gains in their private Family Apud te repone domum tuam fac Ecclesiam lay by your Alms at home and make your own house the Church says St. Chrysostome But admit that this were a solemn day as I will not stand in it but it was as well for religious Assemblies as for charitable Contributions yet St. Pauls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the order he took was for Alms and not for appointment of the Lords day that must come in by way of Practice of which I shall speak by and by and not by way of Precept Shall I conclude then that no Commandment can be found in the New Testament which will reach to the imposition of this day Not so neither It is enough if we have general warranty for it though not particular The Church hath ratified it to be kept holy in all Ages And Christ hath confirmed their act to be most obligatory He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me None can appoint a day but God by way of excellency or original authority but the Fathers of the Church being appointed Rulers by Christ may do this by delegate and derivative authority and by vertue of their Commission It is as slender as a rush to object that the Lord is the immediate founder of that holy time because it is called the Lords day If it be Gods own immediate assignation point it out Neither is there any impediment but that the Church may give the name Lords day to any holy day as well as a Bishops Consecration of some fair structure may cause it to be called the Lords house or as the laying on of his hands may make one that is a Lay-man be called a Minister of our Lord Jesus Christ But you will say it were a faster tye to hold that the Injunction is immediately from God then mediately from the Church Beloved Saul was appointed a King immediately from God and Hezekiah came not so to the Crown as Saul did but by succession of bloud Yet were not the People as much subject in conscience to Hezekiah as to Saul I trow they were So Aaron was called by God to be the High Priest Zadok was put into the place by Solomon he reigning under God And was not Zadok to be obeyed in his Priesthood as well as Aaron It is a common but a dangerous error to think that pious Ordinations are but weak and impotent if they be conveyed by the mediation of the voice of the Church Whereas if they be convenient means to the better fulfilling of the Commandment of God they are subordinate to the Divine Law nay they are incorporate into it and become sacred and venerable And remember that the Composers of them are sacred Persons and authorized to that Office by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and the Commission of Christ The last Member of our enquiry is what ground we have for sanctifying this day in the name of the Lord from the practice of the Apostles and from the practice of the Church in all Ages And this tenure as I conceive will prove so strong that it will make it not only a firm Ecclesiastical Sanction but also a Divine Institution There are manifest footsteps that the Apostles were occupied in Sacred Offices upon this day that is uncontroulable The first day of the Week the Disciples came together to break bread that is to celebrate the Supper of the Lord and Paul preached unto them Acts xx 7. I know that Paul taught every day of the Week sometimes Acts xix 9. But this preaching joyned with the breaking of bread and that eye which the Church in all Ages hath cast upon this place as a pattern fit to be followed it makes it eminent and remarkable Again the first day of the Week being signed out in the Churches of Corinth and Galatia for relieving the poor it may well be inferred that it was the practice of the Apostle and Apostolical men to exercise Religious duties upon that day then the day was graced with this name of dignity to be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords day Rev. x. 10. For though it may be put off that the recurrent day wherein Christ rose is called by St. John the Lords day yet that evasion is taken off because Apostolical men who no doubt did keep the sound form of words did use the very same word while the Apostles were living and immediatly after Ignatius whose felicity it was to be St. Johns Scholar says he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let every one that loves Christ keep the Lords day holy And as he speaks so did all others that were near his age The practice of the Apostles is so pregnant for it in Scripture that all the Fathers of the nearest times unto them call it their Institution and Tradition So doth Irenaeus St. Basil and a multitude of the same rank To put this Point home because it especially concerns the Doctrine which I have in hand it may be truly opposed that the practice of the Apostles doth not always make a
if other actions of our life be suitable to that Profession It is a careful strictness that we will not accept of all that indulgence which Christ hath given us and yet it is St. Pauls mind that we should stand fast to that liberty to which Christ hath called us and that truth may not be prejudiced I must tell you that in the opinion of all learned men of all Churches throughout the World excepting a few among our selves joy and gladness are allowed for a portion of this day And that when God is sanctified in our holy Assemblies at Morning and Evening the remainder may be discreetly and soberly dispensed withall Remember what I said that the day wherein Christ suffered being pretermitted the day wherein he rose from the dead was selected for the weekly season of Divine Service not because his Resurrection was a greater Benefit to us than his Passion but because it was the Feast of Joy Diem Solis laetitiae indulgemus says Tertullian we set apart Sunday for gladness and chearfulness meaning that one use of that day was to refresh us after toil yet God being first serv'd with all due attendance for Recreations when they keep you from the House of God are not only vain but sacrilegious In the most ancient Church if any profest to last on this day or to put on the weed of sorrow he was excommunicated In the last Canon of the Nicene Council all Christians are exhorted to stand praying on this day and not to kneel because it betokened affliction and humiliation It was never denied but that it might harmlesly be divided between sanctity and harmless pleasure This would never be stumbled at if you would but mark and how can you choose but mark it that Sabbatical rest was a yoke upon the neck of the Jews a bodily exercise which in all the Gospel is never urg'd upon us who are only taught that perfect way of Spiritual Worship therefore Sunday succeeds the Sabbath in point of sanctification which is spiritual not in point of vacation which is bodily and ceremonial Our day is not figurative as theirs was and therefore requires no such nice prohibitions of that wherein no internal holiness can be placed and it is all one to tie Christians to the strict rest of the Jews as to their strict day Sanctification and Joy are the contents of this day which we are to cast our eye upon Inchoatur sanctificatione porficitur glorificatione we begin in sanctification we shall end in glorification it is a day which will bring us to that day which is not divided by light and darkness but it is all light fitting our perpetual joyes for evermore And now I could wish that the hour were to begin again being to speak of Festivals or Holidays for our extraordinary Assemblies I have spoken of them heretofore as they do carry the outward countenance of that joy which remaineth for us in Heaven as they are the agnition of great Benefits received and as they are fair Landmarks to teach unlearned people the principal Articles of Faith this was a prelibation of this point of Doctrin and that which the time will give me leave to add more will not be so much as to cloy you for I will but touch upon three things 1. What days may be allowed for Festivals 2. Why they may be allowed And 3. upon what a basis they are to be disallowed For the first it is nothing so with any Festivals that I shall name as it was with the Lords day that is founded in the practice of the Apostles and he is a sorry Divine qui nescit facere legem de prophetis that cannot frame a Law out of godly practice But no other Holy-days can claim their Example Says Socrates it was the purpose of the Apostles not to enact Laws for the celebration of Feasts but to give us lessons for the instruction of a godly life and for piety Only the Feast of Easter was kept solemn while some of the Apostles were living yet that hath no evidence in Scripture as Sunday hath but in humane Histories of good approbation nay the whole preceding week before Easter was strictly observed not with cessation of bodily labour but to call Christians to Church upon every day so that the day of Christs Passion was religiously solemnized and likewise the day of the Institution of his last Supper immediately before the memory of his Passion The next grand Peast that was anciently honour'd over all the Church as appears in Tertullian was Whitsunday or Pentecost yea in all the 50 days between Easter and Whitsunday solemn Service was celebrated without cessation from labour no fasting no kneeling upon their knees all that time Halleluia was sung Morning and Evening And Ascension-day was peculiarly dignified by it self and this held till the year 466. at which time Claudianus Mamercus Bishop of Vienna in France did begin Rogation week or the Supplication of three fasting days to desire God to bless the Fruits of the earth then sprouting up and of a sudden all the world did like his custom and follow it Neither Ignatius Justin Martyr Irenaeus or Tertullian speak of Christmas-day that I can tell of but Theophilus Bishop of Cesarea doth in his Paschal Epistle and so doth St. Cyprian so that in likelihood it was kept about the year 200 and long before Constantine's days that the Tyrant Maximinus knew for he burnt the Christians in their Churches upon the Feast of the Nativity as Maximinus says So that the five Feasts of Easter Whitsunday Christmas the Passion and Ascension were most anciently kept before Constantine's Reign while the Church was under persecution and had no leisure to invent superfluity of Ceremonies These are kept and no others by the Lutheran Churches as I find in Chemnitius by the Palatinat Churches as I find in Paraeus by the Low-Country Churches as I find in Rivetus by the Churches of Scotland brought in by the pious care of King James 1618. the Churches of Geneva are a little singular and observe none but the Feasts of Easter and Christmas the Churches of Helvetia acknowledg the five great Feasts as appears by Hospinian Yet moreover after the year 300 the Feast of Christs Circumcision grew famous especially in Alexandria and the Feast of the Epiphany was most gloriously hallowed in Constantinople These are dutifully reteined in our Church together with his Presentation in the Temple and his Annunciation by the Angel Gabriel We do likewise praise God publickly upon other days upon the Feasts of the Apostles and Evangelists and all Saints not named We keep the Memory of St. Stephen the Martyr one for all and the Memory of the bloud which the Innocents shed for Christ We celebrate John the Baptists Nativity for the Scripture says many shall rejoyce at his birth Finally we solemnize a day to God in the name of Michael the Archangel to give thanks for the protection of all the
the top of the Rocks with the Eagle if you make your nest on the ground the foot of man and beast will tread on it If you contrive it within the reach of the arm it is easily plucked down If within the boughs of a large tree it will be pelted Build high enough as the Eagle doth and then you are safe from wracks and injuries In all the whirle and revolutions of fortune this is our magnetical reduction look up to heaven And give thanks together as it follows to be handled From hence we have all that belongs to the being and to the well-being of Nature Whatsoever we want whatsoever we dread and fear it comes from above Frost and Snow Rain and fruitful seasons food for the body grace for the soul heaven supplies us with all these with more than we can ask or think How properly therefore doth this holy Office as it were take up the train of the former and come after it First he looked up to heaven and then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he gave thanks In one of us I confess they piece well together in the person of a mortal man that lives by pension and allowance from the Lord in the person of David as it is Psal viii When I consider the heavens c. What is man that thou art mindful of him Or the Son of man that thou visitest him But it is a strange word in the mouth of Christ He give thanks Who hath obliged him by any favour Or to whose benignity is he beholding All his works praise him and his Saints give thanks unto him but he is engaged to none there must be one first cause that communicates it self to all things and receives of nothing and that is God of God very God of very God the King of glory Jesus Christ To take off this Objection with reason first Beneficium accepit in humanâ naturâ He took the form of a servant upon him and in that exinanition he was capable of a benefit to be done unto him Therefore he thank'd his Father that he would bring that to pass by his Omnipotency which he was purposed to effect by his Humane Nature Nay he did not divide himself from his Father in this giving of thanks But the Son of Mary that was flesh of our flesh gave thanks unto himself as he was God Eternal It is so through an ineffable Dispensation An Eternal Decree was ratified that Christ being made man should be glorified in working this Miracle for which Decree he gives thanks unto the Godhead for so it was decreed that Thanksgiving should precede before the Decree was executed And yet note it further because the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in the Manhood bodily Christ did not go about his work precario he did not pray that power might be given him to multiply the five Loaves into five thousand portions that was not to be craved now which was inherent in him from the beginning but being certain to effect that which he undertook he gave thanks before the effect was produced Secondly Beneficium accepit in membris It was a gracious Donative which was now about to be bestowed upon the People that were gathered together and out of a fellow-feeling to those that were his own our Saviour gave thanks for the kindness shewn to his Members And well I may say he made this grateful acknowledgment to his Father for their sakes that pertained to his body for there is not that tender-hearted man that comforts a poor Christian in his necessities but he will say as much to him In as much as ye have done it to one of the least of my brethren ye have done it unto me The Prophet David hath spoken of his love after the same manner whereby he united himself unto us Psal lxviii 18. Thou hast led captivity captive Dona accepisti in hominibus so the Vulgar Latine and it is so verbatim in the Original thou hast received gifts in men He gives all and he takes all for he takes that to himself which is distributed unto all As it was the foundation of the Spartan Commonwealth Ne scirent privatim vivere To live rather for the advancement of the publick than of the private Weale So it is a corner stone of Christian Brotherhood Ne scirent homines privatim gratias agere Not to pinch up their gratitude into that narrowness as to bless the name of God for no mercies but such as are conferred upon themselves Quomodo idiota dicet amen Let me apply that of St. Paul in a Parody he that is all for himself is that Idiot that when publick Thanksgiving is made knows not how to say Amen But as Christ gave thanks for the Members so must the Members one for another For in the Union of Faith and in the Bond of Charity all blessings diffused far and wide upon our brethren are our proper benefits Thirdly All Writers that handle my Text strike upon this Key that we are taught from hence to make some holy Preface to say Grace as we call it before we feed our body When we sit down to meat Quasi ad beneficentiae Dei concionem accedimus we are presented as it were with a Sermon of Gods benignity not in word but in deed and therefore it is Decorum that we should begin with a Prayer So did the Jews yery anciently the young Maidens whom Saul met told him so much that the People would not eat till Samuel came because he doth bless the Sacrifice and afterward they that be bidden eat We Christians have sufficient from St. Paul to make us diligent observers of this Ceremony Says he Every Creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving for it is sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer 1 Tim. iv 4 5. It is not sufficient says Theodoret upon it that the Creature of God is good but it must be sanctified also before we eat it That which was good by nature the name of God invoked upon it makes it wholsom and holy Either our body may fall into some distemper or our soul into some fearful sin unless we begin and end our refection in the name of the Lord. But the Apostle chargeth us ex abundanti that the Word of God and Prayer be conjoyned to it that is says Vatablus to attend to the reading of sacred Scripture beside the ordinary Benediction So it is in use to this day with them that lead a Regular and a Scholastical strictness and was not omitted of the very Heathen that had a grain of Philosophy in their disposition So Cornelius Nepos commends Pomponius Atticus Nunquam sine aliquâ lectione apud eum coenatum est He never supped but somewhat was read out of a learned Author before him His mind did ruminate upon Knowledge while his teeth did chew his bread lest like an horse his head should be only in the Manger And those
our left but God hath given the judgment of discretion to all Christians of mature age let them mark what the Scriptures say in clear and literal Positions Thirdly The judgment of direction is committed to Pastors and Teachers that are set over your souls And judge ye what we say says the Apostle and the Lord give you understanding Fourthly There is the judgment of Jurisdiction proper to them who are in places of pre-eminency and these may determine Controversies of Faith according to plain and evident Scripture but because they may exceed the bounds of truth it is pernicious to say that men are bound to obey those determinations with as great affections of Piety as the inerrable Word of God That place so much debated that the Church is the House of God the ground and Pillar of Truth will bear no more but that it is so by Office and Calling as every King is the Minister of Justice though some have failed in the execution of it And the Note of Cameron upon it is very witty and learned that the Jews were wont to prefix these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he proves it out of Maimonides before the grand Points of Religion and so may make a Preface to the succeeding Verse The pillar and ground of truth great is the mystery of Godliness c. It is an Interpretation to better Analogie of Faith than that which his Adversaries press out of the words The sum is our Faith is not built upon the Authority and Infallibility of the present Church if it controul an higher authority than it self the holy Scripture what remains but declines her judgment as our Saviour did his Parents Wist you not that I must go about my Fathers business And as Asa did depose his Mother Maacha though she were his Mother for erecting an Idol So we may reject the Mother which should command a relative adoration of Images of Stocks and Stones and appeal to our Grandmother which was free from such scandals Judicate matrem vestram says Hoseah to the Jews when the Synagogue was corrupt Plead against your Mother Yet so says Waldensis most prudently that the humble and obedient Children of the Church may not insolently insult upon them from whom they are forced to dissent but with a reverent child-like and respectful shamefac'dness Especially it is a naughty inference to argue the Church may err and doth trip in some errors therefore it is not to be obeyed You will not deal so I hope with your fleshly Parents avoid their errors but conserve the bond of obedience entire in all things the name of Mother charms us not to deride her nakedness and to conform to her prudent opinions with all submissive willingness I draw up the Point to this Brief Hearken to the Laws of the Church in things indifferent wherein she must not be burdensom Submit unto her Censures wherein she must not be tyrannous Hearken to her determinations of faith wherein she must not be peremptory Non dominantes fidei It hath no dominion over our faith This is the reciprocal League between the Mother and the Children between that Jerusalem and us which is the Mother of us all And as this obedience may challenge a blessing as confidently as Nazianzen is said to claim it of his Father Habes obedientem benedictionem repende I have been obedient I claim a benediction from you so the next thing to be considered our unity shall bring us blessing upon blessing Our Mother is one and though we are many yet in a spiritual Connexion we all make but one All the faithful in the world are drawn up into one Pronoun the Mother of Vs As Jacob did divide his company and substance when he came from Padan Aram into Canaan One Band of men and one Flock of Cattel was with Leah another with the Handmaids a third with Rachel but all were Jacobs So God hath scattered his Churches some in Europe some in Asia some in Affrica c. but all are Christs And these are all united to him in his Spirit in his Word and in his Sacraments as Wax that is melted incorporates it self with Wax My Dove my undefiled is but one Cant. vi 9. Therefore let us preserve one bond of Peace and one Charity even as hereafter we look for one glory and one felicity Says St. Chrysostom The Ceremony of old was to eat the Paschal Lamb in one house and to carry nothing out Significans unam esse domum quae in Christo salutem consequitur Portending that they shall have no part in the Sacrifice of Christ who are divided by contentious separation from that one Family of Christ wherein only the Lamb of Salvation is made ready to be eaten There is nothing that our Saviour did sooner suppress than the least emergent division that did arise among the Apostles The Apostles themselves did condescend in many things which might bear an harsh construction with a rash Judge to prevent a rupture as if when they were put to that Dilemma better that Truth should suffer a little than Unity O it is the ground of all other mysteries the Son of God who is one with his Father is made one with us that we might be one as he is one both with him and among our selves As Christ hath but one truth so he can have but one Society one Communion of Saints to profess it as there is but one Shepherd so there can be but one Sheepfold Joh. x. 16. Nay to straiten it yet more in the phrase of the Holy Ghost the whole body of the Faithful is as it were no more than one man So we read Ephes ii 15. He abolished in himself the enmity meaning that which was between the Jews and Gentiles for to make in himself of twain one new man so making peace As who should say They of the old Leaven make a great number in their discords and diversities but they that spring from one root of Faith from Hope from one Baptism in Christ Jesus they make but one new man But what if Hereticks and Schismaticks will not suffer this unity entire and unviolated The issue is quickly cast up the unity of Jerusalem is the greater for their departure The scandal I confess is contagious to those that are without but the sounder part is the more sound for the evacuation of those bad humours Avolet quantùm volet palea levis fidei eò purior massa frumenti in horreum Domini reponetur Yet let her that calls her self the Mother take heed that she put not her Children from her for every jar and error nay nor for a Capital error unless it be joyned with an irrecoverable pertinacy Who were worse than the Galatians at the time when St. Paul wrote this Epistle What a venomous corruption was in their Churches mingling the Ceremonies of the Old Law and faith in Christ Jesus together which could never be compounded and yet the Apostle accounts
Prologue for both the Vision which he saw and the words which he heard though they deserve an Interpreter yet they are much more obvious to the capacity than the Antecedent Predictions If I had put it into my tasque to speak of the opening of the fifth Seal which begins the verse then I must have embarqued my self in a great controversie about the precise Age when such things fell out and what distance of Ages the several Seals do include But I undertake not to foretell events that were to Prophesie out of my own brain I apply nothing which St. John saw either to the Empire or to the Church below I deal no further than the prospective of these words doth carry me that is the Theatre of the Church Triumphant The Church Triumphant That puts another objection upon me For who is sufficient to handle that Subject Eye hath not seen ear hath not heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man what God hath done for his Saints in those glorious places I submit unto it and will not touch their inscrutable glory with my unwashen hands Upon two things we may taste without surfeiting of curiosity and I will set no more before you They are these Let us neither think that the Saints are extinguished in death for St. John saw the Souls under the Altar of them that were slain for the Word of God and for the Testimony which they held Nor let us think that their enemies are forgotten for those Souls cry night and day saying c. To contract it into short terms for the more apt division here are two parts what the Apostle saw in the Church Triumphant and what he heard But of no more than the first of these at one time Wherein first I must speak a little de modo videndi after what manner he saw this Theory I saw 2. Quid vidit what he saw he saw Souls 3. Quales vidit what kind of Souls they were Souls of them which were slain for the Word of God and for the Testimony which they held 4. Vbi vidit where and in what place he saw them Vnder the Altar When St. John relates how he did comprehend this wonderful object he says he saw it With what eye doth he mean No bodily Instrument you may be sure not such an eye as every birds dung can put forth not these foggy lights in our head that wax dim with Age and at last will spend themselves quite out in their Sockets these cannot attain to behold the Spirits of Saints Tertullian mistook a Parabolical passage for a real branch of a story where the Rich man in hell is said to see Lazarus in Abrahams bosom from whence he ascribed effigiation and colour to a soul and would not endure Critolaus and the Peripateticks that said it was a quintessence and no body no error more visible than this that the Souls in heaven are visible and have corporality The eye of man shall be endued with vertue to see the Angels nay to see the very Essence of God when this flesh shall be clarified and refined in the Resurrection In virtutem ipsius mentis quodammodò convertentur oculi says St. Austin This bodily eye shall then be transformed into an intellectual Faculty But as yet it can discern nothing but that which is earthy like it self Search we out therefore for some other way how John saw the souls under the Altar It lies in those words which we meet twice before in this Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was in the Spirit That is as I take it a Prophetical Revelation was infused into him through imaginary forms joyned with an abstraction from the senses Blame me not if this desription be somewhat difficult for who can tell what a divine Rapture is unless himself had been in a rapture I call it a Revelation it is the title of the Book for this reasâ—n Pharaoh and Nebuchadonosor had Visions and understood not what they meant but when the intelligence of the thing is opened as it was to Joseph and Daniel it became a Revelation So St. Austin observes Maximè propheta est qui in utroque excellit ut videat in spiritu corporalium rerum similitudines eas vivacitate mentis intelligat He is an eminent Prophet both ways who sees in the Spirit certain Figures and Similitudes of things to come and knows them by illumination So did this Apostle no question for all Scripture was opened to the Apostles much more was this Scripture opened to the Apostle who wrot it from the mouth of God 2. I blazon'd it for a Prophetical Revelation for the Angels have all things revealed unto them in the Vision of the Divine Essence but that is no Prophesie to them because as the Schoolmen speak it is Sine omnibus creatis adminiculis they have it put into them neither by word nor by deed nor by dream nor by figurative presentation but this being communicated to St. John by imaginary species it was no Angelical way of seeing but a Prophetical Revelation 3. I add infused by the holy Spirit For when Moses saw the bush burn and not consume it was a Prophetical Revelatio yet without inward infusion because he beheld it with his eyes This was not so but he saw it through abundant inspiration He was in the Spirit which is in effect to say that he became very Scriptural As Camerarius fits the phrase out of the Poet Euripides that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are very learned men most intimate with the Muses so this phrase denotes that the Holy Ghost had the dominion in John for the Spirit was not in him but he was in the Spirit 4. This must go with the rest that the Spirit infused this Revelation into him through imaginary forms supplying his fancy with the fashion of an Altar of a Throne a Lamb newly slain a Sea of Crystal and a thousand things more Many times new species and forms are created in the fancy of him that is illuminated many times that light which God gives doth shine upon those notions and conceptions which were in the mind before So we see that Isaiah and Amos this Apostle and other Prophets do utter their Prophesies through the similitudes known unto them in their former conversation 5. The utmost of all is that this Revelation was accompanied in him with a Rapture or abstraction from the senses So Beza interprets that phrase he was in the Spirit Correptus spiritu he was swallowed up of the Majesty of God so that his mind was taken away from the body Ezekiel says in one place that the Spirit entred into him Chap. ii 2. In another place that he was carried away in the Spirit Chap. xxxvii 1. There is great odds between these two the one was by ordinary inspiration the other by extasie and so was this of our Prophet when he saw the souls under the Altar he was so enwrapt in Celestial