it quickeneth a bodie consisting of many different members all which it setteth on worke the eye to see the eare to heare the foot to goe c. euen so though the grace of God which is the soule of the soule of man be but one yet doth it animate the whole man and doth as truly communicate good manners to the parts as the Soule doth Life Titus 2. The grace of God which bringeth saluation vnto all mâ—n teacheth vs to denie all vngodlinesse and worldly lusts and to liue soberly righteously and godly in this present world Ephes 6. hereupon Saint Paul biddeth vs put on the whole armour of God and to cast away all workes of darknesse and in another place Whatsoeuer things are iust whatsoeuer things are holy Rom. 13. Philip. 〈◊〉 whatsoeuer things are true whatsoeuer things are of good report thinke vpon these things Wee must haue not only a disposition to doe well but remember that wee are to doe well more wayes then one The same God that commandeth one vertue commandeth all and he will not haue any part or power of man exempted from his seruice Which must bee heeded by vs because there are few that are of Saint Pauls minde Philip. 3 13. to forget those things that are behind and make forward no sooner haue wee brought forth one good worke but we fall in loue with that and there take vp our rest and thinke that may serue insteed of all suffering Gods graces to be idle which are aswell able to make a chastâ—cie as a sober tongue and an obedient eare as a diligent hand Much more good might come from euery man if he did not thinke hee did good enough therefore let vs remember that nothing must bee accounted enough that is lesse then all and that wee set not straighter bounds to our duties then those which are in Gods Law But we haue not now to doe in generall with good workes my text restraineth me to workes of repentance I come then nearer to those And although I hane alreadie opened vnto you the nature of repentance yet must I wade a little farther in it and branch it as it were into its kinds The Law of God hath two parts the Precept and the Sanction The Sanction sheweth vnto vs the danger of sinne obliging vnto punishment from which wee are not free but by Iustification and this Iustification is attended with Repentance Repentance that looketh vnto the guilt of sinne which cleaueth vnto the Act thereof This Repentance is that which is practised in the times of Humiliation when we deprecate Gods wrath which is vpon vs or hangeth ouer vs by reason of enormous sinnes of the whole state and of particular persons 〈◊〉 2. Ionah 3. such is that which is called for in Ioel and whereof wee haue the practice in Ionah The Primitiue Church was well acquainted with it as appeareth by the Ecclesiasticall storie the Canons of the first Councels the writings of Tertullian Origen Cyprian and others our Church taketh notice of it in a part of the Liturgie and wisheth the publike restitution of it Tantae seueritati non sumus pares But it is rather to bee wished then hoped for Notwithstanding what is not done in publike by malefactors should be supplied by better obseruance of those dayes which are appointed weekly and of those weeks which are appointed yearely to be Poenitentiall to be dayes and weekes of Fasting and Praying Wee cannot denie but crying sinnes are daily committed and therefore Gods wrath might daily bee inflicted The way to stay it is to shew that wee are not guiltie thereof and as he is not guiltie by the Law of man which had no hand in sinne so by the Law of God none goe for not guiltie except they doe expresse a penitent sorrow that any should bee so wretched as to commit the sinne You remember how one Achan troubled all Israel and his sinne is layed to all their charge Ioshua the seuenth and they were all made to sanctifie themselues from that sinne and how the vnknowne murder was expiated wee reade Deut. 21. there must bee a feeling in vs of other mens sinnes a religious feeling seeing thereby they put not only themselues but vs to in danger of Gods wrath and therefore though our conscience haue no speciall burden of its owne yet must it haue of others and endeuour to ease both it selfe and the whole state thereof And how may priuate men better doe this then by those solemne acts of Humiliation the only attonement which by faith in Christ we can make with God But Saint Pauls complaint may be renewed 1. Cor. 5. It is reported commonly that there is fornication wee may adde Murder Adulterie and any other enormeous sinne the seates of Iudgement can witnesse that our Land is fertile of all sorts but as Saint Paul said so will I all men are puffed vp and who doth sorrow The emptinesse of our Churches vpon Fridayes and Wednesdayes and other Fasting dayes sheweth how litle feeling there is in vs of the crying sinnes of our State It were well if we had some feeling of our owne But where is that Drunkard where is that Adulterer where is that Murderer where is that Blasphemer that Vsurer that Oppressor that commeth into Gods House bathed in his teares broken in his heart stript of his pride humbled in his bodie and making a reall crie for mercie in the eares of God No wee come not so farre as a vocall our tongues crie not God bee mercifull to mee a Sinner which is but the voice of man much lesse doe our sighes doe it which are the voice of Gods Spirit we shame not to sinne Regis admirabilem virtutem fecit multò splendidiorem c. but to repent wee are ashamed Ashamed of that whereof we should glorie surely Theodoret thought better of King Dauids repentance when he pronounced of it There were many Heroicall vertues in King Dauid but for none is he so illustrious as for his repentance so much more illustrious by how much it is a rarer thing to see a King come from his Throne clothed in sackcloth sitting in dust and ashes feeding vpon the bread of sorrow and mingling his drinke with his teares then to see him in state either vttering Prouerbs like a Solomon or triumphing ouer his foes as at other times he also did Stultum est iâ—e eo statu viuere in quo non audet quis Mori or doing any other act in the maiestie of a King But most men are ashamed of this glorie and chose rather to glorie in their shame vnto whom I will vse Saint Austines words It is grosse folly to liue in that state in which a man would bee loth that death should take him hee addeth That the man which dareth goe to bed with a conscience charged with the guilt of one enormous sinne is much more desperate then he that dareth lie vnarmed with seuen
sound that way also But Etymologies doe not alwayes yeild good grounds of Diuinitie It is well if there bee a correspondencie an equalitie is more then may bee hoped for betweene Gods worke and ours Which I obserue the rather because the Rhemish note findeth Sacisfactorie workes in this word forgetting their owne Dininitie which maketh Satisfaction attend penance but not the Sacrament of Baptisme But to leaue them and deliuer the truth concerning Repentance We must obserue that in sin there are two things the Guilt and the Act of sin the Guilt infinite the Act finite Nothing can worthily satisfie for the Guilt but only the pretious death of Iesus Christ his Bloud only is the propitiation for our sins But the Act is finite wherwith we sin so is the Act wherwith we repent between these Acts we shuld endeuour to shew an emulation so that looke what pleasure we tooke in sinne against God so much sorow should we expresse when wee returne againe vnto God hee that sinneth a great sinne must not thinke it enough to sorrow as hee doth for a small one Peter wept but bee wept bitterly because he had sinned grieuously and King Dauid wore out his eyes and watered his Couch with his teares sorrowing for those sinnes wherewith he had prouoked God But let vs draw this through both parts of Repentance Mul ò firmior est Fides Charitas quam repoint I â—enitâ—ntia Lactantius Vitque Deo gratior amore ardens pest culpam vita quà m securitate torpens innocentia Gregorius and see how the degree must appeare in them In the first of solemne Repentance the rule is If a man slip in his faith or loue of God and recouer he will cleaue faster vnto God and loue him mere ardently and he pleaseth God the better when his loue after a recouerie groweth zelous then when in innocencie it groweth lukewarme As in the bodie of a man if an arme or legge bee broken and bee well set againe it groweth the stronger Take an example from Saint Paul who as he was a bloudie persecutor so did hee proue a most painfull Apostle and most patient Martyr Saint Austines Confessions shew how erroneous in iudgement how dissolute in life he had beene but since the Apostles dayes neuer had the Church a better Bishop then was Saint Austin But if we should looke for this degree in this age we might happily seeke long but scarce find any parallel not but that there are euery where those that exceed them in sinne but of those that imitate them in Repentance we find none no Adulterers that so change as to become markable spectacles of Continencie no Oppressors that turne Deacons and minister out of their goods to the necessitie of the poore no Drunkards that pinch their bodies with Fasting and Abstinence He that hath not commited vnlawfull things may be bold to vse the lawfull blessings of God and notwithstanding performe acceptable workes of Pietie but hee that hath beene a Fornicator an Adulterer c. must goe as farre in abstaining from the contentments of this life which are otherwise allowed him as hee hath exceeded in the vse of them 〈…〉 But this Rule is growne too much out of date and we thinke that so we repent it matters not in what degree we repent and so we make a reall Confession that howsoeuer we doe turne to God yet wee are afraid to bee too farre estranged from our sinne Wherein God doth not obtaine so much of man as the Deuill doth For when a good man degenerateth hee keepeth no meane but commonly striueth to be the worst plunging himselfe most deeply into sinne and persecuting goodnesse and good men most bitterly It were to be wisht that our zeale that turne vnto God were no worse in the loue of goodnesse and the hatred of sinne But it is rather to bee wisht then hoped for The Reason of it lieth in our neglect of that degree which should be in the second kind of Repentance for if we did affect that we would bee more apt vnto this The Degree of the second kind of Repentance is when a mans outward life striueth to bee answerable to his inward calling It is strange to see how in worldly state euerie man striueth to liue futably to his ranke and is accounted base if he doe not so if of a Yeoman hee become a Gentleman of a Gentleman a Knight as his person is improued so will he improue his port also yea the excesses of all sorts of men shew that herein euery man goeth beyond his ranke in his house in his fare in his clothes But in our spirituall state it is nothing so for our house we can be contented to dwell in seeled houses when the Arke of God is vnder Tents and who doth endeuour that himselfe may be a Temple fit for God As for our Clothes they should be royall our Garments should euer be white the wedding Garment should neuer be off but we are so farre from couering our nakednesse with conuenient robes that it appeares not in the eyes of God as that we take no care to hide our filthinesse from men Certainly we doe not endeuour to be clothed with the righteousnesse of Saints Finally for our diet we that are called to the Table of the Lord and should be sustained with Angels food content our selues with Swines meate for what else are filthy lusts Wherein wee are so much worse then the prodigall childe in that he did desire them and no man gaue them to him we haue our sils his was desired of necessitie but our food is voluntarie In a word we are called to be sonnes of God our eye is seldome vpon our Father to see what beseemeth his Sonnes wee are called to be members of Christ but little doe wee care what beseemeth that Mysticall Bodie wee rather are in name then in deed either Children of God or Members of Christ I conclude this point with Nazianzens Admonition we may not counterfeit our puritie but haue it remarkable and illustrious wee must haue our soules perfectly died with grace Let vs walke worthy of that vocation whereunto we are called This lesson belongeth to them that are of age betweene whom and infants there is this difference that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Repentance which is Gods worke is enough for Infants but bring forth fruit belongeth to them that are of riper age If time be granted vnto vs after our Conuersion it is granted to the end that by our good Conuersation wee may set forth the vertues of him that hath called vs into his maruailous light And we should thinke it enough if not too much that we haue spent the time past in those lusts that are vnbeseeming Christians but wee may vse that saying of the Apostle Rom. 2.5 Know you not that the patience and long-suffering of God draweth you to Repentance but you after your hearts that cannot repent treasure vnto your selues wrath against the day
with it And indeed they may easily ouercharge vs as appeareth in the next reason the reason of our prayer The spirit is wilâ—ing but the flesh is weake I will not trouble you with the diuers sense that is put vpon these words the best and the most agree that these two words note the two parts of a regenerate man the spirit noting the New and the flesh the Old man and so this passage agreeth with the like Rom. 7. the phrases themselues doe giue vs to vnderstand that our willingnesse to serue God is not from Nature but from Grace and our backwardnesse is not from Grace but from Nature If these two parts do not concurre the spirit the flesh the flesh may plucke backe as much as the spirit putteth forward yea and though they doe concurre yet the spirit is too quicke for the flesh and will venture farther than flesh dares to follow Tertullians rule is true that these words import Quid eui subijci debeat whether of the parts should haue the command but all goeth not as it should because one part is inabled to will but the other is not inabled to obey therefore St. Hierome saith well Quantum de ardore mentis confidimus tantum de fragilitate carnis metuamus we must not suppose we can doe all we would but we must pray that the spirit that is well disposed may also bee strong to subdue the flesh as by watching the flesh is dis-inabled to sinne so by praying is the spirit inabled to rule But more distinctly First touching the willingnesse of the spirit there is great difference betweene the habit of grace and the vse thereof though wee be well qualified with the habit yet except God excite and assist wee make little vse thereof Now the willingnesse of the spirit here meant is the ability of a regenerate man without the assistance of God and we must pray for the latter because without it the former will auaile but little As for the weaknesse of the flesh it must be vnderstood with a restraint ad bonum for to resist it is strong enough strong enough to resist the spirit but weake to resist temptation And why the Tempter offereth to the flesh if it yeeld that which the flesh naturally desireth and if it yeeld not he threatneth what the flesh naturally abhorres corporall comfort is that whereafter the body doth long by nature as by nature it doth Ioath the losse thereof The Tempter therefore hath an easie conquest vpon the flesh except Gods hand goe with it in vaine is it countermanded by the spirit many wofull examples haue the Primitiue Churches of this frailty of our nature and euery day is too fertill in spectacles hereof if the Tempter set vpon the flesh he will easily carry vs away though not without some contradiction of the spirit And here we see the fountaine of all our sinnes of infirmity the roote of them is this oddes betweene the flesh and the spirit and this is the whetstone of Prayer the best men if they be buffeted with the messenger of Sathan as Saint Paul was their best remedy is that which Saint Paul vsed Prayer vnto God whose Grace onely can be sufficient for vs 2. Cor. 12. â— and whose strength is made perfect in our weaknesse If this lesson be necessary for those that haue some inward alacrity how much more for them that are altogether drowsie if the best must pray in conscience of their infirmity how feruent in prayer should they be that feele not in themselues that forwardnesse of grace how earnestly should they pray O God make speed to saue vs O Lord make haste to helpe vs I conclude all This whole Text is a lesson of modesty and calleth vpon vs to worke out our saluation in feare and trembling seeing it is God that worketh in vs both to will and to doe not that wee should wauer in our faith but that we should not presume vpon our owne strength remembring that it is an easie matter to vow much while we are on the shore whereof we will be little mindfull when wee be ouertaken at sea Many faire flowers shoote forth when the Sunne shineth which come to nought if they be nipt with a Frost we may not presume that we will be more constant than the Apostles let their weaknesse teach vs to be humble lest if wee promise more than we performe Christ taxe our pride and vpbraid our weaknesse the Tempter will euer set on vs therefore let vs neuer cease to Watch. But the more wee finde out our danger by Watching the more let vs flye to God in Praying that the same God which hath giuen vs a willing spirit may also giue vs obedient flesh that both may hold out in the day of Temptation so shall they both reioyce in the liuing God reioyce here while they sticke fast vnto Christ notwithstanding the Crosse and reioyce hereafter when both comming out of all tribulation shall from Christ receiue an immarcescible Crowne THE SECOND SERMON On Good-Friday MARKE 14.35.36 And he went forward a little and fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible the houre might passe from him And hee said Abba Father all things are possible vnto thee take away this Cup from mee neuerthelesse not that I will but what thou wilt IN the history of Christs Crosse which wee commemorate this day there are two remarkable parts first a feeling representation thereof which Christ made vnto himselfe and secondly a constant perpession thereof when it was imposed by others The first may bee called Propassio and the second Passio there went a Crosse before the Crosse a fore-Crosse before the after-Crosse a rationall before the sensitiue Christ wrought a smart in himselfe before hee was stricken by others This feeling representation this fore-hand Crosse this selfe-affliction is the argument of those words that now I haue read vnto you The whole Tract is conceiued in forme of a prayer and indeed it is an Offertory prayer Christ by prayer sets the stampe of a sacrifice vpon his death and turneth his suffering into an offering In this Prayer wee are to obserue the circumstances that attend it and the substance of it The circumstances are two when and where when he prayed timely he prayed before he suffered he armed himselfe before he came vnto the conflict But where in a priuate place that hee might more freely poure forth his soule to God he withdrew himselfe from all company of men In the substance of the Prayer wee must see first to Whom it is directed and secondly What is expressed in it It is directed vnto the Father and there is reason it should be so directed by him was the Crosse ordained therefore a prayer against the Crosse must be directed vnto him But as he to whom Christ directed his prayer is his Father so in directing of it he doth expresse the behauiour of a Childe The behauiour of a childe is
considering that spirituall plagues are much more heauie than corporall and we should in our humiliation ioyne our cryes with those soules vnder the Altar that were slaine for the Word of God and the Testimony which they held saying How long O Lord holy and true doest thou not iudge and auenge our bloud on them that dwell in the earth Reuel 6.10 The Vse of all this first part of my Text that is the case of Sufferers is this That we know not God to halues God describeth himselfe to be Iust as well as Mercifull Exod. 34. and the sonne of Syrach tells vs Ecclus 5. that God is as mighty to punish as to saue therefore we must not look vpon onely Gods Mercy but vpon his Iustice also which is so palpable in the plagues And yet must wee not so plod vpon Gods Iustice as not to carry our eye from thence to his Mercy for as in the first case exprest in my Text we haue seene the Church suffering from Gods wrath so now in her second case we must behold her as a Suppliant hauing recourse vnto the Throne of grace And here first wee must obserue That though God for sinne be pleased to humble his Church yet doth hee afford her a meanes of reliefe whereby shee may come out of her greatest distresse And why God is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not a Destroyer but a Sauiour of his Church he doth not punish her but to recouer her as anon you shall heare more at large But though the Church be subiect to no more calamities than she hath remedy for yet of her manifold distresses the remedy is but one Penitent Deuotion is the onely remedy of all distresses And this Deuotion is here called by two names Prayer and Supplication The words in the Originall are fitted to the argument the first is Tephillah which is such a prayer as a prisoner maketh to him before whom hee is arraigned you may interpret it by those words in Iob cap. 9. I will make supplication to my Iudge And indeed a Penitent must so come to God as if he came to the Barre hee must suppose himselfe to bee an indited person And being such the second word will teach him what his plea must be euen a Psalme of Mercy for so Techinnah signifieth hee must come vnto God with Haue mercy vpon mee O God after thy great mercy Psal 51. and hee must pray with Daniel cap. 9. O Lord righteousnesse belongeth vnto thee but vnto vs confusion of faces In the Primitiue Church they had stationary dayes Tertullian saith their name is borrowed from warfare and Christians vpon that day putting on the whole armour of God did stand vpon their guardes against powers and principalities Serm. 36. and spirituall wickednesses in heauenly places St. Ambrose more plainly saith stationes vocantur Ieiunia quòd flentes ieiunantes in ijs inimicos repellamus These were the weekly fasting dayes Wednesdayes and Fridayes whereon Christians repaired to the Church and therein quasifactâmanu like an Armie with spirituall weapons of fasting and praying weeping and lamenting of their sinnes they put to flight all their ghostly enemies and remoued all the heauie pressures of the Church We keepe the dayes but haue lost the truevse of them It is much to bee wisht that they were restored againe and that thereon we did as our Fore-fathers were wont plye God in these sinnefull and wofull times especially with Tephillah and Techinnah the Prayers of guilty ones and Supplications for the mercy of God But more fully to rip vp this Deuotion so farre as wee are led by my Text obserue that it consisteth of two acts one inward and another outward The inward is a liuely sense of the Penitents euill case and an expression of his deuotion out of that sense Euery one of them must know the plagues of his owne heart Where first obserue that the plagues inflicted are corporall but the sense required is spirituall And why the originall of sinne is in the soule whereunto the body concurres but as a pliable instrument therefore God would haue the body serue by his smart to awaken the soule make it apprehensiue of Gods displeasure and tremble at his iudgements The word which we doe render plague doth signifie a wound now in the heart there may be a wound of sinne or a wound for sinne The wound of sinne 1. Pet. 2. is that which sinne giueth to the soule St. Peter tels vs that our sinfull lusts fight against the soule and in fighting giue the soule many a stabbe the sonne of Syrach expresseth this excellently All iniquity is as a two-edged sword the wounds whereof cannot bee healed Ecclus 21. And what meane we else when we say that sinne is mortall but that it giueth mortall wounds Besides this wound of sinne there is a wound for sinne you know that when a man in fight hath receiued a wound the Chirurgion must come with his instrument and search that wound scoure it and put the wounded man to a second paine euen so when wee haue wounded our soules with sinne wee must wound them a second time for finne if wee meane to be deuoutly penitent wee must be prickt at the heart we must rent our hearts we must breake our stonie hearts wee must melt our hearts we must poure forth our soules our spirit must be wounded within vs and our heart must be desolate This is that which God commanded the Iewes Leuit. 16.31 when hee bid them afflict their soules in the day of their solemne Fast This is that godly sorrow which St. Paul 2. Cor. 7.10 speaketh of sorrow not to be repented of Animae amaritudo est anima poenitentiae this vexing of our soules is the very soule of repentance As a penitent man hath these two wounds so he must know them but wee come very short of this all this mortall life of ours is nothing else but a masse of plagues full of temptations Iohn 7. and trauelleth with vanity of vanities and vexation of spirit Psal 38. all the sonnes of Adam doe daily suffer from the wrath of God in some thing or other and euerie one of vs may say as Augustus the Emperour sometimes said that he sitteth inter lachrymas suspiria betweene sighings and teares Certainly as the Christian world now standeth wee are encompast with lamentable spectacles both abroad and at home But many men are so hardened that they feele not their owne disease much lesse others yea so farre they are from feeling the ordinary plagues of man that they doe not feele the extraordinary ones wherewith God doth rowze sinnefull men Wherefore we must hold it for one of the gifts of grace wherewith God doth endue his children that they recouer againe the sense of godly sorrow And wee may well conclude that hee that is senslesse is gracelesse and they which haue no sense beare the heauiest plague The word doth carry with it not
the Sunne a God and giue the price of the Creatour vnto his creature whereas they should haue argued from it vnto him and conceiued the eminencie of his goodnesse from whom such good things did proceed And wee shall not be farre from Idolatrie if the comfort of peace and Religion affecting vs our hearts ascend no higher then the immediat cause thereof which is our King and wee doe not giue glorie vnto God which out of his loue to vs hath set him vpon the Throne if we doe not discerne that The Lord hath made our Day What our sinnes were that might haue hindered it I need not tell you the Pestilence that did attend the dawning of the Day was an intimation from God how vnworthie wee were but his pleasure was that we should fall into his hands not into the hands of our enemies For as we were vnworthie so they were inraged witnesse their treason that immediatly was discouered manifold plots of treason but all defeated by the prouidence of God Wherefore we must say not only that wee haue a Day but also that the Day which we haue was made by the Lord and conclude Not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs but vnto thy name be prayse Deus fecit is not enough to the making of a Festiuall the Church must come in with Haec est dies when God goeth before in working something in the Time the Church must not bee behind in giuing the due estimate to the time we must not esteeme all dayes alike when God doth not worke alike vpon all But nothing is required of vs to the making of a Festiuall but only acknowledgment of Gods Worke take a view of all the Festiuals of the Iewes you shall find that they did no more no more then commemorate that on such a day God did doe such a worke And the Christian Church hath trod the very same steps and hath not thought it fit to suffer any of the remarkable workes of God to passe vnregarded whether they concerne the whole Church or any particular State they haue stamped vpon the time of those workes Haec est Dies This is not a day to bee forgotten and therefore haue enioyned the Anniuersarie Commemoration thereof Yea and euery priuate Family and person that hath receiued any extraordinarie blessing from God may make vnto himselfe such an Aniuersarie and refresh the memorie of that time wherein God hath done him some great good And let this suffice for the discreet distinction of times Let vs now see how religiously we must solemnize them Though to the making of the Day no more be required of vs then this acknowledgement Haec est Dies This is the Day yet to the vsing of it more is required here wee must consider What must be done and How That which must be done I reduced to two Heads First we must take full comfort in the Day and secondly pray for the happie continuance thereof In expressing the comfort the Psalmist vseth two words which are fitted to the two principall parts of man his bodie and his soule so the vse of them in the Originall Language teacheth and Venerable bede doth so distinguish them Exultemus corpore laetemur animo let the bodie as it were dance for ioy and the soule reioyce Both partake of the Day the bodie principally of the Ciuill Day and of the Spirituall Day the Soule is the principall partaker yet so as that each in either doth congratulate the other if the Day bee Ciuill the soule congratulates the bodie the bodie which is exultant for his day if the day be spirituall then the bodie congratulateth the soule the soule that is gladded at the heart for her Day So then the bodie cannot exult but the Soule will bee glad neither can the soule be glad but the bodie will exult there is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the word Nos let Vs Exulte let Vs reioyce noteth that what is proper to either part redounds to the whole person And the Holy Ghost in coupling of both these words doth put vs in minde that neither part must be wanting in performing of this worke because either part doth share in the Day and so you shall find that King Dauid doth oftentimes rowse his soule and rowse his bodie also to performe this Eucharisticall Sacrifice he remembreth Carnem Cor his flesh and his spirit his glorie that is his tongue and all that is within him And no maruell for he would recommend himselfe as well to God as to men and wee must thinke that our workes of Pietie are imperfect if either part be wanting But as when the Moone and the Sunne doe meet aboue the Horizon and each doth contribute his light to the making of a Day the light of the Moone is not sensible in comparison of the light of the Sunne so should the impression which is made by worldly things which are as changeable as the Moone be dimme or darkened as it were by the impression made by spirituall things which are more constant then the Sunne And the ioy of our bodies must so be tempered as may not hinder the predominant gladnesse of our soule all the world must see that though wee prize both the Dayes the ciuill and the spirituall yet the rate which we set vpon the spirituall doth infinitely exceed that which wee set vpon the Ciuill If this lesson were well learned the world should not haue so many wofull experiments of those who being put to their choice whether they will lose had rather enioy the ciuill day with the losse of the spirituall then by sticking to the spirituall hazard the ciuill but we must chuse rather to be glad in soule then exult in bodie if we cannot doe both together But whether we doe expresse our comfort by one only by the bodie or also by the soule we must keepe both parts vnto their proper Obiect that is to the Day though wee expresse our affections by meats drinkes triumphs and other solemnities yet may we not while we signifie our ioy by them exulte or ioy in them And yet behold the most part of men little thinke on the Day their thoughts and senses are taken vp for the most part with the Accessories eating drinking c. they doe these things more freely and are more frolicke then ordinarie the state of the Common-Weale or of the Church commeth little into their thoughts it is not much remembred at their Feasts To remedie this the Church hath appointed that we should begin this solemnitie in the Church there first heare in how good case we are and breake forth there into spirituall prayses and thankesgiuings and make a religious acknowledgment of our blessed Day Of our blessed Day but not forgetting the Author thereof God that hath made vs such a Day No hee must bee the principall Obiect of our reioycing If wee exclude him or giue him not the first place we shall not be farre from the sinne of the
Psal 145. Psal 25. of the hight of it it reacheth vnto Heauen sometimes of the depth of it it fetcheth men from Hell sometimes of the width of it it is ouer all his workes sometimes of the length of it it hath bin euer of old His tender Compassions faile not they are renewed euery Morning Lamen 3. But all this is to bee vnderstood in Christ his Incarnation his passion the whole Redemption that hee wrought is indeed Magna Misericordia a wonderfull Mercy Saint Paul mentioning the breadth the length the depth and the hight of it teacheth vs that it passeth all knowledge Ephe. 3. Neither is it Great onely but in this Greatnesse we must obserue Magnitudinem Multitudinem Saint Chrisostome doth excellently amplifie this poynt in regard of both branches Ores nouas inauditas Behold and wonder the first fruits of those that come to Christ are those which were most desperately enthrauled to Satan Magi Publicani Meretrices latro blasphemus the Conuersion of such persons is an vndoubted Argument of the Magnitude of his Mercy And touching the Multitude beleiue his answer to Saint Peter Mat. 18. â—â— who asking Christ Whether hee should forgiue his Brother seauen times replied Not only seauen times but seauentie times seauen Eze. 18.21 At what time soeuer a Sinner doth repent from the bottome of his heart I will put all his wickednesse out of my remembrance sayth the Lord. And verely were it not for this double Greatnesse that is in Gods Mercy few should bee saued for Psal 130. If thou Lord shouldest bee extreame to marke what is done amisse who were able to stand but with thee there is Mercy we would despaire of our cure if there were not such physicke of our great sores if there were not such a soueraigne medicine but this is our comfort Where sinne aboundeth Grace aboundeth much more Rom. 3.20 There is no sinne either so great or manifold which cannot be remedied by the Mercifull bowells of Christ It was Cains voice Gen. 4. my sinne is greater then can be forgiuen but a Father Saint Austin I thinke replieth to him Mentiris Cain this thy complaint is a blasphemous derogation from the vnmeasurable bowells of Christ and the Nouatians were long since condemned by the Church which straightned the power of the Remission of sinnes which Christ hath left vnto the Pastors Marke now the Correspondencie of the branches of this Text. Wee found Magnitude and Multitude in the Miserie of Dauid and they did need a Magnitude and Multitude in the gracious operations of Mercie and here we doe finde in the third place that Mercy is so well stored that it can doe as much as is required by Miserie Whereupon two thinges follow It is vnbeseeming diuine Mercy to bee scant in giuing and humane Miserie is foolishly modest that is spare in asking But this Diuinitie must not be abused it was neuer intended to encourage Presumption but God would haue it published to keepe men from Desperation It is wholesome Doctrine for them that are Miserabiles which labour and are heauie laden with the burden of their sin but it is dangerous to them that are onely Miseri such as are grieuous sinners but haue no sense of their wretched state The last point in the Text is Secundum Misericordiam Haue mercy vpon me according to that which is in Thee not that which is in Mee Nothing to moue God but onely the free goodnesse of God certainely to moue Mercy nothing else can be pleaded by Miserie Dauid had done many good things Omnes voluntates Dei as Saint Paul saith Acts 13. hee had restored Church and Common Weale and made many sweet Songs to the honor and prayse of God But he remembreth none of all these in his Prayer he doth not desire to speede for any of those And why Bona Opera Deo placere possunt Deum placare non possunt while wee doe them though imperfect yet are they well pleasing vnto God thorough Christ but if we doe contrary vnto them we may not pleade them for Satisfactions for our sinne No Gods Rule is Eze. 18. When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousnesse and committeth iniquitie all his righteousnesse that he hath done shall not bee mentioned therefore Dauid prayeth discreetly when he referreth God to his owne Goodnes and pleades nothing of his owne Worth and we must in the like Case lay before God only our beggery and commend that vnto Gods Mercy the lesse we haue the more wee shall find in him if wee are not ashamed to confesse our owne basenes and his Goodnesse But it is time to draw to an end Audi peccator orantem peccatorem whosoeuer thou art that art a sinner learne from King Dauid the argument of penitent Prayer It must represent a feeling Miserie and a tender Mercy and the feeling of Misery must make vs seeke vnto tender Mercy It was a strange errour in Saint Peter that when he had seene a glimpse of Christs Glorie Luke 5. â— brake out into these words Goe from me Lord for I am a sinfull Man hee should rather haue desired that Christ would approach him for with whom should a Patient desire rather to be then with his Physitian or a Sinner then with his Sauiour Surely Saint Peter at another time Iohn 13.2 though at first he made dainty that Christ should wash his feete yet when Christ told him except I wash thee thou canst haue no part in me replied Wash Lord and not my feete onely but my hands and my head also There is none of vs that doth not daily runne in arrerages to God that doth not staine that garment of Innocencie which he receiued in his Baptisme and what should we do then being in such a case but that our selues may be written in the booke of life desire that our sinnes may be blotted out of the Booke of death that we be not cast out of heauenly Hierusalem â—euel 7.14 as an vncleaÌ„e thing wash our garments white in the blood of the Lambe No doubt but as King Dauid so wee shall haue Paroxismes sharpe sits of despaire when our Conscience curiously suruaieth our Miserie But the eyes of our soule must not dwell there we must lift them vp vnto the Mercy-seate et abyssus abyssum inuocet let the depth of our Misery seeke a reliefe in the depth of Gods Mercy be our sins neuer so many bee they neuer so great we shall find more bowells of tender Mercy greater loue kindnesse there then our Sinnes can need Yea not onely finde them there in God but seele them also streaming from thence to the full reliefe of our distressed soules We shall feele them so acquitting so cleansing vs that we shall be assured that we are vessells of Mercy though we deserue for our sinnes to be Vessells of Wrath. I Shut vp all with this Prayer O Lord Righteousnesse belongeth vnto thee but
Kingdome so many and so worthy they commit themselues vnto obscure Guides that either lurke in corners or flie their Countrie No Bookes are for their eyes but those which are of their penning and they that scorne our Apocryphalls what Apocryphall writings doe they dote vpon And as no writings please them but such so no mens Sermons but theirs can edifie them and indeed they doe edifie but it is a Babel their sancies are no better then that Tower of confusion and yet to dwell in that they will forsake Hierusalem it selfe I will not amplifie your fault that are Penitents but a man may guesse at the modell of your knowledge by your Librarie by the Bookes any may guesse what Principles you follow not of your owne Church but of Conuenticles and this is that that hath made you Schismatickes hence forward you shall doe well to take your light from those Starres whom God hath placed in this Church especially seeing they refuse not to let those who with modestie desire to bee resolued see that their Light is deriued from the Sunne of Righteousnesse and that as Faithfull Stewards they presse nothing to the Consciences of their fellow seruants but that for which they haue warrant from their Master Christ wherein they differ from the Popish Pastors But Knowledge is not enough Acknowledgement is required also vnto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we must adde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Principles that we haue we must put in vre As our Knowledge must not be Headlesse so must it not bee Heartlesse when we haue gone so farre as that the Light of our vnderstanding can discerne betweene Good and Euill wee must then take care of our Affections that the heate of Grace giue them a good temper that they take a true taste of their Obiects that Loue and Hatred Desire and Feare Hope and Despaire arise out of that which was designed to worke them But to amplifie this a litle farther We should vse knowledge in guiding of our Actions before hand and trie what that is which offereth it selfe to be done before we goe about to doe it If a man were so aduised as timely to moue vnto his soule this question quid ago where about goe I such prouidence if it would not preuent all sinne because of the manifold temptations and mans too naturall infirmitie either in neglecting Grace which he hath or forgetting to pray for Grace which he hath not yet would it put off many a sinne and make vs take lesse content in the sinnes which wee doe not put off yea this would bee a good inducement to the thorough feeling of our slips which is the after vse we must make of our knowledge and is vsually meant by Acknowledgment for what is that but only that if sinne haue preuented our aduisednesse vpon a reuiewe we retract what rashnesse hath committed This is a profitable vse of Knowledge But sinfull soules are now become like corrupt Bodies corrupt bodies haue often times great appetites when they haue but small digestion so many desire much knowledge whereof they put but a little in practice yea as meat that is not digested in the Body doth incumber it and breeds in it many disquieting diseases so if our life bee not the better for our knowledge by our care to expresse it it will be much the worse by our quarrells that we will raise about it Socrates the Ecclesiasticall Historiographer reports a storie of one Pambo Lib. 4. c. 18. a plaine ignorant man such as you the Penitents are who came to a learned Man and desired him to teach him some Psalme hee began to reade vnto him the 39. Psalme when he had past the first verse I said I will looke to my waies that I offend not with my tongue Pambo shut the Booke and tooke his leaue saying that he would goe learne that poynt when hee had absented himselfe certaine moneths hee was demanded by his Reader when he would goe forward he answered that he had not yet learned his old lesson and he gaue the very same answere to one that many yeares after moued the same question I doe not desire that our people should haue so few Sermons the Canons of the Church haue prouided for the people better then so but this I desire that the people would make more vse of that which they learne and let their liues shew that they are the better for the Ministers paines for sure I am that it is their negligence that maketh the Ministers diligence the more needfull and though knowledge be wanting in too many places of the Land yet is Acknowledgement wanting much more the fruit of our paines is so farre from preuenting sinne in the people that we cannot speed so well as to worke a feeling thereof in them when they haue committed it we finde not that tendernesse in their soules which Nathan found in the soule of King Dauid and which King Dauid implies in his Acknowledgment But feeling is not enough that is not all that is meant by Acknowledgement though the feeling bee no lesse in the Heart then it is in the Head Therefore I told you that King Dauids was an ingenious feeling he published what he felt If sinnes bee onely secret then the humiliation of the inward man may suffice in the sight of God it is enough to confesse his faults or in a generalitie to acknowledge them in the publike confession of the Church without specification except the burden of his conscience giue him iust cause to reueale it that he may be relieued by Ghostly counsell but if what he conceiued inwardly hee hath vented outwardly in word or deede to the offence not of God onely but also of the Church then vnto the Confession made vnto God in priuate must bee added a publike also in the face of the Church such was King Dauids sinne and such is King Dauids Confession he testified publikely to the Church the Religious feeling that hee had of his sinnes and this is thereason why I called his dealing ingenious And indeed herein standeth the great conflict that Grace hath with flesh and bloud hardly are wee contented to be priuie to our selues of our owne sinfulnesse for though wee delight to commit sinne yet doe we not delight to behold our selues as we are sinners the more naturall the desire is in euery man to be reputed good the more vnsauorie is that search that sindeth him to bee nothing so And if wee are so vnwilling to know our selues to bee sinners much lesse will we endure that others should be of our Counsell therein Stultorum incurata pudor malus vlcera celat Many will rather die then be knowne that they are sicke of some shamefull disease but men are lesse willing to haue their sinnes published then their sores The more remarkable is King Dauids ingenuitie rather to be wished then hoped for in this Age wherein men sinne without shame but shame to Acknowledge their knowne
sinne outfacing of such challenge as was made to King Dauid and excusing sometimes of the fact most vsually of themselues are the best pleas which are stood vpon by offenders though many exceed King Dauid in the infirmities which appeared in this fall yet where is the man that commeth neere the least degree of his ingenuitiâ— in confessing of his fault Where such stupiditie is and men hide their sinnes like Adam it is a signe that the Principles of Conscience are dull and dead as it is a signe that they liue and are quicke where contrarie ingenuitie doth appeare Which you the Penitents should consider well and let the Church see in your humble confession what true Contrition there is in your soule whether your Conscience bee senslesse or feeling of that state whereinto you are brought by sinne to worke this degree of penitencie in you I will somewhat enlarge a point which I did but glance at before Know then that there are two sorts of the laying open of the malignity of sinne the one is Voluntarie the other is Compulsorie the Voluntarie is that whereof I haue spoken which is medicinall and prepares Miserie to receiue Mercy for therefore doth God put a distance betweene our ill dealing and faring ill that Grace husbanding that distance thriftily and wee iudging our selues before we are iudged might preuent that faring ill which is due vnto our ill deseruing Add hereunto that if we willingly ser forth the Malignitie of our sin the Obiect will be proportionable to our sight and we shall so bee confounded therewith that we shall not bee confounded our Godly sorrow shall haue an happie issue But if we will not doe this willingly we shall be constrained to doe it happily in this world certainely in the world to come but whether now or then the obiect will bee too strong for our sight and our soules will be ouerwhelmed therewith In this world it falls out very often that Satan which tempts many vnto sinne doth tempt them afterwards to despaire and how doth hee doe it but by representing vnto them the malignity of their sinne the euill whereof proueth so vexing that it maketh some as restlesse as Cain and some as vnnaturall to themselues as Iudas and both of them that spared to let their tongues confesse penitently did not spare desperately to publish their owne shame but if happily God doe not permit so much power vnto Sathan in this world yet in the world to come he will force all the wicked vnto this Confession the worme then will so bite and the Bookes of their Consciences will be so legible God will so set their sinnes before them that they shall power forth a full Confession and giue Glory vnto God though little to their owne comfort as it is excellently set forth Wisd 5. Wherefore this penitentiall Confession enioyned by the Church should not seeme irkesome vnto you seeing it is so behoofefull for you for you doe by this preuent a worse preuent an vncomfortable one that will be forced vpon you by this Medicinall one if you performe it Voluntarily out of a godly sorrow for your sinne But I conclude ipartit Hist b. 9 c. 15. Non peccare vltra humanam naturam cognoscitur it is not to bee hoped that wee should runne the race that is set before vs and not take any fall before wee die least therefore we should so fall as not to rise againe God hath prouided a remedie he will spare vs if we doe not spare our selues if we take notice of our sinne God will not enquire into it if it be grieuous vnto vs God will neur greiue vs for it neither shall we euer be forced to confesse to our Confusion if we bee willing to confesse it to our Saluation seeing then God hath giuen vs our choyce whether our confession shall be a Medicine or a Torment let vs not reserue our selues for the Torment by despising of the Medicine But let vs not be Like vnto those that behold their naturall face in a glasse Nes 1.23 and going away presently forget what manner of persons they were that will make out Repentance but like a Morning cloud which quickly passeth away And no wonder if men often relapse into sinne if they so quickly forget their former sinnes hee that will hold himselfe in must imitate King Dauid his humiliation must be as lasting as his Life we should neuer forget what wretches we haue beene least withall we forget how much wee are bound to God the presence of our sinne forgiuen will make vs more sensible of the forgiuenesse of our sinne Wherefore if at any time we finde grace in Gods eyes as which of vs doth not often finde it in this life let it not greiue vs to say with Saint Paul that wee are chiefe of sinners 1. Tim. 1.15 though God should doe vs the like honour he did to him and make vs chiefe Apostles in a word though we haue sped of our pardon as Dauid did from the mouth of Nathan let this be our constant Confession vnto death I doe know mine owne wickednesse and my sinne is euer before me LOrd I haue proued that Satan is a Serpent and that hee is a Lyon he hath besotted my wits he hath enraged mine Affections when he did this he transformed an Angel of darkenesse into an Angel of Light and cloathed a foe vnder the habit of a friend thâ—s was I deluded and he entertained but now hee appeareth in his owne likenesse the light is gone the darkenesse remaineth and my counterfeit frend is an apparant foe these fraudes disquiet my thoughts and how is my Heart afflicted by this vnexpected danger I finde no Remedie but to make knowne my Case to thee to lay open these diseases of my Head of my Heart before thee Grant that I may so feele them that thou mayst vouchsafe to cure them that thou mayst vouchsafe to couer them also let me neuer be ashamed to discouer them let me whet the dull sense that I haue of thy Mercy by the quicke sense of mine owne Misery Let this neuer die that that may liue euer So shall I by a godly sorrow speed of a heauenly ioy and by a Medicinall Confusion in the Church Militant make my selfe Capable of eternall Saluation in the Church Triumphant AMEN PSAL. 51. The first part of the 4. VERS Against thee thee onely haue I sinned and done this euill in thy sight KIng Dauid in this Penitentiall confessing that sinne which himselfe had contracted obserueth the Naturall properties and Supernaturall euent thereof The Naturall properties are two a Malignitie and an Impietie which are in Sinne Of the Malignitie I spake last I come now to the Impietie We must then obserue That in all sinne besides the offence there is a partie offended and the partie offended setteth the Measure to the offence as he is so is that he maketh it to be greater or lesse therefore in a full Confession
Gods Word which is the first Branch of Iustice The second is Integritie Integritie I told you is Iustitia in facto when iust deeds are squared by iust wordes The Deed heere is Iudging and this word must lead vs to another Chapter the 12. of the 2. of Sam. Where the same Nathan commeth vnto Dauid with a second Message a Message that containeth a performance of that which God promised in the former Message hee promised that if he did sinne hee should smart and there hee maketh him smart hee promised that hee should not so smart but hee should haue good proofe of Gods greater Mercie and there he feeleth it in the Absolution from his sinne So that Gods Deeds in Iudging keepe good correspondencie with his Wordes therefore is Integritie ascribed vnto them for what is the integrity of a Iudge but the true temper of Seuerity and Mercy if God be Iudge the gracious mixture of the Law and the Gospel where both these are put in practice and put in practice as they ought there is Integrity so much is wanting of Integritie as is wanting of these if Seuerity bee administred without Mercy or if Mercy haue not the vpper hand of Seuerity there wanteth Integritie in the gouerment of the Common-weale because he is commanded of God so to temper his Iudgement And God may seeme to come short of his Integritie if hee did not mixe and mixe so his Law with his Gospell as he himselfe being otherwise free hath by promise laid a tie vpon himselfe Hee couenanted with Dauid to administer the Law vnto him and chastise his sinnes but citra condignum with the rod of a Man and not of God He couenanted with him to administer vnto him the Gospell but vltra condignum not after the manner of Men but after the manner of God Thus to administer both Law and Gospell so to dispence Mercy and Seuerity is Gods clearing himselfe in Iudgement I called it his Integritie Ioyne these now together Promissionem et Praestationem the 7. and the 12. of the 2. of Sam. whereof one containeth the promising Word the other the performing Iudgement and couple the Integrity of the Performance with the Fidelity of the Promise and you haue an excellent Picture or Representation of the Iustice wherewith God doth gouerne his Church Now this Iustice must haue its Praise As God is Iust in speaking so must hee bee Iustified as hee is cleare in Iudging so must hee be clarified that I may so say that is glorified These two Verbes doe not import that the Creature can infuse any perfection into the Creator will wee nill wee these things are in him Fidelitie is inseperable from his wordes and Integrity from his Iudgements all that can be done by vs is Cognitio Recognitio we are bound to take notice of them and not to smother our knowledge but yeeld God the glory that is due vnto them To this end doth God manifest his perfections vnto the reasonable Creature and in their owne Cases doe they feele and see in other Mens Cases the experience of them Saint Paul seemeth to read the latter part of the Text otherwise then here is exprest for hee hath Rom. 3.4 that thou mightest ouercome when thou art iudged whereas heere it is that thou mightest be cleare when thou iudgest They are not words of a contrary meaning but Saint Pauls Text which followeth the Septuagint doth adde an obseruation ouer and aboue that which you haue heard that is Though God be Iudge of all the world yet worldly men sticke not to take vpon them to iudge God yea and God is pleased to put his Iustice vpon tryall as wee read Esay 1. Micah 6. and elsewhere so carefull is hee that not onely his proceedings be iust but his Iustice euident also so euident as that whosoeuer shall contend with him in Iudgement shall bee driuen to yeeld The best haue oftentimes doubts and disputes they question Gods Integritie how the Gospell and the Law can stand together and God at the same time condemne and absolue and yet bee iust God would settle their consciences Vnbeleeuers not onely quarrell with but deny also Gods Integritie but the Mouthes of all gainsayers shall bee stopped they shall bee forced to subscribe to confesse that God is cleare in Iudging free from all drosse of contradiction that Mercy and Truth may kisse each other and the Law goe hand in hand with the Gospell as after appeares And so haue I declared vnto you the praise of Gods Iustice I come now to shew you the reference that it hath vnto K. Dauids sin which that I may the better do you must obserue that the former words Against thee against thee onely haue I sinned and done this euill in thy sight may be vnderstood either Materialiter or Formaliter as a Description of sinne or a Supplication of a sinner Some vnderstand them after the latter fashion and so King Dauid Non not at finem peccati sed precationis hee noteth not the end of his Sinning but the end of his Praying Non dicit quo fine fecerit Malum sed quo fine nunc faciat bonum hee doth not shew vs whereat he aymed when he sinned but what he desireth now heeprayeth Hee desireth that as in amplifying of his sinne hee doth by a Comparison amplifie Gods Iustice for Contraria iuxta posita magis elucescunt Vertue neuer shineth more gloriously then when vice is made a foile vnto it so his recouery may bee a Monument of Gods Mercy And we may well propose vnto our selues in our confession the setting forth of Gods glory and this may be the end of it yea comfortles were our Confession if it were not for this end God would not accept it neither should wee haue good of it the more we humble our selues to magnifie God the more wee doe our duty and the more wee shall tast of his Mercy To make good this sense some take in some of the former words I acknowledge my sinnes yea goe backe as farre as the beginning of the Psalme Haue Mercy vpon me O Lord. And indeed those two must concurre the humble Repentance of a sinner and the gracious Indulgence of a good God that God may be iustified in his sayings and cleare when he his iudged O Lord saith Gregorie if thou doe not forgiue the Penitent thou wilt haue none to whom thon mayst performe thy Couenant Ruffinus and diuers other Fathers doe amplifie this sense and restraine it to the particular Case of King Danid as if the gracious promise in the 7th of the the 2. of Sam must needs fall to the ground if the indulgence specified in the 12th of the 2. of Sam. had not released the forfeiture which God might haue taken for King Dauids sinne Though this be a religious and a true sense of the word yet hath Saint Paul taught vs another that doth better fit the Contexture Rom. 3.4 wherefore Saint Chrysostome and
done which haue denied Originall Sinne. Their Sobrietie is tolerable who supposing the vndeniable truth of that Radicall sinne seeke only the waies of clearing Gods Iustice in this propagation wherein as in such darke and doubtfull cases it often falls out Saluà fide holding the fundamentall point they differ about that which is not necessarie vnto Saluation That which is most vsefull for vs is to know rather how we may be rid of it De Moribus 〈◊〉 c. â— 1. c. 22. â—pis 29. then how we doe contract it which Saint Austin expresseth in a fit Parable of a man fallen into a ditch to whom hee that findeth him there should rather lende a hand to helpe him out then tire him with inquiries how he came in Wee see that our ground is ouergrowne with briars thornes yet we know that God made the earth to beare better fruits doe good husbands mispend their time in reasoning how they came there or doe they not rather with their plough and other instruments seeke to rid them thence surely they doe and we in the case of our soules should imitate them so doing That Originall Sinne is in vs no man can doubt that seeth how children die euen in their mothers wombe or so soone as they come out of it and the wages of sinne is death in them of Actuall it cannot be Rom. 6.23 it must bee then of Originall if they liue wee make hast to baptize them and what doth Baptisme implie but that they need a new Birth vnto life seeing their first was no better then a Birth vnto death Add hereunto that our Sauiour Christs Conception had not needed to be by the Holy Ghost if so bee naturall generation did not enforce necessarily the propagation of Originall Sinne which they should consider that magnifie ouer much the Conception of the blessed mother of Christ Let it suffice vs that the Church Catholique of old and the Reformed Churches haue resolued vniformly that we are sinners so soone as we begin to bee and this Leprosie is hereditarie to vs all that our worser part hath gotten the vpper hand of our better and we are by nature no better then a masse of Corruption and the Serpents brood the sense whereof should make vs all cry out with the Apostle O wretch that I am Rom. 7.24 who shall deliuer mee from this Body of Death King Dauid doth not onely confesse that there is such a Sinne but also that himselfe is tainted therewith I was shapen in iniquitie and in sinne my mother conceiued me The words must not be wrested some haue mistaken them as if Sinne were the cause of Generation That opinion though it bee found in some Ancients yet it is so grosse that it is not worth the refuting for we reade Gen. 1. Multiplie and increase Vers 28. spoken to mankind before euer Adam and Eue committed sinne except happily this were their meaning that before the Fall the lust of generation was in the power of man to fulfill or restraine it as reason saw fit but after the Fall reason became subiect vnto lust and man fulfilled it not when reason would but when lust vrged him and this opinion is not improbable A second mistake is that Dauid should lay the blame of his Sinne vpon his Parents and taxe their sinfull lusts in the act of generation but besides that he could not conceiue so ill of his vertuous and chast Parents this were to make Dauid a Cham and so to deserue a Curse while hee seeketh a Pardon for his Sinne. The Father 's abhorred this sense and obserue that King Dauid here speaketh not of the personall sinne of his Parents but the naturall which deriued from them he had in-herent in himselfe and that he was in the state of sinne before he saw light But this is strange his Parents were members of the Church circumcised not onely outwardly which is most certaine but inwardly also which is very probable and if circumcised then discharged from Originall Sin and in the state of Grace how commeth it about then that they should engender Children in the state of Corruption Saint Austin answereth briefly Parentes non ex principijs nouitatis De. Peecata Merit Remis L. 2. C. 2. sed ex reliquijs vetustatis generant liberos they that are regenerated doe beget Children not according to the new Adam but according to the old not according to Grace but according to nature for Grace is personall the corruption is naturall and God will that they shall only communicate their nature and leaue the dispensation of Grace vnto himselfe Saint Austin illustrateth it by those who being circumcised begat Children vncircumcised and Corne which being winnowed from Chaffe brings forth eares full of Chaffe And yet notwithstanding a Prerogatiue the Children of the faithfull haue Verse 16. which Saint Paul toucheth at Rom. 11. If the Roote be holy so are the branches But this Holinesse is in possibilitie rather then in possession and there is a distance betweene naturall Generation and spirituall Regeneration though by their naturall birth-right the Children of the faithfull haue a right vnto the blessings of Gods Couenant yet doe they not partake them but by their new birth which ordinarily they receiue in Baptisme â—it 3.5 which is therefore called the Bath of Regeneration Where hence we may gather the truth of Saint Hieromes saying Christiani non nascuntur sed siunt wee may not vainely boast with the Iewes we haue Abraham to our Father Ioh. 8.39 as if hee could not beget children in iniquitie but it must be our comfort that God corrects Nature by Grace and thereby maketh vs liuing members of the Church whereas such the best of naturall Parents cannot make vs to bee Wee owe this blessing to our Father in Heauen who conueieth it vnto vs by our Mother the Church our naturall Parents can yeeld no such benefit they yeeld the contrarie rather as is cleare in this Text. Ruffinvs giueth another good note hereof Qui ad munditiae locum iam peruenit c. He that is in the state of Grace must not forget the state of Nature if we remember whence we come we shall the better esteeme the estate whereunto we are brought No man can be so proud as to arrogate vnto himselfe the praise of that which he is if hee mind well what without Gods grace he was But King Dauid was long before Regenerated how comes he now to make mention of Originall sinne How comes hee now to lay the blame of his Actuall vpon that Surely not without good cause Circumcision in the Iew as Baptisme in the Christian did absolue from all the guilt of Originall sinne by meanes of Iustification and by meanes of Sanctification did impaire much of the strength thereof Much I say but not all there are still in vs reliques of the Old man a Law in our members rebelling against the Law of our mind Rom. 7.23
Gal. 5.16 the flesh and the lusts therof disobedient to Gods Law and resisting his spirit Saint Paul cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 12.1 Sinne that cleaues so fast so fast that it cannot be loosed from vs a conceptione ad funus saith Saint Bernard though we bee working on it and weeding out of it from the beginning to the end of our life Epiphanius hath an excellent resemblance of a Fig-tree getting into a Wall Heres 64. and spreading his rootes therein which well may it bee pruned yet can it not be vtterly kild except the stones bee taken asunder and the Wall new built againe Euen so is this natiue corruption rooted in vs that vntill our dissolution we shall not be rid of it The same God that left the Canaanites in the Holy-land to exercise the Israelites leaueth also Originall sinne in vs thereby to trie how we will serue and obey him vntill death we shall haue some thing which we must alwayes watch resist keepe downe mortifie if we doe not God will humble vs therewith and wee shall receiue many a foyle thereby Dauid had triall hereof and so haue others had also euen all the sonnes of men more or lesse I except not Ieremie nor Iohn the Baptist though the Aduocates of Rome confounding the gifts of Edification with the gifts of Adoption would priuiledge them from the common condition of the sonnes of Adam But let vs not forget no more then King Dauid doth this fountaine of temptation which in those that are of age will neuer bee idle it will find vs worke either of triumph if we get the vpper hand of it or of complaint with Saint Paul Rom. 7. if it proue too hard for vs. Verse ◠You haue heard King Dauids acknowledgement I come now in a word to speake of his Plea His Plea is for Pitie but he maketh the motiue thereunto to be the displaying of his Miserie and this he doth in the first word Behold wherein he doth not so much informe God as humble himselfe God cannot be ignorant of that which man knowes but he is pleased that man should in his deuotion expresse vnto him how feeling he is and how desirous to bee vnburdened of that which brought him to offend God But we must obserue that there is a double Ecce or Behold a Carnall or a Penitentiall whereof the one extenuates the other aggrauateth the sinne The Carnall mans Ecce Behold commeth out thus I haue done ill what then Vitijs nemo sine nascitur what needeth so sharpe a reproofe All men are ill by nature if all what blame deserue I Wee would detest a debter who by his vnthriftinesse hath brought ineuitable beggerie vpon himselfe or a diseased person that by ryot hath ouerthrowne his body if either of them should bee so senselesse of his woefull case as not to blame himselfe and deplore his state with a longing desire and earnest endeauour to be rid therof And may we then brooke such Apologies of prophane men that haue runne so farre in debt vnto God and haue made themselues such spirituall Lazars through sinne Farre be it from vs to thinke that Dauid did so excuse himselfe to God No but as a discreet Patient who throughly had searched into his own disease and desired to bee wholy cured he openeth his sore to the bottome and concealeth nothing from his Physician He that desires to be freed from his Actuall but to continue his Originall sinne desireth onely to put off one punishment that he might deserue another But a true Penitent desireth so to be forgiuen that he may bee preserued from offending againe We commend Prisoners for their wisdome who knowing they are guiltie more wayes then one desire that all the Indictments may bee brought in against them before the Verdict passe vpon them that so they may be throughly discharged And hee that Arraigneth himselfe before the barre of God should not leaue any thing vnrepented of whereof he knoweth himselfe guiltie nor conceale any part of his miserie that needeth the helpe of Gods mercie the rather because wee need not doubt least the multitude of our miseries should tire or ouerburthen Gods mercie happily it may bee so with men he that will forgiue seauen will hardly be brought to forgiue Seuentie times seauen faults but with God it is farre otherwise in whom the sight of miserie especially if it bee presented with Penitencie the greater it is the more compassion it moues What a miserable case was Adam in Euen in that woefull case which I haue described vnto you in this Text yet no sooner came he into Gods sight but God was so moued that he was pardoned before he was doomed and the iust doome was made very tolerable by the mercifull pardon After God had drowned the old World what moued him to be more tender towards the new Gene. 8.21 but the pitie that hee tooke vpon this natiue corruption The euill frame of the Heart of man Excellent is the place of Ezekiel where the Church is represented weltring in her Bloud when no eye did pitie her God said that then was the time of his loue hee said vnto her liue Verse 13. yea he said vnto her when shee was in her bloud liue Ezek. 16. King Dauid Psal 103. Like as a father pitieth his children so the Lord pitieth them that feare him Verse 14. but marke what a reason he giueth Hee knoweth our frame he remembreth that we bee but dust Doth God pitie the miserie of man when there appeareth no Penitencie in him and will hee reiect him when it doth appeare No penitencie maketh miserie to pierce more deepely the tender bowels and compassions of God Wherefore let our Behold be exprest by the sorrow which we conceiue for our sinfull corruption and wee shall find that nothing can more effectually moue commiseration But I must end We are at length come to the depth of King Dauids ingenuitie and certainely in repentance a man can goe no farther The first confusion whereunto a penitent sinner may put himselfe is to bring his sinne before the eye of his owne conscience Dauid did so vers 3. The second is to haue it published before men as in the solemne Satisfactions made to the Church Dauid did so as appeares in the Title of the Psalme The last is to present it before God to draw Gods eyes to behold as well our Originall as our Actuall sinne In the first selfe-loue will diminish much of the shame and our communion in the same corruption doth much impaire the second but there is nothing can lessen the third so pure so vnpartiall are the sacred eyes of God so that Dauid could not be more humble more could not bee expected vnto a full Repentance Saint Ambrose vpon this Consideration hereof breaketh out into these words quis tanto affectu agit paenitentiam where shall a man finde his parallell suscepit personam generis humani sayth Saint Austin
to cure with his Humility when he stooped vnto the ignominious death of the Crosse But it was not Hysop alone wherewith hee desired to be purged but Hysop dipt in the holy water and this doth intimate yet more fully that the expiation was to be made by Christ for to say nothing that the red Cow slaine whose blood was sprinkled directly before the Tabernacle was as all other sacrifices a Type of Christ those things that are principally to be marked in Christ were most liucly represented in the things that were burnt with the Cowe For there were to bee cast in Cedar wood Hysop and Scarlet The Cedar is the highest of all trees and well representeth the Deity of Christ 〈◊〉 4.33 Hysop in the History of Solomons knowledge in naturall things is opposed vnto the Cedar as the lowest of plants and may well note Christs Manhood the Scarlet is an excellent representation of his bloody death according to that in the Prophet Esay 〈◊〉 63.1 2. who is this that commeth from Edom with died garments from Bozra wherefore art thou red in thy apparell c. And indeed Christs blood is the Bath of purification it clenseth from all our sinnes if wee haue our hearts sprinkled therewith wee shall bee free from euill consciences Heb. 10.22 9 14 Zach. 13.1 our consciences shall bee freed from dead workes to serue the liuing God Finally his Spirit is that fountaine that is opened vnto the house of Israel Eâ—ek 36.25 and the cleane waters that in Ezekiel God promised to poure vpon his Church without Christ the vertue of his death and worke of his Spirit God purifieth no man The Heathen had their Aquam lustralem their holy water and so hath the Church of Rome also but the Heathen holy water had no respect vnto Christs blood the Romish would seeme to haue but sanctifying Ceremonies without Gods warrant are fruitles not only so but spirituall vsurpations If we expect purification from sinne wee must tye our selues vnto Christs death and not looke to partake the benefit of it but by such meanes as are ordained of God Mat. 15 9. for the Spirit breatheth where it will not where wee will so that in vaine shall we serue God if therein wee follow no better guide then the commandements of men And let this suffice touching the Person to whom King Dauid directs his Prayer Hauing thus seuerally considered What King Danid begs and Of whom by ioyning the points together wee must see with what confidence hee expects the successe of his Prayer The first point of confidence is implyed in the words purge wash for the Original hath it thou shalt purge thou shalt wash And indeed such future tenses are Propheticall wishes and why Faith in prayer hath an eye to Gods promise and therefore a hope of his performance 2 â—â—moth 2.12 and why God cannot deny himselfe hee euer will be as good as his word Numbers 19 hee commands the carnall purifying and promiseth the successe and shall hee deny successe vnto the spirituall if wee obserue it Certainly hee will not A second branch of Considence appeareth in the resolute affirmations I shall bee cleane I shall bee whiter then snow which import that as God will bee constant in keeping his word so hee will bee powerfull in accomplishing the deed no doubt of the Effect when hee is pleased to bee the Efficient 〈◊〉 19. Vos 1â— A cleane person saith the Ceremonie shall purge him that is vncleane and hee shall bee purified And who so cleane as God in comparison of whom the best of his creatures are vncleane If the carnall purification may be expected from a mortall man how much more may we expect the spirituall from our immortall God But marke here is not onely expected a freedome from sinne but also a furniture of grace not only innocency spirituall but Beauty also so saith Dauid I shall be cleane that is innocent yea I shall be white that is beautifull Parum est mundari a sordibus peccatorum Ruffin in huâ— locum nisi contingat decorari candore virtutum it is a cold comfort to bee freed from impurity except wee be beautified with sanctitie But where sinne abounded Rom. â— 20 grace abounded much more sinne stripped vs of our originall Righteousnes and wounded vs in our naturall power and grace doth not only heale vs againe but restore vs also to whatsoeuer we lost The same God that in the Law commanded that when a captiue Israelite was set free he should not goe away empty Detr 15.13 â— but be furnished liberally with whatsoeuer God had blest his Master is not fast handed towards vs when hee freeth vs from the death of sinne but adornes vs as beseemes the spouse of Christ White is the colour of Saints Mark 9.3 it appeares in the Transfiguration of Christ and in the apparitions of Angels in the Reuelation of Saint Iohn more then once as likewise in Daniel so that that phrase implyeth that the effect of Christs purifying is not onely Grace but Glory also yea vnspeakable Glory so the comparison will haue vs vnderstand it when Dauid saith that he shall be whiter then sâ—ow It was a gracious promise that was made Psal 68. though yee haue hen amongst the pots Vers 13. yet shall ye be as the wings of a Doue couered with siluer and her feathers with yellow gold yea when the Almighty scattered Kings for his Church shee was as white as snow in Salmon here Dauid goeth a step farther Vers 14. whiter then snow And indeed well may wee resemble spirituall things by corporall and eternall by temporall for that the one doth somewhat resemble the other but equall them we cannot we may not by reason of the many degrees wherby the corporall is exceeded by the spirituall and the temporall by the eternall I conclude Who can say I haue made my heart cleane I am free from sin Prou. 20. Lib. 1. c. 5. No man for Habet cor vniuscuiusque saith S. Austin in his Confessions quod offendat oculos Dominisscio fateor there is not the best of vs that hath not touched the dead that is not infected with dead works it beseemeth the best of vs to say with S. Austin scio fateor I know I acknowledge it but we must go on with S. Austin quis mundabit who shall make me cleane and resolue with him cui alteri praeter te Domine clamabo ab occultis munda me Domine Psal 19 12. O Lord I haue none to whom I may hopefully call but to thee Lord clense me from my secret faults or in the words of my Text Purge me with Hysop and I shall be cleane wash me and I shall bee whiter then snow AMEN GOd grant we may all so wash our garments white in the blood of the Lamb during these dayes of Grace that we may hereafter walk with him in white robes when we shal
repaire to him and none but he must be our Physitian He cureth but how Per auditum by the Eare. Wee haue two Rationall Senses and contentions haue beene made about their precedencie the bookes that are giuen vs to studie will easily resolue the doubt they are Gods workes and his words if the sight of his workes might haue recouered vs we should not haue needed the Preaching of his word but the infirmitie of the former is argued by the supply of the later and whatsoeuer Philosophie thinkes Diuinitie must hold that wee are beholding much more to our Eare then to our Eye for Sauing wisedome when I name the Eare I meane the bodily the Enthusiasts haue an Eare but it is onely for Gods spirit but we must haue an Eare for Gods ministers for ordinarily God dispenseth not the Comforter but by their ministerie Fead Iob. 33. And this is the highest commendation of sacred Orders and that which must worke the greatest reuerence of the people towards them for that God conueieth heauenly treasure by these earthen vessels 2. Cor. 4.7 and into their hands hath put the power of the Keyes yea to their tongues hath he in a maner tyed the efficacie of his word they bind and loose mens soules they open and shut vnto them the King dome of Heauen They doe it did I say rather God doth it by them so are we taught by my Text God must make Dauid to heare it is not enough that God send his word and great be the number of Preachers God must breath also with his spirit 1. Cor. 37. and when Paul hath planted and Apollo watered he must giue the increase Acts 16.14 if God doe not then open the Heart as hee did Lidia's we may be no better then Francis Spera whose bones being broken with the conscience of his sinne he could not be cured because the many exhortations that were giuen vnto him by the words of men could haue no entrance into his Heart there wanted there the spirit of grace therefore we must with Dauid begge that God would make vs heare But I hasten to the last point you haue heard who giues the Physicke you must heare what Hope there is that Dauids petition will succeed there appeareth good hope good hope in the phrase for it is not onely Supplicatorie but Assertorie I obserued the like vpon the former Verse I will not repeate it But there appeareth more hope in the contexture for there Dauid is confident that the medicine shall not bee applyed in vaine the bones that thou hast broken shall reioyce so it is in the Originall marke an excellent difference betweene Gods children and others Reprobates in such a case Optare possunt sperare non possunt they may wish themselues in a better case but they cannot hope for better but the children of God when their bodies are euen brought to the graue and their soules to the gates of hell yet will they trust in God and trust to see the louing kindnesse of God in the land of the liuing We doe not belieue that the Sunne hath lost his light though the skye be ouer-cast with clouds Read Psal 77. neither will we thinke that God hath forgotten to be gracious euen when hee layeth deadly strokes vpon vs. The Chaldee Paraphrase obserues not onely a Reall ioy of the broken bones but a Vocall also not onely shall our soules be comforted and our bodies with our soules but out of the sense hereof wee shall breake forth into the Praises of God we shall praise our God with ioyfull lips Finally marke the method the sorrow of the Inward man casteth the Outward into a Consumption so likewise the Outward shall partake of Consolation if so be Consolation by the Eare be distild into the Inward Caro vt Cor no lesse the flesh then the spirit being quickned shall reioyce in the liuing God I conclude all As we are all subiect vnto sinne so are we not free from the distresses of Conscience When we are put to it let vs heare what the Lord will say for he will speake peace vnto our soules if our sorrow be godly let vs not be without hope Blessed are they that mourne so for they shall be comforted let vs rest assured that though Wee sow in teares yet we shall reape in ioy the Lord will turne our captiuitie Psol 12â— he will sill our mouthes with laughter and our tongues with songs AMEN PSAL. 51. VERS 9. Hide thy face from my sinnes and blot out all mine iniquities THe remedie that King Dauid sought in this Penitentiall was answerable to his distresse That which distrest him was sinne whereof the onely remedie is grace The sinne as you haue oftentimes heard was two fold first that which himselfe committed and secondly that which hee inherited from his parents he seekes a remedy for both in Grace You haue heard that it yeeldeth a remedy for the sinne which himselfe committed for the Impietie thereof by Expiation and by Consolation for the Malignitie that is therein It followth that now you heare of the remedy which Grace doth yeeld to the sinne which he inherited from his parents that is a Natiue Euill we commonly call it Originall sinne Grace cureth this partly by Forgiuing and partly by Regenerating forgiuing of the sinne and regenerating of the sinner These two points are commonly knowne by the names the first of Iustification the second of Sanctification of Sanctification by regenerating our sinfull nature you shall heare in the next Verse on this Verse I must speake of Iustification from by Forgiuenesse of originall sinne To come to the breaking vp of the Text there is something therein implyed and something exprest that which is implyed is Gods Prouidence that which is exprest is Gods Indulgence of Gods Prouidence we haue here intimated two Acts his Eye seeth all things and all things are recorded by his Hand Did hee not See all things it were needlesse to pray Hide thy face and it were as needlesse to pray Blot out were not all things recorded by his Hand such prayers must needes presuppose those workes Besides this Prouidence of God so implyed the Text will teach vs the Indulgence of God which is here fairely exprest for the better vnderstanding whereof I will open vnto you first the suite that King Dauid maketh for it and then the possibilitie that there is of his obtaining it In the suite wee shall see how answerable his desire is vnto Gods worke Gods worke is to See and Record and his desire is that hee would not See hide thy face that he would cancell blot out But in the prayer we must more-ouer marke 1. to what 2. how farre he would haue his desire extend To what not to his person but to his sinnes hide thy face not from me but from my Sinnes blot out not mee but mine iniquities Hee restraineth then Gods acts to their proper obiect But hauing so restrained them he
inlargeth their worke vpon that obiect to the vtter most he excepts no sin but would haue them all pluckt vp by the rootes Hide thy face from my sinnes blot out all mine iniquities This is King Dauids suite a hard suite you may oubt whether it can be granted you may doubt whether such indulgence may stand with the Diuine Prouidence how he that seeth all can hide his face from any thing and how he can blot out any thing that keepeth a record of all I must therefore in the last place shew you the possibilitie which King Dauid hath of obtayning his desire shew you that such Indulgence doth not preiudice Gods Prouidence and Gods Prouidence not hinder such Indulgence You haue the particulars which are contained in this Text which I will now farther vnfold I pray God it may be to our edification But before I enter vpon the particulars I must giue some light vnto the phrases which are darke because figuratiue and may mis-guide if they bee taken as they sound Whereas then here is mention made of a Face wee may not conceiue that God hath a body made of flesh and bloud they were long since condemned for hereticks that did so grossely mistake the Scripture God in such phrases by a resemblance informeth vs as far as we are capable of his incomparable Essence Consider then the vse of our face it is the instrument of knowledge therein are the senses placed of seeing hearing smelling c. but yet though they appeare there we must not impute the sense vnto the body but vnto the soule that quickens the body Philosophie teacheth that Anima est quae videt quae audit c. and there is sensible proofe of it when the soule is departed from the body though there be an eye left and an eare yet there is neither seeing nor hearing whereupon it followeth that the vertue of seeing and hearing is in the soule these are the faculties of a spirit so that God may haue them though hee haue properly no face hee may haue that which is signified by the face the power of discerning things A second vse that is made of the face is that it serueth for a looking-glasse wherein to behold our affections this vse followeth vpon the former for that which wee apprehend outwardly by our senses doth inwardly content or discontent the euidence of either you may reade in our countenance if it content we looke vpon it cheerefully and turne from it wrathfully if it discontent hereupon it commeth to passe that the face is vsed to note sometimes Gods fauour and sometimes his anger according as that which is presented before him doth please or else displease Out of both these vses of the face applyed vnto God we must learne that there is no perfection in man which is not in God that beflowed it vpon man but wee must conceiue it in God as it beseemeth God according to the vncompoundednesse and infinitenesse of his nature The second phrase of blotting out which presupposeth a Booke wherein things are written is also a phrase borrowed from men whose brittle memory maketh them haue recourse to such helpes least otherwise many of their affaires should either be forgotten by them or denyed by others the Booke supplies both these defects and what is entred there serueth our owne memory and resolueth the doubts of others we haue proofe hereof in our Oeconomicks no good husband which taketh not this course at home and in the Politicks there is no well aduised State that is without a Register and maketh not vse of Annals and Iournals To apply this God is Master of his house the Church the world is his Kingdome wherein hee reignes wee may happily thinke that though hee seeth all yet he may forget much to refute so vaine a dreame the Scripture doth remember his Booke not meaning that his memory wanteth a helpe but that it is as firme as ours is with such a helpe yea much more firme for our helpes are as much subiect to casualty as our selues are but Gods booke is nothing but himselfe and himselfe is no more lasting then is his record we must therfore sublime our thoughts when wee thinke of Gods Booke and fancy nothing which is not Diuine But I leaue the phrase and come to the matter I told you that Gods prouidence intimated by these two phrases consisteth of these two acts the first is Omnia nouit hee hath an vbiquitary Eye all things as Saint Paul speaketh are naked before his eyes Elihu in Iob Heb. 4.13 Iob. 34.21.22 his eyes are vpon the wayes of man and hee seeeth all his goings there is no darkenesse nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselues Psal 139. King Dauid hath made a whole Psalme wherein hee sheweth how vaine a thing it is for a man to seeke a hiding place from God Ecclus. 23.19 The sonne of Syrach in few words The eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter then the Sun beholding all the wayes of men and considering the most secret parts he knew all things ere euer they were created and when they were created hee looked vpon them Cap. 30.1 therefore doth God in Esay cry out against them that take counsell but not of him and that couer with a couering but not of his spirit and it is not without cause obserued as a great folly in our first father Adam that hee thought a thicket of trees would hide him from God The same discase is inherited by his posterity wee may gather it out of the phrase â—om 1â— 12 〈◊〉 3. â—0 Iob. 24.15 16. wherein the holy Ghost describes sinnes calling them workes of darkenesse because as Christ telleth vs Qui male agit odit lucem adulterers and theiues choose darkenesse when they will fulfill their lusts and they that are drunken saith the Apostle are drunken in the night but silly wretches while they thinke no eye seeth them the eyes of God are vpon them 〈◊〉 23.19 Psal 39.12 and hee is priuy to their most inward thoughts for night is to him as the day and darkenesse is as the cleare light This is the first worke of Prouidence Omnia nouit hee knoweth all things The second is Omnia notat he maketh a record of all things that is implied in the Book Psal 139.16 Dan. 7.10 〈◊〉 20 12. 〈◊〉 20.12 cap. 3.5 Often mention is made therof in the Psalms in Daniel in Ezekiel in the Reuelation and the Platonists Mundus intelligibilis and Idaeaes seeme to import the very same but that which I principally obserue is that God doth not see things as if they did not concerne him but as Salomon speaketh his eye-lids try the sonnes of men and hee pondereth all their pathes yea hee doth make a record of them whether they bee good or bad Vers 16. Of the good you haue an excellent place Malach. Chap. 3. when the Atheist had blasphemed then they
to Regeneration we must conceiue of it as of a cure that worketh out a deep rooted Corruption yea the termes of cleannes and rightnes must so be conceiued as that the cure doth not only worke out corruption but work in the contrary perfection as we see that the Eclipse of the moone is remedied by the imparting vnto it the brightnes of the sunne and the darkenes of the night by the succeeding of the day-light the winterly hue of the earth is exchanged for the flourishing of the spring and the weaknesse that wee seele being sicke by the vigour that we haue from health Euen so fareth it with our soules we put off the Old man by putting on the New and the root of Originall sin by being indued with Originall Righteousnes This being obserued concerning Regeneration in generall wee must now descend to the Regeneration of the parts in particular the first of which is the regeneration of the Heart it is here called Cleannesse I will not fall into the common place of the defiling Nature of sin I haue touched at it more then once on the former words of this Psalme I will keepe my selfe to that which is peculiar to this part I told you it is the soueraigne power of the reasonable soule and the first point wherein the soueraigntie appeares is that it doth Command now the blemishes of a commander are two 1. Folly and 2. Impotencie either he knoweth not what directions to giue them that are vnder him or else contrarie to his iudgement he is ouer-borne by his affections take an example of Solomon the father and Rehoboam the sonne Solomon was wise the wisest King that euer was and no wise King was euer more impotent in his affections as appeareth by his so doting on his heathenish wiues that to content them he entertained all kind of Idolatry the son of Solomon Rehoboam went as far in folly as his father in impotency the son of Syrach calls him the very foolishnesse of the people Ecclies 51. and well he deserued to be so called that forsooke the counsell of the Sages and listned vnto brainsicke youths and so lost ten Tribes of twelue In these two Kings we may behold the defects of our commanding parts for somtimes the iudgment of it is so weak that it misdeemes good for euill and euill for good light for darknesse and darkenesse for light and this error is predominant in those that are without the Church for of Infidels it is most true that they haue a foolish Heart Rom. 1. yea when they thinke they be most wise in their reasoning they shew themselues most foolish it were endlesse to descend to particulars if I should reckon no more then those which are toucht in the Scripture how much more if I should discouer it out of there owne writings there speculatiue learning their practicke their theologie their policy their ethicks their oeconomicks all are spiced with folly Though this folly be predominant in those without the Church yet is there more then a good deale of it within the Church also were there no other proofe contentious writings proclaime to the world that many beleeuers cum ratione insaniunt haue a crackt braine and weake iudgement working vpon false principles or working out such conclusions as will neuer spring from truth Folly is one defect of the commanding part but not the onely it hath another which is Impotencie though the iudgement doe not faile in setting the heart right yet the affections doe transport it that it cannot resolue right Video meliora proboque deterior a sequor wee know our duety oftner then wee can bee perswaded to doe it And this disease though it be in Infidels as the former verse doth witnesse and Saint Paul much more Rom. 1. saying that They detaine the truth of God in vnrighteousnesse and that though they haue no Law they are a Law vnto themselues yet is this disease more common in the Church whose sins spring more commonly from the impotency of their affections then from the ignorance of their iudgement as it is plaine by those that teach others but teach not themselues and commit those faults themselues which they condemne in others there are few reasonably bred that know not their Creed and the ten Commandements yet when they are put to a reall maintenance of their faith or obseruance of the Law who is hee that staggers not that yeelds not to his affections Well seeing these are the defects of the heart as it is a commanding part you easily conceiue what the cure thereof must be and what is the first property of a cleane heart it is the rectifying of it in regard of folly and impotencie the making of it first wise and vnderstanding the furnishing of it with good and sound Principles the knowledge of the good and acceptable will of God in a word a right iudgement in all things this S. Paul meaneth 〈◊〉 2.16 when hee saith We haue the mind of Christ so that bee the Scrpent neuer so crafty bee sinne neuer so sweetly sugered euill neuer so curiously blancht be the suggestions of our aduersary neuer so sophisticall yet shall wee not bee circumuented wee shall not be deceiued by it That our commanding part be so freed from folly is not enough it must bee freed from impotencie also wee must haue obedient and religious hearts Mat. 10.37 be as ready to doe as to know loue nothing in comparison of God and doing our duety not father mother brother sister wife c. yea we must deny them all Lâ—ke 14 16. I say too little Christ goeth farther we must hate them all if they be an impediment to our following of God and keeping of his commandements if we are so far masters of our selues as to make our affections conforme themselues vnto our iudgement then is the commanding part cured in regard of impotencie and so the commanding part so farre as it is rid of folly and impotencie is truely regenerate But there is in the soueraigne part besides the commanding power a seasoning power also and that must bee regenerated It seasons all our actions with vertue or vice according as it is good or ill As the knowledge of God is the regeneration of it as it is the commanding part so is the loue of God the regeneration of it as it is the seasoning part or rather the coniunction of the loue of God to the knowledge of God So that for a vertuous action wee must bee sani boni viri it must bee the worke of a well aduised and a well-affected man so that the latter part of regeneration is but a consequent vpon the former and the heart if it command well seasoneth well and seasoneth ill if it command ill according to the Commandement our workes doe proue either Vertues or Vices You haue heard what is the regeneration of the soueraigne power here is another power specified which is the actiue Nazianzene
dung whose labour is only to make themselues euerlasting fuell for hell God regardeth them accordingly and they receiue as little of this ioy of saluation as they would seeme to want it But if wee meane to receiue wee must first feele that we doe want and our want must be declared as King Dauids was in this supplication restore For God then begins to take pittie when men are brought to the knowledge of their wants yea he giueth men a sense of their want before he vouchsafeth a supply thereof But redde doth not only imply a sense of want but a remembrance also of that which sometimes we had It is a good thing for a man to bee feeling of his want but there is no small accesse made vnto that gracious sense if we apprehend withall that our want proceeds from our owne vnthristinesse that what wee want wee had and that it is through our owne fault that we are brought vnto this want And indeed if euer wee be in want we want through our owne default for God made vs perfect and we became not naked but by eating the forbidden fruit and since that time men haue beene more or lesse vnthriftie and haue mispent the portion which God hath giuen them Therefore wee must not come to God with the simple Verbe da that imports only that we are in want we must vse the compound redde we must confesse our selues Prodigals that is the right voice of a Christian Penitent But whereto shall we apply this restore To the saluation Or to the ioy Distinguish Quod fieri debet quod fit our deseruing and Gods dealing and the answere is plaine no doubt wee forfeit our saluation God might strip vs of it if hee did reward vs according to our sinnes Gods Couenant is like a lease that hath a clause of re-entrie but leaueth a power in the Land-lord to vse extremitie or deale mercifully with his Tenant God is vnto his children as a kind Land-lord vnto bad Tenants he doth not take forfeits as often as we make them hee doth not re-enter vpon our Tenement nor strip vs of our saluation we are often damnable yet we are not damned Notwithstanding hee doth not suffer vs to scape scot-free when he doth not take the forfeiture hee taketh à nomine poenae he doth inflict some penaltie yea and that a sharpe one too for he taketh euen from his dearest children the ioy of their saluation hee casteth them into sad moodes hee afflicteth them with heauie hearts when they looke vpwards they see cloudes cast ouer Gods countenance and cannot but sorrow for it when they looke downe they see Hels mouth gaping for them they cannot but tremble at it such agonies ouertake them and make them smart for their sinnes wherewith they offend God agonies I say of sorrow and feare Take a similitude from the Sunne which may make a day or a Sunshine day while it is aboue our Horizon it is often day when the Sunne doth not shine but thicke clouds breathed from the earth make a sad skie as if it were night yet cannot we say the Sunne is gone downe euen so many times are we in the state of saluation the Sunne is with vs wee are children of the day yet haue wee no ioy of our saluation our Sunne doth not shine wee haue no cleere day But from King Dauid you may learne that to bee sure of saluation will not content a religious heart except hee may haue the ioy thereof also I conclude this point let vs take heed that pleasure strip vs not of pleasure worldly of heauenly let vs not grieue God lest he grieue vs grieue him with sinne lest he grieue vs with sorrow for we see in King Dauids example that God inflicts such penalties and if at any time we suffer so for our desert let vs not continue stupidly in this distressing want but importune him with King Dauids Restore Restore mee to the ioy of thy saluation And so much of the first part of the supplication I come now to the second from the Restitution to the Confirmation Stablish me with a free spirit Where first we must see what spirit is here meant There is a spirit in man and there is a spirit of God some vnderstand the one some vnderstand the other I wil ioyne both together For indeed the attribute belongs to both Gods spirit is free and so is mans but Gods by nature mans by grace couple Gods Spirit vnto mans and then you shal find the saying of the Apostle true Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is libertie 2. Cor. 3. Rom. 8. Iohn 8. for it is the Spirit of adoption and if thereby the Sonne of God make vs free then are we free indeed Therefore I told you that here by the Spirit I vnderstand our disposition But this disposition of ours must bee considered as it is by nature so it is seruile as it becomes by grace so it is free I called it a generous disposition and indeed so the word signifieth But to open it a little more fully Iohn 8. ver 34 we learne of Christ that sinne maketh a slaue it appeareth plainly in that which we call free will and the attendants thereon Freewill is resolued into the iudgement wee passe vpon things and the choice wee make according to the iudgement now no man hath a more slauish iudgement then a wicked man for sin blindeth his eyes what he doth not desire he doth not beleeue and you shall seldome see a man possest with any enormous sinne in whom affected ignorance is not euident yea sinne maketh him put that out of all question which if he would vse his owne iudgement hee would find had no credibilitie Had it not beene for this seruilitie of iudgement Pharaoh could neuer so long haue held out against Moses Israel haue murmured so often against God Scribes and Pharisees haue so fearefully blasphemed our Sauiour Christ the Church of Rome so shamefully withstand the truth and Atheists so prophanely scoffe at the reproofe of their sinnes not one of these many leud ones which hath not a seruile iudgement Neither hath seruilitie taken possession only of our iudgement but of our will also wee can make no better choice then our iudgement will giue vs leaue if that be seruile this cannot be free Not free Nay it were well if it were no more seruile then our iudgement but indeed it is much more for how often doe we see what we should doe and yet to please sinne chuse to doe the contrarie Whether we be regenerate or whether we be vnregenerate for the text is vnderstood of both by seuerall Diuines we may say with the Apostle Rom. 7. I see a Law in my members rebelling against the Law of my mind and carrying me captiue vnto sinne we haue vncircumcised hearts and doe resist the Spirit of God Take an example or two the Pharisees could not denie the Resurrection of Christ the
goodnesse of a Creature and if it faile no lesse power then this can restore it againe In a word there is none other Good but hee and therefore none but he can doe good whether it be naturall or morall good good of Grace or good of Glory all are but drops whereof he is the Ocean and hee is the Sunne from whom these beames doe issue His Ability is not all the reason why the suite is directed vnto him but his Promise also must bee ioyned thereto Take the words corporally then hath Dauid a speciall promise both of the indulgence and beneficence of God 2. Sam. 7. take them spiritually and then the blessings come within the generall promises of Gods Couenant for that hath the promises both of this Life 1. Tim 4 â— and of that which is to come For doe good you see there is reason to pray to God and there is as much reason for Build thou the wals Men cannot so much as build corporally except the Lord build the house he laboureth but in vaine that buildeth much more spiritually Psal 127. seeing none can giue the spirit but himselfe and all our sufficiencie is from his spirit without which we can doe nothing God is the wall of our wall hee standeth about those that feare him as the Hils about Ierusalem Psal 125. Psal 147. he will build vp Ierusalem and gather together the out-casts of Israel But when wee make God the Author wee doe not exclude the Instruments our selues and others but shew their impotencie if he make them not both able and effectuall The Person is well chosen to whom the suite is directed but that is not enough there must bee some motiue also which may plead for the Sutor And here is the most preuailing motiue nothing without God euer moueth him to doe good many things from without may prouoke his vengeance but nothing can draw from him works of Grace but that which is within him And that which is within him the first mouer is alwayes his good will Gods will is alwayes good but wee then vse the addition of good when we feele the gracious effects thereof when God dealeth with vs according to the sweetnesse of his Nature not the rigour of his iustice And this phrase commeth then in seasonably when wee haue deserued the contrary as Dauid now had and all men doe when they are put to this Petition doe good build vp witnesse all the Instaurations that haue beene since the beginning of the World Nothing can bee had from God by merit but we owe it all vnto Gods Mercie who for his owne sake doth repaire his Church as at first he gaue it a being onely for his owne sake And it is happie that that is the onely motiue for were it not for that wee should bee left comfortlesse but from this wee may receiue more then wee can hope for Hee dealeth like a God 2 Sam 7. and not like a man Secondly this phrase may note some remarkable thing touching the nature and measure of the gifts The nature as if Dauid did desire that most which would please God best and did not sue to God for other gifts then such as he taketh the greatest content in and so that he might obtaine Gods good will for Sion and Ierusalem hee passeth not for all the rest And indeed it it is true spirituall wisedome to make Let mee finde grace in thine eyes the vpshot of our suite and to seeme to minde no thing else but the recouery of Gods good will 1. King â— wee are sure then to speed with Salomon of any other good though wee mention it not in our prayers Finally this phrase may note as the nature so the measure of the gifts it implyeth that we presume not to carue to our selues but leaue him to enlarge or contract his bountie as it seemeth best vnto him And indeed as he knoweth best what is good for vs so is he the best proportioner of his gifts and will deale more freely the lesse we presume to prescribe vnto him But let vs draw to an end I told you that in the whole Text you might obserue two remarkable Vertues shining therein The first is Confidence In the beginning of the Psalme King Dauid seemed to bee a very wretch so sinfull that he might well seeme vnworthy to open his mouth for himselfe yet hauing vnburthened his conscience and poured forth his soule for himselfe hee gathereth strength and groweth bold to pray for others for the whole Kingdome yea for the whole body of the Church hee presumeth to importune God to bestow the greatest of his temporall and spirituall blessings And the conscience of sinne must not so dishearten vs but when wee haue made our owne peace wee may become suitors for others also It is an argument of the Communion of Saints and Christ out of a fellow-feeling hath taught vs to say Our Father 1. Tim. 2.1 yea the Apostle willeth vs to pray for all men But as we must pray with this Confidence like Dauid so must wee bee like Dauid in seasoning our prayers with Compassion though we doe well enough our selues yet must we not be senslesse of other mens wants nor finde ease in ease while others are in danger especially if our selues haue beene the cause of their danger as Dauid was who as much as lay in him exposed all Israel to ruine and destruction Hee had reason therefore to remember it in his prayers and desire God to be gracious vnto it God hath visited our Land with a Plague of Raine and no doubt but our sinnes are the cause of so vnseasonable weather for Genes 3. Cursed be the Earth for thy sake hath a constant truth and God doth not distemper the Seasons except we be first distempered You shall doe well therefore to looke vpon the Land with Compassion and remember in your denotion the distresses thereof Finally learne from King Dauid to put into our prayers those to whom wee haue specâ—all reference Would the time permit this Note might be enlarged to Parents Masters Magistrates Pastors I will insist onely on Sion and Ierusalem to that wee haue the neerest reference No consanguinity no affinity worketh so straight a band as doth the Communion of Saints yet is there nothing that moueth men lesse I would it did moue more especially at this time when Sion is as a wildernesse and Ierusalem a desolation what with the Turke and what with the Pope euery where is the sword bathed in Christian bloud if euer Ne â—rascaris Domine would now be a seasonable Antheme wee should all pray Be not wrath very sore O Lord neither remember iniquitie for euer And I would there were that compassionate disposition in vs which appeared in the captiue Iewes Psal 137. when they said If I forget thee O Ierusalem let my right hand forget her cunning if I doe not remember thee let my tongue cleaue to the roofe of
is the swiftnesse of the flight The Eagle flieth very high Prou. 23. Ier 49. whereupon many Prouerbs are grounded in Scripture And this high flight intimateth that the Israelites were carried aboue the reach of their enemies so that they could neither hinder nor hurt them Not that they were lifted vp in the aire but they were as safe as if they had beene because saith the Psalmist thou hast made the Lord the most high thy habitation Psal 91 â— there shall no euill befall thee Certainly the Cloud interposed betweene the Israelites and Egyptians would not suffer them to take any harme And indeed the children of God are very secure except it bee for their good their enemies shall neuer haue their will of them no more then the Egyptians had of the Israelites As the Eagle flieth high so doth hee flie swift also the Scripture groundeth many similies hereupon Iob 9.1 Sam. 1. and giueth vs to vnderstand that from the time that the Egyptians let the Israelites goe which was â—o soone as Moses had performed all the miracles intended of God for plaguing the Egyptians the Israelites had a very quicke passage And indeed it is a wonder that sixe hundred thousand men besides women and children and a rabble of strangers should in one night be readie and get out of their enemies land and that with all their impediments of stuffe and cattle and flockes Neither was it a lesse wonder that in one night they should all passe through the Red Sea and standing on the shoare the next morning see that all their enemies were destroyed Certainly they that made such speed were carried vpon Eagles wings it was a diuine power that conueyed them And how quickly doth God change the face of the world when he is pleased to worke a great deliuerance The Church of Christians is not herein inseriour to the Church of the Israelites For as the Israelites had a Dragon so Pharaoh is called Ezek. 29. from whom they fled euen so haue the Christians Reuel 12. And Eagles wings are there giuen to the woman the type of the Christian Church to slie into the wildernesse as the Israelites vpon Eagles wings were carried into their wildernesse So like is God alwayes to himselfe and the Church alwayes prouided for a like I may not forget the order of these words that worke which was first done is first commemorated and that which was last done is commemorated in the last place And why though God for sinne doth otherwise punish the wicked yet in this world he doth it commonly that hee may free his Church But I toucht at this before therefore I will passe it ouer and come to the end of both workes God brought them to himselfe And this is a greater blessing then that he carried them on Eagles wings that shewed a deliuerance from euill this a bestowing of good The Eagle doth sometimes carrie her young ones only from a dangerous vnto a safer nest sometimes shee rouseth them out of their sloth and directs them where they may find their prey Euen so dealeth God with his children hee freeth them from danger Luke 1. and bringeth them to comfort Hee bringeth them to himselfe to his seruice saith the one Chaldie Paraphrase to the doctrine of his Law saith another and indeed we are deliuered from our enemies that wee may serue God and liue according to his Lawes If there were no more in it it is a great comfort so to be imployed But there is more in it I told you that the end was a Couenant of wedlocke so that to my selfe is as much as to be appropriated vnto me and to be my Spouse to bee the Mother of my children and beare inheritors of the Kingdome of Heauen Any way to come neere God is a great honour but to come so neere and become so deare is more grace then mans heart can conceiue or his tongue vtter But the two next Sermons will bee spent for the most part in amplifying this therefore I will speake no more of it at this time You haue heard of both the workes One point remayneth which I will touch in a word Both these workes are vndeniable the proofe is Vos vidistis I appeale to your eyes whether I speake not a truth and your fresh experience doth iustifie my words Rationall proofes satisfie much but not so much as sensitiue therefore the intuitiue knowledge that Angels haue is farre more excellent then our discursiue and what is our hope but that our faith shall be turned into sight Neither doth sight worke so vpon our head only but vpon our heart also Segnius irritant animos dimissa per aures Quam quae sunt oculis commissa fidelibus had God done these things and they had only heard of them they would haue beene moued with them much lesse the more vndoubted their knowledge the more strong should their affections be Finally obserue that Vos vidistis you haue seene is referred not only to the worke of Mercie but also to that of Iustice wherein God doth condescend to an affection that is predominant in vs. It doth adde not a little to the content we take in our better estate if we see withall our enemies brought into our worser Psal 58. When the righteous seeth the vengeance he will reioyce and wash his feet in the bloud of the wicked Mal. 1. Your eyes saith God to the Iewes shall see the desolation of Edom and you shall say the Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel Luke 16. Lazarus in Abrahams bosome to his greater comfort seeth Diues burning in Hell Esay 66. And after the last judgement the Saints shall goe forth and see the carcasses of them that haue transgrest against God This doth not commend 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but allowes congratulating of Gods iudgements To conclude These two workes serue to worke two affections which sway much in the ordering of our life Feare and Loue. In the worke of Iustice you see that God is almightie there is no striuing with him hee that will not relent with repentance shall bee grinded with his vengeance In the worke of Mercie you see that God is bountifull Let vs not bee vnthankfull but let vs repay Loue with Loue. In a word seeing euery day God doth present such spectacles before our eyes God grant wee bee not like the Israelites of whom Moses complayneth that they were as if they had no eyes RAther he giue vs grace to make such vse of our eyes in beholding his workes that his Feare and his Loue may euer liue in our hearts So may hee euer manifest his Iustice for vs his Goodnesse to vs vntill hauing deliuered vs from all our enemies here on earth hee bring vs to himselfe to liue with him blessed for euer in Heauen AMEN The third Sermon EXODVS 19. VERS 5 6. Now therefore if yee will obey my voice indeed and keepe my Couenant then shall yee
that is consorts with Angels and wee were by times or by turnes to intend no lesse our Heauenly then our worldly vocation the things of a better no lesse then the things of this present life To take off our thoughts and desires our care and endeuour from this world and bestow them vpon the world to come from the earth place them vpon heauen is that that which the holy Ghost meaneth by Sanctifying of our persons And verily before the Fall no more was required thereunto then such a change of our employment but after the Fall more is made necessarie for sin cleaueth vnto our nature we are conceiued and borne therein Psal 51. Not only those that are without the Church whom Saint Paul describeth Rom. 1. but also those that are within the Church whom hee describeth in the third of that Epistle And this sinne doth defile vs read Esay the first Chapter and Ezech. 16 there you shall see how lothsome how vgly we are by reason of our sinne Esay 64. v. 6. All our righteousnesse as the Prophet speaketh is like a menstruous cloth Neither doth sinne only defile vs but by vs it defileth all other creatures Concupiscence is a contagious thing Contactu omnia foedo inquinat what it toucheth it staineth Titus 15. Vnto the impure saith the Apostle nothing is pure nothing is pure to a sinfull man because his mind and conscience is defiled So that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are synonyma Acts 10. the common thing or things vnseparated the things of this life that are not hallowed are all impure Wherefore to sanctifie now is not only to change our imployment but also to clense our selues from sinne and before we doe dedicate our selues vnto God wee must remoue not only our imployment from the world but also our corruption from our persons Corruption not only that which is inherent in vs but also that which by our meanes is adherent vnto our goods and to other creatures whereof we make any offering to God This which in grosse I haue said concerning Sanctification is distinctly taught in the rest of my text and the rest of my text is a faire Commentarie vpon this word for therein you shall see first the separation of sinne from them in the washing of their Garments Secondly the seperation of their employment from the world in not comming to their Wiues and last of all that which is the vp-shot of all their preparation to meete God Let vs looke into these points orderly First into the ceremoniall obseruance The Israelites were to wash their clothes God fitted his Law in the old Testament vnto the nonage of his Church so the time before Christs Incarnation is called by the Apostle Gal. 4. 1 Cor. 10. and all things came to his people in types and figures much of their Law was ceremonial But those ceremonies of Gods institution were as the fathers call them Sacramenta they were mysticall things they had an out-side and an in-side an out-side corporall an in-side spirituall wherein they differed from Heathenish and Pharisaicall ceremonies for example to instance in the ceremonie which we haue in hand The Heathen the Pharises had their washing Touching that of the Heathen we read in the prophane Authors and in the Gospell we read of that of the Pharises both of them had Lauacrum but not Mysterium the out-side but not the in-side of the washing their thoughts reached no farther then the Carnall worke ascribing to the Carnall worke a supernaturall power which the Poet taxeth in the Heathen Ah nimium faciles qui tristia Crimina coedis Tolli fluminea posse putatis aquâ And our Sauiour Christ taxeth it in the Pharisies who thought when they had washed their hands they were quit from their briberie Neither is the Romish sprinkling of Holy water much better whether wee looke to the consecration of it or the confidence that is put in it In the the consecration the Priest doth pray without a promise and as for the people they rest vpon Opus operatum the doing of a worke that hath no warrant and so trust in a lye Ceremonies of significancie the Church may institute but ceremonies of efficacie it cannot institute God onely who is the fountaine of grace can institute those Conduits by which hee will conuey them to vs. But to leaue these carnall ceremonies and come to the mysticall Saint Austin giueth this good rule to guide vs in vnderstanding them Epist 49. Quest vet Humana Consuetudo verbis Diuina potentia etiam rebus loquitur It is vsuall with men to expresse their meaning in words God hath moreouer another language sutable to his power hee speaketh by things by corporall things to let the Israelites vnderstand spirituall and their ceremonies were Symbola pietatis sensible Images as it were of their morall duetie But least we mistake we must obserue three differences betweene the cutside and inside of the ceremonies First the corporall part of it was to be considered not according vnto its owne nature but according to its reference not according to that which it was in it selfe but according vnto that whereunto it was ordained of God so Sacrifices were to be considered not as beasts or birds c. but as Types of Christ that was to die for the sinne of the world but the spirituall part of the ceremonie was to bee considered and esteemed according to its owne and absolute nature A second thing is that the Type containeth good or euill in regard onely of the Commandement which requireth the doing or the forbearing therof whereas otherwise the thing in it selfe is indifferent but the inward part of that ceremonie is commanded or forbidden because in its owne nature it is good or euill Thirdly man can onely performe the Corporall or outward part of the ceremonie the inward and spirituall can be done onely by the speciall grace of God and we may not ascribe vnto the Creature that which is in the power and gift onely of the Creatour These rules being considered in generall must also discreetly bee distinguished according to the maine parts of Religion which are two 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that wherein God doth exhibite ought vnto vs and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that wherein wee doe present some thing vnto God The ceremonie wherewith we haue now to doe is of the later sort for washing our clothes is a part of mans sernice which he doth to God-ward In all the Purifications of Moses Law washing of Clothes was alwayes one as you may find in the Booke of Leuiticus where those Lawes are set together and the Iewes from this precept gather the practice of baptizing them whom they receiue into their Couenant and Church Neither was this an Introductorie Law of Moses but a declaratorie for we read of it in the story of Iacob when he did purge his family Gene. 35. one of the ceremonies practised was the shifting of Garments which
shifting implieth washing because it was a putting off the soule to put on the cleane and the garments of those Countries were cleane by being washt as anon you shall heare By the way take this obseruation that the ceremoniall Lawes of Moses excepting such as were requisite vpon the Churches becomming Nationall or were occasioned by the Israelites deliuerance out of Aegypt were in practice amongst the Patriarkes from the beginning of the world as may be gathered out of Genesis Let vs now come closer to our present ceremonie And here first it is worth the inquiring why God should pitch vpon this kind vpon the washing of Garments The reason is euident in the Scripture the similitude of God according to which we were Created is compared to a Garment not onely by the fathers Ieremie Ambrose Austin and others but also by the Holy Ghost who speaking of the losse thereof saith that thereby wee become Naked Gene. 3. and the recouerie of that Image is the buying of rayment from Christ the phrases of putting on Christ Reue. 3.18 putting on the new man putting on the Armour of light allude hereunto and if you marke it well our originall righteousnesse resembled a Garment in three things For first it did couer and adorne vs as a robe of maiestie sit for him that was made to rule in this lower world Secondly as a Garment that is put on may be put off so might we loose our originall righteousnesse And indeed Adam was disrobed thereof and wee in him The fathers say Lâ—ke 10. v. 30. he was meant by the man that going from Ierusalem to Iericho fell amongst theeues and was robbed Thirdly though a man keepe his robe on yet may it be stained so though a man doe not forgoe his righteousnesse recouered in Christ yet may he much blemish it These correspondencies are faire grounds of Gods choice of this ceremonie We haue not now to do with the wanting or loosing of our garment onely let me tell you Reuel 3. v. 17. that Christ speaketh of some that thinke they are clothed when they are â—aked let vs take heed of being such blind Laodiceans Reuel 16. v. 15. Againe Christ biddeth all take heed that they loose not their garments and their nakednesse and filthinesse appeare let vs take heed of such vnthriftinesse though Adam smarted well for it wee shall smart worse God restored vnto him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his first rayment Luke 15. v. 2â— and hee restoreth it to all his to as many of them as put on Christ but if they loose it againe if they put off that garment their nakednesse shall neuer bee couered againe Heb. c. 6.4 and Cap. 10.26 But we haue not to doe with that desperate sinne we haue now to doe with stayning of those garments which wee keepe The ancient colour of garments which they did vsually weare was White and so very apt to be stained therfore they were often to be washed and scoured In the Primitiue Church one of the ceremonies of Baptisme was this the baptized person had a cleane white garment put vpon him with these words Take this White garment and keepe it vnspotted vntill thou be presented before the tribunall of Christ. The Churches meaning was that wee should continue in that innocencie which we receiued in Baptisme But that which Christ said vnto the Church of Sardis Thou hast a few Names which haue not defiled their garments was spoken but comparatiuely of them and absolutely it can be spoken of none for who doth not defile himselfe more or lesse and staine his innocencie Yea and that more wayes then one and that too in a high degree And the ground of this Commandement is because the Israelites in Aegypt had defiled themselues with Idolatrie and other kinds of impietie The Church of Rome exempteth some of their Saints from mortall though not from veniall sinne some from Actuall of both sorts but not from Original as Iohn Baptist the Virgine Marie from originall also but they are conceites whereupon themselues are not agreed wherefore leauing them to wrangle 1. Iohn ver 18. wee will hold with Saint Austin That if all the Saints in the world during their militancie had beene assembled their common confession would be this If we say we haue no sinne we deceiue our selues and there is no truth in vs. Now when our corporall garment is vncleane what doe we Wee doe that which is commanded here we wash it we scoure it but wee must doe it as it is commanded here that is mystically When a Dogge is beaten before a Lion the meaning is that by that which is done to the Dogge the Lion should see what he deserues And Theoderet noteth well vpon this place that When God biddeth them wash their garments timorem illis ingerit religiosioresque reddit ex his enim colligebant magis expurgandam animam God doth not delight so much in the cleannesse of garments as in the purity of oursoules for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazian And no maruell for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Nazianz. As that wihch doth enter a man doth not defile a man no more doth that which couereth a man therefore Christ biddeth the Pharisees wash their owne insides and then all things should be holy vnto them for vnto the pure all things are pure Except happily wee may say that the Garment also is defiled Iude 23. because spotted with the flesh and so there is in this phrase a touch at the contagion of sinne which was also meant in the Ceremoniall vncleannesse when they were bid to wash their Garments but that vanisheth so soone as our selues are purified the Holy Ghost would haue vs take principall care of our soules that they may bee purified And there is a fountaine opened to the house of Dauid and to the inhabitants of Ierusalem Zach. 1.13 we may wash our selues white in the bloud of that Lambe for his bloud doth cleuse from all sinne and if our sinnes bee as red as scarlet he can make them as white as snow Malachie saith Chap. 3. it hath in it the vertue of fullers sope it is his bloud that can make his Spouse all faire make his Church without spot or wrinkle hee that is purged therein shall haue his Conscience cleansed from dead workes to serue the liuing God By his Spirit and our faith doth Christs bloud worke these things wherefore let vs all pray with King Dauid Psal 51. Purge me O Lord with Hysope and I shall be cleane wash mee and I shall be whiter then snow Marke that the Israelites are bid to wash their Garments not to change them though it appeareth Exodus 33. that they had change of raiment There is a mysterie in it it signifieth that the children of God from the time they are incorporated into Christ though they haue often occasion to scoure out the staines which their Regeneration
of wrath Repentance should be vsed while we may sinne for then it will be fruitfull and medicinall because we leaue sinne before sinne leaueth vs but if we will then vse Repentance when we can sinne no more our Repentance will be vnfruitfull and only penall And indeed they which will not vse Repentance in this World fruitfully shall will they nill they repent in the World to come but it will be vnfruitfully they will not weepe here for their sinnes but in Hell they shall both weepe and gnash their teeth they will not here manicle and fetter their lusts but there they shall be bound both hands and feet they will not here purge their stubble and drosse with the fire of Gods Spirit therefore hereafter they shall burne and their drosse their chaffe shall be endlesse fuell of the flames of Hell O then let mee weepe let mee repent out of the loue and with the comfort of Iesus Christ that hereafter I be not driuen to repent out of feare and with the paine of the fire of Hell The conclusion of all is God by the sight of our euill moueth vs to a desire of our good when he preuenteth vs with his grace we must take care that we receiue not his grace in vaine and this shall we doe if we disparage not our heauenly Conuersion with an earthly Conuersation LOrd graft in thy Preachers such Charitie that they may aime wisely at their hearers good and increase in their hearers that desire of goodnesse and happinesse which may make them capable of wholsome counsell So shall the dew of Heauen worke fotnesse in the Earth and wee shall all grow in thy Church as trees loaden with abundance of fruit when wee sinne wee shall repent and we shall repent also that we may not sinne vntill the Haruest day come when thou shalt haue reaped all the fruits thou requirest of vs in this state of Grace and we shall begin to reape those fruits which thou hast premised vnto vs in the state of Glorie Amen The fourth Sermon LVKE 3. VERSE 8. And beginne not to say within your selues we haue Abraham to our father for I say vnto you that God is able of these stones to raise vp children vnto Abraham OF the remedy of their Heart which came to Saint Iohn Baptist I haue already spoken the next point is the remedy of their Heads which taketh vp the remainder of the Text. In applying this remedy the Baptist doth first open then correct their errour hee openeth it in their obiection and in his owne answere doth correct it their errour was this vaunt We haue Abraham to our Father this they obiected against the first part of Iohn Baptists Sermon But the words are ellipticall they include more then they expresse you may gather it out of the Baptists answere which is the rust measure of their obiection for what he correcteth in that they erred Now he correcteth in their obiection Ignorance and Arrogancie both double double Ignorance double Arrogancie double Ignorance for they first maine secondly misplace the truth They maime it in that not knowing how much was requisite to the making vp of a child of Abraham their words meant that they were wholly his whereas they were his but in part and that too the worst part Saint Iohn correcteth this he forbiddeth their claime say not we haue Abraham to our father you haue nothing in you worthy of so honorable a title As they did maime the truth through ignorance so did they also through ignorance misplace it they did misplace it in beginning their defence at this claime For although there bee comfort in being any wayes a child of Abraham yet the triall of our comfort must begin at our resemblance of not our allyance vnto Abraham therefore Saint Iohn that corrected their defect in matter correcteth also their defect in order Begin not to say let not this be the entrance to your Apologie Hauing thus corrected their Ignorance hee goeth on and correcteth their Arrogancie Arrogancie is the child of Ignorance of the good things which we thinke we haue the lesse we know the more we crake certainely the Iewes did they were doubly arrogant first they did appropriate Abrahams family vnto them selues As they thought them selues to bee wholy his so they thought none his but themselues onely they held all other Nations vile the Iewes onely to be noble And this first branch of Arrogancie sprang from the first branch of their Ignorance for indeed as they were children of Abraham so none were children but they Saint Iohn correcteth this Arrogancie and telleth them that there is no impediment in Gods power but Abraham may haue yea there is faire euidence in Gods Couenant that Abraham shall haue other children seeme they neuer so vnlikely to become children not onely besides them which is enough to take downe their pride but also which striketh them to the very heart insteed of them though they all faile this Saint â—ohn meaneth when he saith that God is able euen of these stones to raise vp children vnto Abraham The second branch of their Arrogancie is their scoffing at Gods Iudgements as if We haue Abraham to our father were armour of proofe against them and they needed no buckler but their pedigree This second Arrogancie springeth from their second Ignorance for where they begin their defence vpon that they stand and thinke their needeth no more prouision against the wrath to come so they put it off as if liued they neuer so inordinately it did nothing concerne them This Saint Iohn correcteth hee telleth them that they are not so in the Couenant but they may be cast out that they must haue some worth of their owne besides that of their fathers otherwise they must looke for and that shortly a totall a finall eradication Now is the Axe layed to the roote of the tree You see what particulars remaine vnhandled of these by Gods affistance and your Christian patience I will now touch at so many as the time will permit And first because no defect nor excesse and such are the Iewes Ignorance and Arrogance the on detracting from the other adding to the truth can bee knowne without the meane which is their measure in reference whereunto we iudge of them the truth of Abrahams fatherhood must first be opened and we must see what grace God vouchsafed him that thereby we may conceiue the vprightnesse of the Baptists censure I will not fall into the common place of Abrahams praise the large Texts which the Scripture doth yeeld thereof hath found most eloquent most aboundant commentaries there is scarse a Iew or Christian Greeke or Latine Father that doth not write of him and make a Panegyricke of his worth I will cull out of them so much as will illighten my text And the first thing that I obserue is that there were Patriarkes before him and Patriarkes that came after him yet none left behind them so honourable a name
and the order that we are to expect from Christ who commeth to set vs in frame and to vse the Apostles words Ephes 4. to set vs in ioynt that euery part of man should keepe his order and none in working exceed his measure It is one of the curses that God in Esay threatneth to the Kingdome of Israel that the vile person shall set himselfe against the honourable And it is no small curse in euery one of vs to haue the worser part command the better and command it will except Christ doe order except he doe vse his first royall endowment But as he vseth the first so must he vse the second also for as the Kingdome is out of order so is it weake also and the establishing presupposeth this weakenesse yea indeed weakenesse is the cause of disorder men fall to disorder through weaknesse The weakenesse of the ciuill State of Israel is cleare in the Storie for the Israelites were become enthralled to the Romanes and had no power to relieue themselues though they were exposed to all kinde of ignominie and cruelty as he that readeth Flauius Iosephus will confesse It was bad with them in the Assyrian captiuity but in the Romane much worse and it was this weakenesse that the Iewes thought their Messias should support who reiected Christ because hee came not into the World as a likely person to doe this to crush their enemies and to make them a mighty nation according to the Prophecies which not only affirme they should be so but set it out in diuers Similies as you may reade in Esay in Zacharie and in others that they should thresh all Nations as a heauy stone should grinde them should bee as a soporiforous cup and as fire working vpon stubble These places they vnderstood literally which indeed should haue been vnderstood spiritually Another weakenesse for they had another kinde of weakenesse was disability to doe well whereby they were carried captiues vnto sinne as St. Paul speaketh Rom. 7. and that was it which enfeebled them as God had threatned Deut. 28. and gaue their enemies power ouer them Christ came to remedy this weaknesse Esay 35. to strengthen these weake hands and feeble knees as you may perceiue in that excellent description thereof which Zacharie hath cap. 2. where God promiseth power to all the house of Israel and sheweth that the feeblest of them shall be like vnto Dauid and the house of Dauid like vnto the Angels St. Paul Ephes 6. describeth the armour wherewith wee are strengthened and telleth vs that it is The power of the Lord and cap. 3. he telleth vs that therewith we are strengthned in the inward man and to the Hebrewes cap. 11. telleth vs that by Faith many of weake became strong euen so strong that St. Paul saith of himselfe Phil. 4. Hee could doe all things through him that strengthned him which is Christ Finally this is the strength for which he so often prayeth when he prayeth for the Church it is the strength whereby we may be able to encounter our chiefe enemies which are ghostly and to performe the duties which concerne a Christian life The substance of our faculties was not abolished by sinne but the sinewes were enfeebled as wee hold in the question of Free-will Try it in the particulars and you may perceiue it Our vnderstanding had proportionable strength to the obiect thereof the truth of God to apprehend it and the will to the obiect thereof our soueraigne Good to embrace it so had all the affections the strength that was expedient for such attendance vpon the will to further our possession of the obiect thereof But now euery one of these is disabled by sinne and it is Christs grace that enableth them againe giuing vs such wisedome such holinesse such courage and desires as are expedient for a childe of God to bring him vnto and keepe him in enioying of his finall end And this power is that power by which wee must ouerthrow our enemies if they be irreconcileable as the diuell and his angels are we foile them when they can fasten no sinne vpon vs then we break the Serpents head when his craft cannot delude vs and his taile too when we continue starres in the firmament notwithstanding his violent striking at vs and though he roare like a Lion yet we continue stedfast in the faith whether both these be vsed immediately by himselfe or mediately by his instruments And if the enemies be reconcileable then the conquest of them by this power is not the foyling of their bodies or spoyling of their goods but the casting downe in them of all imaginations 2 Cor. 10. and euery high thing that exalteth it selfe against the knowledge of God and bringing into captiuity euery thought to the obedience of Christ And in this manner did the Apostles conquer and the Christians in the Primitiue Church taking-in all these holds that were possessed by Sathan and imposing the easie yoke of Christ vpon the wits and wils of all Nations And in this sense should the Iewes haue vnderstood the Prophets and made Dauids Kingdome a type not of historicall correspondencie but of mysticall presignificancy for other power they meant none none that should appeare in this world And the Popes of Rome are Iewish that herein stand for a temporall power ouer Kings direct or indirect whereby they may ouer-top the scepters and dispose of the crownes of Princes Christ left vnto his Church no other sword than that which commeth out of his mouth which elsewhere is called the breath of his mouth Heb. 4. and the Word of God which is sharper than any two-edged sword and workes in it by no other power as it is a Church though hee hath not abolished the ciuill sword nor rebated the edge thereof in peace or warre but strengthned it rather in proceeding vpon lawfull and legall grounds But the ciuill power is not to bee confounded with the power of the Gospell the power of the Church and the power of the Common-weale distant in toto genere and it is the power of the Church that is meant here that is the power which Christ established And marke it is not enough for Christ to order except he establish It was the case of Adam hee was well ordered but hee was not established and thereupon the good order became mutable and all the gifts of God be they not well rooted and founded in vs will come to nought and fall to disorder So that stability signifieth the preseruation of that good order which wisedome sets and is the principall blessing of the Gospell wherein standeth the prerogatiue of Adam regenerated aboue Adam created and it is that which Christ promiseth in the Gospell and for which the Apostles doe pray in their Epistles namely for prescruation and stedfastnesse in the truth and Christ in his prayer before his passion doth specifie it expresly If we consider the mutability of our nature which comming of
saw his glory as the glory of the only begotten Sonne of God full of grace and truth But beyond all is the testimonie of God the Father whether deliuered by the Prophet Psay Cap. 42. Behold my seruant whom I vphold mine elect in whom my soule delighteth or vttered by a voyce from heauen This is my welbeloued Son in whom I am well pleased Mat. 3.17 For can he be lesse than altogether desirable that is Gods delight But passing by all these I will insist vpon three Titles of his which haue speciall reference to our good The first is Immanuel the name of his Person for it signifieth God with vs and how desireable is hee that hath knit that knot hypostatically in himselfe which is the ground of that mysticall knot which is to bee betweene God and vs wherein stands our eaerlasting blisse Certainely in regard of this name hee is most desirable the name that so linketh together heauen and earth a mortall wretch with the immortall God especially if you obserue that he is vnited totus toti the whole person of God to the whole nature of Man that we may be wholly ioyned and so doth he become wholly desireable of vs. His second name is Iesus that maketh him as desireable St. Bernard hath sumâ—ned vp the pleasurablenesse thereof in few but very sweet words Nomen Iesuest mel in ore melos in aure iubilum in corde all our reasonable acts are diuided into speaking hearing and thinking and loe we cannot speake of him but he is as honey in our mouthes and if wee heare of him the talke doth make the best melody in our eares finally the greatest ioy of our heart and the truest also springeth from our meditation vpon him The reason of all which is this Name soundeth nothing but Saluation and Saluation is the most wished most welcome thing to a childe of wrath to him whose sinnes can promise no better than a neuer-dying worme and an euer burning fire Well may we terme thee sweet Iesu that deliuerest vs from these plagues especially seeing there is no part of thee that hath not borne a part in sauing vs. His third name is Christ a most desireable name and why it signifieth a person anointed with no other than that which the Psalmist calleth the oyle of gladnesse This precious oyle poured vpon his head Psal 4â— 143. 45. ranne downe to vs the skirts of his garments insomuch as we now smell of Myrrhe Aloes and Cassia and are now through him become a sweete sauour to God who in the corruption of our nature were loathsome vnto him Hee that was Christ that is anointed that hee might so perfume vs with the sweetnesse of his graces must needes bee to vs as hee beares that title wholly desireable But for your further insight into the louelinesse of this name resolue it into those three offices whereunto he was anointed and being anointed or consecrated vnto them was called Christ First hee was Christ a Prophet such a Prophet as wee cannot desire a better hee was the very wisedome the word of God grace was poured into his lips and they that heard him wondred at the gracious words that came from him and well they might for that which he vttered was Euangelium glad tidings of good things His Priesthood was more desirable than his Prophecie for hee offered the sacrifice of sweet sauour vnto God which expiated all our sinnes and propitiated all his wrath and vpon his crosse he prepared that delicate feast that Esay speakes of cap. 25. Fat meate full of marrow and pleasant wines throughly refined from the Lees His flesh and his bloud were made such a feast for vs though in dressing of them he endured much paine Finally hee was a King and in regard thereof hee is most desireable for his Kingdome is righteousnesse peace Rom. 14.17 and ioy in the boly Ghost Hee is such a King as maketh all his subiects kings and that of the same Kingdome which he himselfe hath euen the Kingdome of Heauen I need say no more to proue that hee is totus desiderabilis altogether desireable But he is more for he is also totum desiderabile all that can be desired which is not granted to any Creature The Scripture labours to make vs vnderstand that all that we seeke out of him is to be found only in him Happy saith Salomon is the man that findeth wisedome and the man that getteth vnderstanding Pro. 3. for the merchandise thereof is better than the merchandise of siluer and her gaine than fine gold hee goeth on and parallels it with all that worldly men desire In Esay cap. 55. you haue the same parallel Ho yee that thirst come vnto the waters Christ himselfe to the Church of Laodicea presseth the same point Reuel 3. Thou thinkest that thou art rich and wantest nothing whereas thou art poore blinde miserable come to me and buy c. When St. Paul Phil. 3. had reckoned vp all his prerogatiues he concludes vers 8. I accompt all these but dung and losse in comparison of the excellent knowledge that is in Christ Iesus But most full is that place of St. Paul 1 Cor. 1. Christ of God is made vnto vs wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption Where obserue how he fitteth vs with supply from Christ as well for the Church Militant as Triumphant In the Church Triumphant we must haue vnderstanding heads and pure hearts that we may see God and enioy him and Christ giueth vs such heads such hearts for hee is made vnto vs wisedome and sanctification As for the Church Militant we neede therein discharge from our sinnes and deliuerance from woe and Christ is made vnto vs righteousnesse that wee may come with boldnesse before the iudgement seate of God and redemption from the curse which is due to the transgressors of the Law Wisd 16.21 So that what the wise man saith of Manna is certainely true of Christ he is vnto euery man what he can reasonably desire hee serues to the appetite of euery eater and is tempered to euery mans liking The Septuagint as if they had intended to teach vs that all things desireable are in him haue vsed the plurall number 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wherefore we conclude that Christ is totum desiderabile and wee may all say with King Dauid What haue I in heauen but thee and what is there in earth that I desire with thee To end this point two things we must learne from this soueraignty of good which are concluded in this one rule Primum in vnoquoque genere est mensura reliquorum seeing Christ is the soueraigne good he must season and stint all our desires Fire is the originall of heate and the Sunne of light and we see that other things haue neyther heat nor light but as they doe partake of fire or the sunne and their measure of both is answerable to the participation of those originals So
and the gold is his The second remembrance is grounded vpon Christs will and in sense hereof wee may learne of King Dauid thankefull deuotion When Nathan brought him a message of more good than euer hee expected hee went vnto the Tabernacle and first villifieth himselfe Who am I 2 Sam. 7. O Lord God and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto then he magnifieth Gods mercie This was yet a small thing in thy sight O Lord God but thou hast spoken also of thy seruants house for a great while to come then he doth as we must all doe turne Gods promise into a prayer And now O Lord God the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy seruant and concerning his house establish it for euer and do as thou hast said God did it for Dauid he will do it for vs whereas they that are temples of grace haue a farther hope to be temples of glorie if we beleeue his power and desire the accomplishment of his will wee shall in due time experience a comparison which is beyond all comparison we shall be cloathed with a later house in heauen the glory whereof shall infinitely exceede the glorie of the former house of God which we are vouchsafed to be while we liue here on earth WHich God grant vs for Iesus Christ his sake to whom with the holy Ghost be rendred all honour and glorie Amen THE FIFT SERMON And in this place will I giue peace THe exceeding grace that Christ would vouchsafe to Zorebabels Temple I reduced to his bountie in giuing and the securitie of his gift Of the bounty I haue spoken it followeth that I now come to the security that is exprest in those words that now I haue read vnto you Wherein we will see first seuerally by what name the securitie is called it is peace secondly where is the resting place thereof in this place then ioyntly how the place commeth to bee possest of that peace wherein wee shall consider that this worke is a free-gift whereof the only giuer is our Sauiour Christ I will giue saith he peace in this place These be the particulars whereof God willing I shall now speake briefly and in their order First then of the peace Peace is nothing else but a free enioying of whatsoeuer good we haue But the good which we haue may be eyther ordinate or inordinate full or scant and so the enioying thereof may bring vnto vs a peace true or false perfect or imperfect If the good be ordinate the peace is true and if full then it is perfect but the peace is false if the good be inordinate and the peace cannot be perfect if the good be scant I will speake somewhat of the false and imperfect peace that thereby you may the better conceiue the true and perfect Wee must know that vnto flesh and bloud many things doe rellish as good which indeed are nothing so for the true character of good is a conformitie to Gods will the warrant whereof is his word from which all sinfull lusts doe swarue and yet in them doe carnall mindes place their good and the enioying of them is the worlds peace For what is carnall securitie but a plunging of a mans selfe into all kinde of wickednesse without remorse of conscience or feare of iudgement Amos cap. 6. doth describe such persons as stretcht themselues vpon iuorie beds dranke wine in bowles eate calues from the stall cheared vp their spirits with musicke This was their good a sensuall good yea and a senslesse too for they tooke not to heart the affliction of Ioseph but approaching to the seate of iniquitie put farre from them the euill day This is a false peace grounded vpon an inordinate good Our Sauiour Christ maketh the like description of the old world Matth. 24. they were eating drinking marrying and giuing in marriage when the floud came and tooke away those vngodly ones Hee speaketh not of ordinary marriage Gen. 6. which is Gods institution but alludes to the storie of the sonnes of God marrying with the daughters of men And as their marriage was irregular so was their eating and drinking too for they were feasts congratulating their irregular wedlocke much like the feasting of the children of Israel when they worshipped the golden calfe Exodus 32. The Wise man speaking of Idolaters passeth this censure vpon them cap. 14. liuing in the great warre of ignorance those so great plagues they called peace But this is not Gods it is the diuels peace qui 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dum vult cudere cudit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he maketh men like bedlems who gashing themselues with kniues laugh in the beholders face risu sardonio they laugh and dye By this security doth the diuell lull men asleepe in their sinnes that they may the better bee ouertaken with an vnexpected ruine for when they â—ry peace peace then as the Apostle foretold 1 Thes 5. commeth sadden destruction In the middest of their pleasure they goe in a moment downe into hell Iob. I would wee had not too many spectacles of this peace that of the Poet may be truly verified of vs I am patimur longae pacis mala saeuior armis Luxuria incubuit the peace which God hath granted vs from forraigne enemies what hath it wrought but this sinfull peace peace in sinne neuer did this land by prophanenesse by iniustice by riot more offend God and neuer was it more senslesse thereof And the Church may well complaine in the words of the Prophet Esay 38. in pace meâ amaritudo amarissima this calme of ours is a very storme a storme of sinne that will bring a storme of woe The Prophet Ieremie cap. 48. hath an excellent resemblance of a vessell of wine which while it is settled vpon the lees hath a good taste and smell but stirre the lees you marre the wine it will then become muddy and vnsauourie The wicked thinke they haue no lees nothing that can interrupt or alter their state but when God commeth to poure them from vessell to vessell they will finde the contrary they will finde that Christs saying in the Gospell is true Matth. 13. Voluptuousnesse and couetousnesse are nothing but bryars and thornes and they will iustifie that saying of the Preacher Eccles 1. All is vanitie and vexation of spirit Gods heauie hand hath beene long off from vs but it vseth to come vpon irrepentant persons with redoubled strokes Esay 57.21 Seeing then non est pax improbo it is no peace which the wicked haue in their prosperitie and that which they haue they cannot long enioy I will conclude with the admonition of Moses Deut. 29. Take heede lest there bee amongst you a roote that beareth gall and wormewood and it come to passe that when any man heareth the words of the curse denounced against the breakers of the Law he blesse himselfe in his heart saying I shall haue peace though I walke in the
Zorobabels Temple But that place must be considered not in its meanenesse as it was built by the Iewes but as it was furnished with that glorie whereof heretofore you haue heard that house so adorned was to bee the place of peace Salomons Temple was a place of peace but his peace was but a type it was a worldly peace Zorobabels Temple is also a place of peace but his peace is the truth that answered the former type the peace thereof is heauenly that Temple which had but the type of the glorie had no more but the type of the peace and the truth of the peace rested there where the truth of the glorie was So that there is an emphasis in the words this place the holy Ghost giueth thereby the Iewes to vnderstand that it was not the former but the later Temple whereunto God intended the peace which he promised to Dauid 2 Sam. 7. 2 Chro. 22. Isay 25. 26. and all the promises of peace in the Prophets were to be referred thither this Ierusalem was to answer vnto her name and to be indeed the vision of peace But I told you heretofore that Zorobabels Temple was to be vnderstood not only literally but mystically and so it signifieth not onely that materiall house but also the Christian Church peace is annext vnto this peace Extra Ecclesiam non est salus No saluation without the Church and therefore no peace he shall neuer haue God for his Father that hath not the Church for his Mother In our Creed wee place the holy Catholicke Church and Communion of Saints before the remission of sinnes and life euerlasting As the soule doth not quicken other parts than those that are vnited to the body no more doth the spirit of God giue his blessing of peace to any that are distracted from the body of the Church This must be obserued against all Schismaticks that doe excommunicate them selues and disorderly persons that are iustly excommunicated by the censure of the Church all these while they continue in that state though they doe not lose ius ad pacem yet they doe lose ius in pace though they doe not lose their interest in yet they suspend the benefit of that peace and their state is vncomfortable though it be not irrecouerable And they which follow negligently the assemblies of the Church doe not a little defraud themselues of this peace for they must seeke it chiefly by prayer in Gods house and there doth God dispence it by the mouth of his Ministers I will giue you only two proofes the one our of the Old Testament when the sacrifices were ended which were typicall prayers Num 6.25 Aaron is willed to dismisse the people with these words The Lord blesse thee and keepe thee the Lord make his face shine vpon thee and be gracious vnto thee the Lord lift vp the light of his countenance vpon thee and giue thee peace A second proofe wee haue in the New Testament where the Church doth solemnely vse those words of the Apostle when after the Liturgie it dismisseth the people The peace of God which passeth all vnder standing keep your hearts and mindes c. And what better inuitation can wee haue to repaire often to the Church than this blessing of peaceâ— foure-fold peace which is there daily offered vnto vs and may bee receiued if we come and come prepared for it I say prepared Before you heard that the peace commeth to the house but as it is furnished with the glorie where there is none of the glorie there can be none of the peace therefore wee must prepare these Temples of our bodies and soules by entertainement of the glory that they may be made capable of the peace The Apostle speaketh plainely Rom. 5. Wee must bee iustified by faith before we can haue peace with God Esay 32. If iudgement dwell in the wildernesse and righteousnesse remaine in the fruitfull fielde the worke of righteousnesse shall bee peace 1 Cor. 2. and the effect of righteousnesse quietnesse and assurance for euer God doth annoint vs before he doth establish vs. St. Austin hath a witty conceit vpon the words of the 85. Psalme Righteousnesse and Peace haue kissed each other Duae sunt amicae Iustitia Pax c. Righteousnesse and Peace are two fast friends happely thou wouldest gladly enioy the one but thou wilt not bee perswaded to performe the other for there is no man that would not willingly haue peace but all are not willing to worke righteteousnesse yet be thou assured that if thou dost not loue peace's friend which is righteousnesse peace will neuer loue thee for righteousnesse and peace doe kisse each the other 2 King 9. You know what Iehu answered the King of Israel when he asked him Is it peace Iehu what peace can there bee so long as the whoredomes and witchcrafts of thy mother are so many So may we reply to euery soule vnquiet soule that enquireth after peace Looke for none where there is sinne Well may there bee the enemie assaulting and daily sounding alarums but this securing peace which is Gods garrison cannot bee there So long as the Iewes serued God their enemies could not inuade their borders Exod 34. but then the Temple was exposed to the enemie when the Prophets could not reclaime them from sin It is a good conscience that is a continuall feast You haue heard seuerally of the Peace and the Place you must now heare ioyntly of their knitting together who knits them and How He that knitteth them is God in Christ God is the God of peace so the Apostle calleth him Phil. 4.19 and the Prophet tels vs that he creates light as well as darkenesse and Elihu is so bold as to say Iob 34. that if God giue peace none can hinder it But as God giueth it so hee giueth it in Christ for it is his worke to make peace the Prophet Esay cap. 9. vers 6. calleth him the Prince of peace his true members are Sonnes of peace his Apostles Messengers of peace and his doctrine is the Gospell of peace all the foure specified degrees of peace were wrought by him First he tooke away the guilt of our sinne Esay 53. The chastisement of our peace was layd vpon him For he that knew no sinne was made sinne for vs that wee might be made the righteousnesse of God in him 2 Cor. 5. Secondly hee hath kild the worme for being iustified by faith in him our heart condemnes vs not and we haue confidence towards God so that we can come with boldnesse vnto the throne of grace Thirdly the Law of the spirit of life that is in Iesus Christ doth free vs from the Law of sinne and death Rom. 8. It mortifieth it subdueth the old man and maketh vs walke not according to the flesh but according to the spirit Finally he putteth an end to that discord that is betweene man and man The Prophets foretold that when hee
they are raised thereby The Motiues are her state considered first in it selfe and that first in what termes she standeth with God good termes Highly fauoured The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very word calleth for Ioy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are as neare in nature as in name Grace is the seed of Ioy we learne it in the 86. and 87. Psalmes Light is sowne for the righteous and ioyfulnesse for them that are true hearted But the Rhemists interrupt vs and quarrell with our translation they would haue it full of grace And doe wee deny it we doe not our Liturgie refutes them in the Gospell wee reade it Haile full of grace wee confesse the Syriac agreeth with it and that the Fathers haue it so and did not they abuse it still might it goe so but the abuse is grosse and to shew that the aduantage thereof is not in the originall words the Church not without cause hath recourse vnto the fountaines and therehence doth discouer how weake the hold fast is which they take vpon their translation For Full of Grace are doubtfull words there is Grace of acceptance and Grace of inherence whether is here meant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sheweth that the Angell meant the former Neither doe wee onely say so but themselues also yea the very Iesuites themselues most deuoted to the Virgin Mary confesse that the word so signifieth and must be so taken here the more inexcusable is the Rhemists slander But you will say they include Grace of inherence also Doe wee deny it God forbid we confesse St. Austins rule to be true Vasa quae creatrix sapientia format vt sint adiutrix gratia implet ne vacua sint God that with the holy oile annointed the Tabernacle before he entred to dwel within it did no doubt sanctifie the Virgins person whom he did destinate to be his sacred Temple But the question is concerning the Measure In the measure we say that they exceed their Church exceeds If the Councell of Basil and the Councell of Trent deliuer the Doctrine of their Church they exceed in the measure both of her grace and glory Of her Grace freeing her very conception from sinne contrary to the iudgement not onely of the Fathers but also of their best Schoolemen St. Bernard hath written a very learned Epistle against it Epist 174. ad Canonicos Ludgnnenses Neither doe they lauish onely in their Doctrine of her Grace but of her Glory also and in this much more dangerously euen so much more dangerously as the danger of Idolatry exceedes the danger of Heresie especially this Idolatry because it includes that Heresie They then hauing so farre aduanced the Virgin in the opinion of her Grace doethereupon proportion vnto her such a degree of Glory as that seeing Christ is Head of the Church she must be the Necke and as no influence commeth from the head into the body but by the necke so no grace is communicated to the Church but by the Virgin Mary Are you not amazed when you heare it certainly you would bee if you read the prayers which they make to her euident arguments that they doe beleeue it and foule Idolatry staines all their prayers wherein they doe expresse it I would they would behold themselues in the Collyridian Heretickes and apply vnto themselues that doome which Epiphanius passeth vpon them Heres 79. But I forget my promise I said I would rather edisie you with the truth than refute errour wherefore leauing them let vs come to better matter Ioy is an effect whereof the Angell will haue the Virgin to looke vnto the cause the cause may be looked for either in her selfe or in God or as I spake before in Grace of Acceptance or Inherence It is plaine by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Angell guides her eyes to looke on the former not the later to looke vpon the fauour she findeth rather than the indowments which she hath Angels fall and Mans also was caused by their desire to ioy in themselues for selfe-loue bred their Apostasie And though since the Fall man haue little cause to fall in loue with himselfe yet is hee not free from danger if in himselfe hee will finde the ground of Ioy for he is through the sight of his imperfection as much in danger to despaire as through the sight of his perfection hee was to presume the perfections of the best though they be such as are not void of comfort yet because they haue intermingled many imperfections that comfort must needes haue a mixture of much discomfort entire and solide ioy cannot be found there Wherefore St. Anstins confession must be the confession of vs all Beata vita est saith hee speaking vnto God gaudere ad te de te propter te if we will ioy wee must lift vp our soules as high as God and in our ioy couple nothing with God we must be induced vnto ioy by no other end but to expresse our thankfulnesse for the mercy of God this is the true motiue of entire and solide ioy But a little farther to open it this word doth eleuate the ioy to that degree which beseemes a Christian man there are other obiects which vsurpe falsly that which belongs vnto God Carnall pleasures are the first vsurpers and many rest vpon them they rellish nothing but their meates their drinkes and sensuall lusts whose ioy if it be any it is but gaudium animalis there is nothing that can giue content vnto a man in such a ioy because these pleasures are common to vs with beasts Rationall indowments eyther of the vnderstanding or of the will furnished with liberall arts or morall vertues are the second vsurpers indeed their title vnto ioy is much better than the former yet their plea is but weake Salomon hath censured knowledge as vnfit to breed ioy in that short saying Qui addit scientiae addit dolori And as for Morall Vertues Eccles 1.18 destitute of Grace what ioy can there be in them which the Fathers haue iudiciously censured to be no better than splendid a peccata So that the ioy promised by this vsurper if it be any it is but gaudium hominis the ioy of a naturall man and therefore as imperfect as is his nature The third vsurper goeth a degree higher and that is Inherent Grace whose plea is so probable that it perplexeth many a man and yet it is but an vsurpers plea because of the rebellion betweene the flesh and the spirit and the often ouerthrowes which the spirit receiues in vs from the flesh and what ioy can there be in the midst of so many foyles in him that daily receiueth so many wounds so that ioy if there be any it is but the Pharisees ioy that thinkes of himselfe better than he should and so doteth vpon the little good he hath that he obserues not how much more there is which he should haue
than about this time I would they did not witnesse the like again â—vs also whose breeding should remember vs of a better course and teach vs that Easter must be transitus sine reditu as in Christ so in Christians Whereupon it followeth that this meditation must make euery day to bee vnto vs an Easter day and if it bee to our soules it will hearten vs to hope well of our bodies also so that euery one of vs may boldly say with St. Bernard Declam de bonis deser Requiesee in spe caro misera My flesh fraile flesh bee still and rest in hope he that came for thy soule will come also for thee and he that reformed that will not forget thee for euer O Lord that art the life and resurrection illighten all our darkenesse that we sleep not in death of sin or for sin let vs all awake vnto righteousnesse and sin no more so shall wee in thy light see light and by the life of grace be brought vnto the life of glorie Which God grant for his Sonne Christ Iesus sake to whom with the Holy Ghost all honour glory might and maiesty be ascribed both now and euer Amen Awake thou that sleepest stand vp from the dead and Iesus Christ shall giue thee light A SERMON PREACHED IN THE CATHEDRALL Church of Wells on EASTER DAY MATTH 26. Vers 26 27 28. And as they were eating Iesus tooke bread and blessed it and brake it and gaue it to the Disciples and said Take eate this is my Bodie And he tooke the Cup and gaue it to them saying Drinke ye all of it For this is my bloud of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sinnes Supply out of LVKE 22.19 This doe in remembrance of mee And out of St. Paul 1. COR. 11.25 As often as you doe it you shew forth the Lords death till his comming againe OVR Sauiour Christ being ready to dye and by his death to redeeme his Church the whole Church that began in Adam and was to continue vntill the end of the World immediately before honoured a Sacrament of either Testament the Passeouer that was an annexe of the Old and the Eucharist that was to be the annexe of the New Testament Of the Passeouer St. Matthew speaketh in the words that goe before of the Eucharist in these that I haue read vnto you The Argument then of my Text is the Eucharist the originall thereof And of that fitting the present * The receiuing of the Communion occasion my purpose is to giue you a very plaine and a very short Exposition Wee may resolue then the Originall of the Eucharist into the Author and the Institution The Author is here called Iesus Touching the Institution we are to see 1. When and 2. How he did institute it When while they were eating How partly by practice and partly by precept In the practice wee are taught What Elements were chosen and What was done with them The Elements were two Bread and Wine Christ chose these He tooke Bread he tooke the Cup. In opening what was done with them the Euangelist informes vs of two workes first Iesus his worke and secondly the worke of his Disciples And eyther of their workes is double Iesus worke is first to consecrate and then to distribute the Elements In the Consecration we must see first How Christ did it and secondly Why. How he did it by blessing and thanksgiuing blessing of the Creature thanksgiuing to the Creatour Why that the Elements might be the bread the Body and the wine the Bloud of Christ so saith Iesus after Consecration of the bread this is my Body and of the wine this is my Bloud My is a markable word for it improues the Body and the Bloud in that they are his which is Iesus Secondly about this Body the Text instructeth vs in two other things first How it must be considered then Whereunto it was ordained Though they bee the body and bloud of Iesus Christ that is glorified in Heauen yet must they be considered as he was crucified on earth the body as it was broken vpon the Crosse and there giuen for the Church the bloud as it was shed and let out of his body on the Crosse The body and bloud so considered were ordained to establish a New Couenant therefore are they in the Text called the bloud of the New Testament this was the first end A second is to assure the Church of remission of sinnes the whole Church for the bloud is shed for many and the good that the many were to haue thereby is the remission of their sinnes Besides this first Act of thus consecrating the Elements Christ performes another Act he distributeth that which he consecrateth In the distribution wee haue two things first hee diuideth the Elements he brake the bread and the like is to bee conceiued by Analogie touching the wine for though not actually yet vertually he did diuide that in that he would haue euery one drinke but a part of the whole Hauing thus diuided he deliuereth the parcels of the bread and the wine to bee drunke by parts In this sense saith the Text he gaue the bread he gaue the cup he gaue both and both consecrated Besides this worke of Iesus we haue here a worke of his Disciples of the Disciples for none might doe the worke but they and all of them must doe it That which they must doe is they must take that which Christ giues and what they take they must eate and drink as it was consecrated Eate this which is my body drink this which is my bloud c. And they must eate and drinke it to the same end for which it was consecrated the doing of this is not arbitrary it is enioyned by the commandement of Christ Take Eate I haue shewed you Iesus his Practice which was the first mannerof instituting the Eucharist There is a second and that is by Precept that precept is here but implyed for the act being Sacramentall must continue so long as the Doctrine doth whereunto the Sacrament is annext the Sacrament of the New Testament vntill Christs comming againe for so long must the Gospell continue But the precept that is here onely implyed is in Saint Luke exprest and repeated by St. Paul with some exposition added to it The precept is Doe this in remembrance of mee which words require the Churches imitation and commemoration Imitation Doe this the Pastors the People both must performe their worke they must doe Secondly that which they must doe is this they must strictly obserue the patterne that is giuen in this place Besides their imitation here is enioyned them a commemoration what they doe they must doe in remembrance of Christ St. Paul openeth the phrase They must set forth the Lords death Finally whereas Christ did it now once and hee would haue them doe it againe wee may see a difference between Baptisme and the Eucharist this
forward our spirituall Secondly our eating and drinking must not onely feed vpon Christs body and bloud but vpon them as the one was broken and the other was shed as they were the propitiatory Sacrifice And then thirdly wee must draw out of them and digest in our soules the two comfortable ends of the Sacrament that is first our assurance that wee are in the new Couenant secondly that our sinnes are pardoned If wee doe not take all these things in our eating and drinking we doe not take all that which is set before vs and offered vnto vs. And here we must marke a difference betweene our corporall and spirituall food Non ego mutabor in te sed tu mutaberis in me as St. Austin bringeth Christ speaking When we eate corporally our food is turned into vs but when we eate spiritually we must be turned into our foode we must be transformed into Christ First into his Grace wee must bee liuely Images of his heauenly Vertues of his Patience of his Obedience of his Humility of his Charity of whatsoeuer other Vertue shined in his mortall life And then wee shall be sure to be transformed into his Glory and by vertue of this food hee will change these our vile bodies and make them conformable vnto his glorious body And indeede this conformity doe the Fathers make a principall effect of this our spirituall foode Whom doth this feeding concerne I told you the Disciples here are two other words that may not be neglected and they are all and manie all that are Disciples and of age and those all are many for Christs bloud was shed for many Of the Poole of Bethesda it was said that it could cure but one at a time and that one which first went into the water after the Angell had stirred it but Christs Sacraments are like vnto his garments Matth. 14. of them we reade in the Gospell that as many as touched them were made whole Matth. 14. and of these it is true that as many as faithfully partake them shall as truely bee made whole spiritually as the other were corporally As many The Sacraments are sufficiently soueraigne for all not so efficiently and yet efficiently for many For although in comparison of vnbeleeuers beleeuers are but few yet considered in themselues beleeuers are many Reuel 7. both Iewes and Gentiles I will not trouble you with a dispute Whether in this place as in some other the word many is put for all I will rather obserue vnto you that this same feeding is not a thing arbitrary but enioyned the Disciples neither may they hope to haue any part in the new Couenant or Remission of sinnes except they performe this commandement And the commandement is not more than needs for whereas wee need no incitement for to take our corporall food yet were wee not incited wee would pine away for want of our spirituall therefore is God in the Prophet faine to call vpon vs Esay 55. Hoe all ye that thirst come to the waters c. and Wisedome in the Prouerbes is faine to send her Maides and say Come eate of my bread and drinke of my wine Prou. 9. so likewise doth the King at the Marriage Feast Matth. 22. and so is Christ faine to importune the Church of Laodicea Reuel 3. But remember that it is an affirmatiue commandement and so doth tye semper though not ad semper I will dwell no longer vpon the practice let vs come now briefly and see the precept The precept is not here exprest but implyed for seeing here is the Institution of a Sacrament it is the Institution of that that must be as lasting as the Doctrine whereunto it is annexed For a Sacrament is an annexe vnto Doctrine euen as a seale is set vnto a Pardon The Sacraments of the Old Testament were so annext vnto the ceremoniall Law so are the Sacraments of the New Testament vnto the Gospell As he that taketh the Charter of Pardon without the Kings seale when hee may haue it loseth the benefit of his Pardon so hee will haue but little benefit of the Gospell that is a contemner of the Sacraments they must both goe together vntill the worlds end or as S. Paul speaketh vntill the Lords comming againe 1. Cor. 11. This Institution of Christ is like that of the Creation not to bee stinted by this present act but extended to euery of the like as it doth in the other Sacrament of Baptisme yea and of Ordination and Absolution The first of euery of them was seminall and to bring out others according to its kinde Whereupon it followeth that the words of Christ in his practice are vsed by the Pastors not onely as historicall but also as operatiue And this is the ground of our faith and security in the effect of these and other sacred Rites But touching this Sacrament the precept is cleare in St. Luke Doe this in remembrance of mee Wherein there are two markable things which the precept doth require I will touch them in a word the first is Imitation Doe this the other is Commemoration in remembrance of me Doe this that calleth for the worke of the Pastour in imitation of Iesus and the worke of the people in imitation of the Disciples both must be doing in this Sacrament and except they be both doing it is no Communion Priuate Masses are a direct peruerting of Christs Institution where the Priest onely is doing but the People doe nothing at least they doe not what they should there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereas the precept doth not onely require that we doe but that wee doe this the Priest must precisely doe that which Iesus did he must take the same Elements the same in nature the same in number and when he hath taken them he must vse them as Christ did consecrate them with blessing and thanksgiuing to the end and for the vses before specified according to that of St. Paul Quod accepi à Domino tradidi vobis 1. Cor. 11. And what he hath consecrated that must he distribute and withhold no part not the Cup as the Church of Rome doth Christ gaue that and for many hundred yeares the Church imitated him so doing and now they reserue it onely to the Priest that doth execute or doe the honour to Monarches to giue them the Cup. And that may worse be withheld from the people than the body For the new Couenant and the Remission of sinnes is in the Text annext vnto the bloud as if Christ would haue them especially remember it in that Concomitancy is an idle shift for seeing a Sacrament is the participation of the sacrifice they confesse that they cannot make vp the sacrifice without consecrating both bread and wine how doe they not then defraud the people of a part of the sacrifice if they giue them the bread and not the wine or which is most absurd the Priest receiueth Christs body as it was crucified because he receiueth
their persons by famine and pestilence or onely in their possessions by blasting and mildew distempers of the Aire whose corruption breedeth also vermine to worke the same mischiefe Locusts and Caterpillers or ioyntly in their persons and possessions by the sword when the Enemie doth besiege them in the Land of their Cities Definitely thus is the heauy hand of God exprest It is exprest also indefinitely lest Israel should thinke that these bee all the instruments of Gods wrath Salomon addeth a more liberall phrase Whatsoeuer plague whatsoeuer sicknesse there may bee it may bee in the Land God hath many more waies to afflict Israel than are exprest This is Israels first case a bad one It hath another and a better When Israel doth vnderlye the heauy hand of God then must Israel haue recourse vnto the Throne of grace And here we will obserue first that God which sendeth calamities prouideth his Church of a remedie Secondly though the calamities bee many yet the remedie is but one the onely remedy of all calamities is penitent deuotion my text calleth it Prayer and Supplication Touching this deuotion we shall learne here the Performance and the Acceptance of it Vnto the Performance two Acts concurre one inward Penitents must know euery one the plague of his owne heart the other outward the Penitents deuotion must be attended with conuenient Ceremonies here are two specified the one of the hands they must bee strecht out the other of the eye that must looke towards the Temple of Salomon Thus must the deuotion be performed And it must be performed by euery Israelite in particular any man that will bee penitent must performe it so and all Israel must performe it so if they will be penitent the text is plaine for both The penitent Deuotion that is thus performed God will accept and touching his acceptance wee are here taught Wherein it consisteth and whereat it aymeth It consisteth in two things God will giue Accesse to penitent Prayers Then heare thou in Heauen the place of thy dwelling Secondly hee will giue redresse vnto the sufferings of the Penitent a redresse to the cause of them that is he will forgiue sinne a redresse to the effect of sinne that is Woe He will doe what they desire and giue ease to their paine But marke God dispenseth his double grace discreetly He will giue to men but according to their waies those waies not outward but inward He will giue according to their wayes whose heart he knoweth and this heart though vnknowne to all others cannot be hid from him He he only knoweth the hearts of all the children of men As God dispenseth discreetly so vniuersally He dispenseth vnicuique to euery man of eyther sort according to his wayes Well God doth accept penitent denotion But Whereat doth he ayme in this Acceptance Surely at the Amendment of Israel He doth it that Israel may feare him and be constant in this Amendment feare all the dayes that they liue And the place where they liue putteth a double Obligation vpon them first it is Ha Aretz Ha Adama a very eminent Land secondly their Tenure is francke Almoine Hee whom they must feare gaue it to their Fathers You see beloued that the particulars which I haue pointed out are many and they are pertinent yet feare not that I will be ouer long I remember the mortalitie of your hearing my speaking it shall therfore suffice that I moderately touch at them only God vouchsafe by them to touch vs all to the quicke Let vs then beginne with the Manner of the deliuerie My text is conceiued in the forme of a Prayer but in the next Chapter this Prayer is made a Promise So that I shall not mistake if I turne the words into seuerall Assertions and you shall lose nothing for in the Close I wil returne them into a Petition againe This is all I will say of the Manner of deliuerie In the Matter deliuered wee must first see Whom these words concerne and the Text telleth vs that they are the inhabitants of Canaan the children of Israel the people of God if I say no more this were enough to notifie them but it is expedient for my purpose that I moreouer dignifie them they were the peculiar of God Exod. 19. his Iewell of Men a royall Priesthood an holy Nation Rom. cap. 2. cap 9. trusted with Gods Oracles Depositaries of his Couenant they possessed the Arke and Christ according to the flesh was the off-spring of that Nation Ier. cap. 3. cap. 12. Ephes 2. you may finde more of their Honours in the New Testament and in the Old but these may suffice to shew how neare they came and how deare they were to God And yet may this people vnderlye the heauie hand of God Israel may be made as Egypt a Theater of Plagues the Paradise of God may become like Sodome and Gomorrah a monument of vengeance the Holy Ghost foretold it and the euent hath iustified it The Church hath no priueledge from Gods iudgements God spareth sinne in none Hee will visit it with scourges wheresoeuer hee findeth it Yea so farre is the Church from being priuiledged that it is though a strange one yet a prerogatiue of the Church to drinke first of the cup of Gods wrath Iudgement saith St. Peter cap. 4. v. 17. must beginne at Gods house God in the stripes of his children letteth the world see what it must expect And indeed the perswasion would not be forcible if the argument ranne thus God striketh his enemies therefore he will strike his friends who would be moued with it But if it runne thus He striketh his friends therefore he will not spare his enemies the Conclusion is vnauoydable What then is our Lesson Bee not high minded but feare Rom. 11. and Let him that standeth take heed lest he fad 1 Cor. 10. For he that falleth into sinne will fall vnder wrath the Israelites are to vs Types of morall correspondencies what befell them may befall vs. And it is happy that it may for nulla poena maxim a poena a man is neuer in worse case than when hee is most at ease such ease temporall is the harbinger of eternall paine neither doe men much intend their saluation who are not quickned thereunto by some temporall affliction A stray sheepe will neuer returne into the way except it bee forced by the shepheards staffe and God neglecteth them as bastards Heb. 12.8 who neuer feele that rod wherewith hee vseth to correct his children You see then that the Prerogatiue of the Church which I fore-specified is not onely an vndoubted Truth but whatsoeuer flesh and bloud may thinke to the contrary it is a great blessing it is a blessing that the Church may vnderlye the heauie hand of God it was Israels blessing and it is ours that wee may vnderlye Gods heauie hand May nay doe It cannot be doubted that wee may seeing it is euident that we
onely knowledge but acknowledgement Knowledge without acknowledgement is of little regard with God auailes vs but little he knoweth his wounds as a penitent that by searching sindeth what cuill he hath done and though to his owne confusion yet layeth it open before the tender eyes of God and so qui addit scientiae addit dolori Eccles 1. the penitents knowledge is the fountaine of his forrow Saint Austin wittily wresteth those words of the Preacher to this purpose Marke moreouer the word his owne for men are most willing to know and make knowne other mens wounds but vt nemo in sese tentat descendere nemo Men loue not to bee knowne to themselues yet many a man hath inward plagues which none knowes but God and himselfe But it is an absurd thing to passe ouer our owne wounds and inquire into other mens It is much to be wisht therefore that we would translate this scrutinie and spend it vpon our selues take pity vpon our owne selues Nazianz Orat. 26. and let the sense of our owne ill deseruings open a passage to the relieuing bowels of our most mercifull Father who relieueth none but those which know the euill which they haue done and suffer Esay 26. When wee come according to the Ordinance of the Church to make confession either at the entrance to common Prayer or the Eucharist euery man should haue premeditated his owne sinnes and acknowledge them vnto God in the secret of his heart and craue pardon for them But though a man must haue this passion in regard of his owne case yet must he not be without compassion toward the ill case of others If it be but a priuate mans case we must be compassionate towards him because he is a member of the same body We know the Parable of the man that went from Ierusalem to Ierico and fell amongst Theeues who stript him and wounded him the Priest and the Leuite are taxed for want of compassion towards him as the Samaritane is commended for hauing it And if we must shew compassion towards priuate mens cases how much more towards the publicke It is a grieuous complaint that God maketh against the great men of Israel Amos 6. who stretch themselues vpon Iuorie beds eate the Lambes of the flocke c. but were not grieued for the affliction of Ioseph if the whole feele the distresses of euery part of our body should any part be so senslesse as not to suffer for the whole especially seeing if the whole perish euery part perisheth whereas the whole may subsist though this or that part doe perish and fall away The miserable estate of Christendome especially the Orthodoxe Church and our own generall calamities importune mee to recommend this compassion vnto you and beseech you to include it in this dayes Humiliation and to let the one be as long liued as the other to let neither of them decay much lesse dye till God returne to his Church and this State in his wonted mercy and with his wonted blessing You haue heard the first inward act of a Penitent There is another act here specified which is outward Penitent Deuotion must be accompanied with conuenient ceremonies here are two mentioned one of the hands they must be stretcht out this is a naturall ceremony for marke a childe when he hath offended his parents as hee falleth vpon his knees so he lifteth vp his hands so doth a seruant to his master a subiect to his Soueraigne and the conquered to the Conquerour and it importeth as much as Do victas in tua vincla manus Sir I am at your mercy The word Supplicium hath its name hence because it humbleth the weaker vnder the hand of the stronger the inferiour to the superiour and maketh him supplicare submit vnto him From hence it is translated vnto Praier and made a ceremony thereof both in the Old Testament let the lifting vp of my hands bee as an euening Sacrifice Psal 141. and in the New Testament I will that men pray in all places lifting vp pure hands 1. Tim. 2. This is the first meaning of this ceremony when it is applyed to penitency As God stretcheth out his hand to strike so the Penitent stretcheth out his hand for mercy Though I am not ignorant that it may also signifie the correspondency of the inward to the outward man that as the heart lifteth it selfe vp to God so must the body also by the hands This is excellently set forth in the Psalme I stretch forth my hands to thee my heart thirsteth for thee as a thirsty Land Psal 143. and in this sense Moses in the warre against Amalecke Salomon in this Dedicatory and others may bee thought in their prayers to haue stretcht forth their hands vnto God The former sense doth not exclude this The second ceremony is of the Eye that is mysticall the Eye must look towards the Temple of Salomon that is the place where God put his Name and where the cloud representing God resided betweene the Cherubins vpon the Mercy seate This brings it home to that which before I told you was to be done by the Suppliant who hath recourse to the Throne of Grace and as Tephillah the prayer made vnto the Iudge did require a ceremony of submissiue stretching out of the hand so Techinnah the prayer of Mercy requires a cast of our eye vpon the Mercy seate the ceremonies fit well the Deuotion The riches of Gods nature are infinite but wee vse to single out such of Gods Attributes as are most fit for our Deuotion to behold not excluding the rest but desiring that the rest may not hinder but further rather that Attribute vpon which wee lay hold Salomons Temple is long since ruined there is now no typicall Mercy seate whereunto wee should looke according to the example of Daniel and others But the truth abideth for euer God that was in Christ reconciling the world doth accept our prayers if wee offer them though Iesus Christ where Christ then is thither must we bend our eyes euen to the right hand of God whereat he sitteth to make intercession for vs. Out of both ceremonies ioyntly gather that the place whither we direct our Deuotion sheweth from whom the plagues come and that is from God and he sendeth them for sinne the confession thereof is plain in the acts of the Deuotion the plagues come not by chance neither are they sent without a cause The Heathen did acknowledge the Author and therefore pacified God with their solemne Supplications Christians knew him and propitiated him much better as appeares by the ancient Letanies To say nothing of the Law and the Prophets which are plentifull in teaching that all plagues come from God As God sendeth them so he sendeth plagues for sinnes being offended with our crying sinnes he poureth vpon the world grieuous plagues Maledicta terra propter te the first Curse was for mans sinne The Law runnes in the same tenour
haue not been carefull to bring them that sit in darknesse and in the shadow of death to the knowledge of Christ and participation of the Gospel Much trauelling to the Indies East and West but wherefore some go to possesse themselues of the Lands of the Infidels but most by commerce if by commerce to grow richer by their goods But where is the Prince or State that pitieth their soules and without any worldly respect endeauours the gaining of them vnto God some shew we make but it is but a poore one for it is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an accessorie to our worldly desire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is not it is not our primarie intention wheras Christs method is Mat. 6.33 first seeke ye the kingdome of God and then all other things shall be added vnto you you shall fare the better for it in your worldly estate If the Apostles and Apostolicke men had affected our saluation no more we might haue continued till this day such as somtimes we were barbarous subiects of the Prince of darknesse Those of the Church of Rome boast of their better zeale for the Kingdome of Christ but their owne Histories shew that Ambition and Couetousnesse haue beene the most predominant Affections that haue swayed their endeauours and they haue with detestable cruelty made their way to those worldly ends in stead of sauing soules haue destroyed millions of persons We should take another course for their conuersion yea the same that was taken for ours and if wee doe it is to be hoped God will continue vs his people and adde daily to his Church such as shal be saued For Popish Recusants let me speake a word their case is mixt consisting partly in ignorance of the truth and partly in the seed of disloyaltie Wee haue made many good Lawes if not to roote out at least to keepe downe so much of their corruption as is dangerous to the State it were to bee wisht that greater care were taken for informing their consciences and indeed there should our Lawes beginne with them vnder a reasonable paine to vrge them to conference for why should we doubt but that God would blesse the honest endeauours of the Ministers of the truth who permits the Seducers to steale away so many hearts from God and the King Of this we may be sure that eyther God will worke that which we wish the recouery of those which are seduced or at least their obstinacie will bee without all excuse and the punishment thereof by sharpe Lawes will be no more than is iust in the sight both of God and man The neglect of this care of infidels and recusants is no small cause of that great distresse which at this day is fallen vpon the reformed Churches and God thereby calleth vpon vs to amend these defects Let vs vse our punishment well and let Gods chastisement prouoke vs to a better life though it seeme grieuous to vnderlie Gods heauy hand yet it is much more grieuous to be neuer a whit the better for the plagues for it is a second refusing of grace the same God that doth at first recommend vnto vs pietie by sweetning it with temporall blessings when that course speedeth not tryeth whether wee will bethinke our selues if we smart for our vntowardlinesse and certainly his case is desperate who is the worse for his stripes as you may reade in Gods complaint passionately exprest by Esay Cap. 1. Cap. 5. Cap. 4. by Amos and Ieremie hath illustrated it by an excellent simile of reprobate siluer which is molten in vaine because the drosse cannot bee separated from it Amend then wee must That is not enough we must be constant in our amendment we must feare God all the dayes of our life that is true Repentance when a man so turneth to God that he doth not returne againe like a dogge to his vomit or a sow to wallow in the myre Relapses are dangerous as Saint Peter teacheth 2 Pet. 2.21 and our Sauiour Christ tels the recouered lame man in the Gospel Iohn 5. Behold thou art made whole goe thy way sinne no more lest a worse thing happen vnto thee I will hearken saith the Psalmist Psal 85. what the Lord will say vnto me for he will speake peace vnto his people and to his Saints that they returne not again vnto their folly We should all remember Lots wife who for looking backe was turned into a pillar of salt Animae in vitia relabentis accusatricem a visible inditement of relapsing soules Most men are to God-ward like Planets sometimes in coniunction with him sometimes in a more or lesse aspect too often in plaine opposition but let vs take heed we be not in the number of those wandring stars of whom St. Iude speaketh to whom is reserued the blacknesse of darknesse for euer To begin well and not to go on is as if a man should put a soueraigne plaister to a dangerous wound and after a while teare it off againe thinke you that man would bee the better for his salue or the worse rather you heard before our sinnes are wounds and although repentance be a soueraigne salue yet proueth it not such vnto vs except it be lasting There is a good reason giuen by St. Bernard Cecidimus in lutum lapides our sias are like vnto fals into the myre wherein there are stones the mud doth soile vs and the stones bruise vs we may soone wash away the myre but we cannot so soone recouer our bruise euen so the guilt of our sin is sooner remitted than the corruption can be purged Therefore Repentance taketh time to restore our spirituall health and doth not compasse it but with much fasting watching praying almesdeeds c. and is watchfull ouer vs that second wounds make not the first more dangerous in a word being deliuered from our enemies and the hands of all that hate vs we endeauour to serue God in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life Here are added two motiues vnto this constant amendment taken from the place wherein they liue It is true that wheresoeuer they liued they were to feare God all the dayes of their life because God is euery where a knower of the the heart a rewarder of men according to their workes But the place of their aboad put no small obligation vpon them first because it was an eminent place eminent corporally a good Land a Land flowing with milke and honey eminent mystically for it was the seate of the Church and a type of heauen and who should bee fruitfull in good workes rather than they that dwell in a fruitfull Land and holinesse beseemeth Gods house for euer But to sin in the Land of Immanuel in the Land of vprightnesse is no small improuement of sin and hee that is barren of good works in a fruitfull Land shall haue the earth that brings forth her increase rise vp in iudgement against him Our Countrey hath both
made steward of Gods house a disposer of the secrets of the Kingdome of God an Oecumaenicall both Steward and Disposer Et ad haec quis idoneus No man that is not qualified by grace and by grace not only called but inabled thereunto as St. Paul was that was not only an Apostle but had also Apostolicall gifts But I said I would haue an eye to this present occasion wherefore I will enlarge this point as fitteth the present Auditorie The grace of a Minister is eyther inherent or assistant the first giueth Abilitie the second Authoritie by grace inherent hee vnderstandeth the Scripture by grace assistant hee hath power to retaine and remit sinne Of these two graces both are requisite to the being as it were of a Pastor there should be a sufficiencie in him vnto whom authoritie is giuen and hands should not be imposed on them which haue not a competencie of gifts And yet it falleth out too often that through the ambition of ignorant men and ouer-facilitie of those that haue power to lay on hands many weake yea wicked ones are honoured with that sacred calling whereunto themselues are no meane dishonour who in regard of the grace of inherence cannot say with St. Paul by the grace of God I am that I am inward grace in this kinde they haue plainely none I would they would redeeme this shame and not liue to bee scandalls of our Church But the sinne of such doth not impeach their power they are true though they are not fit Ministers Which must bee considered by those which factiously refuse or scrupulously forbeare to be Sheepe vnder such Shepheards or to communicate with them in sacred things although hee come short in regard of grace inherent yet God is not wanting to him in regard of grace assistant whether he dispence the Sacraments according to Gods ordinance or present according to the ordinance of the Church the peoples deuotion vnto God And let this suffice touching St. Paules Endowment I come now to his Employment And here I told you first that St. Paul did not neglect Gods gifts Gods grace bestowed vpon him was not in vaine Vaine is eyther emptie or idle emptie is that which hath a shew but no substance idle is that whose efficacie is not answerable to its abilitie The grace that St. Paul had was neither way vaine for he had Gods spirit indeed not in shew onely and his deeds did beare witnesse that Gods spirit was in him In this place the Apostle meaneth not so much emptinesse as idlenesse for though whatsoeuer is emptie must needs be idle yet whatsoeuer is idle is not emptie otherwise there could be no sinne of negligence whereof notwithstanding there is too much in the world Negligence of both kinde of graces of the grace of Adoption which is common to all the Church for how many be there whose vnderstanding God illightneth with the knowledge of the truth that neuer make vse of it in ordering of their liues but liue as if they knew neyther Creede nor ten Commandements how many good motions doth God kindle in the hearts of many a man who notwithstanding liueth frozen as it were in the dregs of his owne impure lusts and those good motions set him not a whit forwarder towards heauen Nay as water that hath beene warmed is apt to bee bound faster with the frost so after-lusts are the more violent by reason of former good motions But this is a foule neglect of Gods good gifts Wherfore let me remember you all in the Apostles words to follow his good example not to receiue the grace of God in vaine St. Paul did not the more grace he had the better he liued and so must we if there be light in vs it must shine forth from vs and they must feele the heat of our inward zeale that conuerse with vs outwardly in the world In a word wee must all walke in that spirit by which wee liue they that boast of Gods gifts let them shew the effects of them for I haue chosen you saith Christ that you may goe and beare fruit Gods grace that makes vs other men must make vs also profitable men As none of the Church must neglect the grace of Adoption so must not the Ministers neglect their grace of Edification they must not hide their talent consult with flesh and blood bee disobedient to the heauenly visions they must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stirre vp the grace of God blow off the ashes that would ouer-cast it sound the trumpet and giue timely Alarums be instant in season and out of season being salt wee must euer be seasoners of the world being light we must euer be dispelling the darkenesse of men being Architects wee must euer be building of Gods house being Husbandmen wee must euer bee labouring in Gods field finally being Shepheards we must euer be attending on Christs flocke so was St. Paul so must we Otherwise Gods grace is bestowed on vs in vaine our conscience cannot yeeld vs this good testimonie which St. Paul giueth here vnto himselfe it will rather challenge vs of our neglect and the grieuousnesse of our neglect will bee answerable to the gifts which wee receiue from God And God knowes there is too much of this neglect of our calling in many at whose hands God will require the blood of many perishing soules But I will dwell no longer vpon this first branch of St. Paules employment St. Paul did not neglect the gifts of God but vnto his vse of them there concurred more workers than one he doth specifie them and the preheminencie of eyther of them The workers are two St. Paul and Gods grace And here I must put you in minde that though in our first conuersion we are only passiue yet being conuerted we become actiue also God onely maketh vs new men but being new he will haue vs make vse of our new vnderstanding and our new will and our new affections he will haue vs vse them all And it were grosse for vs to neglect our selues when God hath giuen vs abilities which we may employ yea honoured vs so farre as to enable vs to work out our saluation and walke the waies that leade vnto eternall life neither doth hee euer deserue to come there that will not set forward that way And yet many such wretches haue you that leaue themselues to be carried to heauen by God while they giue themselues ouer-securely to fulfill their owne wicked lusts that hope well of God but themselues doe no good at all And as there bee such carelesse Christians so are there carelesse Ministers also who presuming vpon dabitur in illa hora do all things extempore preach pray and what not as if premeditation and studie did not concerne them but the spirit of God would alwaies supply them and giue them an extraordinarie abilitie But this is grosse presumption and dangerous also euen the high way vnto Enthusiasme Anabaptisme and all those mischieuous Sects the
that we should bow before him the knees of our hearts no lesse then the knees of our bodies when we lift vp our hands vnto GOD we should lift vp our Soules also and our eyes should not behold Heauen but our faith should pierce vnto the Throne of GOD. Finally there is no Ceremoniall Law which should not attend some Morall as the shadow doth the body or the body should the soule the Sonne of SYRACH hath made a whole Chapter that teacheth this Lesson But the Iewes put a sunder what GOD had conioyned Cap. 35 they shewed much zeale for the Ceremoniall but were carelesse of the Morall Law expressed much submission of their bodyes but little deuotion of their Soules and drew neere with their lips but their hearts were farre from God Of this GOD complaineth ESAY 1. and doth passionately vary tearmes to expresse his dislike thereof they solemnized their Feasts and offered Sacrifices and assembled themselues in his House Esay 1 But what saith GOD To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices Who required your presence to tread in my Courts I hate your solemne Feasts The cause of all is Your hands are full of blood In the last of ESAY GOD is much sharper He that killeth an oxe is as if he slew a man Cap. 66. he that sacrificeth a lambe as if he cut off a dogs necke he that offereth an oblation is as if he offered swines blood he that burneth Incense as if he blessed an Idol Marke the Reason They haue chosen their owne wayes and their soule delighted in their owne abominations You see then that in seruing GOD we may offend him grieuously if we seuer those things which he hath coupled for our seruice then will be plaine hypocrisie and Hypocrifie is by a Prouerbe noted to be double iniquitie And iustly is it so noted for therein we do first Interpretatiuè deny that GOD is the Searcher of the heart in that we doe not approue our heart to him Secondly we doe expresly preferre the Diuell before GOD in that we giue the better part I meane our Soule to the Diuell and reserue onely the worser part that is our bodyes for GOD. This should all that present themselues in GODS House seriously thinke on especially you that make shew of a solemne Penitent but such a shew as betrayeth that there is no broken heart within you nor contrite spirit seeing there appeareth so little euidence thereof in the outward man Be you assured that so repenting for sinne you doe but add vnto your sinne you are a transgressor of the Law in regard of your Separation of the Ceremoniall from the Morall Law But there is an other transgression of the Law which is the direct and immediate violation of the Morall part thereof This is the greater sinne and doth more apparently deserue such a name for the former though it be a sinne yet it is a cloaked sinne it maketh some faire shew in the eyes of men how vgly soeuer it is in the eyes of GOD but this walketh vnmasked and appeareth as it is Secondly the former is Malum quia prohibitum euill vpon no other ground but because by a positiue Law it is forbidden it is onely extrinsically euil the other is prohibitum quia malum by no meanes to be done though there were no positiue Law that did forbid it the euill thereof is intrinsicall for it is the violation of the Image of GOD according to which man was made and according to which he should liue In the particular Case that concernes this Penitent GOD that gaue a rationall facultie vnto the soule of man whereby he should order the sensitiue in the vse thereof would haue a man shew himselfe to be better then a beast And how doth a man differ from a beast that hath vnbridled lusts and neglect not onely sacred wedlocke but the degrees of Affinitie and Consanguinitie within which GOD and Nature require that his lusts be stinted This should you that are the Penetent seriously thinke on and measure the grieuousnesse of your sinne by this these things as well the transgression of the Morall as the seperation thereof from the Ceremoniall But the grieuousnesse of sinne is argued not only from what is done but also from the doing of the same Aliud est peccare aliud peccatum facere saith St AVGVSTINE It is one thing to sinne another thing to be giuen ouer to sinne and his distinction is not idle for it is grounded not onely vpon St IOHNS phrase 1 Iohn 3. but also vpon St IAMES his gradation Men are first inticed by their lusts Cap. 1. then lust conceaueth and brings forth sinne and sinne being perfected brings forth death and this perfecting of sinne is properly the doing of sinne All men sinne but they that haue grace take heed of doing sinne feare and shame are both shaken off by those that goe so farre they endeauour not so much as to hide their sinnes Of these Iewes our Psalme saith They sate they spake they ran they wrought euill they consented one with another and were professors of a wicked life And little better is the case of this Penitent who for many yeeres hath openly in the eyes of the world notwithstanding the clamor of many that iustly did detest it liued in abominable Incest which doth much aggrauate his sinne There is a third Aggrauation in my Text taken from the Person that doth commit the sinne Thou hast done these things And the circumstance of the Person doth much improue the foulenesse of a fault No man should sinne against GOD but they that are most bound should forbeare most Now the Iewes had a double Obligation one by Nature the other by the Couenant They were GODS Creatures and GOD vouchsafed to contract with them Not to performe the dutie which we owe especially when we haue solemnly vowed it maketh vs guiltie in a high degree And euerie one within the Church if he doe sinne is so farre guiltie his Vow in Baptisme will presse him no lesse then the Condition of his Nature And this must you that are the Penitent ponder in your Soule that you may answerably hereunto feele the burden of your sinne I doe not amplifie these things without Cause they must be the rather marked because the deeper the Iewe was in guilt the greater was GODS Patience Notwithstanding their double offence their Seperation and Transgression their double Obligation of Nature and Vow their double sinning in that they did not onely act but professe sin yet did GOD hold his peace he proceeded not against them but with great Patience GODS Patience is noted by his Silence the word signifieth to be deafe and dumbe and putteth vs in mind of a double voyce a voyce of sinne and a voyce of Iudgement That sinnes haue a Voyce you may read Gen. 4. where ABELS blood doth cry and in the Storie of Sodome Gen. 18. the voyce of whose sin came vp to
can be no fit obiect for compassion which is the next point of the Text. Touching which compassion we are here taught that it is a restoring of a Penitent in the spirit of meekenesse Meekenesse is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arl. Eth. lib. 4. cap. 5. and a meeke man is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Apostle doth not forbid Anger but commendeth indulgence there is a rod and a spirit of meekenesse that for the impenitent but for the penitent this And certainly without meekenesse there is little good to be done with Penitents for generosus est hominis animus magis ducitur quà m trahitur especially in reformation of the inward man where not so much coaction as perswasion preuaileth therefore if any thing will win the wayward it is meeknesse so thought St AMBROSH Tolle hominem a contentione audacia et habebis eum subiectum by meeknesse the prince of this world is soonest ouerthrowne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he is likely to recouer a patient soonest that handleth him gentlest Now if it be so in reclayming of a sinner that meekenesse is so requisite how requisite is it in dealing with a penitent sinner If St BERNARDS practise be commendable in iudging of sinne either to excuse the fact or say the temptation was verie strong how tenderly must we respect the humiliation of a sinner And take heed of a pharisaicall pride which satiateth its owne vncharitablenesse vnder pretext of censure and proceedeth contrarie to GODS rule vltra rather then citra condignum with the most when it should be with the least St PAVL did remember and so should we all that we are the seruants of that GOD which desireth not the death of a sinner Members of that SAVIOVR which will not breake a bruised reed nor quench smoaking flaxe Finally Temples of that Holy Ghost which is tearmed in my Text the Spirit of Meekenesse And indeed this vertue is a graffe not of nature but of grace and it argueth the Spirit dwelleth in vs when such fruit springeth from vs. Yea our whole soule must become meekenesse and this vertue must take vp euerie power thereof For such phrases are emphaticall and note not onely the originall but the extent of a vertue it doth argue that the whole inward man should be seasoned with it and concurre to the acting of it But the Spirit of Meekenesse must not be seuered from restoring for compassion should not cherish sinne but rectifie a sinner otherwise it is curdelis misericordia it is as if you should take a man that with a fall hath broken a ioynt and lay him downe vpon a soft bed but not take care to set his ioynts this were to leaue him in perpetuall torture or at least a maymed creature the righteous must smite but their stripes must be a precious balme the Church must censure but it must be for correction not destruction a sinner must be restored to that from which he is fallen It is an error long since condemned in the Nonatians who thought that the Church had no power to restore belieuing Penitents to restore them to that state wherein they were before their fall the very words vsed in my Text refuteth them which comming from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying compleate and perfect and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comming from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nuper sheweth that it signifieth a perfect restitution vnto that which the person was before The fall did disgrace and disable so the restoring must recouer inwardly and outwardly inwardly in the peace of conscience and new strength to resist sinne outwardly in the Communion of Saints and the participation of sacred things and charitable society in the course of life In regard of all these the person must be as if he had neuer fallen Finally this restoring in the Spirit of Meekenesse must be without respect of persons and without exception of faults so saith the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if he be a man that hath fallen Happily we can be contented to shew meekenesse to our kinred our friends not to strangers with whom we haue no such acquaintance But we must exclude none that may be ouertaken and any may be ouertaken that is a man Saint AVSTIN and other of the Fathers worke vpon the name man and shew that implyeth frailtie according to the Prouerbe Gen. 6.9 Humanum est errare and indeed the Scripture is cleare for it the frame of the imaginations of the heart of man is euill and that from his youth continually As we may exclude no person so must we except against no sinne If a man be ouertaken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in any kind of sinne our bowels must not be straighter then Christs merits what his blood hath cleansed the Church may not hold vnpardonable therefore ouer great austerie was well condemned in the Councell of Nice which left power in the Bishops vpon iust cause to mittigate the penance which was enioyned by Canons with great seueritie to the terror of the wicked You haue heard what compassion must be shewed the Text moreouer teacheth who must shew it and vpon what ground Touching the partie that must shew it St HIEROME hath a good rule on this Text Homo potest se in voraginem perditionis conijcere non potest sine auxilio se eripere we may cause our owne ruine of our selues but vnto our restitution we need the helpes of others of others amongst whom we must acknowledge an Agent and the Instruments the chiefe Agent is GOD he onely blotteth out all our offences as himselfe speaketh in ESAY and it is He that healeth all our infirmities Ps 103. yet he is pleased to vse means or instruments and they are of two sorts medium impetrationis and medium operationis that is the Church offended this is the Minister In publike scandals GOD ouer and aboue the teares and sighes of the penitent will haue the whole Church to mediate and deprecate his wrath and he will haue the Minister spondere veniam to promise pardon and absolue in his name so that this Text implyeth a power which GOD hath giuen both the Pastor and People inabling each in his order to forgiue sinnes according as we are taught Math. 18. But marke here the words whereby these persons are described least they be proud and suppose their compassion to be arbitrarie which they may shew or withhold at their pleasure they are taught the contrarie by their names which testifie that it is necessarie for them to shew compassion The first name is Brethren Esay 58.7 this name implyeth an argument of compassion for a man may not turne away his eyes from his owne flesh this is true if he were but a naturall man but the spirituall cognation is greater and therefore bindeth more strongly by how much we owe more regard to our supernaturall then to our naturall Father Adde hereunto that their is no shew no pretence of
Penitent did both couples are alike neere kin and so in true iudgement your case is as his was neither skilleth it that you tooke her not to wife but abused her body onely for if you abuse her body whom you may not take to wife your fact is nothing the lesse Incest your marying would haue argued a resolution to continue the Incest You haue committed complicatissimum peccatum a very manifold sinne there is in it Fornication you knew her body without mariage Adulterie you knew her your wife being liuing Incest you knew such a person as you could not match with by any dispensation from man neither from GOD was there euer any granted Wonder not then that the Apostle doth not onely expresse but amplifie also this sinne The first amplification is in regard of the haynousnesse of it it was not so much as named amongst the Gentiles Mistake not the words it is not meant that the Gentiles neuer were infected with this sinne in the entrance and close of the 18 of Leuit. it appeareth that the Aegyptians from whom Israel then came and the Canaanites whose Countrey they were to possesse were foully stayned therewith and thereupon did GOD take an occasion to lay the prohibition thereof vpon the Israelits Leu. 20.23 that they might not follow the corruption of those Gentiles But Saint PAVL meaneth that euen such as were but onely Gentiles haue out of the light of reason detested and forbidden it which appeareth in their Morals Lawes and Histories the iniquitie thereof being euident not onely out of the Law of MOSES but of nature also otherwise the Canaanites could not in equitie haue beene punished for being guiltie of it And no maruell if the Heathen detested it when the verie beasts doe abhorre it Lib. 9. cap. 47 ARISTOTLE in his Historie of liuing Creatures hath written of a Camell and a Horse which were brought to their dammes but no sooner did they discerne them by falling off of the cloathes which had beene cast vpon them to conceale them but that the Camell was presently so enraged that he kild his keeper and the Horse left not running vntill he had broken his necke The phrase of the Apostle is remarkable that which was not so much as named amongst the Gentiles was done by a Christian whereas the rule of pietie is that those sinnes should not be so much as named amongst Christians which are done by the Gentiles Christians should not walke as other Gentiles doe because they know GOD and are brought so neere to GOD as to be heires by hope of the Kingdome of GOD finally they haue as many tyes layd vpon the lusts of their flesh as they haue prerogatiues vouchsafed to their bodyes whereas the Gentiles they know not GOD theyare aliens from his couenant yea they worship the Diuel which is an impure Spirit and therefore no such wonder if they be giuen ouer to filthy lusts but Omne animi vitium tanto conspectius in se Crimen habet quante maior qui peccat habetur It is verily a pittifull case when sinne groweth to that heighth in the children of GOD Ezech. 16. as that Iuda iustifieth Israel and both iustifie Sodome when Christians become worse then Heathens in their liues and conuersations You that are the Penitent take this to heart and measure the burden of your conscience thereby The second amplification of the sinne is from the notoriousnesse thereof it is commonly reported the sin is so publike that it cannot be coloured that it needeth no proofe all the world taketh notice of it This is a faire ground of a censure secret sinnes the Church doth not iudge it leaueth them to GOD to mens consciences but notorious sinnes must not escape vnpunished they are ripe for Iudgement when their infamie draweth them to light Cap. 20. Sinnes in generall are called Workes of darknesse but especially the sinnes of Incontinencie IOâ— obserued it and the more foule the Incontinencie the more closely vseth it to be carryed and the more it feareth to be discouered So that for a worke of darknesse to be notorious argueth the impudencie of the sinner Esay 3. it was that for which GOD challenged Israel They declare their sinne like Sodom they hide it not shame and feare are both cast off when sinne hath an Harlots forehead Because you the Penitent haue committed a grieuous sinne and the cry thereof is come into the eares not of GOD onely but also of his Church it was meet you should be made a penitentiall spectacle meet that your sinne should be not onely exprest but amplyfied also and that in regard of the haynousnesse and notoriousnesse thereof otherwise we should deserue the blame which St PAVL layeth vpon the Corinthians that did neglect to censure the Incestuous person in their Church Of their neglect in censuring such an offendor let vs see first the cause and then their fault the cause was first too much selfe-conceipt they were puft vp Instatio is presumptae either innocertiae or scientiae men are puffed vp with a presumption either of their owne holinesse as the Pharisee I thanke God I am not like vnto other men c. or of their guifts of edification as here the Corinthians which you perceiue by former Chapters The first kind of presumption maketh men too forward vnto separation ouerweening of holinesse will bid men stand farther off I am more holy then thou but ouerweening of other guifts is ambitious of followers it will beare with all faults so it may be admired Certainly this puffing vp breeds much confusion in the Church our owne times testifie But because that point is not to this Penitents case I passe it ouer onely giuing this note by the way that none are more proud then they which know themselues least they boast when they haue cause to blush yea and GOD doth often permit grieuous fals in them or amongst them to take downe such vaine mens pride This first cause which I called selfe-conceipt bred another cause which I called too little fellow feeling they sorrowed not Seldome shall you haue a proud man compassionate he is so taken vp with the contemplation of his owne worth that he doth not heed other mens cases no wonder therefore if he mourne not But it beseemes Christian pietie to bewayle other mens fals First because of our reference to them they are members of the same body with vs and how should one member not feele the wound which is giuen to another The mysticall body of Christ ought not to be worse disposed then is the naturall body of man Secondly because of our danger from them for at least their guilt toucheth vs a murderous hand maketh the whole man goe for a murderer and one wicked member of the Church maketh all the Church goe for guiltie vntill it haue cleared it selfe as we learne by the expiation of the vnknown murder Thirdly there is a scandall that their sinne bringeth vpon all
of their profession GODS Name is blasphemed by it And lastly Iosu 7. vengeance by the sinne of one man commeth vpon a whole Church one ACHAN troubleth all Israel Ier. 9. These considerations should draw teares from euerie mans eyes it should make vs wish with IEREMIE that our heads were full of waters and our eyes a fountaine of teares Ps 11 9. Our eyes with DAVIDS should gush out with riuers because men keepe not Gods Lawes Neither should priuate men onely so lament but the whole Church also you haue a patterne in the storie of NABOTH 1 King 21. it was pretended that NABOTH blasphemed GOD and the King and thereupon the whole Citie proclaimed a Fast the like we read Esdras 9 and 10 of a publike lamentation for the sinne of some of the people These reasons and examples must worke in vs and force vs to weep for the grieuous sinne of a brother We must weepe yet here we must not stop not wèeping was the cause of the fault but it was not the fault of the Corinthians their fault was as St PAVL telleth them that they did not put away the incestuous person Christians as they must be sorrowfull to see grieuous offendors so must they be zealous for their chastisement if they haue sufficient power and faire proofe otherwise they make the sinne their owne But if so be the proofe be not full Ambr. or they haue no lawfull authoritie to chastife then it is sufficient for them to mourne I shall fall vpon this point againe when I come to the censure therefore I will say no more of it here Onely I must put you that are the Penitent in mind that if others must be so sorrowfull for you then must you be sorrowfull for your selfe and you must be as carefull to rid your selfe of sinne as we must be to rid the Church of a sinner But let vs come at length to the Censure St PAVL as I told you had a more quicke eare and a more feeling heart then the Corinthians had he proueth it true which else-where he affirmeth of himselfe Who is weake and I am not weake Who is offended and I burne not ◠Cor. 11. Yea he seemes to disproue the common Prouerbe Segnius irritant ammos dimissa per aures quam quae sunt oculis commissa fidelibus for what the Corinthians neglected hauing it in their eye with that he was much disquieted though he had notice of it onely by his eare and therefore doth he censure it as appeares in the last part of the Text where you shall see what the censure was and whereunto it serued The censure is Excommunication but it is exprest in verie high and fearfull termes it is called a deliuerie vnto Satan The words imply one thing and expresse another for Excommunication consisteth of two parts a priuatiue and a positiue the priuatiue is that which seperateth from the Communion of Saints and separation presupposeth a former Communion The Article of our Creed teacheth vs that there is a Communion of Saints there is an inward and an outward communion inward by Faith Hope and Charitie outward in the participation of sacred things in the visible assembly From the inward none is separated but by himselfe falling from his Faith Hope and Charitie and so depriuing himselfe of the bond of Vnion which is the Spirit of GOD. From the outward none should be separated except he first doth separate himselfe from the inward and doth also manifest that separation to the scandall of others and dishonor of Religion The man that goeth so farre in separating himselfe by sinne the CHVRCH must separate him by censure Iude 2 Thes 3. 1 Cor. 5. We must hate the garment spotted with the Flesh We must not keepe companie we must not eat with those that are inordinate we must not let the world thinke that Christianity doth allow of such sinnes The Aduersaries are apt enough to traduce vs without a cause how much more if there be a cause The impurities of old Heretickes were layd to the Christians in generall and now the Anabaptists and Familists are made our staines there may be some colour of casting such shame vpon vs if we endure such persons therefore we must put them away from amongst vs they must vndergoe the priuatiue part of Excommunication Besides this priuatiue part which is implyed in the censure because mentioned before there is a positiue part which is here exprest it is the deliuerie vnto Satan The phrase hath in it some thing proper to an Apostle and some thing common to all Bishops It was proper to the Apostles so to deliner vnto Satan as that he should haue power ouer the incestuous persons body to torment him and such power the Apostles not onely had but executed as appeares in the stories of ELYMAS ANANIAS and SAPHIRA They could strike men with death they could possesse them with as well as dispossesse them off foule Spirits And of this power doe many of the Fathers vnderstand these words and the like which we read 1 Tim. 1. But besides this power there is another common to all Bishops with the Apostles which is to expose the Soules of those which are obstinate sinners to the malice of the Prince of Darknesse by suspending them from the preseruatiue against it which is the visible Communion of Saints for the inuisible will not hold long if the visible be iustly with-held because extra Ecclesiam non est salus Satan raigneth and rageth in them and on them that are excluded from the Communion of Saints A word here to you the penitent consider with your selfe how bitter banishment it is to him that dwelleth in a goodly Countrey hath a good house faire possessions and those well stockt and stored yet he must part with all these And hereby guesse you at the euill of the priuatiue part of Excommunication for a Christian within the CHVRCH is in the Kingdome of Heauen he is of the Houshold of GOD he is Owner of those greene pastures and waters of comfort which are mentioned Psal 23. he is prouided plentifully of all ghostly food and rayment If the losse of those corporall things be grieuous how grieuous must the losse of these spirituall be And touching the positiue part of the Excommunication suppose that he that were banished were also put into the hands of a Tyrant and he that hated him should be made Lord ouer him should haue power to vse him as a Slaue and afflict him with tortures you would thinke his case much more miserable and yet is it not so miserable as his which is deliuered ouer to Satan vsed by him onely to serue filthy lusts and daily to breed new matter for the vexation of his owne Soule yet this was to be the case of this incestuous Corinthian And you deserue that it should haue been your case both of you being such impure persons to whom should you be committed but to
the vncleane Spirit I goe on This censure which you haue heard of was inflicted by St PAVL and the Acts of inflicting it are two first it is pronounced by himselfe iudicially and then he requireth that it be solemnly denounced by the Corinthians First touching his owne iudiciall pronouncing here is something remarkable in his person for he was absent and present absent in body present in Spirit There is a morall rule contained in these words and a miracle The morall is this distance of place doth not extinguish the relation that is betweene persons though a King and his Subiects a Master and his Seruant a Husband and his Wife a Father and his Child be farre a sunder yet may they giue order one to another concerning their affaires so may a Pastor to his CHVRCH Especially an Apostle might who wheresoeuer he were was neuer out of his Dioces for his Dioces reached ouer all the world and so St PAVL being at Ephesus in Asia was in regard of his relation at Corinth also which is in Europe thus was he present euen when he was absent These words containe also a miracle Papae quanta est virtus doni saith St CHRYSOSTOME What a strange guift of the Spirit was this which maketh men that are a sunder to be together and informeth men of those things which are done a farre off so that none of his Dioces could any where be out of his reach Such an assistance of the Spirit had ELIZEVS 2 King 5. 8 who being in Israel could tell what was done in the King of Syria's bed-chamber and being in his owne chamber saw GEHEZI take bribes of NAAMAN when he was farre out of his sight Such a guift had St PAVL and thereby could be present where he was absent as he speaketh here and he tels the Colossians Cap. 2. that when he was absent yet he did he hold their order and stedfastnesse of their faith in Christ as his knowledge so also his power reached to any distance for the punishing of offendors This being obserued concerning his person we are now to see his worke he doth pronounce iudicially I haue iudged already Where we must first obserue that when Iurisdictions are subordinate if the inferiour be carelesse the superiour must take cognizance of the disorder and supply the others negligence otherwise Churches and Common-weales will come to confusion this is the course that St PAVL taketh in his place Secondly the word iudging doth import that he did not deale passionately or rashly but aduisedly and as beseemed a Iudge he tryed the cause by the Law of GOD and doomed not what he found not forbidden therein And indeed Apud Deum non sacerdotis sententia sed reorum vita quaeritur there must be some generall Law which men are bound to obey and mens liues must be tryed by that Law and as they are found so they must be censured otherwise GOD doth not regard he doth not approue the censure Last of all marke that St PAVL doth not onely say I haue iudged but I haue iudged already he doth not put off his iudgement vntill he commeth to Corinth but proceeds without delay you shall find the reason in the Preacher cap. 8. Because sentence against an euill worke is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the sonnes of men is fully set in them to doe euill a timely chastisement of one is a soueraigne preseruatiue of many You haue heard how iudicially St PAVL pronounced the sentence the next thing that you must heare is that he requires the Corinthians to denounce it solemnly he will that they haue a hand in it partly to redeeme their negligence and partly to expresse their detestation of sinne in both respects it was behoofefull that they should denounce what he had decreed denounce it by the mouthes of their Pastors as what is decreed by vs in the Consistorie is published by the Minister of the Parish where the sinner dwelleth whom our Decrees concerne But to denounce is not enough they must denounce it solemnly First in regard of the place it must be done in the face of the CHVRCH You being gathered together and my spirit with you that is in the presence of the chiefe Pastor and all his Flocke at Corinth Notorietas facti must haue notorietatem iuris Deut. 29. a publike sinne must haue a publike doome that others may behold and beware But this is done tantum conscia Ecclesia the Congregation is but witnesse to the doome not Iudge of the fact the power of the Keyes is giuen to the CHVRCH quoad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not quoad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it may haue the benefit of them not the managing the managing is committed onely to the Pastor as appeares Math. 16. and Ioh. 20. As the denouncing must be solemne in place so must it be in proceeding also for they must proceed cum potestate potenti â with the Authoritie and Efficacie of our Lord IESVS CHRIST St PAVL doth pronounce the Corinthians doe denounce neither of them must arrogate more to himselfe then is committed to him in regard of Authoritie they are but Delegates in regard of Efficacie they are but Instruments of CHRIST he is the Author and Actor of the Censure so that the proceeding must not be in mans name or with mans power but in the Name of our Lord Iesus Christ and with the Power of our Lord Iesus Christ This maketh the proceeding to be solemne in deed CHRIST is present at it his Commission is our warrant and his cooperation maketh good our censure Whose soeuer sinnes ye remit Iohn â—â— they are remitted vnto them and whose soeuer sinnes ye retaine they are retained Whatsoeuer ye bind on Earth it shall be bound in Heauen So that we must doe all ad nutum summi Pastoris as we are directed and authorized by the chiefe Pastor And you that are the Penitent must heare and feare the sentence as if it came from CHRIST's owne mouth and were to be performed by CHRIST's owne hand Put all the parts of the censure together and you will confesse that it is horrendum iudicium for you must set before your eyes Heauen and Hell the blessed state of those that are in the one the woefull state of those that are in the other then behold a man taken out of the blisse of the one and throwne into the woe of the other by an Apostle and in the presence of all the Saints nay by CHRIST himselfe by his voyce by his hands you must suppose that all this is done Contra Aduer sarium legis Lib. 1. cap. 17. St AVSTIN when he considered it thought it was grauius quam gladio feriri c. much more grieuous then to be beheaded burned stoned c. Many euidences there are of GODS seueritie against impure lusts Deut. 23. as namely he would not that a bastard should come into the Congregation of Israel
such women is verie vnnaturall it is no lesse then Incest Incest in the highest degree Such is the fact And verily such a fact is most haynous it is wickednesse Wickednesse is a common name to all sinne but it must here be vnderstood in a speciall sense for abominable for intollerable wickednesse Now such as the sinne is such is the doome the sinne is haynous and the doome is grieuous But in the doome take notice of two things First it is impartially seuere impartially doth GOD deale he spareth neither man nor woman neither him nor them And he dealeth seuerely with them both they shall burne him and them with fire and you know fire is a painfull tormenter and an vtter destroyer of that which it tormenteth Great seueritie and yet no greater then was necessarie to keepe the State from being guiltie that there be no wickednesse amongst you No wickednesse not absolutely none that is impossible in this world but no tantum nefas as the Vulgar expresseth the sense well no heynous wickednesse must be amongst you amongst you that is suffered by you which will make the State guiltie and prouoke GODS wrath against it You haue the briefe of my Text which I purpose GOD willing to enlarge GOD grant that what I shall say thereon may make these Penitents truly sorrowfull for their fault and vs that behold them carefull not to be ouertaken with the like fall Come we then to the particulars But before I distinctly vnfold them I must in few words cleare the phrases wherein the fact is exprest Obserue then first that to take a woman in this Law is to vncouer her nakednesse as MOSES expresseth himselfe vers 17. Cap. 18 or as we commonly speake to haue carnall knowledge of her Secondly Isha in the Hebrew tongue signifieth as well a woman as a wife and therefore some translate it if a man take a woman some if a man take a wise It is not materiall which way you render it because it is an vndoubted truth that whom a man may not marrie with he may not know carnally out of mariage if he doe it is incest no lesse Incest if he make her his strumpet then if he tooke her to be his wife Thirdly It is all one for the daughter to be the wife and the mother the strumpet or for the mother to be the wife and the daughter the strumpet the Incest will euer be of the same degree because the persons are both wayes of the same neernesse I note these two last points the rather because these Penitents may happily thinke they are not within the compasse of my Text whereas if it be vnderstood as the truth is and I haue shewed you my Text speaketh directly of them and the fact here mentioned is their fact The fact is but one but there are two sinnes in it whereof the first is Adultery it is adultery for one man to take more women then one As GOD made but one EVE of one ADAM so in mariage he coupled but one EVE to ADAM and he coupled them so neere that they two should be one flesh that is that the man should not haue power ouer his body but the woman nor the woman should haue power ouer her body but the man and the obseruance of this is the keeping of Pactum Iehouae the Couenant of the Lord which had accompanying it magnum benesicium and magnum mysterium a great blessing for their seed was semen sanctum a holy seed and GOD promised to be the GOD of those children which were borne of such parents The great mysterie was that liuing in such wedlocke they were a perpetuall monument vnto themselues of the heauenly mariage of CHRIST and his CHVRCH Marke now especially you that are Penitents what the sinne of Adulterie is First It maketh them two againe whom GOD made but one for a man cannot be one with two women because whose he is he must be hers entirely and he cannot be entirely more then one womans so that his first sinne is that he diuideth that which is indiuisible I meane coniugall affection Secondly He bestoweth that which is none of his owne for his body in this respect is his wiues she onely hath right vnto it and to this vse of it Thirdly In breaking GODS Couenant of wedlocke he defraudeth his children of the couenant of grace For obserue it in the storie of ABRAHAM he had children by two wiues SARA his first and his lawfull wife AGAR his second and vnlawfull wife but what saith the Scripture Cast out the bond-woman and her child Gala◠4.30 for the child of the bond-woman shall not be heire with the child of the free woman Besides the great mysterie you may there-hence gather this morall that although GOD may out of his mercie receiue that child whom the parents as much as lyeth in them cast away yet GODS couenant is made with the parent for no children but those that are begotten in lawfull wedlocke Finally Adulterers defraud themselues of that blessed memoriall of CHRIST's eternall coniunction with his CHVRCH the contemplation whereof should be our greatest solace seeing we haue a blessed interest therein There were euill enough in the fact if it were onely Adulterie seeing Adulterie hath so manifold euill in it but there is a greater sinne which is Incest for the women are of verie neere reference the one is a mother the other is her daughter neerer kin they cannot be and being so neere it is vnnaturall that they should be knowne of the same man he that knoweth them both committeth Incest in the highest degree But I will some-what more open vnto you the nature of Incest Know then that GOD purposed by wedlocke not onely to multiply mankind but also to preserue charitie Naturall charitie is founded in Consanguinitie but consanguinitie the farther it spreadeth the more doth charitie grow cold To repaire and as it were quicken it GOD instituted Affinitie which doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make domesticks of strangers and naturalizing those that are forreiners to our stocke And indeed it is much like graffing for as in that art the Sien is taken from a sweet Cherie or Apple tree and entred into another growne wild for example a Crab-tree or wild Cherie-tree and art doth worke as nature in making them one so is it in Affinitie it maketh persons as neere as nature it selfe doth and charitie out of this re-vnion should grow as strong as if the persons were of one blood euen as beames of the Sunne which growing weaker the farther they goe by reflection into themselues recouer their former strength so doth the charity of consanguinitie when it is waning waxe againe by the helpe of Affinitie Where by the way note That whereas we call persons fathers-in-Law mothers-in-Law and so brothers and sisters we must not vnderstand it of meere positiue Law but it is a secundarie Law of nature vnalterable sauing onely by GOD and this Law of
GOD is grounded vpon it and affinitie doth in some sort equall consanguinitie as grafted branches doe those that are naturall But because where consanguinitie is a good ground of charitie there needeth no repaire neither will GOD haue any therefore hath he forbidden mariage within certaine degrees some collaterall more in the right line and they that match within these degrees are said to commit Incest Adde hereunto that GOD would haue a distinction kept between persons he would not haue the same person a Father and a Sonne an Husband and a Brother c. in regard of the same persons such peruersenesse in matches can neuer be approued of reason much lesse of GOD. See then your fault you that are the incestuous persons you haue first gone against GODS Ordinance which prouided for the propagating of charity and your sinne is iniurious to the societie of mankind and if it might preuaile Families must needs continue strangers each to the other and they must confine their wealth and their loue euerie one to their owne Howse Secondly In confounding Consanguinitie and Affinitie you haue made a peruerse confusion of a Father and an Husband and of a Daughter you haue made a Wife at least a Strumpet And this is your second sinne and of this and the former consisteth your sinfull fact and haynous sinne It is wickednesse Wickednesse is a word common to all sinnes but it must be here vnderstood in a speciall sense as the word sinner is often in the Scripture in the Old Testament the Amalekites those sinners 1 Sam. 15.18 in the New Testament the Gentiles are also called sinners as also Publicans Harlots not so much because they had sinne in them as for that their sinnes were enormous All Incontinencie is wicked but Incest is wicked 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the highest degree But to open the word here vsed by the Holy Ghost a little more fully The word is Zimmah which signifieth any act of our mind or thought of our heart but because the thoughts of the imaginations of our hearts are commonly euill therefore an euill thought or purpose is often intimated vnto vs thereby Thirdly Because he that is a slaue to his affections can hardly be master of his actions for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speake therefore it signifieth a reuealed thought a thought reuealed in our actions Finally the word being put without any limitation doth signifie an execrable an intollerable wicked both thought and act and so it is here to be vnderstood But marke that though the sinne be an act yet it is denominated from the thought And why The principall part thereof lyeth in the purpose of the heart not in the outward performance by our body which may also be obserued in the storie of the Deluge all flesh had then corrupted his way but GOD pointeth at the fountaine of this corruption in these words Gou. 6. euerie imagination of the thoughts of mans heart were euill Act. 8. and that continually SIMON MAGVS offered money to the Apostles that he might by them be inabled to giue the Holy Ghost to whom soeuer he layd his hands vpon but marke what St PETER saith to him Pray that the thought of thy heart may be forgiuen thee for I perceiue thou art in the gall of bitternesse and the bond of iniquitie Men that doe that which is right in their owne eyes are commonly drawne thereunto by following the counsell of their owne heart we must therefore listen to the aduise of SOLOMON Prâ—u 4.23 Keepe thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life and death A second note that this word doth yeeld is that we must be so farre from acting that we must not so much as purpose sinne not suffer our selues so farre to be baited by our owne lusts Athanas as to conceiue sinne in the inward man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sinne in the priuie closet of our soule Excellently NAZIANZENE to this purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let no man set vp Idols of wickednesse in his soule 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor carrie about him pictures of wickednesse in his heart for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the inward lust is the greatest part of fornication and incest and therefore doth the Holy Ghost so often forbid the lust of concupiscence In a word laudantur homines vituperantur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as men are inwardly disposed so are they morally reputed good or bad and herein doth morallitie differ from policie But I haue not yet touched at the haynousnesse of this sinne Incest then must be reputed in the number of the most enormous sinnes a sinne that hath his originall from the impure Spirit which is antiquus adulter the ancientest Adulterer not onely spirituall but corporall also and taketh delight no lesse in the corruption of our bodyes then of our soules you may see it in the confessions of sundry Witches who report the manner of their festiuitie at their impious meetings and read it in the description of their Mysteries wherein they doe initiate their followers TERTVLLIAN in his Apologie and other Fathers make mention of it And how many impure Hereticks did he rayse in the Primitiue CHVRCH This and the 18 Chapter doth tell vs that the Aegyptians from whom the Israelites came and the Canaanites into whose Countrey they were to goe were Nations ouergrowne with this haynous sinne but marke what it addeth God did detest them for it and the Land did spue them out And no maruell â—ozomene for it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a man that is giuen ouer to this degree of lust hath lost all soueraigntie of reason and is become a verie beast yea worse then a beast for beasts abhorre this coniunction as heretofore vpon a like occasion I shewed you out of ARISTOTLE And therefore although these extrauagant lusts did raigne in the Heathen who learned them of their impure gods yet was not the light of reason so farre exstinguished in all of them Ouid. but that many acknowledged the haynousnesse of them the Poet did Dira canam procul hinc natae procul este parentes said one of them Lab 8. De Legibus when he was to speake of a Daughters lying with her owne Father The Philosophers did PLATO saith that by an inward vnwritten Law the sacred Law of Conscience men doe abhorre these vnnaturall mixtures of mankind The Ciuill Law calleth it a funestation of a mans selfe and indeed the persons are dead in sinnes and trespasses that make such a coniunction And how can that be but abominable in GODS iudgement which the blind reason of vnregenerate man hath acknowledged to be so abominable I will conclude this point with two aggrauations of the sinne which arise from the persons of these offendors The man is a Father and a father should be a good example to his children and by
you that are the Penitents that it doth not you should not be here to doe penance if you had such doome as GODS Law requireth you are therefore bound to thanke GOD for the clemencie of the State and make good vse of this time of grace remembring that though you scape the corporall fire there is another fire which you haue cause to feare which St IVDE telleth vs was figured out in the perpetuall burning of Sodome and Gomorrha the fire of Hell and assure your selues that if the Land of Canaan spued out those impure persons Heauen will receiue no such and if they that transgressed MOSES Law perished ciuilly without all mercie most wofull shall their destruction be that are reserued for that fire which shall deuour the aduersaries the fire of Hell You shall doe well therefore to quench that fire before you come at it and there are three waters with which you must quench it The first is the water of your teares you must imitate King DAVID who all the night long washt his bed watered his couch with his teares there he sinned and there he bathed himselfe so must you But mans teares are too weake a water to wash away either the guilt or staine of sinne which are the fewell of that fire you must therefore moreouer vse two other waters the water of CHRISTS blood to wash away the guilt and the water of his Spirit to purge out the corruption of your sinne If you make good vse of these three waters that fire will neuer seize on you otherwise assure your selues that though we spare you GOD will not spare you he will one day punish you most seuerely And it were good that our Law did not spare so much as it doth considering the growth and ouer-spreading of impuritie It were to be wisht that our temporall Sword did strike as deepe as the Sword of MOSES did it may when it pleaseth the State and it shall not doe it without example of other Countreys Or if that may not be obtained at least it were to be wisht that the old Canons of the CHVRCH were reuiued and ghostly discipline exercised more seuerely for certainly the scandall is great which such sinnes bring vpon the CHVRCH and they that slander vs without a cause when they haue iust cause how will they open their mouthes against vs Our care then should be to stop their mouthes but principally we should prouide that there be no wickednesse amongst vs which is the end of the doome and the last point of my Text. I will touch it briefly The Iudgement was seuere but it was necessarie Necessarie for the State which is to preserue it selfe free from guilt there must no wickednesse be amongst you No wickednesse that is impossible in this world for viuitur non cum perfectis hominibus they that haue most of the Spirit haue some-what of the Flesh and the Field of GOD till haruest will haue Tares as well as good Eares and the good eares will haue chaffe as well as good graine and the good graine will haue bran as well as flower We may not looke then for any State wherein there is no wickednesse The Law therefore requireth onely that there be Nullum scelus no haynous wickeduesse no tantum scelus as the Vulgar speaketh enormous transgressions there must be no crying sinnes the State must haue a vigilant eye vpon such sinnes and execute vengeance vpon notorious sinners they must not be amongst vs. But they will the Serpent will be in Paradise yea Lucifer was in Heauen the Arke had a CHAM and amongst CHRISTS Disciples there was a IVDAS Be then they will amongst vs. But the meaning of the Law is they must not be indured by vs they must not scape vnpunished if they doe they will proue contagious such sinnes are like fretting Gangreenes they are like vnto Leauen they infect all about them and if they doe not infect they will make guiltie and for sparing such a one GOD will not spare a whole State And there is good reason for Qui non vetat cum potest iubet GOD taketh them for abettors that will not when they may reforme inordinate liuers Therefore the State must put away from amongst them such inordinate liuers 1 Cor. 5. Hierusalem below must as neere as may be be like vnto Hierusalem aboue Apoc. 22. of that aboue St IOHN saith Extracanes impudici no vncleane person commeth thither neither must any be indured here so soone as they appeare they must be made expiatorie Sacrifices and their death must free the State from guilt But I draw to an end A word to you that are the Malefactors Origen Ad paenitentiae remedium confugite qui praeuenti estis tam graui peccato Seeing you haue beene ouertaken with so foule a fault neglect not the remedy which GOD hath left you heartie and vnfained repentance for your sinne the rather because you haue to do with a most mercifull Iudge who doth not onely moderate the punishment but commute it also commute the punishment which you should suffer in Hell with a punishment which the CHVRCH inflicteth here on Earth Consider the qualitie consider the quantitie of these different punishments and you will confesse that it is a most mercifull commutation Cast then your eyes backe and consider what you haue done how haynous your offence hath beene and cast your eyes forwards likewise and consider what you haue deserued how great a danger you haue incurred by inioying a short and beastly pleasure Thinke vpon both these often and thinke vpon them seriously so shall you yeeld GOD the greater glorie for the mercie which he vouchsafeth you and he shall worke the greater comfort in your soules by assuring you of the remission of that sinne wherewith you haue so greatly prouoked him And to vs all this I say Eligamus priùs affectus castigare quà m propter ipsos castigemur Let vs plucke out our eyes cut off our hands rather then by retayning them to be cast into Hell-fire Let this spectacle remember vs often to set before vs the shame of the world and the horror of a guiltie conscience which befall enormous sinners in this life And if that will not hold in our corrupt nature let vs set before vs the neuer-dying Worme the euer-burning Fier Or rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let vs begin here our life in chastitie Nazian that we may one day be in the number of those Virgins that follow the Lambe whether soeuer he goeth Reuel 14. And let Magistrates and Ministers both be iealous ouer the State with a godly iealousie that as by the Ministry of the Word and Sacraments it is espowsed to one Husband 2 Cor. 11. so it may be presented as a chast Virgin vnto CHRIST when those heauenly Nuptials shall be solemnized wherein standeth our euerlasting happinesse This God grant for Jesus Christs sake by the operation of the Holy Spirit To which one
vpon whom this Law was made blasphemed but in his rage as appeares yet he dyed for it Wonder not at GODS seueritie he measureth no more to himselfe then he doth to Parents Exod. 21 to Magistrates He that curseth his father and his mother the parents of his flesh must be vsed so and shall not he be vsed so much more that curseth the Father of his Spirit He that speaketh euill of the Ruler of the people must be vsed so and shall not he that speaketh euill of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords The comparison maketh Quicunque in GODS case to be most iust To which root we shall refer your Blasphemie that are the penitent I know not in charitie we hope the best we hope that it commeth from a mixture of grosse ignorance and vnruly passions for these doe rayse euill thoughts and murmurings That it doth so let it appeare in your repentance St Paul in conscience of his Fall by ignorance gaue himselfe no better a title when he had occasion to mention it then Maximus peccatorum the most grieuous of sinners euen when he lead a most holy life he could not forget his fall in the hight of GODS grace And of St Peter the Ecclesiasticall Storie reports that at the crowing of the Cocke the Remembrancer of his Fall euerie night during his life he did wash his bed and water his couch with his penitent teares GOD make you so mindfull and so sorrowfull otherwise you will betray that your Blasphemie sprang from malice and then be sure that the same GOD that commanded such seueritie to be executed here on earth will himselfe execute much greater vpon all those which through irrepentance goe to Hell Yea haply he may euen in this world make you a Spectacle of a forlorne wretch to the terrour of others as he did Sennacherib Hercdot â—â—b 8. vpon whose Statua there is this Inscription 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let euerie one that looketh vpon me learne to be godly Such a Spectacle I say may he make you if by often recounting and bewayling of this crying sin you doe not quench the fire of his wrath and preuent his iudgements For God will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his Name in vaine The last point is that it must be done without all indulgence Moriendo morietur he shall surely dye surely be stoned We may not with Eue turne surely into ne fortè lest the Diuel worke vpon vs and we prouoke GOD as Saul did in Agags case and Ahab in Benadads You haue heard the Law A word of those to whom it was giuen and so I end In the entrance of my Text you find that it was giuen to the Israelites the Israelites were the people of GOD and surely it concernes them if any to be most zealous of his glorie who is their Glorie But did it concerne them onely Then it is dissolued because their Common-weale is at an end Take therefore a Rule That if a Law which in the institution thereof was Nationall to the Iewes in the equitie of it be Oecumenicall euerie Christian nation is bound to giue it a Reuiuor though they may varie the punishment as they find it expedient for their State And indeed this hath receiued such a reuiuor in most Christian States Iustinian the Emperour of Constantinopâ—e made it capitall The wise Gothes inflicted an hundred stripes for it and in disgrace shaued the delinquents head and beard and imprisoned him during life Fredericke the Emperour cut out the tongue of all that offended in this kind St Lewis of France caused their tongue to be bored with a hot Iron wishing that his owne tongue might be so vsed if euer he did blaspheme Philip of Vuloys caused their lips to be slit And touching our owne State I haue nothing to say in excuse thereof for that it hath all this while left this sinne onely to Ecclesiasticall censure and hath not prouided some corporall punishment for it but that of Solon who being demanded why he made no Law against Parricide answered that he thought none in his Common-weale would euer be so impious to commit it So I thinke our State thought there would neuer rise such lewd persons amongst vs But seeing there doe it is high time we had some sharpe occasionall Statute to represse them If holy Iob were so carefull to sacrifice for and sanctifie his sonnes ne fortè lest peraduenture they had sinned with what zeale should we be stirred vp when we see the fact is most apparent I conclude Let all Blasphemie be put out of all our mouthes yea and hearts also and let vs pray GOD to set a watch before our lips and keepe the doore of our mouthes that his grace may rule in our hearts that he may be our feare and his prayse may be our talke that praysing him here on Earth we may be admitted into the number of his Saints which with heart and voyce prayse him for euermore in Heauen A penitent Prayer for a Blasphemer MOST Sacred and most dread Almightie Euerlasting God to whom the Angels continually doe cry Holy holy holy Lord God of Hoasts the glorie of whose admirable and comfortable wisedome reacheth from one end of the world to another mightily and sweetly ordereth all things J the vnworthiest of men the most grieuous of sinners humbly sorrowfully prostrating my deiected disconsolate both soule and body before thy holy eyes pray that the sighes and groanes of a broken and contrite heart may not be excluded from thine offended eares Lord J haue beene deepe in the gall of bitternesse and in the bond of iniquitie Sathan hath filled my heart therewith and out of the aboundance thereof my tongue hath sent forth many flashes euen of the fire of Hell as a brood of the Serpent J haue set my mouth against Heauen J haue blasphemed the holy the reuerend Name of my God and vilified his vnchangeable vnchallengable Prouidence Haddest thou dealt with me as I deserued fire and brimstone from Heauen should haue consumed me or the Earth should haue gaped and swallowed me downe quicke into the pit of Hell J deserued to be made a spectacle of thy iust vengeance that gracelesse wretches seeing my iudgement might feare my offence J confesse this ô Lord J confesse it vnfainedly penitently but woe is me if J haue no more to confesse but these my euill deserts Thy long-suffering towards me putteth me in better hope yea this medicinall confusion whereunto thou now puttest me puts me in good hope that thou hast not forgotten to be mercifull vnto me neither hast thou shut vp thy tender mercie in displeasure Lord J doe not despise this goodnesse of thine that leads me to repentance that workes in me remorce of conscience And from that penitent Blasphemer that proued a most worthy Apostle from his mouth doe J take vnto my selfe that saying worthy of all men to be receiued That Iesus Christ came into the world to saue
therefore hath in the Liturgie restored it to its natiue puritie Onely it were to be wished that so farre as the Church allowes it we would practise it for I am perswaded that many liue and dye in enormous sinnes that neuer made any vse of it nor receiued any comfort from the power of the Keyes The confessing to the Lord doth not exclude confessing vnto man so the due limitation be obserued But enough of the Confession There is one point more to be obserued before we come to the Successe and that is that this confession of King Dauid was onely in purpose he was come no farther then dixi a sense he had of his sinne but he was not yet come so farre as to vtter it though he was disposing himselfe thereunto But dixit was not onely verbum oris but cordis also promptitudinem alacritatem hoc verbo notat saith St Bernard he was willing and ready to make his confession he adds Saul dixit peccaui sed quia non dixit antequam diceret corde priusquam ore as King Dauid did non audiuit Deus transtulit pecâ—atum tuum he heard not so good newes from Samuel as King Dauid did from Nathan The Lord hath put away thy sinne The lesson rising hence is pij non trahuntur ad Tribunal Dei sed sponte accedunt knowing that there is no shelter against GOD but onely in GOD we must preuent our summons and resolue vpon a voluntarie apparance Finally putting the Purpose to the Confession we see that the children of GOD vse not to continue in their sinnes but so soone as they are roused the principles of grace doe worke and they humbly shreeue themselues to GOD. And so haue you the first maine point in this Text which openeth vnto vs King Dauids Practise I come now to the Successe thereof which is the forgiuenesse of the sinne Where we may first see the difference betweene Triâ—unals on Earth and the Tribunall of Heauen On Earth Non est confessi causa tuenda rei Confession is the cause of condemnation it is not so at the Tribunall of GOD there though it be not the cause as Papists straine it yet it is the meanes of absolution Whereby you may perceiue that the word here vsed is a phrase of the Gospell and not of the Law For iudgements of men tread the steps of the Law of GOD 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is no reliefe for a poore sinner to be found in the Law he that will haue it must seeke iâ— in the Gospel And yet the word here vsed is borrowed out of the Law but it is the Ceremoniall Law and the Ceremoniall Law is if not wholly yet for the most part Gospel But more distinctly to handle this point We must obserue the Matter forgiuen and the Manner of forgiuing The matter forgiuen is the Iniquitie of his sinne It is disputed what is meant here by â—â—â—quitie whether culpa or poena Some vnderstand poenam and thinke that an allusion is made in this word vnto the message of Nathan wherein GOD doth remit the heauiest stroke of his wrath but yet retaines some part in punishing the child and permitting Absolon to rebell and abuse king Dauids concubines so Theodoret Deus non condigna poena Dauideni puniuit Some vnderstand culpam and will haue this phrase to be an amplification of that as if Superbia defendens or Taciturnitas celans or Impietas contra Deum assurgens or some such great guilt were meant by this phrase But as I doe not censure these opinions which may well stand So I thinke the phrase lookes backe vnto that word which was in the Confession The sinne confessed was Peshang and this is but an analysis of this word for Gnaon Catai what is it word for word but the peruersenesse of my aberration Catah is an aberration from the Scope or Marke whereat we ayme all men ayme at felicitie but most men stray from it because they are not led by that Law that guides vnto it the violating whereof is called Catah But some doe stray out of meere ignorance and they onely breake the Law some out of stubbornnesse which will not submit themselues to the Law-giuer these mens sinne is called peruersenesse which GOD is said here to forgiue So that Dauid did not confesse more against himselfe then GOD includes in his pardon well may GOD exceed our desire he neuer doth come short thereof if it doe concerne our spirituall our eternall good as he doth exclude no sinner that doth confesse so doth he except against no sinne that is confessed You haue heard the Matter of the pardon now heare the Manner And the manner makes the Remission answerable to the Confession The Confession had an inward sense and an outward euidence so hath the Remission For GOD spake the word by Nathan to resolue king Dauids faith but he also gaue a tast of his truth by working ease in King Dauids heart Both are included in the word but specially the latter for Nasa signifieth to vnburden as if the soule were burdened with sinne And indeed sinne is a burden a burden as King Dauid else-where speakes too heauie for him to beare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heauier saith Chrysostome then any lead And no wonder For if euerie euill doe make a heauie heart much more spirituall euill cloggeth the Spirits makes a man sincke inwardly and bow outwardly you can haue no better character of such a deiected soule then that which we find in the penitentiall Psalmes It is verie true that many walke lightly and skip frolickly as if they bare no weight though they be fraught with sinne but the answer is plaine Nihil ponderat in loco suo while sinne resides in that part which commits the sinne it giues such content to the concupiscence that dwels therein as being the desired obiect thereof that it presseth not at all neither is it euer burdenous till it be brought vnto the conscience which onely hath an eye to discerne it a scale to weigh it and a sense wherewith to iudge of that weight and when GOD inhibendo with-holding those vanities which hinder the conscience from weighing and exhibendo putting the whole measure of sinne into the scales doth rouse vs then the most carelesse and the most senslesse shall be driuen to acknowledge that indeed it is a great burden But the penitents comfort is this that as he feeles it so he hath one by whom he may be eased of it the putting on the hands vpon the Sacrifice did ceremonially testifie as much but the morall thereof is in St Iohn Behold the Lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world Qui tollit a plaine translation of Nasa But CHRIST speakes it more plainly Mat. 11. Come to me all ye that labour and are heauie loaden and I will ease you Where also we find that it is the Lord onely that forgiueth sinnes They spake truly in the Gospel that excluded all
which might be done but also out of hatred of that which he had done he cannot be said truly to repent that continueth on his enter-medling with that which caused his sinne whereof he doth repent Godly sorrow for what we doe amisse is ioyned with a perfect hatred of that which did seduce vs otherwise we should wash our selues that we may be defiled againe and that we might surfet againe ease our stomaches of that which did surcharge them and so as it is in the Prouerb returne like Dogges to our vomit and like washt Swine to our wallowing againe in the mire Peter did not so he went out in detestation of his sinne he abandoned the place that gaue occasion thereof Neither did he onely goe out but he hastened out so some interpret the word in St Marke And indeed feare and hatred adde wings vnto our feet and will turne our going into flying and he that is slow paced doth betray his good-will towards sinne and that he doth neither hate or feare it as he ought And verily such Snailes are all vnwilling Penitents they thinke there is no reason why they should make speed yea why they should stirie at all most are like vnto Lot's sonnes-in-law who when they were wisht to be gone because GOD would destroy Sodome thought that Lot did mocke them And we are thought oftentimes to be but merrie-men when we tell you that GODS Iudgement hangs ouer you and therefore it is high time for you to forsake your sinnes They that are not so bad as Lot's sonnes-in-law yet will be as vnconstant as Lot's wife who went out indeed but yet looked backe to Sodome so doe they giue ouer their sinnes but as those that are sorrie for that they haue parted companie with them You haue an excellent proofe hereof in the 18 Chapter of the Reuelations where the destruction of spirituall Babylon is related The Kings that had committed fornication with her the Merchants that had bought of her commodities the Mariners that had made long voyages to her all went out but being out they looked on not reioycing as the Saints there doe but lamenting and mourning and crying out Alas alas for that great Citie Where sinne is there is Babel For what is Babel but confusion And what doth more confound then sinne And yet doe we no more willingly part from sinne then those persons did from Babel There is one cause more of Saint Peters going out and that was that he might haue more libertie to performe the second Act of Repentance and weepe bitterly Theophylact doth interpret the word in Saint Marke Obuelauit se he couered his head And indeed so were malefactors vsed in the Easterne Countreys you read it in the storie of Haman and haply so much is meant in this Chapter where our Sauiours face is said to haue beene couered In the West-Countrey they had also the like custome as appeares by that clause in the capitall Sentence Caput obnubito vaile his head so that Saint Peter did iudge himselfe by that Ceremonie to be a sonne of death and as a sonne of death did he bewayle himselfe Adde hereunto that solitarinesse doth argue sinceritie in our Repentance for Ille dolet verè qui sine teste dolet he cannot be thought to dissemble that calleth no witnesses of his griefe but onely GOD and his holy Angels Finally He that is solitarie will mourne not onely more sincerely but more freely also he that is alone hath nothing to restraine him but if euer he will then poure forth his soule before GOD grouell in dust and ashes bathe himselfe in his owne teares and with sighes and groanes that cannot be exprest often interrupt his penitentiall prayers In a word he will in the best fashion performe the last Act which here we read of in St Peters Repentance he will weepe bitterly Percussit Petram effluxerunt aquae Peters heart in the heat of his denying seemed to be as hard as a rocke but when CHRIST with his Spirit toucht Peters heart it melted into teares as the rocke did into waters when Moses strucke it with the rod of GOD. But in this Act of weeping bitterly we must obserue that the bitternesse was in the soule the teares came from the body No doubt but Peters heart was ouer-whelmed with sorrow while he was in the High Priests Palace and you know that Strangulat inclusue dolor atque exaestuat intus and it cannot be eased except the heart be vnburdened by teares But we must take heed that we doe not seuer the soule from the body when we bewayle our sinnes yea the heart must begin to the eyes the bitternesse of the heart must goe before the weeping of the eyes otherwise we know that of teares the Poet hath long since noted Hae simulare docentur hae quoque habent artes many shed Crocodile teares and hypocriticall which cannot be reckoned amongst true Penitents Often-times the body cannot weepe though we would neuer so faine the reason may be in the temper thereof but if there be a rationall sorrow in the heart GOD accepts the will insteed of the act and will impute teares vnto vs though we neuer shed them This act of weeping bitterly is no indifferent thing but a prouident rather for weepe and sorrow we must for sinne either here or hereafter Luke 1â— Math. 33. and that we may not weepe hereafter either in Iudgement when we shall be reiected or in Hell when we shall be tormented we must weepe here and let the bitternesse of sorrow succeed in the place of the sweet fruit of sinne The last note therefore that I will giue vpon this Act is the Effect hereof For there are comfortable and vncomfortable Teares Esau did weepe when he had sold his Birth-right but he found no place for repentance though he sought it with teares but St Peters had a happier issue Aust Cons l. 3. Filius tantarum lachrymarum perire not potuit he that wept so bitterly did not faile to speed of grace his teares did wash away his sinnes The Fathers compare them to a Baptisme not meaning that they restore our adoption againe but onely that they release the suspension thereof neither meane they to preiudice the worke of faith which must goe before but to shew what GOD moreouer expects of vs and what he accepts in vertue of our faith And verily the CHVRCH hath euer held that the lesse excuse we haue for our sinne after Baptisme the more humiliation is expected from vs and vpon our humiliation In Ps â—1 if we be faithfull we may promise our selues restitution into the fauour of GOD. Thy sinnes saith St Chrysostome are written in a Booke and thy teares are as a spunge weepe and thy sinnes will be blotted out and there will no record Remaine extant against thee Were it not for this reliefe the Nouatians opinion would hold current and there would be few that could haue hope that after their fall they
should rise againe The last point of this Text remaines which is the correspondencie betweene the rising and the fall which I told you consists in three points First Peter was soone downe and soone vp the same night that he was wounded he was healed and cured the same night that he fell sicke many perish through their procrastination and their case becommeth desperate before they enter into consideration thereof no sooner did the cocke crow CHRIST turne and looke but Peter came to himselfe But what doe we doe What vse doe we make of the time giuen vs to repent How little doth aduersitie prosperitie words stripes preuaile with vs We are so farre from repenting quickly that we doe not repent at leasure And what is the reason We doe not make vse of good meanes whilst GOD doth grant them vs The Cocke did crow and Peter did remember CHRIST turned and lookt Peter went out and wept bitterly he did not receiue the grace of GOD in vaine It were to be wisht that we did herein resemble him and not frustrate either the outward or the inward Meanes Esay 47. But the Minister may complaine I haue laboured in vaine I haue spent my strength in vaine Yea GOD himselfe may complaine Rom. 10. All the day long haue I stretcht forth my hand vnto an vnbeleeuing and gaine saying Nation Or if we are not so gracelesse as to neglect the two former correspondencies certainly it is a hard thing to find the man that is like to St Peter in the third and proportioneth his Repentance to his Offence Great faults should not be a little sorrowed for but we should afflict our soules for sinne as much as we haue solaced them therewith Certainly St Peter did so Yea Clemens Romanus obserueth that St Peter euerie night about the crowing of the Cocke did rise and pray with teares vntill the morning If he did lament so vncessantly in whom inward pietie did not faile but onely the outward constancie was shaken what should we doe that sinne so willingly and with so high a hand We should better obserue and obserue more dayes of Humiliation then most of vs doe Bitter teares if euer are now most seasonable not onely the compunction for our owne sinnes but compassion also towards the distracted Churches woefull calamitie doth importune vs for them We make grieuous lamentation for a friend if his soule be departed from his body but who is much troubled for himselfe when GOD by sinne is driuen from his soule If but a neighbours House or some small Village be laid wast by casualtie of fire as many as heare of it are moued with compassion and readily afford some succour But how many Townes yea Countreys Members of the Orthodoxe Church are exhausted and made desolate by famine sicknesse the attendants vpon the blood-thirstinesse of the Sword and there are few Samaritans that haue any Bowels All like the Priest and the Leuite passe by yea and passe ouer these troubles as if they did nothing concerne them but onely to administer Table-talke or fill vp the wast of their idle times I will onely remember you of GODS censure of such stupiditie And I pray GOD it may make vs all more sensible of our owne and of the Churches case In the day of the Iewes calamitie did the Lord God of Hosts call to weeping and to mourning to baldnesse and to girding with Sack-cloth and behold ioy and gladnesse slaying Oxen and killing Sheepe eating flesh and drinking wine Let vs eat and drinke for to morrow we shall dye So said those senslesse wretches But it was renealed in mine eares saith the Prophet Esay by the Lord of Hosts Esay 22. surely this iniquitie shall not be purged from you till you dye saith the Lord God of Hosts He said it to them and in them to vs happie are we if other mens harmes make vs beware But I conclude This Text is an example and an example is the easiest doctrine for apprehension and most powerfull in operation so that if we doe not learne it there is something amisse in our head and there is something amisse in our heart if we be not the better for it Wherefore let vs all turne to him and humbly beseech him that we may be made mindfull of our frailtie and set in a good course of our penitencie that we may be as apt to rise as we are to fall and iudge our selues as seuerely as we gracelesly offend our God So may God accept our teares clense our soules and make vs all as he did repenting Peter his faithfull seruants in this world and glorious Saints in the world to come A SERMON PREACHED AT GREENWICH MATTHEW 3. VERSE 16 17. 16 And Iesus when hee was baptized went vp straight way out of the water and loe the Heauens were opened vnto him and hee saw the Spirit of God descending like a Doue and lighting vpon him 17 And loe a voyce from Heauen saying This is my beloued Sonne in whom I am well pleased IN this dayes Gospel our Sauiour CHRIST taught Nicodemus Ioh. 3. that Except a man be borne againe or from aboue he cannot see he cannot enter into the Kingdome of Heauen and St. Iohn the Apostle teacheth how a man may know whether he be so borne againe or no. He that beleeueth that Iesus is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Christ or Anointed of the Lord is borne of God Now a fairer proofe of that Article or a more sufficient warrant for our saith therein the whole Bible doth not yeeld then that which was deliuered at the Baptisme of CHRIST and is contained in those words that now I haue read vnto you For here you must my Text doth will you so behold GOD the FATHER anointing Iesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power as St. Peter speaketh Acts 10. And see with all how wel the Text fitteth the time for this is Trinitie Sunday and what is the Text but a report of the cleare the comfortable presence concurrence of the blessed Trinity in Sacring Iesus to be the Christ Here is Pater in voce Filius in carne Spiritus Sanctus in columba the Sonne in our nature receiues the Vnction the Holy Ghost in the shape of a Doue becomes the Vnction and the Father in a voyce from Heauen beareth witnesse to the grace that floweth from that Vnction In this great worke euery Person beareth his part But more distinctly in this Sacring of Iesus wee may learne from my Text First What were the circumstances Secondly What was the substance of it The circumstances were two First the Time when Iesus was baptized Secondly the Place without the water or vpon the Riuers side for Iesus came straight way out of the water and loe c. In the substance we shall see first Quis who it was that was Sacred it was euen the same Person that was baptized the Sonne of GOD in the nature of man it was Iesus Secondly
Angels and Adam who fell They were contented to reioyce in their Day but not in him that made it and so when pride made them vnthankfull Iustice bereft them of that wherein they ioyed And wee may forfeit our Day if wee make them patternes of our ioy King Dauid is a better example who in all his Psalmes of thankesgiuing doth more remember by whom then how happie he was The last thing which I obserue on this point is that ioy must gee with the day The Philosopher can tell vs that pleasure is an adiunct of felicitie vpon this principle is Saint Iames his rule built If any man be merrie let him sing the neglect of this taking comfort hath a heanie doome in Moses Deut. 28. Because thou diddest not serue the Lord thy God with ioyfulnesse and a good heart for the abundance of all things therefore thou shalt serue thine enemies in hunger thirst and nakednesse c. It was not then without cause that Nehemias did reproue the Iewes for weeping when the time remembred them of feasting and indeed what a senslesse thing is it when God taketh pleasure in the prosperitie of his seruants when Angels doe congratulate our happinesse and the rest of the world doth either admire or enuie it for vs to be senslesse and giue no token of our thankfull remembrance of it And if such neglect deserue blame what blame deserueth the murmuring libelling slandering malecontent that maketh a Night of our Day and confoundeth the bright Sunshine with an ominous Ecclipse Such spirits as they are vnworthy of the Day so it were good they were made more sensible of it by experience of the opposite Night Out of all this that you haue heard touching our comfort we may learne that Saint Chrysostomes rule is true Non est parua Virtus gaudere de bonis there is more required vnto full comfort then euery one either heeds or performeth if we will take comfort as we ought wee must not omit any one of those branches which I haue exprest But enough of the comfort I come now to the Prayer As wee must take full comfort in the Day so must wee pray for the happie continuance thereof first of the continuance Saue Lord. The words are Hoshingnana which in the Gospel is rendred Hosanna solemne words vsed by the Iewes at the Feast of Tabernacles When they were in their passage to Canaan they had no other Houses but Boothes or Tabernacles God was pleased to figure the Church Militant in the forme of a Campe when they came into the Holy Land and possessed Cities God would not haue them thinke they cease to be Militant and therefore commanded them once a yeare to dwell in Tents and thereby remember that they must bee alwayes readie to betake themselues againe to such moueable Houses and that they wanted not enemies that would put them to it But marke in what place the Tabernacles were to be pitched euen at Hierusalem which signifieth The Vision of peace there were they to haue a spectacle of warre Neither were the Tents only pitcht at Hierusalem but also round about the Temple to let them vnderstand what that was which was maligned not only their Ciuill but also their spirituall Day for both they were to pray Hoshignana Saue Lord let not their wicked imaginations prosper that haue euill will either at Hierusalem or at Sion The point implied herein is that both our Dayes are changable the Ciuill Day though it be as glorious as the Day of Salomons raigne yet may it haue a rent as great as Salomons Kingdome had when he lost ten Tribes of twelue yea when all twelue were carried away in captiuitie Neither may the Ciuill Day only be changed but the spirituall also the Temple may be burnt aswell as the Citie the Priest destroyed aswell as the Citie the Priest destroyed aswell as the Prince the mists of Idolatrie yea and Infidelitie may ouercast the Church It is plaine in the storie of the Iewes who at first were Idolaters and now are become plaine Infidels Neither hath the New Testament any exemption from this change the Easterne and Westerne Churches shew that all are subiect to the same condition Therefore whilst we stand we must take heed of a fall and the best heed is to pray Saue Lord. As we must pray for the continuance so must we pray that that continuance may be happie We see that though the Sunne bee aboue the Horizon and so apt to make a Day yet many so gges and mists rising from the earth ouercast the Skie and intercept the comfortable influence of the light euen so though God vouchsafe neuer so good a Prince a Prince vnder whom we enioy abundance of peace and the free passage of the Gospel such may be our gracelesnesse that wee shall be the better for neither of them not for the peace that will not make our times a Day if we abuse it in riot and luxurie extortion and imurie diseases that the malignitie of our nature hath made almost inseparable companions of ciuill peace and prosperitie As our vntowardlinesse may hinder the Ciuill Day so may it the Spirituall also if wee loath the heauenly food as many prophane persons doe or as many ouer-curious take an occasion from it to rent the seamelesse Coate of Christ and fall to Sects and Schismes and how many Churches that might haue beene happie haue beene by these meanes most vnhappie Wee haue not wanted Gaules of this kinde which haue fretted our Spirituall Day as our Ciuill is much dimmed by the voluptuousnesse of our times You see then there is good reason of the second branch of the Prayer Prosper Lord let not thy blessings O Lord be receiued in vaine let either sort his blessed effect Religion in the Church and peace in the Common-Weale I haue shewed what you must doe in solemnizing of a Festiuall there remaine two things which I will touch in a word the first is When this must bee done then by whom both these containe the manner How we must doe this dutie these things must bee done ioyntly and they must be done vniuersally Iointly that is noted in the word Now Saue Now send Now Prosperitie we must fall to our prayers euen when we are singing prayses Chap. 11. It is very true which the sonne of Syracke obserueth In the day of prosperitie there is a forgetfulnesse of affliction and in the day of affliction there is no remembrance of prosperitte this is the vsuall course of men Psal 118. but he giueth a good admonition when thou hast enough remember the time of hunger and when thou art rich thinke vpon pouerne and need let vs not forget our prayers when wee are at our prayses When the Church is Triumphant there shall bee then only Ioy and prayse shall be our only worke but while the Church is Militant Dolor Voluptas inuicem cedunt there is a vicissitude of faire and foule weather prosperitie and
euidence of the tongue were enough but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imports that there is an inward sense of the outward euidence And indeed St Cyprian telleth vs concerning the inward sense that confession is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 conscientiae St Austin that it doth pondus animi profâ—rre St Ambrose He that confesseth ingemit cuâ—pae dolore speakes with sighes and groanes that cannot be exprest And indeed this inward sense must be the first step of Confession and we must be resolued of that truth which is deliuered by Nazianzene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is a principall thing in Confession to be touched at the heart But then ex abundantia cordis os loquitur and therefore St Austin saith that to confesse is ex occulto et tenebroso procedere alluding to Lazarus his comming out of the graue and to shew that indeed we detest sinne a true penitent will vtter it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazianz. so did Manasses so did the prodigall child and so doth King Dauid in this place If any man be spare of speech in this kind Tertullian will tell him that dissimulatio est consilium contumaciae it is to be doubted that he is not so out of charitie but he may be reconciled againe to his sinne whereas Confessio error is is professio deserendi and he that outwardly and inwardly doth confesse obligeth himselfe to forsake sinne both to GOD and man Obligeth himselfe I say for the verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is iudiciall and the obligation is the stronger by how much the stipulation is more solemne and if the arraignment passe before GOD and men there is no trauersing of such an Indictment the Indictment which our selues put in and our selues doe signe to be Billa vera But as Confession signifieth a giuing in of euidence or rather the finding of the Bill of Indictment so we must particularly see against whom the Bill is found King Dauid finds it against himselfe he layeth the blame where it was deserued and confesseth against himselfe It was condemned long since for an Heresie in vnchast Martion to hold peccata non voluntate sed necessitate patrari with that maxime he thought to excuse his incontinencie For the ground of this pretended necessitie men haue sought to opposite places some to Heauen and some to Hell the opinion is ancient that setcheth it from either Adam was the Author of the first he layd his sinne to GOD The woman that thou gauest me gaue me of the fruit and I did eat And no lesse ancient is that that fetcheth it from Hell Eue layd the blame vpon the Diuel The Serpent said she beguiled me and I did eat These Masters haue had many Schollars I would they had not still But to the first the sonne of Syrach spake in his dayes Say not the Lord hath caused me to erre for he hath no need of sinfull men he is a GOD of pure eyes and cannot behold wickednesse And to the second St Austin Non est hoc tollere sed geminare peccatum the excuse is worse then the fault for as strong as the Diuel is suadere potest cogere non potest he may verie powerfully commend it vnto vs but it is neuer entertained but by our good will So that we may spare much vnnecessarie paines of climing into Heauen to know what GOD hath decreed or descending into Hell to inquire after the Diuels power we must stay at home and there sind the right partie for man as Soloman speakes peruerteth his owne waies and euerie man saith St Iames when he is tempted is baited and led aside by his owne lusts so that the rhetoricall translatio criminis whether it be de compendio or per circuitum as St Austin speakes on this Text must haue no place in Confession herein quo quis humilior eo laudabilior the lesse excuse the more grace And if men in Confession may not deriue their blame to others how much lesse may they vaunt of that which they doe amisse And yet how many are there which not onely some out their owne filthinesse but also glorie in their shame Isay 3. The shew of whose countenance witnesseth against them who discouer their sinne as Sodom did Cap. 6. and desire not to hide it of whom GOD complaines in Ieremie Were they ashamed when they committed abhomination They were not ashamed neither could they blush Too too many there are that set themselues down in the seat of the scorner and thinke that it is their highest commendation not onely to haue sinews of Iron in their necke but plates of Brasse on their fore-head to be not onely incorrigible but impudent also whose sinnes that are indeed the workes of darknesse are become so shamelesse as to walke abroad at noone day Witnesse the blasphemies the impurities the violences that are so frequent obiects of euerie mans eyes and eares But this is not to confesse against our selues for to confesse against our selues is to be humbled not to be exalted it taketh downe our pride and doth not hearten our shamelessenesse This is the first branch of that euidence which we giue in and it was the first thing noted by imposing of hands vpon the Sacrifice But there was another meant also which was the pointing out of the meanes and person by whom we are relieued and that is GOD in CHRIST which is taught in the second part of the euidence the confessing to the Lord. To confesse to the Lord is not to informe him of that which he doth not know but rather as St Austin speakes Affectum nostrum patefacimus in te Domine confitendo tibi miserias nosiras we adde nothing to GODS knowledge Chrysâ— 5. but rather reueale our assection to GOD-ward Confessio fraudis nostrae est laudis Dei which the verie word Iadah in Hebrew notes including in it both But the affection that we reueale in our Confession is double it is affectus timoris and confidentiae which looke to the two Artributes of GOD that temper his prouidence in gouerning the world I meane Iustice and Mercie for confessio peccatorum est testimonium conscientiae timentis Deum as St Chrysostome no man can doe it but he doth acknowledge and tremble at the lustice of GOD. Yet not the Iustice onely doth affect him but the Mercie also for confessio poenitentis ad laudem pertinet ignoscentis because as we tremble when we consider GOD is iust so considering that he is mercifull we hope in him also Thus to seare thus to hope is to giue glorie vnto GOD and to giue him glorie is to confesse vnto him You expect haply that importuned by the Romish Commentaries on this place I should fall vpon the controuersie of Auricular confession but I know that the Pulpit especially in the time of Lent is rather for Ghostly counsell then for disputes and therefore I forbeare onely giuing this note that our Church doth not condemne it as simply euill and