other was but a shadow Which must the rather be noted because the Holy Ghost doth often times taxe the Iewes for either wholy diuorcing the Morals from the Ceremonialls or for that they were at least preposterously zealous preferring the Ceremonials before the Morals but our rule must bee to obserue whatsoeuer God commands but so that we value euery thing according to the rate which God sets vpon it we are freed from the Ceremoniall Law of Moses yet are we not left altogether without Ceremonies for we haue Sacraments in participating whereof we must obserue Saint Ambrose his rule We must not neglect the visible Signes wherewith God sustaynes our Faith yet must we pierce farther into the inuisible grace and that must be the principall comfort of our Soules So likewise in prayer we must fall low with our bodies but much lower with our Hearts lift vp our eyes but soare higher with our Affections in a word Hoc oportet facere illud non omittere neglect not Ceremonies but intend Moralities chiefly in all the seruice of God But whereas I told you that the sense of these words is double Ceremoniall and Morall before I can informe you in the Morall I must first resolue you what is the Ceremoniall sense And here wee find not all agreed some finde the Ceremonie in the booke of Exodus some in Leuiticus C. 12.22 some in Numbers In Exodus we read that the Children of Israel were commanded to sprinkle their dore-posts with the blood of the Paschall Lambe that so when the punishing Angel came to destroy the first borne of Egypt he might passe by them Chrysostome apprehends that King Dauid in these words prayeth against Gods wrath and desireth by such a sprinkling to bee sheltered from that And indeed though God forgaue Dauids sinne yet did hee by Nathan foretell That the sword should neuer depart from his House 2. Sam. 12.10 therefore well might he deprecate plagues But though wee find mention of Hysope in that Law yet none of sprinckling the person but the dore-postes nor finally any mention of purifying but of preseruing Therefore other of the Fathers find this Ceremony in Leuiticus 14.4 in the Law of clensing the Leper And surely the words of my Text speaking rather de malo culpae then poenae as appeareth by those Phrases I shall bee cleane I shall be whiter then snow may haue good cognation with that Ceremony the rather because the Fathers not vnfitly make Leprosie a liuely representation of the nature of sin But in that Ceremony though Hysop were vsed for clensing of the Leper yet the clensing of the Leper there was declaratory rather then operatory wherupon S. Hierome doth parallel it with the absolution of the Priest who doth not remit sin but declare that it is remitted of God As the Priest saith he did not make the Leper cleane but vpon examination pronounce him to be cleane But my Text speaketh not of a Declaratorie onely but an operatorie Purification Ciâ—â—l 〈◊〉 wherfore we must seeke farther into the booke of Numbers in the 19. thereof wee shall sinde a Ceremonie that exactly sitteth my Text sitteth it in the phrase as they that are skild in the Originall doe know and sitteth it in the matter as you may perceiue if you reade the Chapter there God commandeth the burning of a red Cow slaine by the Priest Vâ—â— 6. with which was to be burnt Scarlet Cedar wood and Hysop and of the ashes which came hereof and running water was to be made a holy water wherewith hee was to be purisied that touched the dead Vâ—â— 18. a clean person taking Hysop dipping it in the water and sprinkling it vpon the vncleane C. 9.13 Saint Paule to the Hebrewes moralizing that Ceremonie speaketh thus if the bloud of bulls and goates and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the vnclean sanctified to the purifying of the flesh how much more shall the bloud of Christ who through the Eternall Spirit offered himselfe without spot to God purge your Consciences from dead works to serue the liuing God Out of which words we may learne to giue a true Commentary vnto this Text and obserue a good correspondency betweene the Ceremoniall and the Morall part thereof Which that we may the better do obserue that the whole Text is a Petition wherein wee must obserue first seuerally what King Dauid beggeth and of whom then ioyntly how confident hee is of the successe of his Petition which he maketh to that person That which he beggeth is Purge Wash the person to whom he directeth this Petition is God for to him he praieth but he would haue him doe this through Christ for Christ is meant by Hysop If God grant this request as he doubteth not but that hee will grant it for it is Prophetica or atio he prophesieth in praying he then vndoubtedly assures himselfe of a double effect that shall be wrought vpon him Innocencie I shall be cleane and Beautie incomparable Beautie I shall bee whiter then Snow Let vs looke into these particulars and carrie along the Ceremoniall with the Morall First then see what he beggeth purge wash but these words presuppose some thing that is not here exprest and that is from what he would be purged and cleansed Read the 19. of Numbers there you shall see the Ceremonie it was from the impuritie that was contracted from touching the dead and this impurity did exclude them from accesse vnto the Tabernacle Saint Paul Heb. 9. teacheth vs the Moral of this Ceremonie Vers 14. and that the touching of the dead did figure our intermedling with dead workes that is sinnes for they that are infected with them are sayd Ephesians 2.5 to bee dead in them and our Sauiour meaneth as much by the Prouerbe Let the dead burie their dead Mat. 8.22 And indeed Sinnes are fitly termed dead workes Iâ—b 1. for they had their originall from him that hath the power of death that is the Diuel Heb. 2.14 and they are in vs the sting of death so venoming our vnderstanding 1. Cor. 15.16 and our wil that they bereaue vs of the Life of God to whom we liue only by the true knowing of him and louing him as we ought finally Rom. 9.23 the wages of Sinne is death and death in sinne bringeth vpon vs death for sinne the spirituall death in this world an euerlasting in the world to come As hee that hath to doe with sinne hath to doe with Death so hee that hath the contagion of Death cleauing to him is vnfit for the House of the liuing God for that is the House of the liuing for God by Couenant is not the God of the Dead but of the Liuing Mat. 22.32 they that are planted in the House of the Lord saith the Psalmist shall flourish in the courts of our God Marke then in what case a sinner is Psal 92.13 Iob. 2.4 in the state
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
we exceed a proportion stinted vnto vs in the vse of the Creatures so they disproportion the harmonie of our bodies that are guiltie of this abuse and God doth in the end separate vs from them because wee for them separated our selues from God And this death we call the giuing vp of the Ghost But after these parts are dissolued there should seize on eyther of them a penall condition On the body for the graue is not only Sheol but also Shacath it doth not onely couetously swallow but digest it also verè 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therein death gnaweth vpon this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this rotten mouldring house this earthly Tabernacle of ours The Reason of it is because sinne is inherent and this leprous house cannot be purged except it be dissolued dust it is and to dust it must returne againe This is the penall condition of our body And as corruption seazeth on our body so should torments on the soule there is a worme to bite it a fire to scorch it vtter darkenesse to distresse it finally fiends that execute Gods vengeance on it being exiled from the ioyes of Heauen whereunto it was created and adiudged to the paines of hell which it hath deserued This is the penall condition of the soule Of these two penall conditions consists the second death for sinne By that which you haue heard concerning death you may easily ghesse what is Resurrection it is nothing but a recouerie from death for this is an infallible principle What riseth that dyed Resurrection then is as manifold as Death to the double death the Scripture opposeth a double resurrection The first Resurrection is from death in sinne and it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nyssen when Grace quickens the soule and the soule is transformed formed into the Image of God the Image of being and doing good which the Scripture cals the Life of God and the partakers thereof new men The second Resurrection is from death for sin whether it be the dissolution or the penall condition Whatsoeuer the Heathen thought it is plaine that after the dissolution there is an habitude in the soule towards the body and a naturall desire againe to inhabit it yea it doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it were trauaile with that appetite appetitus non est frustra Rom. 8. such a desire is an euidence of Gods purpose The soule shall againe bee re-vnited to the body But to bee free from the Dissolution is not the vttermost of mans desire he desires also to be free from the Penall condition Non est viuere sed valere vita better these parts neuer meete than not meete to their mutuall comfort and therefore the last branch of the Resurrection is the endlesse vnion of body and soule in beatitudine plenâ securâ in qua nihil concupiscet nihil metuet so throughly so vnchangeably blessed that they shall haue their hearts desire and bee free from all feare of euill I insist no longer hereon because this point must be resumed againe Let vs come on then and apply what hath beene said to the different subiects And here first wee must take for our guide a receiued rule Talia sunt praedicata qualia permittuntur esse à subiectis suis Death and Resurrection must be limited differently according to their different subiects And the first subiect is Christ Death in sinne would not agree with Him it will not stand with the grace of his holy vnction much lesse of his personall vnion he was the Holy one of God Luke 1. yea the Holy of Holies Dan. 9. Adde hereunto that a sinner implies a contradiction to a Mediatour neyther can they both consist in one for such a high Priest it behoued vs to haue that was holy harmelesse vndefiled separate from sinners Hebr. 7. therefore could he not dye that death As he could not dye the death in sinne no more could hee vndergoe all the death for sinne hee could not vndergoe either part of the penall condition Not that of the Graue his body saw no corruption and why though it had sinne imputed yet had it none inherent and it is only sinne inherent that subiects vs to that part of death And if his body were free from corruption much more was his soule from torment it left the body to take possession of Heauen purchased and Hell conquered vpon the Crosse therein his meritorious power after conflict brake the knot wherewith the dissolution of body and soule came fast clasped with the penall condition and this he proclaimed in his last speech Iohn 19. Consummatumest the passion is now at a full end There remaines then no part of death for Christ to suffer but onely the dissolution the separation of his soule and body and to that he yeelded himselfe as an Offerer that could not be inforced as a Sufferer When hee had triumphed ouer principalities and powers the fiends of Hell and shewed his murdering crucifiers by the supernaturall Earth-quake and Eclipse how hee could rescue himselfe from death he laid downe his life in testimony of his loue to vs and presented that sacrifice of a sweete smell to God which only was able to redeeme vs. This being the limitation of his death the limitation of his Resurrection must needes be answerable it must be restrained to the re-vnion of his body and soule 〈◊〉 Serm. 1. de Resurrect and it is no more in effect than Quod potestate diuisit potestate copulauit with what power he laid downe his life with the same he tooke it againe Though the soule were seuered from the body yet was the God-head from neither the hypostaticall vnion persisted still his body continued vitae sacrarium Ambros Rom. 1. he declared himselfe mightily to be the Sonne of God by the Resurrection from the dead But farther to open the Resurrection of Christ These words seeme to be a bare assertion and indeed a bare assertion vttered by them that are witnesses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were enough to warrant an Article of Faith But the words imply a manifold proofe and the proofe lyes in the word CHRIST Acts 10. For Christ signifieth Annointed annointed as the Scripture speakes with the Holy Ghost and with power This vnction is with grace and that eyther gratis data or gratum faciens of Edification or Adoption The grace of Edification designed Christ to a threefold office to be a Prophet a Priest and a King and euery one of these implies a proofe of his Resurrection His Prophesie for his Resurrection was a principall argument of that whether you looke vpon the types prefiguring or the words foretelling it he was to make both good or else his Prophesie were liable to exception As the Prophesie so the Priesthood inforceth the Resurrection How could it appeare that the obligation was cancelled the Law fulfilled God pacified sinne purged if hee had not risen from the dead
this word imports is That the sinnes which we entertaine for friends shall suddenly turne to be our foes they shall appeare as an Army furnished with the instruments of Death So we learne of St PETER Brethren I beseech you 1 Pet. 2 11. as strangers and pilgrimes abstaine from fleshly lusts which fight against the soule We thinke that by them we sight against GOD but GOD is impenitrable the arrowes that we shoot rebound backe and wound our selues And no maruell for sinne is the sting of death and we cannot commit sinne but we receine that sting and when GOD shall come against vs as Iâ—HV against IEZEâ—EL and call who is on my side who Our owne sinnes 2 King 9. as her Eunuches shall stand out and at his command cast vs downe to be trampled vnder feet and to be made meat for Dogges to be insulted vpon by the Fiends of Hell and to be gnawne on by Death But where shall this martialling be Surely in our owne bosome in our owne conscience that shall then be a true and a cleare glasse representing our sinnes and representing them armed against vs. And this shall adde much to our miserie it shall not be then with vs as it is in this world here we behold our naturall face in a glasse Iames 1. and by and by goe away and forget what manner of person we were but this glasse shall still be before vs and our eye shall still be on it And why It is nothing but the worme that neuer dyeth we can no more be rid of it then we can be rid of our soule the Conscience is an essentiall power of the Soule and this worme by an irreuocable decree is made a perpetuall companion of a guiltie Conscience the wicked shall carrie it with them from the Iudgement-Seat and shall keepe it with them so long as they shall burne in the flames of Hell This is a powerfull Motiue and should worke in you that are guiltie a care to disarme so powerfull an Enemie to plucke out the sting before the wound be vncurable so many sinnes as remaine vnrepented of are as so many treacherous Souldiers howsoeuer they doe now speake friendly to you yet when they are least feared they will giue deadly strokes you shall feare them when you shall haue no remedy against them What I say to you I say vnto all nay GOD himselfe saith it in the close of this Psalme Heare this all ye that forget God Iewes and Gentiles whatsoeuer you be if you be adulterers drunkards vsurers blasphemers any way wicked liuers Consider this saith GOD least I suddenly take you away and there be none to helpe you for if we be guiltie of such sinnes and encourage our selues in them by base conceipts of GOD GOD will not faile to reproue vs and marshall such wickednesse before vs to conuict vs thereof and confound vs therewith God giue vs all timely repentance that we may preuent so fearefull a vengance Amen Πάντοτε δόξα Θηῶ. A SERMON PREACHED AT St ANDREWES IN WELLS A WOMAN DOING PENANCE FOR INCEST GALATH. 6. VERSE 1. Brethren if a man be ouertaken in a fault you which are spirituall restore such a one in the spirit of meekenesse considering thy selfe lest thou also be tempted WE are all compounded of the Old and New man and euerie one feeles the solicitations of both These solicitations exercise both our head and our heart our head to discerne betweene them our heart to make a good choyce vpon a right iudgement And that we make such a choyce it should appeare in our works they should argue the death of concupiscence and the life of grace in that we beare fruit not to the Flesh but to the Spirit Now the fruit of the Spirit is either pietie or charitie it testifieth that our selues are carefull to be good and being good we are not vnrespectiue of others Not of them that are good for it keeps vs from being ambitiously insolent not of them that are bad for it makes vs compassionately mercifull The exercise of this last branch of charitie the opening of our tender bowels towards such as offend is the Argument of these words which I haue now read vnto you Here we haue Offendors described and Compassion enioyned Offendors not of all sorts but such as ought to be the subiect of Compassion Offendors that are ouertaken in a fault we are enioyned to shew Compassion to these to restore them in the spirit of meekenesse And touching this Compassion we are moreouer taught First who must shew it and secondly what must moue them therunto They that must shew it are here called Brethren and spirituall each name importeth a reference they haue vnto the Offendor the first a reference of their persons they are their Allies and therefore may not shut their bowels against them the second of their guifts the better they are the more good they must doe such are the persons that must shew compassion And they must be moued thereunto out of an apprehension of the common danger danger is common to all Thou mayst likewise be tempted and no man must be vnobseruant hereof he must consider his owne selfe So haue you the contents of this Text which I meane now farther to enlarge as this spectacle doth occasion and shall be most behoofefull for vs all I begin first at the description that is here made of an Offendor where you shall see first his fault and then the cause thereof The fault is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fall a fall taken by stumbling The fall is not corporall but morall yet by a corporall you may vnderstand a morall fall for he that falleth in regard of the sight of his body commeth lower and withall ordinarily taketh a bruise euen so is it in a morall fall GOD by Creation made a man dominum socium If you looke to this visible world he made him dominum as it appeareth Genes 1. where Soueraigntie is giuen ouer the Beasts Birds Fishes and euerie other Creature made for the vse of man But if you looke to the inuisible world then was he to be Socius a confort with the Angels in the blessed state of Heauen Yea in this Microcosme the Fabricke of the nature of man which is as it were an Epitome of these two other worlds the better part had the guidance of and commanded ouer the worse the Soule ruled the Body But so soone as man sinned he came downe domintos became servus and these base creatures began to tyrannize ouer vs who were ordained their Lords hence goods meats drinkes and other corruptible things are become Idols and we fall downe and worship them and what will not a man doe transported by the vanity of this world As for the societie we had with Angels the blessed Angels of Heauen we haue lost that and are become the Serpents brood not onely Beasts but also Diuels Finally Earth hath gotten the vpper hand of Heauen the Body of the
his authoritie should hold them in when they would run riot if he doe not he offends grieuously How grieuously then doth that father offend which giueth an ill example to his child Allureth her to such detestable sinne Yea doth act the sinne with her If Incest be of it selfe haynous your fatherhood maketh it much more haynous And as for you that are the daughter no small accesse is made vnto your sinne by being the daughter of your mother for sinnes are improued by their persons that act them If it had beene an enemie that had done me this wrong I could haue borne it saith DAVID but it was thou my familiar friend c. Whosoeuer had wronged your mothers bed it had beene a wickednesse but to be thus wronged by her owne daughter wherein it is hard to say whether she haue more cause to lament in regard of her owne or of your person it cannot but adde much to your sinne These things should you that are the Penitents take to heart and adde them to the measure of your sinne for of haynous they make it much more haynous I passe at length from the sinne to the doome giuing you by the way this note That GOD addeth doomes to sinnes grieuous doomes to haynous sinnes that we may be held in by the feare of the one when we would not forbeare vpon the fight of the other for such is our weaknesse that though a sinne be represented vnto vs as most vgly most odious yet sensualitie doth so preuaile that we are caried away with the pleasure without any regard of the filthinesse thereof if any thing stay or stagger vs herein it must be paine which often maketh vs to bethinke our selues and take heed when we are euen ready to rush into sinne But touching the doome here in my Text we must first take notice that there is no respect of persons with God both must be punished the man and the woman and punished alike You would thinke that the case of the one were more fauourable then the other the Temptedst more fauourable then the Temptors The daughter may plead the power which her father had ouer her whom she durst not resist and thereby seeme to deserue fauour But this is no Plea at GODS Barre for children must remember that they haue an heauenly as well as an earthly Father and that they may not offend the one to pleasure the other A second thing obseruable in the Doome is that both the women are subiected to the same punishment which may seeme verie rigorous For what hath the lawfull wife deserued Therefore some vnderstand the words by a Synecdoche and by the women vnderstand either of them that shall be found guiltie whether it be the mother that defileth the daughters bed or the daughter that defileth the mothers bed But it may be that both may well deserue death If the mother be the wife and consent that her daughter should goe in to her father or if the daughter be the wife and consent that her mother should goe in to her husband such consent yea if it be but conniuency and patience it is abominable wickednesse How farre the mother was priuie to this daughters sinne I know not but if she were in any sort she deserueth to be punished no lesse then her child and the child with the father are to be punished most seuerely they are to be burnt with fire And here consider first how well the doome is fitted to the sinne the doome is fire and so is the sinne also If I haue beene deceiued by a woman saith IOB this were a fire that would burne to destruction Cap. 31. Prou. 6. And SOLOMON speaking of adulterie moueth this question Can a man take fire in his bosome and not be burnt He that is a fornicator in the body of his flesh saith the sonne of SYRACH will not cease till he haue kindled a fire Cap. 23. 1 Cor. 7.9 Finally St PAVL giueth this rule It is better to marrie then to burne burne in the lust of Incontinencie Seeing then this lust is a fire GOD doth punish a sier with a sier a sinfull with a painfull fire But the Iewish Rabbins or Antiquaries doe obserue that the Iewes had two kinds of burning of malefactors one was by opening their mouthes and pouring in moulten Lead this was called Combustio animae saluo corpore it tooke away the life of the partie and yet left no marke of the fire in the outward lineaments of his body The other was by laying of fewell round about the body which set on fire did presently consume it into ashes and is the burning meant here in my Text for it saith they should be burnt with fire And indeed this kind of burning of Incontinent persons is verie ancient Gen. 3â— Before the giuing of MOSES Law IVDAH would haue practised it vpon his daughter in Law TAMAR The Prophet MICAH alludeth hereunto in his first Chapter and EZEKIEL in his 16. St IOHN in his Reuelations speaking of the Whore of Babylon Cap. 17. 18. prophesieth that she shall perish by fire So that fire seemeth to haue beene the punishment of Whores not onely if she were the Priests daughter but whosoeuer she were the allusion else would not be so frequent And yet we read that adulterers were to be stoned to death whether after stoning they were also burnt is worth the inquirie for sometimes they were both practised vpon the same malefactors as it is cleere in the storie of ACHAN In the former degree of Incontinencie specified before my Text the Holy Ghost is silent and doth not specifie any particular kind of punishment by meanes whereof Interpreters doubt what punishment was to be inflicted Some conceiue that stoning mentioned in the beginning of the Chapter must be extended to all that follow the Iewes they limit it thus where the Law saith they shall dye the death and their blood shall be vpon them there stoning is meant but if it be onely they shall dye the death then the partie was to be strangled But I will not trouble you with these Antiquities onely this I will obserue vnto you that the specifying of a particular punishment here and not in the former degree of Incontinencie may well import some extraordinarie haynousnesse in this sinne especially if you consider the sharpenesse thereof they shall be burnt with fire Viui comburentur saith the Vulgar they shall be burnt aliue now you know that fire is a bitter tormenter and an vtter consumer it afflicteth extreamly while the partie liueth and it vtterly abolisheth the being of the body together with the life both which proue the punishment to be verie sharpe verie seuere it giueth no rest while we are and abolisheth vs as if we neuer had beene But this was a politike Law of MOSES what is that to vs We haue no such Law and that Law doth not bind our State True it doth not and happy is it for
as we doe to Nothing morall we sooner cease to be good then we cease to be This defection began in Adam of whom the Psalmist Man being in honor had no vnderstanding Non pernoctauit he did not continue so much as a night but became like the beasts that perish Yea he became Radix Apostatica as Saint Austin cals him a Root of that back-sliding which cleaueth to all his posteritie Take an example or two We read Gen. 4. of the separation of the children of GOD from the daughters of men in the next storie that followeth is their confusion Cap. 20. In Exodus GOD sorbids the making of Images and presently after we find that the Israelites made the Golden-Calfe Ps 7â— Dauid hath made a whole Psalme of this inconstancie of Israel And we Ilanders are too like Israel herein for how quickly doe we shift the fashion of our cloathes of our dyet of our manners Cap. 6. and of our Religion also All our goodnesse is but like a morning cloud as Hosea speaketh and as an early dew doth it passe away in this we are all too like St Peter that we quickly faile St Peter did not onely fall quickly but he fell often also Before the cocke crew he denyed thrice this is the second aggrauation of his Fall Bis ad cundem is a Prouerbe teaching that he deserueth little pittie that stumbleth twice at the same stone St Peter stumbled oftner he added a third vnto two former fals And verily so it is he that sinneth once if he be left vnto himselfe will sinne againe and againe yea of himselfe he will neuer leaue sinning There are two reasons of it the first is Iudicium Dei a iust iudgement of GOD is it that he that once yealdeth to sinne should alwayes bend towards that whereunto he yealded and become prone to doe what he hath done amisse The second is Veneficium peccati theâ—e is a kind of sorcerie in sinne which causeth that he that hath once tasted it will retaine such a smacke that he will desire to tast it againe the proofe is daily to be seene in those that are inordinate liuers in whom to dayes sinne doth but worke a longing to sinne againe to morrow Yea not onely to sin but to sinne worse and worse St Peter did not onely deny CHRIST but his second denyall was worse then his first and the third worse then his second Sinne is said to be the sting of death Now you know that a sting doth enter by a sharpe point and maketh but a little hole at first but the farther it goeth in it cutteth the larger wounds Euen so sinne the oftner it is repeated the more is a man corrupted And no maruell for the Principles of Conscience will grow more stupid and he that sinneth a second time will be more senslesse of that which he doth then he was at first he that blusht at first will by little and little grow impudent and in steed of bewayling will fall to defending of his sault Yea and as the Principles of Conscience grow more senslesse so doth Concupiscence grow more lawlesse and he that at first had but a squemish appetite will by little and little learne to sinne with greedinesse Especially if he be in passion as St Peter was for that betrayeth all the succour which reason would offer if man through hardnesse of heart be not growne vnreasonable There is one thing more which the Fathers handling St Peters fall remember and that is the Cause why so worthy a man as St Peter was tooke so grieuous a Fall they obserue in him first Confidence and secondly Negligence Confidence in himselfe he thought himselfe to be a iollier man then indeed he was and thought he could doe much more then indded he was able to doe We cannot be bold of our strength in ciuill matters whereunto is required onely the generall assistance of GOD so St Iames tels vs Goe to all ye that say to day and to morrow we will goe to such a place or such a place and buy and sell c. whereas you should say if GOD will if we liue c. Much lesse in morall or spirituall things which are not performed without a speciall grace Captus amore de virtum suarum otentia non cogitauit Aug. de Glâ—â— Dei l. 14. c. 19. But St Peter was so farre carryed away with the zeale of his loue that he cast not vp his accounts neither did he inquire into his abilities but thought he was able to doe as much as he would such presumption of his owne strength was GOD pleased to checke with the permission of his fall And we doe commonly stumble soonest when we grow ouer-weening of our owne selues and mind more our perfection then our imperfection A second reason of his fall was St Peters Negligence in seeking vnto GOD which commonly followeth vpon Confidence in our selues CHRIST bid him with the rest watch and pray lest be entred into temptation and withall gaue him a reason which was a secret reproofe of his Confidence the Spirit is willing but the Flesh is weake but St Peter did as little follow the counsell as he did heed the reason For he grew presently drowsie headed and drowsie hearted in steed of watching he fell a sleeping and his deuotion slumbred as well as his eyes And what wonder if he tooke a fall that for want of prouidence might so easily be surprised The best way of standing out in temptation is out of our distrust in our selues to commend our selues to the helpe of GOD. I conclude this point with this religious Caution haec nos protulimus non iustos culpando c. I would not haue any man mistake or thinke that I haue amplyfied St Peters fall out of any purpose to dishonour the blessed memorie of that glorious Light of the CHVRCH the Holy Ghost related it I haue insisted on this Text for a better end First Vt consideremus that we might take notice of the frailtie that cleâ—ueth to our sinfull nature from which the best are not alwayes nor altogether exempted Secondly Vt horreamus that we may tremble whâ—e we see how preualent temptations are when GOD is pleased to leaue a good man vnto himselfe These be the vses that we should make of such examples and suppose that other mens cases may likewise be our owne we may fall as they haue done As we may fall so we should rise againe St Peter did and he is therein proposed as an example vnto vs you shall find it in the second part of my Text. I now come on vnto it There are two carnall Affections that are hinderers of our constancie in the Christian Faith Loue and Feare both of the World but of these two the forwardest to fall and feeblest to rise is Loue Feare renounceth not so farre and it leaueth more hope of amendment And why The loue of the world quencheth the Faith that is in the
lift vp mine eies vnto that Hill but from thence commeth my saluation And no maruell that Hill is the Hill of the Lord it is lifted vp aboue all Hils the Hill of Mercie is higher then the Hill of Iudgement there the punishing Angell that with his sword drawne pursueth the sinnes of men is commanded for to sheath it It is Hieâ—usalem indeed The Vision of Peace there is the Altar there is the Sacrifice whereat God will be worshipped wherewith he will be pacified Yea where Abraham shall haue his Jsaac redeemed and a Father greater then Abraham will giue a Sonne dearer then Isaac that Isaac may liue and indeed to bee an Isaac that is a matter of true gladnesse vnto Abraham There Dauid shall find a truer Dauid Dauid out of loue to his people would haue yeilded his life to end their plagues but he findeth there a Dauid that is more louing and more beloued and which indeed there doth what Dauid was but willing to doe but was willing in vaine for no man can by any meanes redeeme his brother or giue a ransome to God for him No man if he be no more then a man can doe it it is a worke of God of Dauids Lord he it is that is the Resurrection and the Life it is his bloud that speaketh better things then the bloud of Abel Abels bloud called for vengeance euen the vengeance of eternall death and so doth all sinne which shed the bloud of a more righteous one then Abel euen the bloud of Christ himselfe it should call for vengeance vnto God But see how the voice thereof is changed and how Christ excuseth sinne before hee sacrifice for sinne Father forgiue them they know not what they doe euen in the act of his Passion he maketh this intercession when hee felt their wrongs see how he excuseth them to his Father that they may find mercie hee pleadeth for them that they doe it ignorantly How much more did hee in his Oblation for sinne speake for remission of sinnes when in his Passion hee was so indulgent vnto sinners This person doe I find on this Hill and I find him able and readie to calme all the stormes that were raised in me at Mount Sinai The storme of Death the storme of Iudgement for must I die I feare it not I am assured of life Christ is to mee life Is death the gate that leadeth to Iudgement I will enter it it shall turne vnto my gaine for the Tribunall of God is but the Theater whereon I shall bee crowned Yea Christ hath so altered both death and Iudgement that well may I say Perijssem nisi perijssem I had neuer tasted of such a life had I not beene subiected vnto death And how much of my glorie should I haue lost if I should neuer haue beene brought vnto Gods Barre O Iesuâ— how wonderfull is thy vertue what strange effects proceed from thee The Alchymists boast much of their skill that they can turne baser metals into better lead into siluâ—r copper into gold but this is their presumption whereupon they build that these baser metals are in their nature in the way to the better and they doe but perfect that which is imperfect and which by the course of nature of imperfect would haue become perfect if they had nouer laboured it But they neuer aduenture to turne drosse into siluer or dirt into gold Thou dost more much more of so base a one as I am for who is more base then a sinner who is indeed seruus seruorum a slaue of slaues for sinne is nothing but seruitude and the Master whom a sinner serueth who is it but the Deuill then whom there is none more slauish of so base a one thou makest a vessell of gold euen where there was no disposition to become such thou hast giuen so excellent a nature and makest death to become life Thou hast quickned me which was dead I that was dead in sinne am quickned by thee the fountaine of grace my vnderstanding liueth my will liueth my affections liue they liue their true life they know God they loue God they long after him they discouer the euill of sinne they hate it because it is euill and what they hate that they abhorre Are not these Euidences of life I cannot be dead so long as I feele these things in mee I feele them in me but I confesse they spring not from mee they haue a better Fountaine that is Christ He is this life of mine it began in him when he became one with mee by his personall Vnion then the Vnderstanding then the Will the Affections of man which had beene long dead began to liue As this began in part when Christ became one with mee by personall vnion so did it streame forth into me when I became one with him by Mysticall Vnion then the beames of his light cleared my darknesse the comfort of his Heate warmed my chilnes then was I quickned by the influence of his life I doe not count that life which I liued before though it goe for such with men and it seemed such to me I thought as the world thinketh that if my soule dwelt in my bodie I was aliue but alas if Christ be from my soule my soule is dead and how can a dead soule quicken my bodie the bodie of a man of such a man as should bee of the same societie with Angels Well may it make my bodie vegetable and so range it with the Planets and yet therein I shall come short of many of them It may doe more my bodie by it may become sensible and I may be of the condition of beasts and yet therein how many of them will ouermatch me Happily or vnhappily rather it may boast of more it may boast that it maketh me reasonable and indeed such faculties haue I but corrupt in that I haue a reasonable soule But this aduanceth me no higher then Deuils and herein the Deuils incomparably surmount me But that life which is the chiefe life the life which is proper to the children of God I liue not except I liue by Christ and if once I liue that life I liue indeed And heare a Paradoxe I desire to die this life maketh mee most desirous of death of any death sauing that which is opposite to this life I would not die the death in sinne but the other death I will die most gladly I would be dissolued I would lay aside this Tabernacle of my bodie Not that grace maketh me vnnaturall to my flesh No it maketh mee loue my flesh the more the more but the more truly I would haue my bodie doe aswell as my soule and therefore I mortifie it that it may bee holy as my soule is holy Flesh and bloud thinketh that fasting and watching and other castigation of the flesh is a hatefull austeritie of the soule but well may the soule replie Castigo non quod odio habeam sed quod amem and though
is the chiefest and to be vsed Contra Luxuriam which is not the least of those seuen Deaths Heads When we looke vpon the Deluge of Sinne wee find that all the fountaines of the deepe the bottomlesse Pit are broken open and the streames thereof drowne many Soules in perdition yet amongst them there is none more vniuersall none more preualent then is this Sinne of Luxurie Desire you a proofe You shall haue a short but yet a pregnant one Men are turned into Women and Women into Men. Anatomize that Carrion well may you find more certainely you can find nothing worse therein There is nothing worse then this preposterous Vnreasonablenesse and vnreasonable Preposterousnesse Well what then is the Remedie Surely I know none better then that old one practised by the Church and therefore haue I chosen to recommend vnto the World this Penitentiall and shall be glad if any that is bewitch with that pleasing poyson may bee cured hereby This Psalme was occasioned by a wanton Man and Woman and therefore the better fitting to our Wantons of both Sexes and I doubt not but the most monstrous Changeling if hee meditate sadly hereon may bee brought to change againe but for and to the better I meane hee may resolue to turne from his Sinne and turne vnto God To worke this shal be my endeauour and to this end will I bend the Exposition of this Psalme Let vs come then to it There are two meanes of Instruction Rules and Examples a Rule is more apt to make a man wise but to make a man good there is much more power in an Example an Example is not onely a quicker but also a more quickning course Of Examples some are onely reported some are represented also the force of a Report is very great yet comes it far short of that which proceedes from a Representation for wee are much more affected with that which wee see then that which we heare this was the ground of instituting Tragedies and Commedies or to speake more to our purpose of those seuere Penitentiall Formes practised in the Primitiue Church Now the Doctrine of Repentance is in this Penitentiall deliuered not in a Rule but in an Example in an Example not reported but represented Ambrose therefore a Latine Father cals it Monumentum A liuing Portraiture of a Penitent Chrysosome a Greeke Father cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A speaking Image it doth so eye vs that it cannot but affect vs affect vs not Sensually as dead Pictures doe but Morally as a reflecting Example that transformes into it selfe all those that doe discreetly behold it Certainly if any this kind of Instruction will worke vs and worke Repentance into vs. Touching then this Vertue of Repentance wee may learne heare Whence it springs and What it is The Fountaine of it is opened in the Title but the Nature of it is vnfolded in the whole Body of the Psalme The Title doth set before vs a Person and his State the Person is Dauid for this is a Psalme of Dauid But the words must bee resolued into more then appeare for Dauidis is as much as a Dauide and de Dauide Dauid was the Author and Dauid is the Argument of it with his owne Pensil doth he draw this Picture of himselfe He represents Himselfe two wayes Cadentem Resurgentem in the State of a Sinner and the state of a Penitent In the state of a Sinner he confesseth that he went went into Bath sheba in the state of a Penitent in the other words Where you haue the Meanes by which he was brought to Repentance and the Successe of those Meanes The Meanes are Nathan the Prophet Nathan King Dauids subiect but as a Prophet he was the Embassador of God the King of Heauen had his Leidger with that King on Earth Neither doth the holy Ghost only mention the Meanes but giues vs also to vnderstand the needefulnesse and the powerfulnesse thereof the needefulnesse in the word Venit Nathan came to Dauid Dauid neuer sought to Nathan we are as carelesse to returne as wee are gracelesse to goe from God it is needefull therefore that God seeke vs that wee may seeke to him otherwise we will not nay we cannot The Meanes is no lesse powerfull then needfull that is intimated by After that that is after he had committed his Sinne. Sinne doth not only wound to death but disenable also to rise there from for the holy Spirit of Discipline will flie deceipt Wisd 1.5 will not abide when vnrighteousnesse commeth That which we cannot doe lying in the dregs of sinne God doth supplie by the Ministrie of his Word the Ministerie of his Word is the Meanes to worke Repentance Reade this truth in the Successe of those Meanes The Successe was King Dauids speedie and sollemne Conuersion speedie no sooner did Nathan reproue him but he gaue glorie vnto God he acknowledged his sinne and penned this Psalme Neither was his Conuersion only speedie but solemne also hee deliuered this Psalme to the chiefe Musician he would haue it published in the Church the Church to be a witnesse vnto his Conuersion I haue broken vp the Title and poynted out the Particulars to the fuller vnfolding whereof let vs now so listen that we may by Gods grace be led onward some steps in our owne Repentance The first thing that offers it selfe is the Person One Person is both Authour and Argument of this Psalme and when we consider the Argument we may wounder at the Author wounder that there should bee found a man so humble as to record his owne so notable defects But yet such Ingenuitie though neuer so distastfull to flesh and blood hath beene found in manie worthie Children of God especially in those that haue beene chosen to be Penmen of the Scripture they report as sincerely their owne faults as their vertues no lesse Gods Reproofe of them then his Fauours towards them such Ingenuity wee finde here in King Dauid But it was not only in King Dauid Moses went herein before him so did Samuel also Saint Mathew followeth them so did Saint Paule none of these spared themselues neither were they ashamed to record the errors of their life to record them I say which is much more then only to acknowledge them though the acknowledgement be publike They obserue not amisse who herehence gather That the Scriptures are diuine because the Penmen thereof are so vnpartiall such dealing is vnlikelie to come from flesh and blood whereupon it followeth well that they wrote as they were moued by the Holy Ghost 1. Pet. 1.22 Our lesson is the Humilitie of a Publican sauoureth much more of Gods Spirit then the Pride of a Pharisee and if wee desire either to resemble these worthies in our Persons or that our words should bee conformable to the Holy Canon wee must indite no lesse Penetentials then Panegyricks and make Remembrances of our Sinnes aswell as of our Vertues Certainelie
As it seiseth vpon the Head and vpon the Heart so doth it vexe them both for it is Coram Nobis and Contra Nos both before vs and Against vs. The word Neged doth containe both Praepositions and therefore the Interpreters haue differed in their Translations but because sin cannot be before a Penitent but it will bee Against him therefore will I conioyne them both I will shew you that it doth haunt our Thoughts and afflict our Hearts Sinne then is fitly resembled vnto a Harlot painted that her countenance may by art worke what by nature it could not doe while she doth wooe her Louers that which she offereth to their view is the paynting but when she hath drawne them into her snare she giueth theÌ„ leaue then to see hir natiue hue she reuealeth then what before shee concealed Euen so sinne hath a faire out-side but the inside thereof is foule it puts on the one to allure but when men are allured then it sheweth them the other wee are easily tempted to the Act of sinne for pleasure maketh vs swallow the bait when the Act is determined the sight of the pleasure vanisheth but the sight of the guiltie corruption abideth by vs the painting is quickly wiped off and the vglinesse thereof appeares and the Angell of light is quickly turned into an Angel of darkenesse though wee striue to cast our sinnes behind vs will we nill we they will thrust themselues before vs. And why Hom 3i in Cap. 12. ad Hebraeoâ—â— they are grauen in Memoriâ Conscientiae as Chrysostome calls it they are registred in the Booke of Conscience which we are forced to read euen when we would be most glad to be rid of it but the relation thereof cannot be supprest our thoughts cannot be freed from it And this is the first vexing propertie of sinne it doth vexe our Thoughts But not our Thoughts only it vexeth our Hearts also it is not onely Coram but Contra not onely Before vs we cannot but thinke of it but also Contra Nos In Psal 35. we cannot but be tormented with it Saint Ambrose saith it is Vltrix Imago a verie Furie it is a Hell going before Hell and rackes vs before wee are put vpon the racke the Harlot suddainely turneth into a souldier and giueth vs as many deadly wounds as she gaue vs counterfeit kisses Chap. 20. verse 12. Chap. 1. Iob expresseth it in a verie fine Similie Wickednesse is sweet in the mouth and the wicked hideth it vnder his tongue but this meate in his bowells is turned it is the gall of Aspes the Wiseman speaketh it plainely Men entertaine sinne as a frend and make a Couenant with it but what is the issue it consumeth them and bringeth them vnto naught and as Saint Peter speaketh 1. Pet. 2. it fighteth against their Soules Neither is this vexing momentanie it vexeth Semper Alwaies Alwaies Before Alwaies Against a Sinner is the double Euill of sinne in the night in the day in prosperitie in aduersitie while hee is alone while hee is in companie a sinner that is rowsed to see his sinne cannot but be vexed with the Euill thereof Nec prius hi stimuli mentem quam vita relinquent Quique dolet citius quam dolor ipse Cadet The torments will not end before death and in the Reprobate after death this Vexation shall be much increased But of this Vexation more anon when I come to couple the first part of the Text with this latter Let vs come on then to King Dauids ingeneous feeling of this Malignitie Malignitie of his owne sinne And indeed it is his owne Sinne that he is feeling of Many studie sin and they can see euill enough in it but it is other mens sinne in other mens eyes Moates seeme Beames Mat. 7.3 but Beames in our owne eyes seeme not so much as Moates most men are like the Laodiceans thinke themselues Rich encreased in goods that they want nothing euen then when they are poore blind naked and miserable as Christ tells that Church Reuel 3. Hereupon it is Luke 18. that they come to God like Pharisees with I thanke God I am not like vnto other men but King Dauid choose rather to play the Publican to looke into his owne sores his errors his rebellions to amplifie his owne sinnes and fit them with their proper names to note the diseases of his owne Head and of his owne Heart It were to be wished that you that are Penetents had taken the same course You haue traduced your Pastors for the Diseases of their Head and reproached them by the names of Baals Priests you haue traduced your Brethren for the Diseases of their Hearts and doomed them as vnworthy of the Communion of Saints and see how God hath rewarded your Pride he hath suffered the Diuell to wound you both in Head and Heart he hath made you spectacles of those diseases which you condemned in others Rom. 7. they may presse you with that question of Saint Paul Thou that makest thy boast of the Law by breaking the Law dishounerest thou God And vpbraid you with the Prouerbe Luke 4.24 Physician heale thy selfe And it is a good warning that may be taken by vs all not to studie others before we haue studied our selues and not to let our censure passe against any more seuerely then against our selues so did King Dauid in his practise of Repentance and so must we we must looke into our owne Case not onely so we must bee feeling thereof also so much is meant by the word Acknowledging Acknowledge doth implie knowledge and adde thereunto the vse therof To vnderstand this we must obserue that for the ordering of our life God doth furnish vs with two helpes the one is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie or note the Principles whereby wee doe distinguish good and euill 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 noteth the Application of these Principles to our Actions the first you may call Morall knowledge the second Morall Acknowledgement the latter cannot bee without the former and the former should not be without the latter But to touch at either of these for our present occasion God hath set downe those Principles which he thought expedient to guide a Christian Resolution but two Euils haue ouer-taken the Church The Papists they breed vp the people in an ignorant Deuotion and care not how litle they know the true grounds of Conscience but bid them rest contented with an Implicite Faith and rest their Soules vpon the Authoritie of the Church they offend in Parum in ouer-scanting of the peoples knowledge But the Separatists runne into the other extreame they offend in Nimium attribute too little to the Church and exceed in knowledge or fancies which they suppose to be Diuine knowledge And what maruell When leauing the guides of their owne Church then whom since the Apostles dayes God hath not raised vp in any
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
with an old disease a disease which hee brought from his Parents loines and cannot be quiet except he be eased of that except that be healed also And our euill Deeds when wee bethinke our selues of them wil discouer their fountaine which is our euill nature neither haue we sufficiently searched into our selues vntill wee finde the euill Tree that beareth euill fruite the root of bitternes that fructifieth in all our euill Deeds This we must obserue by the way as a fit preface shewing the reason of this branch of King Dauids Confession Let vs now come closer to the Text and see what this sinne is which he acknowledged and that is a Natiue Corruption Iniquitie wherein man is shapen Sinne wherein his Mother conceiues him That you may the better conceiue this I must first remember you of certaine grounded truthes which giue light hereunto without which it cannot be easily conceiued The first is that in the Creation God put this difference betweene Angels and Men that Angels had their seuerall Creations not so Men but as Saint Paul teacheth Acts 17.26 God of one blood made all the nations of men that were vpon all the face of the whole earth he would haue them all propagated from one Secondly as all mankind is deriued from One so with that One God was pleased to enter into a couenant for All and All were liable vnto and to communicate in that which befell that One this is cleare in the Comparison which Saint Paul maketh betweene the First and Second Adam Rom. 5. Thirdly the first Adam failed in his obedience so forfeited that which was couenanted on Gods part was subiect vnto that which was deserued on his owne no man can doubt of this that reades the third of Genesis Fourthly by the tenour of the Couenant man failing wrapt all his Posterity in his transgression and condemnation Rom. 5.12 the Apostle is cleare for this also By one man Sin entred into the world and death by Sin so that by the Fall all mankind becomes first guiltie then punishable both these Euils doth Adam communicate vnto his Posteritie I must open the latter branch a little farther because it is most proper to my Text. The punishment then of Adams Guilt was the losse of Holinesse and Happinesse Holinesse wherein and Happinesse whereunto hee was created in the losse of Holines stands so much of Original sin as my Text doth occasion me to speake of The Fathers vse to expresse it by the Parable of the Man that passing froÌ„ Ierusalem to Iericho fell amongst theeues Luk. 10.30 who robbed him and wounding him left him halfe dead The Schooles abridge it thus Supernaturalia sunt ablata Naturalia sunt corrupta both which being discreetly vnderstood containe a sound truth which I expresse more plainely thus The losse of concreated Holinesse consisteth in a Priuation and a Deprauation Adam was depriued of the Image of God according to which hee was created they call it vsually Original Righteousnes and the Powers that remained after he was thus stript were miserably peruerted he became not only auerse from God but aduerse to him also Sinne is an Auersion from God and a Conuersion to the world or a forsaking of God and things eternall to imbrace the world and things temporall God left Adam in the hands of his owne councell to chuse whether hee would follow Rationem Superiorem or Inferiorem as the Schooles speake that is cleaue to God or to the World but with this condition that which way soeuer hee bent thither should his inclination bee for euer after he preferred Earth before Heauen and so his propension hath been euer since out of loue of this earth to make head against God and goodnesse so that his Deprauation is not only Physicall but Morall not only an Impotency vnto Good but an Opposition to it also his vnderstanding is not only blind but a Sophister his owne Iudgement is a snare whereby he entangleth himselfe in error his will is so farre from making a good choice Ambros. Gen. 6.7 Gen. 8.21 Rom 7.18 Ier. 17.9 Rom 6 6. Rom. 7.24 that it commands alwaies for that which is worst all his Affections distast and abhorre the good which they cannot rellish and therefore not ensue Finally the Flesh is become Illecebra peccati sinne needes no other bait then mans senfualitie All the frame of the Imaginations of the Heart of Man are euill only continually from his youth and in his flesh dwelles no good thing the hearâ— is deceitfull aboue all things and hee beareth about him a Body of sinne and death And this is that Massa Corruptionis and Perditionis that woefull Being whereunto sinne brought Adam Whereby you may perceiue that though he hath lost his Goodnes hee hath not lost his Actiuenes and though sinne be Non ens a Priuation yet it is in ente a Dreprauation also by reason wherof men that were reasonable Creatures by Nature yea and Spirituall also 1. Cur. 3.1 1. Câ—â— 2.14 are vouchsafed no better names in the state of Corruption then those of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sensuall and fleshly Men. Hauing thus opened the miserable case whereunto Adam brought himselfe it wil not be hard for you to vnderstand the words of my Text and acknowledge with King Dauid the Natiue Corruption of mankind or the Originall Sinne meant in this place First then the want of Originall Holinesse is in the Text called Iniquitie or Sinne and well may it so bee called for what is Sinne but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Vnconformitie to Gods Lawes and how vnanswerable is his being herein vnto that state wherein he was made were he only vnanswerable it were Sinne how much more when he is opposite thereunto and is become a rebell vnto God can any thing in the reasonable soule be lesse then Sinne â—on 7. that tempts vnto sinne but Concupiscence is Domesticus Hostis a traitour in our bosome that doth seduce vs and whose Lusts doe sight against the Soule 1. Vet. 2.11 Neither only doth it tempt to sinne but produce sinne also Iam. 1.15 et simile producit sibi simile wee must needs make the Tree Euill that beareth such euill fruit Neither can it be excused seeing the Leauen of Concupiscence hath seasoned all the powers of the soule euen of the Reasonable soule and so maketh the whole man come short of fulfilling the Law Deut. 6.5 Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy Heart with all thy minde with all thy strength c. Ioyne that generall Precept Exod. 20.17 with the generall Prohibition Non Concupisces thou shalt not lust and by them measure the state of a naturall man and he must be verie senslesse that doth not acknowledge sin in this Corruption he must needs make the Habits of no other nature then are the Actions which proceed therefrom They that yeeld it to be Vitium but not
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
of Death secluded from the Liuing Skin for skin and all that euer a man hath he will giue for his Life though it be but his naturall Life which is temporall how much more would be giue for his better Life if hee knew it I meane his spirituall Life which is Eternall If it bee a thing desireable to hold our soule in our body how much more desireable is it to enioy God in our soule Especially seeing the soule may bee in the body and afflict it with hearts griefe but no soule enioyeth God that is not filled with vnspeakeable ioy But Life is not the vttermost of our desire we are by nature sociable and solitarines is a kind of Death it is so if we be only excluded from the societie of men Psal 42. Psal â—4 how much more if we be debarred the Communion of Saints King Dauids Psalmes shew how passionate he was when hee was debarred the visible Communion by banishment how much more passionate thinke you was he when he apprehended his exclusion from the inuisible through the deadlinesse of his sinne These things out of the Moralized Ceremonies must we set before vs as the Motiues vnto this Petition Purge me wash me me that haue lost the comfortable presence of my God the life of my soule and haue contracted the contagion of Death by my sinne and for this contagion am vnworthy to haue accesse vnto thy House in the companie of thy Saints the loue of that life maketh me abhorre the state of this Death the desire that I haue to that societie maketh this spirituall excommunication tedious vnto me and giue mee no rest breake my silence make me importune thee O God with Purge mee Wash mee expiate this impurity that hath so wofully distressed me These two words Purge and Wash looke to two parts of the Ceremony Vos 18.19 In the aforenamed 19. of Numbers you shall sinde that hee that had touched the dead was first sprinkled with the holy water and then was to haue his whole body bathed incleane water These two acts Ceremoniall looke to the two parts of spirituall Purification In Sin there are two things the Guilt and the Corruption the taking away of the Guilt was signified by the aspersion or sprinkling of holy water and the Corruption by washing in cleane water God that hath giuen his Law for vs to obey hath added a Sanction vnto it to hold vs in that wee should not dare to transgresse for feare of wrath and ordained that a deformity should accompany sinne and make it more odious vnto vs out of the loue that we beare to our selues When wee enter into consideration of our sinne the first thing that we should apprehend is the Guilt the danger that we stand in to God ward wee should set him before vs as a seuere Iudge armed with vengeance ready to lay on vs deadly strokes this should make vs breake into the first Petition Purge mee O Lord free me from Guilt let mee stand on good termes with my God But when wee haue made our peace with him and all is safe from without selfe-loue religious selfe-loue must make vs looke home suruey our selues fixe our eyes vpon our soules and take care to remedy the blemishes thereof Deformity in our outward man wee cannot endure I would we could endure it as little in our inward wee desire the exactest proportion the fairest complexion and where Nature faileth wee helpe it by Art and thinke no paines too great no cost too deare that is bestowed that way Our better part deserueth the greater regard by how much wee should desire more to recommend our selues to the eyes of God and Angels then to the eyes of mortall men yea to the eyes of our owne soules rather then to the eyes of our bodyes for that these are truer Iudges and Iudges of the best things Certainly King Dauid thought so who knowing that sinne carrieth with it not only a guilt but a staine also prayed no lesse Wash me then Purge me free mee O God both from staine and guilt But the Consequence must not be forgotten the staine and the guilt themselues desire this fauour were there no euill beyond them how much more when as I shewed you in the Ceremonie they are necessarily accompanied with an Excommunication so that purge me and wash me must imply a desire of restitution also a restitution into the Church and into the Communion of Saints a blessing that followed vpon King Dauids person being purified from his guilt and staine and King Dauid must bee thought to haue correspondently to the Law aymed at that blessing And let this suffice touching that for which King Dauid prayeth I come now to consider the Person of whom hee beggeth it in his Prayer The Person is God for it is to him to whom hee directs the whole Psalme And indeed none but God can doe this that hee prayeth for for who can free from guilt but hee to whom a sinner stands obliged by his guilt hee that set the Sanction to the Law must quit vs from the danger that is due from that Sanction and who is that but God And as God onely can purge the guilt so hee onely can wash away the staine hee onely that made vs can new make vs and hee reformeth man to his Image that first made him after his Image This is the worke only of God But see here is a limitation of Gods power hee would haue God to purge him but doe it with Hysop as if without Hysop hee could not doe it shall I say God forbid hee can doe more then wee can conceiue they are too presumptuous that set such bounds vnto God Faustus Socin that is a most absolute Lord no doubt hee might haue saued vs otherwise then he did This wee may boldly say hee would not doe it without Hysop and his will is that which doth menage his power what he hath freely decreed out of his good will that hee bringeth to passe by his vnresistable power Hee spake the word and made vs but he was pleased that the redeeming of vs should cost him more paines hee would vse the helpe of Hysop Hysop is literally vnderstood in the Ceremonie so wee finde it in that often cited 19. of Numbers but spiritually by Hysop the Fathers vnderstand Christ and make a correspondencie betweene him and that herbe in two respects in regard of the smalnes of the herbe and in regard of the vertue thereof the smalnes representing Christs Humility that vouchsafed to take vpon him the forme of a seruant the vertue noting Christs efficacie for as that Herbe worketh vpon our Inwards De doctr Chrisâ— lib. 2. c. 16. so saith Saint Austin doth Christ worke vpon the Inward man Hysop worketh principally vpon the lungs say the Fathers which are the bellowes of our body and are an excellent Embleme of Pride and it was Pride wherby we lifted our selues vp against God that Christ came
18.14 and it is worth you reading that you may clearely see the truth of that saying of Salomon A wounded spirit who can beare What body can choose but languish that is possest by a languishing Soule A man cannot be so wounded in the Inward man but you may read it plainely in the Outward The Fathers doe Allegorize the Phrase and by the Bones vnderstand Vertues Vertues that are to the Soule as Bones to the body for a man as hee is a reasonable creature doth subsist in them euen as the body is borne vp by the bones as it is a liuing creature the Cardinall vertues the Theologicall are our supporters those as we are men these as wee are Christian men The conscience of Sinne shiuers these figuratiue Bones also for looke vpon a man distressed by a guiltie conscience what Prudence in him that can giue no good counsell to himselfe And as for Iustice he cannot haue that for he is vnsociable his Temperance is to starue himselfe and his Fortitude to sinke vnder his griefe there is not a Cardinall vertue that hath place in him as a Man and as a Christian man Theologicall vertues haue as little place hee maketh no vse of his Faith to sustaine himselfe with the promises of God his Hope is heartlesse for he forecasts onely fearefull things and little sense hath he either of Gods loue to him or his loue to God Not one of these Bones continueth sound all of them sinke and are crusht vnder the burthen of sinne A pitifull case and yet such is the case of euery one that secleth the worme of Conscience of euery one that is stricken with the sting of that Serpent But whence hath sin this power who giueth this wounding strength to sinne Surely God the Text saith so Tufregisti thou hast broken my bones Vose 2. and so in the 38. Psalme Thy arrowes sticke fast in me thy hand presseth me sore It is true that God vseth meanes our Conscience within vs and Satan without vs to afflict vs for sinne but both worke vpon his command and according to the measure which he prescribes touching Conscience 〈◊〉 â— Saint Austins Rule is very true Iussisti Domine factum est vt omnis anima inordinata sibi ipsi esset paena God to hold vs in from sinne hath placed in vs a Conscience whose office amongst other things is this to torture vs for sinne and as for Satan we see in Iob that hee is but Gods Executioner and stirreth not but when and as farre as hee hath leaue leaue giuen vnto him of God but whether it be Conscience or Satan that which they harrow vs with is the arraigning of vs before Gods Tribunall setting him forth in the dreadfull Maiestie of a Iudge and amplifying our vilenesse that cannot denie the Indictment that is brought against vs These be the Engines wherewith they set vpon vs this is the painefull racke wherewith they torture vs. And no wonder if such a spectacle distresse them who are guiltie of some enâ—rmous sinne that hath distressed the most Religious seruants of God Cap. 6. v. 1. â— Esay saw God sitting vpon his Throne of iudgement high and lifted vp his traine filled the Temple c. Then said he Woe is me for I am vndone because I am a man of vncleane lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of vncleane lips for mine eyes haue seene the King the Lord of Hosts Habakkuk had the like vision and what saith he When I heard Cap. 3.16 my belly trembled my lips quincred at the voice rottennesse entred into my bones Cap. 10. Daniel that is called Vir desideriorum when a Vision was presented vnto him being in the companie of others obserueth that a great quaking fell vpon them and they fled to hide themselues as for himselfe hee saith that his comelinesse was turned in him into corruption and that he had no strength in himselfe Moses that had his prerogatiue to talke with God face to face yet when God appeared in his Maiestie to deliuer the Law when he beheld the flaming fire heard the sound of the Trumpet and felt the Earth trembling vnder him Saint Paul hath obserued Heb. 12. That he said I exceedingly feare and quake But what doe I instance in these Our Sauiour Christ who knew no sinne but yet put on such affections as belong to a sinner when our sinne was imputed vnto him presenting himselfe in the Garden before God and apprehending his Maiestie armed with vengeance to repay the sinnes of the world how was he afflicted into what an Agonie was hee cast The Gospell doth tell vs that hee sweate great drops of bloud If the Prophets if Moses which were not priuie to themselues of any enormous sinne if Christ himselfe that was free from all sinne was so affected and distressed at the sight of Gods iudgements if their Bones were so broken how shall they be ground into pouder that come before him laden with enormous with crying sinnes 1. Pet. 4.18 If the righteous scarcely be saued where shall the vngodly and sinner appeare Surely when God with rebukes doth correct such men for their iniquitie hee shall make their beautie to consume away like a Moth Psal 39.11 Psal 90.6 Psal 68.2 they shall be like the withered grasse when he consumes them in his anger As smoake is driuen away before the Wind and as Waxe melteth before the fire so shall the wicked perish at the presence of the Lord. And thus much of the punishing power of sinne what it is whence wherein you may behold two things most liuely set forth before vs the true nature of griefe and the cause that it hath such a nature The Philosophers teach that Dolor is solutio continui the renting in sunder of that whose content stands in vnion and the breaking of bones what is it but a rent the soule denyeth succour to the body the parts of the body each denieth his seruice to the other yea the powers of the soule grow strangers betweene themselues and vertue it selfe is bereft of vertue he cannot want woe thathath such a distraction in his little common-weale Griefe there is then Aug. de verâ Relig. and that hath a cause Saint Austin shall tell you what it is fluendo deserit amatoreÌ„ suum corpus quia ille hoc amando deseruit Deum your bones are broken and you are payned therewith will you know why the body breaketh with the soule because the soule first brake with God if your soule doe rend it selfe from God by sinne it shall find litle rest in that house of clay whereon it doteth this will make hast to returne to dust when our better part giueth it selfe ouer vnto vanity And let this suffice touching the disease Let vs now come on vnto the Cure That is exprest in two words Ioy and Gladnesse although the words may note one the selfesame thing yet may we
conuerted thereby and let vs each hasten other in our returne toward thee Let vs be carefull to saue not our selues onely but others also that each may bee the others ioy when we shall both be presented spotlesse and blamelesse at the appearing of Christ. PSAL. 51. VERSE 14. Deliuer me from bloud guiltinesse O God thou God of my saluation and my tongue shall sing aloude of thy righteousnesse THe religious seruice which King Dauid vowed is the Edifying of others and the gâ—â—rifying of God how he will edifie others you haue heard and are to heare how he will glosie God God may be glorified either in regard of the particular sauom hâ— sheweth vs or the generall worth that is in himselfe Dauid promiseth to glorifie God in both respects At this time my Text doth occasion me to speake of the former wherein I will obserue first a spirituall Pange haâ—ouer taketh his Deuotion and then the Deuotion it selfe In the Pange we shall see what he seeleth and to whom he slieth he feeleth a sting of Conscience a remorse of Bloud-guiltinesse and being pained herewith he seeketh for ease he crieth Deliuer But he seeketh discretly and ardently discretly for he seeketh to him that can Deliuer to the Lord who is interested in the consciences of his creatures and as he can so he will he is the God of his childrens saluation This is his discretion which he warmeth with Zeale hee is earnest in his petition which you may gather out of the doubling of the name of God Deus Deus salutis meae Hauing thus ouercome the spirituall Pange that interrupted him hee falleth to his Deuotion wherein you must marke first the argument that he insisteth vpon and that is God Righteousnesse Secondly the manner how he doth extoll it which is publike and cheerefull publike for hee will vtter it by his tongue cheerefull for his tongue shall sing aloude These bee the particulars which wee must now looke into farther and in their order And first of spirituall Pangs in generall King Dauid had a pardon of this sinne particularly besides a generall promise that God would neuer withdraw his grace from him and yet we find him here perplext and distrest in conscience Though I did on a former Verse touch at the reasons hereof yet will it not be amisse that I a little farther enlarge this point There can be no doubt but Gods truth is infallible he cannot denie himselfe hee will neuer recall his word but yet Quicquid recipitur recipitur ad modum recipientis the vertues wherewith we entertaine Gods promises are as wee are imperfect because we art partly flesh and partly spirit our faith is not without doubting if their be imperfection in our faith which is the foundation of our spirituall life our Hope will be answerable it will not be without distrusting neither will our Charitie be better we cannot so loue but we will feare And why Could we cast our eyes onely vpon God his goodnesse must needes appeare wonderfull and so leaue a kind of amazednesse in vs neither can we easily beleeue that he should vouchsafe such fauor vnto man but we more often cast our eyes vpon our selues vpon our wickednesse whereby we haue broken Gods lawes vpon our vnthankfulnesse which haue set light by Gods blessings and this is able to stagger our faith much more especially when the Serpent shall plie vs with the representation of Gods iustice thereby indeauouring to ouer-whelme our Meditations vpon his mercies and shall presse vnto our conscience the imperfection of our faith hope and charitie so farre as to perswade vs that they haue no truth at all Here-hence spring those spirituall pangs in so much that euen in those which by grace haue giuen sinne a deadly wound you shall perceiue many pangs as it were of spirituall death and as men that are recouered out of an Ague haue many troublesome grudgings thereof that disquiet them not a little euen so Penitents aster enormous sinnes must looke for many a smarting twitch of the worme of conscience But to leaue spirituall Pangs in generall and come to that which in particular is toucht here in my Text he feeles are morse of bloud-guilâ—inesse the euill he feeles is exprest by the name of blouds so the word is in the originall and is vsed to note either our originall corruption or actuall sinne King Dauid in the former part of this Psalme confesseth both that sinne that he inherited from his Parents and that which hee contracted himselfe therefore of the Interpreters some pitch vpon the former and some the later Saint Austin pitcheth vpon the originall sinne and supposeth that Dauid was moued with remorse of his corrupt nature which is the cause of all sinne and indeede they that are borne in Concupiscence are said to be borne of flesh and bloud 1. Cor. 15. and Saint Paul meaneth that wee must put off that before we can be fully blest when he saith that flesh and bloud cannot inherit the Kingdome of heauen Finally it is that where at God pointeth Ezek. 16. when he speaketh thus to the Church When I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thine owne bloud I said vnto thee in thy bloud Liue. The reason of the phrase is because Vitaest in sanguine as the law speaketh the animall life subsisteth in the bloud and the abundance of bloud is the fuell of concupiscence whereupon some coniecture not improbably that to note this the legall expiation of sinne was made by the effusion of bloud Some goe not so farre as originall sinne but vnderstand the word of actuall which is the fruit of originall and because of actuall sins some are by Diuines called spirituall some carnall spirituall such as mooue from and are transacted principally by the reasonable faculties of the soule and haue but sequelam a concomitancie of animall carnall those that are suggested from and acted by the animall soule principally and haue but a concomitancie of the rationall by blouds they vnderstand that later kind of sinne And indeede such were the sinnes whereof King Dauid had now remorse his Adulterie his Murder both sprang from bloud adulterie from bloud luxuriant which made him transgresse in his concupiscible facultie murder from bloud ebullient which made him transgresse in his Irascible facultie The word Sanguines being plurall is by the Fathers obserued to note plentie and varietie of sinne some in one word parallell it with the first verse of this Psalme where Dauid mencioneth all his Iniquities and then there is a Synecdoche in the word species progenere the carnall sinnes put for all kind of sinnes which some resolue into sinnes past present and to come But it is best to keepe our selues vnto the Argument of that storie whereunto this Psalme alludes and then Varietie shall note Adulterie and Murder and Plentie shall consist in the many murders that followed the adultery Vriah was treacherously slaine and that he might be slaine treacherously many others
desire as if he meant that he would not any longer be flesh and bloud hee would be rid of that which is the nurserie of sinne which slakes his life in grace and disheartens his hope of glorie And it is likely King Dauid did not call onely for subuention against guilt contracted but preuention that he might contract no more he looketh backward and forward and it beseemeth vs all to pray against originall sinne 〈◊〉 7. O wretch that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of sinne Finally as Bloud signifieth not onely Sinne but the punishment thereof also Gene. 4. so much the Prayer be vnderstood to deprecate not onely sinne but the punishment also Dauid heard ringing in his eares Caines doome Maledictus because thou hast shed bloud therefore thou art accursed the doome against murder Gene. 9. which God denounced by Noah thundered in his eare 2 〈◊〉 12. He that sheddeth mans bloud by man shall his bloud be shed againe he could not forget that dreadfull voice which Nathan vttered vnto him The sword shall neuer depart from thy house and out of sense of all these as if he were euen presently ready to perish fall vpon this supplication Deliuer his Penitertials doe shew what deepe impression the terrour of Gods iudgements made vpon his soule and also vpon his body and no wonder if he that so felt them did pray to bee released from them But marke how he Prayeth first how discreetly then how zealously Very discreetly for he maketh choice of a person that can and will deliuer Can for he is Deus salutis it is his proper title to be a Sauiour In creatures you may find vanitie that will delude you or infirmitie that will faile you euen of Kings themselues it is said that their breath is in their nostrels and that they are not saued themselues by their much strength Dauid himselfe who so often deliuered Ismel and was attended with so many Worthies yet could hee not expect saluation from himselfe the Prophet Ieremies rule is peremptorie Chap. 17. Cursed is hee that maketh flesh his arme c. We must therefore resolue that saluation belongeth vnto the Lord especially when wee speake of spirituall saluation such as that is wherewith wee haue now to doe which standeth in the remission of sinnes the peace of conscience and freedome from death for who can remit sinnes but God onely And except he iustifie vs how should we haue the peace of conscience God vseth Ministers to worke these effects but they flow from grace not inherent in them but assistant to them and so they are the effects of Gods hand And to him also belongeth the issues of death for as it is his iustice that inflicteth it so except he release none can free from it But marke the phrase the God of saluation 1 Iohn 1â— is it not a periphrasis of the name of Iesus And then behold a mysterie sanguis liberat a sanguine the bloud of Iesus clenseth from all sinne and so deliuereth vs from bloud bloud whereof we are guiltie and rising againe he receiued the keyes both of death and hell and so can deliuer vs from the bloud whereunto wee are endangered As Dauid is discreet in seeking to a person that can so is he also discreet in seeking to a person that will deliuer for he calleth vpon him not only as a God of saluation but as a God of His saluation God is a God of saluation as he is the Sauiour of all men but no man can cal him the God of his saluation except he bee a faithfull man so that there are two remarkable things in the Pronoune for it is verbum faederis Euangelici fi et specâ—â—lis Dauid sheweth thereby that he is in Couenant with God euen in the Couenant of grace for no man can vse that word except he bee in so blessed a state no man can call God His except God haue appropriated himselfe vnto him and appropriate himseâ—fe he doth not but by the words of the Couenant Ero Deus tuus I will be thy God And when God doth so appropriate himself we must keepe the â—itle of the Conenant in our Prayers and direct our words vnto him as he is ours this is the exercise of a speciall saith and it is the greatest comfort of our prayer it is most likely that he shall speede that hath so neere reference vnto God he that can will helpe And marke that though he were put to the conflict yet was hee not without Armour of proofe he saw whence saluation might be had and commeth with boldnesse to the Throne of grace more doe conflict with the horrour of conscience and terrours of death then preuaile against them to conflict is common vnto all sinners but to preuaile is the prerogatâ—ue of the children of God the God ossaluation doth ease doth vnburden onely those that can truely say he is the God of their saluation Dauid prayed Discreetly and he prayed zealously also for marke how he doubles the word O God thou God Nota in repititione magnum corâ—â—â— affectum saith Gregorie such ingemminations proceed not but from ardent affections they importune God and they will take no deniall And indeede God doth not like cold suitors for that betrayech cold defires which in one that is at Gods mercie hath grieuously offended lyeth open vnto the sharpest wrath can find no fauour can promise it selfe no mercie we must therefore wrestle with God as â—acob did replie as the woman of Canaan did treble our petition as did Saint Paul if we meane that our Prayers shall pierce the cloudes climbe vp into the Heauens and enter into the eares of God Neither sacrifice nor frankincense were offered without fire vpon the one Altar or the other no more must any Prayer come from vs which is not warmed by zeale quickning it and giuing it speedie wings to flie from earth to heauen and make our words a liuely representation of those desires that are conceiued in our hearts And let this suffice for Dauids spirituall Pange I come now to the Deuotion the argument whereof is the righteousnesse of God But there is a double righteousnesse of God the one is legall the other Euangelicall The legall is that which dealeth with men according to their workes the Euangelicall is that which dealeth with men according to their faith the latter is here meant and not the former from the former a sinner can expect nothing but condemnation because this is the tenour of it Cursea is he that abideth not in cuerie point of the Law to dâ—e it from the later we may expect saluation because it stands in the renussion of sinnes therefore wee must ioyne Libera that is gone before with Iuditâ—a and so you will find that it is Iustitta liberans it is such Iustice a freeth vs from Iustice and therefore Symachus translates it not amisle Misericordia this Iustice is nothing but plaine Mercie mercie
2. the Method There is a Mystery in either of them Rom. 6. In the Sacrifice That teacheth that the wages of sinne is death the innocent beast was slaine but the sinner first put his hands vpon him to note what we deserue and Christ endured for vs from the guilt of our sinnes we are not freed but by the vertue of his death The Mysterie of the Burnt offering is wee owe our selues wholly vnto God and to him must wee giue our selues but first wee must be mortified we cannot ascend in our thoughts vnto Heauen except we mortifie our carnall lusts that grouell vpon the earth To note this mortification and viuification of our selues intire mortification intire viuification which leaueth no hold vnto sinne in any part of our body or power of our soule and which withholds no part or power of either from the seruice of God and which withholds no part or power of either from the seruice of God was the Holocaust soe handled as wee read in the Law first slaine then wholly consumed by fire Besides the Mysterie there is a Method to be obserued in these words K. Dauid doth not only expresse them but digest them digest them according to the prescript of the Law when they were both offered the Sacrifice was presented before the Burnt offering The Morall thereof is very good Wee cannot haue the honour to serue God Prouerb 31.27 except wee first find fauour to be discharged of our sinnes the Sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination vnto the Lord and without holinesse it is impossible for a man to please God therefore we must offer our expiatory Sacrifice before our Dedicatory burnt offering wee must make our peace with God before we presume to come into his presence Finally we must take good heed that wee neither maine the parts of our Reconciliation nor peruert their order Maine them we doe if we offer the Sacrifice but withhold the burnt offering desire remission of our sinnes and take no care to become the seruants of God Or if wee offer the burnt offering and withhold the Sacrifice put our selues into the seruice of God but yet doe cherish a root of bitternesse in our hearts doe not vnburthen our consciences of sinne And how few are there that thus fully reconcile themselues to God and ioyne together both these Offerings Some can be contented to be rid of the vncleane Spirit and haue their house swept and garnished but they keepe it emptie and vnimployed entertaine not God neither doe they deuote themselues vnto his seruice Othersome are contented that God shall dwell in them and they will be his Temple but they will haue this Temple to bee also an House of Merchandise a Denne of thieues a very Synagogue of Satan So doe men maime their Reconciliation they are loath to be wholly reconciled vnto God As we must not maime our Reconciliation so we must not peruert the parts thereof the burnt offering must not goe before the Sacrifice neither must wee dedicate our selues to God before wee are cleansed from our sinnes that were to put new wine into old bottels Marke 2 2â— new cloth into an old garment which if we doe Christ tels vs in the Gospell what will become of it the bottels will breake and the garment will rent and grace will neuer abide in a sinfull soule hee will quickly returne like a dogge to his vomit and a Swine to wallow in the myre We must be new creatures or else neuer let vs offer to be the seruants of God And let this suffice for opening of the two branches of the ceremoniall worships I come now to consider Gods disposition towards them and that is twofold He doth not desire them he doth not delight in them Of the words Desire and Delight though one bee ioyned to Sacrifice and the other to Burnt offering yet doe they both reach either of them and doe oftentimes signifie the same thing but yet here they doe not so I difference them and I did it by warrant of the Scripture which obserues two parts of Gods disposition before these things are offered God doth not desire them that is he hath giuen no precept concerning them God speaketh it plaine in Ieremy Chap 7 2. Put your burnt offering vnto your sacrifice and eat flesh for I spake not vnto your fathers nor commanded them in the day when I brought them out of the Land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices Psal 40 And the Psalmist Sacrifice and offerings thou diddest not desire burnt offerings and sinne-offerings hast thou not required In the fiftieth Psalme there is a plaine deniall of them I will not reproue thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings because they haue not beene before me I will take no bullocke out of thy house nor hee goate out of thy fold These places doe iustifie the words of my text and shew plainly that God did not desire them before they were offered hee gaue no precept concerning them And as no Precept so no Promise hee did as little delight in them after they were offered as he did desire them before they were offered reade it in Ieremie Chap. 6. To what purpose commeth there vnto mee Incense from Saba and the sweet Cane from a farre country your burnt offerings are not acceptable Chap. 10. c. In Esay God doth passionately amplifie this poynt Heare the Word of the Lord yee Rulers of Sodome giue eare vnto the Law of our God yee people of Gomorrah to what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices vnto me saith the Lord I am full of the burnt offerings of Rams and the fat of fed beasts I delight not in the blood of bullocks of lambs Chap. 66. and of the goats c. and elsewhere He that killeth an Oxe is as if he slew a man he that sacrificeth a lamb is as if he cut off a dogs necke he that offereth an oblation as if he offered Swines blood he that offereth incense is as if he blest an Idoll Chap 5. Chap. 5. You may reade the like in Micah and Amos so that bee they part sacrifices be they whole sacrifices be they Expiatory or be they dedicatory God doth not require them God delighteth not in them there is no precept that requireth their performance there is no promise that doth warrant their acceptance And indeed though Desire and Delight or Precept and Promise are differenced as I haue shewed you yet haue they a dependencie the one vpon the other for therefore doth not God delight in these things when they are offered because he did not desire that they should be offered vnto him for promise of acceptance depends vpon the precept of offering whereof there is a precept thereunto there is anext a promise and a promise doth presuppose a precept in all the seruice of God proue one and conclude both and you ouerthrow both if you can iustly denie either So that
if my text did not expressely affirme yet would it by consequence inferre that God maketh no accompt of this Ceremoniall worship But this is a Paradoxe for Sacrifices are the peculiar of God and no man euer offered them but only vnto him who was or at least was reputed to bee God neither any that haue accepted them esteemed themselues lesse nor would goe for lesse in the opinion of the Offerers Men and Diuels that haue robbed God of his honour haue to that end chosen this kind of Sacriledge by Sacrifices they haue entiled themselues vnto the glory of God and doth not God out of his iealousie make it death for any man to sacrifice to any other but himselfe Exod 22 20. and for himselfe hee giueth this expresse Law Exod. 23.15 Thou shalt not appeare before the Lord empty and what is that but Thou shalt sacrifice vnto him But to come more close vnto the point Wee find directly in the Law Gods both precept and promise concerning Sacrifice His precept for in Leuit. to name no other place how curiously doth God distinguish the kindes set downe the circumstances of all Sacrifices and the accessories thereunto and that by way of command The Patriarches before Moses did sacrifice and can we be so absurd as to thinke they did it without the direction of God No verily for they had a spirit of Prophesie As the Precept is cleare so is the Promise also you shall find it in the same place where you find the Precept in the first and second of Leuit. you shall find it called a sweet sauour vnto the Lord in the 4. and 8. c. it is called an Atonement Genes 4. the first Sacrifice that wee read of was Abels and the Text saith plainly that God had a respect vnto Abel and vnto his offering the second was that of Noah and of that the text saith Genes 9. that God smelt a sauour of rest Iob sacrificed for his friends Chap. 42. and the Lord accepted him and when Aaron offered his first Sacrifice God testified his acceptance by fire from heauen Leuit. 9. so that it is as cleare that God delighteth in Sacrifices as that hee doth require them and the promise can be as little doubted as the precept What shall wee say then to my Text how shall wee make it agree with the rest of the Scriptures surely we may doe it easily and fairely God is All-sufficient and God is a Spirit being all-sufficient hee cannot need them and being a Spirit hee cannot bee sustained by them both these points are cleare in the fiftieth Psalme where God sheweth that there can be no colour that he should need them seeing all the beasts of the Forrest are his and so are the cattell vpon a thousand mountaines and God casteth off the absurdity of his being sustained by them with that pressing and conuicting question Thinkest thou that I eate buls flesh and drinke the blood of Goates Lucian scoffingly bringeth in the Heathen Gods as if they tooke great content in the nidour of the sacrifices but it were prophane to thinke so of the true God The occasion then of instituting Sacrifices was not from God and that is the first thing we must learne Whence then was it taken surely from man We consist of bodies and soules and wee need by our bodies to bee put in minde of those things which concerne our soule and therefore did God institute them hee did institute them to helpe our infirmities But what did hee intend to remember vs of by them First of our Ransome Galat. 4.4 Christ came not vntill the fulnesse of time but his death was to worke presently vpon the Fall and in that respect he is called Reuel 13.8 the Lambe slaine from the beginning of the world That before Christ came men should not forget by whom they had their redemption and the remission of sinnes God instituted Sacrifices Secondly we were to be remembred of our Homage we were to acknowledge that what we held we had of God and were to seeke vnto God for what we did want And in remembrance hereof did God institute Eucharisticall and Votiue Sacrifices Some thinke that they should haue beene offered if man had neuer sinned but the Scripture is silent and I will not be so curious as to dispute it Let it passe inter pie credibilia and it is as possible there might haue beene Sacrifices as there were Sacraments before the Fall witnesse the two Trees the one of Life and the other of the knowledge of good and euill You may adde a third reason which is obserued by the Fathers and that is That God therefore instituted by Moses the Sacrifices to keepe his people from Heathenish Idolatrie and distinguish them from other Societies which reason must bee warily vnderstood for it cannot bee meant that God took occasion from the Heathen to institute Sacrifices amongst the Iewes for the Heathen had it by tradition from the Patriarches and God himselfe was the first Author of Sacrifices But this is true that the Heathen had corrupted foure things in a Sacrifice First The Materials for they vsed to sacrifice those things which God forbad Secondly the Forme for they corrupted it with many superstitions of their owne Thirdly the Ende they knew not wherefore they were ordained and fourthly the Owner they did not know to whom they did belong From these deprauations God did clense the Sacrifices in the Law of Moses and so did distinguish his people from other nations not by sacrificing but by sacrificing as they ought The last end of instituting Sacrifices was the prouision for the Priests and the sacred Feasts whereat the poore were relieued These bee the reasons why God instituted Sacrifices wherein you see that they all import a reliefe vouchsafed man But yet we haue not found out the true ground why God doth not desire nor delight in sacrifice and burnt offerings for put the case hee did institute them out of compassion towards men yet may hee desire what himselfe had commanded and delight in that whereunto hee hath annext the promise of acceptance Wee must therefore goe on and obserue that Sacrifices are bona quia praecepta non precepta quia bona they are things in their owne nature indifferent but they become more then indifferent they deserue the name of Good in vertue of the commandement of God but they lose this worth if so be wee place it in the Sacrifice and not in Gods Ordinance no sooner doe wee so misdeeme them but presently God doth not desire them God doth not delight in them But to wade farther into their estimate and to discouer more neare grounds of that truth which is in my text â—t 〈◊〉 Dei lib. 10 cap. 5. in the Ordinance of Sacrifices there are two things considerable opus operatum and opus operantis Chap. 10. the Offering and the Offerer Touching the Offering S. Austin hath a true rule Omne
breaking vp the fallow ground of our hearts Ier. 4.3 Hosea 10.12 that they may bee sowen Now you know that they that breake vp their grounds vse the Plough and the Harrow the Plough turneth vp the ground in great clods that is the first breaking of it then commeth the Harrow and turneth those clods into dust that is the second breaking of it and so these two breakings represent corporally what you must spiritually obserue in a broken and contrite heart The very same may fitly bee represented by the second resemblance that is taken from Masonry the Scripture doth often tell vs that sinners haue stony hearts and therefore they must be broken that they may be made fleshy hearts as tender and soft as flesh Now you know that when a Mason or Plaisterer will worke a rough stone into all kinde of shapes at his pleasure he first breaketh him being calcined or otherwise prepared all to pieces and then those pieces he poundeth into dust then that dust with liquor he can worke into a soft substance which will receiue any shape according to the fancy of the Plaisterer Euen so must the Heart and Spirit of a man be hammered by Gods Word Ierem. 23.9 broken and broken againe that so it may be made plyable vnto the wil of God These be faire resemblances and I might insist vpon them and by them illustrate the humiliation of a sinner but I choose rather the resemblance that offereth it selfe in my Text and that is contained in the word Sacrifices In the Temple or Tabernacle there were two Altars one of burnt sacrifice another of Incense the sacrifice of either will fit our purpose That of incense Exod. 30. where God telleth expresly of what spices the perfume should be made he addeth these wordes thou shalt beate some of it very small and put it before the testimony in the Tabernacle of the congregation where I will meete with thee The resemblance is very fit But it is fitter if we take it from the other Altar and indeed it is fit we take it thence for though my text be true of all morall seruice God requireth it God delighteth in it as might bee shewed at large if the time would permit and it were to my purpose yet now haue I to doe with no more then concerneth King Dauids case the reconciliation of a Penitent so much morall worship as answereth to burnt offering and sacrifice whereof you heard in the verse going before now they did belong to the Altar of burnt offerings wherefore there will wee seâ—ke and wee shall find our resemblance For the sacrifices were first cut in pieces that was their breaking secondly being so broken they were burnt into ashes that was a contrition of them a contrition and a breaking which doth most liuely represent the breaking and contrition required in Repentance Looke backe vpon them The Priest that did cut the sacrifice in pieces did as the Iewish Rituals obserue not mangle but ioynt the parts and what should wee doe in our Repentance but orderly take asunder and in our meditations view apart the seuerall powers that are in our soule and not mingle the vnderstanding and the will but seeing each hath his owne defects we must feelingly consider the seuerall defects that are in each power And this is the breaking of the Heart and the Spirit But the parts of the Sacrifice were not onely broken but they were brought to the fire and there they were burnt to ashes and it is not enough for vs in grosse to obserue the defects of the seuerall powers that are in our soule we shall find them intricate and a very Labyrinth wee must hunt out euery lurking sinne and euery particle must beare a part in this humiliation the fire of spirituall affliction must pierce euen vnto the least iot of that which doth partake of corruption otherwise our Heart and Spirit are not as they ought broken and contrite Saint Ambrose conceiueth that these words are meant of Christ And indeed he that doth but read the 53. of Esay which is often alleadged by the Apostles especially Saint Peter shall finde that Christ had a broken and contrite Heart and Spirit indeed the Euangelists doe expresse it in significant words Luke 22 44. Math. 26.38 Mark 14.33 hee was in an agony his soule was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on euery side encompassed with heauinesse euen vnto death he began 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be euen astonished 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to droope to become euen heartlesse the Sacrament what is it but a representation of the humiliation of our Sauiour Christ not in conscience of his owne sinne but for expiation of our pride was Christ pleased to be humbled not onely in body but in soule also And to him must we be conformed for he is the best patterne of a broken and contrite Spirit But marke in these words broken and contrite that euery kind of concussion is not a poenitentiall humiliation Iam 2.19 for the Diuels they feare and tremble when they remember in what case they stand Act. 24.25 and so did Felix tremble when Saint Paul preached of the iudgement to come and how was Pharaoh shaken when he was vnder the plagues of Egypt Daniel 5. Baltazar quiuered and his knees smote together when he saw the hand-writing but their hearts and spirits were made of tough mettall not one of them brake or was contrite but after Gods hand was off they continued whole and wholly the same persons And so if wee doe and it is too common for vs to doe so crie we out neuer so much I haue sinned and God be mercifull vnto me in our danger be it what it may be wee are not humbled as the morall seruice of God requireth As we wound our soules so must we be contented to search those wounds and least they fester Ier. 23.9 Habak 3 16. search them to the bottome we must be contented as throughly to grieue for sinne as to take delight therein But a little farther to wade into this point There are two kinds of Griefe that the Schooles speake of Appretiativus and Intensivus they apply it somwhat vntowardly but here wee may make a good vse of it for our spirituall humiliation must testistifie first at what rate wee doe set the fauour of God and hauing no better thing to wreck our displeasure vpon for the losse therof then our Heart and Spirit we vse them so roughly and choose them for the subiect of humiliation Secondly the breaking and contrition of heart and spirit doe shew that our sorrow is as intensiue as it is appretiatiue as the thing is most deare vnto vs which we afflict so there can be no deeper wounds giuen then those wherwith we afflict it But sorrow is not enough vnto humiliation there are two other things that must goe therewith and are very clearly insinuated in this manner of breaking and contriting our Heart The first is
indeed a repentant confession is in the Scripture called a giuing glory vnto God Finally these broken Spirit and heart are the Sacrifices which God calleth for for he is a Spirit and what can be more sutable vnto him then that which is spirituall therefore euer in the legall hee did ayme at the spirituall as you may gather out of the new Testament the Gospell is set forth in termes of the Law to preach is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to play the Priest Rom. 15.16 the people conuerted are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sacrifice and Oblation the skilfull handling of the Scriptures 2. Tim. 2.15 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rightly to diuide the Word yea Heb. 4. the Word it selfe is by Saint Paul said to bee sharper then any two edged sword or Sacrificers knife piercing euen to the diuiding asunder of the soule and the Spirit the whole passage is full of sacrificing phrases I may not omit one thing wee are called a spirituall Priesthood 1. Pet. 2 5. yea the whole body of the Church is so called a Priest must not bee without his Sacrifice and here are the Sacrifices which God will haue euery one offer euen euery lay man may offer these Sacrifices vnto God We may nay we must offer them but how will God accept them surely very well A broken and a contrite heart God will not despise Men vse to make little account of yea they make themselues sport with those that are broken hearted and of a contrite Spirit that mourne like doues and lament in the bitternesse of their soules Dauid complaineth in his Penitentials yea our Sauiour Christ himselfe in the 22. and other Psalmes that when they were humbled then they were derided And indeed in the iudgement of flesh and bloud these things seeme to be of no value they seeme to be contemptible but he that doth vse them shall finde that he shall neuer be confounded of God Ioel. 2 13. the reason wee haue in Ioel rent your hearts and not your garments c. for the Lord is gratious mercifull long suffering Esay 24. c. he will not breake a bruised reed nor quench smoking flaxe hee that would not despise Ahab in his humiliation nor Manasses will much lesse despise a Mary Magdalene a Saint Peter a Publican verily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he will neuer set them at naught But the word hath in it a Litote more is meant then is exprest God is so farre from despising that he maketh great account thereof I told you that it is vouchsafed the double effect of Sacrifices First it yeeldeth a sweet smell vnto God Luke 15.7 for there is ioy in heauen for one sinner that repenteth yea more ioy then for ninety and nine that need not repentance and in the Prophet Esay 66. to this man will I looke euen to him that is poore and of a contrite Spirit C. 57. and trembleth at my Word Secondly it yeeldeth a smell of rest vnto man for so we read in Esay I dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit to reuiue the spirit of the humble and te reuiue the heart of the contrite ones De interiore domo c. 37. Saint Bernard coupleth them both together Animam poenitentiae lachrymis afflictam Spiritus Paracletus libenter consolatur frequenter visitat ad veniae fiduciam plenè reformat Therefore let vs learne of Saint Austin this good lesson Aug. cont 5. Hereses quaeramus lapidem quo percutiatur incredulus percussus quassetur quassatus comminuatur comminutus in puluerem conuertatur conuersus in puluerem compluatur complutus seratur satus ferat fructum non quod igne absumatur sed quod in horreo condatur But I may not dwell longer hereon There are two other notes which I drew the one out of Gods desire of the other out of his delight in these Sacrifices I call them Paradoxes And so indeed they seeme to flesh and blood God requireth a broken a contrite heart and spirit as his Sacrifices then there is a certaine religious man-slaughter And so there is a man may holily kill himselfe breake his heart and crush his spirit as it were to dust Mat. 5.29 but this must be done not corporally but spiritually as elsewhere we are willed to plucke out our offending eyes and cut off our offending hands we must mortifie not our nature but the corruption that cleaueth to our nature such slaying God allowes for indeed it is a quickening life in sinne is death and the death of sinne is life The second Paradoxe is That we neuer please God better then when we please our selues least seeing God doth not despise a broken and a contrite heart for we are full of imperfections of which God would haue vs rid our selues therefore he is glad when he seeth vs play the good Husbands weeding our fields good Physitians purging of our corrupt humours carefull not to foster or fauour ought that may offend him or cause our owne ruine Now this we cannot doe without much disquieting and afflicting of our selues omnis medicina salutaris facit dolorem our corupt nature will repine at such alterations But to draw to an end What our Sauiour Christ said when he went to raise Lazarus this sicknesse is not vnto death that must wee conceiue of all those whom we see to haue broken and contrite hearts Mat. 17. rather as he that was to be dispossest was immediately before the diuell came out miserably torne and turmoyld and euen left for dead vntill Christ put out his hand and raised him vp safe and sound Euen so shall wee feele the greatest conflicts with sin when we are euen ready to be set free by grace Saint Austin setteth himselfe out for an excellent monument hereof in his Confessions Secondly seing God is delighted with this Sacrifice we are forbidden to despaire of our owne vnworthines as to presume of our righteousnes this Text doth warrant vs this comfort when in these fits wee seeme to be furthest from God God bringeth vs then nearest vnto himselfe for this pang is a fore-runner of health but senslesse sinners haue no part in this consolation Thirdly God in this morall seruice hath equalled the rich and the poore hee doth hereby take off their eyes from their worldly estate wherein they differ and sixeth them on that wherein they are equall In these Sacrifices the poore may bee as forward as the rich and if there bee any disaduantage it is on the rich mans side for he thinking that hee hath something to giue besides himselfe doth giue himselfe to God the lesse specially in this kind of seruice which rich men desire not to bee acquainted with God herein taketh downe their pride because he passeth by all their wealth and setteth his estimate vpon humiliation As for the poore that hath nothing to giue but himselfe God
midst not of the Holy land onely but also of the whole world a Citie saith our Sauiour Christ built vpon a Hill cannot be hid Math. 5 and againe Men doe not light a Candle to put it vnder a bushell God was neuer so farre estranged from Apostataes but he placed his Church so as that before Christs Incarnation the iourney was not hard for any to come at it and after Christs Incarnation when God was pleased to seeke to Men that in so many generations did not seeke to him and the Law was gone out of Sion 〈◊〉 1. and the word of the Lord from Ierusalem the passage was the more easie for all parts of the world so carefull hath God beene to take all excuse from the murmuring disposition of sinfull men The places yeeld these correspondencies which you haue heard there are besides these two other which spring from their proper names Sion signifieth a watch Tower Ierusalem the vision of Peace Applie this onely to the Church Militant and then this correspondencie ariseth The first representeth the nhture the second the fruit of Faith The nature of Faith is to stand as it were sentinell and discouer with one one eye Gods will and what we ought to doe with the other eye our spirituall foes and how they make towards vs. From such a Faith the fruit that we reape is peace for we shall haue peace with God if we take heede vnto his will and our foes will not much disquiet vs if they find vs standing vpon our guard If wee applie it not onely to the Militant but to the Triumphant Church also then Sion signifieth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our waiting for the Adoption Rom. 8. to wit the Redemption of our bodies or that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentioned Heb. 11. the saluting a farre off of that which we hope one day comfortably to enioy And that which we shal enioy is noted by Ierusalem wherin we shall dwell as in a peaceable habitation Esay 32. in sure dwellings and in a quiet resting place you may read at large hereof Reuel 22. and conclude that quae nunc Sion est futuraest Ierusalem the Church which is Militant shall one day be Triumphant Out of all this which you haue heard you may gather how due the commendation is which is giuen to this place it is called the Citie of our God Psal 48. Fers 1.2 Chap. 2. Chap. 3. the mountaine of Gods Holinesse beautifull for situation the ioy of the whole earth Esay calleth it a Mountaine lifted vp aboue all mountaines Ieremie calleth it the Throne of the Lord others giue it other honourable titles the Psalmists concludes all in this short Verse Glorious things are spoken of thee O thou Citie of God I conclude this point As that you haue heard is Typus Ecclesiae so it is also Imago nostri as it doth represent the whole Church so ought euerie man herein to behold what manner of person himselfe ought to be In Homogeneous bodies such as the Church is what is commended to the whole must bee obserued by euerie part euerie part must bee though not in quantitie yet in qualitie the same with the whole as of a great wedge there is not a Mite which is not as true Gold as is the whole wedge Wherefore you must take all these correspondencies and applie them to your selues and trie your selues by them for certainely euerie man is a Citiz en either of Ierusalem or of Babylon and if you find not in your selues the Characters of a Citizen of Ierusalem you haue reason to feare that you are of a worse societie of the societie of Babylon and then reade in the Prophets read in the Reuelation of what a miserable Corporation you are I leane the examination and comparison of these things to euerie mans priuate Meditation and passe forward to my Text. Hauing found for whom King Dauid conceiueth his desire wee must now see what he would obtaine for them and we shall find that it is in effect the same which he begged for himselfe he deliuereth his minde in fewer words but hee altereth not his meaning as you will perceiue when I haue vnfolded the branches First then he desireth that Sion and Ierusalem may be restored into the the state of Grace so doe I vnderstand these words doe good That you may see I doe not mistake them obserue that there is something which these words suppose and something which they expresse They suppose that the contagion of King Dauids sinne did cleaue to his people And surely so it did such is the reference betweene a King and his people that the finne of the one doth affect the other 2. King 21. Manasses filled Ierusalem with bloud and God was not pacified Quicquid delirant Reges plectuntur Archiui Prou. 28.2 till for Manasses sinnes he gaue Ierusalem into the hands of the Caldeans you see there how the sinnes of the King doe affect the people And contrarily the sinnes of the people doeaffect the King Solomon speaketh it plainely for the sinnes of the people there are many Princes God taketh them away by vntimely death as he did Iosiah This being true must not be mistaken for though each of their sinnes doe affect the other as farre as to bring punishments vpon them yet doth it not follow they should alwayes infect one the other and so deserue the punishment Euerie man hath cause of punishment enough in himselfe by reason of his owne peculiar sinnes but the occasion of punishing them is often taken from another mans sinnes such an one as betweene whom and him there is neare reference Vpon this supposition doth King Dauid make this prayer doe good as if hee should say my sinnes doe deserue that thou shouldest frustrate my good purpose and thine owne gracious promise vnto Israel Dauid succeeding Saul found the Kingdome in a verie bad case you may read it in the beginning of the sixtie Psalme and Dauid set himselfe for to recouer it againe as appeareth Psal 75. yea and God himselfe did promise by Nathan that all should doe well But now he might well doubt that God would let loose the raines vnto his enemies againe and interrupt all the peace and prosperitie of his Kingdome and so he should haue no opportunitie to goe forward with this Reformation he might feare least God would retract those gracious words spoken of Sion This is my rest for euer here will I dwell I will aboundantly blesse her prouision Psal 138. I will satisfie her poore with bread and I will also cloth her Priests with saluation and her Saints shall shout out aloud for ioy Hauing this iust ground of feare hee maketh this prayer doe good And so the good which hee meaneth must be Bonum indulgentiae and Bonum beneficentiae hee prayeth God not to lay his sinne to his peoples charge nor for his sake to interrupt their prosperity but rather to grant that the sonnes
this respect wee may loue our selues more then others But to shut vp this point with some few obseruations The first is That seeing our Loue towards our neighbour must bee such as you haue heard you see how little brotherly and neighbourly Charitie there is in the world there bee few that obserue the Measure prescribed by Nature scarse any dreame of that which is prescribed by Grace Secondly you see that the loue of our neighbour must not bee mercinarie as for the most part the worlds is for who is hired to loue himselfe Or who seeketh for any other reward of that affection but only the loue of himselfe The Loue of our neighbour should be as free yea it should be cloathed with all the properties which before I specified First Sinceritie secondly Realitie thirdly Tendernesse and fourthly Constancie Thirdly you see that we must not loue our neighbour either in peccato or ad peccatum we must neither cherish any man in sinne neither may we tempt him to commit it And why We must not so loue our selues Qui amat iniquitatem odit animam suam such an affection is not Loue but hatred deadly hatred which leadeth vnto eternall death Fourthly and lastly you see that as we must bridle our selues and our lusts least we sinne and afflict our Soules if we haue sinned so must wee deale with our Neighbor also hold in as many as we can though against their wils to preuent their sinning And if they haue fallen we may not suffer their wounds to fester though we put them to smart and paine yet must we endeauour their reformation De Trinit S. Austins rule is worth our obseruing Potest odium blandire charitas saeuire radicem inspice attende verba illa blanditur vt decipiat Psal 141. haec saeuit vt corrigat Let the righteous smite me it shall be a kindnes let him reproue me it shall be a excellent oyle which shall not breake my head Christ doth so chastise his Church and God those whom he reputes children and not bastards Heb. 12. But enough of the limitation A word or two of the comparison and so I end I told you it is not a comparison of equalitie because this second Commandement is but like the first And indeed how should there bee equalitie in the Loues when there is so much inequalitie in the Persons But Christ putteth it out of all doubt in the Gospell when he telleth vs that We must forsake yea hate father mother brother sister yea euen our owne selues and liues if they come in competition with our Loue of Christ and the Gospell which is all one with the Loue of God Though there be no equalitie betweene the Loues yet there is a good Correspondencie for the second Commandement is like the first it floweth from it and beareth the very Image of it so like that Saint Iohn concludeth that He that doth not loue his brother whom hee hath seene 1 Iob 3. neuer loued God whom he hath not seene It is the best way to know whether a man be a counterfeit in his obseruance of the first Commandement by trying how he keepeth the second But take notice of three or foure points wherein the likenesse standeth First in Obiecto for a man in his Neighbour must loue nothing but God Secondly in Subiecto for this Loue must take vp all the powers of man as the Loue of God did though with a subordination And it makes the straitest knot straiter then either consanguinitie or affinitie or any other kind of societie Thirdly in Fructu a double fruit for it bringeth forth all the duties of the second Table as the Loue of God did the duties of the first It bringeth them forth most readily most cheerefully for what will hee sticke at that Loues Mat. 25. And it reapeth the very same fruit which the former did which is eternall life When I was an hungred yee fed me saith our Sauiour come yee blessed possesse the kingdome c. Fourthly in Duratione It lasteth as long as the other doth that is it is euerlasting for Charitie neuer fals away no more then doth the communion of Saints I omit other resemblances onely this I note concerning both Charities that they must be begun in this life Gal 5. otherwise wee shall neuer haue them in the life to come for it is a fruit of the Spirit after this life God giueth not his spirit therefore he giueth not Charitie from hence men carrie the Spirit and with it Charitie in hell there can be no charitie because none carrie the spirit thither I conclude The Ecclesiasticall storie reporteth that S. Iohn the Euangelist the beloued Disciple and chiefe Doctor of Loue as appeares by his Epistles when he grew so old that hee was caried to Church and could Preach no longer vsed to say nothing at all Church meetings to them that came to him but onely Filioli diligite inuicem Children Loue one another Children loue one another and being asked why he reiterated it he said Quia preceptum Domini est sisolum fiat sufficit Hier. in Epist ad Gal. there needed no other lesson to keepe all things well Sure I am there is no lesson more needfull in these bloudy in these malitious dayes and therefore insteed of a longer conclusion I will vse to you and I pray God I vse it not in vaine a Tautalogie or sacred ingemination not much vnlike vnto that of S. Iohn Loue your neighbors as your selues Loue your neighbors as your selues Loue your neighbors as your selues This Grace God graunt vs all for the publike good of Christendome and the priuate of euerie Societie through Iesus Christ To whom with the Father c. The ninth Sermon MATT. 22. VERSE 39. Vpon these two depend all the Law and the Prophets IN our inquiries wee desire to know not only what is true but also vpon what ground we may acknowledge it to be so neither are our doubts fully satisfied except we be informed of both Therefore our Sauiour Christ that vouchsafed an answere to the Pharisees question so answereth that he leaues no place for farther dispute for what he affirmed that hee confirmes he proues soundly that the Loue of God and our Neighbour so described as you haue heard deserue to bee accounted the Great Commandement and the proofe is contained in these words that now I haue read vnto you The summe of it is this That which is the briefe of the Bible may well goe for the great Comandement but the loue of God and our Neighbour are such a briefe therefore there is no question but they may iustly challenge that title of preheminence and we must acknowledge what Christ saith in Saint Marke that there are none greater then these But to open the Text a little more fully wee will consider therein first seuerally the parts of the Bible which are the Law and the Prophets and the contents of those
directed hereby will returne a true verdict and indict vs of no lesse sinne then we haue committed Thirdly as a man must conuict himselfe according to the Law so according to the Law must hee doome himselfe acknowledge whatsoeuer is due to a wretched sinner what place what state what worme what fire what losse what paine that all these are due vnto himselfe this Intrinsecall consideration of the Law must euery one haue that will obserue Gods Couenant But he must not rest here he must come on to the Extrinsecall the supernaturall Power of the Law whereat the Lawgiuer did finally aime man finding no innocencie in himselfe must seeke it in Christ hee must vnload his conscience vpon the propitiatorie Sacrifice and wash his garments white in the bloud of that Lambe through confidence in Christs death hee must insult against that death which is the wages of his sinne Rom 6. Finally what was impossible for the Law by reason of the weaknesse of his flesh Rom. 8. this must be his comfort that God sending his owne Sonne in the likenesse of sinfull flesh and for sinne condemned sinne in the flesh that the righteousnesse of the Law might bee fulfilled in vs who walke not after the flesh but after the spirit You see what it is to keepe the Couenant of God I may not omit the reason why God calleth it his Couenant and the reason is twofold First because we being inferiours and enemies could not prescribe any Articles to God but were to take such as he was pleased to prescribe both to himselfe and vs so that though there be two parties to the Conenant yet is there but one that proscribes And we may well be content with it for being in that case that we were in wee could not haue wisht for so much as God hath done for vs. A second Reason is because in point of Religion couenanting with any other is forbidden God brooketh not that he hauing appropriated himselfe as it were vnto vs wee should communicate vnto others the honour that is due to him The Couenant of God is of the nature of those leagues which require intire offensiue and defensiue seruice we must haue to doe with no others but for the Lord and in the Lord. I draw to an end Let vs lay together the two parts of the Text and so you may learne two good lessons That which in the former part is called Gods voice is in the later part called Gods Couenant the later name sweetens the former the first is imperious the second is gratious and who would not heare that voice the argument whereof is nothing but Gods wonderfull fauour though the pride of our nature be impatient to be commanded yet can it not chuse but take it for a great honour that wee are contracted with by the Soueraigne Lord of Heauen and Earth that we are contracted with about our heauenly aduancement and our euerlasting emolument Our second Lesson is That seeing to heare Gods Voice is to keepe his Couenant the breach of our dutie is not only Sin but Persidiousnesse our euill deseruing of God is aggrauated by Gods well deseruing of vs which we should well obserue for if we haue not lost all ingenuitie the due consideration hereof will worke in vs the deeper remorse for sinne past and be vnto vs the stronger preseruatiue against sinne to come Adde a third Lesson that hearing the Voice is put before keeping the Couenant because that is a meanes vnto this for we cannot keepe Gods Couenant but by the grace which we receiue by hearing his Voice I will end with the Prayer of King Dauid TEach me Psal 119 33 34 O Lord the way of thy statutes and I shall keep it vnto the end giue me vnderstanding and I shall keepe thy Law yea I shall obserue it with my whole heart The fourth Sermon EXODVS 19. VERS 5 6. Then shall yee be a peculiar treasure vnto mee aboue all people for all the earth is mine And yee shall be vnto me a Kingdome of Priests and an holy Nation IN the message which God sent by Moses to Israel testifying vpon what tearmes he would couenant with them there are as heretofore I haue obserued two remarkabe points the first teaching What God doth require the second What God doth offer And these points must be considered first in themselues wee must see what they meane then betweene themselues we must see how the one depends vpon the other I haue handled the first of these points I haue shewed you what God requires of Israel he requires their absolute obedience and their constant fidelitie that they heare his voice indeed and that they keepe his Couenant It followeth that I now come on to the second point that I shew you what God offers and that which he offers vnto Israel is a gracious Prerogatiue A Prerogatiue is some great good vouchsafed vs wherein wee exceed others and in Gods offer there is a manifold good contained This good is first specified then it is amplified In specifying it God doth first resemble it he telleth the Israelites they shall bee a pecullar treasure Then he brancheth it into a double blessing an eminencie of their state They shall be a Kingdome of Priests and a Sanctitie of their persons They shall be an holy Nation These blessings so specified are also amplified in the words Eritis mihi yee shall be to me It is a great blessing to be a peculiar treasure to be a royall Priesthood to be an holy Nation but to he any of these how much more to bee all these vnto God doth not a little improue our blessing You see the Good is great which they are vouchsafed But wee doe not yet see that the hauing of it is a Prerogatiue It becomes then such if it be not a common good and if therein wee goe beyond others and such is Israels blessing that which God will vouchsafe them to be they shall be aboue all other Nations The offer you see doth containe a Prerogatiue But this Prerogatiue is moreouer Gracious gracious whether you respect the Receiuer or the Giuer the receiuer vos yee persons of no worth the giuer God that hath no want all the earth is mine in so litle worth of theirs and lesse want of Gods to honour them so farre must needs be a worke of Grace I haue laid before you Gods offer All Saints day it deserues your attentiue listning vnto it the day which we solemnize putteth vs in mind of our interest therein and wee may become all Saints because this gracious Prerogatiue is offered to vs all Wherefore that we may partake it let our diligent eares quicken the desire of our hearts to entertaine these particulars which I shall now vnfold vnto you briefly and in their order I begin with the Prerogatiue The Good therein offered is first resembled vnto a peculiar treasure Of the goods which a man hath if a man haue much goods
the Trumpet sounding in his eare Surgite mortui venite ad iudicium I will not stand to allegorize the two siluer Trumpets still sounded while the Sacrifice was burning at the Altar Verse 7. I will only bid you remember Saint Iudes note of Sodome and Gomorrah whose perpetuall burning God hath left as a remembrance of the euerlasting fire of Hell Some are yet more desperate and call for the Day of the Lord Let it come Let vs see it as you may read in the Prophets Foole hardie wretches that desire that which they will neuer be able to endure Luke 23.30 Vpon the first ouerture of it their hearts will faile them they will bee at their wits end they will call to the Hils and Rockes to couer them The Kings of the earth the great men the mightie men bond and free all sorts of men shall then crie out The great day of the Lambes wrath is come Reue. 6 1 Pet. 4.18 and who is able to stand And indeed If the righteous scarcely be saued where shall the wicked and vngodly appeare But to leaue them The last obseruation that I will giue vpon this dreadfull state shall be That wee are much bound vnto God that wee liue not vnder the Old Testament but vnder the New that God hath brought vs not vnto Mount Sinai but vnto Mount Sion Where God appeares in our nature and commeth meeke and in the forme of a seruant so sensible of our infirmities that hee cryeth not Esay 42.2 his voice is not heard in the street hee will not breake a bruised reed nor quench smoking flaxe He putteth vpon vs a light yoke and an easie burden his doctrine is a Gospel their feet are beautifull that bring it Esay 52 â— 7 this yeara is an yeare of Iubile his Trumpet soundeth nothing but deliuerance his Light is comfortable like the Sunne Psal 45.2 Cant. 5. v. 16 for he is the Sonne of Righteousnesse his lips are full of Grace his Mouth is most sweet In this Hill all things are louely there is nothing dreadfull at all And why God hath giuen vs the Spirit of Adoption which is the Spirit of Loue Rom 6 2. Tim 1. and of a sound minde so that wee can indure the very top of Mount Ston whereas they could not endure the bottome of Mount Sinai Time will not giue me leaue to pursue this comparison you may amplifie it out of Saint Paul 2. Cor. 3. Heb. 12. And if you will haue it to the full you must paralell the whole Oeconomic of the New Testament with that of the Old Only let me giue you this note for a farewell to this point That as the Patriarkes that were brought vnto Mount Sinai did beare themselues out vnder those terrors by casting their eyes forward vnto Mount Sion the place of comfort So wee lest we grow carnally secure during our abode at Mount Sion and surfet vpon the comforts thereof must cast our eyes backward vpon Mount Sinai and rowse our selues with the terrours thereof The solace of Sion is to none so pleasant as to him that commeth newly from Sinai their soules doe best rellish the Gospel whose consciences haue first sinarted from the Law or that haue beene exercised by that hopefull feare the point that commeth next to be handled in my text Hopefull feare then is the impression that was made on the Israelites by the dreadfull Harbingers of God First Feare Feare is argued from quaking For wee vsually say that men quake for feare And indeed what is quaking of the bodie but a consequent of feare in the soule For the spirits are conueyed by the arteries the sinewes and the veines into the outward parts to sustaine confirme them inable them to their functions and the vitall parts send them forth abundantly while themselues are secure But while we are or suppose our selues to be in any great danger all those forces repaire vnto and endeuour to safegard those principall inward fortresses especially the heart Whereupon the outward parts being vnfurnished fall as it were into a shaking Palsie and so Quaking is a consequent of feare But let vs fit this impression vnto the apparition and so you shall find that it followeth thereupon If there were nothing in these Harbingers but an Image of Gods Maiestie yet you shall not find in all the Bible that euer any man had any extraordinarie glimpse of Gods glory that did not vpon the apprehension thereof become as it were dead and giue himselfe ouer for a dead man Reade the storie of Gedeon and Maneah in the Booke of Iudges and of the Prophets whose inspirations were accompanied with Visions Ezechiel Daniel others the generall rule is Si te nouerim Domine me ipsum nouerim I shall neuer know how vile how fraile I am by any thing so well as by presenting my selfe before the glorious Maiestie of God Let vs descend to the second Image that is to bee beheld in these dreadfull Harbingers the Image of the Law and let vs see how that worketh feare The Image of the Precept I told you it is scarching and you cannot therewith search a man but you make him feare Aske Saint Paul he tried it and will tell you so he found by surueying himselfe That the Law was spirituall and hee was carnall and out of a sensible acknowledgement that his strength was nothing proportionable to the Law 〈◊〉 7. 〈◊〉 19. he brake out into those passionate words O wretch that I am who shall deliuer me from this bodie of death King Dauid surueyed the Law and the excellent properties of the Law but what is the vpshot of his meditation Euen this Who knoweth how oft he offendeth Lord cleanse me from my secret faults keepe thy seruant from presumptuous sinnes lest they haue dominion ouer me And verily no man can behold himselfe in that glasse and consider what manner of person he is but hee will bee driuen to that prayer in the last Penitentiall 〈◊〉 143 Enter not into iudgement with thy seruant O Lord for in thy sight shall no flesh liuing be iustified The Precept then maketh afraid And doth not the Sanction also Certainly it doth The Prophets that had a sight of God armed with vengeance against sinners how doe we find them affected and affrighted Câ—ap 6. Esay saw the Lord sitting vpon a Throne high and lifted vp his traine filled the Temple aboue it stood the six winged Seraphins c. it is a Vision of iudgement and it made Esay crie out Woe is me for I am vndone 〈◊〉 3.2.16 c. Habakuk had a Vision of the like argument which he describeth more at large and heare what was the effect When I heard it my belly trembled my lips quiuered at the voice rottennesse entred into my bones Psal 119 Dauid confesseth of himselfe My flesh trembleth for feare of thee O Lord and I am afraid of thy iudgements But you will say
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
armed men that are his deadly foes for a sinner is lesse sure of his life then the other And yet how many such desperate ones are there in the world that sleepe securely vpon the brinke of Hell Yea how many that inuring not themselues daily to reconcile themselues to God make a comfortlesse end and are taken before euer they haue thought of making their peace My exhortation is that we presume not so farre vpon Gods patience as to neglect this kind of repentance But this is not an euery dayes repentance It hath his times appointed by the Church if it be publike or if it bee priuate the times are assigned by a mans owne conscience There is another Repentance which attendeth Sanctification inioyned by the precept of the Law vnto Sanctification wee make way by Mortification and this is an euery dayes Repentance which doth not looke to the Act of sinne as the former but to the Habit. Were it possible that there were no Act of sinne committed then we should not need the first kind of Repentance but yet this second we should need because the best beare about them a habit of sinne Cecidimus super aceruum lapidum in luto Bern. Serm. de Coena Domini Saint Bernard setteth it thus before our eyes When Adam fell and when euerie one of vs doth fall be may be compared vnto a man that falleth not only into the mire but also vpon a heape of stones hee may quickly be washed but not so quickly healed there is great time spent therein euen the whole time of our life we must begin our Repentance at Baptisme which we must continue vntill our death As there bee many other reasons why the Church is compared to the Moone and Christ to the Sunne so one may bee The oddes betweene Iustification and Sanctification Iustification maketh Christs righteousnesse ours and it is from the first moment at the full not capable of any increase but Sanctification is Righteousnesse in vs which if it haue not his waines certainly it hath its waxings and will not be at the full till the day of our death This fruit is nothing else but the putting off the old man 〈◊〉 4 â—2 Gâ—â— 5 24. Rom. 6 6. the crucifying of the flesh with the lusts thereof the casting away of the sinne which cleaueth on so fast the abolishing of the whole bodie of sinne Hee that neglecteth this Rom 12.1 forgetteth that a Christian must offer vp his bodie a liuing sacrifice holy acceptable vnto God that the name of a Christian is the name of Iustice Goodnesse Sinceritie Chastitie Humilitie for what else are these but drops of that Oile wherewith hee is anointed I might amplifie this point Rom 8 22. but I hasten to that which followeth only obseruing that of Saint Paul Euery creature groaneth desiring the libertie of the Sonnes of God and therefore it is a shame for the sonnes of God not to beare a part in this mourning but to stand still as if they made no haste to Heauen and had no desire to be that whereunto they are called It was not so with Christians of old I report mee to the Character of the Church as Epiphanius calleth it and describeth it in the last Chapter of his third Booke but specially to Gregorie Nyssenes Oration of Baptisme where he bringeth in a baptized Christian thus resisting the temptations of the Deuill A vaunt thou wicked fiend I am dead and can a dead man be moued with those things which hee affected when he was aliue When I was aliue I could riot I couldlie c. can a dead man doe these things Certainly when wee looke vpon our selues and see how common sinnes are amongst vs the ranknesse the plentie of the fruit that we beare sheweth that the sinfull root is not dead in vs and the scarcitie of good fruit sheweth that the root of grace is not aliue So that our Abrenunciation was but in word that it was not indeed it appeareth by the raritie of our Mortification I conclude with the exhortation of Saint Paul Câ—â—os 3.5 Let vs therefore mortifie our mâ—mbers which are vpon the earth formication vncleanesse inordinate affection Rom 13.14 euill concupiscence and couetousnesse which is Idolatrie and let vs take no more care for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof You haue heard what is our worke There remaine two things yet The one is the Commandement to doe it the other is the degree in which wee must performe it Men doe not light a Candle to put it vnder a bushell neither doth God giue grace but for the vse But the phrase in English is scant it seemeth only to call for workeâ— in the sight of men but the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is of a larger extent and may reach those things which can bee discerned only by the sight of God And indeed the Fruits are inward or outward for there is a worke-house in the inward Closet of our heart where wee must fructifie and lay the foundation of those workes which wee doe in the outward man all our outward deeds should be but deeds of deeds the deeds outward haue no more value then they receiue from the inward Quâ—saluâ— mente peecat â—a 〈◊〉 venâ—â— in Ghâ—noam deâ—â—â—detur Tertullian Oâ—â—t de Baptismo But wee must not bee contented only with the inward wee must bring forth the outward also Hee that hath an inside for God and an outside for the Deuill may with his pardon be cast into Hell wee must therfore shew some outward euidence of the efficacie of grace Gregorie Nyssen setteth it forth excellently Come on you saith he which glorie in your Baptisme how shall it appeare that the mysticall grace hath altered you In your countenance there appeareth no change nor in your outward lineaments how then shall your friends perceiue that you are not the same I suppose no other way but by your manners they must shew that you are not what you were when you are tempted with the same sinnes whereunto before you were subiect and yet forbeare them It is reported of one of the worthiest of the Ancients that before his conuersion had kept companie with a strumpet when after his conuersion she came towards him he sted she calleth after him Whither flyest thou 〈…〉 2.10 It is 〈◊〉 his answere was But I am not I And indeed euerie one should say with Saint Paul I line yet not I now but Iesus Christ liueth in mee and let euery one that is in Iesus Christ become a new creature And so I come from the Commandement to the degree There must bee an answerablenesse betweene Gods worke and ours It is not enough to bring forth fruits they must be worthy of Repentance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith a learned Interpreter hath his name from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and is a Metaphor taken from ballances when one seale doth counterpoize another the Syriacke word seemeth to
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
euen so doth the Church consist of Saints that alwayes are the same and like themselues Secondly Ad preseruationem warre is more expedient for the Church then peace for peace maketh vs effeminate and cowardly but warres put strength and courage into vs This the Author of the Tripartite storie obserueth well speaking of the persecution of the Church And indeed Lib. 11 cap 33. Bernard In pace amaritudo amarissima we are neuer worse to God-ward then when we are most at ease in the world free from Tyrants and free from Heretickes Neither haue we only the benefit of Gods patience others haue it also facit ad propagationem it maketh for the increase of the Word Lactantius handleth this point very elegantly Lib 5 tom Instant cap. 23. Amongst those that are spectators of the Martyrs sufferings saith hee some wondring at their patience aske What that good thing is for the obtayning whereof they indure such losses and paines and so come to bee informed of the Gospel Othersome inquire What euill that is the forbearing whereof maketh them to be handled so oruelly and they come thereby to learne the vanitie of Idols Both wayes Sanguis Martyrum fit semen Euangelij by Martyrdome the Gospel getteth ground and Idolatrie doth lose it Neither only doth this patience propagate the Gospel it confirmes also the Professors thereof Phil. 1. Many of the Brethren in the Lord waxing confident by my bonds are much more bold to speake the word without feare wauering consciences are setled when they see Confessours and Martyrs indure so much for Gods Truth and seale it with their bloud Finally Christ will haue that appeare in the members which hath beene alreadie approued in the Head that they can breake the Serpents head and that they are built vpon the Rocke so that the gates of Hell cannot preuaile against them no winds or waues though they beate and blow can beat or beare downe their house because it is built vpon a Rocke Sic deferre inagnae est clementiae Chrâ—sostome Christ doth his Church a fauour in so delaying These are important Reasons of Gods suffering long And yet God stayeth not so long as to come too late for Gods permissiue Prouidence is alwayes followed with an effectiue he suffereth not the enemies of the Church to passe their bounds hee alwayes holdeth the bridle that is fastened vpon their nostrils 1 Cor. 10. Psal â—8 No temptation befalleth vs which is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sufferable by man and with the Lord are alwayes the issues of death when the wicked haue filled vp the measure of their sinne when the number of the Elect is fulfilled then is it seasonable for God to auenge Gen. 15. then behold he commeth quickly That is no speed that preuenteth this season and wee must hold that quicke enough which God holdeth quicke with whom a thousand yeares are but as one day And this the rather we must thinke because the time which we suffer is nothing to the time wherein we shall raigne for our light afflictions which are but for a moment are rewarded with an exceeding eternall waight of glorie The time in which the wicked reuell and riot is as nothing in comparison of the time wherein they shall suffer for they shall be bound in euerlasting chaines of darknesse fed vpon by a Worme which neuer dieth and burning in a fire which neuer goeth out Adde hereunto that when God beginneth hee will quickly make an end he hath laneos pedes but ferreas manus tarditatem vindictae grauitate compensat though God come slowly to it yet hee payeth home and the wicked goe downe in a moment into Hell And yet see our weaknesse Eccles 8. Because sentence against an euill worke is not executed speedily therefore the hearts of the sonnes of men is fully set in them to doe euill yea Psal 116. Dauid himselfe said in his haste that All men are liars so languishing was his deuotion and so much did his impatienâ—i prâ—uâ—nt Gods season But we must learne to possesse our soules in patience If God tarrie wait for him Habacuck 2. for he will surely come and will not tarrie behold his soule which is lifted vp is not vpright in him For the iust must liue by his faith which is a vertue not very lasting as you must now heare in the next point Neuerthelesse c. Though religious deuotion be very powerfull yet it is strange to see how short liued it is had we a friend vpon whom our welfare depended how diligently would wee attend him How often would we remember him of our case How earnestly would wee importune him for his helpe And yet the best men are not alwayes alike kindly affected neither are they alwayes alike able to steed vs. God is alwayes like himselfe Almightie Al-mercifull and yet who plyeth him for his eternall defence so much as we vsually plie men for their temporall But marke here how the word is changed for before it was Crying here it is Faith The reason of the change is very good for our Crying must be endited by and vttered from our faith And indeed how shall they call on him in whom they haue not belieued Hâ—e that asketh any thing of God saith Saint Iames must aske in faith nothing wauering and Let not a wauering man thinke that he shall receiue any thing from the Lord. But Faith is here vnderstood not as it is Scientiall but as it is Conscientiall not as it entertaineth Gods Truth but as it putteth it in practice and turneth a Sermon into a Prayer such faith doth Christ meane often in the Gospel when being sued vnto to worke a miracle hee answereth one Marke 10. Goe in peace thy faith hath made thee whole saith vnto another Matth 15. Mttah 8 O woman great is thy faith and of another I haue not found such faith no not in Israel Of this faith the rule is true Si deficiâ— fides deficit oratio our deuotion and this faith will liue and die together And the point which my Text teacheth is that this Faith and so Deuoion is not long-liued But here obserue two things first That it faileth secondly When it sayleth First That it saileth We should all hold out but few doe being vnder Gods permissiue Prouidence we should expect his effectiue but Aduersitie maketh wisemen mad and in time of aduersitie many fall away men doe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shrinke in the conflict like Cowards both in soule and bodie There is not a more sensible decay in the Great then in the Little World in our bodies then in our soules there are periods of Pietie aswell as of Policie and Conuersions of Churches aswell as of States witnesse Arrianisme Mahumetisme Papisme yea and Atheisme too which haue brought practicke Faith and religious Deuotion vnto an irrecouerable consumption The Papists will needs bee an exception to this decay of faith but whether you
came the Nations should beat their swords into plough-shares Esay 21 and their speares into pruning hookes Nation shall not lift vp sword against Nation neyther shall they learne warre any more cap. 11. the same Prophet by an allegorie doth elsewhere teach that where Christ commeth and is entertained he doth ciuilize the most barbarous Nations The Wolfe shall dwell with the Lambe the Leopard lye downe with the Kid the sucking childe shall play on the hole of the aspe and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice denne they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountaine for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters couer the sea Worthily therfore doth the Apostle call Christ our peace whose kingdome is righteousnes Ephes 2.14 Rom. 14.17 peace and ioy in the holy Ghost Moreouer obserue that to whom we owe our glorie to him wee owe our peace the blessings of God doe much affect vs as being good but except we haue securitie in the possession of them wee lose most of our content for it is a great accession to miserie once to haue been happy and plus refert vndè quà m quò cadas he that taketh a downe-fall from an high place is more sensible of that which he hath lost than of that which he suffers Therefore the addition of peace vnto glory doth import no small comfort which Esay also foretold cap. 4. Vpon all the glory shall be a defence The Apostle speaketh significantly Phil. 4.7 The peace of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall bee as a Court of guard to keep our hearts and mindes in the state of grace whereunto we are brought by Christ They that are rich and are to conuey their goods by sea or land haunted with theeues pyrants doe thinke themselues to be so much more or lesse bound to those that will secure their passage as their goods are more or lesse precious Goods of greater price than is the glorie of the house before specified there cannot be how great then is our debt vnto Christ who safe conducts vs with our glorie through the wildernesse of this world maugre the might and malice of the Serpent and the Lion of all our deadly foes You haue heard who settleth the peace in the place you must now heare how Hee giueth it And it is truly tearmed a gift for whereas there are two kindes of peace one made betweene parties whereof each is able to make good his quarrell against the other yet they are contented to auoyde trouble to agree vpon reasonable conditions the other kinde of peace is that which a conqueror out of his goodnesse vouchsafeth to persons subdued which are at his mercie and whom by the law of armes he might make slaues Our peace is of this later sort we all deserued to bee captiues to the diuell for wee were all become children of wrath by Adams sinne Ephes 2.3 When we lay thus weltring in our bloud no other eye pitying vs then God said vnto man Thou shalt liue Ezech. 16. Hee gaue him this peace therefore is peace a free gift Neyther a free gift onely but a stable also they are not induciae but pax not a cessation from armes for a time that admitteth a returne to warre againe but a reconciliation for euer a couenant of salt Gods mercie shall not depart and this couenant shall not be remoued Esay 54.10 Ezech. 37. Prou. 1. v. vlt. You haue heard what the peace is the place where it resteth by whom and how they are ioyned together what remaineth but that euery man enquire whether he haue this peace or not in this enquirie we must proceede ascendendo not descendendo the lower must assure vs of the vpper degree The abolishing of the guilt of our sinne is the darkest branch of our peace which wee know onely by faith But for the triall of this point of faith we must haue recourse to our conscience and inquire what peace we find there For the peace of our conscience is the looking glasse of that peace which we haue with God if we finde none there we haue none with God and we may be sure we haue it with God if we finde it truly there Truely I say for a man may be deceiued in the triall of his conscience many haue quiet consciences but it is because they are seared Wherefore we must looke one steppe lower and iudge of the second degree of our peace by that which we finde in the third we must see it in our mortification and subiection of the flesh to the spirit for iustification which doth quiet the conscience is inseparable from sanctification which doth reforme our nature Finally to remoue all doubt concerning sanctification we must looke to the effects thereof for a good tree bringeth forth good fruit and our conuersation will testifie our sanctification if our deeds be seasoned with charitie the spirit of God doth rest in our soules This inquirie is most behoofe full in these daies wherein more talke of peace than doe partake thereof partake I say of that true and full peace which here is meant by Haggai Yet lest men stumble by ouer great curiosity and dis-hearten themselues for the diuell is apt to make men as well despaire that they haue not peace when they haue it as to presume that they haue it when they haue it not wee must distinguish inter pacem viatoris and comprehensoris the peace of the Church militant and that of the Church triumphant Touching the Church militant it hath outward crosses and inward conflicts We doe not alwaies apprehend the light of Gods countenance it is often ouercast and hee is despleased with vs but it is as a father with his childe of whom the Poet Sit licet in natos facies austera parentum Aequa tamen semper mens est amica voluntas Therefore the cloud will dissolue and the light will cheere vs againe The worme is not so dead but if we sinne it will giue vs a remembrance a happy remembrance for it awakeneth vs to repent and beleeue which so soone as we doe the smart is at an end The law of our members will often times rebell against the law of our mindes and carrying vs captiue vnto sin will make vs cry out with St. Paul Rom. 7. O wretch that I am who shall deliuer mee front this body of death but the conclusion is comfortable Thanks be to God through Iesus Christ our Lord. Finally very often when we speak vnto men of peace they will prepare themselues to war for except we will riot communicate with them in their sin they will hate vs so that we must redeeme our inward peace with an outward war In this case let it be our comfort that much happier is the war that keeps vs close to God than that peace which will separate vs from him Psal 23. Though I walke in the middest of the valley of
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was all ouercast with a heauinesse to death finally how it affected his body it made it sweat great drops of blood Put these together and you haue a faire commentary vpon that one word wherewith S. Luke doth expresse Christs sense calling it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Agonie or a sharpe conflict And indeed wee must confesse that there was much extraordinary in Christs Crosse and that it was such a draught as none could take but he And by this wee must obserue in the Cup and Christs sense thereof first that God would haue copiosam redemptionem not onely in regard of the person suffering which was both God and Man and therefore could to a little suffering adde an infinite worth but also in regard of the sufferings themselues which God would haue to be as great as the person of Christ was capable of And he would not haue it seeme strange vnto vs if we be put to a fiery tryall seeing God was pleased so farre to exercise the patience of his owne deare Sonne after his example we must be contented to take not only Calicem but Calicem hune to drinke not only of a Cup but of a very bitter Cup also as many in the primitiue Church and later ages haue done Secondly in the liuelinesse of Christs sense wee are taught quanti steterit salus nostra with how great heauinesse and horror Christ vndertooke and went through the redemption of our soules the more he felt of that the more are wee indebted to his loue and should detest our sinne yea wee must learne of Christs sorrow to sorrow our selues for our selues and by his heauinesse how to bee heauie when we haue offended God But enough of the Crosse Let vs come now to the wish of Nature It is exprest in two words transeat aufer let it passe take it away The words import that the Cup was making towards him and indeed the word houre sheweth that this was the time of taking it now death the reward of sinne temporall death fast clasped with eternall came to require due satisfaction to bee made to God Christ doth not denie that this is iust therefore let it goe on but yet transeat let it goe besides me let not me be the partie on whom it seizeth But how can that bee seeing Christ stood out as the surety of mankinde the execution must come out vpon him that hath vndertaken the debt if then God let his iudgements ire goe forth certainely they will not transire passe by the person of Christ for they are right arming Thunderbolts as the Wiseman calleth them Therefore Christ addeth a second word aufer though of themselues they would seize on me yet be thou pleased to take them from me let thy hand stay them which will not stay themselues But to leaue the words and come to the things that are obseruable in the Wish It is an inborne principle of nature for euery liuing thing to desire his preseruation and abhor destruction but this principle should be more liuing in the Sonnes of men who know that God made not death Wisd 1. and that it is the wages of sinne Rom. 5. Ambros Theophylact. in bunc locum because it is vnnaturall because it is penall it may bee feared it must bee deprecated we put off nature if our nature bee not so affected Especially if it be Calix iste such a Cup as Christs an extraordinary Cup wee may not only deprecate it but ingeminate our deprecation as Christ three times prayed the same words and St. Paul did the like against the buffettings of Sathan But we must marke that though all things were foreseene by Christ and resolued vpon yet it pleased God that hee should permit euery power of his soule to doe and suffer what was naturall vnto it Chrysostome and thereby declare vnto the world that he was a true Man Sermone 1. de Sancto Andrea Yea St. Ambrose and St. Bernard obserue that it was much more glorious for Christ to doe so than to haue done the contrarie that not only the passion of his bodie but the affection of his heart also might make for vs that whom his death quickned them his trembling might confirme his heauinesse glad his drooping cheere and his disquiet set at rest Theophylact obserueth that Christs Wish is a good warning to vs that wee doe not cast our selues into temptation 〈◊〉 de passione Christi St. Cyprian giueth the reason Quis non timeat si timet ille quem omnia timent he prefaceth his words with a passionate Meditation and they are foolishly hardy that presume of more than is exprest in the Wish of Christ And the Wish is not onely Admonitory but Consolatorie also It is no small comfort that it is lawful for vs to expresse our Wishes though they be contrary to Gods will yea his knowne will for so was Christs The more rigid is their Diuinity that are so zealous for Grace that they abolish Nature and will haue a Christian man forget to be a man But though this Wish may be common to Christ and vs yet is there as great difference betweene it as it riseth in vs and as it rose in him It rose in him neuer but according to the prescript of reason his reason was neuer preuented by his affection sicut quando voluit factus est homo as he was not incarnate but when hee was willing so onely when hee was willing did his affections stirre within him Nihil coactum in Christo Damascen lib. 3 Orthod sid cap. 20. the obiects could not worke his affections but when he saw it fit therefore shall you reade in the Gospell that Christ troubled himselfe when he groaned in spirit Iohn 11. But as for our affections they out-step our discretion and wee are transported with them before we are aduised which maketh vs retract them with our after wits Secondly Christs affections when they stirred neuer passed those bounds which were set them by reason but ours will not so be bridled seldome are we moued but we eyther ouer reach or come short of that which wee ought to doe Therefore our affections and Christs are fitly resembled to two Vials of cleane water whereof the one hath a muddy residence the other hath no residence at all stirre the water that is in the Viall without residence and though you trouble it yet you shall not see any foulenesse in it but no sooner is that Viall that had the residence stirred but the mudde mingleth with the water euen so our affections are tainted with concupiscence from which conception by the Holy Ghost did free our Sauiour Christ You haue heard the Wish of Nature and heard how it is bent against the Crosse But there is one point which may not be omitted Christs modesty in expressing this for it is but a conditionall Wish Christ limiteth it with If If it possible let this Cup passe Things are
of paines to fulfill Gods commands but so insolent so foolish are the most of men that they will haue their owne wils satisfie their owne lusts and rather than faile thereof they will breake Gods bonds and cast his cords from them And what Cup can be bitter enough to purge such peccant humours The last note that I gaue vpon the Text is the comparison betweene the Wish and the Will whereof I told you the one was conditionall the other absolute the one is but as it were a deliberation the other a resolution And indeed that difference we must hold when our Wishes and Gods Decrees are different neuer to present our desires but with a condition but to take heed of capitulating with God for that were to giue Law vnto the Law-giuer which should not be attempted and will not be endured But it is time to end Tract 104. Christ saith S. Austin being in the forme of a seruant might haue conceiued this prayer in silence but It a se voluit Patri exhibere peccatorem vt meminisset se nostrum esse doctorem he would so performe his deuotion as might make best for our instruction And Saint Chrysostome noteth herein an extraordinary instruction Sublimem admirabilis Philosophiae virtutem docet etiam Natur â abhorrente renuente Deum sequendum It is an high straine of Christian vertue that is taught vs in this patterne of Christ so farre to be masters of our naturall Affections that will they nil they we will doe what God doth bid vs. St. Cyprian telleth ys that we are not onely taught by Christ What to doe but How namely to imitate Christs offertory Prayer prostrating our selues humbly inuocating our Father reuerently and not presenting our desires otherwise than conditionally if we take this course we shall conclude with an absolute submission vnto the Will of God Certainly St. Bernard thought so for hee meditateth thus vpon my Text Noniam despero Domine Lord I am not out of heart now be my case neuer so bad Let my tribulation be irkesome vnto me and let me haue a comardly heart by nature let me be forward when I petition with Transeat Let this Cup passe take i◠from mee I haue learned of thee to betake my selfe not to a carnall but an heauenly comfort Not my Will but thy Will be done will hold in all murmuring and hearten all fainting of my soule These words then are exemplary words they informe vs what Christ did to direct vs what we must doe Christs example is without exception because hee was without sinne and is of good vse for vs because we may fall into the like case The like I say but not the same we may fall though not into a Propitiatory yet into a Probatory suffering It is sacriledge to affect the one the other is common to the whole Church When we fall into it if we take Christ for our patterne we shall finde him our patron also we shall finde that his draught hath left little bitternesse in ours and that which is left is much allayed When Christ made this Prayer an Angell from heauen comforted him and if wee conceiue the like prayers the Spirit of Christ will not faile to be a comforter to vs. Onely let vs ex non volito make volitum giue the vpper hand to Grace aboue Nature and we shall finde much ioy in affliction which will be vnto vs the pledge of a greater ioy which after our affliction wee shall enioy in the Kingdome of Heauen THis Grace he giue vnto vs that in this practice hath gone before vs that as his so by his our patient obedience may open vs a way vnto a blessed Inheritance IHS A SERMON PREACHED AT St. PETERS IN OXFORD Vpon EASTER DAY 1 COR. 15.20 Christ is risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept ANd these words are a part of that first Hymne wherewith wee solemnize this Feast yea they containe a good and full Commentary vpon this dayes employment For this day is spent in historia Prophetia we therein renue Christs and foretaste our owne Resurrection that in the Seruice and this in the Sacrament These two Resurrections are inseparable therefore St. Paul willing to assure vs of the later doth first establish the Doctrine of the former and he doth it by Witnesses and by Reasons By Witnesses because a matter of fact and by Reasons because this fact is an Article of Faith For Articles of Faith are not only credenda but also credibilia though before they are reuealed we cannot diuine at them yet being reuealed we may argue fairely for them many times out of Nature but out of Scripture alwaies The Reasons here yeelded by the Apostle are of two sorts the first collects the Absurdities that presse all Gaine-sayers the second those Conueniences that must bee acknowledged by true Beleeuers This Scripture stand◠in the midst of these Reasons and is compounded of the conclusion of the former and foundation of the later The refutation of the Absurdities warrants this truth Christ is risen from the dead and the proofe of the Conueniences relyes vpon this ground Christ is become the first fruits of them that slept The Resurrection then from the dead is the maine point of this Text and the Text doth occasion vs to consider 1. what it is then how applyed What it is we cannot be ignorant if we know the termes wherein it is exprest these two termes Dead and Resurrection But when we haue found them wee must discreetly apply them for they haue different subiects Christ and those that slept they belong to both but vnto those by him for He is their first fruits These be the contents of this Scripture and of these shall I by Gods assistance and your Christian audience now speake briefly and in their order And first of the termes Death and Resurrection These termes are opposite therefore by the one wee must bee led to know the other and because death is first in nature I beginne at that All death if it bee antecedent to the Resurre ion is eyther in sinne or for sinne Death in sinne is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orat. 7 as Nyssen defines it an inabilitie to doe good because we haue lost communion with God But communion with God simply wee cannot lose and be for without him nothing can subsist It is then communion in that which is his supreme perfection in wisedome and in holinesse the soule that is destitute of these that soule is dead for it can neyther taste nor see how good the Lord is whom notwithstanding so to know is euerlasting life and if it be so senslesse it must needes be liuelesse It is dead in sinne But as there is death in sinne so is there also for sinne and this is double eyther only the dissolution of soule and body or else a penall condition that followeth thereupon Touching the dissolution we must marke that as
What had become of his merit Finally how could his Kingdome subsist without this Resurrection when could he haue receiued the keyes of Death and of Hell made all knees bowe to him in heauen earth and vnder the earth been inuested with absolute power if hee had not risen from the dead He had neuer been honoured as a King The grace then of Edification argues his Resurrection And so doth the grace of Adoption also yea that former proues onely the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but this the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thereof that resolues strongly that it must be so but this why it must so be for the Resurrection is not debitum carnis but sanctitatis it cannot be challenged by flesh but by holy flesh God will not suffer his Holy one to see corruption Psal 16. The Prince of this world came and had nothing in Christ Iohn 14. therefore it was impossible that he should be detained of the sorrowes of death Holinesse and Happinesse are inseparable as in God so in Christ the latter may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bee for a time suspended but because of the former they could not be long seuered But the name of Christ doth not onely note the Truth but the Condition also of his Resurrection for it must bee such a Resurrection as doth answer his double vnction First that of Edification for it must answer the Prophesies Bruise the Serpents head Gen. 3. be the death of death Osea 13. yea by death ouercome him that had the power of death which is the Diuell Hebr. 2. It did so for he led captiuity captiue Ephes 4. It must answer the Priesthood there must neede no more sacrifice for sinne with that which he hath offered he must enter Heauen and finde eternall redemption He did so for hee sits at the right hand of God for euer to make intercession for vs. Finally it must answer his Kingdome and he must raigne as Lord of lords he must haue the Key of Dauid shut and no man open open and no man shut He doth so in that state he walketh in the midst of the golden Candlestickes Reuel 1. cap. 19. These bee things wherein his Resurrection is answerable to his first vnction But it must also be answerable to his second Though we haue known Christ after the flesh yet we must now know him so no more all mortalitie and misery did end at his Resurrection For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb de laud. Constant was not onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rursum sursum he not onely rose againe but rose to an heauenly life he brought to light life and immortality Hilar. in Psal 41. Id quod fuit in id quod non fuit surrexit nec amisit originem sed profecit in honorem the same body arose but not in the same state hee retained his nature but added glory to it The Lord shewed him the path of life Psal 16. in whose presence there is fulnesse of ioy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for euermore Therefore when he did eate and drinke after he rose and retaine the prints of the nailes wherewith hee was crucified all this was but dispensatio as the Fathers well obserue it serued onely to settle the Apostles faith as also did the concealing of his glory when he appeared vnto them But to conclude this point Non magnum est credere quia Christus mortuus est saith St. Austin It is not hard to beleeue that Christ dyed the Gentiles and Iewes plotters and actors of his death doe boastingly report it Sed fides Christianorum est resurrectio Christi Christians goe beyond them when they beleeue that Christ is risen and risen so The Priests bribed the Souldiers to deny it Euseb the Heathen abolished the Sepulchre that gaue testimony of it the Diuell raised vp euen in the Apostles dayes Heretickes to oppose it but maugre all this truth stands Christ is risen from the dead And thus much of the first subiect I come now to the second That is noted by Dormientes those that slept which is equiualent to Mortui and as manifold in sinne for sinne as it is vnderstood spiritually of the soule and body I need not put you in mind that the tense is no limitation of the subiect for in generall arguments the Holy Ghost indifferently vseth all tenses because all times are as one in God he giueth vs to vnderstand so much in his word But to come to the matter Marke a suddaine change while hee spake of Christ he vseth the word Dead no sooner hath hee taught that Christ is risen but he changeth the Dead into Sleepers Surely then Christs Resurrection made a powerfull alteration it turned death into sleepe In Marc. lib. 〈◊〉 cap. 5. and therefore Mos Christianus obtinet saith Bede It is vsuall in the Christian Dialect in acknowledgement that we beleeue the Resurrection to call the dead Sleepers hence are the places of sepulture called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dorters But are Dormientes all or some Surely the word will reach all mankinde and the Scripture applyes it indifferently vnto all take one place for many Dan. 12. Many of those that sleepe in the dust shall awake which words compared to the like Iohn 5. appeare to bee a description of the generall Resurrection The death then of all is but a sleepe But wee must not mistake this fauours not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it cast not the soule but the body into a sleepe and makes the receptacle thereof not of the soule to bee but a temporarie habitation The Sadducees of all ages thinke otherwise because they would haue it so you may read their dreames in the Booke of the Preacher and of Wisedome together with the refutation of them I will say no more to them but what this word warrants me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is none though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there bee their soules and bodies are to continue by Gods ordinance immortally mortall and God will vnite them againe neyther part shall cease to bee because neyther part shall cease to suffer The body shall not As the suggestions and actions of sinne were ministred and acted by it so the vengeance of sinne shall be endured therein And for the soule it is disquieted euen with the sleepe of the body while that rots the soule forecasts what racks what tortures are prepared for it and this hath it for an accessorie to its owne paine Sleepe then in this sense belongs to the wicked But in my Text by those that slept are meant the faithfull It is of them onely that this Chapter intreats 1 Thes 4. of those that sleepe in Christ their death is compared vnto a quiet a sweet sleepe because whereas in this life they are subiect to the Crosse impos'd or voluntary mortification in death they rest from their labours and sleepe without any terrours of euill so that this
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
is wanting to both in him The conscience of sinne doth deiect vs and the want of grace slack that zeale that should bee in vs repaire of cheerefulnesse in both cases is to bee sought in Christ Thus much wee are taught by the resemblance A third reason why wee hold the Sacrament to bee the body and blood of Christ is because the heauenly thing is conueyed vnto vs by the earthly the bread which wee breake is it not the communion of the body of Christ and the cup of blessing which we blesse is it not the communion of the the blood of Christ In a word the sacramentall vnion made by consecration serueth to make the sacrament fit for our participation t was so it is so in euery Sacrament of th◠old of the new Testament The addition of My to the body and bloud must not be neglected for it doth insinitely improue them when it tels vs whose they are For there is not an eminencie in the person that doth not reflect vpon this body and blood be it eminencie of dignitie or of efficacie The person is Iesus then it is the body and blood of the Sauiour of the world He is Christ then it is the body and blood of the Anointed of the Lord of the Prophet of the Priest of the King of the Church he is the Sonne of God the only begotten the dearely beloued Son how heauenly how precious must that body and blood bee which are his For our better valuation and greater consolation wee may carry My through all the attributes of this sacred person But let vs goe on The Elements of bread and wine were consecrated that they might be the body and blood of Christ But how are this body and blood to bee considered Surely not as Christ is glorified but as he was crucified for it is that body that was giuen as St. Paul speaketh was broken and the blood is that blood which was shed And so doth it best answer the sacrifices of the old Law and the Sacrament of the Passeouer And no maruell for the glory of Christ can little comfort vs except the crosse of Christ doe first proue that he hath merited it for vs. Christs merit is the pillar of Christian faith whereunto his birth is but an antecedent that hee might be able to merit and his glory a consequent witnessing that hee did merit We must therefore in the Sacrament haue an especiall eye to this And this will not onely secure our soules but settle our iudgements against the Sophistry of the Church of Rome who not distinguishing betweene Christ crucified and glorified or rather not building their conclusions answerable to this vndeniable Principle The Sacraments represent Christ crucified not glorified are driuen to coine so many new Articles 1 of reall presence corporall 2 of a metaphysicall Transubstantiation 3 of an ill applyed concomitancie All which easily vanish if we consider Christs purpose to represent himselfe in the Sacrament not as hee now is at the right hand of God but as he was vpon the Crosse Not but it is the same body and blood which is in glory but it must not be so considered as it is in glory Which will necessarily inforce vs to acknowledge that theynion betweene the thing earthly and heauenly can be no more than sacramentall and that respectiue also to what was done on earth not what is in heauen Was I say done formaliter on the Crosse but is effectiuè working in Heauen For that body which Christ sacrificed for vs he presents in Heauen to propitiate God towards vs not continuing the Act of sacrificing for that was actiua Passio or passiua Actio many others concurred thereunto besides himselfe as it is cleare in the Euangelists but perpetuating the effect of the sacrifice the Act was but once done and that only vpon the Crosse but the efficacie thereof continueth for euer though Christ sit at the right hand of God in Heauen as St. Paul proueth at large in the Epistle to the Hebrewes And this cutteth vp the very rootes from whence springeth the Masse and all Attendants thereupon The last thing which I noted in the consecration is Whereunto the Elements consecrated and by consecration made the body and blood of Christ the body as it was broken the blood as it was shed doe serue and What is intended by them Here are two excellent ends we must behold therein first the establishment of a new Couenant betweene God and vs. We need a new one that haue broken the old by our mutabilitie before the fall and since the fall through our great imbecilitie so that finding our selues vnfit for Hoc fac viues we must rest vpon Iustus fide suâ viuet It is our comfort that wee which cannot stand of our selues may subsist in Christ and though the Law be too hard for vs without the Gospel yet by the Gospel we haue a double good first it giueth strength to performe the Law and secondly because that will not reach home it assureth vs that our iudge is our father and contracts with vs in no other person Of this Couenant God speaketh in Ieremy cap. 31. and St. Paul openeth it in the Epistle to the Hebrewes Marke that the Couenant is annext to the blood and so it was in the Type the Attonement was ascribed thereunto because the burning of the Sacrifice did rather signifie a dedication of the person to God but the shedding of the blood did note the death and it was Christs death in vertue whereof God was pleased to bee attoned and to enter into a new Couenant The second end is the remission of sinnes the Sacrament is not onely vnto vs a pledge of a new Couenant and warrants Beleeue and thou shalt be saued But lest looking backe wee should be afflicted with the conscience of our sinne the Sacrament assureth vs that all shall be pardoned that is not that hath not been performed according to the Law Wee come then to the Lords Table not onely for meate but also for medicine not onely for gold but also for eye-salue this water of the Sanctuarie runneth into vs as into mare mortuum it maketh vs no lesse whole than fruitfull this is the true poole of Bethesda no sooner hath the Angell descended into it but whosoeuer entereth it may bee cured by it And so haue I opened the first Act of Iesus he consecrated the elements The second Act followeth What hee consecrated that hee distributeth In this Act there are two things the first is the diuiding of the elements the second is the bestowing of them The breaking may represent eyther the vsage of Christs body when it was sacrificing as in the old typicall Sacrifices the like also must be conceiued of the pouring out of the wine or else it may fit the Sacrifice for distribution as is vsed in a Sacrament Christ hath the fulnesse of grace but wee haue euery one but his proportion according to our capacity Euen
Nations comprehend both Iewes and Gentiles and in the Prophets the re-vnion of Iuda and Israel so often mentioned meaneth no other than the knitting of the Iewes and the Gentiles into one Church and making one Flocke of these two kinde of Sheepe The Oliue Tree will beare both branches Rom. 11. the Seale of God is to be set vpon both Reuel 6. and both make vp one peculiar purchâ—sed people of Christ one Houshold one Kingdome Ephes 2. all are Christs by the merit of his Passion and therefore the Apostles must goe to all euen to all that sit in darkenesse and in the shadow of death Luke 1. and none are in any better case as St. Paul proueth to the Romanes they were dead in their sinnes and destitute of the glory of God All need the Gospell and therefore it must bee preached vnto all And that it might bee preached the Apostles were endued with all Languages The world is much troubled now about Vniuersall Grace the Resolution in short may be this that forbearing to bee ouer-busie with Gods Predestination who is not pleased to acquaint vs with his Counsell in his distinguishing persons in a Ministers Commission Grace is Vniuersall we should labour the conuersion of all and euery one neither should any man except himselfe but labour to bee in the number of that all to whom God sendeth One Note more before I leaue this point This large circuit was one of the Perogatiues of the Apostles they were not restrained to any Diocesse or Prouince as Bishops now are but as the Spirit led them and they saw cause they might euery one plant and water the Church euery where It is true that for conueniency and expedition of their message they diuided themselues into seuerall Quarters but without excluding each the other in this sense was Peter the Apostle of the Iewes Paul of the Gentiles yet did Peter preach to the Gentiles and Paul to the Iewes The power of Orders in their successors is not limited in it selfe actually all that are ordered are inabled to exercise their Function in any part of the world and they may be sent to conuert any Nation and it is but for the more orderly gouernment and edification of the Church that the exercise of euery mans Orders is restrained to a certaine charge and without leaue or a case of great necessity those that breake these Canons offend grieuously and there bee not a few that offend that way I hope that you which are now to be ordered will not proue such Hauing competently been told Whither the Apostles are sent it followeth that yee now heare Whereabout They must teach 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Text make Disciples And indeede it is not a bare Historicall narration that they must make of the Gospell they must seeke by morall instruction to winne the people vnto Christ so teach that their hearers may become the followers of Christ And here obserue first the wonderfull goodnesse of God The Iewes and the Gentiles conspired both to crucifie Christ they put him to a shamefull and a painfull death would not you feare least and looke that he should send messengers against both with fire and sword to take vengeance on them and worke their vtter desolation But see our sweete Iesu came not to destroy but to saue Luke 9. hee forgetteth and forgiueth not onely Peters deniall and the rest of the Apostles forsaking him but also the impious blasphemers of his holy Name and barbarous murderers of his sacred Person hee is ready to receiue them vnto Grace and admit them to be his Disciples A goodnesse so wonderfull that all the world may stand amazed at it Secondly all the world was rent into Sects the Iewes into Pharisees Sadducees Herodians c. the Gentiles they were distracted not only in their Philosophy but in their Diuinity also and had as manifold deuotion as they had opinions the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sheweth that the time was now come that they should all grow into one and in point of Religion speake one and the selfe same thing and serue one and the selfe same God All Nations should remember themselues and be turned to the Lord Psal 22. the Prophets foretold it Esay 44. One shall say I am the Lords and another shall call himselfe by the Name of Iacob and another shall subscribe with his hand vnto the Lord and surname himselfe by the Name of Israel so speake the Iewes but not the Iewes onely for in Zachary chapt 8. the Prophesie is deliuered thus The Inhabitants of one Citie shall goe to another saying Let vs goe speedily to pray before the Lord and to seeke the Lord of Hosts I will goe also Ten men shall take hold out of all Languages of the Nations euen shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Iewe saying Wee will goe with you for we haue heard that God is with you And that they goe vp to be Disciples it is plainly affirmed by Esay chapt 2. Many people shall goe and say Come ye and let vs goe vp to the Mountaine of the Lord to the House of the God of Iacob and he will teach vs of his wayes and wee will walke in his pathes In Micah you shall reade the very same All comes to that which our Sauiour Christ speaketh Be yee not called Rahbi for one is your Master euen Christ Matth. 23. And the weapons of the Apostles warfare were mighty through God to bring into captiuity euery thought to the obedience of Christ 2. Cor. 10. But those weapons were not carnall but spirituall It is for Mahumetans to make their Muselmans as they call them that is right Beleeuers if he beleeue aright that beleeues in the Alcaron a sinke of all senslesse and sensuall dreames by the sword But such a manner of making Schollars is fit for the matter they shall learne And I would too many Christians were not too neare followers of them in this barbarous course who pretend the reclaiming of Heretickes so they call the Orthodoxe but indeede would propagate their owne Heresies and what they cannot doe by the Word that they endeauour by the Sword Of this we may be sure that the Apostles neuer made Disciples that way neither would Christ haue Schollars come to him by constraint Teaching is the Heauenly meanes of Conuersion those that are Gods Schollars are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taught of God and his Law is Thora a Doctrine Christ went about teaching Matth. 10. and it was by teaching that the holy Ghost led the Apostles into all Truth Iohn 14. 26. And indeede this is the most noble kinde of winning men to winne their vnderstanding and winne their will winne his reasonable faculties then you winne a man Not so if you force his body that may make him yeeld against his conscience but at best hee will be but an Hypocrite and you haue gotten but the worser part of him not a man but his Vizard
good vse of your indulgence as to be ashamed and reclaimed Wherefore as St. Iude obserues you must saue some with feare and plucke them out of the fire wherein they would burne themselues you must compell them to learn and obey the law of the God of Ezra the true God whereupon followeth also the next point which is they will the more easily be brought to doe the Kings law Of obseruing lawes in generall I need say no more than I haue but the iniquity of the times wills mee to remember you that lawes must bee obeyed though they be the lawes of the King of Persia this is the second caution The Proctors of Rome though they dare not flatly deny it yet so sophystically handle it that what with subiecting the scepter of Kings to the command of Popes and exempting of such persons and cases as seeme good vnto him they vndermine what they would seeme to yeeld and the most they grant is no more nor no longer than their Holy Father doth that 's too much or hereafter will allow them If hee will abrogate all they must acknowledge none no lawes of a King of Persia a King that is not of their religion Others haue learnedly and sufficiently shaken their grounds and my Text is an argument of no small force to resolue the consciences of such as doubt whether a different religion doth euacuate the power of a lawfull Soueraigne It doth not though it be a false religion how much more when it is the true and the King our King commands onely for the God of Ezra the true God and enioynes no other worship of him than according to his owne lawes the vndoubted register whereof is the sacred Word of God Wherefore you must bee as the earth mentioned in the Reuelation cap. 12. and swallow all those waters that the dragon casts forth to drowne the woman you must crush these seedes of rebellion which ayme at nothing but the ouerthrow of true Religion And how must you crush it euen by punishment And so I come to the second worke of iudgement from the precept to the sanction which containes the second limitation of the power Wherein I obserue first how farre the Magistrate may draw his sword Looke how farre his prouidence doth reach so farre may his vengeance reach also The reward of sinne is death eternall death to violate Gods Lawes or the Kings is no lesse than sinne it should therefore be reuenged with eternall death But behold here vnspeakeable mercie God would haue vs iudged here by men that we be not condemned hereafter by him This is the proper end of the keyes and the sword of the power that is in the Prince and the Pastor The occasion draweth mee to speake of the Sword yet let me giue you this Item touching the Keyes that malefactors must remember that for euerie of their offences challengable by the Law of man they owe a repentance vnto God and the greater their offence the deeper should be their repentance Which I the rather note because there are too many of them that scarce giue glorie vnto God when they suffer by the Law and if they escape make no conscience at all of their sin as if how soeuer they speed at the iudgement seat of men they were not to take heed that they be not cast at the barre of God which the first Councell of Nice well corrected when imitating Gods law without preiudice to the ciuill sword it appointed sundrie yeares penance according to the grieuousnesse of sinne Sed pristino rigori non sumus pares the Liturgie of our Church saith that it were to bee wished but the iniquitie of the times that it is not to be hoped Secondly seeing your power should touch men with a losse temporall to keepe them from a losse eternall you see what wrong you doe them when you suffer them to spend their dayes in loosenesse and in a moment as Iob speaketh though from their beds they goe quicke down into hell how much better were it for them if with one hand or one eye they might goe into heauen than hauing both to bee cast into hell O then let the righteous rebuke them yea smite them rather than that your precious balmes should breake their heads yea slay their soules spare nothing that is temporall so you may preserue them from the paine which is eternall You see how farre you may draw the sword But when you strike your strokes must bee proportionable to their sinnes but the proportion must not be Arithmeticall but Geometricall they must be secundum merita but not aequalia meritis you may punish intra but not vltra medum so doth God who notwithstanding doth punish in number weight and measure Semper aliquid detrahit de poenae atrocitate as Nazianzene speaketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he doth temper mercie with iudgement In the hand of the Lord there is a cup the wine thereof is red and it is full mixt whereof though his children offending drinke yet only the incorrigible wicked drinke the dregs thereof And the same Father writing to the Emperours Deputie reckoning vp his vertues demands this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what shall I say of your clemencie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here you decline something but he addes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I cannot much blame you you haue God for your patterne who in Hosea speakes thus of himselfe How shall I giue thee vp O Ephraim how shall I deliuer thee O Israel how shall I make thee as Admah how shall I set thee as Seboim my heart is turned within mee my repentings are rouled together I will not execute the fiercenesse of my wrath c. You must wisely then temper iudgement and mercie but so that mercie doe not hinder iudgement and yet that of the two mercie reioyce against iudgement And thus haue you heard what a Iudge may and must doe he may take the sword and must vse it against malefactors but with the conditions of the vse and limitations of the power specified in my text The conditions are two he must vse it timely and indifferently the limitations also two he must extend it to all transgressions of both Tables and intend it according to their transgressions And the end of all must bee by a temporall punishment to saue the wicked from eternall paine or if that will not bee that the blood of all cursing Shimei's and factious Ioabs and irreligious Abiathars also may bee vpon their head and the head of their seed but vpon Dauid our Dauid vpon his house and vpon his throne vpon this whole Church and Common weale may bee peace for euer from the Lord. MOst mighty most mercifull Lord who to preserue sincere pietie and secure peace in the Church and Common weale hast put the sword into the hands of mortall men and for the vse thereof hast aduanced them aboue their Brethren we humbly beseech thee so to sanctifie them with thy grace whom
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
Heauen In HABAKKVK the stones and timber of the King of Babylons house built with blood doe cry Finally Iames 5. in St IAMES the wages of the hireling kept from him doe cry and come into the eares of the Lord of Hosts Cap. 6. And as sinnes so iudgements haue a Voyce MICAH hath a notable place The voice of the Lord cryeth vnto the Citie the Man of Wisdome will see thy name heare ye the rod and who hath appointed it And the Lord is sayd to make his iudgement to be heard from Heauen When then GOD saith I was deafe and dumbe he meaneth that though the cry of the sin were loud yet he did not heare it he was deafe neither did they heare from him though there was iust cause he was dumbe In these two points stands the Patience of GOD. Where-hence we learne that when we are free from plagues we must not conclude that we are without sinnes crying sinnes The cause of our peace is often times not our owne innocencie but GODS patience it is not because our sinnes hold their tongues but GODS iudgments hold theirs notwithstanding our guilt he is silent And here appeareth a great difference between God and Men Men are as soone moued as they are prouoked few can hold their hands scarce any their tongues so sensible are we of wrongs and so reuengefull according to our power Not so GOD it is one of the characters of his Nature to be long suffering euen when he is grieuously offended he can hold his Tongue not onely his Hands Behold an euidence hereof in this Penitent whose incestuous life GOD hath forborne so many yeeres though he might haue rewarded him according to his deserts when he first fell into this foule offence yet hath GOD lent him many yeeres and expected his repentance But what vse doe men make of GODS patience Surely the Iewes did but verifie the old saying veterem ferendo iniuriam inuit as nouam the more GOD forbeares the worse we waxe GOD holds his peace that we might speake is deafe that we might heare Rom. c. 2. but enormous sinners make vse of neither they abuse the patience and long suffering of God and like IESABEL though GOD giue space to repent they repent not Reuel 2 21. We should heare our sinnes that GOD might not heare them we should heare them speaking to the eare of our Consciences whereinto if they did enter they would not ascend higher into the eares of GOD. And seeing GOD is dumbe that we might speake we should speake to GOD by repentance and then GOD would not speake vnto vs by vengance according to that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 11.31 If we did iudge our selues we should not be iudged of the Lord. But what doth the Iewe He grosly abuseth this patience of GOD in stead of so hearing and speaking he thinketh that God is like vnto himselfe Behold the world turned vpside downe GOD made man after his owne Image and see man would faine square GOD after his Image whereas the creature should resemble the Creator the Creator is drawne to resemble the creature An absurd conceit is it in reason how much more in Religion When 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is turned into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Patterne into the Exemplification but yet might it be excused if so be man were vnderstood as he was made of GOD for we vse in Diuinitie out of the obseruation which we make in the nature of man to draw descriptions of the nature of GOD because whatsoeuer is in the effect is but much more emminently in the efficient so we talke of the Truth the Righteousnesse and Holinesse of GOD guessing at them by those sparkes of vertue which appeare in man But the conceit of these men is not so good for thus must the words be knit Thou thoughtest that I was like vnto thee which hast done these things and such a thee is a sinfull thee so that GOD is not onely resembled vnto man but vnto a sinfull man outragious blasphemie It was a great sinne which ADAM committed when he affected to be like vnto GOD though it were in an holy attribute the attribute of his Knowledge How fearefull a sin then is it not onely to debase GOD to be like vnto men but also to be like vnto him in a hellish Attribute the Attribute of sinne There are three steps of Atheisme Psal 94.7 It begins with Tush God doth not see and is there vnderstanding in the Highest It goeth on to Tush God doth not care Scilicet is superis labor est ea cura quietos solicitat The Lord will doe neither good nor euill as the Prophet speaketh It commeth at length to We account the proud blessed Malach. 3.15 and they that tempt God are exalted Of these Atheists the first turne God into an Idol giuing him eyes that see not and eares that heare not The second make him an idle or carelesse God as if he did onely looke on and leaue euerie man to shift for himselfe The last doe plainly turne God into the Diuel for their blasphemie is not onely priuatiue denying GOD to be what indeed he is but also positiue fastning vpon GOD what is cleane opposite to his Nature so that it is not without cause that our vulgar English hath Thou thoughtest wickedly for it is a most wicked thought We must then take heed how we entertaine sinne seeing we shall grow worse and worse by degrees There are inborne principles of honestie and pietie which are sensibly felt when we first fall to sinne the further we goe the lesse are they felt and when we grow senslesse of them then fall we to apologize for sin and there can be no stronger apologie then to make GOD our consort for it is a principle stampt in our nature That God is the soueraigne good whatsoeuer then is either from him or in him must needs be good so that if a wicked man can make GOD either the Author or Patterne of his sinne he need no sayrer colour nor stronger argument wherewith to resolue either himselfe or others that bitter is sweet darknesse light death life and good euill And the Diuel knoweth that we will sinne securely when we are resolued that by sinne we doe GOD good seruice he that reads the stories of the Heathen gods shall find that one of the greatest prouocations that the world hath had vnto sinne hath beene the worship of such gods as their owne Poets describe theirs to be stained with all kind of sinnes The Fathers that wrot against them IVSTIN MARTYR CLEMENS ALEXANDRINVS EVSEBIVS LACTANTINS ARNOBIVS and Saint AVSTIN insist much vpon this point when they defend Christian Religion against the Gentile And who can tell whether GOD in this place doth not taxe such Gentilisme in the Iew And intimate that their Idolatry was a cause of their impuritie for it is plaine in the Prophets that they worshipped Idols of all Nations You
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
lest the place of their habitation should be polluted by them The same GOD that would not indure that persons though but ceremonially polluted should abide in the Campe could much lesse endure the flagitious amongst his people Num. 5. his Tents are holy and onely for holy persons And we that beleeue in our Creed that the CHVRCH is holy should remoue from amongst vs all profane all blaspheming persons Whereby you the Penitent must vnderstand what you deserue at the hands of the CHVRCH And let this suffice for the spirituall punishment I come now to the Temporall And that I told you is vltimum and ignominiosissimum supplicium Vltimum for it is no lesse then death the partie must be put to death GOD held him vnworthy to breathe whose impious mouth breathed out such hellish contumelies against GOD. By GODS Law seuerall sinnes haue seuerall punishments and the punishments are proportioned to the sinnes we may argue strongly when GOD is the Law-giuer that if the punishment be great vndoubtedly the sinne is haynous GOD doth often punish citra but neuer vltra condignum Blasphemie therefore is indeed a deadly sinne that must be so accounted by GODS Iudgements not onely in foro poli in case of conscience but also in foro soli at the Tribunall of a mortall Iudge whose eye cannot discerne as doth the eye of GOD surely that must needs be verie foule which must be so foule in his eye Euen in this also may you the Penitent take the scantling of your sinne The punishment is not onely vltimum but ignominiosissimum most ignominious and that whether you looke vpon the Execution or the Executioners The Execution for the malefactor was to be stoned to death and that was mors not cominus but eminus illata the Executioners stood aloofe as if they did abhorre to touch the person with their hands and therefore pursued him with stones Adde hereunto the circumstances wherewith they were to doe it no sooner did they heare the Blasphemie but they rent their cloathes stopt their eares gnashed with their teeth threw dust in the ayre cryed out with their voyces and ran against the malefactor with a kind of furie yea and they afflicted their soules with fasting also these circumstances shall you find in the execution of St Stephen and Naboth misaplyed indeed but yet I suppose they set forth the right manner of proceeding because we find some of them in the storie of Hezekiah Ier. 36. when he heard the blasphemie of Rabsache and the Princes of Iudah are taxed for that they neither sorrowed nor rent their cloathes when Iehoiakim the King burnt the Prophesie of Ieremie In the storie of Naboth it appeares that if the Father were stoned for blasphemie all his children also dyed with him But that seemeth to be a straine beyond the Law because by the politike Law of the Iewes the child was not to dye for the sinne of his father and yet in the storie of Achan you haue a precedent of a larger extent for his sacriledge was punished not onely in his owne person but also in his whole Family all the liuing were stoned to death and their dead bodyes with all their goods were afterward consumed by fire A fearefull Iudgement and yet was his sinne lesse then Blasphemie for Blasphemie is the highest degree of Sacriledge There is no proportion betweene earthly things consecrated to GOD and the Nature the Attributes the Workes of GOD of how much sorer punishment then is he worthy that robbeth GOD of the latter then he that robbs him of the former Heare this and tremble you that stand here guiltie of that great Sacriledge Surely if the Execution doe not make you tremble at the ignominie that is due vnto you the Executioners may Let vs come then to them And who are they We haue here set downe their number all the Congregation Prince and people none must thinke himselfe too good when the case so neerely concernes GOD not onely the most but euen the best also must stoope to that which is otherwise thought to be base as it is but an ignoble profession to be an Executioner when GODS glorie must be vindicated and the wrong done thereunto must be reuenged all must shew that they are sensible of GODS dishonor GODS did I say yea their owne which is enwrapt in GODS for all are wronged by a Blasphemer because GOD which is reproacht is honoured by them all And can any man be patient to heare him so blasphemed whom himselfe doth honour Adde hereunto that this multitude of Executioners was to strike the greater horror and confusion into the Blasphemer for when he saw himselfe conuicted of all iudged of all how could he but giue glorie vnto GOD and confesse that his sinne was most haynous of a truth Finally the number was to be a bridle vnto all GOD would haue euerie one really obliged neuer to dare to commit the same sin for which he had so publikely punished another and that with his owne hand Out of all that hath beene said concerning the number of the Executioners we learne this good lesson That though it be a pious thing for a man to forgiue his owne disgraces and reproaches yet it is impious to forgiue GODS GOD is well pleased with the former because he can make vs amends for our patience and is able to blesse when others curse vs but patience in GODS wrongs can haue no excuse for what amends can be made him or what Superiour is there that can counteruaile that wrong Though this be an vndoubted truth see notwithstanding the peruerse disposition of the world how sensible are we of our owne wrongs how eagerly doe we endeauour to right our selues and our reputation by Law yea and against Law pretending the Lawes of honour we pursue euen but seeming yea and oftentimes fained disgraces with duels vnto death to the vtter ruine of those which haue disgraced vs But of GODS honour we are most senselesse let Varlets and miscreants for they deserue no better name that haue such foule mouthes profane the sacred Name of GOD hellishly rent in pieces as a vile thing the precious ransome of the CHVRCH the sacred person and parts of our Sauiour CHRIST how many be there that laugh at them but as mad fellowes and where is he that thinketh that the reuenge of this doth concerne him Certainly farre off is our Congregation from ioyning altogether to stone him But lest you should thinke that this was a tumultuary proceeding I must supply out of former words the order which was obserued therein For the witnesses that heard the Blasphemie were to be Leaders in this proceeding they were first to impose their hands vpon him and set their hands against him This ceremonie though practised in other Iudgements as appeares in the 13 and 17 Chapters of Deuteronomie yet seemeth to haue its originall here and imports two things first the truth of their testimonie so that if the
man dyed innocently not the whole Congregation which followed but they which led the Congregation were to be guiltie of his death Secondly The imposing of hands vpon the Malefactor was the making of him as it were a politicke Sacrifice for mundi expiatio est malorum occisio as the Priest so the Prince hath his Sacrifice to offer as the CHVRCH so the Common weale the execution of Malefactors is a propitiating of GOD. And GOD in the Common-weale of Israel in cases wherein he refused the Ceremoniall was well pleased to haue this Sacrifice and to admit it as expiatorie of the Common-weale I told you of the thing before but of the deuoting of the person to pacifie GOD I could not speake till I came to this place You the Penitent may hereby see how zealously the State should be bent against you and how much it concernes vs to see Iustice done vpon you Hauing thus sufficiently opened the punishment I come now to shew you vpon whom it must be executed Quicunque vpon him whosoeuer he be that curseth or blasphemeth here must be no respect of persons high or low rich or poore be he what he may be he is liable to punishment if he curse his God Though it be a false-one yet if it be his the Law saith plainly he shall beare his sinne The words may be vnderstood either as a relation or as a commandement As a relation what other Nations doe how zealous they are for the honour of their Gods In the Storie of the wonders which GOD wrought in deliuering the children of Israel out of Aegypt we find that when Pharaoh would haue the Israelites sacrifice to their GOD in the Land of Aegypt Exod. 8. Loe said Moses shall we sacrifice the abhomination of the Aegyptians before their eyes and will they not stone vs How did Nebuchadnezzar cause the Furnace to be heated to consume those that would not worship his golden Image What a doe kept Demetrius the Siluer-Smith when St Paul was thought to blaspheme Diana Protagoras was banished Socrates was put to death for disgracing the gods of Athens The Mahumetans lay on many stripes vpon them that disgrace their Alearon I will omit the solemne Bellum sacrum of the Graecians Thus the words may be conceiued by way of relation and then see how GOD argues Doe the Heathen punish those who dishonour or curse those that are onely gods in their erroneous reputation Much more then ought he to be punished that blasphemes the true GOD. Thus doth GOD oftentimes shame his owne people for their Impieties by setting before their face the Pietie that is in Infidels Hath a Nation changed their Gods which yet are no Gods Ier. 2. But my people hath changed their glorie for that which doth not profit And againe Mal. 3. Will a man rob God Yet ye haue robbed me So that the punishment cannot be denied to be iust by true Religion which is held most iust by the glimmering light of Reason But the words may haue in them more then a bare Relation they may containe a commandement also a commandement that whosoeuer curseth God though it be but his God that is a false God shall be punished for conscientia erronea ligat so long as any man in his conscience is perswaded that he is the true God he must worship him as if he were such It is true that when he commeth to the knowledge of his error Esay 8. Esay 2. he may then curse his false gods he may cast them to the Bats and to the Moles But so long as his vnderstanding is clouded with error his Reuerence must follow the Rule of his Conscience It is good Diuinitie that is deliuered in the Booke of Wisdome touching Idolatrous periured persons They shall be iustly punished Cap. 14. both because they thought not well of God giuing heed vnto Idols and also vniustly swore in deceit despising holinesse â—or it is not the power of them by whom they sweare but it is the iust vengeance of sinners that punisheth alwayes the offence of the vngodly And no maruell for were it a true GOD they would vse him so their ignorance is not antecedent but concomitant and such ignorance doth not excuse the quantitie much lesse doth it excuse the qualitie of sinne But to leaue his God and come to the Name of the Lord. Here Quicunque must be repeated againe we may lesse admit exception of persons amongst them that blaspheme the Name of the Lord then amongst them that curse their God But here we meet with a markable distribution of quicunque whosoeuer Whether saith the Text he be a Stranger or borne in the Land Though morally all men are bound and may be perswaded by Ministers and others to acknowledge and worship the true GOD yet politickly Infidels cannot be compeld And why It is a worke that needeth the assistance of supernaturall grace which is not annext vnto the Sword Notwithstanding the Ciuill Sword may take vengeance vpon all euen Strangers Infidels that openly blaspheme the Name of the Lord though they may be tollerated in their false yet may they not open their mouthes against the true Religion Quicunque whatsoeuer Stranger doth so he must be stoned And if a Stranger much more he that is borne in the Land for he is tyed to honour GOD by a double obligation a natiue a votiue as a man as a member of the Church Now the more obligations the more guilt the more guilt the more iust the punishment therefore Quicunque whosoeuer borne in the Land blasphemeth the Name of the Lord he must be stoned to death I must carrie Quicunque a little farther the root of Blasphemie may be without vs or within vs Without vs the Diuel who may suggest it and then it is no sinne of ours though a sinne except we consent vnto it and delight in it Within vs it may be three-fold First Ignorance Secondly Infirmitie Thirdly Malice There is great odds betweene these to GOD-ward St Paul blasphemed but he did it ignorantly he did not beleeue that IESVS was the CHRIST St Peter blasphemed but he did it of infirmie he did it being ouertaken with feare of death The Pharisees they also blasphemed but they did it out of malice they did it against their owne conscience Now of these three Rootes the two first leaue place for repentance St Peter and St Paul are ensamples thereof Math. 12. Not so the third it is the sinne against the Holy Ghost not to be forgiuen in this world nor in that which is to come But howsoeuer there is this odds to GOD-ward yet in regard of the Magistrates sword there is no difference Quicunque be the root ignorance be it infirmitie be it malice he must be stoned to death his body must be made an expiatorie Anathema or Sacrifice by the State whose Soule notwithstanding vpon repentance may be saued in the day of the Lord. And verily the Blasphemer
St Peter in for an instance but put him in vniustly because Apostasie is Christianitie dead at the root whereas in St Peter it was onely withered in the branch Others there are that shrinke the sinne euen among the Ancients some haue aduentured to excuse Peter from all fault and which is worse they excuse him by a Mentall reseruation or a secret euasion Non noui hominem quem Deum esse scio I doe not know him as a meere man so much his words vttered as they thinke import whereunto he supplyed in his mind for he is more euen the Sonne of the liuing God But certainly St Peter was no Aequiuocator and such Apologies can haue no Apologie St Hierome doth censure them roundly but truly They that so excuse Peter doe necessarily accuse CHRIST and make him a false Prophet when he told the denyall of Peter yea they accuse Peter himselfe as if he wept bitterly when he had no iust cause to doe so We may not lye for GOD much lesse for the Saints neither may we discredit GODS truth to salue their credit with officious lyes the Legends of Saints and the Liues of Popes are too often guiltie in this kind Wherefore let it stand for an vnchallengable truth Cribratus est Petrus Peter as CHRIST fore-told was winnowed and found though not to be Chaffe yet not to be without it He that walked on the Sea while it was calme and when the storme arose began to sinke set forth valiantly with CHRIST but when he was put to try his manhood Petrus non erat Petrus he could not endure the winds and the waues that beat vpon him the stone mouldred into sand But enough of St Peters denyall In him I told you we were to see our selues which that we may the better doe I will obserue vnto you three kinds of denyers The first are those that professe themselues to be worse then they are such were the Libellatici that signed their denyall with their owne hand the Traditores that with their owne hand in token that they did deny deliuered vp the Scriptures and the Thurificantes that redeemed their liues by sacrifising to Idols with whom we may range many of our Trauellors who being sound in iudgment prouide for their securitie by conforming themselues to such Religion as they find currant in the places where they come A second kind of denyers are those which are worse then they professe themselues to be of whom the Apostle speaketh they haue a shew of godlinesse but deny the powre thereof I will giue you a tast of them How many be there that hold the Articles of CHRISTS Incarnation and Passion whose faith if you doe measure by their liues you cannot belieue that they doe belieue For did they hold CHRISTS to be their Sauiour and his death the ransome of their sinne would they so much profane these sacred Mysteries as with the mention of them to obligege themselues not onely when they talke idlely but when they vngodly auerre or congratulate their ribaldry and their villanie then which impietie there is nothing more common We hold that we haue Communion with CHRIST that we are Members of his Body and Temples of his Spirit but how many doe indeed deny that which they would seeme to hold For did they not could they indure to make the Members of CHRIST the Members of an Harlot And turne the Temple of his Spirit into a verie Stew Yet so doe all impure and vnchast liuers though they thus farre professe that they know CHRIST yet doe they deny him in their workes If euerie man would goe to shrift to his owne Conscience and make his Catechisme the rule of his Confession I doubt not but his heart would often smite him at his own Barre by his own Verdict he would be found a manifold denyer There is a third kind of denyers that neither professe themselues good neither haue any goodnesse in them this was wont to be a disease of vagrant and base persons but now many descended of good parentage and whose breeding hath been of the best sort are growne sicke thereof they are called yea and they glorie to be knowne by the fearfull Names of Roaring Boyes and the Damned Crew The Land groaneth vnder their Atheisme for the repressing whereof an Inquisition were mercifull Iustice they sucke out the heart blood of all Religion and make Sacraments and sacred things the familiar subiect of their hellish recâ—eations Amongst other abuses it were to be wisht that the State would take this crying one into most serious consideration For it is to be feared that our indulgence toward such incarnate Fiends doth prouoke and will plucke downe GODS heauie vengeance vpon the whole State I told you that in St Peter we might behold our selues behold what we are and I thinke by this time you see that many of vs are much worse then St Peter was for of the three kind of denyers whereof there are too many in the world we find St Peter in the first and the first if they be compared doth plainly appeare to be the least Therefore we may well acknowledge our selues to be worse though we cannot deny that he was bad He was bad it is plaine in his Fall which as I haue shewed you was a sore fall Sore if there were nothing more in it then the denyall of CHRIST but there was more the Text doth aggrauate the Fall two wayes First in that it was taken so soone Before the cocke crew that is not many houres after he was fore-warned fore-armed Fore-warned for CHRIST told him what would befall him that his performance would come short of his promise that he would be so farre from dying for CHRIST that he would flatly deny him Neither did he onely so fore-warne him but fore-arme him also he gaue him Viaticum militiae spiritualis the Sacrament of his Body and Blood which being the Monuments of CHRISTS Passion are the best hearthings against the Crosse Secondly he had CHRISTS consolatorie speech Be of good comfort I haue ouer-come the world Lastly he saw his exemplarie patience the Captaine taught the Souldier how he should be resolute in this spirituall warre But notwithstanding all these behold Peter denyed CHRIST and denyed him very quickly more quickly then he should haue done if he had neither beene fore-warned nor fore-armed You haue not heard all this first aggrauation For St Peter was not put vpon the Racke neither was he so much as questioned by a Magistrate they were but Scrui Ancillae certaine drudges or base persons that did question him and these extnguisht all the vigour and courage that before appeared in him This was quickly indeed he fell very quickly that vpon so small a temptation and hauing so good prouision did deny CHRIST What shall we say to it Surely man is a mutable Creature as he was made of Nothing so would he turne to Nothing againe neither doe we hast so fast to Nothing naturall
those few cornes of good seed which I deriued from them At least if their leprosie ouer-spred my whole man yet was it not so deepe rooted or so strongly setled as by my ill diet it hath since beene What then may this house of my body this garment that couereth my Soule expect but to be vsed as the leprous house the leprous garment which in a fretting leaprosie were the garment to bee burnt the house to be plucked downe And indeed as impossible is it for the Iuie that springs and ouer-spreads a wall to be killed without taking in sunder of all the stones and separating them from the morter which knitteth them together as for the natiue sinne wherein I was borne branching it selfe ouer euery part of my body and power of my soule to be purged except I be dissolued my Soule part from my bodie and the parts of my bodie loose that knot wherewith each is linked to the other I doe not then complaine of the Decree it is iust it is necessarie my sinne maketh it iust and that this sinne be dispossest it becomes necessarie necessarie for All and then for me I would yeeld vnto it I would be contented with it blessed Apostle the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken were good I would obey it I would yeeld to death though death be bitter were there not a heauier thing that followeth death more terrible then death it selfe Let me feele Gods hand so I come not into Gods presence into the presence of the Iudge to giue an accompt for my life Blessed Apostle is it not enough that my Soule can no longer enioy her bodie no longer by her bodie enioy those things wherein shee hath placed her soueraigne good that shee can no longer solace her selfe with her mate take comfort in her of-spring eate the fruit of her labours receiue honour from others bestow fauours at pleasure bee an Oracle vnto many and to as many be a terror Blessed Apostle is it not enough that these things faile and I must part with them No thou sayest no when thou hast lodged my bodie in the the Graue thou sufferest not my soule to rest thou callest her to a straight accompt thou tellest her of a Iudgement How vainely haue I beene abused by heathenish prouerbs that told me death ends all and yet all is not at an end When I come to death I must come before my Iudge I must answere the Law the Law must trie my life how well I haue obserued it how answerable my carriage hath beene to it And Lord what a fearefull thing is this When thou blessed Apostle didst reason of these things thou madest Foelix a great man a heathen man to tremble and a greater then Foelix the King of Niniuie did tremble also when hee heard Ionas And yet how little did they know thy Law How much did their ignorance excuse their transgression thereof And what then will become of me that know so much and haue so little to plead Can I chuse but tremble O Lord while I liue I often heare of thy Law and the accompt that must be giuen thereof but I neuer had so much grace as Foelix or the King of Niniuie no not when I read the storie of Foelix and the King of Niniuie Neither of them onely but of good King Iosias also whose heart did melt at the reading of thy Law when he saw how vnanswerable the liues of his people were thereto And what wonder that Iosias heart did melt when Moses himselfe did quake at the receiuing of the Law Surely these all felt the terror of the Iudgement they knew what it was to come before their Iudge And I the more in my life I was senslesse the more sensible shall I bee hereof in my death vnexpected euils afflict the more especially if they bee great their impression must needs be deepe But bee I affected neuer so wofully I must appeare I must be tried hee that gaue the Law will inquire into the obseruance of his Law While we liue many couer our faults which when wee are dead they will not sticke to amplifie and he that liuing goeth for a Saint after his death is traduced as a diuell A heauie Iudgement yet how many vndergoe it But this is their comfort that of this Iudgmēt they haue no sense how their name fareth in this world in death they know not But against the other Iudgement there is no shelter all the stormes of it must light vpon vs in our owne persons we must answere for our selues and we are not so well knowne to our selues as to him that sifteth vs. Yet so much we know that we shall trauerse no Indictment we shal plead guiltie to euery Bill our owne conscience is a true counterpart vnto Gods Booke we shall bee charged with nothing out of the one which we shall not read distinctly in the other To read it were enough for the vttermost confusion for what man knoweth and doth not abhorre himselfe Had we a true looking glasse wherein wee might behold the manifold enormous sinnes of our life neuer could any thing be more vgly neuer would any thing be more abominable neuer were we so much in loue with our selues when we acted sinne as wee shall detest our selues when we see the staines of sinne But detestation and confusion are but the first part of this Iudgement the worme the sting bitter tortures euen before we are sentenced for Hell make vs to be wofull wretches Adde hereunto that which is the hight of shame the depth of paine Were no body priuie to our sinnes but our selues the knowledge of them wil confound vs but when they become knowne to others if they be but men sinners like our selues and therefore more likely to be temperate in their censure the shame groweth double but how manifold then will it be when the Angels shall bee witnesses to it the holy Angels whose puritie will the more illustrate it Nay God himselfe whose Image wee should beare and to whom how vnlike we are his presence wil make most manifest So that our shame will bee out of measure shamefull Our paine will bee no lesse painefull For here in this world the remorse of sinne euen in those that haue not a seared conscience is many wayes delayed in sleepe by feasts with companie many other outward helps but especially the putting farre off the euill day and the weake information that our distracted vnderstanding giueth our Heart and the hardnesse that doth benumme the senses thereof all these more or lesse doe mitigate our paine But after death these lenitiues are withdrawen from vs our eyes will be kept waking our stomacke fasting our friends farre from vs our wits that were wise to doe euill and to doe good had no vnderstanding at all shall then be wise onely to know our euill but good of ours it shall haue none at all to know and our heart was neuer so waxie to be wrought
hath liued a thousand yeares for he is readie for God and the longest time of our Pilgrimage if it be Methusalems age it can but make vs readie I will then enquire not how many dayes I haue spent but how much I haue profited profited in the waies of God And I haue profited so farre as to acknowledge that of my selfe I am but an vnprofitable seruant what I should I cannot doe but I doe that which I should not so that if I guesse at my readinesse by mine owne worth I am most vnreadie But I haue another valuation by my being in Christ my faith is stedfast in him my Hope hath cast an anchor in Heauen I feare not Gods iudgement against which my faith doth hearten mee I expect a Kingdome which my Hope doth promise mee And as for my loue though the world doth wooe me and my flesh doth often yeild to dally there with yet hath it none to whom it is deuoted with whom it is contented in comparison of God And what greater readinesse can I desire my Audit is made my arrerage paid I haue a Quietus est why doe I feare to come to my triall Nay the bargaine is made Heauen is purchased for mee I haue the Conueyance why doe I stay from taking possession Am I so senslesse as to affect the worse that am offered the better shall I dote vpon this house of clay my youth maketh it seeme better then clay though indeed it is no better a glased pitcher notwithstanding the lustre is but a pitcher and the verdure of youth is but a glosse set vpon a lumpe of earth cunningly wrought by the hand of the Potter age that weareth that glosse will discouer this clay And why should I murmure at God that is pleased to let me see quickly what in time I must needs see That I am brickle Neither am I onely brickle but the world is fraile also and all the things of this life whatsoeuer they promise they performe no perpetuitie to me Seing then sooner or later the world must leaue me and I must leaue the world let me leaue it rather sooner then later the lesse acquaintance the lesse griefe at the parting and indeed the longer I liue the more vnwilling shall I be to dye Now peraduenture I leaue behind me a father and a mother and leaue griefe vnto them for the losse of a child but I cannot so feelingly grieue as they when I depart from my parents because loue descendeth more then it ascendeth If I liue I may marrie and marriage doubleth the bitternesse of death when they that of two became one by death of one are made two againe And if God blesse me with posteritie how much more vnwilling shall I bee to die How hardly shall I indure to be rent from mine owne bowels I say nothing to the common infirmitie of Age which seemeth to haue appropriated vnto it selfe couetousnesse and who knoweth not how hardly the loue of money and death consort together But these are the weakest holdfasts that the world hath on me there are much stronger the hookes of sinne which where they catch so fasten euen vpon the Will which is in it selfe most free that it maketh men desire rather to bee slaues vnto Pharoah so they may feed on the flesh pots of Aegypt then to endure the difficult passage into Canaan though when they come there they shall be Princes of a land which floweth with milke and honie God then that knoweth what may alter me and of readie make me vnreadie dealeth more mercifully with me hee preuenteh that euill that might stay me from him and hauing prepared me calleth me vnto him Lord all seasons are in thy hand and thou hast appointed vnto me this season I blesse thee for it I submit my selfe to it if I bee ripe in thy Iudgement gather me though in mine owne Iudgement I am greene And thou which feest that although I now stand yet I may fall least I fall take me whilst I stand It doth not grieue me I am most willing to change earth for heauen to haue those windowes of my senses all broken downe that my Soule may be at libertie hauing no agent for the world to sollicite me from God I shall more freely more fully giue my selfe vnto him my vnderstanding to know him my heart to loue him and more shall I learne in one daies sight of God then in many thousand yeares I could haue gathered out of the Glasse of the world or Riddle of the Scripture And how base spectators are men on earth in comparison of the Saints in heauen who shall witnesse my seruice and behold my glorie Doe I loue my Parents I goe to better my best Father is in heauen and my best Mother is Hierusalem aboue the ioy that I foretaste for seeing them maketh me insensible of the heauie farewell I take of these I am not moued with their wealth which they haue stored vp for me and the land which they haue purchased is as nothing in mine eyes I shall haue a more induring substance a lot is fallen vnto me in a more pleasant place I haue a more goodly Heritage And why The Lord is the portion of mine Inheritance and of my cup the Lord maintaines my lot Lord then teach me so to number my daies that I may measure them by righteousnesse and let me so interpret this thy summons by death as a warning to take shelter before a storme Hasten me on by grace that I be not long on my way to heauen and in my way lest I decline shorten more and more my passage so shall I be as willing in this morning of my age as I should be in the euening thereof to change my state and come to thee to passe from earth to heauen * ⎠* The old Mans Meditation PSALME 91. VER 16. With long life will J satisfie him and shew him my saluation EVerie man if a child of God is a double man and so leadeth a double life and longeth for a double good a corporall a spirituall that hee may hold out long in regard of the life of nature and withall be ponest of the life of grace Thus doubly happie would euerie one be but it is not the portion of euerie one Many haue shortned either the one life or the other if they haue liued vnto God their dayes in the world haue beene but few and of those which haue liued many dayes in the world how few of them haue they liued to God O my Soule then how blest art thou whom God hath blessed both wayes Blest thee in thy naturall life thou art growne till thou art ripe blest thee in thy spirituall life thy eyes haue seene the saluation of God The greatest blessing that God bestoweth vpon earth he hath bestowed on thee thou hast experienced the truth of the Apostles speech Pietie hath the promise of this life and of that which is to come For this life God
their sinnes offend God and if they offend they shall be punished because God is not onely sensible of his wrongs but also Iudge of our liues as he hath prescribed the precepts of his Law so hath hee added sanctions thereunto and as the precept sheweth what we must doe so what he will doe we learne out of the Sanction if we faile to obey thou O Lord wilt not faile to strike for there is Wrath with thee and from thee will that wrath breake out on vs. And woe be to vs if it breake out for thy wrath O God is a powerfull wrath And indeed how can it be otherwise if it be thine who art a God of power Can wee looke into thee and not apprehend Almightinesse in thee But our eyes are too weake to pierce so farre happily in that that comes from thee a naturall man may behold what power there is in thee Heauen and earth are the worke of thy hands nay they are the Host that attends thy Person if they are mightie thou much more for what they haue thou gauest them and in proofe thereof thou takest from them at thy pleasure As the Sunne did shine first at thy command so at thy command it hath lost his light it was from thee the fire receiued his burning qualitie and when thou forbaddest it it could not burne thou madest the waters flow thou spakest but the word and they were sollid like a wall Thou fixedst the Globe of the earth and it stood still and when thou didst vtter thy voice it quaked it trembled for very feare when thou sendest foorth thy spirit thou renewest the face of the earth and all things wither and returne to nothing if thou with-draw thy spirit How powerful then art thou O Lord at whose command is the power of euerie creature and fighteth for thee against thine enemies The Sunne can scorch them the fire consume them the aire poyson them the earth swallow them and how many spectacles haue we of such Iudgements But what speake I of these greater souldiers of thine and weapons of thy wrath How many beasts in the fields How many birds of the ayre How many fishes in the Sea haue vndertaken Gods cause against man and executed remarkable Iudgements vpon sinners But I doe not yet come home enough hee that readeth the plagues of Aegypt and considers what a destruction God wrought by frogs and flies and lice the least whereof wrested a submission from Pharaoh and his Kingdome and forced them to confesse their vnablenesse to resist can he choose but be amazed at the sight of Gods power when these creatures so farre in their owne nature vnder the power of man when he commands them to be his Executioners so farre ouermatch the stoutest of men But what looke I without vs for the sinnewes of Gods wrath What sinnewes may wee find euerie man within himselfe If God bee pleased to reward vs according to our deseruings he shall need no other we wil doe him this seruice our selues Our wits will not only faile vs but insnare vs our hearts will be so farre from eschewing that they will carrie vs headlong into all mischiefe our eyes will see fearefull visions our eares bee filled with dreadfull sounds our tongues will betray vs our feete miscarrie vs our hands offer uiolence vnto vs no power of our soule no part of our bodie wherewith we haue conceiued or acted sinne that will not lay on some deadly stroke vpon vs for sinne But of all the souldiers of God wherin we are most feelingly to behold the Power of his wrath there is none comparable to our owne Conscience which laieth on so heauie a burden and peirceth with so deadly a sting that there is no man whom it cannot crush with its waight and which will not runne mad if he throughly feele the smart thereof I will not draw a man down into hell where into notwithstanding wrath will tumble sinfull man I might there shew him vtter darknesse the priuation of that light which shineth in heauen vnquenchable fire in opposition to the Waters of life that streame in heauen the weeping and wailing insteed of the endlesse musicke that is aboue the murmuring gnashing of teeth insteed of the triumphant songs of blessed Soules finally the tormented and tormenting fiends insteed of the blessed Sainâ—s and Angels that are aboue And what are all these but euidences of the power of Gods wrath And is the power so large so palpable and yet vnknowne Can it be such and yet not discerned of man If he climbe into heauen God manifesteth it there and he finds it in earth if his thoughts fal thither neither can he descend into hell but there he shal meete it nay he must goe from himselfe or else God will force him to behold it Why then doth thy seruant Moses moue this question who knoweth it Is it not because men doe not heed it and so though they should yet take no notice of it And indeed Lord if any be ignorant his ignorance is inexcusable and yet some such beasts rather then men are there that are willing not to know what they are not willing to regard Or if men be not so grosse as thus to winke with their eyes that they may stupifie their hearts yet do their lusts dim their sight and they see so imperfectly that they they are but weakly affected with it Hence coÌ„meth it to passe that thy minatorie words and works stay so few from falling into sin and reclaime so few that are fallen there into they do not belieue that thou wilt strike vntill they feele thy stroakes are on them The Israelites would not as Moses had good proofe for fortie yeere and wee are no better then they though our triall hath beene much onger then theirs we haue no vsefull knowledge of the wrathfull power of God This question may well bee moued of vs euen of vs to whom God hath vouchsafed the same power ouer his wrath our little feare argueth our little knowledge and we may not thinke that we haue any true knowledge which doth not end in feare such a feare as can hold Gods hand or at least moderate his stroake is the onely argument that wee haue profited in that schoole of the great and lesser world wherein we haue so full so plaine a Lecture read vnto vs of the powerfull wrath of God A Meditation vpon Psalme 90. VERSE 12. So teach vs to number our dayes that we may applie our hearts vnto wisedome THE SECOND PART THou dost manifest thy power O Lord and we are the monuments of it our mortalitie is therein are grauen the capitall Letters that describe thy powerfull wrath For what is mortalitie but a reall voice in our eares or presenting rather vnto our eyes the doome of sinne Thou madest vs immortall and immortalitie was a part of thy Image which art eternall our time then had no terme it could not be defined by any kind of period But
sinne hath abridged what had no bounds it hath brought our life within a short compasse it is measured by dayes and dayes are aâ— the first so the least part of Time which thou hast made And these dayes are not infinite in vaine should a man desire to number that which cannot bee numbred Iacob said his dayes were few Dauid that his were but a span long Saint Iames that no mans life is more lasting then a bubble a man would thinke a litle Arithmeticke would cast vp so small an account a man seemes to need no better a master then a man for what man is he that is ignorant of this principle That man is mortall and that it cannot be long before he returne to dust And yet Moses that was learned in all the sciences of the Aegyptians amongst which Arithmeticke was one desireth to learn this point of Arithmetick onely of thee O Lord why Is it because as Iob speaketh thou hast determined the nuÌ„ber of his dayes Would Moses haue thee reueale to euerie man the moment of his end Such speculations may wel beseeme an Aegyptian an Israelite they doe not beseeme Thy children O Lord know that it is not for them so to know times and seasons which thou keepest in thine owne power and are a secret sealed vp with thee we should not prie into that counting house nor curiously inquire into that summe It is not then a Mathematicall numbring of daies that Moses would be schooled in but a morall he would haue God not simply to teach him to number but to number so and so points out a speciall manner a manner that may bee vsefull for the children of God And indeed our petitions must beare this mark of profitable desires and we should not aske ought of thee but that by which if we speed wee may become the better he that so studieth his mortalitie learnes it as he should and it is onely thou O Lord that takest him out such a lesson But what is the vse O Moses that thou wouldest haue man make of such a knowledge Euen to applie his heart vnto wisedome O happie knowledge by which a man becomes wise for wisedome is the beautie of a reasonable soule God conereated him therewith But sinne hath diuorced the soule and wisedome so that a sinfull man is indeed no better then a foole so the Scripture calleth him and well may it call him so seeing all his carriage is vaine and the vpshot of his endeauours but vexation of spirit But though sinne haue diuorced wisedome and the Soule yet are they not so seuered but they may be reunited and nothing is more powerfull in furthering this vnion then this feeling meditation that wee are mortall For who would not shake hands with the world that knows we must shortly appeare before God Yea who would not prouide for that life which hath no end that seeth that this hastneth so fast vnto an end Finally who would suffer the arrowes of Gods wrath that summon vs vnto Iudgement to passe vnregarded seeing the due regard thereof is able to turne a Tribunall into a Throne of grace Surely affliction if we discerne the hand that infflicts it is the best schoole of wisedome yea of the best sort of wisedome the wisedome of the heart it turneth knowledge into practise and maketh vs more tender hearted then we are quicke sighted it doth not onely discerne that God is a consuming fire but melts at the very sight of him it doth not onely know that Gods word is a hammer but feeleth the force thereof in a broken and contrite spirit it conceiue feares so soone as it heareth threats and is no sooner touched but it is reclaimed And this is Wisedome the true wisedome of a mortall man whose best helpe against mortalitie stands in the awful regard of Gods offended fauour Seeing then O Lord this is the fruit of that desired knowledge and hee is best seene in the length of his dayes that is most humbled with the sense of thy wrath and he needs least to feare death that doth as hee ought most feare thee vouchsafe to bee his master that desireth to bee thy scholler and let grace teach what nature doth not discerne that I moulder into dust because I corrupt my selfe with sinne so shall I bee wearie of my naturall folly that negotiates for death and affect true wisdome that is the Tree of life with this I shall endeauour to furnish not onely my head but my heart also and that which now is the seate of deaâ—h shall then become the receptacle of life that life which beginnes in thy feare which is the onely in-let of euerlasting ioy A Meditation vpon Lament 5. VERSE 21. Turne thou vs vnto thee O Lord and we shall bee turned renew our dayes as of old WEe are mutable and what wonder Seeing we are creatures we cannot know that we were made of nothing but wee must acknowledge that to nothing we may returne againe and indeed thither we hasten if we bee left vnto our selues For marre our selues we can but we cannot mend our selues wee can dedestroy what God hath built but we cannot repaire what we doe destroy Wretched power that is onely able to disinable vs and hath no strength but to enfeeble him whose strength it is I read of Adam the first monument of this vnhappie strength but I may read it in my selfe I as all his sonnes inherit as his nature so this selfe ruining power But when experience hath made me see how valiant I haue been against my selfe inflicting deadly wounds precipitating my person and misguiding my steps I become disconsolate and helplesse in my selfe what then shall I doe To whom then shall I seeke To the fiends of hell that sollicited me to sinne To the worldly vanities by which my lusts were baited Well may they adde to my fall raise mee againe they cannot they will not such euill trees beare no such good fruit and if they did they would rather haue me a companion in their sinne and in their woe then seeke to free mee from or ease me in either of them But happily the good Angels as they are more able so they are more willing to pittie to relieue mee but they behold thy face O Lord and stirre not but when thou sendest them and they only to whom thou sendest can be the better for them these heauenly spirits that attend thy Throne moue not but at thy becke and doe no more then thou commaundest I see then that if I stray it is thou that must fetch me home it is thou Lord that must lift me vp when I am slipt downe to the gates of death and my wounds will be incurable if thou bee not pleased to heale me Thou Lord hast made me know in what case I am and onely canst redresse my wofull case I seeke to thee and to thee onely To thy wisedome I commend my head illighten it shew me thy way thou that of nothing
into the Congregation of Israel vnto the third generation Cap. 3. The Booke of Wisedome amplyfieth this point the children of Adulterers shall not come to perfection and the seed of the vnrighteous bed shall be rooted out the like you may read Eccl. 23. but because those Bookes are Apochryphall Cap. 31. ◠here what IOB saith of Adulterie It is a sinne to be condemned it will deuour vnto destruction and it would root out all my posteritie And no wonder that GOD dealeth so with Bastards for which of vs if he haue Land entailed entailes it otherwise then vpon heires lawfully begotten If we thinke Bastards vnworthy to inherite our Lands here on Earth shall GOD thinke them worthy to be heires of the Kingdome of Heauen I will not condemne all Bastards to Hell I know IEPHTA found fauour with GOD and so no doubt haue many others but that commeth to passe by GODS extraordinarie mercie ordinarie Promise we haue none that they shall doe well Yea obserue and you shall find that they seldome keepe a meane if good verie good and if they be bad they are verie bad and parents of such children haue reason rather to feare the worst then hope the best for though GOD at after-hand doth often pardon sinnes yet before-hand he giues no encouragement to sinners You that are the Penitent take this to heart your second match being plaine Adulterie the children borne in such wedlocke must needs be bastards and being Bastards they are not the holy seed yea they are a seed that is cursed so cursed for your fault that as much as in you lyeth you strip them of all blessings on Earth and in Heauen they are fauoured by the Law neither of God nor men And so great wrong done to them should goe to your verie heart you haue sinned against your children not onely against your owne body And let this suffice concerning the doctrine that is in the Prophets Sermon I come now to the exhortation which he deduceth therefrom The exhortation is double according to the double respect which we owe. The first is to our selues keepe your selues in your Spirit or take heed to your Spirit We must take care of our whole man the outward and inward for touching the outward the Apostles rule is 1 Thes 4.4 1 Cor. 3. 1 Cor. 6. We must keepe our vessels in honour we may not defile the Temples of God We may not take the Members of Christ and make them the Members of an Harlot we must be chast propter carnem Christi as IGNATIVS speaketh because we are bone of Christs bone and flesh of his flesh But as we must take care of our bodyes so must we much more take care of our soules for it is in vaine to keepe the body chast and to retaine an adulterous heart for an adulterous heart though it be peccatum sine teste it hath no man to witnesse it yet is it peccatum Athanasius God will doome it for sinne Yea if a man stop not lust in his heart Math. 15. he will not be master of it in his body for ex abundantia cordis out of the aboundance of the heart the mouth speaketh out of that commeth Adulteries and Fornications But qui adinngit Spiritui adimit carni the better the Soule is the better will the body be therefore is temperance properly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a keeping of a man in his right wits because so long as a man hath his wits about him he is master of his lusts but no sooner hath Dalilah brought that Sampson asleepe but the Philistims will be vpon him and depriue him of his strength he will be ouertaken with this lustfull Epilepsie and prophane the Temple of the Lord. But to open this point a little farther we must obserue that as we haue sensuall and reasonable faculties so it was Gods pleasure that those actions which are Elicitae or come naturally from the sensuall faculties should also be imperatae ordered and limited by the rationall therefore is the rationall facultie called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the guid and gouernour of our life and he deserues not the name of a man whose sense is not subiect vnto reason But the Spirit doth not onely note the reasonable soule but in an argument concerning the CHVRCH it meaneth that Soule as it is regenerated by Grace and then it putteth vs in mind that the care of our Soules must be more then reasonable it must be spirituall and not onely the best wit of man which is corrupt as appeares in the vnchast chastitie of the Heathen but the sanctifying Grace of God must set bounds to our lusts which will suffer them to passe no farther then they are allowed by Gods Law A man is an excellent creature if he be but a man if he keepe his reasonable Spirit how much more excellent would a Christian man be if he could continue a Christian and preserue in himselfe the Spirit of Grace I may not omit the word keepe it willeth vs to set a watch because we are apt to run riot whether the Spirit signifie Reason or Grace we must watch If reason we must watch that we admit not into our imaginations nor suffer our wits to discourse vpon lustfull fancies we liue in the middest of temptations and none are more insinuating then those that are pleasurable we must take heed therefore that our reason be not betwitched by them they will cunningly euchant vs and transforme vs into beasts before we are aware wherefore we must keepe a watch ouer our Reason and not onely ouer Reason but ouer Grace also that we grieue not the Holy Spirit that we quench him not that we doe not dispite him Ephes 4.30 ◠Thes 5.19 for the Holy Spirit of discipline will not abide in a Soule that is disposed vnto sinne Adspicis vt veniant ad candida tect a columbae the doue-like spirit delighteth to dwell in doue-like persons himselfe being chast in those that are chast Wherefore we must keepe our spirits that for our vnchastitie the Spirit of God forsake vs not You haue the first branch of the exhortation the second followeth This biddeth vs be carefull of that respect which we owe vnto our mate Let no man deale treacherously with his wife A wife a little before my Text is called a mans companion and the wife of his couenant Now you know that fraud in fellowship is abominable especially if that fellowship be established by couenant as wedsocke is and no fellowship vpon straiter couenants then wedlocke for therein there is a double couenant pactum hominis and pactum Dei the persons contracting doe plight their faith each to other that is pactum hominis Then God he commeth in as a partie to knit the knot and will haue this mutuall stipulation made in his sight and in his name so that both stand bound to God not onely to themselues neuer to loose this knot till death them
depart He then that deales treacherously with his wife by taking another while she liues is guiltie not onely of sinne against her but also against GOD and he should be so guiltie though he were diuorced diuorce may goe so farre as to part their companie for a time but it dissolues not the bond of Matrimonie no though both sides be willing to haue it dissolued they may renounce their owne right they cannot renounce Gods without his consent the Obligation which he layeth vpon them cannot be cancelled he that marrieth a second wife euen after diuorce deales treacherously for marriage implyes indiuiduam vitae consuetudinem so strait a tye that whom God hath conioyued Math. 19. 1 Cor. 7. no man can put asunder and diuorce was granted onely for the hardnesse of the Iewes hearts therefore they that are diuorced must be reconciled againe or remaine vnmarried to any other And if it be Adulterie vpon diuorce to marrie againe how much more is it Adulterie to marrie without a diuorce And this is your case which are the Penitent I know you had a faire pretence your wife was lewd she ran from you she was seuen yeeres absent you heard she was dead faire pretences and they doe you this good that they keepe off from you the stroake of seuerer Iustice But though they diminish your fault they doe not altogether excuse it the death of your wife was not hastily to be belieued you should haue legally proued it before you ventred vpon a second match And as for her forsaking you it was a foule fault but you ought not to haue recompenced euill with euill and become an Adulterer because she was an Adulteresse if you will partake of her sinne you must partake of her punishment at least in part The full punishment of Adulterie is verie great temporall eternall in this life MOSES Law did cut off Adulterers by death Leu. 20. and if the Adulterer be a Polygamist our Law also excepting in some cases inflicteth death vpon him 1 Cor. 5. The Apostles Canon doth excommunicate him Neither is an Adulterer onely punishable in this world his case is much worse in the world to come for the Apostle threatens it with eternall death except they repent 1 Cor. 6. Hebr. 13. God himselfe will iudge Adulterers and they shall neuer enter into the Kingdome of Heauen Make you then good vse of this your Ecclesiasticall penance that so you may preuent GODS eternall vengeance There is one clause more in this second branch of the Exhortation whereat I will touch and so end The person against whom the Iowe offended is here called the wife of his youth he marryed her in his younger yeeres and now in his elder set his affection vpon some other It is thought that the Iewes returning from Captiuitie brought with them their wiues poore in state worne and withered in their bodyes with carking and caring and that thereupon to relieue their wants and satisfie their lusts with richer and fairer women they fell to these second matches And indeed pouertie and deformitie are shrewd temptations to worldly and carnall men but this phrase teacheth that the woman whom a man loueth in youth he must loue her in age the longer they haue beene wedded the more must be their loue and it is a greater fault to play false with an old wife then with a young bride Men must euer keepe in mind the promise they made at their marriage I take thee to my wedded wife to haue and to hold for better for worse for richer for poorer in sicknesse and in health till death vs doe part But I end and SOLOMON shall make my conclusion Prou. 2. Drinke waters out of thine owne cisterne and running waters out of thine owne well Let the fountaines be dispersed abroad and riuers of waters in the streetes Let them be onely thine owne and not strangers with thee Let the fountaine be blessed and reioyce with the wife of thy youth Let her be as the louing Hind and pleasant Roe Let her breasts satisfie thee at all times and be thou rauisht alwayes with her loue And why wilt thou my sonne be rauisht with a strange woman and embrace the bosome of a stranger For the wayes of man are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his doings Let vs all walke in the Spirit and not in the Flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof So shall God blesse vs and our posteritie here on Earth and after this life we shall be reckoned in the number of those Virgines which follow the Lambe wheresoeuer he goeth Amen A SERMON PREACHED AT St CVTBERTS IN WELLES WHEN CERTAINE PERSONS DID PENANCE FOR BEING AT CONVENTICLES WHERE A WOMAN PREACHED 1 TIMOTH 2. VERSE 11 c. 11 Let the woman learne in silence with all subiection 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to vsurpe authoritie ouer the man but to be in silence 13 For Adam was first formed then Eue. 14 And Adam was not deceiued but the woman being deceiued was in the transgression THIS Epistle is a Booke of Ecclesiasticall Canons therein St PAVL doth instruct TIMOTHIE Bishop of Ephesus how he should guid his censures in regard as well of the discipline as the doctrine of the CHVRCH Amongst others in this Chapter we haue two Canons which serue to correct the mis-beuauiour of Christian women Their mis-behauiour was twofold They did glorie in the monument of their shame and they aduanced themselues aboue the condition of their sex The monument of shame is Apparell for there was no need thereof while we were cloathed with Innocencie but when the conscience of our sinne made vs loathsome in our eyes then did we betake our selues vnto this couert to hide our vile selues from our counfounded senses we put on cloathes Vpon this ground St PAVL tels women I may adde men also for we liue in an age wherein it is hard to say whether in cloathes men grow more womannish or women more mannish but here St PAVL tels women that if they will be gaye and fine indeed they must attire themselues according to that fashion whereinto God at first put them not according to that which sinne hath forced vpon them they must adorne themselues not with the burnished and embelished elements or rather excrements of this lower world but with the graces and vertues that come from Heauen so shall they haue a conuersation well suited with their profession and make themselues louely in the eyes as well of God as men This is the summe of the first Canon the Canon that corrects womens glorying in the monument of shame which is their Apparell To this St PAVL adds a second which corrects their aduancing themselues aboue their sexe and it is contained in those words which now I haue read vnto you The better to vnderstand this Canon we must resolue it into a Rule and the Reason which the Apostle giues for the same In the