and all one but personal and yet real and incomprehensible 2. 2. Difference external The external difference is taken from the external works and operations of these three Persons as that the Father sent the Son the Son is sent to be our Redeemer and the holy Ghost sent to be our Sanctifier and Comforter and as in the Apostles Creed the Father is discerned from the Son by ascribing unto him the creation of Heaven and Earth and the Son is discerned from the Father by ascribing unto him his Incarnation of the Virgin Mary and the holy Ghost is discerned from them both by working that Conception of him in the Virgins Womb and afterwards by his appearing in form of a Dove Matth. 3.16 Act. 2.3 and like cloven Tongues of fire A special observation about the outward works of the Persons And here you must observe that although these operations are thus ascribed to each of the three Persons of the Deity yet the self-same God did work all and each one of these works because as the Schools say most truly Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa the outward works of the Trinity cannot be separated from any one of the three Persons but are common unto all three and may be ascribed to each one of them for the Son is the Creator of all things as well as the Father John 1.3 for All things were made by him saith the Evangelist and both the Father and the Son sanctifie us and are our Comforters as well as the holy Ghost And therefore it is most truly said by Nazianzen that in these operations Non possum unum cogitare quin trium fulgore confundar nec tria possum discernere quin subito ad nuum referar I cannot think of one of these three Persons but I am dazled with the brightness of all three neither can I discern the three but presently I shall be referred and carried to one That the persons are distinguished two wayes And it is further observed by the Divines that the Persons are distinguished in the Trinity two wayes 1. By the Relations of the Persons 2. By the Properties 1. Of their Effects Effectorum 2. Of their Offices Officiorum 1. By the relation of the Persons 1. The incommunicable Relation of the three Persons are the Father the Son and the holy Ghost proceeding for the Father is not the name of the Essence but of relation unto the person of the Son so the Son is not the name of the Essence but of relation to the person of the Father and so the holy Ghost proceeding is not the name of the Essence but of relation both to the Father and the Son from whom he doth proceed 2. They are distinguished by the proprieties of the persons 2. By the proprieties of the Persons as 1. By the effects that is by the form of speech 1. The effects which the Scripture useth as when it speaketh of the Father it saith commonly 1. A quo velut à principio rerum omnium 2. Ad quem velut ad finem omnium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is Of whom as of the beginning of all things and 1 Cor. 8.6 Rom. 11.36 To whom as unto the end of all things And when it speaketh of the Son it saith commonly 1. Per quem tanquam per Mediatorem et dispositorem omnium 2. In quo velut in materia omnia sunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is Through whom as through the Mediator and disposer of all things and In whom all things are contained and do subsist as in the proper place and matter And when it speaketh of the holy Ghost it saith commonly 1. Ex quo tanquam ex motore et agente 2. Quo velut sustinente fovente et efficiente rerum omnium causa That is From whom as from the mover and doer of all things and By whom as by the sustainer cherisher and efficient cause of all things As when Moses saith That the Spirit of God moved upon the waters that is to sustain it and to preserve the same together Gen. 1.2 2. By the Offices of the Persons that is in the work of Creation and Redemption 2. Their Offices for though the Son creates all things as well as the Father for By the Word all things were made and without it nothing was made that was made John 1.3 yet properly it is attributed unto the Father as it is set down in the Apostles Creed and though the Father redeemed us as well as the Son yet properly it is attributed unto the Son and though the Father and Son do comfort us and sanctifie us as well as the Holy Ghost yet properly it is ascribed to the Holy Ghost to be our comforter and therefore the Father is commonly described by the Name and Title of Creatour the Son by the name of Redeemer and the Holy Ghost by the name of Sanctifier and Comforter Whereby it cometh to pass that although there be an unity in the Essence of the three Persons yet in the works of our redemption each one of them hath his proper operation which is not communicable unto the others for the Trinity or three Persons was not born of a Virgin it was not crucified it was not buried but onely the Son the second person of the Trinity so that it is the proper office of the Son to be made man to suffer death and to rise again for our redemption and not of the Father or of the Holy Ghost so the Trinity said not Matth. 3.17 and c. 17.5 Luke 1.35 Tu es filius meus dilectus Thou art my well beloved Son but the Father onely said it and so the Trinity did not overshadow the blessed Virgin but the Holy Ghost alone overshadowed her And yet we must observe that as the Trinity of persons is infinite and inseparable so he worketh communiter that is both equally The outward works of the Godhead and inseparably in all the works which are called opera ad extra and therefore both the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost do the same things ratione effecti operis in respect of the work done but they do it not eodem modo after the same manner so that here in their operations there is a distinction but no diversity And so much shall serve for the distinction of the Persons both in respect of their relation and proprieties And now 2. Of the unity of the Essence of the Trinity of Persons 2 Having shewed unto you that for their works ad extra the Trinity in all and every thing equally and together always worketh in community and especially having set down for distinction sake how his own proper operation is ascribed to each person it resteth that I should declare the Vnity of the Essence of this blessed Trinity to which I must say with S. Augustine that In summa Trinitate tantum
est una quantum tres simul sunt in the holy Trinity one is as much as are all the three Persons nec plus aliquid sunt duae quam una res in se infinita sunt neither are two any thing more then one thing and in themselves are infinite Ita singuli sunt in singulis etiam omnia in singulis singula in omnibus omnia in omnibus unum omnia and so each of them are in each one and also all in each of them and each of them in all and all in all of them and one is all and again de verbis Domini he saith Videmus Solem in Coelo currentem fulgentem calentem We see the Sun in Heaven running shining and warming us and so in like manner the Fire saith he hath three things in it motum lucem fervorem motion light and heat Divide ergo si potes Arriane Solem vel ignem tunc divide Trinitatem and therefore if thou canst O thou Arrian divide the Sun or the fire then at length divide the Trinity And S. Gregory saith Tunc aperte videbimus quomodo unum indivisibiliter tria sunt indivisibiliter tria unum When we shall be so happy as to attain to the kingdom of Heaven we shall then plainly see what we now believe how the one that is Essence is indivisibly three that is Persons and the three that is Persons is indivisibly one that is Essence And as for the eternity of these three Persons That the three Persons are coetenal none is be before nor after the other but all are coeternal for seeing the Son is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as S. John calls him the Word and Speech of God and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Wisdom of God Luke 2.49 as S. Luke calleth him it followeth that aut Pater fuit absque Sapientiâ aut nunquam fuit absque Filio either the Father was sometimes without his Speech or without his Wisdom or he was never without his Son and seeing the Holy Ghost is amor nexus unitas Patris Filii the love connexion and unity of the Father and the Son it must needs follow that either the Father and the Son were without love and unity betwixt them or else they were never without the Holy Ghost That the three Persons are co-equal And so for the equality of these Persons there is none greater nor lesser then the other but as they are coeternal so they are co-equal And therefore they are deceived that think the Father is greater then the Son ratione nominis in that he is called the Father because the name of the Son in the blessed Trinity signifieth not a subjection but a relation and not such a relation as it signifieth among men but for our better notion and apprehension of these holy Persons that in regard of our weak understanding were so graciously pleased to condescend to make themseves known unto us by those Names Titles and Epithetes as we could best understand when as otherwise both the Essence and the Persons in themselves are every other ways incomprehensible And thus much of the Mysterie of the blessed Trinity Now followeth some special Attributes of the divine Essence and here are five of them Certain Rules to be observed concerning the divine attributes But touching these and the other Attributes of God before we proceed any further to treat of the particulars some certain Rules are to be observed For An Attribute is the Propriety of the Divine Nature which cannot be separated from the same because it is of the Essence of God when as Quicquid in Deo est Deus est Whatsoever is in God is God and therefore the Divines say 1 That we must consider Eas proprietates non esse qualitates 1. Rule and Observation Gods attributes are no qualities in him James 1.17 sed ipsam Essentiam Dei Those properties not to be any qualities in God but the very Essence of God because the nature of God is most simple and admitteth nothing of the predicaments when as nothing can be added unto it nothing can be taken from it but as S. James saith With him there is no mutation no change nor shadow of turning for in God there is nothing either by way of composition or by way of accident or by way of matter and form and therefore God is not called holy and just as a man is so called for holiness and justice in a man are qualities but in God they are his Essence from whence it cometh to pass that God is holy just and good without quality and he is infinite and immeasureable without quantity but neither Man nor Angel can be said to be holy just good or great without quality and quantity Even so God is present every where without moving Et sempiternus sine tempore and he is everlasting and eternal without time as being from all eternity before all times and so continuing for ever ever when there shall be no time He that would see more of this point let him look into S. Bernard Serm. 80. in Cant. and S. Augustin lib. 5. c. 1. de Trinit 2. We must consider that all the proprieties of God are in him most perfectly most equally and most incommutable 2. Rule and Observation Gods attributes are all perfect and equal in him but in Men and Angels they are inchoated measured and comprehended within certain bounds and degrees and they are mutable and imperfect so that to the holiness purity and justice of God the blessed Angels are neither holy nor pure nor just and to the goodness of God neither men nor Angels are good as both Job and our Saviour sheweth when he saith There is none good but God that is perfectly simply and absolutely good the Angels being not pure in his sight Job 15.15 Job 4.18 From hence it cometh to pass that these proprieties in God cannot suscipere magis aut minus Matth. 19 16. Vide S. Aug. Enchirid. that is grow greater or lesser or be augmented which they may do and do in any and every man And as these proprieties are most perfectly in God so they are most equally in him for neither is his mercy greater then his justice nor his justice any less then his mercy because he maketh not the wicked innocent Exod. 34.7 Ezek. 18.24 nor calleth evil good nor good evil so neither is his wisdom greater then his power nor his power any less then his wisdom because his power can do whatsoever his wisdom thinks fit and good to be done Yet I say that we by reason of our infirmities cannot perceive them to be equally in him but we perceive his mercy to be far greater then his justice though in God the one is neither greater nor lesser or better then the other And therefore the Lord is called Very mercifull Exod. 34.6 Ephes 2.4 and abundant in goodness
the first part of the practice of these beasts which is their constancy in the service of God day and night 2. Of the harmony of these beasts 2. For the harmony of these beasts I told you that it consisted of six parts whereof the first is concerning the mystery of the Trinity Touching which before I proceed any further I must say with St. Augustine Vbi trinitas unitatis unitas trinitatis Aug. de Trin. lib. 1. Of the true knowledge of the mystery of the blessed Trinity Patris Filii Spiritus sancti quaeritur nec periculosius alieubi erratur nec laboriosius aliquid quaeritur nec fructuosius aliquid invenitur we cannot any where erre more dangerously we cannot seek for any thing more laboriously neither can we find any thing more profitable then the knowledge of this holy mystery and therefore as he saith Non pigebit me sicubi haesito quaerere nec pigebit me sicubi erro discere it irketh me not to inquire where I stumble neither will I be ashamed to retract and to learn where I erre And so to proceed The holy Evangelist in this harmony of these beasts setteth down these two principal things Two things set down 1. 1 Of the Trinity of Persons The Trinity of Persons in the Vnity of Gods Essence 2. The Vnity of Gods Essence in the Trinity of Persons For the first To declare the Trinity of persons the Evangelist saith these beasts cry three times Holy holy holy as if they should have said Holy Father holy Son and holy Spirit and yet they say not holy Gods but holy God and to shew the same truth the very phrase and loquution or the like manner of expressing this mystery is used in divers places of the holy Scripture as where Moses saith Creavit Elohim coelum et terram God created the heaven and the earth where the Verb singular creavit doth manifestly declare the unity of Gods Essence and the Noun plural Elohim doth as plainly shew the Trinity of persons And again where he saith Faciamus hominem ad imaginem nostram let us make man in our Image where the Verb plural faciâ—mus declareth the plurality of the Persons and the Pronoun singular nostram sheweth the unity of the Essence even so here the word sanctus three times repeated doth manifestly declare the Trinity of persons and the word Deus God in the singular number doth as plainly shew the unity of Gods Essence And so the whole sum of all is 1. Quod Deus sit unus quoad essentiam that God is one That God is but one Essence and three persons and but one in respect of his Essence 2. Quod Deus sit trinus quoad subsistentiam that in the Vnity of that Essence there are three Persons in respect of their subsistence or manner of being And this will appear most evidently if you do compare together the 6. Deut. 6.4 Matth. 28 29. of Deut. and the 4. ver and the 28. of St. Matthew and the 19. ver For in the former place it is said Dominus Deus tuus Deus unus est the Lord thy God is one God and in the later place our Saviour commandeth his Disciples to go and to baptize all Nations in the Name and not in the names of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost therefore there is a Trinity of persons that is the Father the Son and the holy Ghost in the divine Nature Et una est numero essentia and yet there is but one Essence because no diversity can be given whereby these persons differ in regard of the Essence And therefore in regard of this identity and unity of essence in the three Persons our Saviour said Ego sum in patre et Pater est in me I am in the Father and the Father is in me and yet as St. Cyril saith Non est dicendum Pater est à filio vel in filio continetur we may not say the Father is from the Son or contained in the Son Nec est filius in patre ut nos in Deo esse et vivere dicimur Neither is the Son in the Father as we are said to be and to live in God Quia de ejus essentia nos non sumus because we are not of the essence of God but in and by the vertue grace and power of God But here it may be some will demand from whence have we the name of Trinity About the name of Trinity when as we cannot find the same in all the Scripture I answer that we have the word three from whence the word Trinity is derived for St. John saith There be three that bear witness in heaven and therefore as unity is derived ab uno from one so Trinity may as justly be derived from three and the Church of God Penes quam usus et forma loquendi to whom the phrases and forms of speech are committed hath power to use such words as may best express the Truth and confute the Hereticks so the same be not contrary to the sense and meaning of the holy Scriptures Now the difference between essence and person is this The difference betwixt the Essence of God and the Persons in the Godhead that the essence is the nature which is indivisible and common to the three Persons but a person Est subsistentia in natura divina as the Schools speak a subsistence or the manner of the persons subsisting in the divine Nature when the one person is distinguished from the others distinguished I say and not divided because there is no division in the divine Nature And the difference betwixt each Person is twofold The difference betwixt each Person and the others twofold 1. Difference internal 1. Internal and 2. External 1. The internal difference between the Persons is and consisteth in their internal operations and proprieties whereof the Divines say that Opera Trinitatis ad intra sunt divisa The internal operations of the Trinity are severed and divided because as St. Augustine saith Hoc est proprium patris quod solus est pater et quod ab alio non est nisi à seipso It is proper to the Father that he only is Father and that he is not from any other but from himself Et hoc est proprium filii quod do patre genitus est solus à solo coaeternus et consubstantialis genitori And it is the property of the Son that he is begotten of the Father the Son alone from the Father only coeternal and consubstantial to his begetter Et proprium est Spiritus sancti quod nec genitus nec ingenitus est sed à patre et filio aequaliter procedens It is proper to the holy Ghost that he is neither begotten nor created but equally proceeding both from the Father and the Son And this difference is not essential because the Essence of all three is the same
Gods Ministers as your Grace hath alwayes shewed your self to be unto all even the meanest of Gods servants and especially to me when in a very mean condition I came to wait upon your Grace in Donmore before the King came into the Kingdome and I must passe over your wise discreet and most prudent carriage of great affairs and in such desperate times to the benefit and preservation of many good men and faithful Subjects to his Majesty in the midst of a froward subtle and perverse Generation without which they had been utterly destroyed And I pass over these things and many other most eminent vertues and endowments of your Ladyship because I am not sufficiently able to characterize and delineate the same so sweetly and so commendably as your Grace hath shewed to the full measure of your deservings but though mine ability reacheth not to express your worth yet this my devotion shall never be wanting to shew my desires with the best of my prayers and all the faculties of my soul to be your Orator unto God and to make your name and memorial in the World like the remembrance of Josias fair as the Lilly and sweet as the pretious oyntment that is made by the art of the Apothecary So I rest Most honourable Lady Your Graces most faithful Orator and Servant while I am Gr. Ossory TO THE CHRISTIAN READER My dear Brother MY onely aim and desire hath always been to promote the glory of God the honour of my King the benefit of the Church of Christ and the good of all my Neighbours To those ends I have laboured I have preached I have printed many books And the best way that I conceived to do good unto my Neighbours was to teach them to observe and never to depart from the society and practice of Justice Obedience and Charity Justice among themselves and towards all men Obedience to their King and to all their superiour Governours and Charity or mercy to the poor and oppressed These were the main marks I always shot at and to further these exercises I thought my self obliged to do it with all my might without either fear or flattery And therefore let neither Kings Princes nor Magistrates frown at me when I reprove them if they be unjust for the great men doe the more usually as being the more able commit the acts of injustice and let not the rebellious Subjects nor the seditious Sectaries rail at me for painting out the ugly shapes and loathsome visages of their Treasons and Wickednesses against their Kings and Governours whom God hath set over them and commanded them to obey neither let the rich covetous and wretched worldlings whose hearts are as hard as stones from yielding any the least drop of relief unto the poor and needy and those that are ready to starve in the streets blame me if for these unmerciful cruelties and cruel neglect of mercies I shall thunder out God's judgements and pour forth the vials of God's wrath that are prepared against them for as Nehemiah said when his friends perswaded him to fly away for fear of his enemies that sought to destroy him Is it fit that such a man as I should fly Neh. 6.11 So I conceive it is not fit that such a man as I that am a Bishop and an aged man ready for my dissolution and no other translation but to be translated unto my fathers should now flatter any person or be afraid to speak the truth or to reprove sins worthy to be reproved for fear of the frowns threats or malice of any man And therefore as the Poet saith Me me adsum qui feci in me convertite ferrum And as I said with Pilat in the first Sermon that ever I printed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what I have written I have written Nec poterit abolere vetustas Jehovae Liberatori The Description and the Practice of the four most admirable Beasts REVEL 4.8 And the four Beasts had each of them six wings about him and they were full of eyes within and they rest not day and night saying Holy holy holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come I Have begun to treat of these words in this place long ago and let no man marvel that I intend by Gods help to prosecute the explication thereof at this time because this Text seems to me like the Ocean sea so large that it cannot be measured and so deep that it cannot be fathomed by any humane wit the same being omnia in omnibus all in all For. First Here is God the Creator of all things and all that is knowable or may be known concerning God as that ineffable mystery of the Trinity or three persons in the one onely Essence of the Deity and therefore appointed to be read for the Epistle on Trinity Sunday and all the chiefest Attributes of God as 1. His Purity and sanctity in the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 three times repeated to shew the three persons of the Deity the Father Son and Holy Ghost 2. His Power authority and dominion in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is set down in the singular number to shew the Vnity of the God-head 3. His Wisedome knowledge and providence in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is derived 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because he seeth all things and all things are patent to his eyes attingit a fine usque ad finem disponit omnia suaviter 4. His Omnipotency in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Almighty quia voluntas ejus potestas ejus because he can do whatsoever he would do he needs but say the word and it is done 5. His Eternity in the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which crowneth all the rest of Gods Attributes that otherwise would be of no such value if it were not for this Eternity that makes him to be whatsoever he is for ever Secondly Here are the creatures of God and the chief of all Gods creatures as 1. The Lion which is the King of all the Beasts of the field 2. The Calf or the Oxe which is the most painful and most useful creature for the service of man and the most acceptable in the sacrifices of God 3. The Eagle which is the Lord and Master of all the Fowles of the Air and 4. Man which is the Prince and Ruler of all those and of all the Beasts of the field the Fowles of the air the Fishes of the sea and whatsoever walketh through the pathes of the seas Thirdly Here is Religion and the best of all Religions the Christian Religion most amply though enigmatically and mystically set forth unto us for 1. Here is both the natures and the offices of Christ and the chiefest things that he did and that we are to understand and believe for our salvation they are all here exprest unto us as 1. His divine nature under the notion of the Eagle and her lofty flight 2. His humane
a fervent prayer for us so Esay 53.10 when it pleased the Lord to bruise him as the Prophet saith he offered up his bloud in a sweating fervour and his body to be broken for our sins 2. He offered up his body to be broken and his bloud to be shed for our sins Levit. 17.11 Heb 9.22 and as the Angel whose name was secret kindled the fire upon the Altar and at length the flame increasing himself also ascended in the same so here in this agony of Christ our Saviour kindled the fire of his love and then as a faithfull high Priest he offered up himself as a sweet smelling sacrifice unto God And seeing bloud must make an attonement for the soul and as the Apostle saith without shedding of bloud there is no remission therefore this our Priest shed his own bloud to procure the forgiveness of our sins the bloud of his head when he was crowned with thornes the bloud of his heart when he was pierced with a speare the bloud of all parts when he was whipped and the bloud of his whole body when he sweat the drops of bloud not a watry dew but nimbus sanguinis a bloudy showre when as totus sudore defluit it passed through and through his garment and trickled down to the ground Ps 130.7 as Saint Luke testifieth that there might be as the Psalm saith plenteous redemption And as Eleazar the high Priest was to take the bloud of the heyfer with his finger and sprinkle of her bloud directly before the Tabernacle of the Congregation seven times Num. 19.4 Levit. 8.11 so Christ our Priest shed his bloud seven times to purge away our sins 1. In his Circumcision 2. In the Garden 3. When he was crowned with thornes 4. When he was whipped 5. That Christ shed his bloud seven times to cleanse us of our sins When his hands were nailed 6 When his feet were fastned to the Cross 7. When his side was pierced with a speare And then as the sin of man was maledictio terrae the curse of the earth so this bloud of Christ is medicina terra the medicine of the world And therefore the Apostle faith Heb. 12.24 that the bloud of Christ speaketh better things then the bloud of Abel for by the shedding of Abels bloud Gods wrath was kindled but by the shedding of Christs bloud Gods wrath was appeased the bloud of Abel gave life onely to himself but the bloud of Christ gives life to all beleivers the bloud of Abel cryed for vengeance against his brother but the bloud of Christ cryeth for mercy unto his enemies and the bloud of Abel cryed a while and then ceased and then it was no more availeable but the bloud of Christ still cryeth and never ceaseth and is available for us for ever And so you see how Saint Luke proveth Christ to be the Priest which is to be the Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck and therefore he is here understood by the calf that was the chiefest sacrifice of the Priests 3. By him that had the face of a man 3. St. Mark is understood by him that had the face of a man Mark 6.3 John 10.33 the fathers do understand Saint Mark because his principal aime was to shew that Christ was a true and perfect man the son of a poor Carpenter and in all things like unto us sin onely excepted And this truth was so manifest that his very enemies confest it and would have stoned him because that he being a man made himself a God for their eyes saw that he had flesh and bloud like other men and that he did hunger and thirst and was weary and touched with all the blamelesse passions and affections of other men and therefore Saint Mark is very short in his Gospel not above sixteen Chapters in all because he needed not to use many Arguments when as all that saw him did readily confess it 4. 4. Saint John understood by the flying Eagle By the flying Eagle all the old Interpreters do understand Saint John because that when Ebion and Cerinthus two Jewish Proselites denied the Deity of Christ he purposely wrote his Gospel for that main end to confute that damnable errour as Eusebius and others testifie and therefore in the very Frontispiece of his work he mounteth up like an Eagle and saith in the beginning was the word John 1.1 and the word was with God and the word was God and so throughout his whole Gospel you may easily perceive his chiefest aime is to prove that the son of Mary is the son of the eternal God coeternal and coequal with his father and especially because he proveth him 1. To be the Creator of all things c. 1. 2. To be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the knower and searcher of the secrets of our hearts c. 2.25 3. To be the worker of such miracles as the raising up of Lâ—zarus and the like which none could do but God And it was requisite that the mediator betwixt God and man should be God and man Man because man had sinned and therefore meet that man should make satisfaction and not Ziba make the fault and Mephibosheth bear the punishment which should be very unjust and God because our nature should but could not bear the burthen which was the weight of Gods wrath for our sins But God as God could but ought not and therefore seeing the one ought but could not and the other could but ought not God and man must be joyned together in one person that man might do what he ought to do and suffer what he ought to suffer and so goe thorough the work of our redemption And therefore as Saint Mark had proved Christ to be a man so Saint John proveth him to be the true and eternal God And so you see that by these four Beasts we are primarily to understand the four Evangelists Secondly all the good Magistrates and Ministers are understood to be like these four beasts 1. Like the Lion Jos 1.7 Secondly As the four Evangelists are in the first place to be understood by these four Beasts for the reasons before shewed so likewise all Magistrates and all Ministers ought to be like these four Beast As 1. Like the Lion for courage without fear Confidens ut leo absque terrore for so the Lord commanded Joshua to be strong and of a good courage saying Onely be thou strong and of a most valiant courage and so Jethro tells Moses That his Judges should be men of courage and undaunted Quia timiditas Judicis est calamitas innocentis So when the Jews told Pilat if thou lettest this man go Thou art none of Caesar's friend he was afraid and through that fear he condemned the Son of God And so doth fear cause many others to wrong the Innocents And therefore to you that are the Judges to settle the disturbed Estates of this Kingdom I say that it cannot
the sight of some few judgements against and upon these four predominant sins that are so rise amongst us and so pernicious unto us 1. Rebellion 2. Perjury The four usual sins of these dayes 3. Injustice 4. Sacriledge 1. For Rebellion this our last Age 1. Rebellion and the many Plots and Practices of wicked and fanatick Rebels now peeping forth amongst us do sufficiently shew how apt we are to fall into it though it be as bad as the sin of witch-craft which is the giving of our souls by a Contract unto the Devil but the dreadful vengeance of God for the Rebellion of Corah Dathan and Abiram against their Governours when the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them down quick to Hell and the heavy judgement of God upon Absolon for rebelling against King David which followed him hard at the heeles until he came to the bough where he was hanged and the shameful yet most justly deserved death of our late Rebels and of many more the like Villaines that I could quote to you out of Histories should deterre them from this unnatural sin of Rebellion and keep them within the bounds of their obedience to their Governours which is more acceptable in the sight of God then any sacrifice that we can offer him or if this can not do it then may they look for the like end as those that committed the like sins 2. For Perjury it is so pernitious a sin and yet so general 2. Perjury that I know not how to express the hainousness thereof But I finde this perjury to be like the three headed Cerberus 1. Of those Inferiours that either for bribes and reward 1. Of Inferiors or for fear of their Land-lords or other great men will most falsly swear before Judge or Jury to the taking away of the goods lands or life of many innocent men 2. Of Superiors which is a sin worthy to be punished by the Judges as being the utter ruine of many men fatherless and widdows 2. Of Superiours which break their faith and oaths that they make unto their Inferiours And such a forsworn wretch was Lysander the Admiral of the Lacedemonians Lysander and Tissaphernes that brake his oath which he made with the Grecians Tissaphernes Cleomenes and Cleomenes King of Lacedemon that did the like with the Argians but he was sufficiently plagued by the just judgement of God for his perfidiousness and perjury when the women of Argos overthrew the greatest part of his Army and he with a knife killed himself And many more Tyrants and Commanders I could name of this kinde that neither feared God nor regarded their faith with men and therefore were plagued by the just judgements of God 3. Of the middle sort 3. The other sort of perjurers are of a middle size and great men that either through discentent or hope to be made greater Eccles 8.2 do break their faith and falsifie the oath of God as Solomon calls it and so prove Rebels and Traytors unto their Kings and Governours 1. How Neclas served Duringus for his treachery to the Son of Vratislas But how doth the just God reward these perfidious and perjured Villaines And how do most wise men deeme and deale with them but as Neclas did with Duringus who to secure Neclas as he said in his Throne falsified his faith to his Prince and killed the Son of Vratislas that was the next Heir unto the Crown hoping that for his good service he should be much favoured and well rewarded of Neclas but the wise Prince abhorring such perfidiousness said unto him that perjury and treachery could not be mitigated and wiped away by any good turns or after-service and therefore whereas he expected a reward for his good service done unto him he should have it according to his merit For of three things he should chuse which he would 1. To kill himself with a poinyard Aenaeas Sylv Hist Bobem c. 11. or 2. Hang himself with an halter or 3. Cast himself down from the Rock of Visgrade and he hanged himself upon an Elder tree which while it stood was called Duringus tree as Aenaeas Sylvius writeth 2. How Selim used Ladislas Kerezin Camerar Hist Meditat. l 1. pag. 20. c. 7. Johanâ— Menarius Histor Turc l. 4. c. 22. And though Ladislas Kerezin did a very good turn to Selim in yielding up to him the strong place of Hinla yet for his perjury and perfidiousness he caused him to be brought to a most miserable death which you may see in Camerar And the same Selim did the like to a Jewish Physitian whom after the good service he had done unto him he caused to be beheaded for his treachery against his Father saying that upon the least discontent or hope of reward he would not stick to do to him as he did to his Father and therefore he had no reason to let him live because commonly Traytors are double Traytors and as unfaithful to him whom they serve as to him whom they have betrayed And so Soliman his Son promised his Daughter with a very great dowry to a certain Traytor for yielding unto him the Isle of Rhodes and when he got the Iland 3. How Soliman used the Traytor that yielded to him the I le of Rhodes he brought his Daughter in a magnifical pompe unto him and said thou seest I am a man of my word but forasmuch as you are a Christian and thy Wife a Mahumetan and I am loath to have a Son in Law that is not a Musulman therefore it is not satisfactory to me that in hope of favour and gain thou turn thy coat for fashion sake Camerar l. 1. c. 7. p. 21. but thou must also put off thy skin which is baptized and uncircumcised and so he caused him to be flead alive And the same Solyman used the betrayers of Nadast that defended the Castle of Buda in like manner And the King of Henetia having promised Marriage to Romilda the Wife of Prince Sigulphus 4. How the King of Henetia served Romilda the Wife of Sigulphus Aventinus l. 3. Annal. Bavar which had fallen in love with him as Potiphars Wife did with Joseph so soon as she delivered unto him the City of Friol did after her marriage and one nights lodging with her cause her to be set and married to a sharp stake as a worthy punishment of her treachery And the Emperour Aurelian did not much better use the Traytour Heraclemon nor Brennus Demonica 5. How Aurelian served Heraclemon that betrayed into his hands the City of Ephesus as Titus Liv. saith the Daughter of Sp. Tarpeius betrayed the City of Rome unto the Sabines and for her reward lost her life on the Tarpeian Hill But though I could produce to you very many more examples of this kinde 6. How Mahomet served John Justinian yet I will close up this point with what Mahomet did to John Justinian
giving unto them which by continuance in well doing seek glory and honour and immortality eternal life he sheweth himself most gracious and merciful in bestowing upon them what they could not challenge from him and in rendring vengeance to them that obey not God and in plaguing them both in this life and in the life to come he doth but what is most just and upright and therefore the Prophet Esay after he had set down many of Gods Judgements against the wicked addeth That the Lord of Hosts should be exalted in judgment Esay 5.16 and the holy God should be sanctified in justice that is that he should be acknowledged by all men to be most pure and holy and commended for his justice in punishing the wicked according to their deserts And this doctrine of Gods holiness and purity should put us in mind of our duty to be not as the Devil corrupt and unjust but as God commandeth us to be holy as he is holy and to be as he is if we desire to be where he is where no impure thing shall ever come And so much for the first Attribute here expressed 2. Attribute is Gods rule and authority 2. The next Attribute is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord and he is said to be the lord of any thing Qui jus autoritatem dominium habet in aliquam rem which hath right authority and rule over any thing and whose own proper thing is that of which he is said to be lord for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is derived 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth Authority Zanc. de nasura dei l. 1. c. 17. saith Pasor and the Latine word Dominus dicitur à domo saith Zanchius because the Master of the house was wont to be called the Lord of it And this name Lord saith he in the Writings of the Apostles is ascribed to Christ idque millies about a thousand times because he ruleth and governeth not only the little house of his Church Heb. 1.2 3. but also the great house of this whole World as the Apostle sheweth Reason 1 Why the Father is stiled God and the Son Lord. And the reason why the name of God is usually attributed to the Father and the name of Lord commonly ascribed to the Son is twofold 1. Because the Father is the fountain of the whole Deity therefore is he usually termed God and the Son is termed Lord because he is appointed of his Father to be Lord of all things John 17.2 and all power is given unto him over all flesh Reason 2 2. The Father is called God most usually because that in the mystery of our redemption the Father remained still in his Majesty and gave his Son only to be our Redeemer and the Son though he was in the form of God yet was he content not to remain with his Father in that equal Majesty Phil. 2.7 which he had with him from all eternity but He made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and so with the laying down of his Glory he laid down also the Name of God and by taking unto him the form of a servant he took also the name of a servant that is in respect of his Father to whom as a servant be became obedient in all things unto death and therefore the Father calleth him his Servant saying Ecce servus meus Behold my servant Esay 42.1 Matth. 12.18 Whom I have chosen whom I uphold which is interpreted of Christ But in respect of us the Son is said to be our Lord and so he is called every where because we are given unto him for his inheritance that we should serve him and acknowledge him for our Lord and Master and so as he is made our Lord the name of Lord is given unto him of his Father And therefore though Christ indeed remained alwayes God and in the form of God wherein he was from all eternity yet because he was appointed by the Father Christ laid aside the Name of God and took two other names The first in respect of his Father and contented himself to be the Saviour of all mankind he humbled himself unto death and unto death he laid down the Name of God and took unto himself two other names As 1. The name of a Servant in regard of his Father to whom he was made obedient as a servant and for which cause he alwayes calleth upon him as a servant calleth upon his Master and referreth all things unto him as to his Lord and Master 2. He took upon him the name of Lord The second in respect of us in regard of us and that is due unto him in a foursold respect that is By right 1. Of Inheritance Christ is our Lord in four respects 2. Of Redemption 3. Of Wedlock 4. Of Creation For 1. He is the Lord our God 1. By right of Inheritance and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hands and the Father said unto him Psal 2.8 Dabo tibi gentes in haereditatem tuam I will give the Gentiles for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession And therefore St. Peter saith Let all the house of Israel know for certain or assuredly that God hath made the same Jesus Act. 2.36 whom you have crucified both Lord and Christ And in this respect also he is Lord of the wicked Reprobates though they will not obey him for the Prophet David saith Psal 8.5 6. Heb. 2.8 Omnia subjecisti sub pedibus ejus Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet and the Apostle saith this was spoken of Christ And again the same Prophet speaking of him Psal 110.1 saith that the Lord said unto him Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool Yea more then this he is the Lord of all things whatsoever for Him hath God appointed and made heir of all things Heb. 1. as the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews teacheth and our Saviour himself saith Matth. 28 18. John 18.15 All power is given unto me both in heaven and in earth And again All things that the Father hath are mine Whereby you may see that Jure haereditario by right of inheritance as his Fathers Heir he is the Lord 1. Of the Elect. 2. Of the Reprobates And 3. Of all the things in the world 2. By right of purchase 1 Cor. 6.19 20. 1 Pet. 1.18 19. 2. He is our Lord by right of redemption or of purchase for so the Apostle saith You are not your own because you are bought with a price And St. Peter sheweth what price it was that redeemed us and was paid for us No corruptible thing as silver and gold but the pretious bloud of Jesus Christ And therefore seeing Christ hath bought us and redeemed us out of the hands of our enemies he may
that is himself upon Earth and Camerarius saith that this is a perpetual custom in the race of the Ottomans and Turkish Souldans to put all that pretend to succession unto death Neither is it only a Turkish custom to do so but it is the practice of most of them that are bewitched with this inordinate desire to rule as Kings to do the like for Plutarch writeth that Deiotarus having many Sons and being desirous that only one of them should reign slew all the rest with his own hands and Justin saith that Phrahartes the Son of Horodes King of the Parthians killed his own Father and after that massacred all his Bretheren that he might reign and rule alone And the Sacred Storie sheweth that the very people of God the Sons of Israel were not free from this fault Judges 9. but were pestered with this disease for Abimelech the Son of Gedeon slew seventy of his Bretheren in one day and played many other Tragical parts that he might make himself a King and the furious ambition of Absolon did let him on to play the Parricide 2 Sam. 15 16. and to end his Fathers days that he might reign in his place And not to go from our own home did not Henry the Fourth put by Richard the Second his own King and Cozen German that himself might be the King And did not Richard the Third cause the true King and his own Nephews the Sons of his own Brother Edward the Fourth to be done to death that he himself might be King And did not that arch-Rebel and Traytor now of late amongst our selves play the like Tragical parts that he might gain the rule of these Kingdoms And so did many others in many other Kingdoms for there is not any thing so Sacred which the great men of this world that desire to be made greater will not violate and spare neither King Father Brother or Friend to bring themselves unto advancement and to be the rulers of the People and to have the command and power over their Goods and Lives as the proof hereof is seen in Antoninus Caracalla who when he had murthered his own Brother Geta in his Mothers lap and betwixt her arms and being advised by some of his friends to Canonize him among the Heroes and to place him among the Gods to mitigate the thought of so execrable a fact answered like a wretch sit divus modo non sit vivus let him be a God among the dead so he be not alive among Men Camerar quo supra so great an enemy is the inordinate desire of bearing rule to all Piety and right saith mine Author Therefore our Saviour doth not stop when he had said seek a Kingdom which he knew most men would be ready enough and some too ready to do without bidding but he addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Kingdom of God and not the Kingdom of this world nor the Kingdom of the Antichrist nor of sin but the Kingdom of God And the Kingdom of God is taken many waies but especially The Kingdom of God three fold 1. For the Kingdom of Nature 2. For the Kingdom of Grace 3. For the Kingdom of Glory 1. The Kingdom of nature The first is all the world Heaven Hell Sea and Earth and all men good and bad are the subjects of this his Kingdom for he is Rex universae terrae super omnes nationes mundi whom he ruleth with his mighty power and by his wisedom disposeth all things sweetly even when he permitteth the wicked to flourish and chasteneth his own children every morning our King doing herein as the Husband-man doth with his Oxen mactandus liber ibit ad pascua servandus jugo premitur that which is appointed for the slaughter shall freely run to the best Pasture but that which is to be preserved shall be pressed under the Yoak 2. The Kingdom of Grace 2. The Kingdom of Grace comprehendeth not all creatures nor all men but the elect only that is the good and godly men in whose hearts this King writeth his holy Laws and ruleth them by his Spirit that guideth and directeth them to observe his Laws 3. The Kingdom of Glory 3. The Kingdom of Glory is that which the Apostle describeth whose joyes passeth all understanding whose subjects are the Saints and Angels and whose King is Jesus Christ the King of kings The first of these was established by power when the Almighty God created all things by his powerful Word or the Word of his power which is Jesus Christ but it shall be finished through its weakness when languishing Nature that still groweth weaker and weaker can hold out no longer The second was begun in weakness when Christ the Son of God began the same in the the infirmity of our flesh and to gather his Church by the preaching of a few Fisher-men but it shall end in power when after he hath put all his enemies under his feet he shall by the power of his Deity absolve the same and deliver it as the Apostle sheweth 1 Cor. 15. unto God his Father but The third shall begin in power and continue in power without ending when as the Poet saith Gloriosum Imperium siue fine dabit Cui nec metas rerum nec tempora ponit God shall give us a glorious Kingdom without ending and eternal happiness unto his Saints where there shall be no fight because they have no enemie no tears because they can recieve no hurt no fear because there is no danger and no grief because there is no evil but all peace all joy all felicity because God will be all in all And of these three Kingdoms we ought to submit our selves with all contentedness unto the first and with all care and diligence to seek the second that so to our everlasting comfort we may attain unto the third Which kingdom we shall never come unto unless we seek the second which is the kingdome of grace as we ought to do for as among the Romans none came to the Temple of Honour but by the Temple of Virtue so none shall come to the Kingom of glory but the Subjects of the Kingdom of grace and therefore we must seek for that as we ought to do and that is 1. Generally that the Church of Christ may be enlarged by the preaching of the Gospel and by all other ways that we can to convert men to the faith of Christ and not to pervert them by wicked errours or the evil examples of an ungodly conversation 2. Particularly that the Spirit of God and not the Spirit of Satan the grace of Christ and not our fleshly lusts or any other sin might reign in us and rule our hearts to do all things according to Gods Laws that so we our selves might be members of his Church and subjects of this kingdom And as I told you before our seeking for this kingdom must not be as children seek for their
miserable even so the Devils though they were created in Heaven which was their Paradise and were made likewise good yet they had potestatem cadendi a power either to stand if they were so pleased or to fall if they would not stand And so the good Angels too they were mutabiles natura changeable if they would and they might have fallen if they pleased but because they chose to stand in the time of their trial they are now made immutabiles gratia Isidorus de Summo bone l. 1. c. 12. unchangeable through the grace and favour of God for their faithfulness and submission to his divine order as Isidorus speaketh And as the falshood of their eternal impietie is sufficiently proved so the truth of the contrary Position may be as sufficiently confirmed by the word of Truth for they are the creatures of God and therefore they must needs be good by their creation for when God had finished all his works he looked upon them and considered all and every thing that he had made Et ecce erant valde bona and behold they were all exceeding good and therefore the very Devils were all Creatione boni sed Depravatione mali Danaeus Isâ—goges c. 19. Good Angels by their creation but wicked Devils by depravation which they contracted Non natura creata not from that nature which God created but from their own proper malice which they had not from God but was bred within themselves And therefore not only the Apostle saith That they kept not their first estate But our Saviour Christ himself affirmeth Quod non steterunt in veritate That they stood not or remained in the truth whereby it is most apparent that when they were created they were in the truth or otherwise Zanchius de operibus Dei l. 3. c. 2. Quomodo dici potest eum non stetisse â—bi nunquam fuit faith learned Zanchius How can the Devil be said not to have stood there where he never hath been And so Saint Augustine likewise doth most excellently declare this truth and confirm the same against Manichaeus August Passim with unanswerable Arguments l. 11. c. 20. De Genesi ad literam de Civit. Dei l. 12. c. 1 2 3. de vera Religione c. 13. But then Observation 4 4. You are to consider that seeing they were created good the question will be How or by what sin they fell and became so bad And this Question is propounded by Theodoret Theodor. q. 6. in Genes Quam ob causam è Coelo Diabolus decidit Why or what cause moved the Devil that was a glorious Angel in the sight of God to fall away from God and thereby to throw himself and his adherents unto the bottomless pit and there instead of that eternal happiness which he hast lost to be tormented with fire and brimstone in everlasting darkness for evermore To which Question Theodoret saith That it was the fond conceit of some foolish fellows to say that Satan was therefore thrust out of Heaven because he refused to adore and worship Adam whom God would have him to reverence because he had made Adam in his own Image But this Theodoret proveth to be false because the Devils fell before Adam was made who was therefore made as some Divines write to supply the room of the relapsed Angels Zanch. de operibus Dei de lapsu Angelorum Three Opinions about the first sin of Satan 1. Opinion And Zanchius writeth That Augustinus Steuchus in his eighth book and thirty eighth chapter de per. Philos rehearseth three other Opinions about the fall and the sin of the Devil 1. Opinion is of Justin Martyr in his Apology for the Christians and of Clemens Alexandrinus l. 3. Stromat and of Severus Sulpitius l. 1. de sacra Historia and of Tertullian Lactantius and many more of the first ancient Fathers that upon the sixth Chapter of Genesis where it is said That the Sons of God or the Angels of God as St. Ambrose reads it or Filii Elohim as the Hebrew hath it which Aquila translateth Filii Deorum the Sons of the Gods or Filii potentum the Sons of the mighty powerful Ones as Symmachus reads it or Filii Magnatum the Sons of the great Ones and noble Ones as the Chaldae-Paraphrast hath it or Filii Principum the Sons of the chief Princes as Pagninus reads it best in my mind saw the daughters of men that they were fair and took them wives of all that they liked do expound the same of the Angels which leaving their care of these inferiour things which God had committed to their charge To preserve us as the Psalmist speaketh in all our wayes that we dash not our foot against a stone were overcome with the love of those fair women of whose looks the Poet saith they were aemula lumina Stellis Lumina quae possunt sollicitare Deos. Eyes emulating Stars in light Enticing Gods at the first sight And so they fell into base lusting after these beautiful creatures even as we see many men do so now adayes because as the Poet saith Ludit amor sensus oculos perstringit How the inordinate love of women bewitcheth us aufert Libertatem animi mira nos fascinat arte This unlawful love doth betray our senses shuts our eyes and takes away the liberty of our minds and doth wonderfully bewitch our souls so far that he saith Credo aliquis Daemon subiens praecordia flammam Concitat ruptam tollit de cardine mentem He believes some Devils do kindle these flames and take away our senses from us And therefore the foresaid Fathers do conclude that the first sin of Satan and his fellow-Devils was carnal Lust and Concupiscence which is one of the three things which we profess in our Baptism that we will forsake Tertullian's reason for the sin of the Angels to lascivious lust 1 Cor. 11.10 Whereupon Tertullian saith That for this cause the Apostle commanded the Women to be covered in the Church or as the original hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To have some power over their heads because of the Angels that is lest the Angels that are to assist them in their devotion and to carry up their prayers and desires to Heaven should be tempted and inticed to lust after them And truly I think with Tertullian it were well that the Women should be covered though not because of the heavenly Angels yet because of lascivious men whose wanton eyes do often carry away their thoughts from their heavenly duties to gaze upon their fading vanities That there is double mistake in Tertullians reason For touching the heavenly Angels we may find in Tertullian's reason a double absurdity Error 1 1. For that now the heavenly Angels are so confirmed in good partly by the extrinsical assistance and providence of Almighty God and partly by the blessed Vision and fruition of the divine Essence as that they