b Exod. 20.5 third scarce euer the fourth generation passe before God visit the sinnes of the fathers vpon the children if hee doe not in the very next generation In his sonnes dayes will I bring the euill vpon his house §. 34. The second Secondly if not onely our owne but our fathers sinnes too may be shall be visited vpon vs how concerneth it vs as to repent for our owne so to lament also the sinnes of our forefathers and in our confessions and supplications to God sometimes to remember them that he may forget them and to set them before his face that hee may cast them behind his backe Wee haue a good precedent for it in our publike Letany Remember not Lord our offences nor the offences of our forefathers A good and a profitable and a needefull prayer it is and those men haue not done well nor justly that haue cauilled at it O that men would be wise according to sobriety and allow but iust interpretations to things aduisedly established rather than busie themselues nodum in scirpo to picke needelesse quarrels where they should not What vnity would it bring to brethren what peace to the Church what ioy to all good and wise men As to this particular God requireth of the Israelites in Leuit. 26. that they should a Leuit. 26.39.40 confesse their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers b Psal. 106.6 Dauid did so and c Ierem. 3.15 Ieremy did so and d Dan. 9.5 Daniel did so in Psal. 106. in Ierem. 3. in Dan. 9. And if Dauid thought it a fit curse to pronounce against Iudas and such as he was in Psal. 109. e Psal. 109.14 Let the wickednesse of his fathers be had in remembrance in the sight of the Lord and let not the sin of his mother be done away why may we not nay how ought we not to pray for the remoueall of this very curse from vs as well as of any other curses The present age is riâ—e of many enormous crying sinnes which call loud for a iudgement vpon the land and if God should bring vpon vs a right heauie one whereat all eares should tingle could wee say other but that it were most iust euen for the sinnes of this present generation But if vnto our owne so many so great God should also adde the sins of our forefathers the bloudshed and tyranny grieuous vnnaturall butcheries in the long times of the ciuill warres and the vniuersall idolatries and superstitions couering the whole land in the longer and darker times of Popery and if as hee sometimes threatned to bring vpon the Iewes of f Math. 23.35.36 that one generation all the righteous bloud that euer was shed vpon the earth from the bloud of the righteous Abel vnto the bloud of Zacharias the sonne of Barachias so hee should bring the sinnes of our Ancestors for many generations past vpon this generation of ours who could be able to abide it Now when the security of the times giue vs but too much cause to feare it and the regions begin to looke white towards the haruest is it not time for vs with all humiliation of Soule and Body to cast downe our selues and with all contention of voyce and spirit to lift vp our prayers and to say Remember not Lord our offences nor the offences of our forefathers neither take thou vengeance of our sinnes Spare vs good Lord spare the people whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious bloud and be not angry with vs for euer Spare vs good Lord. §. 35. the third inference Thirdly Since not onely our fathers sinnes and our owne but our Neighbours sinnes too aliquid malum propter vicinum malum but especially the sinnes of Princes and Gouernours a Morat 1. Episâ— 2. delirant reges plectuntur Achiui may bring iudgements vpon vs and enwrap vs in their punishments it should teach euery one of vs to seeke his owne priuate in the common and publike good and to endeauour if but for our owne security from punishment to awaken other from their security in sinne How should wee send vp b â— Tim. 2.1 2. supplications and prayers and intercessions for Kings and for all that are in authority that God would encline their hearts vnto righteous courses and open their eares to wholesome counsells and strengthen their hands to just actions when but a sinfull ouersight in one of them may proue the ouerthrow of many thousands of vs as Dauid but by once numbring his people in the pride of his heart lessened their number at one clap c 2 Sam. 24.15 threescore and ten thousand If d Ios. â—8 10.25 Israel turne their backs vpon their enemies vp Iosuah and make search for the troubler of Israel firret out the thiefe and doe execution vpon him one Achan if but suffered is able to vndoe the whole hoast of Israel what mischiefe might he do if countenanced if allowed The houre I see hath ouertaken me and I must end To wrappe vp all in a word then and conclude Thou that hast power ouer others suffer no sin in them by base conniuence but punish it thou that hast charge of others suffer no sin in them by dull silence but rebuke it thou that hast any interest in or dealing with others suffer no sinne vpon them by easie allowance but distast it thou that hast nothing else yet by thy charitable prayers for them and by constant example to them stop the course of sin in others further the growth of grace in others labour by all meanes as much as in thee lyeth to draw others vnto God lest their sinnes draw Gods iudgements vpon themselues and thee This that thou mayst doe and that I may do and that euery one of vs that feareth God and wisheth well to the Israel of God may doe faithfully and discreetely in our seuerall stations and callings let vs all humbly beseech the Lord the God of all grace and wisedome for his Sonne Iesus sake by his holy spirit to enable vs. To which blessed Trinity one only wise immortall inuisible almighty most gracious and most glorious Lord and God be ascribed by euery one of vs the kingdome the power and the glory both now and for euer Amen THE FOVRTH SERMON In S. Pauls Church London 4. Nov. 1621. 1. COR. 7.24 Brethren let euery man wherein he is called therein abide with God IF flesh and bloud be suffered to make the Glosse §. 1. The Occasion and scope of the Text. it is able to corrupt a right good Text. It easily turneth the doctrine of Gods grace into a Iude 4. wantonnesse and as easily the doctrine of Christian libertie into licenciousnesse These Corinthians being yet but b 1. Cor. 3.1.3.4 Carnall for the point of Liberty consulted it seemeth but too much with this cursed glosse Which taught them to interpret their Calling to the Christian faith as an Exemption
the inconsiderate forwardnes of some hath made it to my hand You may reade it in the disfigured windowes and wals of this Church Pictures and Statua's and Images and for their sakes the windowes and walles wherein they stood haue been heretofore and of late pulled downe and broken in pieces and defaced without the Command or so much as leaue of those who haue power to reforme things amisse in that kind Charitie bindeth vs to thinke the best of those that haue done it that is that they did it out of a forward though mis-gouerned zeale intending therein Gods glory in the farther suppression of Idolatry by taking away these as they supposed likely occasions of it Now in such a case as this the Question is whether the intention of such an end can iustifie such a deed And the fact of a Numb 25.7 8 Phinehes Numb 25. who for a much like end for the staying of the people from Idolatrie executed vengeance vpon Zimri Cosbi being but a priuate man and no Magistrate seemeth to make for it But my Text ruleth it otherwise §. 29. Resolued from the rule of my Text. If it be euill it is not to bee done no not for the preuenting of Idolatry I passe by some considerations otherwise of good moment as namely first whether Statua's and Pictures may not be permitted in Christian Churches for the adorning of Gods House and for ciuill and historicall vses not only lawfully and decently but euen profitably I must confesse I neuer yet heard substantiall reason giuen why they might not at the least so long as there is no apparant danger of superstition And secondly whether things either in their first erection or by succeeding abuse superstitious may not bee profitably continued if the Superstition be abolished Otherwise not Pictures only and Crosses and Images but most of our Hospitals and Schooles and Colledges and Churches too must downe and so the hatred of Idolatrie should but Vsher in licentious Sacriledge contrary to that passage of our Apostle in the next Chapter before this a Rom. 2.22 Thou that abhorrest Idols committest thou Sacriledge And thirdly whether these forward ones haue not bewrayed somewhat their owne selfe-guiltinesse in this Act at least for the manner of it in doing it secretly and in the dark A man should not dare to do that which he would not willingly either bee seene when it is a doing or owne being done To passe by these consider no more but this one thing onely into what dangerous and vnsufferable absurdities a man might run if hee should but follow these mens grounds Erranti nullus terminus Errour knoweth no stay and a false Principle once receiued multiplieth into a b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist. li. 1 Phys. tec. 22. thousand absurd conclusions It is good for men to goe vpon sure grounds else they may runne and wander in infinitum A little errour at the first if there bee way giuen to it will increase beyond beliefe as a small sparke may fire a large City and a c 3. King 18.44 45. cloud no bigger than a mans hand in short space ouerspread the face of the whole Heauens For grant for the suppression of Idolatrie in case the Magistrate will not doe his office that it is lawfull for a priuate man to take vpon him to reforme what he thinketh amisse and to doe the part and Office of a Magistrate which must needs haue been their ground if they had any for this action there can be no sufficient cause giuen why by the same reason and vpon the same grounds a priuate man may not take vpon him to establish Lawes raise Powers administer Iustice execute Malefactors or doe any other thing the Magistrate should doe in case the Magistrate slacke to do his duty in any of the premises Which if it were once granted as granted it must bee if these mens fact bee iustifiable euery wise man seeth the end could bee no other but vast Anarchie and confusion both in Church and Commonweale whereupon must vnauoidably follow the speedy subuersion both of Religion and State If things be amisse and the Magistrate helpe it not priuate men may lament it and as occasion serueth and their condition and calling permitteth soberly and discreetly put the Magistrate in minde of it But they may not make themselues Magistrates to reforme it §. 30. The example of Phinehes examined And as to the act of Phinehes though I rather thinke he did yet what if he did not well in so doing It is a thing we are not certaine of and wee must haue certainer grounds for what we do than vncertaine examples Secondly what if Phinehes had the Magistrates authoritie to enable him to that attempt It is not altogether improbable to my apprehension from the fifth verse of the chapter where the Story is laid downe Numb 25.5 especially paralleld with another Story of much like circumstances Exod. 32.27 that as there the Leuites so here Phinehes drew the sword in execution of the expresse command of Moses the supreme Magistrate If neither thus nor so yet thirdly which cutteth off all plea and is the most common answere ordinarily giuen by Diuines to this and the like instances drawne from some singular actions of Gods Worthies Men of Heroicall spirits and gifts such as were Dauid Samson Ehud Moses Elias and some others especially at such times as they were employed in some speciall seruice for the good of Gods Church were exempt from the common rules of life and did many things as we are to presume not without the a Nec Samson aliter excusatur quòd seipsum cum hostibus ruinâ domus oppressit nisi quò latenter Spiritus Sanctus hoc iusserat qui per illum miracula faciebat Aug. l. 1. de ciu Dei ca. 21. Si defenditur non fuisse peccatum priuatum habuisse Consilium indubiâ—anter credendus est Bern. de praec dispensat secret motion and direction of Gods holy and powerful Spirit which were therefore good in them that secret direction being to them loco specialis mandati like that to b Gen. 22.2 Abraham for sacrificing his sonne but not safe or lawfull for vs to imitate Opera liberi spiritus c Chytr in Gen. 14. in Exod. 32. say Diuines non sunt exigenda ad regulas communes nec trahenda in exemplum vitae The extraordinary Heroicall Acts of Gods Worthies are not to be measured by the common rules of life nor to become exemplary vnto others Of which nature was d 1. Sam. 17. Davids single combate with Goliah and e Iudg. 16.30 Samsons pulling downe the house vpon himselfe and the Philistines and f Exod. 2.12 Moses slaying the Egyptian and g Iudg. 3.15 c. Ehuds stabbing of King Eglon and h 4. King 1.10.12 Eliahs calling downe for fire from Heauen vpon the Captaines and their fifties and diuers others recorded in Scripture Of
facilitate the exercise of any of the former graces dispositions or habits such as are health strength beauty and all those other Bonae Corporis as also Bona fortunae Honour Wealth Nobility Reputation and the rest All of these euen those among them which seeme most of all to haue their foundation in Nature or perfection from Art may in some sort bee called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spirituall gifts in as much as the spirit of God is the first and principall worker of them Nature Art Industrie and all other subsidiary furtherances being but second Agents vnder him and as meanes ordained or as instruments vsed by him for the accomplishing of those ends he hath appointed §. 12. Inferences hence The first And now haue wee found out the iust latitude of the spirituall gifts spoken of in this Chapter and of the manifestation of the spirit in my Text. From whence not to passe without some obseruable inferences for our Edification Wee may here first behold and admire and magnifie the singular loue and care and prouidence of God for and ouer his Church For the building vp whereof hee hath not only furnished it with fit materials men endowed with the faculties of vnderstanding reason will memory affections nor only lent them tooles out of his owne rich store-house his holy Word and sacred Ordinances but as sometimes hee filled a Exod. 35.30 c. Bezaleel and Aholiab with skill and wisedome for the building of the materiall Tabernacle so he hath also from time to time raysed vp seruiceable men and enabled them with a large measure of all needfull gifts and graces to set forward the building and to giue it both strength and beauty A Body if it had not difference and variety of members were rather a lumpe than a body or if hauing such members there were yet no vitall spirits within to enable them to their proper offices it were rather a Corps than a Body but the vigour that is in euery part to doe its office is a certaing euidence and manifestation of a spirit of life within and that maketh it a liuing Organicall body So those actiue gifts graces and abilities which are to be found in the members of the mysticall body of Christ I know not whether of greater variety or vse are a strong manifestation that there is a powerfull Spirit of God within that knitteth the the whole body together and worketh all in all and all in euery part of the body §. 13. The second Secondly though wee haue iust cause to lay it to heart when men of eminent gifts and place in the Church are taken from vs and to lament in theirs our owne and the Churches losse yet wee should possesse our soules in patience and sustaine our selues with this comfort that it is the same God that still hath care ouer his Church and it is the same Head Iesus Christ that still hath influence into his members and it is the same blessed Spirit of God and of Christ that still actuateth and animateth this great mysticall Body And therefore wee may not doubt but this Spirit as he hath hitherto done from the beginning so will still manifest himselfe from time to time vnto the end of the world in raising vp instruments for the seruice of his Church and furnishing them with gifts in some good measure meete for the same more or lesse according as he shall see it expedient for her in her seuerall different estates and conditions giuing a Eph. 4.11 13 some Apostles and some Prophets and some Euangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the worke of the Ministerie for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all meete in the vnitie of the Faith and of the knowledge of the Sonne of God vnto a perfect man vnto the measure of the stature of the fulnes of Christ. He hath promised long since who was neuer yet touched with breach of promise that he would b Matth. 28.20 be with his Apostles and their successours alwaies vnto the end of the world §. 14. The third Thirdly where the Spirit of God hath manifested it selfe to any man by the distribution of gifts it is but reason that man should manifest the Spirit that is in him by exercising those gifts in some lawfull Calling And so this manifestation of the Spirit in my text imposeth vpon euery man the Necessity of a Calling Our Apostle in the seuenth of this Epistle ioyneth these two together a Gift and a Calling as things that may not be seuered a 1. Cor. 7.17 As God hath distributed to euery man as the Lord hath called euerie one Where the end of a thing is the vse there the difference cannot be great whether we abuse it or but conceale it The b Math. 25.30 vnprofitable seruant that wrapped vp his Masters talent in a napkin could not haue receiued a much heauier doome had he mispent it O then vp and be doing c Math. 20.6 why stand you all the day idle Doe not say because you heard no voyce that therefore no man hath called you those very gifts you haue receiued are a Reall Call pursuing you with continuall restlesse importunitie till you haue disposed your selues in some honest course of life or other wherein you may be profitable to humane societie by the exercising of some or other of those gifts All the members of the Body haue their proper and distinct offices according as they haue their proper and distinct faculties and from those offices they haue also their proper and distinct names As then in the Body that is indeed no member which cannot call it selfe by any other name than by the common name of a member so in the Church he that cannot stile himselfe by any other name than a Christian doth indeed but vsurp that too If thou sayest thou art of the body I demand then What is thy office in the body If thou hast no office in the body then thou art at the best but Tumor praeter naturam as Physitians call them a scab or botch or wenne or some other monstrous and vnnaturall exerescency vpon the body but certainely thou art no true part and member of the body And if thou art no part of the body how darest thou make challenge to the head by mis-calling thy selfe Christian If thou hast a Gift get a Calling §. 15. The fourth Fourthly we of the Clergy though wee may not ingrosse the Spirit vnto our selues as if none were spirituall persons but oue selues yet the voyce of the World hath long giuen vs the Name of the Spiritualtie after a peculiar sort as if we were spirituall persons in some different singular respect from other men And that not altogether without ground both for the name and thing The very name seemeth to be thus vsed by Saint Paul in the 14. Chapter following where at vers 37 he maketh a Prophet
and a Spirituall man all one and by prophecying in that whole Chapter hee meaneth Preaching a 1. Cor. 14.37 If any man thinke himselfe to be a Prophet either spirituall let him acknowledge c. But howsoeuer it be for the title the thing it selfe hath very sufficient ground from that forme of speech which was vsed by our blessed Sauiour when hee conferred the Ministeriall power vpon his Disciples and is still vsed in our Church at the collation of Holy Orders b Ioh. 20.22 Accipite spiritum sanctum Receiue the holy Ghost Since then at our admission into holy Orders wee receiue a spirituall power by the imposition of hands which others haue not wee may thenceforth be iustly stiled spirituall persons The thing for which I note it is that wee should therefore endeauour our selues c 2. Tim. 1.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so to stir vp those spirituall gifts that are in vs as that by the eminencie thereof aboue that which is in ordinary temporall men we may shew our selues to be indeed what wee are in name spirituall persons If we be of the Spiritualtie there would be in vs another gates manifestation of the Spirit than is ordinarily to be found in the Temporaltie God forbid I should censure all them for intruders into the Ministery that are not gifted for the Pulpit The seuerest censurers of Non-preaching Ministers if they had liued in the beginning of the Reformation must haue been content as the times then stood to haue admitted of some thousands of non-preaching Ministers or else haue denied many Parishes and Congregations in England the benefit of so much as bare reading And I take this to bee a safe Rule Whatsoeuer thing the helpe of any circumstances can make lawfull at any time that thing may not be condemned as vniuersally and de toto genere vnlawfull I iudge no mans conscience then or calling who is in the Ministery be his gifts neuer so slender I dare not denie him the benefit of his Clergie if he can but reade if his owne heart condemne him not neither doe I. But yet this I say As the Times now are wherein learning aboundeth euen vnto wantonnesse and wherein the world is full of questions and controuersies and nouelties and niceties in Religion and wherein most of our Gentrie very women and all by the aduantage of long Peace and the custome of moderne education together with the helpe of a multitude of English books and translations are able to look through the ignorance of a Clergy-man and censure it if he bee tripping in any point of Historie Cosmography Morall or Natural Philosophy Diuinity or the Artes yea and to chastice his very method and phrase if hee speake loosely or impertinently or but improperly and if euery thing bee not point-vise I say as these times are I would not haue a Clergie-man content himselfe with euery mediocritie of gifts but by his prayers care and industrie improue those he hath so as he may be able vpon good occasion to d Rom. 1.11 import a spirituall gift to the people of God whereby they may be established and to speake with such vnderstanding and sufficiencie and pertinencie especially when he hath iust warning and a conuenient time to prepare himselfe in some good measure of proportion to the quicknesse and ripenesse of these present times as that they that loue not his coate may yet approue his labours and not find any thing therein whereat iustly to quarrell e Tit. 2.7 8. Shewing in his doctrine as our Apostle writeth to Titus vncorruptnesse grauitie seueritie sound speech that cannot be condemned that he that is of the contrarie part may be ashamed hauing no euill thing to say of him They that are called spirituall persons should striue to answer that name by a more than ordinary manifestation of spiritual gifts And thus much shall suffice vs to haue spoken concerning the name and nature of these spiritual gifts by occasion of the title here giuen them The manifestation of the Spirit Consider we next and in the second place the conueyance of these gifts ouer vnto vs §. 16. The conueyance of these spirituall graces vnto vs how wee come to haue propertie in them and by what right we can call them ours The Conueyance is by deed of gift the manifestation of the Spirit is giuen to euery man Vnderstand it not to be so much intended here that euery particular man hath the manifestation of the Spirit though that may also bee true in some sense as that euery man that hath the manifestation of the Spirit hath it giuen him and giuen him withal to this end that he may do good with it Like as when we say Euery man learneth to reade before he learne to write it is no part of our meaning to signifie each particular person so to doe for there be many that learne neither of both but wee onely entend to shew the receiued order of the things to be such as that euery man that learneth both learneth that first As wee conceiue his meaning who directing vs the way to such or such a place should tell vs Euery man rideth this way and as wee conceiue of that speech of the Ruler of the Feast in the Gospell a Ioh. 2.10 Euery man at the beginning setteth forth good Wine and then after that which is worse though there be many thousand men in the world that neuer rode that way or had occasion to set forth any Wine at all either better or worse very so ought we to conceiue the meaning of the vniuersall particle Euery man both in this and in many other like speeches in the Scriptures with b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 restringendum est ad praesentem hypothesin Piscat schol in Luc. 20.38 Instances see Ioh. 1.7 Rom. 5.18 c. due limitations according to the tenor and purpose of the thing spoken of It mattereth not then as to the intent of this present speech be it true be it false otherwise whether euery man haue receiued a spiritual gift or no only thus much is directly intended that c Vnicuique datur intellige Vnicuique cum datur Piscat in Schol. hîc euery man who hath receiued such a gift hath receiued it by way of gift All spirituall graces all those dispositions habits and abilities of the vnderstanding part from which the Church of God may receiue edification in any kind together with all the secondary and inferiour helpes that any way conduce thereunto they are all the good gifts of God The manifestation of the Spirit is giuen to euery man §. 17. is by way of gift The variety both of the gifts meete for seuerall offices and of the offices wherein to employ those gifts is wonderfull and no lesse wonderfull the distribution of both gifts and offices But all that a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys. in 1. Cor. hom 29 varietie is deriued from one and the
communicating his spirit vnto thee If thou shinest as a starre in the firmament of the Church whether of a greater or lesser magnitude as c 1 Cor. 15.41 one starre differeth from another in glory remember thou shinest but by a borrowed light from him who is d Iam. 1.17 Pater luminum the Father and fountaine of all lights as the Sunne in the firmament from whom descendeth euery good gift and euery perfect giuing Whatsoeuer Grace thou hast it is giuen thee therefore be thankfull to the Giuer But if thou wantest any grace §. 20. 2. of Prayer for those wee want or measure of grace which seemeth needfull for thee in that station and calling wherein God hath set thee here is a second direction for thee where to seeke it euen from his hands who alone can giue it a Iam. 1.5 If any man lacke wisedome saith S. Iames let him aske of God that giueth to all men liberally and it shall bee giuen him A large and liberall promise but yet a promise most certaine and full of comfortable assurance prouided it be vnderstood aright viz. with these two necessarie Limitations if God shall see it expedient and if he pray for it as hee ought Thou mayst pray with an humble and vpright affection and put to thy best endeauours withall and yet not obtaine the gift thou prayest for because being a common Grace and not of absolute necessitie for saluation it may bee in the wisedome of God who best knoweth what is best and when not expedient for thee or not for his Church at that time and in that manner or measure Necessarie Graces such as are those of sanctification pray for them absolutely and thou shalt absolutely receiue them there needeth no conditionall clause of Expediencie in thy prayers for them because they can neuer bee inexpedient But these may and therefore as thou oughtest not to pray for them but with all subiection of thy desires to his most holy and most wise appointments so thou oughtest to take a denyall from him not only contentedly but euen thankfully as a gracious fruite of his loue vnto thee and a certaine signe of the inexpediency of the thing desired §. 21. ioyning euer thereunto But if it be expedient it will not yet come for asking vnlesse it bee asked aright a Iam. 1.6.7 But let him pray in faith saith S. Iames Who so doth not let not that man thinke to receiue any thing of the Lord. Now that man only prayeth in Faith who looketh to receiue the thing he prayeth for vpon such termes as God hath promised to giue it for Faith euer looketh to the Promise And God hath not made vs any Promise of the End other than conditionall viz. vpon our conscionable vse of the appointed meanes And the meanes which hee hath ordained both for the obtaining and the improuing of spirituall Gifts are study and industry and diligent meditation Wee must not now looke as in the infancy of the Church to haue the teats put into our mouthes and to receiue spirituall graces by immediate infusion That Manna as b Hoskins Serm. on Luk. 12.48 one saith was for the Wildernesse But now the Church is possessed of the Land and growne to yeares of better strength wee must plow and sowe and eate of the fruit of the Land in the sweate of our faces and now hee that c 2 Thess. 3.10 will not labour he may thanke himselfe if hee haue not to eate Hee prayeth but with an ouerly desire and not from the deepe of his heart that will not bend his endeauours withall to obtaine what he desireth of rather indeed hee prayeth not at all You may call it wishing and woulding and we haue Prouerbs against wishers and woulders rather than Praying Salomon accounteth the idle mans prayer no better and it thriueth accordingly with him d Prou. 13.4 The saule of the sluggard lusteth and hath nothing Prou. 13. To make all sure then here is your course §. 22. Our owne faithfull Endeauours Wrestle with God by your seruent prayers and wrestle with him too by your faithfull endeuours and hee will not for his Goodnesse sake and for his Promise sake he cannot dismisse you without a blessing But omit either and the other is lost labour Prayer without study is Presumption and study without Prayer Atheisme the one bootlesse the other fruitlesse You take your bookes in vaine into your hands if you turne them ouer and neuer looke higher and you take Gods name in vaine within your lips if you cry Da Domine and neuer stirre farther The Ship is then like to be steered with best certaintie and successe when there is Oculus ad coelum manus ad olauum when the Pilot is carefull of both to haue his eye vpon the Compasse and his hand at the Sterne Remember these abilities you pray or study for are the Gifts of God and as not to bee had ordinarily without labour for God is a God of order and worketh not ordinarily but by ordinary meanes so not to bee had meerely for the labour for then should it not be so much a Gift as a Purchase It was Simon Magus his errour to thinke that a Act. 8.20 the gift of God might be purchased with money and it hath a spice of his sinne and so may goe for a kinde of simony for a man to thinke these spirituall gifts of God may be purchased with labour You may rise vp early and goe to bed late and studie hard and reade much and deuoure the fat and the marrow of the best Authors and when you haue all done vnlesse God giue a blessing vnto your endeuours be as thin and meagre in regard of true and vsefull learning as Pharaohs b Gen. 41.21 leaue kine were after they had eaten the fat ones It is God c 2 Cor. 9.10 that both ministreth seed to the sower and multiplyeth the seed sowen the Principall and the Increase are both his If then wee expect any gift or the increase of any gift from him neither of which we can haue without him let vs not bee behinde either with our best endeuours to vse the meanes hee hath appointed or with our faithfull prayers to craue his blessing vpon those meanes These Instructions are generall and concerne vs all whatsoeuer our Gifts be §. 23. Speciall Inferences to those of more eminent Gifts 1. Not to be proud of them I must now turne my speech more particularly to you to whom God hath vouchsafed the manifestation of his Spirit in a larger proportion than vnto many of your brethren giuing vnto you as vnto his first borne a a Deut. 21.17 double portion of his Spirit as b 4 King 2.9 Elisha had of Eliah's or perhaps dealing with you yet more liberally as Ioseph did with Beniamin whose messe though he were the youngest hee appointed to bee c Gen. 43.34 fiue times as much as
not any honest Minister that will pleade for him But since there is no incapacitie in a Clergy-man by reason of his spirituall Calling but he may exercise temporall Power if hee be called to it by his Prince as well as he may enioy temporall Land if he bee heire to it from his Father I see not but it behooueth vs all if we be good Subiects and sober Christians to pray that such as haue the power of Iudicature more or lesse in any kinde or degree committed vnto them may exercise that power wherewith they are entrusted with zeale and prudence and equitie rather than out of enuy at the preferment of a Church-man take vpon vs little lesse than to quarrell the discretion of our Soueraignes Phinehes though he could not challenge to execute iudgement by vertue of his Priesthood yet his Priesthood disabled him not from executing iudgement §. 14. Phinehes his fact examined That for the Person Followeth his Action and that twofold Hee stood vp Hee executed iudgement Of the former first which though I call it an Action yet is indeed a Gesture properly and not an Action But being no necessitie to binde me to strict proprietie of speech be it Action or Gesture or what else you will call it the circumstance and phrase since it seemeth to import some materiall thing may not be passed ouer without some consideration Then stood vp Phinehes Which clause may denote vnto vs eyther that extraordinary spirit whereby Phinehes was moued to doe iudgement vpon those shamelesse offenders or that forwardnesse of zeale in the heate whereof he did it or both Phinehes was indeed the High Priests sonne as we heard but yet a priuate man and no ordinarie Magistrate and what had anie priuate man to doe to draw the sword of iustice or but to sentence a malefactor to dye Or say he had been a Magistrate he ought yet to haue proceeded in a legall and iudiciall course to haue conuented the parties and when they had beene conuicted in a faire triall and by sufficient witnesse then to haue adiudged them according to the Law and not to haue come suddenly vpon them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they were acting their villanie and thrust them thorow vncondemned I haue a Serm. 2. ad Cler. § 30. elsewhere deliuered it as a collection not altogether improbable from the circumstances of the originall storie that Phinehes had warrant for this execution from the expresse command of Moses the supreme Magistrate and namely by vertue of that Proclamation whereby he authorized the b Num. 25.5 vnder-Rulers to slay euerie one his men that were ioyned vnto Baal-Peor Num. 25.5 And I since finde that coniecture confirmed by the iudgement of some learned men insomuch as an eminent Writer in our Church saith that c Hall 7. Contempl 4. by vertue of that Commission euerie Israelite was made a Magistrate for this execution But looking more neerly into the Text and considering that the Commission Moses there gaue was first onely to the Rulers and so could bee no warrant for Phinehes vnlesse hee were such a Ruler which appeareth not and secondly concerned onely those men that were vnder their seuerall gouernments and so was too short to reach Zimri who being himselfe a Prince and that of another Tribe too the Tribe of d Num. 25.14 Simeon could not be vnder the gouernement of Phinehes who was of the Tribe of Leui how probable soeuer that other collection may be yet I hold it the safer resolution which is commonly giuen by Diuines for the iustification of this fact of Phinehes that he had an extraordinarie notion and a peculiar secret instinct of the Spirit of God powerfully working in him and prompting him to this Heroicall Act. §. 15. and iustified Certainly God will not approue that worke which himselfe hath not wrought But to this Action of Phinehes God hath giuen large approbation both by staying the plague thereupon and by rewarding Phinehes with an a Num. 2◠12.13 euerlasting Priesthood therefore and by giuing expresse testimonie of his zeale and righteousnesse therein as it is said in the next verse after my Text b Psal. 106.31 And it was accounted to him for righteousnesse Which words in the iudgement of learned Expositours are not to bee vnderstood barely of the righteousnesse of Faith as it is said of Abraham that c Gen. 15.6 applied by Saint Paul Rom. 4.3 he beleeued God and it was imputed to him for righteousnesse as if the zeale of Phinehes in this act had beene a good euidence of that faith in Gods promises whereby he was iustified and his Person accepted with God though that also but they doe withall import the iustification of the Action at least thus farre that how soeuer measured by the common rules of life it might seeme an vniust action and a rash attempt at the least if not an haynous murder as being done by a priuate man without the warrant of authoritie yet was it indeed not onely in regard of the intent a zealous action as done for the honour of God but also for the ground and warrant of it as done by the speciall secret direction of Gods holy Spirit a iust and a righteous action Possibly this very word of standing vp importeth that extraordinary spirit For of those Worthies whom God at seuerall times endowed with Heroicall spirits to attempt some speciall worke for the deliuery of his Church the Scriptures vse to speake in words and phrases much like this It is often said in the booke of Iudges that God d Iud. 3.9.15 c. 2.16.18 raised vp such and such to iudge Israel and that Deborah and Iair and others e Iud. 5.7 10.1.3 c. rose vp to defend Israel that is f Iud. 3.10 the Spirit of God came vpon them as is said of Othoniel Iudg. 3. and by a secret but powerfull instinct put them vpon those braue and noble attempts they vndertooke and effected for the good of his Church Raysed by the impulsion of that powerfull spirit which g Nescit tarda molimina spiritus Sancti gratia Ambros. 2. in Luc. 3. admitteth no slow debatements Phinehes standeth vp and feeling himselfe called not to deliberate but act without casting of scruples or fore-casting of dangers or expecting commission from men when hee had his warrant sealed within he taketh his weapon dispatcheth his errant and leaueth the euent to the prouidence of God §. 16. yet not to be imitated Let no man now vnlesse hee be able to demonstrate Phinehes spirit presume to imitate his fact Those Opera liberi spiritus as Diuines call them as they proceeded from an extraordinary spirit so they were done for speciall purposes but were neuer intended either by God that inspired them or by those Worthies that did them for ordinary or generall examples The errour is dangerous from the priuiledged examples of some few exempted ones to take
quality of particular persons b Vers. 7. hic Alius sic alius verò sic Euery man hath his proper gift of God one man on this manner another on that Here is c Ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some called to be Magistrates some Ministers some Merchants some Artificers some one thing some another as to their particular Callings But as to the Generall Calling there is d Iude. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the common Saluation all called to the same State of being the seruants and children of God all called to the performance of the same duties of seruants and to the expectation of the same inheritance of children all called to be Christians Of both which Callings the Generall and Particular there is not I take it any where in Scripture mention made so expresly and together as in this passage of our Apostle especially at the 20. verse Let euery man abide in the same calling wherein he was called Where besides the matter the Apostles elegancy is obserueable in vsing the same word in e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Piscat hîc both significations the Nowne signifying the Particular and the Verbe the Generall Calling Let euery one abide in the same calling wherein he was called bearing sense as if the Apostle had sayd Let euery man abide in the same Particular Calling wherein hee stood at the time of his Generall Calling And the same and no other is the meaning of the words of my Text. §. 5. A Particular Calling Whence it appeareth that the Calling my Text implieth and wherein euery man is here exhorted to abide is to be vnderstood of the Particular and not of the Generall Calling And of this Particular Calling it is we now intend to speake And that in the more Proper and restrained significatition of it as it importeth some settled course of life with reference to businesse office and employment accordingly as we say a man is called to be a Minister called to be a Lawyer called to be a Tradesman and the like Although I cannot be ignorant that our Apostle as the streame of his Argument carryed him here taketh the word in a much wider extent as including not only such speciall courses of life as refer to imployment but euen all outward parsonall states and conditions of men whatsoeuer whether they haue such referencce or no as we may say a man is called to Marriage or to single life called to riches or pouerty and the like But omitting this larger signification §. 6. Necessary for all men wee will hold our selues either onely or principally to the former and by Calling vnderstand a speciall setled course of life wherein mainly to employ a mans gifts and time for his owne and the common good The Necessity wherof whilest we mention you are to imagine not an absolute and positiue but a conditionall and suppositiue necessity Not as if no man could be without one de facto daily experience in these dissolute times manifesteth the contrary but because de jure no man should be without one This kind of Calling is indeede necessary for all men But how Not as a necessary thing ratione termini so as the want thereof would be an absolute impossibility but virtute praecepti as a necessary duty the neglect whereof would be a grieuous and sinfull enormitie He that will doe that which he ought and is in conscience bound to doe must of necessity liue in some Calling or other That is it we meane by the Necessity of a Calling And this Necessity we are now to proue And that First from the Obedience we owe to euery of Gods Ordinances §. 7. in respect 1. of the Ordinance and the Account wee must render for euery of Gods Gifts Amongst those ordinances this is one and one of the first that a Gen. 3.19 in the sweate of our faces euery man of vs should eate our bread Gen. 3. The force of which Precept let none thinke to auoyde by a quirke that forsooth it was layed vpon Adam after his transgression rather as a Curse which he must endure than as a Duty which he should performe For first as some of Gods Curses such is his goodnesse are Promises as well as Curses as is that of the b Gen. 3.15 Enmity betweene the Womans seede and the Serpents so some of Gods Curses such is his Iustice are Precepts as well as Curses as is that of the c Gen. 3.16 Eph. 5.22 Col. 3.18 1. Tim. 2.11 c. Womans subjection to the Man This of eating our bread in the sweate of our face is all the three it is a Curse it is a Promise it is a Precept It is a Curse in that God will not suffer the Earth to affoord vs bread without our sweate It is a Promise in that God assureth vs wee shall haue bread for our sweate And it is a Precept too in that God enioyneth vs if wee will haue bread to sweate for it Secondly although it may not be gainsayed but that that injunction to Adam was giuen as a Curse yet the substance of the injunction was not the thing wherein the Curse did formally consist Herein was the Curse that whereas before the fall the taske which God appointed man was with d Non erat laboris afflictio sed exhilaratio voluntatis Augustin 8. de Gen. ad lit 8. non labore seruili sed honestâ animi voluptate Ibid. c. 9. pleasure of body and content of mind without sweate of brow or brayne now after the fall he was to toyle and forecast for his liuing with e Sore trauell Eccl. 1.13 Great trauell and a heauy yoake Sirac 40.1 care of mind and trauell of body with * Eccl 12.12 wearinesse of flesh and e Eccl. 1.14.17 vexation of spirit But as for the substance of the injunction which is that euery man should haue somewhat to doe wherein to bestow himselfe and his time and his gifts and whereby to earne his bread in this it appeareth not to haue bin a Curse but a Precept of diuine institution that Adam in the time and state of Innocency before he had deserued a Curse was yet enjoyned his taske f Gen. 2.15 to dresse and to keepe the garden And as Adam liued himselfe so he bred vp his children His two first borne though heires apparant of all the world had yet their peculiar employments the one in g Gen. 4.2 tillage the other in pasturage And as many since as haue walked orderly haue obserued Gods Ordinance herein h Eph. 4.28 working with their hands the thing that is good in some kind or other those that haue set themselues in no such good way our Apostle elsewhere justly blaming as i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Thes. 3.6.11 inordinate or disorderly walkers And how can such disorderly ones hope to finde approueance in the sight of our God who is a God of order He
Doctors and his Proctors and his Aduocates leaue him For can it possibly enter into any reasonable mans head to thinke that a man should be borne for nothing else but to tell out money and take in paper which if a man had manie millions of gold and siluer could take vp but a small portion of that precious time which God would haue spent in some honest and fruitfull emploiment But what doe I speake of the iudgement of reasonable men in so plaine a matter wherein I dare appeale to the conscience euen of the Vsurer himselfe and it had neede bee a very plaine matter that a man would referre to the conscience of an Vsurer No honest man neede be c Pernagatissimus ille versus qui vetat Artem pudere proloqui quam fâ—ctites Cic. in Orator ashamed of an honest Calling if then the Vsurers Calling be such what need hee care who knoweth it or why should he shame with it If that be his trade why doth hee not in his Bills and Bonds and Nouerints make it knowne to all men by those presents that he is an Vsurer rather than write himselfe Gentleman or Yeoman or by some other stile But say yet our Vsurer should escape at least in the iudgement of his owne hardened conscience from both these Rules as from the sword of Iehu and Hazael there is yet a third Rule like the sword of Elisha to strike him stond dead and he shall neuer be able to escape that Let him shew wherein his Calling is profitable to humane society Hee keepeth no hospitalitie if he haue but a barr'd chest a strong lock to keepe his god and his scriptures his Mammon and his Parchments in hee hath house-roome enough He fleeceth many but cloatheth none He biteth and deuoureth but eateth all his morsels alone He giueth not so much as a crumme no not to his dearest Broker or Scriuener onely where he biteth he alloweth them to scratch what they can for themselues The King the Church the Poore are all wronged by him and so are all that liue neere him in euery common charge hee slippeth the collar and leaueth the burden vpon those that are lesse able It were not possible Vsurers should be so bitterly inueighed against by sober heathen Writers so seuerely censured by the Ciuill and Canon Lawes so vniformly condemned by godly Fathers and Councells so vniuersally d Ier. 15.10 hated by all men of all sorts and in all ages and countries as Histories and experience manifest they euer haue been and are if their Practice and Calling had been any way profitable and not indeed euery way hurtfull and incommodious both to priuate men and publike societies If anie thing can make a Calling vnlawfull certainly the Vsurers Calling cannot be lawfull §. 32. Enquiries concerning our selues Our first care past which concerneth the Calling it selfe our next care in our choyce must be to enquire into Our selues what Calling is most fit for vs and wee for it Wherein our Enquirie must rest especially vpon three things our Inclination our Gifts and our Education Concerning which let this be the first Rule Where these three concurre vpon one and the same Calling our consciences may rest assured that that Calling is fit for vs and we ought so farre as it lieth in our power to resolue to follow that This Rule if wel obserued is of singular vse for the settling of their consciences who are scrupulous doubtfull concerning their inward Calling to anie office or imployment Diuines teach it commonly and that truly that euerie man should haue an inward Calling from God for his particular course of life and this in the calling of the Ministerie is by so much more requisite than in most other callings by how much the businesse of it is more weighty than theirs as of things more immediately belonging vnto God Whence it is that in our Church none are admitted into holy Orders vntill they haue personally and expresly made profession before the Bishop that they find themselues a Book of ordering c. inwardly called moued thereunto But because what that inward calling is how it should be discerned is a thing not so distinctly declared and vnderstood generally as it should be it often falleth out that men are distressed in conscience with doubts scruples in this case whilest they desire to bee assured of their inward calling and know not how Wee are to know therefore that to this inward calling there is not of necessity required anie inward secret sensible testimony of Gods blessed sanctifying Spirit to a mans soule for then an vnsanctified man could not be rightly called neither yet any strong working of the Spirit of Illumination for then a meere heathen man could not bee rightly called both which consequents are false For b 1. Sam. 10.24 Saul and c Ioh. 6.70 Iudas were called the one to the Kingdome the other to the Apostleship of whom it is certain the one was not and it is not likely the other was endued with the holy Spirit of Sanctification And many heathen men haue beene called to seuerall emploiments wherein they haue also laboured with much profit to their owne and succeeding times who in all probability neuer had any other inward motion than what might arise from some or all of these three things now specified viz. the Inclination of their nature their personall Abilities and the care of Education If it shall please God to affoord any of vs any farther gracious assurance than these can giue vs by some extraordinarie worke of his Spirit within vs we are to embrace it with ioy and thankfulnesse as a speciall fauour but wee are not to suspend our resolutions for the choice of a course in expectation of that extraordinary assurance since wee may receiue comfortable satisfaction to our soules without it by these ordinary meanes now mentioned For who need be scrupulous where all these concurre Thy parents haue from thy childhood destinated thee to some special course admit the Ministery and beene at the care and charge to breed thee vp in learning to make thee in some measure fit for it when thou art growne to some maturity of yeares and discretion thou findest in thy selfe a kinde of desire to bee doing some thing that way in thy priuate study by way of tryall and withall some measure of knowledge discretion and vtterance though perhaps not in such an eminent degree as thou couldest wish yet in such a competency as thou maist reasonably perswade thy selfe thou mightest thereby be able with his blessing to doe some good to Gods people and not bee altogether vnprofitable in the Ministery In this so happy concurrence of Propension Abilities and Education make no farther enquiry doubt not of thine inward Calling Tender thy selfe to those that haue the power of Admission for thy outward Calling which once obtained thou are certainly in thine owne proper Course Vp and be doing for the
meant it so For taking the word Calling in that extent wherein he treateth of it in this Chapter if that were his meaning he should consequently teach that no single man might marry nor any seruant become free which are apparantly contrary both vnto common Reason and vnto the very purpose of the Chapter But taking the word as we haue hitherto specially intended it and spoken of it for some settled Station and Course of Life whereby a man is to maintaine himselfe or wherein to doe profitable seruice to humane society or both is it yet lawfull for a man to change it or is he bound to abide in it perpetually without any possibilitie or liberty to alter his course vpon any termes I answer it it Lawfull so it be done with due caution It is Lawfull first in subordinate Callings For where a man cannot warrantably climbe vnto an higher but by the steps of an inferiour Calling there must needes be supposed a lawfulnesse of relinquishing the inferiour How should we doe for Generalls for the warres if Coronells and Lieutenants and Captaines and Common Souldiers might not relinquish their charges and how for Bishops in the Church if beneficed men Colledge-Gouernours were clench't and riuetted to their Cures like a naile in a sure place not to be remoued Nay wee should haue no Priests in the Church of England since a Priest must be a Deacon first if a Deacon might not leaue his station and become a Priest But S. Paul saith a 1. Tim. 3.13 they that haue vsed the office of Deacon well purchase to themselues a good degree and so in lower Callings it is that men should giue proofe of their worthinesse for higher It is lawfull secondly yea necessary when the very Calling it selfe though in it selfe good vsefull doth yet by some accident become vnlawfull or vnusefull As when some Manufacture is prohibited by the State or when some more exact deuice of later inuention hath made the old vnprofitable It is lawfull thirdly when a man by some accident becommeth vnable for the dueties of his Calling as by age blindnesse maime decay of estate and sundry other impediments which daily occurre It is lawfull fourthly where there is a want of sufficient men or not a sufficient number of them in some Callings for the necessities of the State and Countrey in such cases Authority may interpose and cull out men from other Callings such as are fit and may bee spâ—red to serue in those Not to braunch out too many particulars it is lawfull generally where either absolute Necessity enforceth it or lawfull Authority enioyneth it or a concurrence of weighty circumstances faithfully and soberly and discreetly laid together seemeth to require it But then it must be done with due cautions §. 46. So it bee done with due cautions As first not out of a desultory lightnesse some men are euer a Nullam mentem animi habeo vbi sum ibi non sum vbi non sum ibi est animus Plaut in Cistel restlesse as if they had Wind-mills in their heads euery new crotchet putteth them into a new course But these rowling stones carry their curse with them they seldome gather mosse and who proue many Conclusions it is a wonder if their last Conclusion proue not Beggary If thou art well b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apud Stob. serm 1. keepe thy selfe well lest thinking to meet with better thou finde worse Nor secondly out of the greedinesse of a couetous or ambitious lust Profit and Credit are things respectiuely amongst other things to be considered both in the choice and change but not principally and aboue all other things certainly not wholly and without or against all other things Thirdly nor out of sullennesse or a discontentednesse at thy present condition Content groweth from the minde not from the condition and therefore change of the Calling the minde vnchanged will either not affoord content or not long Thy new broome that now sweepeth cleane all discontents from thee will soone grow stubbed and leaue as much filth behinde to annoy thee as the old one thou flungest away Either learne with S. Paul in whatsoeuer state c Phil. 4.11 thou art to be there withall content or neuer hope to finde content in whatsoeuer state thou shalt be Much lesse fourthly out of an euill eye against thy neighbour that liueth by thee There is not a baser sinne than enuy nor a fouler marke of enuy than to forsake thine owne trading to iustle thy neighbour out of his Nor fifthly out of degenerous false-heartednesse That man would soone dare to bee euill that dareth not long bee good And he that flincheth from his Calling at the first frowne who can say he will not flinch from his conscience at the next In an vpright course feare not the face of man neither 1 Eccl. 10.4 leaue thy place though the spirit of a Ruler rise vp against thee Patience will coniure downe againe that spirit in time onely if thou keep thy selfe within thy circle But sixthly be sure thou change not if thy Calling bee of that nature that it may not be changed Some degrees of Magistracy seeme to be of that nature and therefore some haue noted it rather as an act of impotency in Charles the fifth than a fruit either of Humility or Wisedome or Deuotion that hee resigned his Crowne to betake himselfe to a Cloister But our Calling of the Ministery is certainely such There may be a change of the station or degree in the Ministery vpon good cause and with due circumstances but yet still so as that the maine Calling it selfe remaine vnchanged This Calling hath in it something that is sacred and singular and different from other Callings As therefore things once dedicated and hallowed to religious seruices were no more to returne to common vses for that were to prophane them ipso facto and to make them vncleane so persons once set apart for the holy worke of the Ministery e Act. 13.2 whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 1.1 separate mee Paul and Barnabas and inuested into their Calling with solemne collation of Ioh. 20.22 the holy Ghost in a speciall manner if any more they returne to be of that lumpe from which they are separated they do as it were puffe the blessed breath of Christ backe into his owne face and renounce their part in the holy Ghost Bethinke thy selfe well therefore before-hand and consider what thou art in doing when thou beginnest to reach forth thine hand towards this spirituall Plow know when it is once there it may not bee pulled backe againe no not for a Dictatorship That man can bee no lesse than disorderly at the least that forsaketh his Orders You see I do but point at things as I goe which would require further enlarging because I desire to haue done This then §. 47. but importeth 1. Contentednesse that we should perseuere in our Callings vntill