bodie nor with our substance He shall have neither our goods nor our knee but likely we put it off He shall have our soul why this is only to give God his thirds as a reverend Father saies to compound like Bankrupts and give him two parts less than we owe him and yet we look for ten thousand times more than He owes us We have some that are to be suspected for a kind of Sadduces among us that believe no resurrection of the body else they would never palter with discipline but be more forward in the prostration and worship of the bodie than the Church could be to command them Some have given a great blow to this duty by harping upon the bare words of S. John and not digesting the true meaning of his Text Joh. iv 23. The hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth Mark the occasion why this was spoken and the words precedent The woman of Samaria moved a doubt whether God was to be worshipped at Jerusalem as the Jews taught or at Mount Girizin as the Samaritans taught Now the Samaritans worshipt God falsely they worshipt they knew not what says Christ The Jews held strictly to Moses Law and observ'd figures and shadows of things to come which were all to give place and vanish upon the incarnation of our Lord. Now it is easie to discern the substance of our Saviours answer what it is to serve God in spirit and truth Truth is opposed to the false superstition of the Samaritans Spirit is opposed to the Jewish figures and sacrifices And Christ tells the woman God will neither be served any more after the Samaritan way or Jewish way but after the newness of the Gospel The hour cometh and now is when ye shall neither worship the Father in this Mountain nor at Jerusalem but they shall worship him in spirit and truth Do these words exempt the worship of the body nothing less The word spirit is not taken there for the soul divided from the body signifying only an internal act of the spirit but for all manner of virtuous actions as well external as internal which proceed from the grace of the Holy Spirit being acceptable to God because the Holy Spirit brings them forth not because they are figures of things to come I will sing with the spirit says St. Paul 1 Cor. xiv 15. and yet singing is a bodily action He did worship in spirit when he said For this cause bow I my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Ephes iii. to come to a point Remember therefore how we adore God in spirit when we adore him with those outward gestures of the body to which we are stirred up by the Spirit of truth And so much of the first member of my Text which I laid out to be handled by it self the Lord God is to be worshipped The next duty is the other Pillar of Religion which upholds the Church of the Elect the Lord God is to be served By worship you know already we understand all humble outward devotion and reverence Now by service you must conceive the inward conformity of the heart to all duty and obedience The will of the Lord is revealed to us two manner of ways Either as he doth promise us blessings and benefits and assures us great rewards in the Kingdom of heaven Or as he doth stipulate and covenant with us what we shall do to obtain his favour In the former respect as he hath given us the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth most liberally and as he doth promise greater fruits of his mercy most graciously we fall down and worship him for his benefits but as he doth condition with us to do somewhat for his sake that he may leave a blessing with us we serve him faithfully and bind our inward faculties our soul and our mind to be prompt and ready to execute all obedience That you may the better compose your hearts to attend Gods will in all things and to serve him I will supply your knowledge with these few motives following First There is no other Lord beside our God properly called 1 Cor. viii Though there be that are called Gods as there be Gods many and Lords many that is by opinion and nuncupation but to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him And again Eph. v. 4. One Lord one Faith one Baptism one God who is above all and through all and in you all Super omnes dominio per omnes providentiâ in omnibus justificatione Above all by his Dominion through all by his Providence in all by sanctifying us with his grace and justifying us from sin He that is subject to none inferiour to none independent of himself in all his power He may well be called a Lord and such a Lord deserves to be served Petty Magistrates hold of Princes favours and Kings hold their tenure under God Therefore some of the Roman Emperours having the perceivance that they could command nothing absolutely if he that sate above the heavens did stop it they would not be called Domini because themselves were servants in relation to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords therefore their circumscribed power did not answer the title When the Scripture brings in the most High the saying is Haec dicit Dominus Thus saith the Lord. If we would examine this after the stile of man you would say Lord of what Why universal Lord without any particular designment Specifications to be Lords of this or that are earthly phrases are notes of minority Attalus the Martyr was askt what name that Lord had whom he served Says he Qui plures sunt nominibus discernuntur qui autem unus est non indiget nomine Where there are many Lords they must be distinguish'd by their properties but what need that Lord a name for distinction who is the only Ruler by himself without any equal or partner in his dominion now since we must serve for sin hath brought servitude into the world whom would a man choose to serve but that only Lord to whose sheave all other sheaves do bend and who only hath authority Secondly In all service you will consider in what state and place it puts you Do so in this and spare not But let St. Peter be the Judge 1 Epist ii 9. Ye are a chosen generation a royal Priesthood an holy nation a peculiar people There is royalty in the very service Cui servire est regnare To do him service is a Kingly Ministry Nay there is more in one of our Church Collects in one Line of it than in the most Augustious title of a King God whose service is perfect freedom A King may be so much subject to naughty passions as he shall be in vile thraldom to his own sensualities and so
Angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone p. 302 XII Upon the same p. 312 XIII Vpon Matth. iv 7. Jesus said unto him it is written again Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God p. 322 XIV Vpon S. Matth. iv 8. Again the Devil taketh him up into an exceeding high Mountain and sheweth him all the Kingdoms of the world and the glory of them p. 331 XV. Vpon S. Matth. iv 9. And saith unto him all these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me p. 340 XVI Upon the same p. 349 XVII Vpon S. Matth. iv 9 10. All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me Then saith Jesus unto him get thee hence Satan p. 359 XVIII Vpon S. Matth. iv 10. For it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve p. 368 XIX Upon the same p. 377 XX. Upon the same p. 387 XXI Vpon S. Matth. iv 11. Then the Devil leaveth him and behold Angels came and ministred unto him p. 398 VII Sermons upon the Transfiguration of our Saviour I. Vpon S. Luke ix 28 29. And it came to pass about an eight dayes after these sayings he took Peter and John and James and went up into a Mountain to pray And as he prayed the fashion of his countenance was altered and his raiment was white and glistering p. 411 II. Vpon S. Luke ix 29 30 31. The fashion of his countenance was altered and his raiment was white and glistering And behold there talked with him two men which were Moses and Elias p. 422 III. Vpon S. Luke ix 31 32. Who appeared in glory and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Hierusalem But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep and when they were awake they saw his glory and the two men that stood with him p. 432 IV. Vpon S. Luke ix 33. And it came to pass as they departed from him Peter said unto Jesus Master it is good for us to be here and let us make three Tabernacles one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias not knowing what he said p. 440 V. Upon the same p. 450 VI. Vpon S. Luke ix 34. While he thus spake there came a Cloud and overshadowed them and they feared as they entred into the Cloud p. 460 VII Vpon S. Luke ix 35 36. And there came a voice out of the Cloud saying This is my beloved Son hear him And when the voice was past Jesus was found alone And they kept it close and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen p. 470 V Sermons upon the Passion of our Saviour I. Vpon S. Matth. xxvii 24. I am innocent of the bloud of this just Person see you to it p. 483 II. Vpon S. John xix 34. But one of the Souldiers with a Spear pierced his side and forthwith came thereout Bloud and Water p. 505 III. Vpon Gen. xxii 13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold behind him a Ram caught in a thicket by his horns and Abraham went and took the Ram and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his Son p. 516 IV. Vpon John iii. 14. And as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up p. 527 V. Vpon Acts ii 23. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledg of God ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain p. 538 IX Sermons upon the Resurrection of our Saviour I. Vpon Acts ii 24. Whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it p. 549 II. Vpon S. John 11.43 And when he had thus spoken he cried with a loud voice Lazarus come forth p. 558. III. S. John xi 44. And he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with Grave-cloaths and his face was bound about with a Napkin p. 568 IV. Vpon S. John xx 1. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark unto the Sepulcher and seeth the stone taken away from the Sepulcher p. 577 V. Vpon S. Matth. xxviii 2. And behold there was a great Earthquake for the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sate upon it p. 586 VI. Vpon S. Matth. xxviii 3 4. His Countenance was like lightning and his Raiment white as snow And for fear of him the Keepers did shake and became as dead men p. 597 VII Vpon S. Mark xvi 9. Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week he appeared first to Mary Magdalene out of whom he had cast seven Devils p. 607 VIII Vpon S. Matth. xxviii 9 10. And as they went to tell his Disciples behold Jesus met them saying all hail and they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him Then said Jesus unto them be not afraid go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee and there shall they see me p. 615 IX Vpon S. Matth. xxviii 13. Say ye his Disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept p. 624 V Sermons upon the Descent of the Holy Ghost I. Vpon Acts ii 1. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place p. 637 II. Vpon Acts ii 2. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and filled all the house where they were sitting p. 646 III. Vpon Acts ii 3. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire and it sat upon each of them p. 654 IV. Vpon Acts ii 4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance p. 663 V. Vpon Acts ii 12 13. And they were all amazed and were in doubt saying one to another what meaneth this Others mocking said these men are full of new wine p. 672 III Sermons preached upon Psalm cxviii 24. This is the day which the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it The first at Whitehall upon the Kings Coronation p. 683 The second at Holbourn upon Easter-day p. 693 The Third in defence of the Festivals of the Church p. 702 The second Sermon upon the Kings Coronation preached at the Spittle in the Mayoralty of Sir Cuthbert Hacket upon 1 Sam. ii 30. Them that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed p. 711 A Sermon preached upon the Gowry Conspiracy before King James upon Psalm xli 9. Yea mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted which did eat of my bread hath lift up his heel against me p. 731 II Sermons upon the 5th of November preached at Whitehall
to comfort us whether coals of fire be kindled at his nostrils to consume us or whether he blow upon us with the breath of his compassion to revive us whether he give or whether he take away you know what follows in Job The effects upon our bodies are divers but the effect upon our spirit should be one and the same do you say Blessed be the name of the Lord. But to visit is also taken in good part as an act of grace and compassion Exod. iv 31. the people had heard that the Lord had visited Israel and looked upon their afflictions then they bowed their heads and worshipped Thou hast granted me life and favour and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit Job x. 12. And once more for all Thou visitest the earth and dost greatly enrich it with the river of God Psal lxv And welcome be that visitation which brings with it peace and good will such was the appearance of him that was born this day of a pure Virgin he did look out his sheep and visit them as a Shepherd doth visit his flock Ezek. xxxiv so the people of the Jews did well express the significancy of the word when our Saviour raised up the widows Son of Naim to life again a great Prophet is risen up among us and God hath visited his people Luke vii 16. God could have sent his Son to have judg'd the world but he did not send him to condemn us but that the world through him might be saved This is a benign and a courteous visitation But because the word will extend to divers particulars of grace and love I will do it right to lay them forth distinctly 1. To visit is the work of one that comes to do a charitable office to a sick person according to that place Mat. xxv I was sick and ye visited me So Christ came into this world because it languished of a sore disease Miseri erant quos visitavit captivi quos redemit we were far gone in the infirmities of sin when we had need to be visited we were wretched bond-men under the yoke of Satan when we had need to be redeemed Visitavit Dominus plebem longa infirmitate tabescentem says Bede upon my Text long had the Jews consumed in their sins faint and feeble they were destitute of all spiritual succor near to the brink of death then came the great Physician to bind up their wounds and to heal the broken heart as virtue went out of him and he healed all manner of fleshly griefs if they did but touch him so much more now he is in heaven he is an indeficient fountain of virtue and whosoever toucheth him by a living Faith he shall be cured of his ghostly imperfections or at least their malignity shall be asswaged 2. Visitare in the Latin tongue is a diminitive from videre to see a thing in a glance and so to pass it by without any great heed but the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is used in my Text is a Composit and is more than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is rem penitus inspicere cujus egeat to look upon things very remarkablely with that purpose to know what it wants In the tenth of St. Luke the Priest saw the man that was wounded and passed by the Levite looked on and passed by but the Samaritan saw him and had compassion of him that was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to look on him with a commiserating eye and a tender heart and to none can it be so well applied as to the Son of God he looked upon us stedfastly and with a melting mercy he looked upon us as if his very bowels were in his eyes 3. To give a visit to another is a voluntary courtesie an act of kindness that hath no compulsion or unwillingness in it for he that visits any place or persons if he did not like them he might keep away but you cannot imagine more promptness and readiness in any one than there was in our Saviour to be humbled to that baseness to take our nature upon him When the Prophet had said Sacrifice and meat-offering thou wouldst not have but a body immediately follows Christs willingness to accept the motion O my God I am content to do it loe I come to do thy will O Lord Heb. x. how could any thing be entertained more heartily more chearfully he that says in Solomon hearken unto me ye children and blessed are they that keep my ways he says also my delights were with the sons of men Prov. viii 31. 4. There is not only willingness but friendliness in the appellation no man visits another but in the profession of a friend therefore St. Paul says upon the Incarnation Tit. iii. 4. the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was a sign that he did not abhor us nay that there was peace and bounty toward us because he did condescend to have such familier conversation among us When God talked with Moses face to face the Scripture expresseth with the admiration of Gods love that he talk'd with him as one friend talketh with more but to dwell among us and visit us as one neighbour and well-willer doth another surely there must be much more amity and familiarity in that strain of love This very word therefore that he visited us is enough to exalt us to be the friends of God Because he frequented the company of those that had led scandalous lives to call them to repentance the Pharisees gave him a character that he was a friend of Publicans and Sinners and Lazarus is called his friend John xi because he did often resort to Bethany to the house of his Sisters Mary and Martha Beloved since this visitation hath declared us his friends let us be at enmity with all those things which are opposite to the glory of Jesus Christ. 5. It is more than all which I have said before that he hath visited us that he did burst the heavens to come down that is offer violence as it were to the God-head to unite it in one person with our corruptible substance God spake in times past to the Fathers by the Prophets but in these last days he spake unto us by his Son nay he sent unto us his Son The Prophets were holy men yet they were but men here was a nature that visited us far more perfect than theirs theirs the nature of Almighty God They were faithful servants in the house of God but a servant is an unperfect condition in comparison of a Son neither were we visited by any of the sons of men but by his own Son the Son of God You know that they of Lycaonia were strangely taken with it Gods are come down among us in the shape of men when they supposed Barnabas to be Jupiter and Paul Mercurius since they were in such an extasie at their own deceit how should we be affected with the
of God to every man that believeth not as if there were any Magical power in the pronunciation of the Syllables but because it prepares ye to faith and is a means by which the Spirit works his efficacy So the Sacraments setting aside the merit of Christ and the Sanctification of the Spirit are not available but by those Instruments the Father hath promised to work the Son to communicate the merit of his Passion and the Holy Ghost to sanctifie us I am sure it is no disparagement to compare him that hath received a Sacrament with the blessed Virgin that received our Saviour in her womb yet when one cried out Blessed is she that bare thee and the Paps which gave thee suck Yea says Christ Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it So the Sacraments are wonderful helps great trials of obedience Seales of mercy increasers of charity the best comforts of the soul in the world they are all this I confess if they be received in faith So I have spoken of the vertue which is in all kind of Sacraments the next part of my remonstrance is that the Baptism of John hath the same vertue with the Baptism of Christ Take my reasons briefly 1. It was the Baptism of Repentance and Repentance cannot be taught without faith in Christ and Remission of sins in his bloud take them two away and Repentance is but a lesson of heathen Philisophy Put them both together and is there not all the benefit of Christs Baptism faith and forgiveness of sins Nay directly Mar. i. 4. John did preach the Baptism of repentance for the remission of sins And indeed no man can separate true repentance from remission of sins At what time soever a sinner doth repent him c. 2. The scope of his Baptism was to warn men to fly from the wrath to come that is the true washing of the Spirit Says he to the Pharisees when they came to him to Jordan O ye generation of vipers who hath warned ye to fly from the wrath to come 3. Our Saviour fortelling to his Disciples that the time was coming at the feast of Pentecost when they should have a greater blessing from heaven than ever they had before Acts xv John truly baptized with water but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence Then the Disciples had no other Baptism but Johns untill they were baptized with fire and surely they had a true and an efficacious baptism So Apollos knew of no other baptism but Johns Acts xviii 25. and yet we do not find that he was sprinkled with any other baptism 4. This reason is of great weight if Johns were not the true baptism of the Spirit which Christ received then either all we have received a baptism divers from our Saviour which were very comfortless or else we have not received the baptism of the Spirit which were every whit as comfortless 5. John baptized at the same time while the Disciples of Christ did baptize even till the time that he was shut up in prison by Herod And this he ought not to have done if his washing had been uneffectual but to have it laid down when a more perfect Sacrament was a foot These are the reasons sufficient as I suppose to prove that the Baptism of John had the same substantial vertue with the Baptism of Christ This is that opinion against which the Tridentine Council doth thunder forth Anathema 1. Because it is called the Baptism of John and therefore a mere external Ceremony which is distinguisht from Christs Baptism that is accompanied with internal Grace Beloved I conceive it was called Johns Baptism not as if it wanted the grace of God from above for the Pharisees durst not reply to our Saviours question that the Baptism of John was from heaven and not from men but because it began with John even as the Law of God is called Moses Law because Moses was the first Mediator of it Sacraments are of three sorts Praenuntiativa venturi Messiae Some that promised a Messias to come as Circumcision and the Paschal Lamb Some that promise the Messias now a coming monstrativa venientis as the Baptism of John Some that promise the Messias is come already annuntiativa exhibiti Baptism and the Lords Supper these meet all in one center of faith and have the same efficacy 2. It is urged that John puts a difference between his baptizing and Christs I baptize you with water he shall baptize you with the holy Ghost and with fire I answer with St. Hierom Ex quo discimus homo tantùm aquam tribuit Deus spiritum sanctum From whence we learn that the Ministry of man suppeditates only water the power of God suppeditates the Holy Ghost wherefore one sign is not opposed to another but the Ministry of man to the authority of Christ otherwise it will follow that now the Holy Ghost is given by him that baptizeth The baptism of the Spirit is not another Baptism but an heavenly blessing upon the baptism of water and it comprehends all the benefits of the New Testament that is all the merit of Christ 3. I confess this is strongly opposed Acts xix 3. that some Disciples of Ephesus who were baptized unto the Baptism of John were baptized again in the name of the Lord Jesus as if Johns washing had been a watry Meteor rather than a Baptism Of many answers I like but two to this place First says Lombard all were not rebaptized whom John had baptized before the Disciples were not for whatsoever some Apocryphal stories say that Christ baptized his Mother St. Peter yea and John Baptist himself yet the Scripture says he baptized no man but where a substantial error might be committed or apprehended in Johns Baptism there the parties were re-baptized Now it is my own conjecture out of the Text that these men were baptized after our Saviours Passion In nomine venturi Messiae in the name of Christ to come who was come and had suffered for mankind therefore to correct that fundamental error it may be the Disciples of Ephesus were baptized again Secondly I see no exceptions at this answer that the Disciples of Ephesus were only baptized in Johns Baptism and Paul teacheth that all whom John baptized were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Therefore at your leasure mark the fifth verse of that Chapter Act xix that they are the words of Paul preaching how John baptized not the words of St. Luke how they of Ephesus were rebaptized and that very difficult place is easily answered Wherefore it stands I am sure as most probable of two opinions that the Baptism of John to which Christ came is the same with the Baptism of Christ and as for these that curse our opinion with Anathema I say unto them Woe unto those that call light darkness and make the truth a lye Though so ancient Fathers may seem to dissent from
corruption that is in us and to be the Sons of God Because there is mention of a good Spirit immediately before my Text that descended from heaven upon him in the shape of a Dove and all the business after my Text concerns an evil Spirit that assaulted him with many tentations therefore the quaere ariseth which of these did lead him into the Wilderness The Syriack determines it plainly Ductus â spiritu sancto he was led by the Holy Ghost And it is of more moment that certainly the Syriack Paraphrase took it from St. Luke Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they that understand Grammer and the original Text do easily discern that the same word in the same sentence implies one and the same thing the latter being an effect of the former for being full of the Holy Spirit he was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness And I will parallel it plainly anon with that of St. Paul Acts xx 22 Behold I go bound in spirit to Jerusalem Moreover the Devil approached not unto him till after he had fasted forty days he began to be an hungry for he had no motive to begin his tentations till he perceiv'd he was in the distress of hunger like a weak man Therfore it was not Satan that carried him into this place where he fasted for then the tentation had begun before he had set foot in the Wilderness The case is clear to say no more of the first Point that the Spirit which led him was the influence and impulsion of the Holy Ghost The second thing to be askt is how the Spirit did lead him This can be conceived but two ways Either by inward instigation or removing him suddenly from one place to another which is called outward translocation Each way may be admitted for both are according to Analogy of Faith and both are favoured out of the Greek Text of sundry Evangelists You shall read in St. Luke Chap. iv 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was led by the Spirit which doth imply that the Holy Ghost did inwardly inspire that resolution into him and did assist continually while he abode in the Wilderness You shall read in St. Mark Chap. i. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness as if he had been transported thither in some wonderful rapture And my Text is read thus in St. Mathew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He was led up of the Spirit The Proposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sursum to lead up hath either regard to the situation of the Desart which was by far the higher ground in respect of Jordan where our Saviour was before Or else that he was exalted from the earth and carried away by the Spirit through the air untill he came unto that place where he spent forty days in Prayer Fasting and Meditation I dare not contend out of the Scriptures but that the Spirit wrought both ways upon Christ both carrying his body into the Wilderness and instigating his mind No unusual thing in the first sense for the Spirit to transport a body suddenly through the air without the motion of the feet to a place of far distance And although the whole Trinity God the Father the Son and Holy Ghost concur to that action and produce it or perhaps appoint an Angel to be the instrument yet it goes under the name of the Spirit because that Miracle impresseth a strange vertue into a material body as if it were spiritual How Enoch and Elias were translated on high in their bodies I have declared my mind not long since And surely before Elias his last translation into heaven this did befall him often times Obadiah was jealous of it 1 King xviii 13. It shall come to pass when I am gone from thee the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not What Ezekiel reports of himself I cannot say but it was rather an imaginary than a real rapture but thus he Ezek. viii 3. The hand of God took me by a lock of mine head and the Spirit lift me up between the earth and the heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem This could not be imprinted in his imagination but that it was possible to be done really And Gregory meditates well upon it Every regenerate person during the time of this mortal flesh is so lifted up between heaven and earth Adhuc ad superna plene non pervenit sed tamen ima dereliquit His conversation and his heart are not altogether in heaven but they are higher than the earth What a direct instance is that of the Prophet Habakkuk He was carrying food to the Reapers in the Land of Jury and the Angel of the Lord took him by the crown and bare him by the hair of his head and through the vehemency of the Spirit set him in Babylon Neither need this be rejected for Apocryphal since there is an example to match it Acts viii 39. The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip who was then at Gaza and he was found at Azotus which two are forty miles distance after the best descriptions of the Holy Land A Faith that is but linum fumigans a dusky faith and shines not clearly may easily admit this for if the birds can cut the air with their gross wings naturally who will not be perswaded that God can make the body of man more nimble and fit for such a motion by his supernatural power But I marvel at those Expositors who are squemishly conceited against that opinion that they did not frame this objection God doth not use to work Miracles only to shew tricks as one would say no necessity requiring Then cui bono Why might not Christ have gone into the Wilderness step by step What occasion of moment should urge the Spirit to transport him Beloved it was thus far expedient that Christ should vanish and no man know which way he was departed that he might avoid the honour which the multitude would have done him upon that voice which came from heaven This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased So in the sixth of St. John after the miracle of feeding some thousands with a little bread and a few fishes Christ perceived that they would take him by force and make him a King therefore he made a sudden departure none knew whither till his Disciples met him walking upon the Sea in a dark night and a great storm Mat. xiv 23. This is reason then sufficient to decline the people who were astonished at the testimony which was given him from heaven that the Spirit snatcht him away in a rapture into the Wilderness Why this interpretation of the word should not take with you I know not but I am sure the next must take 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He was led by the Spirit that is the Holy Ghost did inspire this heroical
wherein so many run upon this Point I will give you my judgment in that method wherein I have always directed my self a method to give God the glory of all that which is good to make sinners humble because they have no good in themselves as of themselves and to make us all diligent in good works that we may not neglect the gift which is given us in Christ through sluggishness and security The grounds upon which I will insist are these 1. We must be led by the Spirit before we can work any thing which is good 2. I will unfold how we are led by initiating or preventing grace when we are first made partakers to taste of the hopes of a better life 3. I will shew how we are led by preparatory grace which goes before the complete act of our regeneration 4. With what great and mighty power the Spirit doth lead us in converting grace 5. How we are led by subsequent grace and sanctification which co-operates and assists us after our conversion To these heads I will briefly and peaceably reduce a volume of litigious disputation 1. I enter into all by this door before the Spirit come down upon us and lead us with his sweet motions our heart can produce nothing which is good The heathen are no competent witnesses in this cause how far nature is weakened in all vertue and how much it is prone to all evil they know no supernatural strength above nature and therefore could not acknowledge the efficacy of it In a word we must not believe man how far he is corrupted but God for man must not be judge in his own cause The Pharisees likewise shall not be heard to speak in this Point whose arrogancy made them enemies to grace You remember with what contempt they ask'd Christ are we blind Joh. ix 40. Alass of our selves we are all under that woe Vae vobis duces caeci Woe be to you blind guids Mat. xxiii 16. Whither will a blind mans feet carry him but into a pit or into a snare unless he have a leader By nature this dark blindness is upon us for else why have we a Leader Omne id naturae deesse intelligitur quod spiritus sancti operâ communicatur says St. Austin Whatsoever is put into us by the Holy Ghost manifests how much was wanting by nature The good Spirit may say of his direction as Job did of his charity I was eyes unto the blind and feet unto the lame Job xxix 15. The heathen erred from the truth through ignorance the Pharisees through arrogancy among Christians none offended more foully than the Pelagians partly through subtilty of wit partly through arrogance What shifts did they not invent rather than confess the truth Sometimes calling the endowments of mans nature even under this great blemish of depravation by the name of grace When that would not serve yet they would allow no grace to support mans free will but the external preaching of the Word and dispensation of the Sacraments 3. When this would not satisfie the Church they went thus far they did not hold there was grace of sanctification to prevent us from sin but grace of mercy to remit our sins Yet they stood under condemnation and at last this was all that could be wrung from them supernatural grace was necessary not simply to strengthen us to do good but only to do good with greater facility Whereas it behoved them to have accused nature in this present state of malignity so far that now it is become that accursed ground which of it self brings forth nothing but thorns and thistles There is not only a possibility in our will to sin as there was in Adam before the Fall but a violent and a precipitious inclination to transgress the Law The Saints and the heaven are not clean in Gods sight says Job How much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water Job xv 16. The will of man is of that nature it cannot rest naked devested of all desires unfurnisht of an object and since in its own rebellion it hath forsaken God there is no relief but it will betake it self to the unlawful concupiscence of the Creature Mark how peremptorily St. Paul concludes against man as he is left to the will of his own flesh Rom. viii 7. The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be In the state of this miserable captivity under sin for we are servants to that which we obey the will of man is partaker of its own freedom which grows with it and cannot be parted that it is not held under necessity to commit this or that sin naming any particular act what you will but under sin it is held so that the evil which we would not we shall do and the good which we would we shall not do But Christ is our Advocate and he will speak for us more than we could or durst say for our selves hear his testimony Joh. xv 4. The branch cannot bear fruit except it abide in the vine no more can ye except ye abide in me Because these words are parabolical he speaks roundly in the next verse Without me ye can do nothing It is not meant of natural or animal works as eating drinking walking indeed we can do none of these things unless his omnipresency and omnipotency support us but here it is meant of such things as are praise worthy before God without me that is without the divine assistance and help which I have merited by my obedience ye cannot bring forth the fruits of righteousness to eternal life Yet I pray you mark one thing to qualifie some mens severe opinions Christ did not say whatsoever ye do without me even with the best moral rectitude and justice shall plunge you further into damnation Every thing which comes from a meer natural man is so bad and defective that it shall do him no good toward the attaining of everlasting life but some things have a moral honesty according to the law of nature which do not deserve Hell fire but rather they are such things as shall make their damnation more tolerable The branch can bring forth no fruit unless it be in the tree Frugiferum opus est quod ad vitam aeternam refertur That is a frugiferous work which God rewards in his Kingdom No such fruits can grow from nature which wants the conduction of the Spirit St. Paul very cautiously 1 Cor. xiii mustering up the works of an unregenerate man which want Charity says he If I do all these things and want charity they profit me nothing not simply that the continence of Socrates the temperance of Scipio should hurt them but they profit me nothing a natural man brings forth nothing which can profit him to eternal life St. Austin doth so diligently ponder every word of the Text now cited that I must impart his sweet labours unto
men in the Church would either resist it at the first or fall off at the last for if Adam did pervert that grace which gave him possibility to stand before his will had declined to evil how much more will we pervert that grace which gives us no more than possibility to serve God who have a depraved disposition to evil therefore he decreed to give converting grace especial grace efficacious grace to some out of the riches of his mercy by which they should infallibly be brought to Salvation The next branch which I drew from the root of this Point was that God alone doth work first the act of Renovation and the will doth passively receive it The Pelagians ascribed Free-will to man to do that which is spiritually good without any beam of grace therein both we and the Pontificians decry them But many of the Pontificians ascribe to mans will that it doth co-operate with Gods grace in the act of conversion and hath freedom to take or refuse it That the Holy Ghost leads the will no further than a middle state of indifferency Hoc agite sultis and then a man doth either mar himself or else make himself the child of God This is a famous controversie between many Divines now I had rather say there is a passive power to receive this supernatural transmutation where God will confer it but no natural power to produce this act either by it self or with any other For I did ever conceive that which is left to man to specificate the act and as it were by his choice to perfect it to be saving grace should be more than Gods work to bring the will by exciting grace to an equal poise and to say to man as it were now turn the scale which way you will Further I could never like it that God should be present at our conversion by his Spirit not principally infallibly predominantly but contingently concomitantly for so there was a possibility that Christ should come into the world die for the sins of the world impetrate grace for all the Members of the Church and yet not one be saved there being no determinate ordination but that all might refuse it I had rather say with the Prophet Turn thou me and I shall be turned thou art the Lord my God Jer. xxxi 18. I had rather examine it by such terms as the Scripture useth than by mans Philosophical constructions When I read that the conversion of a sinner is to make a man a new creature to raise him from death to life it impresseth this notion in my mind What doth the Creature confer to Gods act when it is created Nothing What assistance doth a dead man afford when he is raised to life again Nothing Such a thing is the heart of man when it is regenerated and in that moment when it is exalted to be an heir of the Promise Put this Text into the balance of humility and it will weigh down all that can be said against it Joh. i. 13. We are born not of bloud nor of the will of flesh nor of the will of man but of God From the warrant of this very Oracle St. Bernard dispersed that common saying Quid agit liberum arbitrium Breviter respondeo salvatur c. What part doth mans free-will perform in conversion I answer briefly it is saved This hath reference to God that doth the deed to man in whom it is done God is the Author of that Salvation free-will is receptive and takes his benediction Whether St. Paul also doth not decide it judge ye Eph. ii 10. We are his workmanship his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is all due to him nothing to us created in Jesus Christ to good works it is he that hath made us and not we our selves And is it not he that hath regenerated us and not we our selves The Psalm runs on we are his people and the sheep of his pasture He that made us men without concurrence of our own help will not he make us the sheep of his pasture without our active co-operancy I am sure the Parable says when the sheep went astray the good shepherd did not lead it home or direct it home but took it home upon his shoulders St. Austin most perspicaciously and plainly strengthens this Doctrine from the word which the Lord spake to Elias touching those Israelites his chosen ones who had not gone after Baal Yet have I left me seven thousand in Israel all the knees which have not bowed to Baal and every mouth which hath not kissed him It is not said seven thousand are left seven thousand have left themselves unspotted from Idolatry God takes it wholly to himself I have left me seven thousand knees which have not bowed to Baal Thirdly I make up the sum with this Proposition Gods act in the conversion of any sinner is not frustrated but doth infallibly attain its effect For in those that are called according to his purpose he doth not only bring them so far as to have a power to believe and to have certain spiritual habilities which can chuse the good and forsake the evil but by the efficacy of a secret and ineffable operation I confess he doth bring forth from our will being renewed the very act of believing and conversion It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure Phil. ii 13. For if he should only give us posse credere posse converti we should do as our first Parents did and much sooner than they as I shew'd before start aside like a broken bow and never bring that possibility into act therefore this eminent special grace is not an act produced by the will but a bonity infused into the will called by Prosper Prima supremi agricolae plantatio God is the husbandman that doth ingraft that first plantation in us That secret influence and illapse from heaven is sooner believed than demonstratively learned but this methinks the most litigious may grant that it is easie for the most high to draw the will after him powerfully infallibly without any violence offered to the nature of it Resistency is taken away only for that act not the full and final power to resist It hath ever a bitter root in this life which hath an eagerness and pronity to resist the counsel of God I only say that that resistibility is supprest for this moment that it should not break forth into act What should repel this grace says St. Austin Nothing but the hardness of our heart Now that malignity is curb'd for it first takes away the hardness of our heart and how can our perverseness resist this admirable work of God when it prevents that perverseness and frames a right spirit within us that we will not resist This is the proper notion of this phrase in my Text agi spiritu to be led by the Spirit As Aristotle says of beasts that follow an instinct of
nature Non agunt sed aguntur So in the act of renovation we are not fellow-workers but are led and carried whither the Spirit will And as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God Rom. viii 14. 4. We know divine mysteries best by negative expressions and therefore I go on fourthly that this immission of efficacious grace is no violent compulsion upon the will Compulsion I said was a word of hostility and not of favour When God doth his work in us throughly energetically that it shall not fail by a Catachresis it is called a coaction So it is said in the Parable to them that were sent to bring in the blind and the lame Cogite intrare compel them to come in I say this is a Catachresis so Prosper the great director of this way that I take Hanc abundantiorem gratiam ita credimus potentem ut negemus violentam We believe this eminent abundant grace worketh with great power but not with violent compulsion For because of those previous preparations I spake of which make us know and have some desire of heavenly things God saves no man against his will therefore it is no violent attraction for no man is ordinarily saved that hath positive repugnancy though in the momentary act of conversion he doth add no auxiliary co-operancy Nay so far is this most abundant benediction of the Spirit from offering coaction and force to the will that the will of a regenerate man doth instantly shew its complacency and turn it self to God This efficacious motion is infused from God and in the same moment exercised and put into act by man for to that end it was inspired by God that man should produce the act of believing and adhering to Christ This is an Altitude for faith to look upon Voluntas est subjectum istius volitionis causa suae volitionis in eodem instanti I think verily the not marking of this hath caused much debate that the will of man in the act of conversion is the subject upon which God works faith and it self the cause which doth produce the act of faith in the same instant They have my suffrage that say how these two cannot well be divided in time one from another Gods operation converting a sinner to be his Son and the act of believing in that man converting himself to God no object can be for a moment in the will but it must affect it one way or other but in order of nature Gods inspiration is first to be conceived and then mans embracing and assent Thus it appears the agitation of this divine motion is not by force and compulsion but with a sweet and fatherly attraction and the effect is no way rough and against nature but above it For to limit and determine the indifferency of the will is not the destruction of free will but the perfection witness the Saints and Angels who are confirmed in grace that they cannot sin If the Son make you free then are ye free indeed which is thus expounded by the Apostle Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty 2 Cor. iii. 17. Fifthly I annex that the powerfulness of this converting grace is not well expressed when it is entitled but a moral perswasion The hearts of Kings and surely of all other men whose power is less free are in the hand of God and he inclineth them which way he will perswasions may labour upon the affections it is the scope of an Orator but the most flexanimous Rhetorician that ever spake cannot be said to have the hearts of his Auditors in his hands that is a phrase out of humane capacity What moral perswasion was there in this Christ called Peter and Andrew James and John and Mathew from the receit of custom and they left all and followed him Shew me any ground here for moral perswasion that is probable allegation of reason Not a word more spoken than follow me or perhaps I will make you fishers of men few words God knows But a mighty efficacious impression was secretly instilled into the heart there it was it must needs be that celestial irradiation which made them leave all to follow Christ whose outward appearance was most contemptible and his society according to the wisdom of the world most dangerous Perswasion can but propound an end and as every man is affected so he likes the end which is offered We that disperse the Word have the Office to perswade you to the Kingdom of heaven but God forbid he should bring us no further The Devil can suggest and perswade likewise and prevail above his Makers perswasions as it appears Gen. iii. therefore ascribe the honour due unto the Lord that his Spirit is more efficacious to produce good than Satan to produce evil therefore his work consists not in perswading but in governing and inclining the heart Finally To dispatch this Point I said this potent and infallible assistance of converting grace doth well consist with the Promises and Threatnings and Exhortations of holy Scripture There are other matters objected against this but at the last you will find all sticks at this knot For after some wrangling in the end it is confest God can restrain the liberty and indifferency of the will and make it bring forth what act he please and it must be allowed that the taking away that liberty to work either good or evil is not the destruction but the perfection of the will The angry question is Whether the removing away that liberty and indifferency from the will in the act of conversion can consist with this order that a man shall be commanded to convert himself to God upon the condition of eternal life and upon the commination of Hell fire Now I must tell you this was the very thing that Pelagius quarrelled St. Austin for saying Da Domine quod jubes jube quod vis Give me to do what thou commandest O Lord and then command what thou pleasest But take all my answers like grapes upon a cluster 1. They that make this objection know we are commanded to have the first grace of illumination and they acknowledge it is freely and merely wrought by God Why then do they stumble at converting grace that conversion should be commanded us and God altogether cause it and yet allow it in preparatory grace 2. Doth not the Scripture frame our tongue to speak thus Make you a new heart and a new spirit Ezek. xviii 31. there is a command I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you Ezek. xxxvi 26. there he doth execute in us what himself commanded It is to be magnified and admired not to be disputed of when God will work that good by his Spirit within us which he might in rigour without that extraordinary help exact of us 3. Whither will Divinity be tost about if this be not certain That our just and omnipotent Lord commands
such excellent things which we cannot attain to perform that we may be excited to pray unto him for succour with a vehement and a flagrant devotion 4. He commands and he fulfils and he rewards crowning his own gifts and no works of ours that glory may be ascribed to his name for evermore The Synodal Epistle of all the Affrican Bishops St. Austin being one of the Society encourages me that these answers are far more reasonable than the objection Jubet Deus homini ut velit sed Dominus in homine operatur velle jubet ut facias sed operatur facere He hath charged us to will that which is good but he effecteth that willingness in man he says Do and thou shalt live his grace enables thee to do and thou shalt live for ever Let this suffice to teach you how we are led by the Holy Spirit in converting grace and I think it most comfortable to put our hope in God and not in our selves Cursed is every one that putteth his trust in man Jer. xvii 5. To dispach all I will be brief in the fifth Point how we are led by subsequent grace and sanctification which co-operates and assists us after our conversion this is that truth wherein all dissensious parts conjoyn and accord That Voluntas liberata concurrit ad bonum opus eliciendum cum gratiâ divinâ the will of man having conquered the dominion of sin by converting grace is made free and then it freely conjoyns it self with Gods grace to produce a good effect Then it lies upon our own diligence never wanting the directing vertue of the Spirit to increase the good gifts of Sanctification by acts of often doing well then we do further and promote those holy inspirations to a plentiful or unplentiful increase This is not passively to be led by the Spirit but to walk in the Spirit as it is Gal. v. 16. Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh In a word this distinction reacheth over all which can be said upon this matter There are some actions which principally concern the well being of a justified man without which regeneration cannot consist these are they the turning of the heart to God a true belief a faithful conclusion of our life in the fear of God and the peace of a good conscience justifying grace doth so attend the production of these actions that the Lord in his own good time makes us able for these things willing to do and actually to perfect those necessary parts of salvation Other works of obedience as to do this or that good to shun this or that evil all these especilly and particularly considered do not concur to our saving health as to the very making or marring of it In the practice of all these particular good instances the motions and conduct of the Spirit are never wanting to them that are regenerate more or less but sufficient to have kept them blameless in every particular but in many of these we sin often and are wanting to the co-operation of grace through our own stubbornness in the will and sensuality in the affections I will conclude You see how diversly we are led by the Spirit how many sundry ways we are assoiled from Sin and Satan by the direction and efficacy of grace The natural man is able of himself to bring forth no spiritual good work The Lord doth totally and with no assistance of vitiated nature bring forth the first good preparatory grace in the will From thenceforth unto conversion this previous preparatory grace is made effectual or uneffectual by mans free-will In the act of conversion and renovation wherein all the controversie about free-will is moved the Lord doth turn our heart unto himself the will for the act being the passive subject and at the same instant it is the cause of a good action in turning it self to God in subsequent grace unto the end of our life the will being made free from the dominion of sin works together with the motions of celestial inspiration This is the sum of all If any thing be delivered too briefly impute it to the compass of the time If any thing be hard to be conceived impute it to the deep discourse of the matter If any thing be defective in the discourse give Gods grace the glory of all and impute it to my infirmity THE FOURTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 1 2. Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights he was afterwards an hungry MAny things were rightly applied by him that compared the success of the Children of Israel upon their entrance into the Land of Canaan with the circumstances of this combate between Christ and Satan 1. the Israelites were miraculously brought through the Red Sea so the first glorious Apparition of our Saviour which went immediately before this business was the Baptism which he received of John in Jordan 2. The Israelites pass from the Red Sea into a great and solitary Wilderness So our Saviour was led after his Baptism into the greatest Wilderness of Judaea a place uninhabited by man for he was with the wild beasts Mar. i. 13. Then the Israelites were in great distress for foot hungry and thirsty their soul fainted in them And Christ had nothing to eat in that place he fasted forty days and forty nights and was afterward an hungry 4. As the Israelites were pined with hunger so they had bloudy Wars with all the Nations of Canaan many a time have they fought against me might Israel then say So many a time did the Legions of Hell attempt me might our Lord and Saviour say yea many times did the powers of darkness compass me about but they have not prevailed against me On the one side here was first the Red Sea then a journey into the Wilderness then scarcity of Food then War and fighting So on the other side here was first a Baptism then a sequestring into the Wilderness then a long Fast and then a long conflict with the Prince of Devils Moreover the men of Israel did appear in that forlorn and despicable fashion before the Canaanites that they were much scorn'd and vilified so God provided we seemed in their sight but as Grashoppers said Caleb and Josuah this drew the Kings of Canaan forth to beat them back and so were overwhelmed in their own pride and cruelty Thus in all points did our Saviour deal with Satan the Eternal wisdom against the wisdom of the Serpent He flies into the Wilderness as one abandoned of the World there he continues in great necessity as one whom none would succour not a morsel of food supplied him by God or man Adversarium non virtutis jactatione sed infirmitatis ostentione provocat thus he provokes and draws Satan out against himself not by a boasting challenge but by the appearance of
ingrafted into Christ by Baptism before they can perceive their insition and do not say this reason holds not in us we are of age to understand our own belief It is not our understanding that makes God gracious unto us but his own free mercy And in this respect many like new-born babes receive the kingdom of heaven I mean that divers go out of this World into Abrahams bosom who never overcome distrusts and tentations at least till they are even going out of the World But this charitable and most true assertion were invalid if particular application of Christs mercies by firm assurance did justifie a sinner I resolve it therefore unto you that general assent goes first in order that Christ perfect man and perfect God is the Saviour of all those that believe then we draw a particular assent that he is my God and my Saviour then our boldness and assurance that by him we shall pass from death and reign with him in glory is the effect of that particular assent and so the Scripture speaketh Eph. iii. 12. In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him Here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which causeth us to speak with alacrity to God here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which may assure it self any thing and these are effects produced by faith in him that is by justifying faith Not to cloy you with more than one other quotation 1 Tim. iii. 13. They purchase themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus The object of faith is verum the object of certitude and assurance is bonum Faith is a perswasion or assurance of the mind though working upon the heart Affiance is an affection of the heart though proceeding from the assurance of the mind Now hear the fourth Conclusion speak This affiance or special assurance is not alike in all that are justified nor at all times alike in any man This Conclusion will serve to quiet the troubles of the Conscience two ways First When the same man at sundry times finds himself so divers from himself now full of spiritual Consolation a few days after that his comfort is but luke-warm at another season almost stark cold let no man think his case remediless because of these alterations in his Spirit Many times doubts will arise and continue long with a terrible perplexity Nevertheless though I am sometime afraid yet put I my trust in thee says Dauid Psal lvi 11. When these flat contrary perswasions come into your mind yet God will never leave you so destitute of his grace but that you shall have some strength left to pray to be delivered out of those tentations that the bones which he hath broken may rejoyce and a happy wading out of those doubts may prove to be the greater confirmation The spirit of a good man is sometimes well enlightned with assurance sometime a little obscured sometime very dark after there shall be a long and a lasting serenity in his Conscience As a woman that hath newly conceived begins to suspect her conception by and by some other signs cast into her mind that she is deluded Afterwards she feels the fruit of her womb quicken and then her opinion is constantly confirmed Faith after the manner of alterative qualities hath its growth its declension its reparation It grows to an infancy then to youthfulness then to a stronger age and the more it lays hold of the Promise for its own blessing the more it cleaves fast to the foundation Besides this should procure them peace of mind who cannot alledge that great confidence for their own part and strength of assurance that others seem to challenge to themselves yea and truly have Every tree doth not shoot out his root so far as another and yet may be firm in the ground and live as well as that whose root is largest So every faith stretcheth not forth the arms of particular assurance to embrace Christ alike and yet it may be a true faith that lives by charity repentance and good works some faith abounds with one sort of fruits some with another God is delighted with all that are good and he will reward them In all kind of Divine Conclusions some are more doubtful spirited than others In our very meats one believeth that he may eat all things another eateth herbs Rom. xiv One man esteemeth one day above another another esteemeth all days alike Let not him that is strong in faith despise him that is weak So one hath examined himself is perswaded especially by his good endeavours to please the Lord and by the redemption of Christs bloud which he felt effectual in him in the Sacraments rests every way assured that Christ will glorifie him at his second appearance Another dares not take such solid comfort for he is more oppressed with tentations more afflictions come upon him and chiefly perhaps ignorance darkens his understanding give this man leave to say and he shall be heard Lord I believe help thou my unbelief Because I said that ignorance especially darkens the understanding of them that are so weak in faith you shall know wherein Many are pluckt back from particular affiance in Christ because they know not the method how to proceed For they are taught that nothing is to be believed with the certainty of faith unless it be contained in the Creed or in holy Scripture but they cannot find this or that mans Salvation written there therefore they are posed how to apprehend it with the certainty of faith I make my answer First how easie it is to reduce it to one of the Articles of the Creed or more than one but especially to this that we believe the forgiveness of sins But to the main Objection all the Doctrine of Faith which we believe is written or deduced out of holy Scripture but the act wherewith we believe is in our selves and not to be lookt for in Paper and Ink No but that is wrot in our own hearts through the testimony of the Spirit by good examination Now the Major Proposition is Whosoever believeth stedfastly shall be saved in Scripture The Minor Proposition but I believe stedfastly is wrote by the Spirit in our own heart therefore the Conclusion is divine and good And because it dependeth upon an Argument whereof the principal part which draws on all the rest is totally and immediately revealed in Scripture therefore the assurance of a mans particular Justification is lawfully reduced to the assurance and certainty of Faith Another fair pretence causeth divers men rather to leave place in themselves for some distrust than to aim at strong assurance because it relisheth much more of humility to be cast down at the recognition of our manifold sins Indeed it is good to ponder our own unworthiness and imbecillity so far as to make us humble and to acknowledge no good can come to us from any thing that is in our selves but it
the wicked Spirit out of thy breast by speaking hatefully and reproachfully to the old man within thee and to his corruptions The rod of the wicked shall not rest in the lot of the righteous lest the righteous put forth their hands to wickedness Psal cxxv 5. And though in many things we sin all and who can say he hath not offended Yet take heed ye commit not sin with greediness as if you delighted in the servitude of iniquity nay as if you did it with that full resolution that you saw hell fire before you and yet you will not be reformed This is to gaze the Devil in the face and to have no remorse of conscience But if frailty steals upon us yet extinguish not the ardour of zeal which would fain be delivered from that captivity let it cry out I am carried away with the violence of my depraved nature and the evil which I would not that I do This is to commit sin but with such a delight as is mixt with great unwillingness The love of God still abideth in us and we cry out against the Tempter Get thee behind me Satan Though a good man be carried back sometime in his pious endeavours yet he looks towards Gods glory he minds that chiefly and he will not cast his eye off He moves not willingly toward the Devil though the Devil tread upon his heel behind him and sometimes prevails to pluck him back from God But remember how David composed himself and with that I end I have set God always before me therefore I shall not fall AMEN THE EIGHTEENTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 10. For it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve THE Lacedaemonians had this Lesson in the private Instructions of their State and observed it as far as they could ut nunquâm cum eôdem hoste ter confligerent by no means to give battel three several times to the same Enemy for that Enemy encountring them so often might learn to overcome them by their own wayes and stratagems Why Satan hath this advantage to try masteries the third time with our Saviour neither did Christ varie one jot from his usual manner of defence he fights with the same sling and with a stone taken out of the same brook as before scriptum est for it is written the written word is all the refuge that our Lord did seek Satan knows full well at what guard He will lye doth then the adversary speed ever the better for this can he improve that knowledge to help himself Nay but far otherwise Christ is so surely fixt upon one true ground so constant to that rock of the Divine Law which is stronger than all the waves of the sea that some against it that his adversary discern'd at last the longer he strove the more unable he was to maintain the quarrel If the tempted entrench himself within the Scriptures indignation shall vex the tempter but he shall never prevail The Devil believes and trembles at it that all the Law is irresistable and shall triumph over the enemies of the Lord but this Text after which no more was said as if more could not be spoken it contains a more strict and high command than any other portion of the Law it extends not only to transgressors to hedg them in their duty that they may not start from it but to the blessed Angels that are confirm'd in grace to the damned Devils that are incorrigible in sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worship and adoration is lookt for at all these and every particular whether they be such as are comforted under mercy or such as are tormented under the Judges fury or such as sing praises for ever before the King of glory all must bend and do him homage At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow both in the highest region of souls in the middle region of the Militant Church or in the lowest region of Hell at that name every knee shall bow both of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth Therefore Justin Martyr call'd upon all the Heathen with whom he disputed to receive this charge which my Text gives This says he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the greatest that is the most spacious Commandment of all other a Charter between God and all his Creatures That upon which David speaks on this manner thy Commandment is exceeding broad Psal cxix 96. this is a chain to which all the works of the Lord are fastned and therefore our Saviour was sure it would bend his opposite with whom he disputed that he should not reply Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Where the Text is so clear I will not make it hard to be understood with dividing it The specials to be spoken of are these First the Lord God is to be worshipped Secondly the Lord God is to be served Thirdly He onely to be worshipped and served therefore fourthly whatsoever things they are beside to which men do offer religious worship and service let them mince and excuse it with what distinctions they please they run into flat Idolatry Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God let this be first the query upon the first point tu adorabis is there any emphasis in the Pronoun thou shalt worship Is the Commandment directed to the Tempter for that doubt I find in St. Chrisost whether it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Precept or a Repulse a Doctrin or a Defiance Thou shalt worship I answer it in several conclusions First the outward act of worship and adoration is enjoyned continually even to the spirits of damnation and they must perform it God hath put all things under Christs feet the Grave and Death and Hell Who is meant by Hell but Satan and his Camrades that are sunk into that place of sorrow wherefore he was bound to pay worship himself where he call'd for worship and let all the Angels of God worship him Heb. i. 6. yea and the Devil forceth himself sometimes to pay this tribute unto Christ though much against his will and content but sometimes he doth outwardly worship him that he may not fall into greater torments For as a Servant that hath run away and is taken falls down at his Masters feet that he may not be beaten so this unclean spirit having entred into a man that lived in tombs in the Country of the Gaderens when Christ came into those coasts the Devil did not keep the man close out of sight but came forth to meet Christ and worshipt our Saviour Mark v. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very word in my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke vii 28. he fell down in that body into which he had entred before him and he besought him very much that he would not send him away out of the Countrey Indeed it is seen by the sequel
Church was that there were no divisions or distractions in their Body God be praised for the multiplication of his Saints now over all the world we cannot meet now under one Roof as these did nor sit down in rows in one Field together as those 5000 did whom our Saviour fed in the Desart the bounds of all the Land of Canaan are not able to hold us God be glorified for the increase Our unity of place is to meet in those publique Assemblies which are allotted to particular Churches at those appointed times which are enjoyned us In no wise to slack our presence here on the Lords day to flock together on other festival days at Morning Prayer on week days to be much more diligent than we have been fie upon our tardiness and excuses in that duty do we look that God shall bless us in our Persons and Calling to take a Benediction away with us to serve us the whole week and come no oftner is not he the God that makes men to be of one mind to come to the Temple together and there to receive the Holy Ghost Chiefly I wish heartily in Christ that they would consort together with us who take no offence at our Doctrine established but make a separation and strangeness both from us and among themselves for matter of Ceremonies and things indifferent They that are baptized into Christ and one Faith why should they not come together with one accord in one place I must not be prolix I will say no more to it but let us say with St. Paul Hebr. x. 39. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We are not of them who separate or draw back unto perdition Vnto perdition let that be noted The observation of this point gains thus much more out of St. Austin As all the Tribes of Israel were gathered together about Mount Sinah to hear in what manner the Law was proclaimed so here was an agreement of all persons to joyn together to receive the Holy Ghost but in that admirable similitude there is this dissimilitude that the people were prohibited with many terrors to come near the place where the Law was delivered but at this time the Holy Ghost was sent unto them who expecting the promise were all with one accord in one place And Calvin conjects much unto this note that the minds of the faithful were exceedingly encouraged and chang'd for the better the stoutest Champions of them all had no manlike fortitude in them before the Shepherd was smitten and instantly they were scattered and ran away for fear now the very women had hardned themselves against all danger they mix themselves together in one place with that holy company and fear no evil that can happen unto them A resolved constant mind an heroick heart to take up the Cross of Christ and to suffer unto the death for righteousness sake is a sign of much grace in the soul and an admirable preparation to receive the greatest measure of the Holy Ghost And that you may not think this Apostolical Society had crept into a dark corner where no espials could find them out Many Authors that have laboured to understand where it was say it was a spacious goodly Room of as much note as any private House in all Jerusalem and frequented so often by the Apostles that their haunt was known through all the City All that I have met withal conclude it was the same upper Chamber where our Saviour celebrated his last Supper and so consecrated the place Nicephorus and Cedrenus say it was the House of John the Evangelist for he took the Blessed Virgin to his own home and she was now among them a slender guess God wot and repugnant to many circumstances of Scripture Theophylact says it was the House of Simon the Leper how can that be when his House was in Bethany Matth. xxvi 6. Euthymius says it was the House of Joseph of Arimathea an honourable Counseller and had goodly Rooms to receive them Baronius goes with the most voices all are but conjectures that it was the House of Mary the Mother of John whose surname was Mark. To this Adrichomius consents and says this was the place where 3000 Jews were converted by Peter and baptized thither Peter betook himself when the Angel brought him out of prison there Stephen and others were made Deacons there James the Brother of our Lord so called was consecrated Bishop of Jerusalem there the first Council of the Apostles was held Acts xv All ancient Authors conclude it was about where the Tower of Sion stood and this is certain that Helen the Mother of Constantine did build a goodly Temple upon the same place to honour that holy ground It was a Figure of the whole Church of Christ so much the more to be remembred and the Church is a Figure of the Kingdom of Heaven where all the Saints and I trust all we shall praise the Lord with one accord in one place for evermore It follows now as the outward Bond of Peace was with this Society so they were claspt together faster with the inward Bond of Agreement with the unity of the same spirit they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with one accord There cannot be a more proper true and certain disposition to make us meet for the Holy Ghost than unanimity As the Halcyon so our Naturalists say never appears but against fair weather so the Spirit comes either not at all or not very plentifully unto us until he find concord among us without jars and tranquility without bitterness The unity of the Apostles is called by the Fathers parasceue spiritus the way-making to receive the grace of God and if the Patient be prepared aright the Agent will do his work the sooner and the better No gifts of benediction are given to strive and oppose to fight one against another but for charity and edification therefore it was the beginning of our Collect three Sundays past Almighty God which dost make the minds of all faithful men to be of one will and it is a principal part of our Gospel for this day Peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you That peace which Christ left among the Apostles was as it were an earnest penny put into their hands that they should have the full donative of the Comforter from above Our Saviour was born in the days of Caesar Augustus when a still Peace was over all the world now He pours out his holy spirit upon them that were of one accord and of one heart the one was his first act upon earth the other is his last then he was cloathed with our flesh now we are invested with his spirit This remarkable amity and Saint-like brotherhood among the Members of the Church which had no ruptures was well prefigur'd in the old Feast of Pentecost which was kept by the Jews For Levit. xxiii 19. upon the day of Pentecost among other Burnt-offerings the Priests were appointed in
Child of wrath and those laudable actions were but sins or imperfections with a good gloss Will you say they desire and pray for the holy Spirit and therefore this illumination comes not suddenly but with invitation O but says the Arausican Council which handled this Point of the grace of God more copiously and Orthodoxly than ever any Council did the utterance nay the very thought of every good Prayer it is instilled by the divine irradiation of Gods help and the Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of Prayer and if any man say that the grace of God is bestowed upon our Prayer and Invocation and that grace did not first enable us to make that Prayer he contradicts the Prophet Isaiah and the Apostle Paul who both have these same words I am sought of them that asked not for me I am found of them that sought me not Thus that Council whereby you hear that we whose nature is rank corruption do not prepare and dispose the way to attract the blessing of heaven upon us by little and little upon congruity of Gods favour it comes suddenly and unawares when we least deserve it It must not be let alone without this addition to it which is S. Ambrose his descant on it Nescit tarda molimina spiritus sancti gratia the spirit of purity and renovation is quick and sudden in the work of conversion he doth not linger and mature his good effects by soft leisure he doth not creep like a snail or as a Father of our own Church says like a Serpent Serpentis est repere Commonly motions that come from the old Serpent the Devil creep upon us and men grow bold in iniquity by degrees Nemo repentè fit pessimus was the old Proverb but where the Lord loveth the man whom he chooseth he doth in an instant take away his stony heart and give him an heart of flesh And as the Resurrection of the dead shall be in an instant so in an instant he translates him from death to life It is done with such dispatch and celerity that the gift of Prophesie nay of Sanctification is called but the touch of the lips Says the Angel to Isaiah upon the living coal which he brought from the Altar This hath touched thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged Isa vi 7. The loyal Israelites that feared God and the King are called a band of men whose hearts God had touched 1 Sam. x. 26. O admirable workman says Gregory Mox ut tetigeret mentem docet solùmque tetigisse est docuisse He doth but touch and teach and the mind is reformed in a moment as soon as ever the finger of his Spirit is laid upon it An Apostolical Spirit came suddenly upon St. Matthew penitent restitution upon Zaccheus confession and grace upon the Thief on the Cross The Eunuch made haste to believe and as soon as he believed he would be baptized of Philip at the next water he came to and go no further Men must not neglect present motions of grace though suddenly rising in them Now the Lord moves my heart and now at the first touch I will obey the Spirit This is a brave and a pious resolution But if you let the grace of God knock at door once and twice and do not open it is to be feared that you will grow deaf after a while and never hear it Modo modò non habebant modum Anon and to morrow and hereafter at more leisure and as Festus said to Paul Go thy way for this time when I have a convenient season I will call for thee these are not words of good manners to so great a King as the King of heaven Can Impenitancy or continuance in evil be good at any time Then break it off at the first pang and throw that the Conscience suffers for it The Spirit is a sudden wind he deceives his own soul that continues in a long consumption of any sin and thinks to be helpt out of it by a lingring remedy The description of the suddenness hath not been unuseful you see and we shall collect as much from that which follows that it was Flatus veniens vehemens a rushing mighty wind Methinks I see the Spirit of God set out here in his manifold strength and efficacy Is there any thing in it self so thin and poor as a puff of Air It is neither Iron nor Brass nor Bones and yet what strange effects it works Turns up Oaks and Cedars by the roots breaks the Ships of the Sea in pieces casts down Bulwarks and Fortresses so Epiphanius received it from some good hand that God overthrew the Tower of Babel with a violent wind So the principles of the Spirit seem to be very mean and foolishness to flesh and bloud the Instruments in which it wrought homely illiterate Fishermen yet the learning of five Synagogues putting their wits together was not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which Stephen spake Acts vi 10. It brings down strong Holds and high Imaginations it brings into Captivity every exalting thought to the obedience of Christ Wisdom Learning Might Majesty all have stoopt before it As the Scripture says often that the Spirit came mightily upon Samson and then his Foes were sure to fall before him so it rusheth upon some holy men with a gallant heroick zeal and then all the subtilties of Satan are not able to make a part against it No Fear can dismay them no Persecution can make them hide their head no Favour or Reward make them swerve from a good conscience no Discipline so strict that they will not undertake for the love of Christ The Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force Mat. xi 12. The Kingdom of heaven was among the Jews but Rapuit regnum coelorum Centurio The Centurion did as it were invade it and take it from them for upon his confession our Saviour said I have not found so great faith no not in Israel Neither is it only expedient to make it manifest that the Spirit is strong and mighty like a stiff vehement wind in actu exercito in the power of it which the Saints of God have to exercise to others but also in actu primo informante when it enters into the heart of them whom God converts it comes with a mighty force and will not be gainsaid with the opposition of our rebellious nature Neque resistere ultra potest cui velle resistere sublatum est says a Reverend Father of our own Church that is neither shall our vicious nature resist the mighty working of Gods converting grace since the first thing that such grace works is to conquer our perverseness in resisting I do not say but our will hath always a liberty and indifferency in it to do or not do To chuse or refuse but the act to resist is suspended for that time by the grace of God and though
for God will be mild as a Dove toward us if we will be hot as fire against our selves That he may spare us with his mercy let us be angry at our selves with godly revenge And so they that made no bones of lies and fictions have renowned St. Dunstan in his Legend that a Dove descended from heaven upon him Et remigia alarum scintillantis ignis splendorem prae se ferebant says Capgrave And the wings of it when they were stretcht out did sparkle like fire Their meaning is in this Fable as I call it to set him forth as most full of the Holy Ghost upon whom both the Dove and fire descended Fourthly says St. Austin where God causeth the Tongue to speak the truth fire that is sorrow and trouble will follow Ignis portendit tribulationem quam propter linguas erunt perpessuri The fire imports that tribulation which the Apostles must undergo by preaching the Gospel The Devil did rage against those that were the Pillars of the Church and of true Doctrine and blew the coals of many a fire to consume them Fifthly and to shut up that Point the Tongue being left to it self is full of much corruption as I have amplified already and it had need of a purging fire to cleanse it and refine it In all the old Sacrifices of the Grecians Homer says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they threw the tongue of the beast into the fire whereupon says Coelius Rhodoginus Comburendo linguas perperam dictorum labes expurgabant They made expiation thereby in the flames of fire for all words that had been spoken offensively St. James says the Tongue is a fire Chap. iii. 6. meaning a fire of discord and mischief and that fire had need to be corrected by another fire from heaven or else the torments of hell-fire would be the end of it And now we will rest at last in that Point which is the resting and setling of these Tongues There appeared unto them c. and it sate upon each of them It sate Why we spoke of Tongues in the Plural number before What Enallage is this Cajetan and the most Divines interpret it that the fire sate upon each of them Calvin by a Metonimy of signi pro re signatâ that the Spirit sate upon each of them The Syrian Paraphrast refers it directly to the Tongues and puts it in the Plural number sederunt they sate upon each of them Indeed to refer it to many Tongues and yet to make the Verb of the Singular number is the best exposition of all it sate to shew that it is one Holy Ghost in the administration of divers gifts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as I said before one root and many stalks There are diversity of operations but it is the same Lord that worketh all in all 1 Cor. xii 6. But upon whom did they descend and sit For now I make haste Upon every one of the hundred and twenty that were gathered together Or upon the Apostles only Somewhat is in it that when all are named to whom this fire appeared all to be filled with the Holy Ghost yet the Tongues are said to sit upon each of them In two ancient Copies some of our Criticks say that the Text runs they sate upon each of the Apostles and I think that a very probable gloss The Reasons are First the Spirit in some particular manner was promised to them only Acts i. 7. Secondly when some Scoffers said they were full of new wine that had the gift of Tongues St. Peter makes his apology for himself and the Eleven only Thirdly it is said hereupon that they all spake or preacht the mighty things of God This befits the Apostles and not those one hundred and twenty among whom was the Blessed Virgin and other women whose office it was not to preach Fourthly the standers by said Are not all these of Galilee that speak with divers tongues which was true in the Apostles now Judas was taken away but very improbable to agree to all the rest Howsoever let there be no discord about this it is not worth the while no more is the next quere upon what part of them the Cloven Tongues did sit That is not exprest but in all likelihood it was their head for thereunto all Expositors do give their suffrage The Spirit must be in summo loco we must give it and the inspiration thereof the pre-eminence in all things These Tongues says Gregory did encircle about their head Vt novae coronae spirituales capiti eorum imponerentur as if the King of heaven had crowned them with spiritual Crowns from heaven They are ridiculous among the Pontifician Writers that would fetch it from hence that Christ did ordain the Apostles Bishops at this time and used this Ceremony to touch their head from heaven for Consecratio Episcoporum est in capite as they urge it out of Clemens Constitution For another while they confess that the Episcopal character and all Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and authority was given them in those words As my Father sent me so do I send you These things being thus put out of the way the main Doctrine agreed on all hands is that the sitting of the Tongues did betoken the constant abiding of the Spirit he is no flitter he doth not come with a lick and away but his gifts are without repentance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so St. Chrysostome and his true follower Oecumenius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both agree that the Spirit was setled upon them not to depart away It is a fire like that on the Altar permanent and never going out according to our Saviours Promise Joh. xiv 16. I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that may abide with you for ever Some of the Schoolmen find a knot in this plain Doctrine whether the Apostles and all upon whom the Spirit did now abide were confirmed in grace Certain Ecclesiastical Historians trouble them in their conclusions who say that Nicholas the Deacon from whom the Nicolaitans were derived and many other ring-leaders of Hereticks were present at this time and although the Spirit descended upon them yet they forsook their first faith The answer is if these stories be Authentical these gifts were gratiae gratis datae not gratum facientes Gifts which God did graciously give not gifts which made them gracious to God that received them And the continuance and residency of these tongues is established in these words that the Comforter whom Christ would send should abide with them for ever that is it should abide in the Church that is in them and in their Successors unto the ends of the world till Christ should come again in glory as I will open upon the next verse AMEN THE FOURTH SERMON UPON THE Descent of the Holy Ghost ACTS ii 4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them
very Apostles were enough to prove the Majesty of God 't is strange to work good upon any of us all our will is knotty timber our heart hollow and unsound what can the Workman make of such stuff but to commit the Talents of the Holy Ghost to such as these and to make them the Bankers from whom we should borrow the stock of the Church this is his exploit alone who can make a graine of mustard seed dispread into a tree that the Fouls of the air may build their nests in it Lord what are we that thou hast given such power unto men But Lord what art thou that hast given such power to most homely and simple men O Lord how excellent is thy name in all the world Thou that out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast ordained praise and put the Eloquence of the earth to silence by such unlookt-for Instruments These were no men of spirit active and stirring in the world such busie heads would never be fortunate to propagate the Gospel of peace Again they were of no honourable Order the Spirit had more use of humility than of dignity Inspirat non inflat as one said very well it inspired them it did not puff them up To be short they were not of the Scribes and Doctors that were Proficients in Arts and Learning that the work of God might disperse the greater amazement through such who were noted for ignorance and infirmity Yet they were not sent forth like Ideots and Fishermen that knew nothing but their Mechanical trade but were endued with power from on high to teach the Mystery of Godliness in all the Tongues that could be spoken Which is the next provocation to transport them with wonder as we read it ver 9. How hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born It will ask travel and pains through the whole life of a man to be cunning in two or three Tongues good Linguists know what study it costs them to come to a Grammatical excellency in a few Languages much more to a voluble pronunciation of them But to preach Christ Jesus in all the borders of the earth required more dispatch than to begin to get the elements of learning therefore by a shorter cut God gives them an inspiration to speak all Tongues in a moment and to preach the true sense of the Scripture in all those Tongues Sentire quae velint loqui quae sentiant they had words to cloath their matter as they pleased and they had matter to utter as well as words Quid voveat dulci nutricula maejus alumno quà m sapere fari quae sentiat They needed no more abilities than wisdom to know the mind of God and a tongue to declare their wisdom As in the beginning when God created the Heaven and the Earth he spake what he pleased and it was done Let there be light and there was light Let there be a Sea and there was a Sea So in the first foundations of the Church it was no more but let there be a revelation of the mysteries of the Gospel and there was a Revelation Let there be Tongues and there were Tongues Let there be a fountain opened in Jerusalem whose several spouts may water all the quarters of the world and it was so in the twinkling of an eye If God himself had come from heaven in his own Majesty his Almighty Word could not have been clearer than in this miracle Such as have an incredulous grudge in their minds an Ague that will never leave some carnal hearts they are troubled with a longing when they hear of this O that we had lived in those days when the arm of power from on high was made so manifest We take things up as the long revolutions of time have committed them to us but we live not in the days of wonder we see nothing for us by this strange omnipotency Beloved if there were a new Gospel to be preached we should have new Tongues as the Apostles had to publish it but the truth hath been preached round about the world to all Nations the continuance is old therefore why should new Wine of new Miracles be put into old bottles Then it was meet I mean on the first Whitsunday that the Gentiles should understand that way was made to call them to Salvation which could not be confirmed better than to hear the Cross of Jesus Christ published in so many forein Dialects and that the Prediction of the Psalm is fulfilled His sound is gone forth into all the earth and his Word unto the ends of the world there is neither Speech nor Language but their voice is heard among them Now it is confessed that it is accomplished and were not a miracle a most unnecessary and supernumerary thing to confirm it Hold you content that the Spirit is yet upon your tongues the seal is printed upon them to pray to God to bless one another to comfort one another If any thing will amaze a man in these days it is the bitterness the murmuring the swearing the lying the slandering of the tongue that we should do God more dishonour with one tongue than the Apostles did him honour with twenty So much for that Passion which took away the reason of them that were present for a time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were in an extasie they were amazed Now follows that which troubled their reason and exercised their reason I will put them both in one they hang so close together They were in doubt saying one to another What meaneth this Doubting is the unquietness of the mind which proceeds from ignorance It flutters about like Noahs Dove and knows not where to set its foot they wanted the Anchor of faith to fasten them to some certain resolution for as yet they knew not the Scriptures of the Prophet Joel to which St. Peter directed them Ver. 17. It shall come to pass in the last days saith God I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh Doubtfulness is the fruit of carnal wisdom it holds to nothing stedfastly it hath more faces than Janus looking every way and on every side and hath as many thoughts as there be minutes in the hour and it is impossible it should be fix'd until it pitch upon some clear Text of Scripture and say this is the truth I build upon it for so it is written in the Word of God The benefit of the holy Spirit descending as this day upon the Church was to bring us out of the windings and crooked Lanes of doubting and reduce all opinions to one setled conclusion that there was no salvation to be found but in the meritorious Passion of Jesus Christ The Academicks of Greece were so far from any certainty of knowledge that it was the perfection of their learning to doubt of every thing Whereupon an Egyptian Priest reproved them for that puerility 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you that call your selves
she nor any Unbeliever can know till they have tasted the good gift of God Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst Go now and ask our Saviour Art thou greater than our Father Jacob that gave us this Well The Well was Jacobs perhaps but not the water he digged the Cystern but God gave the Spring that flowed into it this might have been alleged But what profit had come to the winning of a Soul if Christ had made comparisons between himself and his Servant It was his purpose at this time not to wrestle with Jacob but with the Woman of Samaria he came not to diminish the honour of his Saints but to magnifie the power of the Holy Ghost Petit potum ut det potum He met with one that was backward in courtesie and would not draw a Pitcher of water to cool his thirst yet he is forward in mercy and profers living water to quench the flame of her sins He drops by little and little upon her stony heart until he opened that hard rock that waters of salvation might flow out And first his Doctrin bred admiration in this Woman then a desire to learn then a sudden spark of faith which confessed that Jesus was the Messias then confusion for her sins then repentance and surely then godly sorrow and then tears and so she drew those waters before she was aware after which our Saviour thirsts above all others the tears of unfeigned repentance She denied him to take the pains to draw a draught out of Jacobs Well but he enforced her to draw out more precious liquors than those were from the bottom of her heart These are the words now read unto you which wrought that great effect and did pierce into her soul And let me say of that weak Instrument by whose tongue the Lord at this time doth make an offer unto you of that immortal Fountain as sometimes Gregory did when he exhorted many great persons to the contempt of the World and invited them to eat and drink with Christ in his Kingdom Etsi ego ad invitandum indignus appareo sed tamen magnae sunt deliciae quas promitto I am most unworthy to bid you come unto these waters and drink but the delicious Fountain which I promise to them that thirst after righteousness is worthy to invite you To handle it succinctly and to your edification there are four Branches of the Text to be propounded 1. The Subject to which all is to be referred is a water of a most different condition from that which is mentioned in the former verse 2. Who is able to draw it none but Christ it is a water that he gives and none beside him 3. How it is to be taken even as a soveraign and a delightful Receipt for the health of the Soul and the very soul of health it must be drunk 4. The exceeding benefit and virtue which amounts to that value that the whole World hath not riches enough to purchase it if it were to be bought for whosoever drinketh of it he shall never thirst To begin with these and the Touchstone upon which all other parts of the Text shall be tried is this What this mystical water is which our Saviour prefers so much before Jacobs Well Christ calls it living water at the tenth verse of this Chapter that 's a sweet Epithet indeed and yet it hath a more amiable description in the words that follow my Text a Well of water springing up unto everlasting life These are names of much elegancy and much obscurity but that we find a clear explanation of them in the seventh Chapter of this Gospel ver 38. He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water But this he spake of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive So the Scripture hath written upon this water what it is that you may know it from any other it is the gift of Grace that cometh from above that sanctifieth our hearts and cleanseth us from all our sins it is the working of the Spirit which knits us unto Jesus Christ and makes us Heirs of Salvation God the Holy Ghost doth abase himself to be resembled to many of these inferior things for our understanding No man can miss to remember how the Spirit did appear in cloven tongues as it were of fire Acts ii 2. In another place Jo. 3.8 he is likened to the air The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou knowest not whence it comes nor whither it goes so is every one that is born of the spirit And here his name passeth down a descension beneath that and is termed water only the earth is too base an Element whereunto the Holy Spirit should be compared leave that to man and to his corruptible constitution The Fire the Air and Water have some infinitude in them after a sort quod suis terminis non continentur says the Philosopher they are diffusive bodies which are not properly bounded or circumscribed in any Figure as the Earth is therefore all their names are borrowed to signify some disposition of the Divine Spirit toward us whose Vertue is most diffusive and whose Majesty incomprehensible But in each of the Testaments Old and New the first time that we read of the Holy Ghost he was joyned unto the Waters in the first day of the Creation the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters Gen. i. 2. and upon the first manifestation of Christ that he shewed himself abroad to be the Messias of the World the Spirit sat upon his head when he was baptized at Jordan in the shape of a Dove And it is not vain to consider that when the Holy Ghost came down in fire at the Feast of Whitsontide yet St. Peter applies the place of the Prophet Joel to that occasion which speaks as if it had been water effundam spiritum In the last dayes I will pour out of my spirit to all flesh By that which is said already I have brought it to this the Scripture doth very much aim at this Comparison to be considered why the vertues and operations of the Holy Ghost are called Water and the choice of the Comparison I think are these particulars First as waters poured upon Hills will not stay upon their tops but runs down to the lowest places and fills the Valleys beneath so the Graces of God descend to the lowly and humble in heart and abide not with the proud Nay David says it will be the better for it if it be but a little Valley a diminitive thou makest fruitful the little Valleys thereof with the drops of rain Centurio quantò humilior tantò capacior says Bernard the Centurion lay very flat and low at our Saviour's feet and where was there a man that had a larger portion of the heavenly benediction for Christ said of him I have not found so great faith