the doore and the way hath taught vs that through many afflictions wee must enter into heauen There is but one passage and that a strait one If with much pressure vvee can get through and leaue but our superfluous ragges as torne from vs in the crowd we are happy He that made heauen hath on purpose thus framed it wide when wee are entred and glorious narrow and hard in the entrance that after our paine our glory might be sweeter And if before-hand you can climbe vp thither in your thoughts looke about you you shall see no more Palmes then crosses you shall see none crowned but those that haue wrestled with crosses and sorrowes to sweat yea to blood and haue ouercome All runnes here to the ouer comer and ouercomming implyes both fighting and successe Gird vp your loynes therefore and strengthen your weake knees resolue to fight for heauen to suffer fighting to persist in suffering so persisting you shall ouercome and ouercomming you shall be crowned Oh reward truely great aboue desert yea aboue conceit A crowne for a few groanes An eternal crowne of life and glory for a short and momentany suffering How iust is Saint Pauls account that the afflictions of this present life are not worthy of the glory which shal be shewed vnto vs O Lord let me smart that I may reigne vphold thou mee in smarting that thou mayest hold me worthy of reigning It is no matter how vile I be so I may be glorious What say you would you not be afflicted Whether had you rather mourne for a vvhile or for euer One must be chosen the election is easie Whether had you rather reioyce for one fit or alwayes You would doe both Pardon me it is a fond couetousnesse and idle singularitie to affect it What That you alone may fare better then all Gods Saints That God should strew Carpets for your nice feet onely to walke into your heauen and make that way smooth for you which all Patriarkes Prophets Euangelists Confessors Christ himselfe haue found rugged and bloodie Away with this selfe-loue and come downe you ambitious sonnes of Zebedee and ere you thinke of sitting neere the Throne be content to be called vnto the Cup. Now is your tryall Let your Sauiour see how much of his bitter potion you can pledge then shall you see how much of his glory he can afford you Be content to drinke of his vineger and gall and you shall drinke new wine with him in his Kingdome To Mr PETER MOVLIN Preacher of the Church at PARIS EP. VI. Discoursing of the late French occurrents and what vse God expects to bee made of them SInce your trauels here with vs we haue not forgotten you but since that your vvittie and learned trauels in the common affaires of Religion haue made your memorie both fresh and blessed Behold whiles your hand vvas happily busie in the defence of our King the heads and hands of traitors vvere busie in the massacring of your owne God doth no memorable and publike act which hee would not haue talked of read construed of all the world How much more of neighbors whom scarce a sea seuereth from each other how much yet more of brethren whom neither land nor sea can seuer Your dangers and feares and griefes haue beene ours All the salt water that runnes betwixt vs cannot vvash off our interest in all your common causes The deadly blow of that miscreant vvhose name is iustly sentenced to forgetfulnesse pierced euen our sides Who hath not bled within himselfe to thinke that he which had so victoriously out liued the swords of enemies should fall by the knife of a villaine and that hee should die in the peaceable streets vvhom no fields could kill that all those honorable and happy triumphs should end in so base a violence But oh our idlenesse and impietie if we see not a diuine hand from aboue striking vvith this hand of disloyaltie Sparrowes fall not to the ground vvithout him much lesse Kings One dyes by a tyle-sheard another by the splinters of a Launce one by Lice another by a Fly one by poison another by a knife What are all these but the executioners of that great God vvhich hath said Ye are Gods but ye shal die like men Perhaps God saw that we may guesse modestly at the reasons of his acts you reposed too much in this arme of flesh or perhaps he saw this scourge would haue beene too early to those enemies whose sinne though great yet was not full or perhaps hee saw that if that great spirit had beene deliberately yeelded in his bed you should not haue slept in yours Or perhaps the ancient conniuence at those streames of blood from your too common Duels was now called to reckoning or it may be that weake reuolt from the truth He whos 's the rod vvas knowes why he strooke yet may it not passe without a note that he fell by that religion to vvhich he fell How many Ages might that great Monarch haue liued vvhatsoeuer the ripe head of your more then mellow Cotton could imagine ere his least finger should haue bled by the hand of an Huguenot All religions may haue some monsters but blessed bee the God of heauen ours shall neuer yeeld that good Iesuite either a Mariana to teach treason or a Rauillac to act it But vvhat is that we heare It is no maruell That holy societie is a fit Gardian for the hearts of Kings I dare say none more loues to see them none takes more care to purchase them How happy were that Chappell thinke they if it vvere full of such shrines I hope all Christian Princes haue long and vvell learned so great is the courtesie of these good Fathers that they shall neuer by their vvils need bee troubled with the charge of their owne hearts An heart of a King in a Iesuites hand is as proper as a wafer in a Priests Iustly was it vvritten of old vnder the picture of Ignatius Loyola Cauete vobis Principes Be vvise O ye Princes and learn to be the keepers of your owne hearts Yea rather O thou keeper of Israel that neither slumbrest nor sleepest keepe thou the hearts of all Christian Kings vvhether aliue or dead from the keeping of this traiterous generation whose very religion is holy rebellion and whose merits bloody Doubtlesse that murderer hoped to haue stabbed thousands vvith that blow and to haue let out the life of religion at the side of her collapsed Patron God did at once laugh and frowne at his proiect and suffered him to liue to see himselfe no lesse a foole then a villaine O the infinite goodnesse of the wise and holy gouernour of the world Who could haue looked for such a calme in the middest of a tempest who would haue thought that violence could beget peace Who durst haue conceiued that King Henry should die alone and that Religion should lose nothing but his person This is the Lords doing and it
vpheld vs whether by remouing occasions or by casting in good instincts As our good indeuours are oft hindered by Satan so are our euill by good Angels else were not our protection equall to our danger and wee could neither stand nor rise It had beene as easie for the Angell to strike Balaam as to stand in his way and to haue followed him in his starting aside as to stop him in a narrow path But euen the good Angels haue their stints in their executions God had somewhat more to doe with the tongue of Balaam and therefore he will not haue him slaine but withstood and so withstood that hee shall passe It is not so much glory to God to take away wicked men as to vse their euill to his owne holy purposes How soone could the Commander of heauen and earth rid the world of bad members But so should hee lose the praise of working good by euill instruments It sufficeth that the Angels of God resist their actions while their persons continue That no man may maruell to see Balaam haue visions from God and vtter prophecies from him his very Asse hath his eyes opened to see the Angell which his Master could not and his mouth opened to speak more reasonably then his Master There is no beast deserues so much wonder as this of Balaam whose common sense is aduanced aboue the reason of his rider so as for the time the prophet is brutish and the beast propheticall Who can but stand amazed at the eye at the tongue of this silly creature For so dull a sight it was much to see a bodily obiect that were not too apparent but to see that spirit which his rider discerned not was farre beyond nature To heare a voice come from that mouth which was vsed onely to bray it was strange and vncouth but to heare a beast whose nature is noted for incapacity to our reason his Master a professed Prophet is in the very height of miracles Yet can no heart sticke at these that considers the dispensation of the Almighty in both Our eye could no more see a beast then a beast can see an Angell if he had not giuen this power to it How easie is it for him that made the eye of man and beast to dimme or inlighten it at his pleasure And if his power can make the very stones to speake how much more a creature of sense That euill spirit spake in the Serpent to our first Parents Why is it more that a spirit should speake in the mouth of a beast How ordinarily did the heathen receiue their Oracles out of stones trees Do not we our selues teach birds to speak those sentences they vnderstand not We may wonder we cannot distrust when we compare the act with the Author which can as easily create a voice without a body as a body without a voice Who now can hereafte plead his simplicity and dulnesse of apprehending spirituall things when he sees how God exalts the eies of a beast to see a spirit Who can be proud of seeing visions since an Angell appeared to a beast neither was his skinne better after it then others of his kind Who can complaine of his owne rudenesse and inability to reply in a good cause when the very beast is inabled by God to conuince his Master There is no mouth into which God cannot put words and how oft doth hee choose the weake and vnwise to confound the learned and mighty What had it beene better for the Asse to see the Angell if he had rushed still vpon his sword Euils were as good not seen as not auoyded But now he declines the way and saues his burthen It were happy for peruerse sinners if they could learne of this beast to run away from fore-seene iudgements The reuenging Angell stands before vs and though we know we shall as sure die as sin yet we haue not the wit or grace to giue backe though it be with the hurt of a foot to saue the body with the paine of the body to saue the soule I see what fury and stripes the impotent prophet bestowes vpon this poore beast because he will not goe on yet if he had gone on himselfe had perished How oft do we wish those things the not obtaining whereof is mercy We grudge to be staid in the way to death and fly vpon those which oppose our perdition I doe not as who would not expect see Balaams haire stand vpright nor himselfe alighting and appaled at this monster of miracles But as if no new thing had happened he returnes words to the beast full of anger voyd of admiration Whether his trade of sorcering had so inured him to receiue voices from his Familiars in shape of beasts that this euent seemed not strange to him Or whether his rage and couetousnesse had so transported him that he had no leasure to obserue the vnnaturall vnusualnesse of the euent Some men make nothing of those things which ouercome others with honor and astonishment I heare the Angell of God taking notice of the cruelty of Balaam to his beast His first words to the vnmercifull prophet are in expostulating of this wrong We little thinke it but God shall call vs to an account for the vnkind and cruell vsages of his poore mute creatures He hath made vs Lords not tyrants owners not tormenters hee that hath giuen vs leaue to kill them for our vse hath not giuen vs leaue to abuse them at our pleasure they are so our drudges that they are our fellowes by creation It was a signe the Magician would easily wish to strike Israel with a curse when hee wished a sword to strike his harmelesse beast It is ill falling into those hands whom beasts find vnmercifull Notwithstanding these rubs Balaam goes on and is not afraid to ride on that beast whose voice he had heard And now Posts are sped to Balac with the newes of so welcome a ghest Hee that sent Princes to fetch him comes himselfe on the way to meet him Although he can say Am not I able to promote thee yet hee giues this high respect to him as his better from whom hee expected the promotion of himselfe and his people Oh the honour that hath beene formerly done by Heathens to them that haue borne but the face of Prophets I shame and grieue to compare the times and men Onely O God bee thou mercifull to the contempt of thy seruants As if nothing needed but the presence of Balaam the superstitious King out of the ioy of his hope feasts his gods his prophet his Princes and on the morrow caries him vp to the high-places of his Idol Who can doubt whether Balaam were a false prophet that sees him sacrificing in the mount of Baal Had he beene from the true God he would rather haue said Pull me downe these altars of Baal then Build mee here seuen others The very place conuinces him of fashood and Idolatry And why seuen Altars What
of this subiect and furnisht my selfe accordingly in that Region of wonders but that I feared to surcharge the nice stomacke of our time with too much Neither would my length haue ought auailed you whose thoughts are so taken vp with so high seruiceable cares that they can giue no leisure to an ouer-long discourse May it please you therefore to receiue in short what I haue deliberately resolued in my selfe and thinke I can make good to others I haue noted foure ranks of commonly-named miracles from which if you make a iust subduction how few of our wonders shall remaine either to beleefe or admiration The first meerely reported not seene to be done the next seeming to bee done but counterfaited the third truly done but not true miracles the last truly miraculous but by Satan The first of these are bred of lies and nourished by credulity The mouth of Fame is full of such blasts For these if I listed a while to rake in the Legends and booke of Conformities an ingenuous Papist could not but blush an indifferent Reader could not but lay his hand on his spleene and wonder as much that any man could bee so impudent to broach such reports or any so simple to beleeue them as the credulous multitude wonders that any should be so powerfull to effect them But I seeke neither their shame nor others laughter I dare say not the Talmud not the Alcoran hath more impossible tales more ridiculous lies Yea to this head Canus himselfe a famous Papist dares referre many of those ancient miracles reported and by all likelihood beleeued of Bede and Gregory The next are bred of fraud and cozenage nourished by superstition The Rood of grace at Boxley-Abbey Who knowes not how the famous Kentish Idoll moued her eyes and hands by those secret gimmers which now euery Puppet-play can imitate How Saint Wilfreds needle opened to the penitent and closed it selfe to the guilty How our Lady sheds the teares of a bleeding Vine and doth many of her daily feats as Bel did of old eat vp his banquet or as Picens the Eremite fasted forty dayes But these two euery honest Papist will confesse with voluntary shame and griefe and grant that it may grow a disputable question whether Mountebanks or Priests are the greater cozeners Vines beyond his wont vehemently termes them execrable and Satanicall impostors The third are true works of God vnder a false title God giues them their being men their name vniust because aboue their nature wherein the Philosopher and the superstitiously-ignorant are contrarily extreame while the one seekes out naturall causes of Gods immediate and metaphysicall workes the other ascribes ordinary effects to supernaturall causes If the violence of a disease cease after a vow made to our Lady if a souldier armed with this vow scape gun-shot a captiue prison a woman trauelling death the vulgar and I would they alone cry out A miracle One Load-stone hath more wonder in it than a thousand such euents Euery thing drawes a base minde to admiration Francesco del Campo one of the Arch-Dukes Quiryes told vs not without importunate deuotion that in that fatall field of Newport his vow to their Virgin helpt him to swim ouer a large water when the oates of his arms had neuer before tried any waues A dogge hath done more without acknowledgement of any Saint Feare giues sudden instincts of skill euen without precept Their owne Costerus durst say that the cure of a disease is no miracle His reason because it may be done by the power of Nature albe in a longer time * * * * * Fol. an â—il six cents trois y â—uerent competâ— cent tâ—ente cinque potences iambes de bois de personnes boytrules y apportè es ad scul espace dâ— quatre ou cinque moiâ— Histoire miracles c. 12. p 34. Yeeld this and what haue Lipsius his two Ladies done wherefore serues all this clamor from the two hils I assented not neither will be herein thus much their enemy For as well the manner of doing as the matter makes a miracle If Peters handkerchiefe or shadow heale a disease it is miraculous though it might haue beene done by a potion Many of their reconciles doubtlesse haue bin wrought through the strength of Nature in the PatieÌ„t not of vertue in the Saint How many sick men haue mended with their physicke in their pocket Though many other also I doubt not of those cures haue fallen into the fourth head which indeed is more knotty and require a deeper discourse Wherein if I shall euince these two things I shall I hope satisfie my Reader and cleare the Truth One that miracles are wrought by Satan the other that those which the Romish Church boasteth are of this nature of this author I contend not of words wee take miracles in Augustines large sense wherein is little difference betwixt a thing maruellous and miraculous such as the Spirit of God in either instrument cals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Perhaps it would bee more proper to say that God workes these miracles by Satan for as in the naturall and voluntary motions of wicked men so in the supernaturall acts of euill spirits as they are acts there is more then a meere permission Satan by his tempest bereaues Iob of his children yet Iob looking higher saith The Lord hath taken No sophistry can elude this proofe of Moses that a Prophet or dreamer may giue a true signe or wonder and yet say Let vs go after strange Gods nor that of our Sauior who foretels of false christs Deut. 13â— false Prophets that shall giue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signes and wonders and those great There are some too great I grant for the hand of all infernall powers by which our Sauiour inuincibly proues the truth of his deity These neuer graced falshood neither admit any precedent from our times As to the rest so frequent and common for me I could not beleeue the Church of Rome were Antichristian if it had not boasted of these wonders All the knot lies then in the application of this to Rome and our imaginary Lady How shall it appeare that their miracles are of this kind Ludouicus Vines giues six notes to distinguish Gods miracles from Satans Lipsius three Both of them too many as might easily be discouered by discussing of particulars It is not so much the greatnesse of the work not the beleefe of witnesses nor the quality nor manner of the action nor truth of essence that can descry the immediate hand which worketh in our miracles That alone is the true and golden rule which Iustin Martyr if at least that booke be his prescribes in his Questions and Answers How shall it bee knowne that our miracles are beter than the Heathens although the euent countenance both alike Resp Ex fide cultu veri Dei By
censure of that resolute Hierome Ego è contrario loquar c. I say saith he and in spight of all the world dare maintaine that now the Iewish ceremonies are pernitious and deadly and whosoeuer shall obserue them whether hee be Iew or Gentile in barathrum Diaboli deuolutum Shall frie in Hell for it Still Altars still Priest sacrifices still still washings still vnctions sprinkling shauing purifying still all and more than all Let them heare but Augustines censure Quisquis nunc c. Whosoeuer shall now vse them as it were raking them vp out of their dust hee shall not bee Pius deductor corporis sed impius sepulturae violator an impious and sacrilegious wretch that ransacks the quiet tombes of the dead I say not that all Ceremonies are dead but the Law of Ceremonies and of Iewish It is a sound distinction of them that profound Peter Martyr hath in his Epistle to that worthy Martyr Father Bishop Hooper Some are typicall fore-signifying Christ to come some of order and decencie those are abrogated not these the Iewes had a fashion of prophesying in the Churches so the Christians from them as Ambrose the Iewes had an eminent pulpit of wood so wee they gaue names at their Circumcision so wee at Baptisme they sung Psalmes melodiously in Churches so doe we they paid and receiued tithes so doe wee they wrapt their dead in linnen with odors so wee the Iewes had sureties at their admission into the Church so wee these instances might be infinite the Spouse of Christ cannot bee without her laces and chaines and borders Christ came not to dissolue order But thou O Lord how long how long shall thy poore Church finde her ornaments her sorrowes and see the deare sonnes of her wombe bleeding about these apples of strife let mee so name them not for their value euen small things when they are commanded looke for no small respect but for their euent the enemie is at the gates of our Syracuse how long will wee suffer our selues taken vp with angles and circles in the dust yee Men Brethren and Fathers helpe for Gods sake put to your hands to the quenching of this common flame the one side by humilitie and obedience the other by compassion both by prayers and teares who am I that I should reuiue to you the sweet spirit of that diuine Augustine who when hee heard and saw the bitter contentions betwixt two graue and famous Diuines Ierome and Ruffine Heu mihi saith he qui vos alicubi fiâ—al inuenire non possum Alas that I should neuer finde you two together how I would fall at your feet how I would embrace them and weepe vpon them and beseech you either of you for other and each for himselfe both of you for the Church of God but especially for the weake for whom Christ died who not without their owne great danger see you two fighting in this Theatre of the world Yet let me doe what he said he would doe begge for peace as for life by your filiall pietie to the Church of God whose ruines follow vpon our diuisions by your loue of Gods truth by the graces of that one blessed Spirit whereby we are all informed and quickned by the precious bloud of that Sonne of God which this day and this houre was shed for our redemption bee inclined to peace and loue and though our braines be different yet let our hearts be one It was as I heard the dying speech of our late reuerend worthy and gratious Diocesan Modo me moriente viuat ac floreat Ecclesia Oh yet if when I am dead the Church may liue and flourish What a spirit was here what a speech how worthy neuer to die how worthy of a soule so neere to his heauen how worthy of so happy a succession Yee whom God hath made inheritors of this blessed care who doe no lesse long for the prosperitie of Sion liue you to effect what hee did but liue to wish all peace with our selues and warre with none but Rome and Hell And if there bee any wayward Separatist whose soule professeth to hate peace I feare to tell him Pauls message yet I must Si tu pacem sugis ego te ab Ecclesia fugere mando Would to God those were cut off that trouble you How cut off As good Theodosius said to Demophilus a contentious Prelate Si tu pacem fugis c. If thou flie peace I will make thee flie the Church Alas they doe flie it that which should be therir punishment they make their contentment how are they worthy of pittie As Optatus of his Donatists they are Brethren might be companions and will not Oh wilfull men whither doe they runne from one Christ to another Is Christ diuided we haue him thankes be to our good God and we heare him daily and whither shall we goe from thee thou hast the words of eternall life Thus the Ceremonies are finished now heare the end of his sufferings with like patience and deuotion his death is here included it was so neere that he spake of it as done and when it was done all was done How easie is it to lose our selues in this discourse how hard not to be ouerwhelmed with matter of wonder and to finde either beginning or end his sufferings found an end our thoughts cannot Lo with this word he is happily waded out of those deeps of sorrowes whereof our conceits can finde no bottome yet let vs with Peter gird our coat and cast our selues a little into this sea All his life was but a perpetuall Passion In that he became man he suffered more than wee can doe either while we are men or when we cease to be men he humbled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yea he emptied himselfe We when we cease to be here are cloathed vpon 2 Cor. 5. Wee both winne by our being and gaine by our losse he lost by taking our more or lesse to himselfe that is manhood For though euer as God I and my Father are one yet as man My Father is greater than I. That man should be turned into a beast into a worme into dust into nothing is not so great a disparagement as that God should become man and yet it is not finished it is but begun But what man If as the absolute Monarch of the world hee had commanded the vassalage of all Emperors and Princes and had trod on nothing but Crownes and Scepters and the necks of Kings and bidden all the Potentates of the earth to attend his traine this had carried some port with it sutable to the heroicall Maiestie of Gods Sonne No such matter here is neither Forme nor Beautie vnlesse perhaps 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the forme of a seruant you haue made me to serue with your sinnes Behold hee is a man to God a seruant to man and be it spoken with holy reuerence a drudge to his seruants Hee is despised and reiected of men yea as
God brake these Cedars of Lebanon and made these Hindes to calue and now they cry Peccauimus vers 19. If euer wee will stoope the iudgements of God will bring vs on our knees Samuel takes vantage of their humiliation Iuxta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pythagora Oneratis superponendum onus id est ad virtutē incedentibus augmentanda praecepta Tradentes se otio relinquendos Hier. aduers Ruffin Psal 2. Iosh 24.14 Eccl. vlt. and according to the golden sentence of that Samian-wise-man that bids vs lay weight vpon the loden how euer Hierom take it in another sense hee lades them with these three duties Feare seruice consideration Feare and seruice goe still together Serue the Lord in feare saith Dauid Feare the Lord and serue him saith Ioshua And feare euer before seruice for that vnlesse our seruice proceed from feare it is hollow and worthlesse One sayes well that these inward dispositions are as the kernell outward acts are as the shell he is but a deafe nut therefore that hath outward seruice without inward feare Feare God saith Salomon first then keep his commandments Behold the same tongue that bade them not feare ver 20. now bids them feare and the same spirit that tells vs they feared exceedingly ver 18. now inioynes them to feare more What shall we make of this Their other feare was at the best Initiall for now they began to repent and as one saies of this kinde of feare Ioh. de Combis Compend Theol. that it hath two eyes fixed on two diuers obiects so had this of theirs One eye looked vpon the raine and thunder the other looked vp to the God that sent it The one of these it borrowed of the slauish or hostile feare as Basil calls it the other of the filiall for the slauish feare casts both eyes vpon the punishment the filiall lookes with both eyes on the partie offended Now then Samuel would rectifie and perfect this affection and would bring them from the feare of slaues through the feare of penitents to the feare of sonnes and indeed one of these make way for another It is true that perfect loue thrusts out feare but it is as true that feare brings in that perfect loue which is ioyned with the reuerence of sonnes Like as the needle or bristle so one compares it drawes in the thred after it or as the potion brings health The compunction of feare saith Gregorie fits the minde for the compunction of loue Greg. 3. Dial. cap. 34. Compunctio for midinis tradit animū compunctioni dilectionis Wee shall neuer reioyce truly in God except it be with trembling Except we haue quaked at his thunder we shall neuer ioy in his sunne-shine How seasonably therefore doth Samuel when he saw them smitten with that guilty and seruile feare call them to the reuerentiall feare of God Therefore feare yee the Lord It is good striking when God hath striken there is no fishing so good as in troubled waters The conscience of man is a nice and sullen thing and if it be not taken at fit times there is no medling with it Tell one of our gallants in the midst of all his iollitie and reuels of deuotion of pietie of iudgements hee hath the Athenian question ready What will this babler say Let that man alone till God haue toucht his soule with some terror till he haue cast his body on the bed of sicknesse when his feather is turned to a kerchiefe when his face is pale his eyes sunke his hand shaking his breath short his flesh consumed now he may be talkt with now hee hath learned of Eli to say Speake Lord for thy seruant heareth The conuex or our bowed side of a vessell will hold nothing it must bee the hollow and depressed part that is capable of any liquor Oh if wee were so humbled with the varieties of Gods iudgements as wee might how sauoury should his counsels be how precious and welcome would his feare be to our trembling hearts whereas now our stubborne senselesnesse frustrates in respect of our successe though not of his decree all the threatnings and executions of God There are two maine affections Loue and Feare which as they take vp the soule where they are and as they neuer goe asunder for euery loue hath in it a feare of offending forgoing and euery feare implies a loue of that which we suspect may miscarry so each of them fulfills the whole law of God That loue is the abridgement of the Decalogue both our Sauiour his blessed Apostle haue taught vs It is as plaine of Feare The title of Iob is A iust man and one that feared God iustice is expressed by Feare Pro 8.13 Deut. 6.13 Mat. 4.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isay 29.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 15.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plut. Caesare Acts 23.10 Heb. 5.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eccles 1.23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eccl. 1.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 20. For what is iustice but freedome from sin And the feare of the Lord hates euill saith Salomon Hence Moses his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou shalt feare is turned by our Sauiour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou shalt worship or adore And that which Esay saith In vaine they feare mee our Sauiour renders In vaine they worship me as if all worship consisted in Feare Hence it is probable that God hath his name in two languages from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Feare and the same word in the Greeke signifies both Feare and Religion And Salomon when hee saies The feare of the Lord is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the beginning as wee turne it of wisdome saies more than we are aware of for the word signifies as well Caput or Principatum the head or top of wisdome yea saith Stracides it is the crowne vpon the head it is the root of the same wisdome whereof it is the top-branch saith the same Author And surely this is the most proper disposition of men towards God for though God stoop down so low as to vouchsafe to bee loued of men yet that infinite inequalitie which there is between him and vs may seem not to allow so perfect a fitnesse of that affection as of this other which suits so well betwixt our vilenesse and his glory that the more disproportion there is betwixt vs the more due and proper is our feare Neither is it lesse necessary than proper for we can be no Christians without it Hem. in Ps 25. whether it be as Hemingius distinguishes it wel timor cultus or culpae either our feare in worshipping or our feare of offending the one is a deuout feare the other a carefull feare The latter was the Corinthians feare whose godly sorrow when the Apostle had mentioned he addes Yea what indignation yea what feare yea what desire The former is that of the Angels 2 Cor. 7.11 who hide their faces with their wings yea of the Son
wood which now before-hand burnt inwardly with the heauenly fire of zeale and deuotion And now hauing kissed him his last not without mutuall teares he lifts vp his hand to fetch the stroke of death at once not so much as thinking perhaps God wil relent after the first wound Now the stay of Abraham the hope of the Church lyes on bleeding vnder the hand of a father what bowels can choose but yearne at this spectacle which of the sauagest Heathens that had bin now vpon the hill of Moriah and had seen through the bushes the sword of a Father hanging ouer the throat of such a sonne would not haue been more perplexed in his thoughts then that vnexpected sacrifice was in those briers yet he whom it neerest concerned is least touched Faith hath wrought the same in him which crueltie would in others Not to be moued He contemnes all feares and ouerlookes all impossibilities His heart tels him that the same hand which raised Isaac from the dead wombe of Sarah can raise him againe from the ashes of his sacrifice with this confidence was the hand of Abraham now falling vpon the throat of Isaac who had giuen himselfe for dead and reioyced in the change when suddenly the Angell of God interrupts him forbids him commends him The voice of God was neuer so welcome neuer so sweet neuer so seasonable as now It was the tryall that God intended not the fact Isaac is sacrificed and is yet aliue and now both of them are more happy in that they would haue done then they could haue been distressed if they had done it Gods charges are oft-times harsh in the beginnings and proceeding but in the conclusion alwayes comfortable true spirituall comforts are commonly late and sudden God defers on purpose that our tryals may be perfect our deliuerance welcome our recompence glorious Isaac had neuer been so precious to his father if he had not been recouered from death if he had not been as miraculously restored as giuen Abraham had neuer beene so blessed in his seed if he had not neglected Isaac for God The only way to finde comfort in any earthly thing is to surrender it in a faithfull carelesnesse into the hands of God Abraham came to sacrifice he may not go away with dry hands God cannot abide that good purposes should be frustrate Lest either he should not doe that for which hee came or should want meanes of speedy thanksgiuing for so gracious a disappointment Behold a Ram stands ready for the sacrifice and as it were proffers himselfe to this happy exchange Hee that made that Beast brings him thither fastens him there Euen in small things there is a great prouidence what mysteries there are in euery act of God! The onely Sonne of God vpon this very hill is laid vpon the Altar of the Crosse and so becomes a true sacrifice for the world that yet he is raised without impeachment and exempted from the power of death The Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the World is here really offred and accepted One Sauiour in two figures in the one dying restored in the other So Abraham whiles he exercises his faith confirmes it and reioyces more to foresee the true Isaac in that place offered to death for his sinnes then to see the carnall Isaac preserued from death for the reward of his Faith Whatsoeuer is dearest to vs vpon earth is our Isaac happy are we if we can sacrifice it to God those shall neuer rest with Abraham that cannot sacrifice with Abraham Of LOT and Sodom BEFORE Abraham and Lot grew rich they dwelt together now their wealth separates them Their societie was a greater good then their riches Many a one is a loser by his wealth who would account those things good which make vs worse It had been the duty of yong Lot to offer rather then to choose to yeeld rather then contend who vvould not here thinke Abraham the Nephew and Lot the Vncle It is no disparagement for greater persons to begin treaties of Peace Better doth it beseeme euery sonne of Abraham to winne vvith loue then to sway with power Abraham yeelds ouer this right of his choise Lot takes it And behold Lot is crossed in that vvhich he chose Abraham is blessed in that which vvas left him God neuer suffers any man to leese by an humble remission of his right in a desire of peace Wealth hath made Lot not only vndutifull but couetous he sees the goodly Plaines of Iordan the richnesse of the soyle the commoditie of the Riuers the situation of the Cities and now not once inquiring into the conditions of the Inhabitants hee is in loue with Sodom Outward appearances are deceitfull guides to our iudgement or affections they are worthy to be deceiued that value things as they seeme It is not long after that Lot payes deare for his rashnesse He fled for quietnesse with his Vncle and finds Warre with strangers Now is he caried prisoner with all his substance by great Enemies Abraham must rescue him of whom hee was forsaken That vvealth which was the cause of his former quarrels is made a prey to mercilesse Heathens That place which his eye couetously chose betrayes his life and goods How many Christians whiles they haue looked at gaine haue lost themselues Yet this ill successe hath neither driuen out Lot nor amended Sodom hee still loues his commoditie and the Sodomites their sinnes wicked men grow worse with afflictions as vvater growes more cold after an heat And as they leaue not sinning so God leaues not plaguing them but still followes them with succession of iudgements In how few yeares hath Sodom forgot she vvas spoiled and led captiue If that wicked Citie had been warned by the sword it had escaped the fire but now this visitation hath not made ten good men in those fiue Cities How fit was this heape for the fire which vvas all chaffe Onely Lot vexed his righteous soule with the sight of their vncleannesse Hee vexed his owne soule for who bade him stay there yet because he was vexed he is deliuered He escapeth their iudgement from whose sinnes he escaped Though he would be a ghest of Sodom yet because hee would not entertaine their sinnes he becomes an Host to the Angels Euen the good Angels are the executioners of Gods iudgement There cannot be a better or more noble act then to doe iustice vpon obstinate Malefactors Who can be ashamed of that which did not mis-beseeme the very Angels of God Where should the Angels lodge but with Lot the houses of holy men are full of these heauenly Spirits vvhen they know not they pitch their Tents in ours and visit vs when we see not and when we feele not protect vs It is the honour of Gods Saints to be attended by Angels The filthy Sodomites now flocke together stirred vp with the fury of enuy and lust and dare require to doe that in troops which to act single
the iourney and curse of the couetous prophet if God had not stayed him How oft are wicked men cursed by a diuine hand euen in those sins which their heart stands to It is no thank to lewd men that their wickednesse is not prosperous Whence is it that the world is not ouer-run with euill but from this that men cannot be so ill as they would The first entertainment of this message would make a stranger thinke Balaam wife and honest Hee will not giue a sudden answer but craues leasure to consult with God and promises to returne the answer he shall receiue Who would not say This man is free from rashnesse from partiality Dissimulation is crafty able to deceiue thousands The words are good when he comes to action the fraud bewaries it selfe For both he insinuates his own forwardnesse and casts the blame of the prohibition vpon God and which is worse deliuers but halfe his answer he sayes indeed God refuses to giue them leaue to goe He sayes not as it was He charges me not to curse them for they are blessed So did Balaam deny as one that wisht to be sent for againe Perhaps a peremptory refusall had hindered his further sollicitation Concealement of some truths is sometimes as faulty as a deniall True fidelity is not niggardly in her relations Where wickednesse meets with power it thinkes to command all the world and takes great scorne of any repulse So little is Balac discouraged with one refusall that he sends so much the stronger message Mo Princes and more honorable Oh that wee could be so importunate for our good as wicked men are for the compassing of their owne designes A deniall doth but whet the desires of vehement suitors Why are we faint in spirituall things when we are not denied but delayed Those which are themselues transported with vanity and ambition thinke that no heart hath power to resist these offers Balacs Princes thought they had strooke it dead when they had once mentioned promotion to great honour Selfe-loue makes them thinke they cannot be slaues whiles others may be free and that all the world would be glad to runne on madding after their bait Nature thinks it impossible to contemn honor and wealth and because too many soules are thus taken cannot beleeue that any would escape But let carnall hearts know there are those can spit the world in the face and say Thy gold and siluer perish with thee and that in comparison of a good conscience can tread vnder foot his best proffers like shadowes as they are and that can doe as Balaam said How neere truth and falshood can lodge together Here was piety in the lips and couetousnesse in the heart Who can any more regard good words that heares Balaam speake so like a Saint An housefull of gold siluer may not peruert his tongue his heart is won with lesse for if he had not already swallowed the reward and found it sweet why did he againe sollicit God in that which was peremptorily denyed him If his mind had not beene bribed already why did he stay the messenger why did he expect a change in God why was he willing to feed them with hope of successe which had fed him with hope of recompence One prohibition is enough for a good man Whiles the delay of God doth but hold vs in suspence importunity is holy and seasonable but when once he giues a resolute deniall it is prophane saucinesse to sollicit him When we aske what we are bidden our suites are not more vehement then welcome but when we begge prohibited fauours our presumption is troublesome and abhominable No good heart will endure to be twice forbidden Yet this opportunity had obtained a permission but a permission worse then a deniall I heard God say before Go not nor curse them Now he sayes Goe but curse not Anon he is angry that he did not goe Why did he permit that which he forbade if he be angry for doing that which he permitted Some things God permits with an indignation not for that he giues leaue to the act but that he giues a man ouer to his sinne in the act this sufferance implies not fauour but iudgement so did God bid Balaam to goe as Salomon bids the yong man follow the wayes of his owne heart It is one thing to like another thing to suffer Moses neuer approued those legall diuorces yet he tolerated them God neuer liked Balaams iourney yet he displeasedly giues way to it as if he said Well since thou art so hot set on this iourney be gone And thus Balaam tooke it else when God after professed his displeasure for the iourney it had beene a ready answer Thou commandedst me but herein his confession argues his guilt Balaams suite and Israels Quailes had both one fashion of grant in anger How much better is it to haue gracious denials then angry yeeldings A small perswasion hartens the willing It booted not to bid the couetous prophet hasten to his way Now he makes himselfe sure of successe His corrupt hart tels him that as God had relented in his licence to goe so he might perhaps in his licence to curse and he saw how this curse might blesse him with abundance of wealth hee rose vp earely therefore and saddled his Asse The night seemed long to his forwardnesse Couetous men need neither clocke nor bell to awaken them their desires make them restlesse O that we could with as much eagernesse seeke the true riches which onely can make vs happy We that see onely the out-side of Balaam may maruell why he that permitted him to goe afterward opposes his going but God that saw his heart perceiued what corrupt affections caried him hee saw that his couetous desires and wicked hopes grew the stronger the neerer he came to his end An Angell is therefore sent to with-hold the hasty Sorcerer Our inward disposition is the life of our actions according to that doth the God of spirits iudge vs whiles men censure according to our externall motions To goe at all when God had commanded to stay was presumptuous but to goe with desire to curse made the act doubly sinfull and fetcht an Angell to resist it It is one of the worthy imployments of good Angels to make secret opposition to euill designes Many a wicked act haue they hindered without the knowledge of the agent It is all one with the Almighty to worke by Spirits and men It is therefore our glory to be thus set on worke To stop the course of euill either by disswasion or violence is an Angelicall seruice In what danger are wicked men that haue Gods Angels their opposites The Deuill moued him to goe a good Angell resists him If an heauenly Spirit stand in the way of a Sorcerers sinne how much more ready are all those spirituall powers to stop the miscariages of Gods deare children How oft had we falne yet more if these Guardians had not
for so painfull a worke in the stable of Bethleem yet he that made and gaue the Law will rather keepe it with difficulty than transgresse it with ease Why wouldest thou O blessed Sauiour suffer that sacred foreskin to bee cut off but that by the power of thy circumcision the same might be done to our soules that was done to thy body we cannot bee therefore thine if our hearts bee vncircumcised Doe thou that in vs which was done to thee for vs cut off the superfluitie of our maliciousnesse that we may be holy in and by thee which for vs wert content to be legally impure There was shame in thy birth there was paine in thy circumcision After a contemptible welcome into the world that a sharp rasor should passe thorow thy skin for our sakes which can hardly endure to bleed for our owne it was the praise of thy wonderfull mercy in so early humiliation What paine or contempt should we refuse for thee that hast made no spare of thy selfe for vs Now is Bethleem left with too much honour there is Christ borne adored circumcised No sooner is the blessed virgin either able or allowed to walke than shee trauels to Ierusalem to performe her holy Rites for her selfe for her Sonne to purifie her-selfe to present her Sonne She goes not to her owne house at Nazareth shee goes to Gods House at Ierusalem If purifying were a shadow yet thanksgiuing is a substance Those whom God hath blessed with fruit of body and safety of deliuerance if they make not their first iourney to the Temple of God they partake more of the vnthankfulnesse of Eue than Maries deuotion Her forty daies therefore were no sooner out than Mary comes vp to the holy City The rumor of a new King borne at Bethleem was yet fresh at Ierusalem since the report of the wise-men and what good newes had this beene for any picke-thanke to carry to the Court Here is the Babe whom the Starre signified whom the Sages inquired for whom the Angells proclaimed whom the Shepherds talkt of whom the Scribes and high Priests notified whom Herod seekes after Yet vnto that Ierusalem which was troubled at the report of his Birth is Christ come and all tongues are so lockt vp that he which sent from Ierusalem to Bethleem to seeke him findes him not who as to countermine Herod is come from Bethleem to Ierusalem Dangers that are aloofe of and but possible may not hinder vs from the duty of our deuotion God saw it not yet time to let loose the fury of his aduersaries whom hee holds vp like some eager mastiues and then onely lets goe when they shall most shame themselues and glorifie him Well might the blessed Virgin haue wrangled with the Law and challenged an immunity from all ceremonies of purification what should I neede purging which did not conceiue in sinne This is for those mothers whose births are vncleane mine is from God which is purity it selfe The law of Moses reaches onely to those women which haue conceiued seed I conceiued not this seed but the Holy Ghost in me The law extends to the mothers of those sons which are vnder the law mine is aboue it But as one that cared more for her peace than her priuilege and more desired to be free from offence than from labour and charge she dutifully fulfils the Law of that God whom she carried in her wombe and in her armes Like the mother of him who though he knew the children of the Kingdome free yet would pay tribute vnto Caesar Like the Mother of him whom it behoued to fulfill all righteousnesse And if she were so officious in ceremonies as not to admit of any excuse in the very circumstance of her obedience how much more strict was she in the maine duties of moralitie That soule is fit for the Spirituall conception of Christ that is conscionably scrupulous in obseruing all Gods Commandements whereas hee hates all alliance to a negligent or froward heart The law of Purification proclaimes our vncleannesse The Mother is not allowed after her child-birth to come vnto the Sanctuary or to touch any hallowed thing till her set time be expired What are we whose very birth infects the mother that beares vs At last she comes to the Temple but with sacrifices either a Lambe and a Pigeon or Turtle or in the meaner estate two Turtle doues or young Pigeons Whereof one is for a burnt offring the other for a sin-offring The one for thanksgiuing the other for expiation For expiation of a double sinne of the mother that conceiued of the childe that was conceiued We are all borne sinners and it is a iust question whether we doe more infect the world or the world vs They are grosse flatterers of nature that tell her she is cleane If our liues had no sinne we bring enough with vs the very infant that liues not to sinne as Adam yet he sinned in Adam and is sinfull in himselfe But oh the vnspeakeable mercy of our God! we prouide the sinne he prouides the remedy Behold an expiation wel-neare as early as our sinne the bloud of a young lambe or doue yea rather the bloud of Him whose innocence was represented by both clenseth vs presently from our filthinesse First went circumcision then came the sacrifice that by two holy acts that which was naturally vnholy might be hallowed vnto God Vnder the Gospell our Baptisme hath the force of both It does away our corruption by the water of the Spirit It applies to vs the sacrifice of Christs bloud whereby wee are cleansed Oh that we could magnifie this goodnesse of our God which hath not left our very infancy without redresse but hath prouided such helps as whereby wee may be deliuered from the danger of our hereditary euills Such is the fauourable respect of our wise God that hee would not haue vs vndoe our selues with deuotion the seruice be requires of vs is ruled by our abilities Euery poore mother was not able to bring a lambe for her offring there was none so poore but might procure a paire of turtles or pigeons These doth God both prescribe and accept from poorer hands no lesse than the beasts of a thousand mountaines He lookes for somewhat of euery one not of euery one alike Since it is hee that makes differences of abilities to whom it were as easie to make all rich his mercy will make no difference in the acceptation The truth and heartinesse of obedience is that which he will crowne in his meanest seruants A mite from the poore widdow is more worth to him than the talents of the wealthy After all the presents of those Easterne worshippers who intended rather homage than ditation the blessed Virgin comes in the forme of pouerty with her two doues vnto God she could not without some charge lie all this while at Bethleem she could not without charge trauell from Bethleem to Ierusalem Her offring confesseth her penury The best
I see foure Temples in this one It is but one in matter as the God that dwels in it is but one three yet more in resemblance according to the diuision of them in whom it pleases God to inhabite For where euer God dwels there is his Temple Oh God thou vouchsafest to dwell in the beleeuing heart as we thy silly creatures haue our being in thee so thou the Creator of heauen earth hast thy dwelling in vs. The heauen of heauens is not able to containe thee and yet thou disdainest not to dwell in the strait lodgings of our renewed soule So then because Gods children are many and those many diuided in respect of themselues though vnited in their head therefore this Temple which is but one in collection as God is one is manifold in the distribution as the Saints are many each man bearing about him a little shrine of this infinite Maiestie And for that the most generall diuision of the Saints is in their place and estate some strugling and toyling in this earthly warfare others triumphing in heauenly glory therefore hath God two other more vniuersall Temples One the Church of his Saints on earth the other the highest heauen of his Saints glorified In all these O God thou dwellest for euer and this materiall house of thine is a cleare representation of these three spirituall Else what were a temple made with hands vnto the God of spirits And though one of these was a true type of all yet how are they all exceeded each by other This of stone though most rich and costly yet what is it to the liuing Temple of the holy Ghost which is our body What is the Temple of this body of ours to the Temple of Christs body which is his Church And what is the Temple of Gods Church on earth to that which triumpheth gloriously in heauen How easily doe wee see all these in this one visible Temple which as it had three distinctions of roomes the Porch the Holy-place the Holy of Holies so is each of them answered spiritually In the Porch wee finde the regenerate soule entring into the blessed society of the Church In the holy place the Communion of the true visible Church on earth selected from the world In the Holy of Holies whereinto the high Priest entred once a yeare the glorious heauen into which our true high-Priest Christ Iesus entred once for all to make an atonement betwixt God and man In all these what a meer correspondence there is both in proportion matter situation In proportion The same rule that skilfull caruers obserue in the cutting out of the perfect statue of a man that the height bee thrice the breadth and the breadth one third of the height was likewise onely obserued in the fabricke of the Temple whose length was double to the height and treble to the breadth as being sixty cubits long thirty high and twenty broad How exquisite a symmetry hast thou ordained O God betwixt the faithfull heart and thy Church on earth with that in heauen how accurate in each of these in all their powers and parts compared with other So hath God ordered the beleeuing soule that it hath neither too much shortnesse of grace nor too much height of conceit nor too much breadth of passion So hath he ordered his visible Church that there is a necessarie inequalitie without any disproportion an height of gouernment a length of extent a breadth of iurisdiction duely answerable to each other So hath he ordered his triumphant Church aboue that it hath a length of eternitie answered with an height of perfection and a breadth of incomprehensible glory In matter All was here of the best The wood was precious sweet lasting The stone beautifull costly insensible of age The gold pure and glittering So are the graces of Gods children excellent in their nature deare in their acceptation eternall in their vse So are the ordinances of God in his Church holy comfortable irrefragable So is the perfection of his glorified Saints incomparable vnconceiuable In situation the outer parts were here more common the inner more holy and peculiarly reserued I finde one Court of the Temple open to the vncleane to the vncircumcised Within that another open onely to the Israelites and of them to the cleane within that yet another proper onely to the Priests and Leuites where was the Brazen Altar for sacrifice and the Brazen sea for washings The eyes of the Laitie might follow their oblations in hither their feet might not Yet more in the couered roomes of the Temple there is whither the Priests onely may enter not the Leuites there is whither the high Priest onely may enter not his brethren It is thus in euery renewed man the indiuiduall temple of God the outward parts are allowed common to God and the world the inwardest and secretest which is the heart is reserued onely for the God that made it It is thus in the Church visible the false and foule-hearted hypocrite hath accesse to the holy ordinances of God and treads in his Courts onely the true Christian hath intire and priuate conuersation with the holy One of Israel He only is admitted into the Holy of Holies and enters within the glorious vaile of heauen If from the wals we looke vnto the furniture What is the Altar whereon our sacrifices of prayer and praises are offered to the Almightie but a contrite heart What the golden Candlestickes but the illumined vnderstanding wherein the light of the knowledge of God and his diuine will shineth for euer What the Tables of Shew-bread but the sanctified memory which keepeth the bread of life continually Yea if we shall presume so farre as to enter into the very closet of Gods Oracle Euen there O God doe wee finde our vnworthy hearts so honoured by thee that they are made thy very Arke wherein thy Royall law and the pot of thine heauenly Manna is kept for euer and from whose propitiatorie shaded with the wings of thy glorious Angels thou giuest thy gracious Testimonies of thy good spirit witnessing with ours that we are the children of thee the liuing God Behold if Salomon built a Temple vnto thee thou hast built a Temple vnto thy selfe in vs We are not onely through thy grace liuing stones in thy Temple but liuing Temples in thy Sion Oh doe thou euer dwell in this thine house and in this thy house let vs euer serue thee Wherefore else hast thou a Temple but for thy presence with vs and for our worshipping of thee The time was when as thy people so thy selfe didst lodge in flitting Tents euer shifting euer mouing thence thou thoughtest best to soiourne both in Shilo and the roofe of Obed-Edom After that thou condescendedst to settle thine abode with men and wouldest dwell in an house of thine owne at thy Ierusalem So didst thou in the beginning lodge with our first Parents in a Tent Soiourne with Israel vnder the law and now makest
sinnes to informe our brethren How rife is this Dumbe Deuill euerywhere whiles hee stops the mouthes of Christians from these vsefull and necessarie duties For what end hath man those two priuiledges aboue his fellow creatures Reason and Speech but that as by the one he may conceiue of the great workes of his Maker which the rest cannot so by the other hee may expresse what hee conceiues to the honor of the Creator both of them and himselfe And why are all other creatures said to praise God and bidden to praise him but because they doe it by the apprehension by the expression of man If the heauens declare the glory of God how doe they it but to the eies and by the tongue of that man for whom they were made It is no small honor whereof the enuious spirit shall rob his Maker if he 〈◊〉 close vp the mouth of his onely rationall and vocall creature and turne the best of his workemanship into a dumbe Idoll that hath a mouth and speakes not Lord open thou my lips and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise Praise is not more necessary then complaint praise of God then complaint of ourselues whether to God or men The onely amends we can make to God what we haue not had the grace to auoid sinne is to confesse the sinne wee haue not auoided This is the sponge that wipes out all the blots and blurs of our liues If wee confesse our sinnes he is faithfull and iust to forgiue vs our sins and to cleanse vs from all vnrighteousnesse That cunning man-slayer knowes there is no way to purge the sicke soule but vpward by casting out the vicious humor wherewith it is clogged and therefore holds the lips close that the heart may not dis-burden it selfe by so wholesome euacuation When I kept silence my bones consumed For day and night thy band O Lord was heauy vpon me my moisture is turned into the drought of Summer O let me confesse against my selfe my wickednesse vnto thee that thou maist forgiue the punishment of my sinne We haue a tongue for God when wee praise him for our selues when wee pray and confesse for our brethren when we speake the truth for their information which if we hold backe in vnrighteousnesse we yeeld vnto that dumbe Deuill where doe we not see that accursed spirit Hee is on the Bench when the mute or partiall Iudge speakes not for truth and innocence He is in the pulpit when the Prophets of God smother or halue or adulterate the message of their master Hee is at the barre when irreligious Iurors dare lend an oath to feare to hope to gaine Hee is in the market when godlesse chapmen for their peny sell the truth and their soule He is in the common conuersation of men when the tongue belies the heart flatters the guilty balketh reproofes euen in the foulest crimes O thou who only art stronger then that strong one cast him out of the hearts and mouthes of men It is time for thee Lord to worke for they haue destroyed thy Law That it might well appeare this impediment was not naturall so soone as the man is freed from the spirit his tongue is free to his speech The effects of spirits as they are wrought so they cease at once If the Sonne of God doe but remoue our spirituall possession we shall presently breake forth into the praise of God into the confession of our vilenesse into the profession of truth But what strange variety do I see in the spectators of this miracle some wondring others censuring a third sort tempting a fourth applauding There was neuer man or action but was subiect to variety of constructions What man could bee so holy as he that was God What act could bee more worthy then the dispossession of an euill spirit yet this man this act passeth these differences of interpretation What can we doe to vndergoe but one opinion If we giue almes and fast some will magnifie our charity and deuotion others will taxe our hypocrisie If wee giue not some will condemne our hard-heartednesse others will allow our care of iustice if wee preach plainly to some it will sauour of a carelesse slubbering to others of a mortified sincerity Elaborately some will tax our affectation others will applaud our diligence in dressing the delicate viands of God What maruell is it if it bee thus with our imperfection when it fared not otherwise with him that was purity and righteousnesse it selfe The austere fore-runner of Christ came neither eating nor drinking they say He hath a Deuill The sonne of man came eating and drinking they say This man is a glutton a friend of Publicans and sinners and here one of his holy acts caries away at once wonder censure doubt celebration There is no way safe for a man but to square his actions by the right rule of iustice of charitie and then let the world haue leaue to spend their glosses at pleasure It was an heroicall resolution of the chosen vessell I passe very little to be iudged of you or of mans day I maruell not if the people maruelled for here were foure wonders in one The blinde saw the deafe heard the dumbe spake the demoniacke is deliuered Wonder was due to so rare and powerfull a worke and if not this nothing We can cast away admiration vpon the poore deuices or actiuities of men how much more vpon the extraordinary workes of omnipotency Who so knowes the frame of Heauen and earth shall not much be affected with the imperfect effects of fraile humanity but shall with no lesse rauishment of soule acknowledge the miraculous workes of the same Almighty hand Neither is the spirituall eiection worthy of any meaner intertainment Raritie and difficultie are wont to cause wonder There are many things which haue wonder in their worth and leese it in their frequence there are some which haue it in their strangenesse and leese it in their facilitie Both meet in this To see men haunted yea possessed with a dumbe Deuill is so frequent that it is a iust wonder to finde a man free but to finde the dumbe spirit cast out of a man and to heare him praising God confessing his sinnes teaching others the sweet experiments of mercy deserues iust admiration If the Cynick sought in the market for a man amongst men well may we seeke amongst men for a conuert Neither is the difficulty lesse then the rarenesse The strong man hath the possession all passages are blockt vp all helpes barred by the trechery of our nature If any soule be rescued from these spirituall wickednesses it is the praise of him that doth wonders alone But whom doe I see wondring The multiude The vnlearned beholders follow that act with wonder which the learned Scribes entertaine with obloquy God hath reuealed those things to babes which he hath hid from the wise and prudent With what scorne did those great Rabbins speake of these sonnes of the earth This
for none but God to hold discourse with Satan Our surest way is to haue as little to doe with that euill one as wee may and if hee shall offer to maintaine conference with vs by his secret tentations to turne our speech vnto our God with the Archangell The Lord rebuke thee Satan It was the presupposition of him that knew it that not only men but spirits haue names This then he askes not out of an ignorance or curiositie nothing could bee hid from him who calleth the starres and all the hosts of heauen by their names but out of a iust respect to the glory of the miracle hee was working whereto the notice of the name would not a little auaile For if without inquirie or confession our Sauiour had erected this euill spirit it had passed for the single dispossession of one onely Deuill whereas now it appeares there was a combination and hellish champertie in these powers of darknesse which were all forced to vaile vnto that almighty command Before the Deuill had spoken singularly of himselfe What haue I to doe with thee and I beseech thee torment me not Our Sauiour yet knowing that there was a multitude of Deuils lurking in that brest who dissembled their presence wrests it out of the Spirit by this interrogation What is thy name Now can those wicked ones no longer hide themselues He that asked the question forced the answer My name is Legion The author of discord hath borrowed a name of warre from that military order of discipline by which the Iewes were subdued doth the Deuill fetch his denomination They were many yet they say My name not Our name though many they speake as one they act as one in this possession There is a maruellous accordance euen betwixt euill spirits that Kingdome is not diuided for then it could not stand I wonder not that wicked men doe so conspire in euill that there is such vnanimitie in the broachers and abettors of errours when I see those Deuils which are many in substance are one in name action habitation Who can bragge too much of vnitie when it is incident into wicked spirits All the praise of concord is in the subiect if that be holy the consent is Angelicall if sinfull deuillish What a fearfull aduantage haue our spirituall enemies against vs If armed troopes come against single straglers what hope is there of life of victory How much doth it concerne vs to band our hearts together in a communion of Saints Our enemies come vpon vs like a torrent Oh let not vs runne asunder like drops in the dust All our vnited forces will bee little enough to make head against this league of destruction Legion imports Order number conflict Order in that there is a distinction of regiment a subordination of Officers Though in hell there be confusion of faces yet not confusion of degrees Number Those that haue reckoned a Legion at the lowest haue counted it six thousand others haue more then doubled it though here it is not strict but figuratiue yet the letter of it implyes multitude How fearfull is the consideration of the number of Apostate Angels And if a Legion can attend one man how many must we needs thinke are they who all the world ouer are at hand to the punishment of the wicked the exercise of the good the tentation of both It cannot be hoped there can be any place or time wherein we may be secure from the onsets of these enemies Be sure ye lewd men ye shall want no furtherance to euill no torment for euill Be sure yee godly yee shall not want combatants to try your strength and skill Awaken your courages to resist and stirâ—e vp your hearts make sure the meanes of your safety There are more with vs then against vs The God of heauen is with vs if we be with him and our Angels behold the face of God If euery deuill were a Legion we are safe Though wee walke through the valley of the shadow of death we shall feare no euill Thou O Lord shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of our enemies and thy right hand shall saue vs. Conflict All this number is not for sight for rest but for motion for action Neither was there euer houre since the first blow giuen to our first Parents wherein there was so much as a truce betwixt these aduersaries As therefore strong frontier Townes when there is a peace concluded on both parts breake vp their garison open their gates neglect their Bulwarkes but when they heare of the enemy mustering his forces in great and vnequall numbers then they double their guard keepe Sentinell repaire their Sconces so must we vpon the certaine knowledge of our numerous and deadly enemies in continuall aray against vs addresse our selues alwayes to a wary and strong resistance I doe not obserue the most to thinke of this ghostly hostilitie Either they doe not finde there are tentations or those tentations hurtfull they see no worse then themselues and if they feele motions of euill arising in them they impute it to fancy or vnreasonable appetite to no power but natures and those motions they follow without sensible hurt neither see they what harme it is to finne Is it any maruell that carnall eyes cannot discerne spirituall obiects That the world who is the friend the vassall of Satan is in no warre with him Elisha's seruant when his eyes were opened saw troops of spirituall souldiers which before hee discerned not If the eyes of our soules bee once enlightened by supernaturall knowledge and the cleare beames of faith wee shall as plainely descry the inuisible powers of wickednesse as now our bodily eyes see heauen and earth They are though wee see them not we cannot be safe from them if wee doe not acknowledge not oppose them The Deuils are now become great suitors to Christ That hee would not command them into the deepe that hee would permit their entrance into the swine What is this deepe but hell both for the vtter separation from the face of God and for the impossibilitie of passage to the region of rest and glory The very euill spirits then feare and expect a further degree of torment they know themselues reserued in those chaines of darknesse for the iudgement of the great day There is the same wages due to their sinnes and to ours neither are the wages paid till the worke bee done they tempting men to sinne must needs sinne grieuously in tempting as with vs men those that mislead into sinne offend more then the actors not till the vpshot therefore of their wickednesse shall they receiue the full measure of their condemnation This day this deepe they tremble at what shall I say of those men that feare it not It is hard for men to beleeue their owne vnbeliefe If they were perswaded of this fiery dungeon this bottomlesse deepe wherein euery sinne shall receiue an horrible portion with the damned durst they stretch
forth their hands to wickednesse No man will put his hand into a fiery crucible to fetch gold thence because hee knowes it will burne him Did wee as truely beleeue the euerlasting burning of that infernall fire we durst not offer to fetch pleasures or profits out of the midst of those flames This degree of torment they grant in Christs power to command they knew his power vnresistible had hee therefore but said Backe to hell whence hee came they could no more haue staid vpon earth then they can now climbe into heauen O the wonderfull dispensation of the Almighty who though hee could command all the euill spirits downe to their dungeons in an instant so as they should haue no more opportunity of temptation yet thinkes fit to retaine them vpon earth It is not out of weaknesse or improuidence of that diuine hand that wicked spirits tyrannize here vpon earth but out of the most wise and most holy ordination of God who knowes how to turne euill into good how to fetch good out of euill and by the worst instruments to bring about his most iust decrees Oh that wee could adore that awfull and infinite power and cheerefully cast our selues vpon that prouidence which keepes the Keyes euen of hell it selfe and either lets out or returnes the Deuils to their places Their other suit hath some maruell in mouing it more in the grant That they might be suffered to enter into the Herd of Swine It was their ambition of some mischiefe that brought forth this desire that since they might not vexe the body of man they might yet afflict men in their goods The malice of these enuious spirits reacheth from vs to ours It is sore against their wils if wee be not euery way miserable if the Swine were legally vncleane for the vse of the table yet they were naturally good Had not Satan knowne them vsefull for man he had neuer desired their ruine But as Fencers will seeme to fetch a blow at the legge when they intend it at the head so doth this Deuill whiles he driues at the Swine hee aimes at the soules of these Gadarens by this meanes he hoped well and his hope was not vaine to worke in these Gergesens a discontentment at Christ an vnwillingnesse to entertaine him a desire of his absence he meant to turne them into Swine by the losse of their Swine It was not the rafters or stones of the house of Iobs children that hee bore the grudge to but to the owners nor to the liues of the children so much as the soule of their father There is no affliction wherein hee doth not strike at the heart which whiles it holds free all other dammages are light but a wounded spirit whether with sinne or sorrow who can beare What euer becomes of goods or limmes happy are wee if like wise souldiers we guard the vitall parts whiles the soule is kept sound from impatience from distrust our enemy may afflict vs he cannot hurt vs. They sue for a sufferance not daring other then to grant that without the permission of Christ they could not hurt a very swine If it be fearfull to thinke how great things euill spirits can doe with permission it is comfortable to thinke how nothing they can doe without permission Wee know they want not malice to destroy the whole frame of Gods worke but of all man of all men Christians but if without leaue they cannot set vpon an hogge what can they doe to the liuing Images of their Creator They cannot offer vs so much as a suggestion without the permission of our Sauiour And can hee that would giue his owne most precious blood for vs to saue vs from euill wilfully giue vs ouer to euill It is no newes that wicked spirits wish to doe mischiefe it is newes that they are allowed it If the owner of all things should stand vpon his absolute command who can challenge him for what hee thinkes fit to doe with his creature The first Fole of the Asse is commanded vnder the law to haue his necke broken what is that to vs The creatures doe that they were made for if they may serue any way to the glory of their Maker But seldome euer doth God leaue his actions vnfurnished with such reasons as our weaknesse may reach vnto There were sects amongst these Iewes that denied spirits they could not bee more euidently more powerfully conuinced then by this euent Now shall the Gadarens see from what a multitude of deuils they were deliuered and how easie it had beene for the same power to haue allowed those spirits to seize vpon their persons as well as their Swine Neither did God this without a iust purpose of their castigation His iudgements are righteous where they are most secret though wee cannot accuse these inhabitants of ought yet hee could and thought good thus to mulct them And if they had not wanted grace to acknowledge it it was no small fauour of God that hee would punish them in their Swine for that which hee might haue auenged vpon their bodies and soules Our goods are furthest off vs If but in these we smart wee must confesse to finde mercy Sometimes it pleaseth God to grant the suits of wicked men and spirits in no fauour to the suitors He grants an ill suit and withholds a good He grants an ill suit in iudgement and holds backe a good one in mercy The Israelites aske meat hee giues Quailes to their mouthes and leannesse to their soules The chosen vessell wishes Satan taken taken off and heares onely My grace is sufficient for thee Wee may not euermore measure fauour by condescent These Deuils doubtlesse receiue more punishment for that harmefull act wherein they are heard If wee aske what is either vnfit to receiue or vnlawfull to begge it is a great fauour of our God to bee denied Those spirits which would goe into the Swine by permission goe out of the man by command they had stayed long and are eiected suddenly The immediate works of God are perfect in an instant and doe not require the aide of time for their maturation No sooner are they cast out of the man then they are in the Swine They will leese no time but passe without intermission from one mischiefe to another If they hold it a paine not to be doing or of euill Why is not our delight to bee euer doing good The impetuousnesse was no lesse then the speed The Herd was caried with violence from a steepe downe place into the lake and was choaked It is no small force that could doe this but if the Swine had beene so many mountaines these spirits upon Gods permission had thus transported them How easily can they carie those soules which are vnder their power to destruction Vncleane beasts that wallow in the mire of sensualitie brutish drunkards transforming themselues by excesse euen they are the Swine whom the Legion caries headlong to the pit of perdition The