urge and carry us on toward the Truth It is the first of all the passions and operations of the soul the first mover as it were being a strong propension to that we love And it is fitted and proportioned to the mind seeking out means and working forward with all heat of intention unto the end It is eminent among the affections calling up my Fear my Hope my Anger my Sorrow my Fear of not finding out what I seek yet in the midst of fear raising a Hope to attain to it my Sorrow that I find it not so soon as I would and my Anger at any thing that is averse or contrary at any cloud or difficulty placed between me and the Truth The love of Christ saith S. Paul 2 Cor. 5.14 constraineth us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is a resemblance taken from women in travel Love constraineth urgeth me worketh in me such a desire as the pain in travel doth in a woman to be delivered For do we not labour and travel with a conclusion which we would find out and what joy is there when we have like that of a woman in travel when a man-child is brought into the world If ye love me keep my commandments John 14.15 saith Christ If ye love me not ye cannot but if ye love me ye will certainly keep them Will you know the reason why the wayes of Truth are so desolate why so little Truth is known when all offereth it self and is even importunate with us to receive it There can be no other reason given but this Our hearts are congealed our spirits frozen and we coldly affected to the Truth nay averse and turn from it This Truth crosseth our profit that our pleasure other Truths stand in our light and obstruct our passage to that we most desire S. Paul speaketh plainly 2 Cor. 4.3 4. If the truth be hid it is hid to them that perish In whom the God of this world hath so blinded their mind that the light of this truth should not shine upon them If we have eyes to see her she is a fair object as visible as the Sun If we do but love the Truth the Spirit of Truth is ready to take us by the hand and lead us to it Hebr. 10.38 but those that withdraw themselves doth his soul hate 2. In the next place the Love of Truth bringeth in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 1.2 a Love of Industry If we love it it will be alwayes in our thoughts and we shall meditate of it day and night Gen. 29.20 To Love seven years are but a few dayes great burdens are but small and labour is a pleasure when we walk in the region of Truth viewing it and delighting in it gathering what may be for our use we walk as in a paradise Truth is best bought when it costeth us most it must be wooed oft and seriously and with great devotion As Pithagoras said of the Gods Non est salutanda in transitu it is not to be spoken with in the By and passage it is not content with a glance and salutation and no more but we must behold it with care and anxiety make a kind of perigrination out of our selves run and sweat to meet it and then this Spirit leadeth us to it And this great encouragement we have In this our labour we never fail of the end we labour for But in our other endeavours and attempts we have nothing to uphold us under those burdens we lay upon our own shoulders but a deceitful hope which carrieth us along to see it self defeated and the frustration of that hope is a greater penalty and vexation than that pains we undertook for its sake How many rise up early to be rich and before their day shutteth up are beggers How many climb to the highest place and when they are near it and ready to sit down fall back into a prison But in this labour we never fail the Spirit working with us and blessing the work of our hands He maketh our busie and careful thoughts as his chariot and then filleth us with light Such is the privilege and prerogative of Industry such is the nature of Truth that it will be wrought out by it Never did any rise up early and in good earnest travel towards it but this Spirit brought him to his journeyes end Prov. 2.4 5. If thou seekest her as silver saith the wise man if thou search for her as for hid treasures which being hid we remove many things turn up much earth and labour hard that we may come to them then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God In this work our Industry and the Spirits help are as it were joyned and linked together You will say perhaps that the Spirit is an omnipotent Agent and can fall suddenly upon us as he did upon the Apostles this day that he can lead us in the way of Truth though we sit still though our feet be chained though we have no feet at all But the Proverb will answer you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If God will you may sail over the sea in a sieve But we must remember the Spirit leadeth us according to his own will and counsel not ours As he is an omnipotent so is he a free Agent also and worketh and dispenseth all things according to the good pleasure of his will Eph. 1.5 And certainly he will not lead thee if thou wilt not follow he will not teach thee if thou wilt not learn Nor can we think that the Truth which must make us happy is of so easie purchase that it will be sown in any ground and as the Devil's tares Matth. 13.25 grow up in us whilest we sleep 3. The third rule is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Method or an Orderly proceeding in the wayes of Truth As in all other Arts and Sciences so in spiritual Wisdome and in the School of Christ we may not hand over head huddle up matters as we please but we must keep an orderly and set course in our studies and proceedings Our Saviour Christ hath a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Seek ye first the kingdome of God Mat. 6.33 and in that Kingdome every thing in its order There is something first and something next to be observed and every thing to be ranked in its proper place The Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews telleth us of principles of doctrine Hebr. 6.1 which must be learned before we can be led forward to perfection Heb. 5.13 14. of milk and of strong meat of plainer lessons before we reach at higher Mysteries Nor can we hope to make a good Christian veluti ex luto statuam as soon as we can make a statue out of clay Most Christians are perfect too soon which is the reason that they are never perfect They are spiritual in the twinkling of an eye they know not how nor no
The unbelieving man that dwelleth not in Christ hath either no place to fly to or else that he flyeth to is as full of molestation and torment as that he did fly from He flieth to himself from himself He flieth to his wit and that befooleth him he flieth to his strength and that overthroweth him he flieth to his friend and he faileth him He asketh himself counsel and mistrusteth it He asketh his friend counsel and is afraid of it He flieth to a Reed for a staff to Impotency and Folly and hath not what he looked for when he hath what he looked for He is ever seeking ease and never at rest And vvhen these evils vvithout him stir up a worse evil within him a conscience which calleth his sins to remembrance vvhat a perplexed and distracting thing is he what shifts and evasions doth he catch at He runneth from room to room from excuse to excuse from comfort to comfort He fluttreth and flieth to and fro as the Raven and would rest though it vvere on the outside of the Ark. This is the condition of those vvho are not in Christ But he that dwelleth in him that abideth in him knoweth not vvhat Fear is Col. 2.3 because he is in him in whom all the treasures of wisdome and power are hid and so hath ever his protection about him He knoweth not vvhat danger is for Wisdome it self conducteth him He knoweth not what an enemy is for power guardeth him He knoweth not vvhat misery is for he liveth in the region of happiness He that dwelleth in him cannot fear what Man vvhat Devil vvhat Sin can do unto him because he is in his armory abideth safely as in a Sanctuary 2 Tim. 1.12 under his wing I know whom I have trusted saith S. Paul not the World not my friends not my Riches not my Self Not onely the World and Riches and Friends are a thin shelter to keep off a storm but I know nothing in my self to uphold my self but I know whom I have trusted my Christ my King my Governour and Counsellor who hath taken me under his roof who cannot deny himself but in these evil dayes in that great day will be my patrone my defence my protection Thus doth the true Christian dwell abide in Christ 1. admiring his majesty 2. loving his command 3. depending vvholly upon his protection These three fill up our first part our first proposition That some act is required on our parts here expressed by dwelling in him We pass now to our second That something is also done by Christ in us some virtue proceedeth from him vvhich is here called dwelling in us There goeth forth virtue and power from him from his promises from his precepts from his life from his passion and death from vvhat he did from vvhat he suffered as there did to the vvoman who touching the hem of his garment was healed of her bloody issue Mark 5. Luke 8. a power by which he sweetly and secretly and powerfully characterizeth our hearts and writeth his mind in our minds and so taketh possession of them and draweth them into himself The Apostle telleth us he dwelleth in us by his spirit Rom. 8 11 14 and that we are led by the spirit in the whole course of our life Eph. 2.22 and that we are the habitation of God through the spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his tabernacle his temple which he consecrateth and setteth apart to his own use and service There is no doubt but a power cometh from him but I am almost afraid to say it there having been such ill use made of it For though it be come already Rom. 1.16 for the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation yet is it still expected expected indeed rather then hoped for For when it doth come we shut the door and set up our will against it and then look faintly after it and perswade our selves it will come at last once for all There is power in his Precepts for our Reason subscribeth and signeth them for true There is power in his Promises they shine in glory These are the power of Christ to every one that believeth And how can we be Christians if we believe not But this is his ordinary power which like the Sun in commune profertur is shewn on all at once There yet goeth a more immediate power and virtue from him we deny it not which like the wind worketh wonderful effects but we see not whence it cometh John 3.8 nor whither it goeth neither the beginning nor the end of it which is in another world The operations of the Spirit by reason they are of another condition then any other thought or working in us whatsoever are very difficult and obscure as Scotus observeth upon the Prologue to the Sentences for the manner not to be perceived no not by that soul wherein they are wrought Profuisse deprehendas quomodo profuerunt non deprehendes as Seneca in another case That they have wrought you shall find but the secret and retired passages by which they wrought are impossible to be brought to demonstration But though we cannot discern the manner of his working yet we may observe that in his actions and operations on the soul of man he holdeth the course even of natural agents in this respect that they strive to bring in their similitude and likeness into those things on which they work by a kind of force driving out one contrary with another to make way for their own form So Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac Jacob and every creature begetteth according to its own kind Plato said of Socrates's wise sayings that they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the children of his mind so resembling him that you might see all Socrates in them So it is with Christ Where he dwelleth he worketh by his spirit something like unto himself He altereth the whole frame of the heart driveth out all that is contrary to him 2 Cor. 10.5 all imaginations which exalt themselves against him and never leaveth purging and fashioning us till a new creature like himself be wrought till Christ be fully formed in us Gal. 4.19 So it is with every one in vvhom Christ dwelleth And this he doth by the power of his Spirit 1. by quickning our Knowledge by shewing us the riches of his Gospel his beauty and majesty the glory and order of his house and that vvith that convincing evidence that vve are forced to fall dovvn and vvorship by filling our soul vvith the glory of it as God filled the tabernacle vvith his Exod. 40. that all the powers and faculties of the soul are ravisht vvith the sight and come vvillingly as the Psalmist speaketh fall down vvillingly before him by moving our soul as our Soul doth our Body that when he saith Go vve go and vvhen he saith Do this vve do it So it is in every one in vvhom Christ dwelleth 2. He dwelleth in us
apart for this holy use yet we must be careful that we attribute no more unto them than Christ the Authour doth We must not suffer our eyes to dazle at the outward Elements nor must we rest in the outward Action For this were in a manner to transsubstantiate the Elements and bring the Body and Bloud of Christ into them which nothing can do but Faith and Repentance This were to make the very action of Receiving opus privilegiatum as Gerson speaketh to give it a greater prerogative than was ever granted out of the court of Heaven This were to rest in the means as in the end and at once to magnifie and profane it This were to take it as our first parents did the Apple that our eyes may be opened and then to see nothing but our own shame This were to eat and to be damned But this we shall not need to insist upon For it is sufficient to point out to it as to a thing to be done And that we may do it besides the Authority and Command and Love of the Authour we have all those motives and inducements which use to stir up and incite us unto action even then when our hands are folded and we unwilling to move as 1. the Fitness and Applyableness of it to our present condition 2. the Profit and Advantage it may bring 3. the Pleasure and Delight it carrieth along with it 4. the Necessity of it which are as so many allurements and invitations as so many winds to drive us on and make us fly to it as the Doves to their windows Isa 60.8 And first it fitteth and complyeth as it were with our present condition blanditur nostrae infirmitati and even flattereth and comforteth and rowzeth up our weakness and infirmity As our Saviour speaketh upon another occaâ—â—on John 12.30 2 Cor. 5.7 This voyce this institution came for our sake We walk by faith saith the Apostle Et hoc est nostrae infirmitatis saith the Father and this is a sign and an argument of humane infirmity that we walk by faith that God can come no nearer to us nor we to him that we see him onely with that eye which 1 Cor. 13.12 Gen. 2.18 c. when it is clearest seeth him but as in a glass darkly And therefore as God sent Adam into the world and gave him adjutorium simile sibi a help convenient and meet for him so doth he place us in his Church and affordeth us many helps meet for us and attempered to our frailty and humane infirmity He speaketh to our Ear and he speaketh to our Eye he speaketh in thunder and he speaketh in a still voyce He passeth his promise and sealeth and confirmeth it He preacheth to us by his word and he preacheth to us by these ocular Sermons by visible Elements by Water to purge us and by Bread and Wine to strengthen us in his grace and omitteth nothing that is meet and convenient for us When God told the people of Israel that he would no longer go before them himself he withall telleth them he would send his Angel which should lead them and when we are not capable of a nearer approach he sendeth his Angels his Word his Apostles his Sacraments which like those ministring Spirits Hebr. 1.14 minister for them who are heirs of salvation And not content with the general declaration of his mind he addeth unto it certain seals and external signs that we may even see and handle and tast the word of life 1 Joh. 1.1 And as it was said by Laban and Jacob when they made a covenant Gen. 31.48 c. This stone shall be witness between us so God doth say to thy soul by these outward Elements This covenant have I made with thee and this that thou seest shall witness between thee and me Do thou look upon it and bring a bleeding renewed heart with thee and then do this and I will look upon it Gen. 9.16 as upon the Rain-bow and remember my covenant which was made in the blood of my Son I thus frame and apply my self to thee in things familiar to thy sight that thou mayest draw nearer and nearer to that light which now thy mortal eye thy frailty and infirmity cannot attain to And shall we not meet and embrace that help which is so fitted and proportioned to us Secondly Profit is a lure and calleth all men after it And if you ask with the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What profit is there Rom 3 1â—2 we may answer with him Much every manner of way For what is profit but the improvement of our estate the bettering of our condition As in the increase of Jacobs cattel the doubling of Jobs sheep as when Davids sheep-hook was changed into a scepter here was improvement and advantage And this we find in our spiritual addresses in our reverent access to this Table a great improvement in some thirty in some sixty in some an hundred fold Mark 4.20 a Will intended a Love exalted our Hope increased our Faith quickened more earnestly looking on God more compassionately on our Brethren more Light in our Understanding more Heat in our Affections more Constancy in our Patience every vitious Inclination weakned every Virtue rooted and established What is but brass it refineth into gold raiseth the man the earthy man to the participation of a Divine nature And shall we not be covetous of that which is so profitable and advantageous Thirdly Pleasure is attractive is eloquent and pleadeth for admittance Who will not do that which bringeth much delight and pleasure when it is done And here in this action of worthy Receiving is not that short transitory Meteor the flattery and titillation of the outward man but that new heaven which Reason and Religion create in the mind Isa 9.3 the joy of the harvest as the Prophet speaketh Psal 126.5 for here we reap in joy what we sowed in tears the joy and triumph of a Conquerour for here we tread down our enemy under our feet the joy of a prisoner set at liberty for this is our Jubilee And such a joy the blood of Christ if it be tasted and well digested must necessarily bring forth a pure refined spiritual heavenly joy Pretious blood saith S. Peter 1 Pet. 1.19 not to be shed for a trifle for that joy which is no better then madness and the blood of an immaculate Lamb not to be poured forth for a stained wavering fugitive joy for a joy as full of pollution as the World and the Flesh from whence it springeth Bring but a true tast with thee a soul purged from those vitious humours which vitiate and corrupt it and here is not onely Bread and Wine Psal 4.7 but living Bread Bread that putteth gladness into the heart more then Corn and Wine can Here is Christ here is Joy here is Heaven it self And shall we not do that which filleth
and for the advantage of those things which are necessary that are already under a higher and more binding law than any Potentate or Monarch of the earth can make The acts I say of Charity are manifest But those of Christian Prudence are not particularly designed Prudentia respicit ad singularia because that eye is given us to view and consider particular occurrences and circumstances and it dependeth upon those things which are without us whereas Charity is an act of the will And here if we would be our selves or rather if we would not be our selves but be free from by-respects and unwarrantable ends if we would devest our selves of all hopes or fears of those things which may either shake or raise our estates we could not be to seek For how easy is it to a disingaged and willing mind to apply a general precept to particular actions especially if Charity fill our hearts which is the bond of perfection Col. 3.14 Rom. 13.10 and the end and complement of the Law and indeed our spiritual wisdome In a word in these cases when we go to consult with our Reason we cannot erre if we leave not Charity behind us Or if we should erre our Charity would have such an influence upon our errour that it should trouble none but our selves 1 Cor. 13.7 For Charity beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things This is the extent of the Spirit 's Lesson And if in other truths more subtil than necessary we are to seek it mattereth not for we need not seek them It is no sin not to know that which I cannot know to be no wiser than God hath made me And what need our curiosity rove abroad when that which is all and alone concerneth us lieth in so narrow a compass In absoluto facili aeternitas saith Hilary The way to heaven may seem rough and troublesome but it is an easy way easy to find out though not so easy at our first onset to walk in and yet to those that tread and trace it often as delightful as Paradise it self See God hath shut up Eternity within the compass of two words Believe and Repent which is a full and just commentary on the Spirit 's Lesson the sum of all that he taught Lay your foundation right and then build upon it Because God loved you in Christ do you love him in Christ Love him and keep his commandments than which no other way could have been found out to draw you neer unto God Believe and Repent this is all Oh wicked abomination whence art thou come to cover the earth with deceit What malice what defiance what contention what gall and bitterness amongst Christians yet this is all Believe and Repent the Pen the Tongue the Sword these are the weapons of our warfare What ink what blood hath been spilt in the cause of Religion How many innocents defamed how many Saints anathematized how many millions cut down with the sword yet this is all Believe and Repent We hear the noyse of the whip and the ratling of the wheels and the prancing of the horses The horseman lifteth up his bright sword and his glittering spear Nah. 3.2 3. Every part of Christendome almost is a stage of war and the pretense is written in their banners you may see it waving in the air FOR GOD AND RELIGION yet this is all Believe and Repent Who would once think the Pillars of the earth should be thus shaken that the world should be turned into a worse chaos than that out of which it was made that there should be such wars and fightings amongst Christians for that which is shut up and brought unto us in these two words Believe and Repent For all the truth which is necessary and will be sufficient to lift us to our end and raise us to happiness can make no larger a circumferance than this This is the Law and the Prophets or rather this is the Gospel of Christ this is the whole will of God In this is knowledge justification redemption and holiness This is the Spirit 's Lesson and all other lessons are no lessons not worth the learning further than they help and improve us in this In a word this is all in all and within this narrow compass we may walk out our span of time and by the conduct of the same Spirit in the end of it attain to that perfection and glory which shall never have an end And so from the Lesson and Extent of it we pass to the Manner and Method of the Spirit 's Teaching It is not Raptus a forcible and violent drawing but Ductus a gentle Leading and Guiding The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he shall lead Which implyeth a preparedness and willingness to be led And the Spirit that leadeth us teacheth us also to follow him not to resist him that he may lead us Acts 7.51 Eph. 4.30 1 Thes 5.19 2 Tim. 1.6 not to grieve him by our backwardness that he may fill us with joy not to quench him that he may enlighten us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to stir up his gifts that they dye not in us Now this promise was directly and primarily made to the Apostles whose Commission being extraordinary and their Diocess as large as the whole world they needed the Spirits guidance in a more high and eminent manner gifts of Tongues and diversities of graces which might fit them for so great a work that as their care so their power might be as universal as the world And yet to them was the Spirit given in measure and where measure is there are degrees and they were led by degrees not straight to all truth but by steps and approaches S. Peter himself was not wrapt up as his pretended Successor into the chair of Truth to determine all at once For when Pentecost was now past he goeth to Caesarea Acts 10.11 34. and there learneth more then he had done at Jerusalem seeth that in the Sheet which was let down to the earth which he heard not from the Tongues and of a truth now perceived what he did not before that God was no accepter of persons that now the partition-wall was broken down that Jew and Gentile were both alike and the Church which was formerly shut up in Judea was now become Catholick a Body which every one that would might be a member of Besides though the Apostles were extraordinarily and miraculously inspired yet we cannot say that they used no means at all to bring down the blessed Spirit For it is plain they did wait for his coming they prayed for the truth and laboured for the truth they conferred one with another met together in counsel deliberated before they did determin Nor could they imagin they had the Spirit in a string and could command him as they please and make him follow them whithersoever they would And then between us and the Apostles there
but once and shall never see again acteth over those sins which he shall never bring into act delighteth in that which he shall never enjoy robbeth and slayeth and rideth in triumph on a thought and so leaveth his God who gave him this power and faculty to a better end then to wallow in this mire and to be enslaved to the drudgery of so vile an imployment Yet too many are willing to perswade themselves that God neither seeth this nor regardeth it that a Thought is such Gozamour of so thin an appearance that it escapeth the eye and so they set up a whole family of thoughts in their mind and dally and delight themselves with them as with their children And yet this is the ground of all evil and evil it self wrought in the Soul which worketh by its faculties as the Body doth by its members the Eye and the Hand And thus it may beat down Temples murder men lay Kingdoms level with the ground And it groweth and multiplieth reflecteth upon it self with joy and content omnia habet peccatoris praeter manus and hath all that maketh a sinner but Hands But though Men see not our thoughts for this is a Royal prerogative yet they are visible to his eye who is a Spirit And they that look upon them as bare and naked thoughts and not as complete works finisht in the soul know not themselves nor the nature of God and therefore cannot be said to walk with him Rom. 16.17 To conclude then These walk not with God let us therefore mark and avoid them The Presumptuous daring sinner walketh not with him but hideth himself in his Atheistical conceit That because Man cannot punish God doth not see The Hypocrite cometh forth in a disguise and acteth his part and because Men applaud him thinketh God is of their mind as the Pantomine in Seneca who observing the people well pleased with his dancing did every day go up into the Capitol and dance before Jupiter and was perswaded that he was also delighted in him The Apologizer runneth into the holes and burrows of excuses and there he is safe for who shall see him The Speculative sinner hideth himself and all his thoughts in a thought in this thought That Thoughts are so near to nothing that they are invisible That Sin is not sinful till it speak with the tongue or act with the hand But the eye of God is brighter then the Sun and his eye lids will try the children of men Psal 11 4 as the Goldsmith trieth his gold in the fire and will find out the dross which we do not see And if we will not walk with him but walk contrary unto him Lev 26 21 23 c. he will also walk contrary unto us He will see us and not see us know us and not know us Habemus nescientem Deum quod tamen non nescit l. 9. de Trin. saith Hilary God will seem not to know that which he doth know and his ignorance is not ignorance but a mystery For to them who walk not with him humbly now the Word will be at the last day Matth. 25.12 I know you not then God will keep state and not know and acknowledge them This pure God will not know the Unclean this God of truth will not know the Dissembler this strong and mighty God will bring down the Imperious offender this Light will examine thoughts and excuses will fly before it as the mist before the Sun But then Psal 1.6 The Lord knoweth the way of the Righteous saith the Psalmist and those that do justly and love Mercy and walk as under his all seeing eye with humility and reverence he will lead by the hand go along with them uphold and strengthen them in their walk shadow them under his wing and when their walk is ended know them as he did Moses Exod 33. Numb 12. Mal. 3 17 above all men And seeing his own marks upon them beholding though a weak yet the image of his Justice and his Mercy upon them he will spare them as a father spareth his son that serveth him He will know them and love them know them and receive them with an EVGE Well done good and faithful servants Matth. 25.21 23. You have embraced the Good which I shewed you done the thing which I required of you you have dealt justly with your brethren and I will be just in my promises you have shewed Mercy and Mercy shall crown you you have walked humbly with me I will now lift up your heads and you shall inherit the Kingdom which was prepared for you from the foundation of the world Matth. 29.34 The Seventh SERMON GAL. IV. 29. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit even so is it now IN these words the Apostle doth present to our eye the true face of the Church in an Allegory of Sarah and Hagar of Ismael and Isaac of mount Sinai and mount Sion Gal. 4.24 Which things are an allegory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It speaketh one thing and meaneth another and carrieth wrapt up in it a more excellent sense then the words at first hearing do promise Take the full scheme and delineation in brief 1. Here is Sarah and Hagar that is Servitude and Freedom 2. Here are two Cities Jerusalem that now is the Synagogue of the Jews and that Jerusalem which is above the Vision of peace and mother of all the faithful For by the new Covenant we are made children unto God 3. Here is the Law promulged and thundred out on mount Sinai and the Gospel the Covenant of Grace which God published not from the mount but from heaven it self by the voice of his Son In all you see a fair correspondence and agreement between the type and the thing but so that Jerusalem our Mother is still the highest the Gospel glorious with the liberty it brought and the Law putting on a yoke breathing nothing but servitude and fear Isaac an heir and Ismael thrust out the Christian more honorable then the Jew The curtain is now drawn and we may enter in even within the veil and take that sense which the Apostle himself hath drawn out so plainly to us And indeed it is a good and pleasing sight to see our priviledge and priority in any figure to find out our inheritance in such an Heir our liberty and freedom though in a Woman Who would not lay claim to so much peace and so much liberty Who would not challenge kindred of Isaac and a Burgessship in Jerusalem It is true every Christian may But that we mistake not and think all is peace and liberty that we boast not against the branches that are cut off Rom. 11.18 Paul bringeth in a corrective to check and keep down all swelling and lifting up of our selves the adversative particle S E D But as then so now We are indeed
us in nor the things of this world fall into our bosome when we sit still and lay no more out for them then a wish Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it The opening of our mouth is our Prayer Psal 81.10 our Endeavour our Working with our hands and then Gods blessings fall down and fill it Labour and Industry is a thing so pleasing to God that he hath even bound a blessing to it which never leaveth it but is carried along with it wheresoever it is even in the mere natural and heathen man Be the man what he will it is almost impossible that Diligence should not thrive for a blessing goeth along with it as the light doth with the Sun which may be shadowed or eclipsed by the cloudiness of the times or by some cross accident but can never be quite put out In a word Labour is the price of God's gifts and when we pay it down by a kind of commutative justice he bringeth them in and putteth them into our hands VT OPEREMINI MANIBVS That ye labour with your hands These words take in all manual trades and handycrafts which are for use and necessity all lawful trades For even Thieves and Robbers and Jugglers and Cheaters and Forgers of writings do work not with their feet saith Tertullian but with their hands De Idelol c. 5. And he bringeth in his exception against Painters and Statuaries and Engravers but no further then he doth against Schoolmasters and Merchants who bring in frankincense in that respect onely as they sacrifice their sweat and their labour and are subservient and ministerial either to Lust or Idolatry For The diligence Diligentia tua numen il lorum est c. 6. saith he of the Statuary is the Divinity of the Idole And we may say Those many unnecessary Arts and Trades which are now held up with credit and repute in the world because it will still be world were at first the daughers and are now become the nurses of our Luxury and Lust Luxury begat them and they send our Luxury in triumph through the streets Were Tertullian whose zeal waxt so hot even against a Purpleseller to pass now through our great City with power and authority how many shops would be shut up Tot suntartium venae quot hominum concupiscentia Idem ib c. 8. 1 Tim. 6.8 or rather how many would there be left open For it is not easie to number those Arts and Crafts which had they never been professed we might have had food and raiment with which we Christians above all the generations of men should be content But it is not for me to determin which are necessary and which are not but to leave it to the Magistrate There be Arts and Trades enough besides these to exercise our wit our strength our hands and such as Lycurgus might have admitted into his Commonwealth Vide Plutarch vit Lycurgi whose prudence and care it was to shut out all that was unnecessary The first that required the labour of the hands was Tillage and Husbandry For antiquis temporibus nemo rusticari nescivit Lib. 11. c. 1. saith Ischomachus in Columella In the first age no man was ignorant of this art And the learned have observed that the original of humane Laws which were the preservers of peace the boundaries to keep every man in his own place was from Tillage and the first division of grounds Whence Ceres who is first said to have devised and taught the sowing of Corn as she is called frugifera the Goddess of Plenty so is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the maker of Laws And in honour of her the Athenians celebrated those feasts which they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mactant lectas de more bibentes Legiferae Cereri Virgil. Aen. 4. They did sacrifice to Ceres the Law-maker These men never heard of the curse in Paradise yet by the very light of Nature they saw the necessity of labour The necessity did I say nay the dignity and honour of it For Man was made and built up to this end saith Aristotle ad intelligendum agendum to understand and to work And what more unworthy a Man who is made an active creature then to bury himself alive in sloth and idleness to be like S. Paul's wanton widow dead whilest he liveth to be a more unprofitable lump then the Earth to live and shew so little sign of life whereas the ground receiveth rain and sendeth back its leaf and grass What can be more beseeming then to have feet and not to go to have hands and not to use them Therefore that of the Apostle 2 Thess 3.10 Let not him that laboureth not eat is not onely true because S. Paul spake it but S. Paul spake it because it is true a dictate not onely of the Spirit Job 5.7 but even of Nature it self Man is born unto labour saith Eliphaz it is natural to him as natural as for the sparks to fly upwards And if we rightly weigh it it is as great a prodigie as monstrous a sight to see an idle person that can do nothing but feed and clothe himself and breathe as to see Stone fly or Fire descend to the centre of the earth I may add as to see the Sun stand still Far as the Sun Psal 19.5 so Man naturally should rejoyce to run his course Shall I now awake the Sluggard if any thunder will awake him and tell him he is a thief that he drinketh not water out of his own cistern that he eateth stolne bread 2 Thess 3.11 12. If I should I have S. Paul and Reason to justifie me who telleth him plainly that he who worketh not at all walketh inordinately and eateth not his own bread as if it were not his own if his own hands brought it not in And Ephes 4.28 Let him that stole steal no more but rather let him labour and work with his hands If he will not steal let him labour if he do not labour he doth but steal even that which in common esteem is his own For we must not think that they onely are thieves who do vitam vivere vecticulariam Festus in Vecticularia vita dig down walls by night or who lye in wait upon the hills of the robbers Fur est qui rem contrectat alienam He is a Thief which maketh use of that which is not his And then we may arraign the Idle slothful person at this bar as guilty of this crime Prov. 12.27 For he rosteth that which he never took in hunting he useth the creature to which he hath no right He hath interdicted and shut himself out from the benefit of fire and water and all humane commerce He hath outlawed and banisht himself from the world He hath robbed himself For though he have plenty of all things yet Idleness will blow upon it and blast it He robbeth the Commonwealth For interest
come VENIET Come he will Et hoc satìs est aut nescio quid satìs sit as P. Varus spake upon another occasion This is enough or we cannot see what is enough But nothing is enough to those who have no mind nor heart to make use of that which is enough To them enough is too much for they look upon it as if it were nothing Therefore Christ doth not feed and nourish this thriftless and unprofitable humour but brideleth and checketh it putteth in his Prohibition not to search after more then is enough NON NOSTIS HORAM You know not the hour is all the answer which he who best knoweth what is fit for us to know will afford our Curiosity For what is it that we do not desire to know Sen. de vit Etat c. 32. Curiosum nobis Natura dedit ingenium saith the Philosopher Nature it self may seem to have imprinted this itch of Curiosity in our very minds and wits made them inquisitive given them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an eye which never sleepeth never resteth upon one object but passeth by that and gazeth after another That he will come is not enough for our busie but idle Curiosity to know we seek further yet to know that which cannot be known the Time and very Hour of his coming The mind of man is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Enormi otiosae curiositati tantum decrit discere quantum libuerit inquirere Tert. de Anima c. ult restless in perpetual motion It walketh through the earth sometimes looketh upon that which delighteth it sometimes upon that which grieveth it stayeth and dwelleth too long upon both and misinterpreteth them to its own impoverishing and disadvantage Perrumpit coeli munimenta saith Seneca It breaketh through the very gates of heaven and there busily pryeth after the nature of Angels and of God himself but seeth it not entreth the Holy of holies and there is venturing into the closet of his secrets and there is lost lost in the search of those things of times and seasons which are past finding out and are therefore set at such a distance that we may not send so much as a thought after them which if they could be known yet could not advantage us It was a good commendation which Tacitus giveth of Agricola In vitae Agricola Retinuit quod est difficilimum in sapientia modum He did what is difficult for man to do bound and moderate himself in the pursuit of knowledge and desired to know no more then that which might be of use and profitable to him Which wisdome of his had it gained so much credit as to prevail with the sons of men which would be thought the Children of Wisdome they had then laid out the precious treasure of their time on that alone which did concern them and not prodigally mispent it on that which is impertinent in seeking that which did fly from them when they were most intentive and eager in their search If this moderation had been observed there be thousand questions which had never been raised thousand opinions which had never been broacht thousands of errours which had never shewn their heads to disturb the peace of the Church to obstruct and hinder us in those wayes of obedience which alone without this impertinent turning our eye and looking aside will carry us in a straight and even course unto our end Why should I pride my self in the finding out a new conclusion when it is my greatest and my onely glory to be a New creature Why should I take such pains to reconcile opinions which are contrary My business is to still the contradictions of my mind those counsels and desires which every day thwart and oppose one another What profit is it to refute other mens errours whilst I approve and love and hug my own What purchase were it to find out the very Antichrist and to be able to say This is the man All that is required of me is to be a Christian What if I were assured the Pope was the Beast I sought for He appeared in as foul a shape to me before that title was written in his forehead For I consider more what he is then what he is called And thousands are now with Christ in heaven who yet never knew this his great Adversary on earth And why should I desire to know the time when Christ will come when no other command lieth upon me but this to watch and prepare my self for his coming when all that I can know or concerneth me is drawn up within the compass of this one word Watch which should be as the centre and all other truths drawn from it as so many lines to bear up the circumference of a constant and a continued watch Christ telleth us he will come Hoc satìs est dixisse Deo and this is enough for him to tell us and for us to know he telleth us that we cannot know it that the Angels cannot know it that the Son of man himself knoweth it not that it cannot be known that it is not fit to be known and yet we would know it Some there have been who pretended they knew it by the secret revelation of the spirit though it were a lying a spirit or a wanton phansie that spake within them For men are never more quick of belief then when they tell themselves a lye and yet the Apostle exhorteth the Thessalonians that they be not shaken in mind 2 Thes 2.2 nor troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from him as that the day of Christ is at hand Others call in tradition Others find out a mystery in the number of Seven and so have taken the full age of the world which is to end say they after six thousand years And this they find not onely in the six moneths the Ark floted on the waters Gen. 8.4 and its rest on the mountains of Ararat in the seventh in Moses going into the cloud and the walls of Jericho falling down the seventh day Exod. 24.16 18. but in the seven Vials and the seven Trumpets in the Revelation Josh 6. Such time and leasure have men found perscrutari interrogare latebras numerorum to divine by Numbers by their art and skill to dig the air and find pretious metal there where men of common apprehensions can find no such treasure inter irrita exercere ingenia to catch at atomes and shadows and spend their time to no purpose For Curiosity is a hard task master setteth us to make brick but alloweth us no straw setteth us to tread the water and to walk upon the wind putteth us to work but in the dark And we work as the Spirits are said to do in minerals They seem to dig and cleanse and sever metals but when men come they find nothing is done It is a good rule in Husbandry Columel and such rules old Cato called oracles Imbecillior
There is danger in giving Alms danger in a Fast danger in Prayer And as there is danger in forbearing so there is danger also in coming to the Lord's Table And the reason why vve do not perfect every good vvork is because vve do not reverence it as vve should not gird up our loins and lift up our hearts vvith that devotion and preperation vvhich is due unto it We think to Give an alms is but to fling a mite into the treasury to Fast but to abstain for a day to Pray but to say Lord hear me and to shew Christ's death till he come but to sit down at his Table and eat of his bread and drink of his cup. But this is to dishonour and undervalue those duties which duly performed would honour and glorifie us This is to be officiperdae in this sense also to destroy our work before we begin it For what place can a strict obedience have amongst those thoughts which choke and stifle it Or what welcome is he like to find at such a Feast that cometh as the Corinthians did drunk to the Table Where the birth is so sudden so immature how can it chuse but prove abortive No He that will offer up his prayers must offer up more then the calves of his lips He that will have an open hand must first have a melting heart He that will fast must first feed on himself eat and work out all the corruption of his heart Behold here God hath spred his Table and invited you to a Feast to a feast of the Body and Bloud of his Son And the Spirit and the Bride say Come And let him that is athirst come and take of this Bread of life and Water of life freely But what Vers 18 19. shall we come as Schismaticks or Hereticks Shall we come with pride and malice with contempt of the Church and bringing shame to our brethren Shall we come drunken This is not to discern the Lord's body not to discern the Bread which in the Sacrament is to him the Lord's body from common bread He that thus cometh and eateth and drinketh is guilty of the body and bloud of the Lord as guilty as those Jews that crucified him For this is to put him to open shame Hebr. 6.6 to count of him no more then as if he had been an Impostor and so to tread him under foot Here certainly no caution can be enough though we look about us as he speaketh with a thousand eyes This consideration should work and imprint in us such a care and solicitude as should severely and impartially weigh what on either side either fear of danger or hope of advantage love of a Saviour or terrour of a Judge may suggest how better then Manna this spiritual refreshment may be and how it may be turned into poison This the Corinthians laid not to heart And on the same pillow of supine negligence and inconsideration do too many Christians at this day lie and sleep And as men in passion or some sudden amaze cannot have leisure to believe what they feel and suffer so do they not believe what they cannot but know or not consider what they believe which is far worse then to be ignorant They discern not the Lord's body mistake the shadow for the substance rest in the outward act of eating and drinking look upon nothing but that which is visible in the ceremony think not on the end to which it tendeth and so use it not with that spiritual sense and feeling which is answerable to the institution Therefore against this wilfull blindness and ignorance this supine and profane negligence doth our Apostle here draw up his whole force and strength to demolish it He blameth them and he directeth them he useth his rod and he bespeaketh them in the spirit of meekness and like a skilful artist he first openeth and searcheth the wound and then with a gentle hand a hand of love he applieth this soveraign plaister in my Text To avoid this evil Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup. The words are plain and we need not descant upon them nor labour in dividing of them Here are two things presented to us 1. Our Qualification for and 2. our Admission to the Feast 1. a Duty To examine our selves 2. a Grant or Privilege To eat of that bread and drink of that cup. Or 1. our Preparation and 2. our Welcome Or 1. our Initiation and 2. our Consignation First we must examine ourselves and then we are received and admitted in Sanctum Sanctorum into the Holy of Holies unto the participation of these Mysteries to eat of this Bread and to drink of this Cup. Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup. Examination is in order first and therefore first to be handled And this we shall find to be a duty of no quick dispatch but which requireth care and a curious and diligent observation whether we look upon it in the generality or in its particular application and reference to the blessed Sacrament Examine our selves Why that is assoon done almost as said We can do it in the twinkling of an eye some few dayes before the eve before the hour before the time We think we do it though we never do it But if we look nearer on it we shall find it business enough for our whole life For to examine our selves is to take a true and strict survey of all the passages of our life to follow our Thoughts which have wings and flie in and flie out bring in and drive out one another to call to remembrance our Words which have wings too 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 flie from us but leave an impression and guilt in the soul and to number our Actions and weigh them all in the balance of the Sanctuary to gain a distinct knowledge of our spiritual estate to read an Anatomy-lecture on our selves to anatomize and dissect our Hearts which are deceitful above all things to follow Sin in all the Meanders and Labyrinths it maketh to pluck off its dress to wash off its paint to drive it out of the thicket of excuses and by the light of Scripture to take a full view of our selves Psal 119.59 in a word to consider our wayes to consider not to glance upon them but to look upon them again and again to look through them to look stedfastly and with an impartial eye so to fix our thoughts on them that we may turn our feet unto God's testimonies And by this course we shall find in what Grace we are defective with what Sin we are most stained what is to be mortified and destroyed and what is to be exalted and improved in us And to the right performance of this duty there is I say great care and diligence required because we are to deal with our selves who are commonly the greatest
wayes but delight themselves in their own and rest and please themselves in Errour as in Truth to awake them out of this pleasant dream we must trouble them we must thunder to them we must disquiet and displease them For who would give an opiate pill to these Lethargicks To please men then is to tell a sick man that he is well a weak man that he is strong an erring man that he is orthodox instead of purging out the noxious humour to nourish and increase it to smooth and strew the wayes of Errour with roses that men may walk with ease and delight and even dance to their destruction to find out their palate and to fit it to envenom that more which they affect as Agrippina gave Claudius the Emperour poyson in a Mushrome What a seditious flatterer is in a Common-wealth that a false-Apostle is in the Church For as the seditious flatterer observeth and learneth the temper and constitution of the place he liveth in and so frameth his speach and behaviour that he may seem to settle and establish that which he studieth to overthrow to be a Patriot for the publick good when he is but a promoter of his private ends to be a servant to the Common-wealth when he is a Traytor so do all seducers and false-teachers They are as loud for the Truth as the best champions she hath but either subtract from it or add to it or pervert and corrupt it that so the Truth it self may help to usher in a lye When the Truth it self doth not please us any lye will please us but then it must carry with it something of the Truth For instance To acknowledge Christ but with the Law is a dangerous mixture It was the errour of the Galatians here To magnifie Faith and shut out Good works is a dash That we can do nothing without Grace is a truth but when we will do nothing to impute it to the want of Grace is a bold and unjust addition To worship God in spirit and truth Joh. 4.23 our Saviour commandeth it but from hence to conclude against outward Worship is an injurious defalcation of a great part of our duty Gal. 5.1 To stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free the Apostle commandeth it but to stand so as to rise up in the face of the Magistrate is a Gloss of Flesh and Bloud and corrupteth the Text. Rom. 13.1 Let every soul be subject to the higher powers that is the Text but to be subject no longer then the Power is mannaged to our will is a chain to bind Kings with or a hammer to beat all Power down that we may tread it under our feet And when we cannot relish the Text these mixtures and additions and subtractions will please us These hang as Jewels in our ears these please and kill us beget nothing but a dead Faith and a graceless life not Liberty but Licentiousness not Devotion but Hypocrisie not Religion but Rebellion not Saints but Hypocrites Libertines and Traytors The Truth is corrupted saith Nyssene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orat. 1. contra Eunom by subtraction by alteration by addition And these we must avoid the rather because they go hand in hand as it were with the Truth and carry it along with them in their company as lewd persons do sometimes a grave and sober man to countenance them in their sportiveness and debauchery De nostro sunt sed non nostrae saith Tertullian De Proscript They invade that inheritance which Christ hath left his Church Some furniture some colour something they borrow from the Truth something they have of ours but ours they are not And therefore as S. Ambrose adviseth Gratian the Emperour of all errours in doctrine we must beware of those which come nearest and border as it were upon the Truth and so draw it in to help to defeat it self because an open and manifest errour carrieth in its very forehead an argument against it self and cannot gain admittance but with a veil whereas these glorious but painted falsehoods find an easie entrance and beg entertainment in the Name of Truth it self This is the cryptick method and subtil artifice of Men-pleasers that is Men-deceivers to grant something that they may win the more and that too in the end which they grant not rudely at first to demolish the Truth but to let it stand a while that they may the more securely raise up and fix that Errour with which it cannot stand long S. Paul saw it well enough though the Galatians did not Gal. 5.2 If you be circumcised Christ profiteth you nothing that is is to you as if there were no Christ at all If the false Apostles had flatly denied Christ the Galatians would have been as ready as S. Paul to have cut them off because they had received the Gospel but joyning and presenting the Law with Christ they did deceive and please them well who began in the Spirit and did acknowledge Christ but would not renounce the Law propter metum Judaeorum for fear of their brethren the Jews Now these Men-pleasers these Crows Dictam Diogenis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athen. Deipnos l. 6. c. 17. which devour not dead but living men are from an evil eg and beginning are bred and hatcht in the dung in the love of this world and are so proud and fond of their original that it is their labour their religion the main design of their life to bring the Truth Religion and Christ himself in subjection under it And to this end they are very fruitful to bring forth those mishapen issues which savour of the earth and corruption and have onely the name of Christ fastned to them as a badge to commend them and bring them to that end for which they had a being which is to gain the world in the name but in despite of Christ And these are they who as S. Peter speaketh make merchandise of mens souls nummularii sacerdotes 2 Pet. 2.3 as Cyprian calleth them Doctours of the Mint who love the Image of Caesar more then the image of God and had rather see the one in a piece of gold then the other renewed and stampt in a mortal man And this image they carry along with them whithersoever they go and it is as their Holy Ghost to inspire them For most of the doctrines they teach savour of that mint and the same stamp is on them both The same face of Mammon which is in their heart is visible also in their doctrine Thus Hosea complained of the false Prophets in his time Hos 4.8 They eat up the sin of my people that is by pleasing them they have consented to their sin and from hence reaped gain for flattery is a livelyhood Or they did not seriously reprehend the sins of the people that they might receive more sacrifices on which they might feed Some render it Levabant animum
sojourners and strangers in the earth It is true strangers we are for all are so and passing forward apace to our journeys end but not to that end for which we were made Therefore that we may reach and attain to it we must make our selves so Eph. 4.22 put off the old man which loveth to dwell here take off our hopes and desires from the world look upon all its glories as dung look upon it as a strange place Phil. 3.8 upon our selves as strangers in it and look upon the place to which we are going fling off every weight shake off every vanity Hebr. 12.1 every thing that is of the earth earthy make haste delay not but leave it behind us even while we are in it for a Christian mans life is nothing else but a going out of it And to this end in the last place you must take along with you your viaticum your Provision the Commandments of Gods Hide not thy commandments from me saith David And he spake as a stranger and as in a strange place as in a place of danger as in a dark place where he could not walk with safety if this light did not shine upon him Here we meet with variety of objects Here are Serpents to flatter us and Serpents to bite us here are Pleasures and Terrours all to deceive and detein us Here we meet with that Archenemy to all strangers and pilgrimes in several shapes now as a roaring Lion 1 Pet. 5.8 and sometimes as an Angel of light 2 Cor. 11.14 And though we try it not out at fists with him as those foolish Monks boasted they had often tried this kind of hardiment though we meet him not as a Hippocentaur Hic on de vita Pauli Eremitae Malchi Hilarionis as the story telleth us Paul the Hermite did or as a Satyre or she-Wolf as Hilarion did to whom were presented many fearful things the roaring of Lions the noise of an Army Chariots of fire coming upon him Wolves Foxes Sword-plaiers and I cannot tell what though we do not feel him as a Satyre yet we feel him as voluptuous though we do not see him as a Wolf yet we apprehend him thirsting after bloud though we meet him not in the shape of a Fox yet non ignoramus versutias 2 Cor. 2.11 we are not ignorant of his wiles and enterprises though we do not see him in the Tempest we may in our fear and though his hand be invisible yet we may feel him in our impatience and falling from the truth We cannot say in our affliction This is his blow but we may hear him roar in our murmuring Or we may see him in that mongrel Christian made up of Ignorance and Fury of a Man and a Beast which is more monstrous then any Centaure We may see him in that Hypocrite that deceitful man who is a Fox and the worst of the cub We may meet him in that Oppressour who is a Wolf in that Tyrant and Persecutour who is a roaring Lion In some of these shapes we meet him every day in this our Pilgrimage And here in the world we can find nothing to secure us against the World Adversity may swallow up Pleasure in victory but not the Love of it Impotency and Inability may bridle and stay my Anger but not quench it Providence may defend me from evil but not from Fear of it Nor can the World yield us any weapon against it self Therefore God hath opened his Armoury of heaven and given us his Commandments to be our light our provision our defense in our way to be as our Pilgrimes staff our Scrip our Letters commendatory Ps 91.11 to be our Angels to keep us in all our waies And there is no safe walking for a stranger without them And as when the children of Israel were in the wilderness God rained down Manna upon them and led them as it were by the hand till he brought them to the land of promise so he dealeth still with all that call upon his name whilest they are in via in this their peregrination ever and anon beset with temptations which may detein and hinder them He raineth down abundance of his grace Wisd 16.20 which like that Manna will serve the appetite of him that taketh it is like to that which every man wanteth and applieth it self to every tast to all callings and conditions to all the necessities of a stranger Thus we walk by faith 2 Cor. 5.7 Festina fides Faith is on the wing and leaveth the world behind us Heb. 11.1 is the substance and evidence of things not seen It looketh not on those things which are seen 2 Cor. 4.18 and please a carnal eye or if it do it looketh upon them as Joshua did upon Ai Josh 8.5 c. first turneth the back and then all its strength against them maketh us fly from them that we may overcome them 1 Joh. 5.4 For this is the victory which overcometh the world even our faith Hebr. 6.19 20 And Festina spes Hope too is in her flight and followeth our Forerunner Jesus to enter with him that which is within the veil even the Holy of holies Heaven it self Spe jam sumus in coelo We are already there by hope And to him that hath seen the beauty of Holiness the World is but a loathsome spectacle to him that truly trusteth in God it is lighter then Vanity and he passeth from it And then our Love of God is our going forth our peregrination It is a perishing a death of the soul to the world If it be truly fixt no pleasure no terrour nothing in the world can concern us but they are to us as those things which the traveller in his way seeth and leaveth every day and we think no more of the glory of them then they who have been dead long ago Col. 3.3 For we are dead saith the Apostle and our life is hid hid from the world with Christ in God Our Temperance tasteth not our Chastity toucheth not our Poverty in spirit handleth not those things which lye in our way but we pass by them as impertinencies as dangers as things which may pollute a soul more then a dead body could under the Law The stranger the pilgrime passeth by all His Meekness maketh injuries and his Patience afflictions light and his Christian Fortitude casteth down every strong hold every imagination which may hinder him in his course Every act of Piety is a kind of sequestration and driveth us if not from the right yet from the use of the world Every Virtue is to us as the Angel was to Lot Gâ—n 19.14 17. and biddeth Arise and go out of it taketh us by the hands and biddeth us haste and escape for our life and not look behind us And with this Provision as it were with the two Tables in our hands we
libidinibus exarsit The Physick must be proportioned to the disease if that be violent the Physick must needs be strong that purgeth it Dei sancti infirmiores sunt quia si fortes sint vix sancti esse possunt saith Salvian The Saints of God do many times lose their joy and strength because it is a very hard matter to be in prosperity and to be Saints It is observed that in Common-wealths dissensions seditions and luxury are longae pacis mala the issues of a long-continued peace And many times States are rent in pieces through civil dissentions if outward wars hinder not S. Augustine telleth us Plùs nocuit eversa Carthago Romanis quà m adversa that Carthage in her rubbish brought more disadvantage to Rome then when she stood out in defiance as an enemy And were it not for this outward jarre in our bodies by sickness and in our souls by disgrace and other calamities we should find no peace within for the soul hath no such practising enemy as the body wherein she liveth And as Cato thought it good husbandry to maintain some light quarrels and jarres amongst his houshold-servants lest their agreement amongst themselves might prejudice their master so it may seem spiritual wisdom for the Soul that the body and inferiour faculties be kept in perpetual jarre that there be a thorn in the flesh something set up in opposition against it lest it prove wanton and hold out too stubbornly against the Spirit Febris te vocare potest ad poenitentiam saith Ambrose It may so fall out that the sight of a Physician may more promote thy conversion then the voice of a Preacher a Fever then a Sermon The heathen Oratour could tell us Optimi sumus dum infirmi sumus that we are never well but when we are sick never better then when we are worst In this case saith he who sendeth his hopes afar off who waiteth upon his ambitious and covetous desires◠who thinketh of his pleasure and wantonness who shutteth not up his ears against detraction and malicious speech how do we betake our selves to our beads and prayers so that if you would look out the perfect pattern of a true Christian you shall find it no where so soon as on the ground and on the bed of sickness The heathen shutteth up all in this conclusion Look saith he what the Philosophers with many words and large volumes do endeavour to teach that can I most compendiously teach both my self and you Tales esse sani perseveremus quales nos futuros profitemur infirmi Let us be indeed such when we be well as we promise we will be when we are sick A lesson almost equivalent to that great commandment and contains in it all the Law and the Prophets We mourn I am sure in our sickness For what is sickness but the very drooping and languishing of our spirits And it may seem to be a part of that discipline by which the Apostles did govern the primitive Church For when S. Paul had delivered over the incestuous person to Satan for the mortifying of the flesh that the spirit might be saved S. Chrysostom and S. Ambrose do joyntly interpret it that S. Paul did with him as God did with Job deliver him to Satan to be afflicted with diseases and sickness under which he might mourn And this is the reason why our Saviour thus joyneth Blessedness and Mourning together because this is the end for which we are delivered up to sorrow and grief ad interitum carnis for the mortifying of the flesh and the refreshing of the spirit ut in ipsa sit censura supplicii in qua fuit causa peccati that that part may smart with sorrow which hath offended with pleasure and riot Look back upon the ancient Worthies of the Church and you would think they made Sorrow a science and studied the art of mourning For as if the Devil had not been the Devil still 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as S. Chrysostom calleth him a spiritual executioner to afflict them as if the World had left off to be the World an enemy and had not misery enough to fling on them as if there had not been an Ismael left to persecute Isaac nor a Dragon to pursue the Woman in the wilderness they did sit down and deliberate and condemn themselves to sorrow and mourning Ingrediatur utique putredo in ossibus meis saith Bernard Let infirmity seise upon my body let rottenness enter and fill up my bones let it abound in me onely let me find peace of conscience in the day of my tribulation The Heathen conceived they did it not for the exercise of virtue but as Philosophers did abstain from pleasures that death might be less dreadful nè desiderent vitam quam sibi jam supervacuam fecerant that they might not nourish too much hope of life which they had now made superfluous and unnecessary to them by a voluntary abdication of all delights Indeed this might be one reason And Tertullian replieth Si ita esset tam alto consilio tantae obstinatio disciplinae debebat obsequium If it were so yet this was the power of Christian discipline to learn to contemn death by the contempt of pleasure Jejuniis aridi in sacco cinere volutantes saith the same Father We are dried up with fasting and debarred of all the comforts of this life we roll in sackcloth and ashes What should I mention their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their minds dejected their bodies macerated their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sufferings in secret which was saith the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 full of pain and grief You might behold them kissing the chains of imprisoned Martyrs washing the feet of Lazars wallowing at the Temple-doors on their knees begging the prayers of the Saints You might see them stript and naked their heir neglected their bodies withered and their knees of horn as Nazianzene speaketh Orat. 12. But what do I mention these This would go for superstition in these dayes as every thing else doth that hath but any savour of dejectedness and humility Religion then hung down the head and went in blacks it is now grown lofty and bold walketh in purple and fareth deliciously every day The way to comfort was streit and narrow then it is made broader now even the same broad way which leadeth to destruction There were some of old who so far exceeded in fasting and austerity ut indigerent Hippocratis fomentis that they stood more in need of the counsel of a Physician then of a Divine but few now-a-dayes are like to offend this way we stand in need rather of the spur then of the bridle Their austerity may at least commend unto us Sadness and Mourning as a thing much be fitting a Christian and very conduceable to happiness The Philosopher will tell us Melancholici sunt ingeniosi that melancholick men are most commonly witty and ingenious because their thoughts are
we know he was but a man and we know he erred or else our Church doth in many things It were easie to name them But suppose he had broached as many lies as the Father of them could suggest yet those who in their opinions had raised him to such an height would with an open breast have received them all as oracles and have licked up poison if it had fallen from him For they had the same inducement to believe him when he erred which they had to believe him when he spake the Truth We do not derogate from so great a person we are willing to believe that he was sent from God as an useful instrument to promote the Truth But we do not believe that he sent him as he sent his Son into the world that all his words should be spirit and life John 6.63 that in every word he spake whosoever heard him heard the Father also Thus ye see how Prejudice may arise how it may be built upon a Church and upon a person and may so captivate and depress the Reason that she shall not be able to look up and see and judge of that Truth which we should buy I might instance in others and those too who have reformed the Reformation it self who have placed the Founder of their Sect as a star in a firmament and walk by the light which he casteth and by none other though it come from the Sun it self Who fixing their eye upon him alone follow as he led and in their zele and forward obsequiousness to his dictates many times outgo him and in his name and spirit work such wonders as we have shrunk and trembled at But manum de tabula we forbear lest whilest we strive to charm one serpent we awake an hundred and those such as can bite their brethren as Prejudice doth them I shall but instance in two or three prejudicial opinions which have been as a portcullis shut down against the Truth The first is That the Truth is not to be bought nor obtained by any venture or endeavour of ours but worketh it self into us by an irresistible force so as that when we shall have once got possession of it no principalities or powers no temptation no sin can deprive us of it but it will abide against all storms and assaults all subtilty and violence nay it will not remove though we do what in us lieth to thrust it out so that we may be at once possessours of it and yet enemies to it Now when this opinion hath once gained a kingdome in our heads and we count it a kind of treason or sacrilege to depose it why should we be smitten Isa 1.5 why should we be instructed any more Argument and reason will prove but paper-shot make some noise perhaps but no impression at all What is the tongue of the learned to him who will hearken to none but himself We talk of a preventing Grace to keep us from evil but this is a preventing ungracious perversness to withhold us from the Truth For when that which first speaketh in us which we first speak to our selves or others to us who can comply with that which is much dearer to us then our selves our corrupt humour and carnality when that is sealed and ratified for ever advice and counsel come too late When Prejudice is the onely musick we delight to hear what is the tongue of Men and Angels what are the instructions of the wise but harsh and unpleasant notes abhorred almost as much as the howlings of a damned spirit When we are thus rooted and built up in errour what can shake us It is impossible for us to learn or unlearn any thing For there is no reason we should be untaught that which we rest upon as certain and which we received as an everlasting truth written in our hearts by the finger of God himself and that as we think with an indeleble character Or why should we studie the knowledge of that which will be poured by an omnipotent and irrefragable hand into our minds Who would buy that which shall be forced upon him When the Jew is thus prepossessed when he putteth the Word of God from him Acts 13.46 and judgeth himself unworthy of everlasting life then there is no more to be said then that of the Apostles Lo we turn to the Gentiles Another Prejudice there is powerful in the world somewhat like the former namely a presumption that the Spirit of God teacheth us immediately and that a new light shineth in our hearts never seen before that the Spirit teacheth us not onely by his Word but against it That there is a twofold Word of God 1 Verbum praeparatorium a Word read and expounded to us by the ministery of men 2. Verâ—um consummatorium a Word which consummateth all and this is from the Spirit The one is as John Baptist to prepare the way the other as Christ to finish and perfect the work It pleaseth the Spirit of God say they by his inward operation to illuminate the mind of man with such knowledge as is not at all proposed in the outward Word and to instill that sense which the words do not bear Thus they do not onely lie to the holy Ghost but teach him to dissemble to dictate one thing and to mean another to tell you in your ear you must not do this and to tell you in your heart you may to tell you in his proclamation Matth. 5.21 you may not be angry with your brother and to tell you in secret you may murder him to tell you in the Church Matth. 21.13 you must not make his house a den of thieves and to tell you in your closet you may down with it even to the ground Juven Sat. 8. Inde Dolabella est atque hinc Antonius inde Sacrilegus Verres From hence are wars contentions heresies schismes from hence that implacable hatred of one another which is not in a Turk or a Jew to a Christian For tell me What may not they say or do who dare publish this when their Phansie is wanton It is the Spirit when their Humour is predominant It is the Spirit when their Lust and Ambition carry them on with violence to the most horrid attempts It is the Spirit when they help the Father of lies to fling his darts abroad It is the Spirit It is indeed the Spirit a Spirit of illusion a bold and impudent Spirit that cannot blush For when it is agreed on all sides that all necessary truths are plainly revealed in Scripture what Spirit must that be which is sent into the world to teach us more then all In a word it is a Spirit that teacheth us not that which is but that which our Lusts have already set up for truth A new light which is but a meteor to lead us to those precipices those works of darkness which no night is dark enough to cover Such a Spirit as proceedeth
crop and harvest of our Devotion This is truly cum parvo peccato ad ecclesiam venire cum peccatis multis ab ecclesia recedere to bring some sins with us to Church but carry away more for fear of the smoke to leap into the fire for fear of coming too near to Superstition to shipwreck on Profaneness for fear of Will-worship not to worship at all like Haggards to check at every feather to be troubled at every shew and appearance to startle at every shadow and where GLORY TO THE LORD is engraven in capital letters to blot it out and write down SUPERSTITION I see I must conclude Beloved fly Idolatry fly Superstition you cannot fly far enough But withal fly Profaneness and Irreverence and run not so far from the one as to meet and embrace the other Be not Papists God forbid you should But be not Atheists that sure talk what we will of Popery is far the worse Do not give God more then he would have but be sure you do not give him less Why should you bate him any part who giveth you all Behold he breathed into you your Souls and stampt his Image upon them Give it him back again not clipt not defaced but representing his own graces unto him in all holiness and purity And his hands did form and fashion your Bodies and in his book are all your members written Let THE GLORY OF GOD be set forth and wtitten as it were upon every one of them and he shall exalt those members higher yet and make thy vile Body like to his most glorious body In a word Let us glorifie God here in soul and body and he shall glorifie both soul and body in the day of the Lord Jesus The Seventeenth SERMON PART I. 1 COR. XII 3. Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the holy Ghost THat Jesus is the Lord was seen in his triumph at Easter made manifest by the power of his Resurrection The earth trembled the foundations of the hills moved and shook the graves opened at the presence of this Lord. Not the Disciples onely had this fire kindled in their hearts that they could not but say The Lord is risen but the earth opened her mouth and the Grave hers And now it is become the language of the whole world Jesus is the Lord. All this is true But we ask with the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What profit is it What profit is it if the Earth speak and the Grave speak and the whole World speak if we be dumb Let Jesus be the Lord but if we cannot say so he may and will be our Lord indeed but not our Jesus we may fall under his power but not rise by his help If we cannot say so we shall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fall cross with him nay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speak the quite contrary If we cannot call him Lord then with the accursed Jew we do indeed call him Anathema we call the Saviour of the world an accursed thing Si confiteamur exsecramur If we confess him not we curse him And he that curseth Jesus needeth no greater curse We must then before we can be good Christians go to school and learn to speak not onely Abba Father but Jesus the Lord. And where now shall we learn it Shall we knock at our own breasts and awake our Reason to lead us to this saving truth Shall we be content with that light which the Laws and Customs of our Country have set up and so cry him up for Lord as the Ephesians did their Diana for company and sit down and rest our selves in this resolution because we see the Jew hated the Turk abhorred and Hereticks burned who deny it Shall we alienis oculis videre make use of other mens eyes and so take our Religion upon trust These are the common motives and inducements to believe it With this clay we open our eyes thus we drive out the dumb Spirit And when we hear this noise round about us that Jesus is the Lord our mouth openeth and we speak it with our tongue These are lights indeed and our lights but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deceitful My Reason is too dim a light and cannot shew me this great conjunction of Jesus and the Lord. Education is a false light and misleadeth the greatest part of Christians even when it leadeth them right For he that falleth upon the Truth by chance by this blind felicity erreth when he doth not erre having no better assurance of the Truth then the common vogue He walketh indeed in the right way but blindfold He embraceth the Truth but so as for ought he knoweth it may be a lye And last of all the greatest Authority on earth is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a faint uncertain and failing proof a windy testimony if it blow from no other treasury then this below No we must have a surer word then this or else we shall not be what we so easily persuade our selves we are We must look higher then these Cathedram habet in coelo Our Master is in heaven And JESUS IS THE LORD is a voice from heaven taught us saith the Apostle by the holy Ghost who is vicarius Christi as Tertullian calleth him Christ's Vicar here on earth and supplieth his place to help and elevate our Reason to assure and confirm our Education and to establish and ratifie Authority Would you have this dumb spirit dispossessed The Spirit who as on this day came down in a showre of tongues must do it Would you be able to fetch breath to speak The holy Ghost must spirare breathe into us the breath of spiritual life inable us by inspiration Would we say it we must teach it If we be ignorant of this the Apostle here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 would have us to understand that No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the holy Ghost And now we have fitted our Text to the Time the Feast of Pentecost which was the Feast of the Law For then the old Law was given then written in tables of stone And whensoever the Spirit of the living God writeth this Law of Christ THAT HE IS THE LORD in the fleshly tables of our hearts then is our Pentecost the Feast of the holy Ghost then he descendeth in a sound to awake us in wind to move and shake us in fiery tongues to warm us and make us speak The difference is This ministration of the Spirit is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle speaketh far more glorious And as he came in solemn state upon the Disciples this day in a manner seen and heard so he cometh though not so visibly yet effectually to us upon whom the ends of the world are come Though not in a mighty wind yet he rattleth our hearts together Though no house totter
celestial dialect and not as some of late have been ready to make it the language of the Whore of Babylon as if Faith onely did make a Protestant and Good works were the mark of a Papist What mention we Papist or Protestant The Christian is the member of this Body and Common-wealth this is his language Zeph. 3.9 the pure language When Hand and Tongue Faith and Good works a full Persuasion and a sincere Obedience are joyned together then we shall speak this language plainly and men will understand us and glorifie God the Angels will understand and applaud us and the Lord will understand and crown us We shall speak it not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 faintly and feignedly ready upon any allurement or terrour to eat our words but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we shall make it plain by an Ocular demonstration And this is truly to say JESUS EST DOMINUS Jesus is the Lord. This is the Lesson our first Part. And thus far we are gone And we see it is no easie matter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to speak but these three words JESUS EST DOMINUS Jesus is the Lord. For we must comprehend Eph. 3.18 saith the Apostle the breadth and length and depth and height of this Divine mystery the breadth saith S. Augustine in the expansion and dilatation of my Charity the length by my continued perseverance unto the end the height in the exaltation of my hope to reach at things above and the depth in the contemplation of the bottomless sea of God's mercies These are the dimensions And if we will learn these Mathematicks because we see the Lesson is difficult we must have a skilful Master And behold my next Part bringeth him forth bringeth us news of one who is higher then heaven broader then the sea and longer then the earth as Job speaketh It is the holy Ghost For no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the holy Ghost And indeed good reason that he should be our Teacher For as the Lesson is such should the Master be The Lesson is spiritual the Teacher a Spirit The Lecture is a lecture of piety and the Spirit is an holy Spirit The Lesson proposeth a method to joyn Heaven and Earth God and Man Mortality and Immortality Misery and Happiness in one to draw us near unto God and make us one with him and the holy Ghost is that consubstantial and coeternal Friendship of the Father and the Son nexus amorosus as the Schools speak the essential Love and Love-knot of the undivided Trinity Flesh and blood cannot reveal this great mystery it must be a Spirit And the Spirit of this world bringeth no news from Heaven we may be sure It must be SPIRITUS SANCTUS the holy Ghost SPIRITUS SANCTUS for JESUS DOMINUS the holy Ghost for Jesus the Lord that by the grace of the holy Spirit we may learn the Power of the Son and by the inspiration of his Holiness learn the mystery of Holiness For it is not sharpness of wit or quickness of apprehension or force of eloquence that can raise us to this Truth but the Spirit of God must lead us to this tree of Knowledge Therefore Tertullian calleth Christian Religion commentum Divinitatis the invention of the Divine Spirit as Faith is called the gift of God not onely because it is given to every believer but because the Spirit first found out the way to save us by so weak a means as Faith O qualis artifex Spiritus sanctus What a skilful Artificer what an excellent Master is the blessed Spirit who found out a way to lift up Dust it self as high as Heaven and clothe it with eternity whose least beam is more glorious then the Sun and maketh it day unto us whose every whisper is as thunder to awake us cujus tetigisse docuisse est whose every touch and breathing is an instruction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Nazianzene For this Spirit is wise and can he is loving and will teach us if we will learn He inspireth an Herdsman and he straight becometh a Prophet He calleth a Fisherman and maketh him an Apostle Et non opus est morâ Spiritui Sancto He standeth not in need of any help from delay Without him Miracles are sluggish and of no efficacy but upon his breathing our Saviour shall appear glorious in his ignominy and the Thief shall worship him on his cross as if he had been in his Kingdom in whom he wrought such an alteration that in S. Hierom's phrase mutavit homicidii poenam in martyrium he was so changed that he died not a thief or murtherer but a Martyr And such a powerful Teacher we stood in need of to raise our Nature and that corrupt unto so high a pitch as the participation of the Divine Nature For no act and so no act of holiness or spiritual knowledge can be produced by any power which is not connatural to it and as it were a principle of that act So that as there is a natural light by which we are brought to the apprehension of natural principles whether speculative or practick by which light many of the Heathen proceeded so far as to leave most of them behind them who have the Sun of righteousness ever shining upon them so there must be a supernatural light by which we may be guided to attain unto truths of a higher nature Which the Heathen wanting did run uncertainly as S. Paul speaketh and beat the air and all those glorious acts by which they did out shine many of us were but as the Rainbow before the Floud for shew but for no use at all The Power must ever be connatural to the Act. Nature may move in her own sphere and turn us about in that compass to do those things which Nature is capable of but Nature could not make a Saint or a member of Christ To spiritualize a man to make him Christi-formem to bring him to a conformity and uniformity with Christ is the work alone of the Spirit of Christ Which he doth sweetly and secretly powerfully characterizing our hearts and so taking possession of them The Apostle telleth us that Christ dwelleth in us by his Spirit by his power and efficacy Rom. 8.11 which worketh like fire enlightning warming and purging our hearts Matth. 3.11 which are the effects of Fire First by sanctifying our knowledge of him by shewing us the riches of his Gospel and the beauty and majesty of Christ's Dominion and Kingdom with that evidence that we are forced to fall down and worship by filling the soul with the glory of it as God filled the Tabernacle with his Exod. 30. that all the powers and faculties of our soul are ravished at the sight that we come willingly and fall down willingly before this Lord in a word by bringing on that Truth which our heart assenteth to with that clearness and fulness of demonstration that it passeth through all the
world then a learned fool So the Church of Christ and Religion never suffered more then from carnal men who are thus Spirit-wise For by acknowledging the Spirit they gain a glorious pretence to work all wickedness and that with greediness which whilest others doubt of though their errour be dangerous and fatal yet parciùs insaniunt they cannot be so outragiously mad But yet it doth not follow because some men mistake the Spirit and abuse him that no man is taught by the holy Ghost The mad Athenian took every ship that came into the harbour to be his but it doth not follow hence that no wise and sober merchant knew his own To him that is drunk things appear in a double shape and proportion geminae Thebae gemini soles two cities for one and two Suns for one Can I hence conclude that all sober men are blind Because I will not learn doth not the Spirit therefore teach And if some men take Dreams for Revelations must the holy Ghost needs loose his office This were to run upon the fallacy non-causae pro causâ to deny an unquestionable and fundamental truth for an inconvenience to dig up the Foundation because men build hay and stubble upon it or because some men have sore eyes to pluck the Sun out of his sphere This were to dispossess us of one evil Spirit and leave us naked to be invaded by a Legion To make this yet a little plainer We confess the operations of the Spirit are in their own nature difficult and obscure and as Scotus observeth upon the Prologue to the Sentences because they are quite of another condition then any thought or working in us whatsoever imperceptibiles not to be suddenly perceived no not by that soul in which they are wrought In which speech of his doubtless if we weigh it with charity and moderation and not extremity of rigour there is much truth Seneca telleth us Quaedam animalia cùm mordent non sentiuntur adeò tenuis illis fallens in periculum vis est The deadly bitings of some creatures are not felt so secret and subtle a force they have to endanger a man So on the contrary the Spirit 's enlightning us and working life in our hearts can at first by no means be described so admirable and curious a force it hath in our illumination Non deprehendes quemadmodum aut quando tibi profuit profuisse deprehendes That it hath wrought you shall find but the secret and retired passages by which it wrought are impossible to be reduced to demonstration We read that Mark Antony when with his Oration he shewed unto the people the wounded coat wherein Caesar was slain populum Romanum egit in furorem he made the people almost mad So the power of the Spirit as it seemeth wrought the like affection in the people who when they had heard the Apostles set forth the passion of Christ Acts 2. and lay his wounds open before their eyes were wrapt as it were in a religious fury and in it suddenly cryed out Men and brethren what shall we do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Text They were stung and as it were nettled in their hearts Now this could not be a thing done by chance or by any artificial energy and force in the Apostles speech this I say could not be For if we observe it Christ was slain amongst them and what was that to them or why should this hazard them more then the death of many other Prophets and holy men who through the violence of their Rulers had lost their lives And what necessity what coactive reason was there to make them believe that He was to save and redeem them who not long since had cruelly crucified him Dic Quintiliane colorem What art was there what strong bewitching power that should drive the people into such an ecstasie Or what could this be else but the effect of the operation of the holy Spirit which evermore leaveth the like impressions on those hearts on which he pleaseth to fasten the words of the wise Eccl. 12.11 which are like unto goads quae cum ictu quodam sentimus saith Seneca we hear them with a kind of smart as Pericles the Oratour is reproved to have spoken so that he left a sting behind in the minds of his Auditory And this putteth a difference betwixt natural and supernatural and spiritual Truths We see in natural Truths either the evidence and strength of Truth or the wit and subtilty of conceit or the quaintness of method and art may sometimes force our Understanding and lead captive our Affections but in sacred and Divine Truths such as is the knowledge of the Dominion and Kingdom of Christ the light of Reason is too dimme nor could it ever demonstrate this conclusion Jesus is the Lord which the brightest eye that ever the world had could of it self never see Besides the art by which it was delivered was nothing else but plainness and by S. Paul himself the worthiest Preacher it ever had except the Son of God himself it is called the foolishness of preaching But as it is observed that God in his works of wonder and his miracles brought his effects to purpose by means almost contrary to them so many times in his persuasions of men he draweth from them their assent against all rule and prescript of art and that where he pleaseth so powerfully that they who receive the impressions seem to think deliberation which in other cases is wisdom in this to be impiety But you will say perhaps that the holy Ghost was a Teacher in the Apostles times when S. Paul delivered this Christian axiom this principle this sum of Christianity when the Church was in sulco semine when the seeds of this Religion were first sown that then he did wonderfully water this plant that it might grow and increase But doth he still keep open School doth he still descend to teach and instruct us on whom the ends of the world are come Yes certainly he doth For if he did not teach us we could not vex him if he did not work in us we could not resist him if he did not speak unto us we could not lie unto him He is the God of all spirits to this day And uncti Christians we are And an anointment we have saith S. John and whilest this abideth in us we need not that any man teach us for this unction this discipline this Divine grace is sufficient And though this oyntment flow not so plenteously now as of old yet we have it and it distilleth from the Head to the skirts of the garment to the meanest member of the Church Though we be no Apostles yet we are Christians and the same Spirit teacheth both And by his light we avoid all by-paths of errour that are dangerous and discern though not all Truth yet all that is necessary They had an Ephah we an Hin yet our Hin is a measure
They had a full harvest we our sheaf yet our sheaf may make an offering Though our coyn be smaller yet the same image and stamp is on them both and the Spirit will own us though we weigh less All this is true But yet I must still remember you that whilest I build up the power of the Spirit I erect no asylum or sanctuary for illusions and wilful mistakes and when I have raised a fort and strong-hold for sober Christians I mean it not a shelter or refuge for mad-men and phantasticks God forbid that Truth should be banished out of the world because some men by false illations have made her factious or that Errour should straight be crowned with approbation because perhaps we read of some men who have been bettered with a lie The teaching of the Spirit it were dangerous to teach it were there not means to try and distinguish the Spirit 's instructions from the suggestions of Satan or the evaporations of a sick and loathsome brain or our own private Humour which is as great a Devil Beloved 1 John 4.1 saith the Apostle believe not every spirit that is every inspiration but try the spirits whether they be of God for many false prophets are gone out into the world that is have taken the chair and dictate magisterially what they please in the name of the Spirit when themselves are carnal And he giveth the rule by which we should try them Vers 2 Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God that is Whosoever striveth to advance the Kingdom of Christ and to set up the Spirit against the Flesh to magnifie the Gospel to promote and further men in the wayes of innocency and perfect obedience which infallibly lead to happiness is from God that is every such inspiration is from the Spirit of God For therefore doth the Spirit breathe upon us that he may make us like unto God and so draw us to him that where he is we may be also But those inspirations which bring in God to plead for Baal which cry up Religion to gain the world which call their own discipline Christ's Discipline which he never framed and spurn at his to maintain their own which tread down Peace and Charity and all that is indeed praise-worthy under their feet to make way for their unguided lust to pace it more delicately to its end which sigh out Faith and Grace and Christ like mourners about the streets which attend a funeral when the World and Satan hath filled their hearts and thus sow in tears that they may reap the profits and pleasures of this present world with joy which magnifie God's will that they may do their own these men these spirits cannot be from God By their fruits ye shall know them For their hypocrisie as well and cunningly wrought as it is is but a poor cobweb-lawn and we may easily see through it even see these spiritual men sweating and toiling for the Flesh these Saints digging in the minerals labouring for the bread that perisheth and making haste to be rich For though many times their wine be the poison of dragons and their milk not at all sincere yet they are not to be bought without money or money-worth Though GLORIA PATRI Glory to God on high be the Prologue to the Play for what doth a Hypocrite but play yet the whole drift and business of every Scene and Act is chearfully to draw altogether in this From hence we have our gain The Angel speaketh the Prologue and Mammon and the Flesh make the Epilogue Date manus Why should not every man give them his hands Surely such Roscii such cunning Actors deserve a Plaudite By their fruits ye shall know them For what though the voice be Jacobs Ye may know Esau by his hands What though the Devil turn Angel of light Ye may know him by his claws by his malice and rage For how can an Angel of light tear men in pieces By their fruits ye may know them So ye see this inconvenience and mischief which sometimes is occasioned by the Doctrine of the Spirit 's Teaching is not unavoidable It is not necessary though I mistake and take the Devil for an Angel that the holy Ghost should be put to silence Though Corah and his complices perish in their gainsayings yet God forbid that all Israel should be swallowed up in the same gulf Samuel runneth to Eli 1 Sam. 3. Vers 9. when the voice was God's but was taught at last to answer Speak Lord for thy servant heareth Though there were many false Prophets yet Micaiah was a true one Though there be many false Prophets come into the world yet the Spirit of God is a Spirit of truth and is not onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our chief but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our sole Instructor Our last Part In which we shall be very brief We are told in the verse next after the Text There are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit And we may say There are diversities of teachers but the same Spirit because be the conveyances and conduits never so many through which the knowledge of our Lord Jesus is brought unto us if the Sririt move not along with it it may be water indeed but not of life Because all means are but instrumental but He the prime Agent we may well call him not onely the chief but the sole Instructor The Church of Christ is DOMUS DOCTRINAE the House of learning as it is called in the Chaldee Paraphrase and COLUMNA VERITATIS 1 Tim. 3.15 the Pillar of the truth because it presenteth the knowledge of Christ as a Pillar doth an Inscription and even offereth and urgeth it to every eye that it may not slip out of our memories and SCHOLA CHRISTI the School of Christ in respect of his Precepts and Discipline Such glorious things have been spoken of the Church But now methinks this House is ruinous this Pillar shaken this School broken up and dissolved and the Church which bore so great a name standeth for nothing but the walls A Jesuite telleth us that at the very name of the CHURCH hostis expalluit the Enemy that is such as he called Hereticks did look pale and tremble But what is it now amongst us Nothing or but a Name and in truth a Name is nothing And that too is vanishing for it is changed into another And yet it is the same for they both signifie one and the same thing So prevalent amongst us is that Phansie and Folly which is taken for the Spirit A Church no doubt there is and will be but we onely see it as we do the Church Triumphant through a glass darkly Or she may be fair as the Moon clear as the Sun but sure she is not terrible as an army with banners Secondly the Word is a Teacher And Christ by open proclamation hath commanded us to have recourse unto it
The treasures thereof are infinite the minerals thereof are rich assiduè pleniùs responsura fodienti The more they are digged the more plentifully do they offer themselves that all the wit of men and Angels can never be able to draw them dry But even this Word many times is but a word and no more Sometimes it is a killing letter Such vain and unskilful pioneers we are that for the most part we meet with poisonous damps and vapours instead of treasure I might adde a third Teacher Christ's Discipline which when we think of nothing but of Jesus by his rod and afflictions putteth us in remembrance that he is the Lord. This Teacher hath a kind of Divine authority and by this the Spirit breatheth many times with more efficacy and power then by the Church or the Word then by the Prophets and Apostles and holy Scriptures For when we are disobedient to his Church deaf to his Word at the noise of these many waters we are afraid and yield our necks unto his yoke All these are Teachers But their authority and power and efficacy they have from the Spirit The Church if not directed by the Spirit were but a rout or Conventicle the Word if not quickned by the Spirit a dead letter and his Discipline a rod of iron first to harden us and then break us to pieces But AFFLAT SPIRITUS the Spirit bloweth upon his Garden the Church and the spices thereof flow And then to disobey the Church is to resist the Spirit INCUBAT SPIRITUS The holy Ghost sitteth upon the seed of the Word and hatcheth a new creature a subject to this Lord. MOVET SPIRITUS The Spirit moveth upon these waters of bitterness and then they make us fruitful to every good work In a word The Church is a Teacher and the Word is a Teacher and Afflictions are Teachers but the Spirit of God the holy Ghost is all in all I might here enter a large field full of delightful variety But I forbear and withdraw my self and will onely remember you that this Spirit is a spirit that teacheth Obedience and Meekness that if we will have him light upon us we must receive him as Christ did in the shape of a Dove in all innocency and simplicity He telleth us himself that with a froward heart he will not dwell and then sure he will not enlighten it For as Chrysostom well observeth that the Prophets of God and Satan did in this notoriously differ that they who gave Oracles from God gave them with all mildness and temper without any fanatick alteration but they who gave Oracles by motion from the Devil did it with much distraction and confusion with a kind of fury and madness so we shall easily find that those motions which descend not from above are earthly sensual and devilish that in them there is strife and envying and confusion and every evil work but the wisdom which is from above from the holy Ghost is first pure then peaceable gentle easie to be intreated James 3. full of mercy and good fruits Be not deceived When thy Anger rageth the Spirit is not in that storm When thy Disobedience to Government is loud he speaketh not in that thunder When thy Zele is mad and unruly he dwelleth not in that fiery hush When the faculties of thy soul are shaken and dislocated by thy stubborn and perverse passions that thou canst neither look nor speak nor move aright he will not be in that earthquake But in the still voice and the cool of the day in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the calm and tranquility and peace of thy soul he cometh when that storm is slumbred that earthquake setled that thunder stilled that fire quenched And he cometh as a light to shew thee the beauty and love of thy Saviour and the glory and power of thy Lord. And though he be sole Instructor yet he descendeth to make use of means and if thou wilfully withdraw thy self from these thou art none of his celestial Auditory To conclude Wilt thou know how to speak this language truly that Jesus is the Lord and assure thy self that the Spirit teacheth thee so to speak Mark well then those symptoms and indications of his presence those marks and signs which he hath left us in his word to know when the voice is his For though as the Kingdom of heaven so the Spirit of God cometh not with observation yet we may observe whether he be come or no. Remember then first that he is a Spirit and the Spirit of God and so is contrary to the Flesh and teacheth nothing that may flatter or countenance it or let it loose to insult over the Spirit For this is against the very nature of the Spirit as much as it is for light bodies to descend or heavy to move upwards Nay Fire may descend and the Earth may be moved out of its place the Sun may stand still or go back Nature may change its course at the word and beck of the God of Nature but this is one thing which God cannot do he cannot change himself nor can his Spirit breathe any doctrine forth that savoureth of the World or the Flesh or Corruption Therefore we may nay we must suspect all those doctrines and actions which are said to be effects and products of the blessed Spirit when we observe them drawn out and levelled to carnal ends and temporal respects For sure the Spirit can never beat a bargain for the world and the Truth of God is the most unproportioned price that can be laid out on such a purchace When I see a man move his eyes compose his countenance order and methodize his gesture and behaviour as if he were now on his death-bed to take his leave of the world and to seal that Renouncement which he made at the Font when I hear him loud in prayer and as loud in reviling the iniquities of the times wishing his eyes a fountain of tears to bewail them day and night when I see him startle at a mis-placed word as if it were a thunderbolt when I hear him cry as loud for a Reformation as the idolatrous Priests did upon their Baal I begin to think I see an Angel in his flight and mount going up into heaven But after all this devotion this zele this noise when I see him stoop like the Vultur and fly like lightning to the prey I cannot but say within my self O Lucifer son of the morning how art thou fallen from heaven how art thou brought down to the ground nay to hell it self Sure I am the holy Ghost looketh upward moveth upward directeth us upward and if we follow him neither our doctrine nor our actions will ever savour of this dung Remember again that he is SPIRITUS RECTUS a right Spirit as David calleth him Psal 51. not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 winding and turning several wayes now to God and anon nay at once to Mammon now glancing
on heaven and having an eye fixed and buried in the earth And that he is a Spirit of truth And it is the property of Truth to be alwayes like unto it self to change neither shape nor voice but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to speak the same things He doth not set up one Text against another doth not disannul his Promises in his Threats nor recall his Threats in his Promises doth not forbid Fear in Hope nor shake our Hope when he biddeth us fear doth not command Meekness to abate my Zele nor kindle my Zele to consume my Meekness doth not preach Christian Liberty to take off Obedience to Government nor prescribe Obedience to infringe and weaken my Chiristian Liberty Spiritus nusquam est aliud The holy Spirit is never different from it self never contradicteth it self And the reason why men who talk so much of the Spirit do fall into so gross and pernicious errours is from hence that they will not be like the Spirit in this but upon the beck of some place of Scripture which at the first blush and appearance looketh favourably on their present inclinations run violently on this side animated and posted on by those shews appearances which were the creatures of their Lust Phansie never looking back to other testimonies of Divine authority that army of evidences as Tertull. speaketh which are openly prest out marshalled against them which might well put them to an halt deliberation which might stay and drive back their intention and settle them at last in the truth which consisteth in a moderation O that men were wise but so wise as to know the Spirit before they engage him to look severely impartially upon their own designs as seriously consider the nature of the blessed Spirit before they voice him out for their abettor or make use of his name to bring their ends about Not to do this I will not say is the sin though perhaps I might but sure I am it is a great sin even Blasphemy against the holy Ghost But I must conclude Let us then as the Apostle speaketh examine our selves and bring our selves and our actions to trial Prove your selves and prove the Spirit Are your steps right and your wayes straight Do your actions answer the rule and still bear the same image and superscription Are you obedient to the Church and do you not think your selves wiser then your Teachers Are you reverent to God's word and receive it with all meekness without respect or distinction of those persons that convey it To come close to the Text Do you not divorce Jesus from the Lord riot it upon his mercy and then bow to him in a qualm and pinch of conscience Do you not fear the Lord the less for Jesus nor love Jesus the less for the Lord Are you as willing to be commanded as to be saved and to be his subjects as his children Are you thus qualified And are you still the same not making in your profession those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 crooked and unsteddy bendings those staggerings of a drunken man now meek as Lambs and anon raging like Lions now hanging down the head and anon lifting up your horn on high at the altar forgiveness and in your closet revenge courting your brother to day and to morrow taking him by the throat Are you as ready to bow the knee in Devotion and stretch forth the hand in Charity as you are to incline your ear to a Sermon Are you in all things in subjection unto this Lord Is this proposition true and dare ye subscribe it with your bloud JESUS IS THE LORD Then have ye learnt this language well and are perfect Linguists in the Spirit 's dialect Then let the rainfall and the flouds come let the winds and waters of affliction beat thick upon us and the waves of persecution go over our soul let the windy sophisms of subtil disputants blow with violence to shake our resolution in the midst of all temptations assaults and encounters in the midst of all the busie noise the world can make we shall be at rest upon the rock even upon this fundamental truth That the Spirit is the best teacher and That Jesus is the Lord. In which truth the Spirit of truth confirm us all for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake The Nineteenth SERMON ISA. LV. 6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found call ye upon him while he is near THE withdrawing of every thing from its original from that which it was made to be is like the drawing of a straight line which the further you draw it the weaker it is nor can it be strengthned but by being redoubled and brought back again towards its first point Now the Wiseman will tell us Eccles 7.29 That God hath made man upright that is simple and single and sincere bound him as it were to one point but he hath sought out many inventions mingled himself and ingendered with divers extravagant conceits and so run out not in one but many lines now drawn out to that object now to another still running further and further from the right and from that which he should have staid in and been united to as it were in puncto in a point and so degenerated much from that natural simplicity in which he was first made This our Prophet observeth in the people of Israel that they did their own wayes Chap. 58.13 Chap. 63.17 and erred from God's wayes run out as so many ill-drawn lines one on the flesh another on the world one on idolatry another on oppression every man at a sad distance from him whom he shoud have dwelt and rested in as in his Centre Therefore in every breath almost and passage of this Prophesie he seemeth to bend and bow them as it were a line back again to draw them from those objects in which they were lost and to carry them forward to the rock out of which they were hewen to strengthen and settle and establish them in the Lord. All this you have here abridged and epitomized Seek ye the Lord while he may be found The words are plain and need not the gloss of any learned interpreter If we look stedfastly upon the opening of them we shall behold the heavens open and God himself displaying his rayes and manifesting his beauty to draw men near unto himself to allure and provoke them to seek him teaching dust and ashes how to raise it self to the region of happiness mortality to put on immortality and our sinful nature to make its approches to Purity it self that where he is we may be also The parts are two 1. A Duty enjoyned Seek ye the Lord. 2. The Time prescribed when we must seek him while he may be found But because the Object is in nature before the Act and so to be considered we must know what to seek before we can seek it and because we are ready to mistake and to think that we
him we that are many are but one It is a good observation of S. Basil That the Love of God is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exclusive of our Love to others but calleth it in that it may not be I and Thou but WE and one I say it calleth it in to fill up the measure thereof but so that it hath dependencie thereon The Love of God knitteth all Loves to it self and it self to all We may call it with the Philosopher conglobatum amorem so many loves heaped together 1 Joh. 4 21. but beginning from one even the Love of God For this commandment we have from him that he who loveth God love his brother also Tota vita sanctorum negotiatio saith St. Augustine The whole life of the Saints is a kind of traffick and Merchandise We all venture together Every man ventureth for himself and for his brethren singuli pro omnibus omnes pro singulis every man for all and all for every man We all go together For Religion maketh all one and the most excellent parts of it are not mine nor thine but ours our common Faith our Self-denial our Fear our Joy our Riches our Peace Whatsoever conquereth winneth me the garland whosoever prayeth is my advocate He prayeth and I pray he against my ambition and I against his distrust he against my presumption and I against his diffidence We go up to the house of the Lord together and we hope to go to heaven together Such is the virtue of this Communion that though I live in a society where more scatter then gather more are bankrupt then thrive yet by my charity and compassion I may gain by their loss and have interest in the good of every man and by my prayers and ready assistance improve my spiritual estate by every mans loss They that are ignorant of this cannot pray nor go to Church together For he loveth not any no not himself who loveth not all We say Love beginneth at home but it spreadeth its garment over all otherwise it is not begun My heart must be hortus deliciarum a garden of delights a paradise wherein are set and deeply rooted these choice plants the Love of God the Love of my self and the Love of my brethren He that rooteth up one destroyeth all He that taketh my brother from me divideth me from my self And when I take my love but from one my heart is no longer a paradise but a wilderness Deo non singularitas accepta est sed unitas saith the Father God liketh not singularity where every one is for himself but unity where all are one We all go together Nor do I lose by keeping my self within this circle or compass For my scattering is my possession my losing is my gain my bounty is my thrift He that giveth not his love hath it not but when he giveth he hath in more abundance And is it not now pity that we should be more then one Is it not a shame that we should be divided and so go up together and not go up together be a press a throng a confused multitude and not a body or fly asunder and be many Wees We of Paul 1 Cor. 1.12 We of Apollos We of Cephas We of this congregation and We of that Ye will soon say so when ye see what it is that keepeth this WE this body compact within it self and what it is that divideth and scattereth it First God is a God of peace and hateth division For although Christ said he came to send a sword upon earth he declareth not his purpose Matth. 10.30 but prophesieth the event and sheweth not what he would bring but how men would abuse his doctrine as if indeed he had come on purpose to set the world on fire He could not come with a sword for he breathed nothing but peace All his precepts and counsels naturally tend to make all men of one mind and one heart Charity will bear any burden Liberality buyeth and purchaseth peace Temperance keepeth Reason in her chair undisturbed that she may command peace Patience is a reconciler melteth an enemy and transformeth him into a friend Humility stoopeth and falleth down at every foot-stool and boweth it self to woo and beg and beseech us to be at unity A Christian will be any thing that is not evil do any thing that is not sin suffer any thing to preserve unity Further those duties which we do as superiours and which are wont to give distast to others as Reprehension good Counsel Discipline even these have no other end but unity these are enjoyned us as preservatives that we may be one 1. Reprehension seemeth indeed to be a sword and to cut deep For we fly from the face of him that bringeth it Every word is a wound and the greatest Prophet our greatest enemy But if Reproof be a sword it is a Delphian sword or like his that did both wound and cure at once Its end is peace and unity It is like to the shepherds whistle calling us back when we are gone astray and near to danger John 10.16 and reducing us to that one fold and one shepherd 2. Counsel also bringeth an imputation along with it and a silent charge against him to whom it is given but it is the charge not of a severe judge but of a kind friend of a tender brother It is presented as physick not as poyson It is the diet of a sick mind saith Clemens and its end is to cure the diseased party that neither his leprosie break out nor himself be shut out of the congregation It is to him as Moses said to his father-in-law Numb 10.31 instead of eyes to discover to him his danger and to shew him the way he should go In a word it is like careful dressing of a part which is ready to fester that it may not be cut off but be healed 3. Discipline is indeed the Pastoral rod and machaera spiritualis a spiritual sword And this cutteth off a part from the whole and leaveth the body WE less in number then it was Yet he whom it cutteth off may say WE still For it doth not cut him off from the inward communion but from the outward onely and that to the end he may be brought in again Vulnus non hominem secat secat ut sanet The Apostle rendreth it ◠Cor. 5.5 The flesh is destroyed that the spirit may be saved This weapon non nocet nisi pertinacibus The blow hurteth not if it meet not with a stiff neck It severeth offenders that it may gather them it driveth them out that it may draw them in it anathematizeth them that it may canonize them it restraineth them that it may free them it putteth them to shame that they may be ashamed to stay out And the Church when they return unto her laeto sinu excipit with joy receiveth them into her bosome and then We are one again
have more then he can desire the blind may comfort the deaf that he shall hear the trump and the deaf the blind that he shall see his Saviour come again in glory The Church that is now militant may comfort her self that she shall be triumphant Here we converse with dust and ashes with the shapes of Men and malice of Devils or if with saints with saints full of imperfection Here are Nimrods and Nero's and worse then Nero's men who do but what mischief they can and the Devil himself can do no more Illic Apostolorum chorus martyrum populus there are the Apostles and martyrs This is but the valley of tears there all tears shall be wiped from our eyes and we shall need no comfort because we shall feel no sorrow but serve God day and night and with the glorious company of the Apostles and the noble army of Martyrs with the whole Church sing praises to the God of consolation for evermore To which place of everlasting consolation he bring us who purchased our peace with his bloud Jesus Christ the righteous The Two and Thirtieth SERMON ACTS II. 13 14. 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 OF all the expressions of our distast a Scoff is the worst Admonition may be physick a Reproof may be balm a Blow may be ointment but Derision is as poyson as a sword as a sharp arrow It was the height of Jobs complaint that contemptible persons made jests on him And it was the depth of Samsons calamity that when the Philistins hearts were merry they called for Samson to make them sport That which raises our anger presents some magnitude to our eyes but that which we entertein with scorn is of no appearance not worth our thought less then nothing But now every thing is not alwayes as it appears especially to the eye of the scoffer For we see things of excellency and such as are carried about in a higher sphere may be depressed and submitted to jests We cannot cull out a better instance then that which we have here the miracle of this feast of Pentecost not done in a corner but in a full assembly and the face of the world In a general congregation of men out of every nation under heaven a Wind rusheth in Flatus qui non inflavit sed vegetavit saith S. Augustine a blast which did not blow them up but quicken and make them lusty and strong Tongues as of fire which sate upon them Ignis qui non cremavit sed suscitavit a fire which did not burn and consume but enliven and refresh them The Wind was violent and the Spirit was in the wind The Tongues were as of fire and the Spirit was in that fire they were cloven and the Spirit was in the cleft Christ was as good as his word This sound was the echo of his promise this REPLETI SVNT they were filled with the holy Ghost a commentary on EGO MITTAM and the filling of their Hope Christ's ASCENDIT endeth in DONA DEDIT and his promise in a miracle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 How high a mystery is this saith Nazianzene how venerable Christ had finished his work his Birth his Circumcision his Tentation his Passion his Resurrection his Ascension which he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the corporeal things of Christ These being all past 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now the Spirit begins to move but not as it did on the face of the waters and as the nature of a Spirit is invisible but in state in things sensible in a rushing wind to the Ear in tongues of fire to the Eye both heard and seen Certainly a great mystery a great miracle it was And Miracles should not be the subject of scorn but admiration they should check and suppress our mirth in silence and astonishment But to press this further yet This miracle is most seen in the gift of Tongues For whether they spoke but one language and God worded it in the ear so that it was heard of every man as his own proper dialect or whether they spake in the several language of every nation to the Persians in theirs to the Medes in theirs and to the Elamites in theirs as is very probably gathered out of the text by Nazianzene and others a miracle it was and could not be wrought by any other hand then that of Omnipotency Commonly Knowledge whether of things or languages is the daughter of Time and Industry Quis unquam de noviter plantatis arbusculis matura poma quaesivit Who ever lookt for fruit from a branch scarcely yet ingrafted in the stock Est etiam studiis sua infantia saith the Oratour As the bodies of the strongest men so even studies have their infancy and their growth and slowly after long time and much care and attendance they ripen and improve by degrees to perfection But here the course and natural order of things was strangely altered For men not learned Galilaeans not of the best capacity began to speak with other tongues on a sudden Greek Persian Arabick Parthian and not common and vulgar things but MAGNALIA DEI the wonderful works of God Their skill and knowledge was as sudden as the wind or fire Put now these together and you will wonder as much to see any countenance framed to laughter as to see the tongues and the fire and be amazed at the scoff and mock as much as at the miracle But the observation is old and common That where the finger of God is most visible there the Devil will put in his claw to deface the beauty of Gods work to alter the face and complexion of the greatest miracles that they may appear as trifles and meriments If God send his fiery Tongues upon his Apostles the Devil will also set the tongues of men on fire If God send a mighty wind there shall another blow out of the Devils treasury to blast and scatter all the marks and characters of Gods power If the Apostles speak with tongues there shall be tongues as active as the pen of a ready writer to scoff and disgrace them and to pour contempt on that which God hath made wonderful in our eyes tongues that shall call the breathing of the Spirit a frensie and the speaking of languages the evaporation and prating of drunkards and that shall make the greatest miracle mere mockery You may hear them speak in my Text Others mocking said These men are full of new wine In which words briefly we observe these particulars 1. the Object of their derision and what it was they mocked at 2. the Persons not all but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 others some of them 3. the Scoff it self These men are full of new wine Out of the first we may learn thus much That even Miracles may be scoffed at Next we may observe what manner of persons Scoffers are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
disconsonant to the wayes of those who are deeply immerst and drencht in the world and which by them is in esteem as Madness or Drunkenness shall receive the reward of Soberness and Truth O how happy were it for these mockers if they were thus distempered thus superstitious if they took this cup of the Lord and did adde drunkenness to thirst and even fill and glut themselves with it They cannot be too reverent too spiritual too absurd and ridiculous to the world and worldly men He that seems wise to these must needs be neer of kin to a fool and he whom they admire must be ridiculous Aliud est judicium Christi aliud anguli susurronum Whom the world laughs at Christ will honour whom they make their slaves with Christ are Kings and whom they scorn he will crown And then these scoffers shall be had in derision and they who are filled with the Spirit shall for ever drink of the river of his pleasures and shall sit down with him at his table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and these Apostles here and drink that new wine with him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that spiritual immortal joy in the kingdom of his Father in the presence of God where there are pleasures for evermore To which He bring us who sent his Spirit down upon us Jesus Christ the righteous The Three and Thirtieth SERMON PART I. LUKE XI 27 28. And it came to pass as he spake these things a certain woman of the company lift up her voice and said unto him Blessed is the womb that bare thee and the paps which thou hast sucked But he said Yea rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it WE cannot say more of our Saviour in the dayes of his flesh then this He went about doing good Acts 10.38 Job 29.15 He was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame and health to the sick And as he cured mens bodies of diseases so he purged their souls from sin As he went his steps dropped fatness Scarce proceeded there a word from his blessed lips that breathed not forth comfort In this chapter he cast out a devil which was dumb and the people wondred v. 14. But such is the rancour and venome of Envy and Malice that no vertue no miracle no demonstration of power can castigate or abate it What is Vertue to a Jew or what is a Miracle to a Pharisee When the devil was gone out saith the Text the dumb spake a work not to be wrought but by the finger of God But if a Pharisee look upon it it must change its name and be said to be done by the claw of the Devil For some of them said He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the prince of the devils Others tempting him sought from him a sign from heaven as if this were not such a one but rather proceeded from the pit of hell and from the power of darkness It is the character of an evil and envious eye to look outward extrà mittendo not to receive the true species and forms of things but to send out some noxious spirits from it self which discolour and deface the object Hence Envious men are thought as S. Basil saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to infect every thing they look upon and like the Basilisk to kill with a very look What do they cast their eye upon that they do not poison and corrupt Is it Temperance they call it Stupidity Is it Justice they call it Cruelty Is it Wisdome they call it Craft Is it Honesty they call it Folly and Want of foresight Is it a Miracle they call it Magick and Sorcery and a work of Beelzebub Wherefore saith the Father was our Saviour made a mark for every venemous dart wherefore was he so sorely laid at by the Jews by the Scribes and Pharisees 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For nothing else but his wondrous works And what were they His curing of the sick feeding of the hungry restoring of the dead to life casting out of devils And therefore as he confirmed his doctrine by miracles so Malice putteth him to another task to make good his miracles by reason and argument And this he doth 1. argumento ducente ad absurdum by an argument which will either bind them to silence or drive them upon the face of an open absurdity For what an absurd thing were it for Satan to drive out himself and 2. argumento ducente ad impossibile For if Satan be divided against himself it is impossible his kingdome should stand Proficit semper contradictio stultorum ad stultitiae demonstrationem saith Hilary The contradiction of sinners and fools striveth and struggleth to gain ground and to over-run the Truth but the greatest proficiencie Folly maketh is but to make her self more open and manifest like Candaules's wife who was seen naked of all but her self But Truth is as unmovable as a rock which as the Father speaketh of the Church tunc vincit cùm laeditur tunc intelligitur cùm arguitur tunc obtinet cùm deseritur then conquereth when it receiveth a foil is then understood when it is opposed and is then safe when it is forsaken Let the Jews rage and the Pharisees imagin a vain thing let Envy cast a mist and let Malice smoke like a fornace yet Christ's miracles shall be as clear as the day wherein they were wrought and the mouth of Iniquity shall be stopped Out of his own mouth shall the Pharisee be convinced and Christ shall be as powerful in his words as in his works so powerfull in both that even è â—urba out of that multitude which did oppose him one witness or oâ—her shall rise to bear testimony to the truth to point out to the finger of God by which this miracle was wrought to magnifie and bless not onely our Saviour but even the very womb that bare him and the paps that he had sucked For it came to pass as he spake these things a certain woman of the company lift up her voice and said unto him Blessed c. My Text divideth it self between the Woman and Christ First the Woman taketh occasion from what she had heard and seen to magnifie Christ Then Christ taketh occasion from her speach to instruct her and let her at rights She calleth Christ's mother blessed He sheweth her a more excellent way by which she may come to be as blessed as his mother She talketh of Blessedness He telleth her what it is He condemneth not her affection but directeth and levelleth it to the right object and as the Pythagoreans method of teaching was he indulgeth something that he may gain the more Be it so Blessed is the womb that bare me and the paps that gave me suck QUINIMO But much rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it To be my Mother is but a temporal privilege but to hear and keep my word is eternal
welcome Come ye Blessed children of my Father receive the kingdome and Blessedness which was prepared for you from the beginning of the world The Five and Thirtieth SERMON COLOS. III. 1. If then you be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God THe Resurrection of the dead is the prop and stay the very life and soul of a Christian Illam credentes sumus saith Tertullian By believing this we have our being and are that which we are and without this it were better for us not to be If there be no resurrection of the dead saith the Apostle then are we of all men most miserable Now much better were it for us not to be at all then to be miserable For let us take a general survay not as Solomon doth in the book of the Preacher of all the pleasures in the world but of all the virtues of a Christian onely deny the Resurrection of the dead and what are they else but extreme vanity and vexation of the spirit To cleanse our hearts and wash our hands in innocency to hold a strict watch over all our ways to deny unto our selves the joyes and pleasures of the world to pine our bodies with fasting to bestow our hours on devotion our goods on the poor and our bodies on the fire this and whatsoever else is so full of terrour to the outward man and so full of irksomness to the flesh what may it seem to be but a kind of madness if when this little span of our life be measured out there remain no crown no reward of it if after so many strivings with our selves so many agonies so many crucifyings of our selves so many pantings for life we must in the end breath out our last But beloved Christ is risen and our faith in his Resurrection is an infallible demonstration and a most certain pledge to us that we shall rise as he hath done Of which that we may the better assure our selves we must observe that as S. Paul tells us As we have born the image of the earthy so must we bear the image of the heavenly so on the contrary we must make an account that as we hope to bear the image of the heavenly so must we first bear the image of the earthy and if we will bear a part in the resurrection to glory which is a heavenly resurrection we must have our part in a resurrection to grace which is a resurrection here on earth S. John distinguishes for me in his Revelation Ch. 20.5.6 Blessed is he that hath his part in the first resurrection And he that hath none there shall bear at all no part in the second resurrection As it is with us in nature at the end of our dayes there is a death and after that a resurrection so is it with us in grace yet the days of sin can have an end in us there is a death For the Apostle tells us we are dead to sin and we are buried with him in Baptisme Then after this death to sin cometh the resurrection to newness of life Mors perire est resurgere restingui nisi mors mortem resurrectio resurrectionem antecedat To die is quite to perish to rise again worse then to have lien for ever rotting in the grave if this first death go not before a second death and this first resurrection before the second Secondly as in our life time we die and rise again with Christ so do we likewise in a manner ascend with him into heaven For to seek those things which are above is a kind of flight and ascension of the Soul into heavenly places And as God commanded Moses before he died to ascend up into the mountain Deut. 32.49 to see a far off and discover that good land which he had promised to the Jews So it it his pleasure that through holy conversation and newness of life we should raise our selves far above the rest of the world and in this life time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nazianzene speaks as it were from an exceeding high mountain discover and have some sight of that good land and of those good things which God hath laid up for those which are his Hebr. 6. So by the Apostle our regeneration and amendment of life that is our first resurrection is called a taste of the good spirit and word of God a relish and taste of the powers of the world to come Now of this first Resurrection doth our blessed Apostle speak in these words which I have read unto you If you be risen with Christ seek those things which are above Which speech though it go with an If and therefore seems to be conditional yet if we look neerer into it we shall find that indeed it is a peremptory and absolute command in effect as if he had said Rise with Christ and seek the things which are above Acts 12. And as the Angel said to Peter being in prison Arise up quickly at which words the chains fell off from Peters hands so God by his blessed Apostle comes to us who are in a stricter prison and commands us in the first words Arise quickly and in the next seek the things which are above and so makes as it were the chains fall off our hands and delivers us out of prison into the glorious liberty of the Saints of God For the things of this world and our love unto them are fetters to our feet and manacles to our hands holding us down groveling on the earth And except these chains fall off we can never Arise and follow the Angel as Peter did When Elias in a whirlwind went up to heaven the text tells us that his mantle fell from him And he that will go up into heaven with Elias 2 Kings 2. and seek the things that are above cannot go with his cloke thither he must be content to leave his mantle below forgo all things that are beneath and as S. Hierome speaks nudam crucem nudus sequi follow the naked cross naked and stript from all the glory and pomp of the world Now this part of Scripture which I have read is a part of the practice of our spiritual Logick for it teacheth us to frame an argument or reason by which we may conclude unto our selves that our first resurrection is past For if we seek the things which are above then are we risen with Christ if not we are in our graves still our souls are putrified and corrupt And again If we be risen with Christ then as Christ at his resurrection left in his grave the cloths wherein he was buried so these things of the world in which we lye as it were dead and buried at our resurrection to newness of life we must leave unto the world which was the grave in which we lay As it is in arched buildings all the stones do enterchangeably and mutually rest upon and hold
Christ strive to make every man he sees a disciple Abraham as he was called faithful Abraham so made himself the father of the faithful and did command his children and his houshold after him to keep the way of the Lord which was to beget them in the Lord. Joshua and his houshold will serve the Lord. David having tasted how gracious the Lord was calls others to make trial and drink of the same cup. This is the good mans nay the Angels Jubilee to see others turn unto the Lord. The weeping Prophet wished his head a fountain of tears when men dishonoured God by their rebellion Moses wish was that all the people could prophesie One Prephet draws on a goodly fellowship of Prophets one Apostle a glorious company one Saint a noble army For when the spirit of Holiness whose operation is like that of Fire is hot within men it spreads it self violently like that element which hath voracitatem toto mundo avidissimam as Pliny speaks is a restless element and either spreads or dyes Grace being kindled from the Father of Lights from him who is Light it self takes in others and licks up every thing about it as the fire did which Elias called down from heaven S. Paul being inflamed with this heat what would not he do what would not he suffer He would spend and he spent he would offer up himself a sacrifice for the Philippians he would stay on earth when he desired to depart he would abide in the flesh an irksome thing to one so spiritualized and now ready to put on the crown which was laid up for him he would retire for a while even from Joy it self that the Philippians might become what he was truly stiled the Servants of Jesus Christ We may think it perhaps a strange sight to see so great an Apostle so filled with revelations one that had been in the third Heaven to be now in such a strait one that had received the Truth neither by men nor of men but by the revelation of Jesus Christ to doubt and to be ignorant what to do But thus to be at a stand and in doubt thus to consider both conditions of this and the next life and then to conclude against himself for the Glory of God and the Salvation of his brethren could not but proceed from a most heroick and divine Spirit a Spirit that had subdued the Flesh nay conquered it self and preferred the Glory of God before his own Will though regular and warrantable the same Spirit which was in Christ qui quod voluit effici id ipsum concedi sibi non voluit as Hilary speaketh who would not have that granted which he would have done I say none but those who have such a spirit are subject to such a doubt none but those who are thus free are brought to such a strait They who are fleshly and wordly-minded the children of this world are so wise indeed in their genaration that they are never thus perplext they never demur or doubt with S. Paul they are never shut up in his strait No as they have not tasted of the powers of the world to come so it is not in all their thoughts Nusquam aqua haeret they never stick or are in perplexity but are sudden and positive and soon conclude for themselves Here here let us build us a tabernacle Here amidst the fading pleasures and flying vanities of this world here amongst shadows and apparitions amongst those killing tentations which we love amongst those occasions of evil which we will run and meet and embrace in the midst of all the snares the Enemy can lay which we delight to be caught in and look upon our fetters as ornaments Here let us dwell for ever for we have a delight therein What is the Glory of God unto us who thus glory in our own shame What will we do to save our brothers Soul who so prodigally prostitute our own Not a spark of the fire in us which was in S. Paul no trouble no doubt in us not the least consideration of God our selves and our brethren And thus we pass on securely wantonly delicately not fearing the bitterness of death never in any strait till we are shut up in that prison out of which we shall never come out And this is the most pleasing and the most sad condition we can fall into This security is our danger This lifting our selves up is our ruine A diligent troubled perplexed Christian shall find light in darkness resolution in doubting and a way to escape in the greatest streit To conclude this If the same mind were in us which was in S. Paul if the same mind were in us which was in Christ Jesus we should then look upon our calling to be Christians as the most delightful and the most troublesome calling We should not hope to pass through it without rubs and difficulties without doubts and disputings in our selves We should compare one thing with another often put up questions and have fightings and struglings in our selves We should desire that which is best for our selves and conclude for that which is best in the sight of God For this we must do even sometimes curb and restrain our selves in our lawful desires and when we set forth forth for the Glory of God leave them behind us stay his leisure to do him service deny our selves in our own desires desire to put off the flesh and yet resolve to abide in the flesh lay down all our wills and desires and bow to the will and Glory of God With S. Paul here we may retein both a resolution to glorifie God in our mortal bodies and a desire to be loosed and to be with Christ cheerfully entertein the one and yet earnestly desire the other They were both here in the Apostle and the same Love was mother and nurse to them both I am in a great strait It was Love perplext him and the Love of Christ raised up this desire to be with him For I am in a great strait desiring to be loosed and to be with Christ. And so we pass from S. Pauls Doubt to his Desire And indeed had be not been in this strait he had not had this desire which nothing can raise up but the Love of God and his glory This Desire carries nothing in it that hath any opposition to the will of God It is not wrought in us by Impatience or Sense of injuries for the Christian hath learnt to forgive them Not by Contumelie and Disgrace for the Christian can bear contumeliam contumeliae facere and so fling disgrace upon Contumelie it self It is not the effect of any evil for the Christian can overcome evill with good The Stoicks indeed thought quaerendam potiùs mortem quà m servitutem ferendam That the best remedy for Slavery Contumely or a tedious Sickness was to force the Soul from the body which was now become a prison and place of torment to it And in
Apolinarius 12. Apostles The Spirit was given them but in measure and by degrees and not without using of means 61. Apparel vain and superfluous an argument of a ragged and ill-shapen soul better sold given to the poor 897. Modestie must be our tire-woman not Pride 1101 1102. Appearances deceive and draw us into sin 261 c. 268. The way not to be deceived by them is to compare them with things that are real 269. Appetite v. Inclination Aquinas's answer to his sister 89. Archimedes how honoured for his great skill 292. Arians their opinion of Christ 5. 8. Their errour occasioned by their love 762. Aristippus 508. Aristotle 496. What Alexander would have him teach him 497. Arius 12. 65. Ark. The Ark in a manner idolized by the Israelites taken by the Philistines 300 c. Arts and trades whence 889. Ascension v. Christ. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the antient Fathers what and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who 68. Assurance of some ill-grounded 578 579 608. 691. 742. 975. 993. A child of God may want Assurance and a wicked man may have it 344 c. 396. 400. Sin and Assurance will not dwell together 351 352. 494. How Assurance is to be gotten 351. 608. v. Despair Athanasius 12. He is commended for his diligent imitation of worthy men 1021. Atheists 41 42. 46. None becometh an Atheist on a sudden 922. Augustine 526. How far he granted Possibility of perfection 110. His errour about Baptism 81. Authority of Superiours to be obeyed 639 c. The AUTHOUR forbidden to exercise his function 1127. His Benediction and Farewel to his Auditours 1128 1129. B BAlaam 253. 549. Baptism not absolutely necessary 81. Barrenness why accounted a curse in Israel 987. Basil 1025. His counsel about Alms 145. and to duty 743. Beasts far better then sinful Man 378. Beauty Honour Riches mean objects for the Soul of man 648. Beauty of Man wherein 107. Begardi 392. Beginnings of grace and goodness should be carried on to the end 555. 578. Believe and Repent the summe of the Gospel and of our duty 60. 61. Benefits bind us to our benefactours 105. 578 579. 590. Birds in India of a strange nature 91. Bishop An Universal B. not expedient 233. Blessedness what and whence to be had 985. 990. 1127 1128. Where B. will not be found 1127 1128. B. is promised to several Virtues but not to be obteined but by all 831 832. Blessedness it is that exciteth us to obedience 1123. B. is entailed on the godly not ex rigore justitiae but ex debito promissi 993. 1126. Our B. beginneth here and is compleated in heaven 1123 1124. Blessings What use we ought to make of God's B 590 591. 598. v. Benefits A good child is a blessing 987. Boasting is not the language of true Saints 882. Body God made our Bodies food and rayment for them which his will is that we make use of 896. A tricked-up B. is a probable argument of a naked soul 897. A speech of an Abbot upon the sight of a woman who had curiously attired her B. 928. He that pampereth his B. destroyeth his soul 562. To beat down the B. is indeed to honour it 886 887. It is not for fornication 750. v. Fornication The B. is the worst master the best servant 753. It is to be kept under by fasting 752 c. We must serve God with our B. as well as with the soul 634 635. 745 c. 749. 980 981. v. Reverence Worsh Our service is not complete if it be not of the whole man 746. 981. What it is to glorifie God in our B. 749 c. We glorifie God in our B. by Voice Gesture reverent Deportment 755. c. Christian duties are performed by the ministery of the B. 746. 756. In which respects Angels themselves may seem to come short of us 746. We glorifie God in our B. when we suffer for his sake 553 554. Brother Every man ought to do his endeavour to save his brother's soul 576 c. Busie-bodies how dangerous in Church and State 212-215 v. Meddling Though they hap to do what is good yet it is not good from them 215. They who are most busie in other mens matters are most negligent at home 216. Fortunate Busie-bodies v. Prosperous Villains C CAin 175 176. the first founder of Cities and the first finder-out of Weights and Measures 889. Callings Diversity of gifts infer a difference of C. 214. 657. God hath assigned every man his Calling 213. Christianity imposeth no particular C. on any but directeth and sanctifieth all 521. No man how great soever ought to live without a C. 223. The meanest C. is honourable 213. 216. Every one ought to keep within the bounds of his own C. 211. 216. 640. This is a lesson of Christianity 213. 224. 521. and also a dictate of Nature 214. This is comely 216. advantageous 216. necessary 217. Devotion may mingle it self with the actions of our Callings 221. Industry in our C. is a special fense against the Devil 223. When we walk honestly in our Callings Christ walketh with us and we walk in him 522. 528. v. Trades Calvine taxed 25. v. Maldonate He and Luther too much admired by their followers 526. 682. v. Kneeling Camp v View Care for children some alledge to excuse their Covetousness and Fraud 127. Cases of conscience how to be decided 1077. Catholick v. Church Cato 868. His politie in his family 564. Tullie's censure of him 295. He is blamed for killing himself 705. Ceremonies Religion brought forth Ceremonies but the Daughter oft devoureth the Mother 1057. Ceremonies are arbitrary and may be dispensed with Moral laws not so 1024. Ceremonial religion is not the true service of God 70 c. The most Ceremonious persons commonly the greatest sinners and why 74 c. v. Formality Many are afraid of a Ceremony and rejoyce in a sin 883. Ceres both frugifera and legifera 219. Cerinthus 11. Chance and Fortune unfit words for a Christian's mouth 573. Changes especially of Religion are still with difficulty 968. Charity hard to be found either in Commonwealth or Church 491. How little Charity some content themselves withal 822 823. 862 863. Charity is a coupling virtue 242. Faith and Hope if without Charity are false 242. 275 276. It is a necessary qualification of a Communicant 490 c. It maketh a man avoid giving offense to others 639. 1102. and to be peaceable and obedient in the Church 59 60. 1077. Charity and Prudence are to be our guides in things indifferent 639. 1077. 1102. Works of Charity fill the heart with great joy 1125. 1126. Charity maketh a man resemble God 279. Deeds of Ch. 278. Our Charity to others must be joyned with Purity in our selves 281. Acts of Ch. how to be performed 942 943. Occasions and objects of Ch. ever frequent 943. Arguments to move us to be charitable one to another 938 c. St. John in a whole Sermon
Pulpit-flatterers 506. Flattering Preachers are vvorse then Judas 510 511. The root of Flattery is Covetousness 507 c. How apt vve are to flatter our selves 442. 480. 742. 875. v. Assurance Presumtion Security Flesh v. Body Flesh and Spirit contrary 175. 562. 767. ever contending one vvith another 312. Florimundus Raimundus 556. Folly Whence all the Folly that so aboundeth in the vvorld 689 690. Fools and Mad-men vvhat to be thought of 96. None such Fools as they vvho think themselves vvise 500 501. Forgetfulness of the World reproved 1116. Forgiveness How short our Forgiveness cometh of God's 817. God's F. is free and voluntary and so must ours be 818. Whether we are bound to forgive an injury before acknowledgment made 818. God forgiveth fully and so must vve not onely forgive but forget 819. By this vve become like unto God 820. Though vve must forgive yet is not the office of the Judge or going to Law unlawful 821. God's F. is not the less free because it engageth us to forgive 824. What force our F. hath to obtain F. of God 824 825 830 c. What influence God's F. should have on us 826 c. How it cometh to pass that it doth not alwayes vvork in us the likeness of it self 827 828. That we may forgive our Brother vve must oft call to mind and meditate upon the Mercy of God 828 829. and apply it aright 829. What vve must do to get our sins forgiven 833. Grace to forgive one another is never single but accompanied vvith other graces 833. Form A Form of godliness nothing worth vvithout the power thereof 663. yet it deceiveth many 77. 79. and contenteth them 74 c. 303 304. 487. and vvorketh confidence and security in their hearts 74. 76. 1127 1128. and they conceit that God himself also is much taken vvith such pageantry 82. 108 109. Indeed the Form is accepted vvhen the power is not wanting 79 80. otherwise not 487 488. Why a bare Form vvithout substance is so hateful to God 75-79 It hath the same motive with our greatest sins 76. It is mere mockery 80. 877. It is as pleasing to the Devil as it is odious to God 77. v. Hearing Piety Worship Formality v. Outward Duties It is compared to motions by vvater-works 845. Formalities are easy essential duties difficult 1057. Formal repentance is the grossest hypocrisie 372. Fornication eloquently and excellently declaimed against 750 752. Excuses for it answered 750. It dishonoureth the body and defileth the soul 750. It maketh the members of Christ the members of an harlot 750. It is of all sins the most carnal 750. It effeminateth both mind and body 751. It is the Devil's net to catch two at once 751. How strictly Christ forbiddeth it 751. What presumtions there are of its abounding in this Age 751 752. That the very Heathen thought it foul appeareth from their custome of bathing after it 751. Frailty Of humane Frailty 535 c. Friendship obligeth to duty 105. No Friendship is lasting that is not built upon Virtue 371. A wise Friend will shun the least suspicion of offense 380. 612. Fundamentals of Protestants Religion 285 Fundamental and necessary points are plain and evident in Script 1084 1085. Funeral rites at the death of a Romane Emperour 423. Future events unknown to us 250. 1043. v. Time G. GAin v. Profit How greedily and basely pursued not onely by Heathens but by many Christians also 131 132. The gainfullest use of riches 143. Gal. ii 20. 521. ¶ v. 21. 375. ¶ vi 12. 501. Galene's helps in the pursuit of knowledge 66. Gallant The profane Gallant a despicable wretch 528. Gen. iii. 19. In the sweat of thy brows thou shalt eat thy bread a command as well as a curse 218. ¶ 22. 158. 630 631. ¶ vi 3. 795. ¶ xlii 21 22. 387. ¶ Gen. xlvi 27 28. handsomely applied 321. Gentleman No Gentleman hath a licence to be idle 222. GHOST The HOLY GHOST a distinct Person 53. Several titles of his and operations 54. Why called the Spirit of truth 54. 57. Though sent by the Father and the Son yet is his coming voluntary 56. The end of Christ's coming and of the H. Ghost's 52. 760. The H. Ghost though not so solemnly as of old yet still cometh effectually upon the faithful 52. 760. He is ever consonant to himself 55. He is our chief our sole Instructour 760. 772. Though the Church and the Word and Discipline be our Teachers yet the H. Ghost may be truly called our sole Teacher 778. How he is said to teach us all truth 58. How he teacheth us 773. Means must be used for the obteining the gifts of the H. Ghost 61. 67 68. Into what posture we must put our selves if we will receive him 779. We must be careful not to disquiet and grieve him 773 774. Many pretend to be led by the H. Ghost when their design is to oppose him 62. 64. Which is a sin perhaps more dangerous then flatly to deny him 63. 774. Whence it is that so few follow his guidance 65. He hath worse enemies nowadayes then the Eunomians and Sabellians 774. What horrible wickedness some in this Age entitle him to 774. But because some mistake and abuse the Spirit we must not thence conclude that none are taught by him 775. He not onely taught the Church in the Apostles times but teacheth it still in all ages 776. His operations indeed are not easily perceived 775. but that he hath wrought we may find 776. How we may prove the Spirit 780 781. and discern his instructions from the suggestions of Satan and the dreams of fanaticks 64. 66. 777. 780. Glorifying of God what 744 c. 748. 754. 1009. We must glorifie God in soul and in body 744 c. Whether an actual intention of God's glory perpetually in our mind be necessary 745. More is required of us then to glorifie God verbally 754. God's Glory must be the first mover of our obedience 1008. It is not so resplendent in a Starre nor in the Sun as in the New creature 1009. If we glorifie God here we shall glorifie him to eternity 747. Gnosticks 167. GOD cannot be spoken of with too much reverence 7. 409. He is a most simple Essence 78. incomprehensible 165. Bold and curious searching of him unlawful 164 165. He is to be seen by faith not curiously gazed upon 729. Though he be invisible yet we may see Him by the light that shineth in his Works in our Conscience and in his Word 784 c. ¶ God delighteth in his Wisdome more then in any other of his Attributes 326. 1029. Of his Omnipresence and Omniscience 164. Errours concerning God's Presence 165. Belief of God's Presence the greatest curb of sin 164. 167 c 258. God's Wisdome drew his Justice and Mercy together and reconciled them in Christ's Satisfaction and ours 327. Counsels which some men fasten upon God contrary to his Wisdome and Goodness 326. 407
is a main difference nor can we expect an ocular and visible descent Therefore if we will be taught by the Spirit we must use the means which the same Spirit hath prescribed in those lessons which he first and extraordinarily taught the Apostles and not make use of his name to misinterpret those lessons or bring in new of our own and as new so contrary to them For what is new must needs be contrary because he then taught all truth and what is more then all is nothing what is more then all truth must needs by a lye Nor did he lead them into all truth for themselves alone but for those who should come after them for all generations to the end of the world He made them Apostles and sent them to make us Christians to make that which he taught them a rule of life and to fix it on the Church as on a pillar that all might read it that none should adde to it or take away from it Eph. 2.20 And for this they are called a Foundation and we are said to be built upon them Jesus Christ being the head corner-stone But this we could not be if their testimony were so scant and defective that there were left a kind of necessity upon us to hew and square out what stones we please and lay new ones of our own to cast down theirs withal and to bear up whatsoever our insolent and boundless lusts will lay upon them And now what is become of my Text For if this be admitted we cannot say the Spirit led them For what leading is that which leaveth us so far behind at such a distance from the end thâ—â— in every age the Spirit must come again and take us by the hand and draw us some other way even contrary to that which he first made known And what an all is that to which every man may adde what he please even to the end of the world For every mans claim and title to the Spirit is the same as just and warrantable in any as in one And when they speak contrary things the evidence is the same that is none at all unless this be a good Argument He hath the Spirit because he saith so which is as strong on his side that denyeth it upon the same pretense Amongst the sons of men there are not greater fools then they who have nothing to say for what they say but That they say it and yet think this Nothing enough and that all Israel are bound to hearken to them as if God himself did speak This is an evil a folly a madness which breatheth no where but in Christendome was never heard of in any other body or society but that of Christians Though many Governours of Common-wealths did pretend to a kind of commerce and familiarity with some God or Goddess when they were to make a law yet we do not read of any as far as I remember that did put up the same pretense that they might break a law but when the law was once promulged there was nothing thought of but either obedience or punishment But Christians who have the best Religion have most abused it have played the wantons in that light in which they should have walkt with fear and trembling finding themselves at a loss and meeting with no satisfaction to their pride and ambition to their malice to their lusts from any lesson the Spirit hath yet taught have learnt an art to suborn something of their own to supply that defect and call it a dictate of the Spirit Nor is this evil of yesterday nor doth it befall the weakest onely But the Devil hath made use of it in all ages as of the fittest engine to undermine that truth which the Spirit first taught Tertullian as wise a man as the Church then had being not able to prove the Corporeity of the Soul by Scripture Post Ioannem quoque prophetiam meruimus consequi c. Tertull. de Anim. montanizans flyeth to private Revelation in his Book De anima Non per aestimationem sed revelationem What he could not uphold by reason and judgment he striveth to make good by Revelation For we saith he have our Revelations as well as S. John Our sister Priscilla hath plenty of them and trances in the Church She converseth with Angels and with God himself and can discern the hearts and inward thoughts of men S. Hierome mentioneth others Contra Libertin and in the dayes of our forefathers Calvine many more who applyed the name of the Spirit to every thing that might facilitate and help on their design as Parish-priests it is his resemblance would give the name of six or seven several Saints to one image that their offerings might be the more I need not go so far back for instance Our present age hath shewn us many who though very ignorant yet are wiser then their teachers so spiritual that they despise the word of God which is the dictate of the Spirit This monster hath made a large stride from foreign parts and set his foot in our coasts If they murder the Spirit moved their hand and drew their sword If they throw down Churches it is with the breath of the Spirit If they would bring in Parity the pretence is The Spirit cannot endure that any should be supreme or Pope it but themselves Our Humour our Madness our Malice our Violence our implacable Bitterness our Railing and Reviling must all go for Inspirations of the Spirit Simeon and Levi Absalom and Ahithophel Theudas and Judas the Pharisees and Ananias they that despise the holy Spirit of God these Scarabees bred in the dung of sensuality these Impostors these men of Belial must be taken no longer for a generation of vipers but for the scholars and friends of the holy Ghost Whatsoever they do whithersoever they go he is their leader though it be to hell it self May we not make a stand now and put it to the question Whether there be any holy Ghost or no and if there be Whether his office be to lead us Indeed these appropriations these bold and violent ingrossings of the blessed Spirit have I fear given growth to conceits well near as dangerous That the Spirit doth not spirare breath grace into us That we need not call upon him That the Text which telleth us the holy Ghost leadeth is the holy Ghost that leadeth us That the Letter is the Spirit and the Spirit the Letter an adulterate piece new coyned an old heresie brought in a new dress and tire upon the stage again That he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a strange unheard of Deity and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazianz. Orat 37. Quis vetâ—rum vel recentium adoravit Spiritum quis or avit c. Sic Macedoniani Eunomiani Ibid. an ascriptitious and supernumerary God I might say more dangerous For to confess the Spirit and abuse him to draw him on as an accessory and
I were a Paul and did love Christ as Cato did virtue because I could do no otherwise suppose I did fear sin more then hell and had rather be damned then commit it suppose that every thought word and work were amoris foetus the issues of my Love yet I must not upon a special favour build a general doctrine and because Love is best make Fear unlawful make it sin to fear that punishment the Fear of which might keep me from sin For these were in S. Paul's phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 14.13 to put a stumbling block in our brothers way with my Love to overthrow his Fear that so at last both Fear and Love may fall to the ground For is there any that will fear sin for punishment if it be a sin to fear What is the language of the world now We hear of nothing but filial Fear And it were a good hearing if they would understand themselves for this doth not exclude the other but is upheld by it We are as sure of happiness as we are of death but are more perswaded of the truth of the one then of the other more sure to go to heaven then to die and yet Death is the gate which must let us in We are already partakers of an angelical estate we prolong our life in our own thoughts to a kind of eternity and yet can fear nothing We challenge a kind of familiarity with God and yet are willing to stay yet a while longer from him We sport with his thunder and play with his hayl-stones and coals of fire We entertein him as the Romane Gentleman did the Emperour Augustus Macrobius in Saturnal coena parcâ quasi quotidianâ with course and ordinary fare as Saul 1 Sam. 15. with the vile and refuse not with the fatlings and best of the sheep and oxen Did we dread his Majesty or think he were Jupiter vindex a God of Revenge with a thunder bolt in his hand we should not be thus bold with him but fear that in wrath and indignation he should reply as Augustus did Non putarum me tibi fuisse tam familiarem I did not think I had made my self so familiar with my Creature I know the Schools distinguish between a Servile and Initial and a Filial Fear There is a Fear by which we fear not the fault but the punishment and a Fear which feareth the punishment and fault withall and a Fear which feareth no punishment at all I know Aquinas putteth a difference between Servile Fear and the Servility of Fear as if he would take the Soul from Socrates and yet leave him a Man These are niceties more subtile then solid Senec. epist. in quibus ludit animus magìs quà m proficit which may occasion discourse but not instruct our understanding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As near as we can let us take things as they are in themselves and not as they are beat out and fashioned by the work and business of our wits and then it will be plain that though we be Sons yet we may fear fear that evil which the Father presenteth before us to fright us from it that we may make the Fear of death an argument to turn us and a strong motive to confirm us in the course of our obedience that it is no servility to perform some part of Christs service upon those terms which he himself alloweth and hath prescribed to us Let us call it by what name we please for indeed we have miscalled it and brought it in as slavish and servile and so branded the command of Christ himself yet we shall find it a blessed instrument to safeguard and improve our Piety we shall find that the best way to escape the judgments of God is to draw them near even to our eyes For Hell is a part of our Creed as well as Heaven God's threatnings are as loud as his promises and could we once fear Hell as we should we should not fear it For I ask May we serve God sub intuitu mercidis with respect unto the reward It is agreed upon on all sides that we may for Moses had respect unto the recompense of the reward Hebr. 11.26 Hebr. 2.12 and Christ himself did look upon the joy that was set before him Why then may we not serve God sub intuitu vindictae upon the fear of punishment Will God accept that service which is begun and wrought out by virtue and influence of the reward and will he cast off that servant which had an eye upon his hand and observed him as a Lord Why then hath God propounded both these both Reward and Punishment and bid us work in his Vineyard with an eye on them both if we may not as well fear him when he threatneth as run to meet him when he cometh towards us and his reward with him Let us then have recourse to his Mercy-seat but let us tremble also and fall down before his Tribunal and behold his Glory and Majesty in both But it may be said and some have thought it their duty to say it that this belongeth to the wicked to the Goats to fear but when Christ speaketh to his Disciples to his Flock the language is NOLITE TEMERE Fear not little flock for it is your Fathers will to give you a Kingdome Luke 12.32 It is true it is your Fathers will to give it you and you have no reason to fear or mistrust him But this doth not exclude the Fear of the wrath of God nor the use of those means which the Father himself hath put into our hands not that Fear which may be one help and advance towards that Violence which must take it For our Saviour doth not argue thus Matth. 11.12 It is your Fathers will to give you a Kingdome Therefore persevere not for any fear of punishment But the Fear which Christ forbiddeth is the Fear of distrustfulness when we fear as Peter did upon the waters when he was ready to sink and had therefore a check and rebuke from our Saviour Why fearest thou oh thou of little faith So that Fear not Matth. 14.31 little flock is nothing else but a disswasion from infidelity A Souldier that putteth no confidence in himself yet may in his Captain if he be a Hannibal or a Caesar for an army of Harts may conquer said Iphicrates if a Lion be the leader So though we may something doubt and mistrust because we may see much wanting to the perfection of our actions yet we must raise our diffidence with this perswasion that the promise is most certain and that the power of Heaven and Hell cannot infringe or null it We may mistrust our selves for of our selves we are Nothing 2 Cor. 12.11 Gal. 6.3 2 Cor. 1.20 but not the Promises of CHRIST for they are Yea and Amen But they are ready to reply that the Apostle S. Paul is yet more plain Rom. 8.15 where he
telleth us that we have not received the spirit of bondage to fear again but the spirit of adoption by which we cry Abba Father And it is most true that we have not received that Spirit for we are not under the Law but under Grace we are not Jews Rom. 6.14 but Christians Nor do we fear again as the Jews feared whose eye was upon the Basket and the Sword who were curbed and restrained by the fear of present punishment and whose greatest motives to obedience were drawn from temporal respects and interests who did fear the Plague Captivity the Philistin the Caterpiller and Palmerworm and so did many times forbear that which their lusts and irregular appetites were ready to joyn with We have not received such a spirit For the Gospel directeth our look not to those things which are seen 2 Cor. 4.18 1 Cor. 12.31 but to those things which are not seen and sheweth us yet a more excellent way But we have received the Spirit of adoption we are received into that Family where little care is taken for the meat that perisheth where the World is made an enemy John 6.27 Matth. 6.34 Phil. 2.12 where we must leave the morrow to care for it self and work out oâ—â— salvation with fear and trembling Psal 56.11 where we must not fear what man but what God can do unto us observe his hand as that hand which can raise us up as high as heaven and throw us down to the lowest pit love him as a Father and fear to offend him Psal 2.12 Luke 1.74 love and kiss the Son lest he be angry serve him without fear of any evil that can befall us here in our way of any enemy that can hurt us and yet fear him as our Lord and King For in this his grant of liberty he did not let us loose against himself nor put off his Majesty that we should be so bold with him as not to serve but to disobey him without fear Nor doth this cut off our Filiation our relation to him for a good son may fear the wrath of God and yet cry Abba Father 1 John 4.18 But then again we are told by S. John that there is no fear in love but perfect love casteth out fear All fear he excepteth none no not the fear of punishment L. de fugâ in persecutione I know Tertullian interpreting this Text maketh this fear to be nothing else but that lazy Fear which is begot by a vain and unnecessary contemplation of difficulties the fear of a man that will not set forward in his journey for fear of some Lion some perillous beast some horrible hardship in the way And this is true but not ad textum nor doth it reach S. John's meaning which may be gathered out of Chapt. 3. v. 16. where he maketh it the duty of Christians to lay down their lives for the brethren as Christ laid down his life for them And this we shall be ready to do if our Love be perfect cast off all fear and lay down our lives for them For true Love will suffer all things and is stronger then Death Cant. 8.6 But Love doth not cast out the Fear of Gods wrath for this doth no whit impair our love to him but is rather the means to improve it When we do our duty we have no reason to fear his anger but yet we must alwayes fear him that we may go on and persevere unto the end He will not punish us for our obedience and so we need not fear him but if we break it off he will punish us and this thought may strengthen and establish us in it Hebr. 4.1 Let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entring into his rest any of us should come short of it But we may draw an answer out of the words themselves as they lie in the Text. For it is true indeed Charity casteth out all fear but not simul semel not at once but by degrees As that waxeth our Fear waineth as that gathereth strength our Fear is in feebled Et perfecta forà s mittit When our Love is perfect it casteth Fear out quite If our Sanctification were as total as it is universal were our Obedience like that of Angels and could never fail we should not then need the sight of heaven to allure us or Gods thunder to affright us But Sanctification being onely in part though in every part the best of Christians in this state of imperfection may look up upon the Moriemini make use of a Deaths-head and use Gods Promises and Threatnings as subordinate means to concurre with the principal as buttresses to support the building that it do not swerve whilst the foundation of Love and Faith keep it that it do not sink A strange thing it may seem that when with great zeal we cry down that Perfection of Degrees and admit of none but that of Parts we should be so refined sublimate as not to admit of the least tincture admission of Fear Now in the next place as Fear may consist with Love so it may with Faith and with Hope it self which seemeth to stand in opposition with it First Faith apprehendeth all the attributes of God and eyeth his threatnings as well as his Promises God hath establisht and fenced in his Precepts with them both If he had not proposed them both as objects for our Faith why doth he yet complain why doth he yet threaten And if we will observe it we shall find some impressions of Fear not onely in the Decalogue but in our Creed To judge both the quick and the dead are words which sound with terrour and yet an article of our belief And we must not think it concerneth us to believe it and no more Agenda and credenda are not at such a distance but that we may learn our Practicks in our Creed God's Omnipotence both comforteth and affrighteth me His Mercy keepeth me from despair and his Justice from presumption But Christs coming to judge both the quick and the dead is my solicitude my anxiety my fear Nor must we imagine that because the Faith which giveth assent to these truths may be meerly historical this Article concerneth the justified person no more then a bare relation or history For the Fear of Judgment is so far from destroying Faith in the justified person that it may prove a soveraign means to preserve it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Basil speaketh to order and compose our Faith In Psal 32. which is ready enough to take an unkind heat if Fear did not cool and temper it In Prosperity David is at his NON MOVEBOR I shall never be moved Psal 30.6 Before the storm came Peter was so bold as to dare and challenge all the temptations that could assault him ETSI OMNES NON EGO Matth. 26. Although all men deny thee yet not I yet was he puzled and