observe that his rule many times lyes hid and is wrapt up in the example which he gives so we need scarce any other rules for behaviour when we are tempted then those which we may find in this story of our Saviours combat with our enemy And our Saviour may seem to bespeak his brethren even all Christians as Ablimelech doth his Souldiers Judg. 9. 48. What you have seen me do make haste and do likewise It had been enough for our Saviour to have promulged his law and given us warning and direction and never have entred the lists himself to have said as his servant doth Eph. 6. If the Tempter come take the shield of faith take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit and not have taken up the sword himself For what needed he a sword who needed no defense what needed he a buckler who was invulnerable and who with one word with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 could have made the Devil fly away and leave him But he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great lover of mankind and as a good Master he would not only teach them but make himself a copie not only give them rules but totas dictare materias make a form for them dictate by action as well as by words and in his own tentation shew them a plain way as the Apostle speaks to escape in theirs Habes auctorem quo facias hoc Be the tentation what it will if you look upon Christ you may learn to overcome it Lo saith our Saviour I have given you an ensample And certainly as John 13. 15. the Apostle counsels us to look upon Jesus the author and finisher of our faith Hebr. 12. 2. that is look earnestly upon him with an intentive and inquisitive look so must we also look upon his Tentation and consider it not as his tryal but as our instruction Sic oculos sic ille manus sic ora ferebat These were his postures Thus he did Thus he quencht the Devils fiery darts Thus he answered his falacies Thus he broke the enemies thrust by shewing it was not home and answered Scripture with Scripture and beat the Devil at that weapon which himself had chosen And as the more we look upon the Sun the more we admire it so the more we consider our Captain the stronger and skilfuller we shall be A very look on Christ our Champion if it be serious will make us wise unto salvation and stronger then the strong man that comes to bind us and rob us of our goods For though the lesson be hard to Flesh and Bloud yet when he who is Flesh and Bloud hath as it were con'd it himself and repeated it over unto us it will be easie and plain Secondly as Christ was tempted for an ensample to us so in his tentation there is a kind of law and decree that we must fight For jubetur exemplis in the examples of great and eminent persons there is a command and they bind in manner of a Statute-law We may conclude here à majori ad minus If Christ be tempted we cannot be exempt And as the Apostle tells us The less is blessed by the better so here the less is taught by Hebr. 11. 7. the greater If this be done to the green tree what will be done to the dry If the Devil set upon him who knew no sin certainly he will not be afraid to assault us who are a◠ready to sin as to breathe For this end did Christ come into the world and for this end did we come into this world For this end were we created nay for this end were all things created Fecit omnia Deus ad instruendum certamen rerum duarum God made all things saith Lactantius to set two armies in array the Flesh and the Spirit Sense and Reason Man whom he made after his own image and the Prince of this world And therefore he hath mixt as it were an appearance of Good with that which is evil various and delectable pleasantness in the things of this world that by those fair allurements in shew there may be a possibility of inducement into that evil which is not seen and he hath blended an apparancy of Evil with that which is Good that by those sorrows and labors which are distastful to the eye there may be a possibility in us of refusing that good which is covered with such horrour But the present pleasure he checketh with fear of punishment and the present horror and sharpness he sweatens with hope of reward that we may see more with our mind then with our eye that when our Sense would joyn with Evil because of its coulour our Reason may fly from it because of its smart and when the Flesh declines Goodness because it is irksome the Spirit may embrace it because it hath the promise of a reward that when the Devil speaketh fair we may shut our ears because we know his words are as swords and when God nayls us to the cross we may bless his name because he means to crown us Thus indeed our Saviour did not stand in the middle betwixt these in a possibility of falling from one to the other for then he could not have been a Saviour but yet for to shew that he was Man and to let us know the condition of Man he put on a person as it were and was tempted as if he had For we must not think of Christ as Alexander did of Philip his father who every day added victory to victory that in his tentations and victorious sufferings he did all himself and left us nothing to conquer No as he is the first-fruits of our resurrection to glory so he is the first-fruits of our sufferings and tentations and in that he was tempted did but praeludere take up the weapons and fight that he might put them into our hands walk upon the waters that we might soeculi fluctus praeeunte Domino calcare tread the proud waves of tentations under our feet since he is gone over them before Some men there be indeed that phansie to themselves an easie passage into heaven and a victory over the Enemy sine sudore sanguine without any sweat or shedding a drop of bloud and think they may wanton it on the way and sport themselves into happiness and because they have heard of some few of the thief on the cross and some others who have been changed in their mind as some shall be in their bodies at the general resurrection in a moment in the twinkling of an eye think this favour may reach to all because Christian virtues are called gifts will stay till they are given and when they read that our Saviour hath overcome the World and the Devil think all is done no passion for them to subdue no tentation to wrestle with no Devil that can hurt them A gross error which strikes at the very life and soul of Christianity For
Chrysostom would not consent to give his suffrage for the condemnation of Origen's works Epiphanius subscribes to it and makes St. Chrysostom a Patron of those errors which did no doubt deserve a censure Both forgot that Meekness which they both commended in their Writings Epiphanius curseth Chrysostom and Chrysostom Epiphanius and both took effect for the one lost his Bishoprick and the other his Country to which he never after returned An infirmity this is which we cannot be too wary of since we see the strongest Pillars of the Church thus shaken with it An evil which hath alwaies been forbidden and retained in all Ages of the Church Zeal being made an apology for Fury and the Love of Truth a pretense to colour over that behaviour which hath nothing in it to shew of Truth or Christianity And therefore the Church of Christ which felt the smart of it hath alwaies condemn'd it When Eulalia the Martyr spit in the face of the Tyrant and broke and scatter'd the Idols before Prudentius and others were fain to excuse it that she did it impulsu Divini spiritûs by special revelation from the Spirit Which was indeed but an excuse and a weak one too For that Spirit which once descended in the shape of a Dove and is indeed the Spirit of Meekness cannot be thought to be the Teacher of such a Lesson But when other Christians in the time of Dioclesian attempted the like and were slain in the very enterprise to deter others from such an inconsiderate Zeal it was decreed in the Councel of Eliberis and the 60 Canon Siquis idola fregerit If any hereafter break down the heathen idols he shall have no room in the Diptychs nor be registred with the number of the Martyrs although he be slain in the very fact quatenus in Evangelio non est scriptum because we find nothing in the Gospel that casts a favourable countenance upon such a fact I have brought this instance the rather to curb those forward spirits now adaies which did not Fear more restrain them then Discretion would be as good Martyrs as these and with the same Engine with which they heave at the outwork in time would blow up Church Religion and all who are streight angry with any thing that doth but thwart their private humor or with any man that by long study and experience and evidence of reason hath gained so much knowledge as not to be of their opinion What mean else the Unchristian nick-names of Arminians and Pelagians and Socinians and Puritanes which are the glorious Scutchions the Meekness of these times doth fix in every place and the very pomp and glory of their triumph when factious men cry down that truth which they are not willing to understand Doth this rancor think you proceed from the spirit of Meekness or rather from the foul Spirit of Destraction Little do these men think that the Truth it self suffers by such a Defense that rash Zeal cannot be excused with intentions and the goodness of the end which is proposed that the crown of Martyrdom will sit more gloriously on his head who rather suffers that the Church may have her peace then on his who dies that he may not offer sacrifice to idols For in this every man hath been merciful and good to himself but in the former he merits for the whole and is a sacrifice for the publick peace of the Church whereof he is a part Talk of Martyrdom what we please never was there any Martyr never can there be any Martyr made without Meekness Though I give all my goods to feed the poor though I give my body to be burnt in the justest cause for the truth of the Gospel and have not Meekness which is a branch of Christian Charity it profitteth me nothing For my impatience will rob me of that crown to which my sufferings might otherwise have entitled me The Canonists speak truly Non praesumitur bono exitu perfici quae malo sunt inchoata principio The event of that action can never be good whose very beginning was unwarrantable Philosophers have told us that when the Sea rageth if you throw in oyl upon it you shall presently calm it The truth of this I will not now discuss but give me leave to commend this precious oyl of Meekness to powre upon your souls when Zeal or Ignorance shall raise a tempest in your thoughts Have men of wisdom tender'd to you something which falls cross with your opinion If you obey not yet be not angry If your obedience appear not in your practise yet let it be most visible in your Meekness Remember that private men who converse in a narrow Sphere must needs be ignorant of many things which fall not within their horizon and the compass of their experience that they may have knowledge enough perhaps to do their own duty which will come short in the performance of anothers especially of a Superiors If an erroneous Conscience bind thee from the outward performance of what is enjoyned yet let Truth and Scripture and Meekness seal up thy lips from reviling those qui in hoc somnum in hoc vigilias reponunt who do watch for thy good and spend their dayes and nights too that thou mayest live in all good conscience before God all the dayes of thy life To conclude this point Dost thou know or suppose thy brother to be in an error Take not mine but St. Paul's counsel and restore such a one in the spirit of Meekness considering that thou also maist be deceived And peradventure this may be one error that thou art perswaded that thy brother errs when Truth and Reason both speak for him Pride and Self-conceit are of a poysonous quality and if not purged out exhalat opaca mephitia it sends forth pestiferous vapors which will choak and stifle all goodness in us But Meekness qualifies and prepares the mind and makes it wax for all impressions of spiritual graces it doth no evil it thinketh no evil it cannot be provokt with errors in opinion nor with those grosser mistakes and deviations in mens lives and conversation We have brought Meekness to its tryal indeed For sure where Sin once shews its deformity all meekness in a Christian whose Religion bindeth him to hate sin must needs be lost It is true all created natures we must love because they have their first foundation in the love and goodness of God and he that made them saw that they were good But Sin is no created entity but without the compass of Nature and against her against that order and harmony which Reason dispenseth This only hurts us this is that smoke which comes from the very pit of Hell and blasts the soul even then when the body is untoucht This is the fornace in which men are transformed into Devils We cannot then hate Sin enough Yet here our Christian skill must shew it self and we must be careful that our Anger which frowns upon Sin
the Wilderness or an Owl in the Desert like the Leper under the Law whom no man must come near Have no company with him that is by thy company and familiarity give him no encouragement in his sin For good words and courteous behaviour may be taken for applause a smile is a hug and too much friendship is a kind of absolution And yet for all this have company with him for it tells us Count him not as an enemy but admonish him as a brother Deal gently and meekly with him but this we cannot do if we wholly separate our selves from him and avoid his company The rule of Charity directs us to think every man an heir with Christ or if he be not at least that he may be so And this is a kind of priviledge that Charity hath in respect of Faith Faith sees but a little flock but few that shall be saved makes up a Church as Gedeon did his Army who took not all that were prest out for the war but out of many thousands selected a band of three hundred and no more but Charity taketh in all and sees not any of that company which she will dismiss but thinks all though now their hands be weak and their hearts faint in time may be sweetly encouraged to fight and conquer You will say this is an error of our Charity But it is a very necessary error for it is my charity thus to erre and it is not a lye but vertue in me in my weak brothers case to nourish a hope of that strength which peradventure he shall never recover The holy mistakes of Charity shall never be imputed as 〈…〉 s no nor be numbred amongst those of Ignorance For he that errs not thus he that hopes not the best of all he sees though weltring in their bloud wants something to compleat and perfect him and make him truly worthy of the name of a good Christian And this error in Charity is not without good reason For we see not how nor when the Grace of God may work how sinful soever a man be Peradventure saith St. Hierom God may call unto him lying and stinking in his sins as in a Grave Lazarus come forth Charity therefore because she may erre nay because she must erre looks upon every man with an eye of Meekness If he erre she is Light if he sin she is a Physician and is ready to restore him with the spirit of Meekness And thus much for the Object of Meekness We proceed now to that which was in order next and as we have drawn forth Meekness in a compleat piece in her full extent and latitude so will we now in the last place propose her to you as a Virtue 1. most proper 2. most necessary to a Christian By which degrees and approaches we shall press forward towards the mark even the reward of Meekness the inheritance of the earth Of these in their order Meekness we told you is that virtue by which we may better know a Christian than by his name And this the very enemies of Christianity have acknowledged Vide ut se invicem diligunt Christiani was a common speech among the Heathen See how the Christians love one another when they broke the laws of Meekness and did persecute them Male velle malè facere malè dicere malè cogitare de quoque ex aequo vetamur To wish evil to do evil to speak evil to think evil are alike forbidden to a Christian whose profession restraineth his will bindeth his hand tacketh up his tongue to the roof of his mouth and curbeth and fettereth his very thoughts For as we are not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without a Head so if we will be members we must be suppled with that oyl of Meekness which distilleth down from our Head Christ Jesus He came not saith Tertullian into the world with Drum and Colours but with a Rattle rather not with a noise but like the rain into a fleece of wooll not destroying his enemies but making them his friends not as a Captain but as an Angel and Ambassador of peace not denouncing war but proclaiming a Jubilee and with no sword but that of the Spirit Look upon all the acts of our Saviour whilst he conversed on earth amongst men and we shall find they were purely the issues of Tenderness and Meekness He went about doing good As he cured mens bodies of diseases so he purg'd their souls of sin When he met with men possessed though with a Legion of Devils he did not revile but dispossess them he rebuked the Devil but not the man His mouth was so filled with the words of meekness Thy sins are forgiven thee that he seldom spake but the issue was comfort He pronounced indeed a woe to the Pharisees and so he doth to all sinners For Woe will follow the Hypocrite whethersoever he goeth though it be not denounced a Wce to drive them from sin to repentance not a curse but a precept to fright them from that woe which he denounced It is but pulling off the visour casting away their hypocrisie and the Woe will vanish and end in a blessing He called Herode a Fox for as God he knew what was in him and to him every wicked person is worse then a beast No Fox to Herode no Goat to the Wanton no Tiger to the Murderer no Wolf to the Oppressour Obstinate sinners carry their Woe and curse along with them nor can they fling it off but with their sin And Christ's profession was to call sinners to repentance When the Reed was bruised he broke it not and when the flax did smoke he quench'd it not As he hath a Rod for the impenitent and it is the last thing he useth so he cometh in the spirit of Meekness and openeth his arms to receive and imbrace them that will meekly yield and bow before him and repent and be meek a 〈…〉 is meek Now our Saviviour is disciplina morum the way and the truth And that gracious way which it hath pleased him to tread himself before us the very same he hath left behind to be gone by us and hath ordered a course of religious and Christian worship which consisteth in Meekness and sweetness of Disposition An incongruous thing therefore it is that he having presented to us the Meekness of a Lamb we should return the rage of a Lyon that he should speak in a still voice and we should thunder And this is most proper to Christianity and the Church For first what is the Church of Christ but a Congregation of meek ones We cannot bring Bears and Lyons and Tigers within that pale Quomodo colligemus as Tertullian speaketh How shall we gather them together jungantur tigribus ursi We cannot bring them together into one body and collection or if we do but as Sampson did his Foxes to look several waies We are told indeed that the Wolf shall dwell with the Lamb and the Leopard lie down with
of Sheba to draw near unto it and prove it in your selves And when you shall have practiced it in your selves you will say it was true indeed that you heard but you will feel more then you have heard or could hear by report We will therefore yet awhile longer detain you You have beheld the face of Meekness in her proper Subject which is every private man and in her proper Object which is as large as the whole world and takes in not only the Israel of God but the Amorite the Hittite the Amalekite not only the Christian but the Turk the Jew and the Pagan any man that is subject to the same passions any man that can suffer any man that can do an injury For Meekness runs round the whole circle and compass of mankind and binds every evil spirit conjures down every Devil she meets with Lastly we presented unto your view the Fitness and the Applicableness of this virtue to the Gospel and Church of Christ and told you that it is as it were the very breath of the Gospel the echo of that good news the best gloss and comment on a silent weeping crucified Saviour the best explanation of his last Prayer Father forgive them For the notes and characters of a Christian as they are described in the Gospel are Patience are easie putting up and digesting of injuries Humility a preferring of all before our selves And St. James tells us that the wisdom which is from above is first pure then peaceable gentle easie to be intreated where he giveth the first place unto Purity It would be a sin almost to compare Christian virtues together and make them strive for precedency and place yet he that shall mark how every where the Scripture strives to commend unto us Gentleness and Meekness and that Peace is it quam nobis Apostoli totis viribus Spiritûs Sancti commendant as Tertullian speaks which the Apostles endeavour with all the strength and force of the Holy Ghost to plant amongst us might be bold a little to invert the words of St. James and read them thus The wisdom which is from above is first peaceable gentle easie to be intreated then pure For the Son of God who is the Wisdom of the Father and who for us men came down from above first and above all other virtues commended this unto the world At his birth the Song of the Angels was Peace on earth and Good-will towards men All his Doctrine was Peace his whole life was Peace and no man heard his voice in the streets And as Christ so Christians For as in the building of Solomons Temple there was no noise of any hammer or other instrument of iron so in the spiritual building and frame of a Christian there is no sound of any iron no noise of weapons nothing but Peace and Gentleness and Meekness Ex praecepto fidei non minùs rea est Ira sine ratione suscepta quà m in operibus legis Homicidium saith Augustine Unadvised Anger by the law of Faith and the Gospel is as great a sin as Murder was in the Law of Moses Thus you have seen how proper Meekness is to the Gospel and Church of Christ Now in the last place we shall draw this Virtue forth to you as most necessary to the well-being not only of a Church but of every particular member of it necessary to lift us up to the Reward the inheritance of the earth Which whither you take for that Earth which is but earth or that Earth which by interpretation is Heaven ad omnia occurrit mansuetudo Meekness reacheth both both the Footstool and the Throne of God it gives us title to the things below and it makes us heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven Without this we can have no mansion in Heaven nor any quiet and peaceable possession of the earth And thus with our last hand we shall set you up that copy which you may draw out in your selves For Meekness in character in leaves of paper in our books is rather a shadow than a picture and soon vanisheth away but being drawn out in the soul and practice of a Christian it is a fair and lasting piece even the image of Christ himself which the Angels and God himself desire to look upon And with these we shall exercise your Christian Devotion at this time And first Meekness may seem most necessary to Christians if we consider the nature of Christianity it self which stands in opposition to all other Professions in the world confutes the Philosopher silenceth the Scribe strikes Oracles dumb cryes to every man in the world to go out of it Behold saith our Saviour to his Disciples I send you forth as sheep in the Matth. 10 16. midst of wolves which will tear you to pieces for no other reason but because you are sheep It is a disease very incident to men to be jealous of every breath which blows in opposition to that which they have already received to swell against that which is contrary to them and though it be true to suspect it to wonder what it should mean to be troubled and affraid of it as Herode and all Jerusalem were when the new Star appear'd and though it be as visible to any wise man as the Star was in the East yet to seek to put it out or if they cannot to destroy those over whom it stands And therefore Tertullian tells us Cum odio sui coepit that Christianity was hated as soon as known and did no sooner shew it self in the world but it found enemies who were ready to suppress and cast it out men that could hate it for no other reason but because it taught to love that could be angry with the Christian because he was meek and destroy him because he made it his profession to forgive men who counted Revenge no sin as the ancient Grecians did sometimes Theevery because it was so commonly practis'd amongst them Again as it was planted in rerum colluvie in the corruption of men and manners so it doth in a manner bid defiance to the whole world It tells the Jew his Ceremonies are beggerly the wise man of this world that his Philosophy is but deceit and his wisdom madness It plucks the Wanton from the harlots lips tumbles down the Ambitious from his pinacle disarms the Revenger strips the Rich. It writes over the Rich mans Gates Blessed are the poor over the Doctor 's Chair Where is the disputer of this world over the Temple NON LAPIS SUPER LAPIDEM That not a stone shall be left upon a stone which shall not be thrown down For a NON OCCIDES it brought down a NE IRASCARIS and made Anger Murder for a NON MAECHABERIS a NON CONCUPISCES and made Desire adultery It brought down sin to a look to a thought and therefore no marvell if there arose against Christians tot hostes quot extranei as many enemies as there were Heathen or Jews
be thrown against them so communicate as it were with God and are assimilated to him may also by the grace and favour of God participate with him of the same lasting and unchangeable glory And now we should descend to shew the title the Meek have to the Earth as it is in the letter and signifies temporal happiness and the quiet possession of the things of this world but the time is well-near spent now therefore we will add but a word or two by way of Application of what hath been already spoken and so conclude And did I say that Meekness was a necessary virtue to the Church of Christ and that without it we cannot receive the Gospel nor be our selves received into the Kingdom of Heaven Certainly I mistook at least the greatest part of Christendom will rise up against me and arraign me as guilty of a dangerous heresie For in their practice they confute it every day It was indeed a necessary virtue for the infant baby Church when she could not move her arms nor her tongue but in prayers and blessings when Christians were ready to suffer but knew not what it was to strike when they were expeditum morti genus readier to breath forth their souls in the fire then to kindle one readier to receive the sword into their bowels then to draw it But now the Church is aged and forgetful and men have learnt to dispute and distinguish themselves out of their duty have found out a new light by the guidance of which they may walk on securely and follow their brutish passions and covetous desires to the mark they have set up and by this light wade on and wash their feet in the bloud of their brethren It was a virtue it is now the mark of a lukewarm Reprobate It was the beauty and glory of the Church but later times have looked upon it as a fowl dishonour It was the only buckler the former Christian had but those of after-times have thrown it away and for it took up the sword which they brandish with terror as that weapon which Christ himself hath put into their hands It was the proper virtue of Christians and most necessary for them it is now an Anathema Now not to curse deserves a curse The Church was a flock a little flock of sheep it is now become as terrible as an army with banners and Christ is already brought into the world in that posture in which the Jews expect their Messias with Drum and Colours Shall I tell you what is counted necessary now It is necessary to contend for the Faith to stand up against Error to be zealous for the glory of God And what man of Belial dare be so bold as to stand up and say this is not necessary God forbid that Faith should fail that Error should take the chair that the Glory of God should be trod under foot It is true but then though this be necessary it is necessary to do it in that way and order which Christ himself hath prescribed and not in that which our Malice and Covetousness and Ambition draws out in bloud And the Sword of the Lord the Word of God managed with the Spirit of Meekness is more apt and fit to enter the soul and the spirit then the Sword of Gideon Religionis non est cogere religionem saith Tertullian Religion cannot be forced which if it be not voluntary is not at all For there cannot be a grosser soloecism in Divinity then to say a man is good against his will And sad experience hath taught us that they who thus contend for the Faith with noyse and fury do name Christ indeed but mean themselves We may instance in the Church of Rome They who defend the Truth non syllogismis sed fustibus as St. Hierome speaks not with Reason and Scripture but with clubs and swords do but glance upon the Truth but press forward to some other mark And THE GLORY OF GOD is but written in their foreheads that whilst men look stedfastly upon that they may with more ease and less discerned lay hold on the prey and so be Villains with applause Yee suffer fools gladly 2 Cor. 11. 19 20. saith St. Paul such as boast and count themselves the Sages of the Age because you your selves are wise in your own conceit though as very fools as they Yee suffer if a man bring you into bondage what do not the Romish Proselites endure if a man devour you if a man take of you if a man exalt himself if a man smite you on the face For how willing have men been to be deceived and to canonize them for Saints who wrought the cheat to think them the best Pastors who devour them and them the humblest men who exalt themselves and them the most gentle friends who smite them on the face Such a Deity such an Idole such a Nothing is Religion and Christianity made in this world cried up with noyse and beat down with violence pretended in every thing and denied in every thing magnified in those actions which destroy her forced to draw that sword which she commanded her disciples to put up made a sanguinary and shedder of bloud of which could she prevail and have that power which God hath given her there would not one drop fall to the ground But the World is the World still and would make the Church like unto it And though it be Ambition or Covetousness or Malice yet we call it Religion and when that word is once spoken then down goes all Morality all Humanity all Meekness and Religion it self Is it not for her cruelty that we make the Church of Rome the seat of Antichrist and call her the BEAST And let it be the mark and character of the Beast still Let not that which a Turk or Jew would run from with disdain be fastned as an ornament of glory on the Christian who is better drawn and expressed in chains and fetters then with his feet on the neck of his enemies For where should a Christian be seen but under the Cross When he flings it upon others he may call himself by what name he please but he is not a Christian Do we not make this our plea against the Church of Rome That sentence of death was never past upon any of them for Religion and therefore let not our words anathematize and our actions justifie them Let us not do that which in a Papist we call an abomination Let us not name the Lord Jesus and then fall down and worship the Prince of this world when he lures us to him with the glory of it and those things which he will give us A strumpet is not a whit the less a strumpet because she calls her neighbour so and the name of Antichrist will belong to us as well as to that Church if we partake with her in those sins for which we call her so And it will little avail us to call
Grace doth not puff up but humble a man It shews him unto himself The more a man tasts of these spiritual vanities the greater is his hunger and he will leap for joy to eat them at any table Therefore it was a good rule of St. Hirome Omnium simus minimi ut omnium fiamus maximi Let us in our own opinion be the least of all and then we shall strive forward and forward and by a willingness to follow others example grow up to be the greatest of all This Self-conceit works in us a Prejudicate opinion and makes us undervalue and detract from the worth of our brother Which is the second hinderance We may see it in the Scribes and Pharisees They were forsooth Moses disciples and were swelled up with the thought of that chair As for Jesus he was not known unto them from whence he was And how crafty were they being cheated themselves to deceive others They buzze into the peoples ears that he was but the Carpenters Son that none of the rulers believed on him And so daily in themselves they encreased a willing and obstinate ignorance and at last not knowing him they crucified the Lord of life Therefore the Apostle speaking of the diversity of gifts and offices of the members of Christ gives this counsel In Rom. 12. 10. giving honor go one before another Our honor our preferment our precedencie is to honor our brother If we honor him for those good gifts which God hath bestowed upon him we shall strive to benefit our selves by them lumen de lumine accendere to light our candle at his to borrow of his lustre to sit at that heavenly fire which warms his breast When Naaman was to be healed of his Leprosie Elisha bad him wash himself seven times in the River of Jordan but at this the Syrian was wroth and his 2 Kings 5. thoughts were at home Abanah and Pharpar Rivers of Damascus were better with him then all the waters of Israel And if he after had not been better advised he had still remained and died a Leper Beloved if thy brother hath tasted of Gods graces If the river of God hath made his heart glad and God hath appointed that thou shouldst wash at this river that thou shouldst amend by his fruitful example and thou then esteeming him to be dry and barren thinkst of a fountain at home of thine own ability take heed that thou still retain not thy leprosie of sin take heed thou perish not in thy sin and that it may not truly be said of thee He that is a scholar to himself hath a fool to his master To this end let Charity possess thy heart that excellent gift of Charity quae se consiliis suis non credit which trusts not her self to her own counsels as Ambrose speaks which envieth not which thinketh not evil Whose contemplation blesseth it self with the 1 Cor. 13. Patience of Job the Sincerity of David the Courage of Nehemiah the Industry of Paul Which writes in our memories these good examples and teacheth us to turn them over every day Which will not suffer us to undervalue our brother but makes us nourish the least spark of goodness in him and if we can blow it and enliven it into a flame both in his breast and ours The third and last hinderance of Christian Imitation is spiritual Drowsiness The Schoolmen call it Acedia the Devils dormitory and sleepy potion by which each faculty of the soul is laid in a deep sleep so that though God call never so loud by his cryers the Preachers of his word by the open and visible examples of good men yet we hear not we stir not we walk not or if we do it is but like those that walk in their sleep our phansie is troubled and we know not whether we do or no. If we stir and move it is but like the Sluggard in the Proverbs to fold the hands to lye down and sleep again in sin like Eulychus in the Acts whilst Paul is a preaching whilst the example of good men is vocal we are fast asleep in danger to fall down and break our necks By this we suffer our souls to gather rust which should shine and glister with the continual exercise of good works which should be rub'd and furbished as it were with the frequent meditation of the good life of others By this we are utterly deprived of that great help in our warfare the Imitation of others Rowse then up your selves Beloved and remove this hindrance awake from this sleep and stand up Let the quire of Angels and the joyes of Heaven wake you Let the howling and gnashing of teeth the noise of the damned stir you As ye have heretofore drunk nothing but the top of the cup the sweet of sin so now take and drink the dregs of it that it may be bitter to your soul and that your spirit may be wounded and then yee will not be able to bear it then yee will stir and move and be active then yee will make use of the examples of good men and do any thing to be rid of this cup. Thus we have opened the door and removed the barr and are now as it were in the plain field in our walk In the second place we must take heed how we walk and observe the Rules of Imitation And first we must not take our patern upon trust no not St. Paul himself He brings it in indeed as a Duty Be yee followers of me but he adds 1 Cor. 11. 1. this direction as I am of Christ For in imitation besides the persons there is also to be considered saith Quintilian quid sit ad quod efficiendum nos comparemus what it is we must imitate in the persons We must no further follow them than they follow the rules of Art And he tells us of many in his age who thought themselves perfect Ciceronians if they could shut up a period with esse videatur Some there were quibus vitium pro exemplo erat saith Seneca who imitated nothing but that which was bad in the best It is so in our Christian profession We must view and try and understand what we are to imitate We must not make use of all eyes but of those only which look upon the Lord. We must not walk as it were upon other mens feet unless we know what paths they tread We must not follow all guides for some may be blind and lead us into the ditch To this end God hath bounded and limited us in our walks and drawn out as it were certain lines In the Scripture he tells thee Thus far shalt thou go Thus far shalt thou follow and no further If any do transilire line as as Tertullian speaks leap over the lines pass the limits thou must leave him there and keep within thy bounds All other waies are dangerous all others paths slippery all other imitation damnable This the Church of
of peace who is docile and not averse from it who is willing to hear of it For as Pothinus the Bishop of Lions being ask'd by the President of the place Who was the God of the Christians made no other reply but this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 You shall know if you be worthy so may we say of this Peace They who are worthy who are fitted and prepared shall receive it And if you ask on whom it will rest I answer It will rest on them that love it Where is the place of my rest saith God The Isa 66. 1. Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool All these things hath my hand made But to this man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word He that created all things and made the Heaven and the earth will not chuse out of these his seat but leaves them all and will rest no where but in a contrite and broken heart which divides and opens it self and makes a way to receive him And certainly as we see in Nature we cannot put any thing into that which is full already no more will peace enter that heart which is filled with Satan with malice and with the very gall of bitterness The Gospel will find no place in that Soul which is already filled and praepossessed with prejudice against the Gospel Into a malicious Soul Wisdom shall not enter saith Wisd 1. 4. the Wiseman Or if it do enter it shall not dwell there not dwell there as a Lord to command the Will and Affections no not as a friend to find a welcome for a time but be thrust out as a stranger as an enemy What is the place for peace to rest in Not in a Nabals heart which is as stone Not in the Wantons heart which is as a troubled Sea not on the Fool who hath no heart whose conscience is defiled and judgment corrupted by many evil and vitious habits ubi turpia non solum delectant sed placent who doth not only delight in that which is opposite to this Peace but approves it as that without which he cannot be at Peace No the spirit of Peace and the unclean spirit may seem in this to agree They will not enter the House before it be swept and garnished Ill weeds must be rooted out before you can sow good corn Every valley must be filled and every mountain and hill must be brought low all that inequality and repugnancy of our life must be taken away and all made smooth and even For as the Prince of peace so Peace hath a way to be prepared before it will enter What is the reason that all the seed which the Sower sowed brought not forth fruit Because some fell in stony places where there was not much Mat. 13. earth where the Soul did not sympathize and bear a friendly correspondence with the Word as good ground doth with the seed and some fell by the way-side which was never plowed nor manured and the fouls of the air those sly imaginations which formerly prepossessed the Soul devoured it up Nothing can be well done when the mind is already taken up with something else What room for the Gospel in the Jew who maketh his boast of the Law What room for Religion where it is accounted the greatest piety to be prophane What room for Righteousness when we rejoyce in impiety When the Prince of this world hath blinded our eyes with covetousness ambition and lust what room is there for Peace Non magìs quà m frugibus terrâ sentibus rubis occupatâ as the Orator speaks and they are the very words of our Saviour No more than there is for good corn in the ground which is full of bryars and thornes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whither dost thou cast thy seed thy good precepts saith the Philosopher to one that read a lecture of Philosophy to a scornful person Thou flingest it into a foul and stinking vessel which corrupts every thing it receives and takes no savour from it but makes it relish of it self Lord what a rock is a prepossessed mind What an adamant is a Stubborn and perverse heart How harsh and unpleasant is this Salutation of Peace to those who are hardned against it How Stoical and rigid and peremptory are they against their own Salvation Obstrepunt intercedunt nè audiant They are so far from receiving the Salutation that they are troubled and unquiet at the very name of Peace and desire they may not hear that word any more The complaint in Scripture is They will not understand and The waies of Peace they will not know Experience will teach us that it is too common in the world to stand stiff upon opinion against all evidence whatsoever though it be as clear as the Day And it is the reason which Arnobius gives of the Heathens obstinacy to whom this Salutation of Peace was but as a fable Quid facere possumus considerare nolentibus secumque loqui What can we do or say or how can we convince them who will not be induced once to deliberate and consider nor can descend to speak and confer with themselves and their own reason A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump and so doth a prejudicate opinion the whole mind of man All our actions and resolutions have a kind of taste and relish of it Whatsoever comes in to strengthen an anticipated conceit whatsoever walks within the compass of our desires or lustful affections we readily embrace and believe it to be true because we wish it so But if it thwart our inclination if it run counter to our intendments though it be Reason though it be Peace though it be a manifest truth though it be written with the Sun-beams we will not once look upon it It is an easy matter saith Augustine to answer a fool but it is not so easy to satisfie him It is easy to confute but not to reform him For his Folly barreth him from seeking the meanes of understanding and when light is offered it shuts up his eyes that he cannot receive it We have many domestick examples of this obstinacy and I wish they were not so near us of men who may be overcome but cannot be perswaded who will not yield to any strength of reason nec cùm sciant id quod faciunt non licere no not though they cannot be ignorant that the course of their life runs with more violence and noyse than is answerable to the Peace of the Gospel who know what they are and yet will be what they are And these we meet with quocunque sub axe in every place in every corner of the earth These multiply and increase every day For it cannot be but the greatest part of men will be the weakest We have troops and armies of these and the regiment consists of boys and girls and women led away captive by their ignorance and
lusts And if there be aged men amongst them you may soon discover that their greatest wisdom is their grey hairs And will Peace rest upon these It will rest as soon in a whirlwind or in St. Judes cloud without Water or in St James wave of the Sea tossed up and down with every wind But I forbear for I list not to be too particular We read in our Books of one Timotheus an excellent Musician that he was wont to require a greater pay from those who had been taught by others before than from those who came unto him rude and untaught And his reason was Dedocendi officium gravius prius quà m docendi That it was a greater task to unteach them what they had already ill learnt and a necessity to be done before he could teach them his skill Beloved it is so with those who are to instruct others in the way of Peace Geminatur onus Whatsoever their reward is their burden is doubled It is not only enough to say Peace be unto this House but they must cleanse and purge the house that Peace may enter It is not enough only to salute but they must make way for the Salutation The Jew must be untaught his beggerly elements and rudiments of the world before he can be taught and instructed for the kingdom of Heaven His Ceremonies and the Law must be rased out before he can be the Apostle of Cbrist before the Gospel of Peace can be written in his heart The Gentile must be untaught those lessons which even Nature is ashamed of before he can receive the doctrine of Grace The Carnal man must learn to crucifie the flesh before he can become spiritual False principles must be destroyed before you can build up true ones in their place Whilst we please our selves in the errors of our life whilst we rejoyce in our selves and as the Apostle speaks measure our selves by our selves we are not fit for this Evangelical Salutation Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ No These strong holds must be pulled down these imaginations cast to the ground and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God every thought must be brought into captivity 2 Cor. 10. 5. unto the obedience of Christ Scio quibus viribus opus sit saith St. Augustine I know what power it must be that must perswade proud men that Humility is a virtue And I know what power it must be that must perswade a carnal man that there is no peace but where the spirit fights and overcomes the Flesh But non aliter haec sacra constant This Salutation will not pass where this preparation is not made This Peace will not enter into that Soul where there are tumults and thunders noyse and destruction Never did any plant grow up and flourish in the field of the Church which was not ramus propendens as Nazianzene speaketh of his Father a branch or bough hanging over and looking that way Nor doth Gods saving Grace bring Peace till his exciting and preparing Grace hath made a way for it When we are Sons of Peace when we have some title to the inheritance of Peace when our hearts are hammer'd and softned and subjugated when we are willing hearers then this Salutation is brought home to our doors and Peace will enter and rest upon us If the son of peace be there your peace shall rest upon him if not it shall return to you again And so I pass to my last Position That though it do not rest yet it shall not be lost but shall return to those that publish it The word is spoken the Salutation past Peace be to this house On the sons of peace it will rest but on others it will not And this is enough to take the word out of the Disciples mouths and stop the message for there is in every one of us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a kind of flitting humour which will not hold out long but faints and falls to the ground at the sight of some gross event which may fall out What plow the winds and sow the rocks bring Peace to them who will not receive it bring it thither where it will not rest Who would willingly be employed in such a Message For all this the word must be spoken and the Salutation given And that no groundless fear may seal up the Disciples lips they are told that even there where the Salutation will not rest it is not lost but will return again as David Psal 35. 13. spake of his prayer for his malicious enemies Though peradventure it do not prevail yet it will return into their bosom And this is it which stays and upholds us in the performance of all the duties of our life the Assurance that nothing that we do is lost Commonly upon a pretense of doing little Good we affect a kind of intempestive prudence and unseasonable discretion in performing that little good we do which shews it self in us like the Sun in winter long ere it arise and quickly gone We are unwilling to bear the Salutation and at the first rub and opposition we are weary of it If all be not Sons of Peace we will no longer be preachers of Peace But this Return of the Salutation adds spirit and courage to us and makes us venture into every house even into his who is an enemy to Peace First then for our comfort lost this Salutation cannot be For every good deed pays it self in the very doing And therefore saith the Orator Interest omnium rectè facere It concerns every man to do his duty and when he can reap no other fruit to content himself with the very doing of it Do not say the Word is cast away because it met not with a son of Peace It cannot be spoken and cast away For when it is spoken all is done Fac quod debes eveniat quod vult it is an Arabick Proverb Do that which thou shouldest and let the Event be what it will In the second place to do our duty is all that is required at our hands We are but to plant and water the increase is from another hand We can but say Peace be to this House It is not in our power to make it rest there Laus imperatori victo A skilful and wise Captain may deserve high honour and commendations though he fall before his enemy and an Orator may be famous for his eloquence though his Client be condemned The Philosopher in his Topicks will tell us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is not exacted from an Orator that he perswade but that he frame those arguments and motives which are perswasive nor of a Physitian to heal those who are ill affected but to prescribe those medicines which are soveraign If the earth be brass we cannot say the dew of Heaven hath no virtue nor if we put out our eyes can we say the Sun doth
is sick yet every man is well Every man is empty yet every man is full We tread the paths that lead to destruction and yet we are in the way to happiness Where is the shaking and the trembling spirit where is the broken heart where are those prickings at the heart or who puts up the question What shall I do to be Acts. 2. 37. saved Every man is satisfied and if it were true we might conclude every man is good For whatsoever the promises be most men are bold to make this the conclusion and though they have raised a tempest conclude in peace And it is a great deal more common to infer what pleaseth us and what may serve for satisfaction though it be upon a gross mistake and oftener then upon a truth And thus we assure our selves of happiness upon no better evidence then that which flesh and bloud and the love of our selves are ready to bring in and satisfie our selves with false hope of life when we are full of malice envy and uncleanness of which we are told that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdome of heaven Gal. 5 21. And what satisfaction is this a Satisfaction without a warrant a Satisfaction which we our selves only have subscribed to with hands full of bloud a Satisfaction which is but a cheat but a delusion presenting us nothing but a reward when we are condemned already filling us with hopes of bliss when we are in the mouth of destruction That which is Satisfaction indeed hath no other basis to stand on then Piety and conformity of our works words and thoughts to the will of God And then it is as mount Sion which cannot be removed it stands firm for it is built upon God himself If thou raise it upon Phansie thou buildest in the ayr If thou lay it upon Gods eternal Decree in thy election that will slide from thee and let the fall into hell for that concerns thee not unless thou be good but another decree contrary to that which thy neglect of piety hath drawn thee under belongs unto thee because thou wouldst not know what belongs to thy peace and what might bring Satisfaction Wilt thou lay it on the infinite Mercy of God that will cover a multitude of sins but not those sins which are thy only satisfaction that will distill as dew but not on the hairy scalp of him that goeth on in his sins And though she triumph over Justice yet here she yields and calls it in to double vengeance upon thee because thou wert an enemy to Mercy which first shewed thee the way to be satisfied and now turns from thee and will not hear when thou callest to her to satisfie thee being out of the way If thou wilt have Mercy crown thee thou must be merciful to thy self If thou wilt make thy election sure thou must do it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is supplyed in some copies by piety that is by faith and good works For Goodness is that and that alone which satisfies us which fills us with joy and peace in the holy Ghost and for which God will satisfie us with his likeness and fill us with glory in the life to come And so we pass to that which we proposed in the second place and it was this 2. It is the prerogative of Goodness and Piety to be alone in this work Nothing can satisfie us but Piety and our transforming our selves by the Rom. 12. 2. renewing of our mind and shaping our thoughts words and actions to the will of God For first Satisfaction is but a name on earth as St. Paul speaks of Idols we know it is nothing in the world The earth and all that therein is cannot yield it the round world and they that dwell therein could never find it And as God spake to Moses Thou heardst a voice but sawest no shape so Satisfaction which flows from God alone in this resembles him The voice of it hath sounded in our ears but as for the shape and substance of the thing it self we have seen none But as the world having heard of God but not knowing him aright sought him in stocks and stones in birds and creeping things so men having heard of Satisfaction which can be found no where but in God by a kind of Idolatry against God have sought it in the creature in Beauty which fades whilst we look upon it in Riches which have wings and fly away in Honour which is but a blast and not in me but in him that gives it In these it can no more be found then the very nature of God himself These conceits and notions of Satisfaction do universally pass amongst men Now as that general consent and voice of all nations That there was a God though they erre not knowing where to seek him yet is a fair proof that there is a God and as the same general consent of men that God is to be worshipt though they mistook the manner of it yet proves certainly that there is some form of worship acceptable to Him so this oecumenical conceit of satisfaction to be had which hath thus overspread and possest the heads of all men cannot be in vain but is an evidence that there is some good that will satisfie that hath a contenting quality and in which we may set up our rest Only vain men who have their mind in their eyes and not in their hearts as Augustine speaketh have been willing to mistake to tread the waters and to walk upon the wind to trust to that and to make that their mount Sion which slides away from them and gives no rest to their souls Rest to our souls we never find till with the Dove we return to the Ark to the Church of Christ where our tongues are made God's glory and our hands the instruments of righteousness wherein that Piety and Goodness dwelleth which alone can satisfie For secondly such is the nature and quality of the soul that it is not fashioned nor proportioned to the things of this world What is a wedge of gold what is beauty what is a Crown to a soul This being an immortal and spiritual substance can be satisfied with nothing but what is wrought in it by the Spirit of God with Holiness and Piety which being as immortal and spiritual as the soul is most apt to assimilate and fill and satisfie it Will I eat saith God of himself the flesh of bulls or drink the bloud of goats Can God take any delight therein It is not the sacrifice but the heart which being offered up brings a sweet savor unto him without this sacrifice is an abomination And so what is a feast a banquet of wine the sound of a viol the whole world to a soul which must needs check it self when in condescention to the flesh it takes part in that delight they bring Will ye spend these upon it as the Babylonians did their sheep
cast an eye back and gather something for our use and then I shall commend both it and you to the blessing of God And first if the fruit of our Hands and Lips be that alone which can satisfie us let us then up and be doing buckle on the armor of light quench every fiery dart of Satan fight against principalities and powers and beat down every strong imagination that opposeth it self to that righteousness which will satisfie us with good and this imagination especially That no endeavour of ours no pressing forward will bring us to the mark We need not fear to enter the lists for there be more with us then against us To complain of weakness when we are called to work out our own satisfaction is not Humility or if it be it is but a voluntary humility nay but a depression of mind which hath not so much as the shew of wisdome an Humility that will not acknowledge any power willing to do that which we are unwilling to do and in the contrary of which we place all our delight and satisfaction an Humility that pretends darkness of understanding because it will not see and perversness of will because it will not work which laments over us as over the dead who indeed have no mind nor desire to live but love darkness more then light the broad way more then the strait and death better then life an Humility which is not the fruit of the Spirit but the work of the flesh to hold it up against the Spirit Be humble and obedient that Humility came down from Heaven But what Humility is that that is the mother and nurse of Disobedience That Humility which is commended to us in Scripture lifts us up to Heaven this other which is the parasite of the flesh disables us and sinks us to the lowest pit That Humility boweth us down with sorrow this binds our Hands with sloth That gives us life and activity in the service of God this buries us alive That looks upon imperfections past this makes way for more to come That prepares and makes plain our way to perfection this makes us more imperfect I know no better argument to move us then this for it is St. Pauls Therefore be yee stedfast unmoveable alwayes abounding in the 1 Cor. 15. 58. work of the Lord singing praises to the Lord and making him melody with your obedience forasmuch as yee know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord As if this consideration only were enough to strengthen the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees to fasten our roots to build us up in Christ to stablish us in the faith and to make us an everlasting foundation Satisfaction is the end and you have all the means to attain it Understandings and Wills Directions and Precepts Promises and Rewards Heaven and Eternity to draw you on and encourage you And if this Rhetorick have no power on those who are Men and yet will be stones behold the Angels ministring unto you and God himself calling knocking waiting intreating who will never be wanting to us if we be not wanting to our selves who must needs do his own will and his will is our satisfaction And therefore in the next place let us level our actions and endeavours on this and not spend and waste our selves upon that which is not bread and will never fill us Let us not be so strong to do evil and so weak to do good be lame and impotent when we should move towards Happiness and rush upon Destruction as the Horse doth into the battel Let us not seek after Satisfaction in the things of this world as the sons of the Prophets did after Elijah upon a Peradventure when he was taken away For it is the greatest folly in the world thus to misplace and mispend our diligence This is to plow the winds and to cast our seed upon the rocks which will yield no incrrease This is to work in glass which will break in our Hand when with the same labour and art we might cut out a Diamond to adorn us Beloved when I see men sending their hopes and thoughts afar off and then following them with all heat and violence of action when I see them stoop to their proposed ends with as swift a wing as the Falcon to her prey and then miss them when I see them climbing to the top of the tree and then falling back again with nothing but those boughs they laid hold on when I see men hastning to their desires and not obtaining their ends or if they do not those ends which they set up finding that which they took for bread to be a stone and that which they called fish a serpent gathering riches and possest with fear honor but trembling at the height pleasure but with repentance when I see men labor and strive and war and fight spoyling and spoiled con-conquering and overcome destroying and destroyed when I see men working to their ends sometimes by ruine sometimes by battery sometimes by craft and if that will not serve by violence when I see Kings pulling the crowns from one anothers heads when I see such hot contentions such tragoedies raised for that which is not which may not be or if it be will not be of that fashion which we gave it in our thoughts methinks I see not as Alexander spake the battel of Frogs and Mice although that was to as much purpose as these but the strivings of mad distracted men whom History which is not alwayes the light of truth hath shewen to the world as Hero's and generous and great-spirited men Or if I see Caligula in his march with his great host and army which he raised not to fight but to gather cockles on the shore Or I behold men labouring in the world as Cornelius Agrippa sayes Spirits do in the minerals they dig and cleanse and sever metals and when men come they find nothing is done And can there be a greater folly and madness then this or shall we call these men wise politick magnanimous high-spirited men Give them what name you please if there be several kinds of madness as we are told there are then these will come within the verge and reach of it I am sure the Prophet David draws them within that compass and calls them fools This their way uttereth their foolishness Psal 49. 13. For again if nothing will satisfie us but Righteousness and Piety we need not consult what we are to chuse here where the object hath all that goodness which can make it desirable And therefore God by his Prophet as if men did not wonder enough or it were not enough for men to wonder calls to the Heavens Be astonisht O yee heavens at this Jer. 2. 12 13. for my people have committed two Evils they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and have hewed them out cisterns broken cisterns which will hold no water And may it
but to speak an hour to be a Hearer but to come to Church to be a Bishop but to put on a mitre to be a King but to wear a crown And this is to disesteem and undervalew these duties This is to be officiperdae in this sense also to destroy our work before we begin it For what place can our work have amongst those thoughts which stifle it and where the birth is so sudden and immature how can it chuse but prove an abortive I cannot conceive but that our Saviour could have performed the work he came about without this preamble or preparation but yet in honor to this great work he would first step aside and not suddenly enter upon it but by degrees first retire and fast and pray and then work miracles To teach us that a Christian is not made up in haste that no good work will beget it self between our fingers nor come towards us unless we fit and prepare our selves to meet it And yet some there be who are willing to think that this is more then needs that it is in the greatest profession that is as it was in the Cirque-shews amongst the Romans Odiosa circensibus pompa that as there so in this all pomp and shew and preparation is in vain that the sooner they enter upon it the more dextrous they shall be in the performance Divines as Nazianzene terms them of a day old made up ut è luto statua assoon as you can make a statue of clay No desart that they will go to no cell that they will retire to no secession that they will make but presently upon the work they enter leap into the Pulpit and there they stir and make a noyse semper agentibus similes like unto those who are alwaies busie or indeed rather like unto those spirits in minerals that Cornelius Agrippa speaks of which digg and cleanse and sever the metals but when men come to view their work they find nothing is done With these men there are no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no prefaces no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nothing to be learnt first All with them is the Work no study or preparations All is working of miracles And indeed one great miracle they work Docent antequam discunt They teach that which they never learnt and their skill and art is so teach men that they shall be more ignorant then before Our Saviour here is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to prepare him for his work but these will not prepare themselves because they pretend they are led by the Spirit Nor is this evil of yesterday or which befalls the weakest only but the Devil hath used it in all ages as an engine to undermine this good work What men are not able to manage for want of due consideration to bring in the Spirit as a supply Tertullian was as wise a man as the Church had any but being not able to prove the corporeity of the Soul he flyeth to Revelation in his book De Anima Non per â—stimationem sed revelationem We cannot make this good by judgment but by revelation Post Joannem quoque prophetiam meruimus consequi We have our Revelations as well as St. John Our sister Priscilla hath plenty of them she hath her traunces in the Church and converseth with Angels and with God himself and can discern the hearts and inward thoughts of man St. Hierom speaking of a Monk in his time thus describes him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is start up a man who hath exactly learnt all knowledge without a teacher full of the spirit his own master who like a Carneades can dispute both for and against the truth who needs no preparation but can do what he will and when he will But this is not the Spirits manner of Leading for he leads us by degrees and by a certain method For even so he led our Saviour first into the wilderness and then to his work And though his leading of the Apostles were extraordinary yet even them he commands to stay at Jerusalem and to expect his coming And although their determinations were subscribed to with a VISUM EST SPIRITUI SANCTO It seemeth Good to the holy Ghost yet they conferred one with another met together in councel and did deliberate before they did determine Nor did they once imagine that they had the Spirit in a string or could command him when they pleased or call him down to help them in their work sedendo votis by sitting still and doing nothing that he would fly down unto them and sit upon them though they slept Much less can we imagine that he will wait upon our spirit and humor and when we have cripled and disenabled our selves for any service of his in a moment anoint and supple our joynts and make us active for the highest calling when we have put our selves into prison even thrown our selves into the dark and loathsome dungeon of Ignorance that he will come to us as the Angel did to Peter Acts 12. and smite us on the side and raise us up and bid us arise up quickly and go on an ambassage which we do not know go set our hands to his plough which are a great deal fitter for another Certainly to be a Disciple of Christ is a greater work then to cast our garment about us to take up the habit of a Minister No we must be led into some secret and solitary place there to fast and pray to fit and prepare our selves for the work which we have to do there to taste how sweet the word of God is to ruminate and chaw upon it as it were and digest it to fasten it to our very soul and make it a part of us and by daily meditation so to profit that all the mysteries of Faith and precepts of Holiness may be as vessels are in a well-ordered family ready at hand to be used upon any occasion Now this we may imagine to be the work of the Spirit alone and so it is but of the Spirit leading us into the desart placing us on the mount of Contemplation there by long study and industry to learn confusa disterminare hiantia cogere sparsu colligere to separare those things which are confused and mixt together to separate Fear from Despair and Confidence from Presumption to draw and unite those things together which are severed as Faith and good Works Knowledge and Practice and to joyn together those Texts which bid us rejoyce with them which bid us mourn those which command our Zeal with those which exact our Meekness Et diligentia pietas adhibenda est saith St. Augustine alterâ fiat ut quaerentes inveniamus alterâ ut scire mereamur We must make use both of our Diligence and Piety by the one we find when we seek by the other we are filled both to seek and find Unless we follow the Spirit in this his Leading we have no reason to
expect he should lead us further Aliud est esse vatem aliud esse interpretem saith St. Hierome It is one thing to be a prophet another to be an interpreter of Scripture There the Spirit foretels things to come here by our industry and skill in language we give that sense which the words will best bear Those interpretations now-adayes which are entitled to the Spirit are so dark and obscure ut interpretes interprete indigeant that we must take the pains to interpret the interpreters and find greater difficulty in their explanations then in the Text it self It will be good therefore first to prepare our selves in private before we lift up our voice like a trumpet and if we will be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 workers together with the Spirit to work as he directs us It is a rule in Quintillian Ut praeceptorum est docere ità discipulorum est praebere se dociles As it is the office of the Master to teach so is it of the Scholar to be attentive and apt to learn And it holds true in Divinity also As the Spirit is our teacher so are we bound to observe those rules which he hath drawn out for all those who will be his followers Res enim aliter coalescere nequit sine discentis docentÃsque concordia For this business will not close and be brought together without an agreement on both sides If the Spirit will first lead me into the wilderness and I will presently to the streets of Jerusalem it is not likely my message should be from the Spirit whom I have left behind me in the desart And therefore to prepare our selves to this work we must observe those rules which a learned Physician gives for the finding out of the truth There must be 1. Amor operis a Love of the work 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a love of industry and earnest study in our preparation 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a methodical proceeding and progress 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 practice and exercitation and a conformity of our operations to the work And this gold though it be brought from Ophir yet may be useful for those who are the living temples of the holy Ghost My Love kindles a fire in me and makes me active my Industry is ruled by method that it be not fruitless and all is confirmed by Practice and then the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sets his seal and impression and character and makes it a good work And first if we ask the question What moved Christ to make this preparation we cannot better answer then by saying it was his Love unto the work That he having loved us first might provoke us to love him again and prepare our selves to our work And to this end Love is a passion imprinted in us saith Gregory Nyssene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to this good end to be leveled and fixed on the work of our Salvation Where when it is once fastned it is restless and unquiet It will into the wilderness though it meet with the Devil himself It passeth all difficulties whatsoever nihil erubescit nisi nomen difficultatis and is not ashamed of any thing but that any thing should be too hard and heavy for it Heat and Light are the two ornaments of the Sun joyned and united together quò calidior radius est lucidior the hotter the beams are the more light there is So the Love of a good work and the good Work which we love are as neerly united together as Heat and Light and the more Heat in my Love the more Light in my Work and the more my Light shines forth the more my Love encreaseth They both are one to another both mother and daughter both begotten and begetting For again the love of knowledge which fits and prepares us to the work of the Gospel brings in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a love of labor and industry Which will not do things by halves nor bring us to the chair till we have sate at the feet of Gameliel Thus it is in all the passages of our life We propose nothing to our selves of any great moment which we can presently conquer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Basil Even the things of the Devil are not attained without labor and sweat How laborious is thy Revenge how busie thy Cruelty how watchful and studious thy Lust What penance doth thy Covetousness put thee to Vitia magno coluntur saith Seneca Even our vices cost us dear and stand us at a high rate And can we expect such an easie and quick dispatch of those things which bring along with them an eternal weight of glory Can a negligent and careless glance upon the Bible can our aery and empty speculations can our confidence and ignorance streight make us Evangelists Or is it probable that Truth should come up è profundo putei from the bottom of the well and offer it self to them who stand idle at the mouth and top of it and will let down no bucket to draw it up This indeed is now-adayes conceived to be the Spirits manner of Leading not about by the Wilderness by a sequestred life but streight to Jerusalem to the holy City where there is little enquiry mà de whether they have been at Jacobs well and let down their bucket where by many God is served in spirit but not in truth And so they be born again of the Spirit no matter for this water Who glory in their ignorance amant ignorare cùm alii gaudeant cognovisse as Tertullian speaks Whereas others can receive no satisfaction or content but in knowledge their great joy it is to be ignorant Some truth there is in what they say that the Spirit is an omnipotent agent but ill applyed by them That since he can do all things he will also teach those who will be ignorant and who do him this great honor to call him Master when there are no greater non-proficients in the world ever learning of this good Master and yet never coming to the knowledge of the truth It is true the Spirit is a powerful agent but it is as true that he is a free agent and will not teach them who will not learn will not bring us to Jerusalem unless we will first follow him into the desart qui pulcherrimo cuique operi proposuit difficultatem who on purpose hath placed some rubs and difficulties between us and Knowledge that we may with labor and anxiety work out a way unto it He hath cast some darkness upon Scripture that our Industry may strive to dispel it and in some places as Heraclitus speaks of the Oracle of Delphos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he doth neither plainly manifest nor yet hide the truth but leaves some glimpse and intimation that we may search and find it out It was the saying of Scaevoâ—a the Lawyer Jus vigilantibus scriptum That the Civil Law was written to men awake who could look about them
we are risen up most ready to fall We might here enlarge our Discourse but I had rather tender you the reasons Why it is so And we draw the first from the Envy of the Devil who cannot behold God nor any thing that is like unto him but is troubled with his beauty and is troubled with the least reflexion of his beauty is troubled with his infinite goodness and is troubled with his created goodness is troubled with his nature and is troubled with his name Who if he could would rob God of his purchase and would overthrow the heavens and all that ever God made all the created substances in the world Pervicacissimus hostis nunquam otium sui patitur saith Tertullian His malice is so great that he is never at rest He watcheth every good thing in its bud to nip it in its blossom to blast it in its fruit to spoil it And then he rageth most when man is delivered from his rage Tunc accenditur cùm exstinguitur Then is he most enflamed when his darts are quencht And indeed this is the nature of Envy to be restless never to sleep The Hebrews express Envy by the Eye Why is thy eye evil that is Why art thou envious The Devil hath an eye which is alwayes open observing not only the fruits of Holiness but the very seeds The Poor that is envious looks with an evil eye upon the peny that another hath He that is illiterate is angry with a letter he that is weak wisheth all were cripples This torments the Devil as much as Hell it self Invidia primùm mordax suis Envy hath a venomous tooth but it is first fastned in it self It is the pain and death of our Enemy not only to be punished with his own sin but with our goodness not only to be grieved at his own overthrow but at our hope of victory and therefore he kindles and is on fire at the sight not only of the Sun but of a Star yea at the least scintillation and glimpse of Goodness A good thought is a look towards heaven and this he strives to divert A good profession is a profer and he abates our strength in the way An Abba Father is a call to Love and he strives to disinherit us Ever as we make forward he is ready to assault us placing horror in our way that we may fear to proceed And like a cunning enemy he sets upon us at our first onset lest we gather strength He is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Cyril speaks fierce and violent in his opposition A wise-man being askt how a man might preserve himself from the evil eye of Envy well replyed Si nihil feliciter gesseris If thou delight not in the practice of that which is good and beest not happy in thy undertakings Extreme Misery hath this priviledge that it stands out of the ken and reach of Envy Therefore as St. Augustine tells us Non invident archangelis angeli the Angels do not envy the Arch-angels because they are both eminently good So we cannot think that the evil spirits do envy one another because they are eminently evil and equally miserable It is therefore the duty of a Christian to make himself an object from the envy of Satan to shew forth those good works which may provoke him to build up that resolution which may anger him to make that glorious profession which may torment him For from his envy we cannot be free till we are like him till we are Diaboli so his children are called in Scripture Devils as miserable as he Whilst we lye like dry bones at the graves Ezek. 37. mouth he is quiet and still he doth not admoenire nor legiones adducere he doth not besiege us nor draw forth his troops and legions against us nec vult artem consumi ubi non potest ostendi nor will he spend his art and cunning there where he cannot shew it But when these dry bones hear the word of the Lord when the spirit breatheth into them and they live when we stand up upon our feet and make an exceeding great army when we make our members the weapons of righteousness to fight against him when he hears our songs of praise when he sees our alms when our tears drop upon his fire to quench it then the Worm begins to knaw then he walks about us and observes in what part we are weakest then he is a Serpent a Lyon a Devil Timagenes was well content that Rome should be set on fire but it troubled him much that it should rise higher and be more glorious then before So it troubleth the Devil to see him who took a fall and a bruise to be built up stronger then he was to see him who was dead in sin become a new creature and a child of wrath become the son of God And therefore hither he brings his forces that if he cannot hinder those beginnings yet he may stay them there and stop them at the first that they may be no more then beginnings that a Jew may be circumcised and no more a Christian baptised and no more that Judas may be an Apostle and no more and a Christian have that name and no more Well you may bring out the corner-stone and cry Grace grace unto it Well you may please your selves with the profession of Christianity you may lay your foundation than which no other can be laid a JESUS CHRIST but you shall build upon it not gold and silver and precious stones but wood and hay and stubble Satan will suffer thee to contend for that faith which was once delivered to the Saints to be zealous for the Lord of hosts This man shall stand up for his Christ another shall bring him forth in another shape Thou shalt dispute for the Truth thou shalt fight for the Truth The world shall be on fire for the Truth For all this is but noyse and he is very well-pleased with any noyse but that of Good works for that comes up into the presence of God In all other contentions though the cry be for Religion he is commonly one In these out-cryes and exclamations Christ indeed is named but it so falls out that every man is for him and every man against him every man speaks for him and every man contradicteth him every man cryes Hosanna Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord and every man drives him out of their coasts Religion is the badge and Religion is the word and indeed it is but a badge and a word you see and hear all The rest is Fraud and Malice and Uncleanness a wandring Eye a wanton Ear a hollow Heart a rough Hand and the name of Christian is taken in by the by to countenance these to put a gloss upon our Fraud that it may be holy to colour our Malice with zeal to make our Uncleanness the infirmity of a Saint as if you drew out the picture of a Devil
must both smart together I went-out by thy Ears and Eyes and Hands and wandred abroad after forbidden objects and now being returned home I find my self naked It is evident then that the Senses of the Body are the Windows of the Soul and that through them Tentations make their entrance into the inward man Why do men disbelieve and impugn the word of God but because they measure Divine things by humane Sense and Experience Thus did Mahometism get a side presently and overflow the greater part of the world because it brought with it a carnal Paradise an eternity of Lusts and such promises as flattered the Sense to blindfold the Reason that it might not see its absurdities For the Turk destitute of truth and so not able to judge aright of Gods favours in this life casting an eye on the worldly miseries of Christians and puffed-up with his own victories condemneth the faith of Christ as displeasing to God because by reason of afflictions it is so unto the Flesh and preferreth and magnifieth his own for no other reason but that it is more attempered to the Sense and answerable to the desires of the Flesh The Atheist who hath no Religion at all no God but his own right hand and his arm no Deity but Policy is carried with the same respects to deny and despise the Providence of God For being earthly minded and even buried alive in the contemplation of the things of this world and seeing the wicked flourish as a green bay-tree and Innocence clothed with shame brought to the stake and the rack concludeth there is no God and derides his Patience and Justice because his Providence waiteth not upon his desires governs not the world as he would have it and is wanting sometime to his expectation Nay beloved how many are there of us who draw-out our Religion by this model and if Religion will not condescend and meet with our sensual Desires draw them up and mix and temper them with our Religion and if we do not find Religion fit to our humor we make one Christianity of it self is a severe and simple Religion and doth so little favour our fleshly part that it commands us to mortifie and kill it and yet how by degrees hath it been brought to joyn and conform it self to our Sense which lets-in those tentations which are the very seed out of which many monstrous errors are ingendred Of a severe Religion we have made it a sportful Religion an easie Religion a gaudy and pompous Religion of a doing active Religion a heavy Religion of a bountiful Religion we have made it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a cheap and thriving Religion For from our Senses and fleshly desires have those corruptions and mixtures crept into Religion which carry with them a near likeness and resemblance to them Ambition hath brought-in her addition or defalcation and Covetousness hers and Wantonness hers and the Love of pleasures hath cast-in her poyson and all these have left their very mark and character in the doctrines of men Nor can I attribute it to any thing more than to this that we do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 take our Senses from the world and sanctifie and consecrate them to God One would think indeed that Ambition and Covetousness and Sensuality were of a quite contrary strain and not competible with those more speculative errors For what can the Love of money or honor do to the stating of a question in Divinity But by the art and craft of the Devil these have been made tentations to error have been as the Popes claim runs infallible far more potent with us than an oecumenical Councel For these tentations of the World and the Flesh first strike the Sense with delight which by the help of the Phansie doth soon enflame the Affections and the Affections will soon build-up an opinion The Love of honor makes the Judgment follow it to that height and pitch which it hath markt-out My Love of money will gloss that Blessing which our Saviour hath annext to Poverty of spirit My Factions humor will strike at the very life and heart of Religion in the name of Religion and God himself and destroy Christianity for excessive love of Christ Every humor will venture upon any falshood which is like it There is nothing within the compass of our Sensual appetites which we are not ready to embrace and believe it to be true because we wish it so being advantageous and conducible to the end which we have proposed and set-up to our selves When Christians did revocare mentem à sensibus take and withdraw their Hand from those objects which were busie with the Sense when they were within themselves and framed their lives to the simplicity and plainness of the Gospel there was scarce the name of Heretick heard amongst them no contentions no exsecrations no thundring-out excommunications against one another But within a while this simplicity abated and the doctrine of Faith was made to give attendance on sensual humours that did pollute it Therefore the Heathen to make the Christians let go their hold and fall off from the acknowledgment of the truth did use the Devils method and laid before them temporal contentments and the sweetness of life Their common forms were CONSULE TIBI MISERERE TUI Have a care of your self Pity your self NOLI ANIMAM TUAM PERDERE Destroy not your own life They made large promises of honours riches and preferment And these Tertullian calls devillish suggestions But when they could not thus prevail when these shining and glorious tentations could not shake or move them then Tormenta carcer ungulae Stridénsque flammis larina Atque ipsa poenarum ultima Mors then torments were threatned the Hook and the Whip and the last of punishments Death it self And as Tentations inter ento the soul by the Senses so they look-out by the Eye Facies intentionum omnium speculum saith Tertullian The face is the glass wherein you may see the very intentions of the mind Anger Sorrow Joy Fear and Shame which are the affections of the heart appear in the countenance Why art thou wroth and why is thy countenance Gen. 4. 6. fallen saith God to Cain When Esau was well pleased with Jacob Jacob tells him I have seen thy face as the face of God Habitus mentis in corporis Gen. 33. 10. statu cernitur saith St. Ambrose You may view the state of the soul in the outward man and see how she changes and alters by those outward motions and impressions which she makes in the body When the Soul of man liketh the object and apprehendeth it under the shew of good she kindleth and moveth her self to attain her desire and withal incenseth the spirits which warm the bloud enlarge the heart and diffuse themselves to embrace that good which is either in the approach or present And when she seeth evil which she cannot decline she staggereth and sinketh for fear which
out prayers as in an humble embassage to crave Gods aid and auxiliary forces For as God hath his army to fight against his enemies his Locust his Caterpillar and his Palmer-worme so hath he his army to defend those Joel 2. who are under his protection his Angels and Archangels who are all ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation Hebr. 1. 14. Nor can we think but that this army is stronger than all the troops of the Prince of darkness and that God by these is able to curb and restrain the violence and fury of Satan Nor could we hope to resist our spiritual Enemy sine naturae potioris auxilio but by the aid and assistance of those creatures which are of a more excellent being Therefore Justin Martyr tells us that God hath given the Angels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a care and providence over us Tertullian that they do universam paraturam hominis modulari elegantly and aptly and harmoniously order and govern the whole course of our life And no question though we perceive it not they do many good offices for mankind they rowse up the Melancholick comfort the Poor chide the Wanton moderate the Chollerick They are very ready to defend us there where we are the weakest and to dull the force of every dart which is thrown at us We will not now question Whether every man hath his Angel-keeper Which Basil so often and other of the Fathers affirm or Whether children in age have their tutelary Angels which our Saviour seems to intimate or children in understanding men of weaker capacities in this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this doubtful and uncertain combat where there is so little light and so much danger have their Angels to defend them from the sleights and enterprises of Satan or How the blessed Angels minister for us We are sure they pitch their tents about us and do many offices for us though we perceive it not We have an author who writes of the Meteors it is Garcaeus I mean who was of opinion that whereas many times before great tempests there is wont to be heard in the air above us a great noise and rushing the cause of this was the bandying of good and evil angels the one striving to annoy us with tempests the other to preserve us from danger The truth of this I know not But as about Moses 's body so about every faithful person these do contend the one to hazard the other to deliver Therefore we may well pray that as the Devil inspires us with evil thoughts so the good Angels may inspire us with good and that if Hell open her mouth to devour us Heaven would open its gate that from thence there may descend the influence of Grace to save us And nemo officiosior Deo there is none more officious than God Who is not afar off from our tears but listens when we call is with us in all our wayes waits on us ponders our steps and our goings and when we are ready to fall nay inter pontem fontem in our fall is ready to help and save us And officiocissima res est gratia his Grace is the most diligent and officious thing in the world quasi in nostram jurata salutem as if it were our sworn friend and were bound by solemn oath to attend and guard us When doth the Devil roar and we hear not a kind of watch-word within us NO LITE TIMERE Fear it not all this is but noise And when doth he flatter and we hear not a voice behind us NO LITE PRAESUMERE Be not too bold it is the Devil it is thy utter Enemy And in all time of tribulation in all time of our wealth this Grace is sufficient for us But further yet in the last place we beg Gods immediate Assistance his Efficacious and Saving Grace that he will not only send his Angels but make us Angels to our selves For no man can be delivered from evil nisi in quantum angelus esse coepit but so far forth as he is become an Angel yea nisi in quantum Deus esse coepit but so far forth as he is become a God partaker saith St. Peter of the divine nature and endued with wisdom from above Therefore we must pray with Solomon for an understanding heart for the spirit of wisdom and the spirit of counsel for the assistance of Gods holy Spirit which is Christs Vicar here on earth for that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spiritual wisdome which may make us wise unto salvation that we may have eye-sight and fore-sight and over-sight that we may see and fore-see and over-see that evil which is near at hand and about us in all our paths that we be not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Peter speaks purblind stricken with gross darkness like the Sodomites to stumble at the threshold nay in montes impingere as St. Augustine speaks run upon evils never so palpable visible mountainous evils and see them not enter the gates of our enemies as friends and think our selves at Dothan when we are in the midst of Samaria We read that the men of the first age knew not what Death meant or what it was to dye but fell to the ground as men ly-down upon their beds when they are weary or rather fell to the ground like Beasts not thinking of Death or what might follow And indeed the reason why we fall so often into Evil is because we see it not know not what it is not what it means as if to sin were nothing else but to lye down and rest nothing else but to satisfie the Sense and to please the Appetite as if Sin were as natural as to eat Therefore we pray Lord open our eyes that we may see it and so fly away and escape And as we pray for Sight so we do for Foresight For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Clemens Alexandrinus The Understanding is the Eye and the Far the Eye to see afar off and the Ear to listen and give notice of danger yet at some distance to know the signs of Sin as we do of the heavens to say This Bread may â—e gravel this Beauty deceitful and this Wine a mocker This rage of Satan may praise the Lord and this his fawning may make me dishonor him This his war may work my peace and his truce may be but a borrowed space of time to undermine me Magna tentatio est tentatione carere It may be a great tentation to be without one and a great evil not sometimes to taste of evil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Understanding and a good mind and much forecast lead us to a paradise of bliss Scelera consilia non habent It is easie to rush upon evil but we cannot avoid it without forecast and counsel And therefore in the third place we desire not only an Eye which may see and foresee but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Basil speaks