occidit prauitas I will follow him whom my sinnes hath put to death but his owne power hath raised to life that he may triumph and be exalted and seeme wonderfull in the holy places by working our peace and obtaining our redemption which is the fruite and benefit of all our trauell and expects the short continuance of our frailtie and patience 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hauing found an eternall redemption for vs. Sinne is the aduersary that deliuered man bound to God as to the Iudge God the Iudge that deliuered man bound to Satan as to the Iaylour Hee was bound to the diuell in the seruice of vnrighteousnesse he was bound to God for the punishment of his transgressions but now hee is redeemed from both and this stands as the Schooles note in the price and the solution the price the bloud of Christ the solution at the death of Christ In that he died we haue the ransome of our sinnes in that he died but once we haue the sufficiency of that ransome for with him there is plenteous redemption and for vs eternall redemption Eternall in respect of Gods decree which is before time Eternall in respect of those which are redeemed they are immortall spirits Eternall in respect of the worke it selfe which is perfect and absolute neuer to bee abolisht or renewed From the bricke and the clay of foule acts and more then Aegyptian seruitude but the originall is more Emphaticall then our translation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hauing found an euerlasting redemption Whereby we vnderstand that it was sought with paine and griefe and sorrow and trauell vnder the heauie yoke of his intollerable crosse and vnsupportable agonie yet so little doth he esteeme whatsoeuer he endures that he counts that found which he dearely bought 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hauing found an euerlasting redemption Which indeed is full of comfort and sounds as musicke to the eare for as in a chaine hee that takes the first linke drawes on all the rest so in the golden chaine of our saluation redemption is that which drawes on all the rest if we be redeemed we shall be iustified if we be iustified we shall be sanctified if we be sanctified we shall be glorified so that to be redeemed is all that can bee imagined to escape the feare of death to receiue a crowne of life to put on white robes to iudge the Tribes of Israel and to possesse that which is farre more excellent aeternum gloriae pondus an eternall weight of glory It is like a cluster of grapes where all the benefits of Christs death and mans safetie are heaped and treasured vp together and therefore saith Chrysologus Plura nobis parta c. Wee got more by the tree of the crosse then euer wee lost by the tree of Paradise What shall I mention the dreame of Saint Origen That promiseth redemption after a thousand yeares to the diuell and his Angels Sure I am it is for vs and that it is for vs alone is manifest by his incarnation for that is redeemed which at first was assumed hee tooke not the Angels but the seede of Abraham and therefore hee saues not the Angels but the seede of Abraham Wee are the heritage which he redeemed with his pretious bloud agreeable to that of Fulgentius Id solum in corpore regnantium quod praecessit in capite ad coelum Wee that receiue his word beleeue his promises admire his loue embrace his mercies crying with these soules vnder the altar to him that was made a sacrifice vpon the altar how long sweet Iesu Holy and true wilt not thou auenge our bloud vpon those which dwell vpon the earth I know not how this moues you mee thinkes it should worke vpon the sencelesse creature and rayse vp children vnto Abraham from the very stones or rather praise and glory thankes and honour to the God of Abraham from the stonie hearts of most obstinate and rebellious children If Galen made profession when he lookt vpon man in his first creation that if all the members of his body had bene tongues they would not haue bene sufficient to expresse the glory of the Lord how should wee magnifie the goodnesse of our Sauiour that beheld man in his second creation deliuered from the bondage of sin and translated into the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God redeemed from the curse of the Law and cloathed with the righteousnesse of Christ Iesus That so he may shine as the stars of heauen in those euerlasting spheeres of safetie protection When Flaminius had deliuered many Cities of the Grecians and made open Proclamation of their libertie they lifted vp their voyces and cryed for ioy till the birds of the ayre were astonied and fell dead before them See beloued here is a generall Proclamation of saftie and redemption not from the Consull of the Romanes but from the Doctor of the Gentiles not to the Cities of Greece or the inhabitants of Iudea onely but to all the Nations and countries vnder heauen bond and free Iew and Gentile they are all deliuered and haue receiued vnfranchisement from their spirituall captiuitie O that our hearts were enlarged rowards God and the loud shout of our spirituall reioycings and doubled Haleluiahs might be as a clap of thunder to fright the Prince of the ayre and flat the top of vaine thoughts and proud imaginations that nestle in the clouds till they sinke and lie dead before vs. I wish that of Bernard might be an incentiue to your deuotion and blow the coales of true loue and Christian pietie in all that heare me Quam bonus suauis es Domine Iesu c. O sweet Iesu how good and pleasant art thou to all that seeke thee The Redeemer of such as are lost the Sauiour of those that are redeemed the hope of such as wander the helpe of those which labour the comfort and refreshing of euery bleeding soule that runnes after thee in the sweate of teares and the painefull anguish of their crosse and miserie Great is thy name and most worthy to be praised and let all the creatures both in heauen and earth giue thankes vnto thee for the humilitie of thy passion the glory of thy exaltation the might and power of thy victorious triumph and euerlasting redemption Thou hast saued vs from death and installed vs in the holy place that we may stand before thee and draw neare with boldnesse vnto the throne of Grace not with a few peeces of siluer as the Iewes bought thee but with many drops of bloud spilt vpon the earth This is it that dies our robes and turnes our sackcloth into scarlet that annoints our soules and makes vs Kings and Priests to God the Father or rather a sanctuarie of his Spirit and liuing temples of the holy Ghost What remaines but since he hath giuen himselfe for vs wee giue our selues to him our soules which he hath redeemed our bodies which he hath sanctified O yee house of Iudah
set vpon miracles and labour to conuert water into bloud colour seas die riuers as if they would sayle and swim to Paradise through bloud of their enemies that Christs bloud may witnesse against them and charge them with the bloud of their slaine which hee so dearely purchast that as his bloud calls for pardon so their bloud calls for vengeance and may one day come vpon the desperate malefactor without repentance to his ruine and confusion Whence is that resolution of Anastasius the Emperour cited by Euagrius in the third booke of his storie Quod nihil velit aggredi that he would aduenture no exploit though neuer so honourable and glorious if he thought it might cost him a drop of bloud But such mildnesse requires a golden age that we cōdemne is the brutish violence of sauage furie It were good some bloud were let in vs not the bloud of our flesh but the bloud of our soules I meane the lust of our desires and the heate of our affections For as Bernard speakes Sanguis animae voluntas mea The bloud of my soule is the will of my heart and if there were a vent made for the corruptions thereof wee should find a more easie passage into heauen for there is a spirituall galarie and milken path that leadeth vnto God euen truth and holinesse puritie and righteousnesse our hearts being sprinkled from an euill conscience with the bloud of Christ and assured confidence in the merit of his passion O the rubricke and witnesse of eternall glorie that makes vs Saints in the kingdome of heauen and washeth our soules from their spirituall leprosie How should we adore the Sacrament of his bloud how should wee thirst after the fountaine of his bloud Crying with our Sauiour in the Gospell sitio I am a thirst He thirsts after our good let vs thirst after his bloud He thirsts after our saluation let vs thirst after his righteousnesse till our bloud-thirstinesse take away our bloud-guiltinesse and his bloudie wounds cure our bloudie issue the naturall fluxe of originall impuritie that it may bee true in vs which is spoken of the Disciples 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Riuers of the water of life shall flow out of their bellie The wild beast finds sweetnesse in the bloud of man and hunts for it Shall not wee more in the bloud of Christ and thirst for it it is milke to the weake and makes him strong it is wine to the strong and makes him chearefull O bee not slow to frequent the Temples and to loue the seruice and to honour the stones and to worship the alters where so grieuous a veine is opened to the house of Israel When Vitellius came into a field of bloud died with the slaughter and strewed with the bodies of the dead others were annoyed he onely cryes out Optime hostis occisus melius ciuis There is a good smell in the bloud of an enemie much better in the bloud of a subiect A most inhumane speech and full of tyrannie but had he said Optime hostis melius Christi There is a good smell in the bloud of an enemie but much better in the bloud of Christ that had bene religious pietie which is now recorded for outragious crueltie For indeed it is his bloud that is the sauour of life and smell of a field which the Lord hath blest that fills the nostrils of our heauenly Father and makes him forget the stinke of our wounds and the putrifactions of our iniquities whilst he stands like Phineas to mediate for vs in that holy place where now hee makes his entry and so I passe from his humiliation to his exaltation from the key of his bloud to the closet of his glorie Hee entred the holy place The sonnes of Israel came to their earthly Canaan through the red sea the Sonne of God to that heauenly Canaan through a sea of bloud that flowed with milke and honie this with the sweetnesse of peace and glorie that a land of holinesse this a place of holinesse where peace and holinesse and truth and righteousnesse haue taken vp their rest and made their habitation For holinesse becomes the house of God for euer perfect holinesse vniuersall holinesse with a vniuersality of time it is for euer with a vniuersality of subiect it is so that no vncleane thing may enter It was a good inscription which a bad man set vpon the doore of his house Per me nihil intret mali no euill may passe through me whereupon said Diogenes Quomodo ingredietur Dominus How then shall the master get into his owne house I know not how it may agree with our mansions vpon earth sure I am the first part is most conuenable with that coelestiall Bethel the gates of heauen and blessed sanctuarie of eternall righteousnesse For whatsoeuer is there is holy the Saints holy the Patriarchs holy the Martyrs holy the Prophets holy but the Lord himselfe most holy and blessed neither is this holinesse originall in those coelestiall bodies but deriuatiue from the Lord of all things It is he that sanctifies and makes them holy times places men Angels names ceremonies vessels instruments things animate things inanimate with the gracious spirit of his sauing righteousnesse They are holy because the Lord is holy and must needs subscribe to that great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Cherubins Holy holy holy Lord God almightie which is which was and which is to come But wherein stands the differerence betwixt the holinesse of God and the holinesse of his place Deus sanctus quia sanctificans the Lord is holy because he sanctifies and is not sanctified that is holy because it is sanctified and cannot sanctifie else might Adam haue continued holy as long as hee was in Paradise and the diuell as long as hee was in heauen but the one was cast out and the other was cast downe that so the holy one might come into the holy place and say with the Prophet Deus non homo I am God and not man The holy one of Israel in the midst of thee Hos 9. 11. For though hee were humbled vnto death and lay melting on the fornace of his crosse yet was he exalted vnto life and snatched as a brand out of the fire and that as Saint Ambrose speakes In vmbraculo nubis vt foueantur vulnera passionis In the coole shade of a spreading cloud to qualifie the heate of his bleeding wounds Neither is there any Christian but may discerne as farre with the ioyes of faith as euer Stephen did with the eyes of his body when hee said Behold I see the heauens opened and the sonne of man stand at the right hand of God Luke saith hee stands Dauid he sits yet are they both true he sits as a Iudge for the Lord hath giuen all power to his Sonne he stands as an Aduocate For we haue an Aduocate with the Father Iesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins The
one shewes the greatnesse of his Maiestie the other shewes the obedience of his ministry whilst hee takes the censure of his flesh and fills it with the coales of the altar and presents the supplications of his Church and makes the smoake of those spirituall odours ascend before the Lord as from the hand of an Angell O the gracious entrance of our triumphant Sauiour into that heauenly tabernacle before hee was from the earth earthly now hee is from heauen heauenly There be heauens corporall there hee is by the presence of his body there bee heauens mysticall there hee is by the influence of his Spirit For the soule of euery Christian may bee likened vnto heauen in the corporall heauens yee haue a Sunne to giue light in the mysticall heauens yee haue Christ to bee your guide in the corporall yee haue Starres that shine by night in the mysticall ye haue vertues eminent and conspicuous that shine in the night of aduersitie and the darknesse of tribulation in the corporall yee haue continuall serenitie in the mysticall perfect tranquilitie in the corporall ye haue an extension of parts in the mysticall of charitie the loue of God being spread abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost and our bowels yearning with mercy and compassion towards the afflictions of our brethren So that God is still in the holy place there will he dwell there is his rest for euer Though we seldome frequent the place of his Sanctuary some perhaps once a yeare as the high Priests did the inward Tabernacle some perhaps once in their liues as Christ did this heauenly Tabernacle yea I feare many leaue the holy place and choose places most vnholy and defiled defiled with superstition and idolatrie defiled with riot and luxurie defiled with extorsion and crueltie defiled with vncleannesse and impuritie where the Sunne may scarce peepe without feare of darkening or the light without danger of infection O the deplored estate and lamentable condition of spirituall Gadarens and Daemoniacall Christians that abide in graues and lie as it were in the deepe of hell that sticke in the mire and clay or rather in the sinke and iakes of abhominable pollutions and Heliogabalian filthines How do they depart from the liuing God and forget the footsteps of their Sauiour The place where he goes is holy the ground where hee stands holy and as hee is holy in his words so is hee holy in his wayes O let there not bee such a distance betwixt head and members lift vp your heads raise vp your thoughts though your bodies lie on the earth let your soules be in heauen nay be yee a heauen vpon earth shining with truth establisht with hope adorned with righteousnesse extended with lour hung and spread with those gracious clouds of knowledge and instruction that Christ may bring his Father and come into your holy place and cast out the bond woman and take his rest as in a sanctuarie Vbi habitabo saith Austin in the name of God Where shall I dwell Dost thou thinke I will abide in the ruinous building of thy collapsed nature and depraued affections or in the sordid building of thy staind actions and wicked pollutions Surely no I looke my house should be cleane swept and garnisht with the flowers of vertue as the Diamond or the Carbuncle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Nyssen he that is Lord of honour and glory will not bee owner of that which is dishonourable and inglorious If hee would not suffer the vncleane spirits to name him hee shall not suffer the vncleane men to enioy him they cryed and were rebuked if they cry they may bee refused Awake then and consider whose temples yee are this is the will of God euen your sanctification This is the will of God euen your glorification O my brethren me thinkes I see the names of all that stand before me written in the booke of life and I seeme to reade through that sea of glasse the diuine pedegree of your sacred race and heauenly genealogie There is Abraham your Father and Isaac his sonne or rather Iacob to whom the promises were made yea there is God your Father in whom all the families of heauen and earth are named and Christ his Sonne flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone together with that Spirit by whose grace we are knit and linkt in one fellowship and communion there is the ring and the robe which the Angells which bee his seruants shall cast vpon vs the ring of endlesse blisse and interminate happinesse the robe of perfect iustice and immortall holinesse Why do not we mooue as the clouds and flie as the Doues vnto our windowes Why is not our heart together with our treasure nay with our flesh and with our bloud with our strength and with our glorie He is gone before that we may follow after first by contemplation then by conuersation till at length we be inducted into mount Sion the blessed Temple of our spirituall Ierusalem hauing not onely quiet and peaceable but actuall and corporall possession Now we haue Ius ad rem then wee shall Ius in re Now wee are inuested with right and power then we shall be superinuested with immortalitie and honour like those blessed Elders that worshipt the Lambe which doth wipe all teares from their eyes and guide them to those fountaines of liuing waters Did wee consider how great and excellent things God hath promist to all that loue him in the heauens our hearts would bee turned and set more by the holy place then by the honourable place or the place of custome and of sweetnes or the place of maiestie and of greatnesse there is the flower of wheate and the abundance of delight Riuers of oyle and flouds of peace in comparison whereof our ioy is heauinesse our fulnesse vacuitie our pleasure bitternesse our riches pouertie our beautie ashes our comelinesse deformitie It is Dauids note that God hath set the wicked as a wheele and the reason is giuen by a learned Father Anterius cadit posterius eleuatur The former part turnes downe the hinder part turnes vp so they incline and how downe towards the glorious brightnes of that which is before and permanent but rise are lifted vp towards the emptie shadow of that which is past and transient let them be as a wheele so wee be as a Chariot or an Eagle mounted and soaring towards the place of vision where Christ sits in the glorie of the Father Sequar illum quem mea occidit tarditas was the speech of Cassius when Brutus had bene slaine by the stay of his aide and the negligence of his armie I will follow him that my slownesse hath put to death They are our sinnes that haue put Christ to death the slownesse and backwardnesse of our hearts and vnderstandings to do any thing that is good O let vs follow him in the bearing of his crosse and the entrance of his glorie Sequar eum quem mea
temporall blessings are for the most part Catholike and Vniuersall bestowed promiscuously without exception yet grace and peace and righteousnesse and adoption are neuer giuen to the reprobate For there is no peace vnto the wicked saith my God but fightings without and frightings within as the Apostle noteth they fly when none doth pursue and are afraid where no feare is Horrendum quatiente animo tortore flagellum well are they compared to a raging sea that neuer rests whose waters cast out mire and dirt their desires as winds that stirre and raise their passions their passions are as waues that turmoile and tosse their soules their soules are as ships that float to and fro and are carried vp and downe with restlesse motion and violent agitation in the midst of their bodies For as Bees are driuen away with smoake forsake their hiues so the coales of wrath and the stifling fumes of choaking enuie do remoue and exterminate the diuine sweetnesse of Christian peace and quietnesse Whence is that of Chysologus Haeretici in ira Christiani in pace Simeon is glad Herod is troubled the sheepe of Christ are quiet Wolues are inraged the Angels reioyce and are exalted the Diuels tremble and are confounded The Arke of Gods Church is safe and lyeth at Anchor the barke of Infidels floates and lies in continuall danger I remember in the reigne of Selymus when a Persian Embassadour came to entreate peace of the Turkes a desperate fellow discharged a shot and would haue slaine him being taken and examined hee neuer changed countenance but replyed hee was an enemie to his Lord and most vnworthy any peace the like answer shall be giuen to the wicked when they seeke for peace and the Lord will sweare they shall not enter into his rest Looke vpon the troubles of their heart and consider their manifold distractions who is able to expresse the stroakes and the scourges the wounds and the torments that make them bleede within the furies that haunt their breast and twine as snakes about them the seuerall pleits of the writhen thoughts and perplexed cogitations They are cursed in the field and cursed in the Citie cursed in the fruit of their land and cursed in the fruit of their bodie their children perish and neuer behold the Sunne their cattell are smote with lightning and their flocks of sheepe with hot thunderbolts their vineyards are destroyed with hailestones and their mulbertie trees with frosts the Caterpiller eates their grasse and the Grashopper their labour the Lord doth smite them with Feuers and Agues and blastings and mildewes and neuer leaue till they be destroyed the Lord doth cast vpon them the furiousnesse of his wrath trouble and displeasure with the immission of diuels and incursion of euill spirits For they are enemies of God and most vnworthy of this peace that peace which is here published and confined to his seruants 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To men of good will Not to men of good vnderstanding onely For knowledge puffes vp but to men of good will For charitie buildes vp Not to men of good deeds onely for sometimes they may bee hypocriticall and Pharisaicall but to men of good will for they are perfect and Angelicall Such as embrace Christ willingly and receiue his word ioyfully with true loue and hearty deuotion These are quadrati lapides as Saint Austin square stones that neuer fall howsoeuer they be turned Their life is like the breeding of those Halciones which makes their nest in the sea as long as the one liues the other breeds there is a great calme and wonderfull serennitie Beware then of enuie and the Lord deliuer vs from hatred malice and all vncharitablenesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Basil as God is loue and he that dwelleth in loue dwelleth in God so the Diuell is hatred and he that abideth in hatred abideth in the Diuell O yee that feele the arrowes of God sticke fast in you returne into your hearts and examine your consciences see whether your will bee good or bad rectified or depraued If the Lord make way to his indignation and giue your life to the destroyer if your riuers be dryed vp and your waters turned into bloud if the heauens bee as brasse ouer your head and the earth as iron vnder your feete if yee haue dust for raine for dew ashes if your sheepe be giuen to the enemy and your labour to the stranger if your hearts boyle with anguish and the sorrowes of death compasse you round about thinke it is for lacke of this good will because yee haue not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Good will towards your maker good will towards your neighbour If yee had good will ye would not be so much disquieted They are men of good will that are the vessels of peace and the subiect of this blessing and the good will that dwelt in the bush will dwell in none but such as haue good will In this God is like that Romane Emperour Odit pallidos macilentos His soule doth abhorre such as are leane with enuie and pale with malicious wickednesse O that diuine charity were shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost and the vertue thereof spread as a veine through the body of our Church O that our soules were as the Pallace of Salomon and the midst thereof paued with loue toward the daughters of Hierusalem Then would the Lord couer vs all the day long and we shall dwell in safetie then would hee lie betweene our shoulders and wee should be as Ioseph that was separate from his brethren Beloued I may say of these breasts as Christ doth of the Churches Meliora vino â—bera Thy breasts are more pleasant then wine The breasts of pietie and deuotion the breasts of mercie and compassion the breasts of true loue and Christian affection I would to God I could see them run and flow as spouts and conduicts in the midst of your habitations And me thinks I do to the honour of God and the abundant increase of your rest and quietnes Yet this is not enough vnlesse yee adde bowels vnto breasts breasts will soone dry vp if they bee not fed with the melting of our bowels and therefore saith the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Put yee on the bowels of compassion that as Christ was inuested in our flesh so we might be inurserated with his bowels the tender bowels of mercie louing kindnes If thy heart rise against thy neighbour remember the peace thou hast with God if thy soule delight in honour think of the glory that is giuen to the Lord. Non venit Dominus vt impleret aqua Hydrias sed vt animas spiritus sancti gratia irrigaret saith Ambrosius the Lord is not come to fill our water pots with wine but to water the soules of men with the graces of his spirit that we might haue peace with our selues good will towards others and the sacrifice of praise for him that dwelleth in the highest Neuer was that of the Psalmist more fitly vsed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let the heauens reioyce and the earth be glad Let the earth be glad for there is peace in it Let the heauens reioyce for there is glorie in the highest Let the earth be glad for hee that was heauenly was made earthly Let the heauens reioyce for he that is earthly was and is heauenly and let both take vp that which the Angels sung vnto the sheepheards Glorie to God on high on earth peace good will towards men when the Angels sang Christ was naked on the earth now we sing he is glorious in the heauens Therefore doth our solemnitie exceed theirs and we may better say Glorie to God on high on earth peace good will towards men I reade of one Pope that would haue none reade this verse but onely the Priests but we know that all the elect are Kings and Priests to God A royall Priesthood a holy Nation purchased redeemed with his bloud and therfore let vs ioyne in this dochologie and neuer rest saying Glorie to God on high on earth peace good will towards men I will shut vp all in that closure of the Apostle Now the very God of peace sanctifie you throughout and I pray God that your whole spirit and soule and bodie may bee kept blamelesse vnto the comming of our Lord Iesus To whom with the Father and the Spirit bee in honour and glorie in the earth as it is in heauen till the earth mooue and the heauens forget their motion Amen Amen FINIS
pure heart and a good conscience and faith vnfained I remember God charged the Priest to sanctifie the breast of their shake offering as well as the shoulder of the heaue offering That we might see it is not so much the outward man as the inward wherein he delighteth neither is it enough to beare Christ in the head as Minerua did Iupiter vnlesse we beare him in the heart as Mary did our Sauiour Grauidare potuit grauare non potuit beatam virginem He might well fill her wombe with the glorie of his flesh he could not burden her with trouble of his presence How then will they satisfie this demaund that haue no heart vnto goodnesse The armie Philopoemen is likened vnto a man that hath legs feete but no belly because they wanted money which is the heart of warre so I feare in the Church militant there be diuerse that haue legs and feete but no bellie they haue the legges and the feete of outward conuersation but they want the heart and the belly of inward deuotion Non vitae sed famae negotiatores as Tertul. makes the charachter such as negotiate and trade more for a good name then for a good life for a good report then a good conscience If the Lord will be on the eare who so readie to attend his word and to call for a Sermon If the Lord will be on the tongue who so forward to confesse his name or to speake of Religion till they haue turned Sacramentum in sermonem as Saluianus speakes the sacred vse of his glorious name into vaine babling and the foolish contention of words and trifles But let him call for the heart they are quite blanke either it is losteth the cares of this world or sold to worke deceit and wickednesse Thus haue they a shew of godlinesse but denie the power thereof like fidlers that are more carefull in tuning their instruments then in tuning their liues their tongues are their instruments if they be in tune and the strings thereof well set to faire language and glozing hypocrisie all is well they haue done their parts and dutie I know not whether I may say they haue no heart or a double heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Hebricians vse to speake a heart and a heart one for Christ another for Belial one for God another for the Diuell Sure I am they are cardiaci and fall vnder the curse the wise man hath denounced Vae duplici cordi Woe to the double heart for the Lord will not part stakes with any neither hath righteousnesse any communication with vnrighteousnes They are not many hearts but one that he desireth howbeit the conditions thereof be diuerse For it must be a new heart and a cleane heart a sound heart and a broken heart renewed by his word clensed in his bloud sound by the truth of doctrine broken by the contrition of spirit else will he forsake the tabernacle of our body and abhorre both heart and arme which is the second receptacle of our Sauiour Put me vpon thy arme For though Loue precede Faith in order of perfection yet Faith precedes Loue in order of generation did the Prophet begin to speake before the heart waxt hot and the fire was kindled in his breast First beleeue with thy heart then confesse with thy mouth yet so that heart and mouth and hand and arme may go together Good workes ioyned to Faith are as a strong building on a good foundation the building of gold and siluer vpon that ground which is laid of old I meane Christ Iesus Mary had no sooner borne Christ in her wombe and presented him in the Temple but Simeon takes him in his armes and embraceth him ioyfully For we must not be ashamed of our profession but carrie the ensigne of our Sauiour openly before vs that so the vertue and the patience and the meeknesse and the obedience of Christ Iesus may be found in euery part but chiefly in our actions Christ on the heart is like seed on the earth Christ on the arme is like corne on the eare Christ on the heart like a tree planted by the riuers of water Christ on the arme like a tree bringing fruit in time of Autumne and therefore true Religion and vndefiled before God is practicall and operatiue in the workes of mercie To visit the fatherlesse and widowes in aduersitie and to keepe our selues vnspotted of the world If our lips drop hony by the preaching of his word and the sweetnesse of his doctrine it is good and commendable but if our hands drop myrh by the crucifying of him and the mortification of our earthly members by the obedience of Christ and the perfect imitation of Christian holinesse it is most comfortable and heauenly There be that follow the paths of Christ and to vse the words of Saluianus Patentiora faciunt Domini vestigia they make the footsteps of our Sauiour more plaine and easie by the example of their vertue and the euidence of their bountie These be they which beare him in their armes and carrie him as a lampe burning in their hands for the benefit of others Do men gather figs of thornes or grapes of thistles Ye shall know them by their fruite And as Christ said of himselfe interrogate opera aske my workes for they speake of me so may we say of them interrogate opera aske their workes for they speake of them looke not on the face regard not the voice they may haue the voice of Iacob but the hands of Esau enquire of their workes they beare witnesse of them and are the surest markes of euery Christian Auditur cum videtur saith Tertullian A good Philosopher is best heard when hee is seene and a true Christian best knowne by the glasse of his life and the president of his actions It is a good resemblance that ancient Father vsed in his Moralls Alis feriunt vbi opera ostendunt The works of the Saints are as the wings of the Cherubins that touch one another for as they smite one another by their wings so we excite one another by our workes and prouoke as it were to godlinesse of liuing remember then I beseech you the end of your vocation that ye are the workmanship of God created in Christ Iesus to good workes That he gaue his life for you to the end you might be a peculiar to himselfe zealous of good workes die vnto sinne liue vnto righteousnesse cast of the workes of darknesse put on the armour of light that ye may be worthy of the Gospell of Christ and the doctrine of our Sauiour in all things may be honoured Ye are they of whom the Apostle doth trauell in birth that Christ may be formed in you and you transformed into him as well in arme as in heart as well in body as in spirit O let it neuer be said of these blessed armes the armes of your workes as Milo said of his armes the armes of his flesh Hi
text is spent in that double contemplation of the Physicks the one Motus the other Quies Yee that haue followed mee shewes there is a Motus Shall sit vpon twelue thrones shewes there is a Quies I wish that which deuides my text may deuide both speaker and auditor on your part quiet silence and religious deuotion whilst I begin with the diuine Motus and spirituall consectation in these words Yee that haue followed me Carefull imitation is a sure note of constant aspectation we euer loue those we desire most to follow Pride and Enuie step before Loue and Humilitie waite behind as Mary at the feete of Christ when shee made a bath of her teares and a towell of her locks Many suffer as Christ that shall neuer reigne with him many beare his crosse that shall neuer partake of his glorie Many drinke of the brooke that shall neuer lift vp the head Many grieue and mourne and sorrow and are afflicted that shall neuer be comforted and all this Quia sectari negligunt saith elegant Bernard because they are exalted in their minds and despise to come after Christ in the humilitie of their spirits For this cause will the Lord be followed and that with as much alacritie as the Scribe pretends Sir I will follow thee wheresoeuer thou goest Who so great with the Lord as Moses of a friend hee became a familiar of man a God so that hee is termed Deus Pharonis the very God of Pharoh Yet was he content to looke on the backe parts of his Creator and what Christ said to Mathew belongs to vs Veni sequere come and follow me Non passibus sed affectibus as Saint Austin hath distinguished not with the pases of our bodie but in the graces of our spirit in the loue of his truth and the practise of his vertues that came as a Bridegroome forth of his chamber and gloried as a Giant to runne his course That neither words or deeds thoughts or designes swerue or decline from the rule of his iustice for he is the way and the truth and the life The way that leades vs to the truth the truth that doth promise the inheritance of life the life that doth giue vs the fruition of himselfe not to follow the way is to bee lost not to follow the truth is to bee deceiued not to follow life is to perish and therefore we may say of his actiue obedience as the Apostle writes of his passiue obedience 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hee suffered many things leauing vs an example Nay he did many things leauing vs an example and hee spake many things leauing vs an example that wee might tread and walke in the footsteps of his righteousnesse Wee reade of a noble Generall victorious ouer the Turks and famous among Christians that hee neuer commanded his souldiers any thing but that he would do himselfe we see the like in Christ they are no strange aduentures or new exploits which he layes vpon vs if we can but follow our leader or do that which he doth but act before vs tast of his cup or drink of the Baptisme wherein he is Baptized it is as much as can be looked for But who is able to find the way of a serpent on a stone or the path of an Eagle in the aire Is not the name of Christ wonderfull and are not his perfections inimitable Doth he not ride vpon a Cherub and make darknesse his pauilion Or if discernable and to be seene doth not hee sit vpon the hill of Sion and inhabit light which is vnapprochable Honour'd and beloued wee haue said it yet may wee follow as Peter did a farre off at least cry with the daughters of Ierusalem Trahe nos Draw vs and we shall runne after thee For that of Austin is most true Quod lex imperat fides impetrat Faith obtaining what the Law enioynes and prayer makes that easie which is most hard to the corruption of our nature Indeed there be some things in our Sauiour we cannot imitate wee may not emulate the glorie of his wisedome the magnificence of his power but his goodnesse is exemplarie and calls for obseruation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Apostle it is manifest and hath appeared teaching vs to deny vngodlinesse and to liue righteously and soberly and godly in this present world Obsecro fratres I beseech you brethren do not loose an example so rare and pretious but fashion your selues vnto it and bee changed in the renewing of your minds remembring alwayes that of Nyssen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The profession of a Christian stands in the imitation of his Maker Seuerall qualities are gathered to my hand imitable and spectable in our Sauiour imitable with men spectable with the Angels First the contempt of outward vanitie for when they sought to make him a King he refused their honour and fled into a mountaine Secondly the meeknesse of inward patience for when they brought him as a Lambe to the slaughter he kept silence and opened not his mouth Last of all the temper and sweetnesse of a charitable disposition for when they would haue crucified the Lord of glorie hee prayed for his enemies and excused their malice with a nesciunt Quid faciunt they know not what they do these are the things wee ought to seeke and to follow to keepe and to practise with all dilligence and carefulnesse But that euery man is drawne away as Saint Iames speakes with his owne lust Et in iecore aegro Nascuntur Domini Our will is our master and wee haue as many lords ouer vs as we haue affections in vs. Alius libidini alius auaritiae saith that learned heathen one is a seruant vnto pleasure another to couetousnesse a third to vanitie all to feare that wee come short of our expectations and I would to God it were onely so but the Church hath euer beene pestred with sects and heresies strifes and diuisions scarce greater distraction among the Corinthians when they cryed I am of Paul and I am of Apollos I am of the world and I am of Christ then now is in many places of these kingdomes What phantasticall spirits so idle and ridiculous that hath not many disciples What schismaticall leader so new fangled and pernicious that hath not many sectaries What iugling imposter so despicable and infamous that hath not many followers What Atheisticall ruffler so execrable and nefarious that hath not many obseruers Quis Monachus Daemoniacus as S. Bernard speakes what Ignatian viper or diuellish Iesuite that worketh mischiefe by the Prince of diuels and seckes destruction of soule and bodie so prodigiously wicked and proditoriously audacious that hath not too many fauourites and adherents These are the men that draw legions after them to hell and may bee compared to him that was termed legion in the Gospell Ettam Diogenes habet suos parassitos the Cynicke is not without his attendants but hath a man or a mouse to be his
thirsteth in the midst of waters but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Come into the ioy of thy Master and take part of it with delight and satisfaction as one that doth feele and tast how good the Lord is Thus doth one deepe call vpon another Abyssus luminosa abyssum tenebrosam The depth of light and claritie vpon the depth of blindnesse and obscurity the depth of power and maiestie vpon the depth of weaknesse and humilitie the depth of goodnesse and mercie vpon the depth of wretchednesse and misery And all this for the noise of the water pipes which is nothing but the sound and the cry of repentance and humilitie Hee sware vnto the generation of our fathers they should neuer enter into his rest because they prouoked him in the wildernes Hee saith onely to the generation of their children they shall enter into his rest If they obey his precepts What is his word as good as his oath yes when he that speaketh is truth it selfe and he sweareth that hath none greater then himselfe For his passion was our redemption and if I may vse the words of Bernard Clauus penetrans clauis aperiens The nayles that fastned him to the crosse the speare that ran him through the lance that opened his side the iron that went into his soule is made a key to vnlocke heauen and to make vs enter Therefore do wee sing triumphantly in the Churches Liturgie When thou hadst ouecome the sharpnesse of death thou didst open the kingdome of heauen to all beleeuers Agreeable whereunto is the vision of Saint Iohn I lookt and behold there was a doore opened in the midst of heauen and the first voice I heard was as the sound of a trumpet saying Come vp higher But if God himselfe did not rest the seuenth day before he considered the works of his creation and found them good God saw all that was made loe it was very good Gen. 1. 31. How shall we hope to enter his rest that eternall Sabboth of our bodies and our spirits before we haue done some good examined our hearts tried our faith prooued our workes and found some goodnesse in the midst of their imperfections wee may not please God without faith or see God withour holinesse The bridegroome will passe by without notice of vs if wee haue neither faith in our hearts nor oyle in our vessels The oyle of grace the oyle of mercy the oyle of deuotion the oyle of charitie shining and burning to the comfort of our brethren As wisedome doth not enter the house of an euill soule so an euill soule doth not enter the house of wisedome Therefore doth he stand at the doore and knocke with an aperi sponsa aperi columba Open my loue open my done Open to me the gates of righteousnesse that I may open to thee the gates of blessednesse For except your righteousnesse exceed that of the Pharises yee shall neuer enter the kingdome of heauen Looke vpon those Elders which stand before the throne they are clothed with white robes and haue palmes in their hands which is nothing but the flower and beauty of their good workes and Christian pietie It is storied of the Scythians that once a yeare they made a great feast where none may come but such as haue slaine an enemie The feast God makes vs is the ioy of my Text a great feast and in the simplicitie of termes exceeding gaudies but there is no entrance or admission before we haue crucified the body of sinne slaine an enemie sacrificed a rebell yea many enemies and many rebels that fight against the soule by true confession and heartie repentance neuer to be repented of Adiebus Ioannis Baptistae saith Christ Since the time of Iohn Baptist the kingdome of heauen suffers violence Why since the time of Iohn Baptist But onely to shew the vertue of repentance because hee taught repentance and was neuer without a poenitentiam agite in his mouth Repent for the kingdome of God is at hand Repent for the kingdome of heauen is at hand Whence is that of Gregorie Rapiamus fletibus quod non debetur meritis Let vs snatch that by force of teares which is not due to the merits of workes If any bee meeke patient humble penitent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Christ taught in a Sermon vpon the mount theirs is the kingdome of heauen and theirs onely is the kingdome of heauen I know there bee many pretend keyes and would faine leade vs into a fooles paradise by a vaine conceit of their deceitfull merits witnesse that great Clauiger of Rome that vsurpeth all power in heauen and earth as if he alone had the key of Dauid That openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth It is not enough for Christ to loose if hee binde it is not enough for Christ to remit if he retaine it is not enough for Christ to say enter if hee say be gone O the cursed blasphemie of that open sepulchre how doe they spoile God of his naturall right and peculiar iurisdiction And yet they are not the keyes of heauen but of hell which these men keepe abyssi claues as Saint Iohn writes the keyes of that bottomlesse pit where they leade many by the heresie of their doctrine and the impiety of their actions If not by the thunder and lightning of their fierce anathemaes and direfull imprecations It is a pretty story which I read of Pope Leo when he was troubled in conscience and toucht with the remorse for his iniquities his Confessor cheared him vp with a Quid times sancte pater Holy father what makes you affraid Haue not you the keyes of heauen and the merits of Christ at your dispose There is none in the world that hath so great power and command as your selfe O saith Leo know yee not that hee which sells any thing hath no right in that which is sold I feare since wee haue so often sold Christ and his merits we shall haue no right nor interest in them our selues Wretched men that yee are who shall deliuer yee from the body of despaire May we not say to them as Christ did to others in the Gospell Woe be vnto you yee take the keye of knowledge but yee do not enter your selues and such as come yee forbid Woe be vnto you ye take vnto you the keyes of heauen but you do not enter your selues and such as come yee forbid or rather indeed yee bid all that come at your publike Iubilies as base Hucsters of Gods free mercy in the sale and market of Pardons and Indulgences But howsoeuer these men abuse that power against the truth which is giuen for the truth we are sure Christ hath left keyes with his Church Tibi dabo claues was a grant made to the Apostles in the name of Peter and stands good to euery Minister of the Gospell vnder the broad seale of the Crosse To thee will I giue the keyes of heauen They haue all the
videtur in terris The shew and manifestation of his presence is in the earth but the celebritie and declaration of his glory is in the heauens For if the Psalmist would haue a trumpet blowne in the new moone Blow the trumpet in the new moone There is a trumpet of praise and glorie that must sound and bee lifted vp shall I say in the new Moone or rather in the feast of Tabernacles Whilst the Tabernacle of God is with man and to speake in the phrase of Nyssen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not Israel but the Lord of Israel dwelleth in a tent or a booth and is receiued into the darke mansion and earthly Tabernable of humane flesh and mortall corruption Yee haue a president from the Angels though hee were not a Sauiour to them but to vs. For he tooke not the Angels but the seede of Abraham Yet doe they begin the Antiphone and teach vs how to sing Though we may not compare with their knowledge and vnderstanding yet may wee emulate their pietie and deuotion My prayer shall be that which the Apostle vsed in the behalfe of the Romanes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the God of patience and consolation make yee like minded that with one mouth yee may praise God euen the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ saying and singing as it is in my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Glorie to God in the highest on earth peace good will towards men That which I haue read vnto you is a sacred Hymne and diuine Embasie where there is discouered a threefold benefit of our Sauiours incarnation The first is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the loue and good will of him that dwelt in the bush Good will towards men The second 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 peace and reconciliation with God the Father On the earth peace The third is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 honour and glorie and that from the noblest creatures I meane the Angels that dwell in the height and sublimitie of eternall blessednesse Glorie to God in the highest on the earth peace good will towards men But that which ariseth most clearely from this fountaine is a blessing receiued and a blessing returned A blessing receiued and that is peace On the earth peace A blessing returned and that is Glorie Glorie to God on high In the first wee note the Motiue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 diuine loue and spirituall adoption Good will towards men In the second wee note a circumstance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the highest Either locall and so by the highest we vnderstand the heauens Or personall and so by the highest we vnderstand the Angels Glorie be to God on high on the earth peace c. Glorie bee to God on high For the heauens send downe and the clouds drop righteousnesse On the earth peace For saluation and Iustice are come forth it brings them forth together Good will towards men For we are satisfied with the abundance of his louing kindnesse Grace and Mercy compassion and bounty from God the Father and from our Lord Iesus Christ Who so great and eminent that he may not honour God it is the practise of the Angels Glorie to God in the highest Who so powerfull and magnificent that hee should not embrace peace it is the onely blessing on the earth On the earth peace Who so amiable and preualent that hee should not stand by this grace it is the onely stay of life and happinesse Towards men good will O the diuine maiestie of this heauenly Sacrament where hee that is despised of his owne is the attonement for his enemies hee that lyeth among the beasts is the securitie of man hee that cryeth in a stable is magnified in heauen and that by an host of spirituall souldiers saying and singing Glorie to God on high on earth peace good will towards men Yee haue now seene the notes of my song I shall resume them in their order though to vse the words of Iohn I am not worthie to vntie the latchet of his shooe Ligatura calceamenti ligatura mysterij saith Gregorie the latchet of his shooe is the mysterie of his birth For the brightnesse of the Godhead lyeth shadowed and shrouded vnder the veile and couer of his manhood diuinitie in humanitie power in infirmitie maiestie in humilitie immortalitie in frailtie life in death and Christ in the flesh O let not that be wanting in you towards me which abounds in God towards all I meane voluntas bona a good will and beneuolous disposition whilst I begin with my first note 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Glorie to God on high It is well the Angels set glorie before peace For there will be no peace with man if there be not glorie to the Lord it is one of those peculiars which he reserueth to himselfe the first is vengeance and therefore saith Moses Vengeance is mine and I will repay the second power and therefore saith the Euangelist The Lord hath giuen all power to his Sonne the last and chiefest is Glorie and therefore saith Esay I will not giue my glorie to another Indeed the Lord made all things for his glorie and if he be not glorified in their actions hee will bee glorified in their punishment by the seueritie of his iustice This made the Apostle to exclude euery creature from the fellowship hereof To the King euerlasting inuisible immortall and onely wise God bee honour and glory And the Psalmist is distinctly negatiue by a perfect abdication from himselfe and others Not vnto vs not vnto vs but to thy name be the glorie That wee may say vnto her as Ioseph vnto his Mistris My Lord hath committed all things vnto my hand and kept nothing from me but onely thee which art his wife How shall I do so great wickednesse and sinne against my Lord The Lord hath committed all things vnto our hands sent vs his Angels giuen his Sonne powred forth his Spirit multiplyed his graces and kept nothing from vs but this glorie which is espoused to him from euerlasting How shall wee do so great wickednesse as to sinne against the Lord and spoile him of his glorie Yet there is an inward glorie wherein wee may reioyce proceeding from a good conscience The holy Ghost bearing witnesse to our spirits that we are the Sonnes of God For glorie and honour and peace shall bee to euery soule that doth good to the Iew first and also the Grecian Yea and an outward glorie too so it bee limited within the bounds of pietie and charitie I meane the honour of God and the benefit of our neighbour In Deo secundum Deum propter Deum as the learned haue distinguisht First in Deo from God as the Author and fountaine then secundum Deum not after the will of man but after the will of God Last of all Propter Deum to the honour of God and the aduancement of his Gospell O gloriam licitam saith Tertulltan such Philotimie is very iustifiable and worthy of man the
betwixt the flesh and the Spirit the will and the vnderstanding the reason and the affections that all the powers and faculties of soule and body may agree with a sweet Harmony and gracious consent to serue God in true loue and perfect obedience Thus doth our Lord blesse vs with his peace by the wonderfull expiation of our sinnes and trespasses and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vpon the earth for the earth of our hearts that brought forth thornes and briars doth now abound and flourish with the sauing fruit of truth and holinesse whilst euery one cryeth with the Psalmist Praise thy God ô Ierusalem praise thy God ô Sion which maketh safe the barres of thy gates and blesseth thy children within thee which maketh peace thy borders and doth satisfie thee with the flower of wheate All peace is sweet and acceptable without which spoile and rapine as a wild beast out of the forrest surprizes houses families temples cities and not onely deuoures the habitations of the righteous but subuerts and lays wast the greatest Empires mightiest kingdomes as a desart or a wildernesse But the interior peace which keepeth our hearts and minds in the knowledge and loue of God and exceeds the power of humane vnderstanding is the richest iewell that euer was bestowed vpon the earth Like a bed and palate where the Spouse of Christ may rest with ease and pleasure vntill his second comming O how beautifull are the feete vpon the mountaines of those that bring such tidings that speake comfortably to Hierusalem and say to her that her warfare is accomplished and her iniquitie pardoned that shee is iustified by faith and hath peace with God that her righteousnesse is grauen on his fingers and her walls are euer in his sight that hee stands behind the wall of his flesh and hath broken downe the partition wall of her offences That neither height nor depth nor things present nor things to come nor life nor death nor any other creature is able to separate her from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus Were this peace finished where it is begun we should haue a terrestriall Paradise and a heauen vpon earth but that which is imperfect in our trauell shall be perfect in our country that we may esteeme it as a pledge of future glory and not inuert the method of the Angels like those in Bernard who seeke peace in heauen and glory on the earth till they loose both peace and glory For it is peace that is our inheritance on the earth and that which followes her immoueable center as motion heauen is the tranquillity of rest holines Though Christ might haue promised many things to his Disciples and giuen them power ouer kingdomes and nations as well as ouer serpents and scorpions yet all that hee sayes vnto them is In me pacem habituri In mee yee shall haue peace as if this alone were able to counterpoize and weigh downe all the miseries and afflictions and calamities and persecutions and disgraces and reuilings that euer the world might cast vpon them That counsell of Seuerus was good vnto his souldiers In vobis pacem caeteros despicite So ye agree among your selues ye may despise the threats of your enemies and it must needs aduantage true Christians In vobis pacem caeteros despicite haue peace among your selues or rather with God and neuer feare what the Diuell or man can do against you Beware then lest at any time ye forgoe this peace yet if yee will not bee pacifici yet be pacati If ye will not make peace with others yet take peace vnto your selues from God and his Ministers that yee bee not as those against whom the Disciples shooke off the dust of their feete and left them in their wickednesse Seeke this peace loue this peace pray for this peace long for this peace keepe the vnitie of the spirit in the bond of peace that as Christ is knit to vs in the vnitie of person we may be knit to him in the vnitie of profession O my brethren yee are the sonnes of peace and the heires of peace by the gracious visitation of our heauenly Salomon Christ Iesus his cradle his infancy his weaknesse his pouerty his exhibition to sheepeheards ouer their flocks his presentation to Simeon in the midst of the temple are all signes of peace and most infallible tokens of this spirituall tranquillitie Possesse your hearts with peace and your soules with patience peace towards your Maker and peace towards your neighbour Let it rest in your flesh and take sanctuary in the earth of your mortall bodies till yee feele that in your selues which is here published by the Angell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 On the earth peace As for these who haue neither peace with God nor peace with man but awake his beloued out of sleepe and disturbe the quiet of his Church they are worse then vnbeleeuing Iewes or Iewish souldiers for howsoeuer they cast lots for the garment of our Sauiour they would make no diuision of it but these rend and teare I will not say the garment but the body of Christ which is his Church with open strife and scandalous diuision Persecutor non fregit crura Donatus rupit Ecclesiam saith learned Austin the souldiers would not breake the legs of Christ but Donatus teares the Church of Christ As long as his body hung vpon the crosse among theeues and malefactors it remained whole but when it was receiued by Christians it was rent and torne into many parts and sections Beloued I feare they are more inhumane and intractable then Wolues or Tigres or whatsoeuer is of wild or sauage disposition for all creatures though neuer so fierce were gathered in Noahs arke and met together but these extrauagant Separatists will hardly assemble into the Arke of Christs Church or ioyne together in the vnitie of faith and conformitie of Religion If it bee for lacke of knowledge they are to be pittied if it be for lacke of charitie they are to be condemned And so I leaue them to the act and complement of all that hath bene spoken and that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Good will towards men Towards men good will Some haue good will without peace they are infortunate and miserable some haue peace without good will they are perfidious and deceitfull but my Text puts both together On the earth peace good will towards men There be that referre this to God and take it for the eternall loue of diuine complacence which moued him first to the worke of our redemption There be that referre it vnto man and make it a limitation of that which goes before reading 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not peace on earth to men good will but peace on earth to men of good will This is the sence of Austin Bernard Cyprian Ambrose together with the most ancient and learned of the Fathers and may not be refused For howsoeuer
and men of Israel get ye into the holy place the closet of your hearts the secret of your consciences looke vpon the wine that runnes and the hony that streames from the treading of the grape and the opening of the rocke consider the sharpnesse of his death if there were any sorrow like vnto his the sweetnesse of his loue if there were any mercy to be compared with his and let your spirits melt and bleed and distill and bee power'd forth into a sweet ointment and great libution for the merit of his death and the benefit of your redemption Martialls Flie play'd so long vnder a tree that at length it was wrapt in amber and congeal'd in the drops that came from the boughs Sic modo quae fuerat vita contempta manente Funeribus facta est nunc praetiosa suis The best of vs are but wormes let vs not despise to be as this Flie still houering about the tree of the crosse and the ointment of his bloud till wee be wrapped and closed and buried and entombed in the pretious amber of his bleeding wounds and the sacred gum of that tree which growes in the midst of Paradise For if we suffer with him we shall raigne with him and if we bee conformed to the similitude of his death we shall bee transformed to the image of his glory Effundam de spiritu meo saith God the Father I will powre out my Spirit vpon all flesh Effudi de sanguine meo saith God the Sonne I haue powr'd forth my bloud for all flesh See the price of your redemption and the pledge of your saluation by this ye enter the holy place and are assured of that kingdome where neither height nor depth nor things present nor things to come nor life nor death nor any other creature shall bee able to separate vs from the loue of God which is Christ Iesus O Lord enflame this loue in vs and crowne this hope on vs for the bitter death and meritorious passion of thy Sonne and our Sauiour to whom with the Father bee ascribed all honour and glorie power and dominion throughout all generations Amen Sanctorum GLORIA The glory of the Saints GREG. Mor. lib. 6. Quia in hac vita discretio operum erit in illa discretio dignitatum LONDON Printed for ROBERT ALLOT THE FOVRTH SERMON MATH 19. 28. Ye which haue followed me in the regeneration when the Sonne of man shall sit in the throne of his glorie yee shall also sit vpon twelue thrones iudging the twelue tribes of Israel I Know not whether that of Theodosius do sauour more of wisedome or abound more with the sweetnesse of deuotion sure I am it is most pious and Christian Gaudeo magis c. I reioyce more to be a seruant of the liuing God then to be a Monarch of the whole earth For as his yoke is easie and his burthen light so is his protection mightie and his seruice honourable witnesse that of our Sauiour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if any man serue me the Father will do him honour It pleased Satan to vpbraid Iob with a numquid Deum gratis colit Doth Iob serue God for nought We may heare the same and neuer bee ashamed or rather pronounce without question Non colimus Deum gratis we do not serue God for nought Hee is our reward our great reward our exceeding great reward as hee doth encourage Abraham in the 15. of Genesis and therefore let me take vp the eccho of that double voyce Consolamini consolamini be comforted be comforted all ye that labour and trauell vnder the burthen of his crosse bee it father mother wife children house lands or whatsoeuer ye leaue for his names sake ye shall receiue an hundred fold and at length inherit life eternall For we haue a good master and there is ioy in the expectation of the righteous good in his promises good in his threatnings whether hee amend vs with his punishments whether hee strengthen vs with his comforts whether hee adorned vs with his graces whether he crowne vs with his mercies euery way good vnto vs. Not a man of you shall depart from the Court of his tabernacle or the presence of his maiestie without a gladsome heart and a chearefull countenance Whence is that of sweet Bernard Non Isaac sed aries molietur Though we be neuer so much affraid it is not Isaac but the Ram that must bee sacrificed it is not the delight and pleasure of our soules that shall be taken from vs for that indeed is Isaac but it is the obstinacie and contumacie of our spirits that must bee tamed in vs for that indeed is the Ramme that stuck in the bush and is neuer without the prickling thornes of anguish and vexation Do we serue God it is God that serues vs Doe wee honour the Lord it is the Lord that doth honour vs and will do more when my text shall be verified Yee that haue followed me in the regeneration when the Sonne of man shall sit in the throne of his glorie yee shall also sit vpon twelue thrones iudging the twelue tribes of Israel These words are a gracious promise made to the Apostles but extended to the Gentiles and do concerne the whole familie of God for as they exclude Iudas though present when Christ spake by reason of his Apostasie so they include vs though many generations after Christ spake through faith in his mercie Will ye know the substance of the promise They sit and iudge Sit vpon twelue thrones There is the state and maiestie of their wonderfull exaltation Iudge the twelue tribes of Israel There is the eminencie and prerogatiue of their infinite iurisdiction Will ye learne the circumstance of this promise It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the consummation and renouation of the whole world when he that was in the forme of a seruant shall take vpon him the forme of a Iudge and that in a Throne of glorie But vpon what termes haue we so great honour Is it giuen to any without condition No 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They are such as follow him and obserue his doctrine Not all that leaue all but all that follow him Ye that haue followed me in the regeneration when the Sonne of man shall sit vpon a throne of glorie shall also c. Here then we haue first a president of Christian imitation Ye that haue followed me Secondly a reward of blessed enthronization Shall sit vpon twelue thrones and iudge the twelue tribes of Israel Last of all the determinate point and terme of this glorie and perfection it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the renouation and instauration of the whole world when the sonne of man shall declare himselfe to bee the Sonne of God in a throne of glorie Yee that haue followed me in the regeneration when the sonne of man shall sit vpon a throne of glorie yee also shall sit vpon twelue thrones iudging the twelue tribes of Israel My whole