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
as most incorruptible and repugnant rectifie their iudgement and subscribe to that of God They shall discerne betwixt the cleane and the vncleane 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in strife or controuersie they shall stand vp to iudge according to my ordinance Ezech. 44. 24. Beloued wee know the sacred maiestie of legall decrees and monotheticall exercises may bee well preserued when by lawfull authoritie from higher powers it is committed to religious professors And though Aarons rod must euer yeeld to the rod of Moses and bee iudged by it yet may it sometimes bring forth ripe and pleasant Almonds But I touch here as at the riuer Nile and that onely to cleare the text My scope is to support the weaknesse of your patience and long animitie that as yee serue Christ and walke in him so likewise ye would abide his leasure and waite the time of his reward It was a comfortable speech which the Emperour vsed to Galba in his childhood and minoritie when he tooke him by the chinne and said Tu Galba quandoque imperium degustabis Thou Galba shalt one day sit vpon a throne and let it cheare the Saints of God how little soeuer in the sight of the world that one day they shall sit vpon a throne Et tu Galba impertum degustabis thou Galba thou little one thou Iacob thou Israel thou worme Iacob thou poore Israel that sits in the dust with Iob or lyest on thy bed of sicknesse with him that was paraliticall shalt one day sit vpon a throne and bee gathered with Princes with the King of kings and the Lord of lords that raignes ouer the house of Dauid and turneth righteousnesse into iudgement the Carpenters sonne is gone before to make roome as yet the seates are not built nor the thrones erected when he shall fashion the world anew and returne in the clouds of heauen wee shall bee enstalled with him and receiue as it were Stallum in choro vocem in capitulo A seate in the quire and a voyce in the Chapter of that blessed temple the temple of Ierusalem Now he cryes to vs as he did to Mary Noli me tangere touch me not wee may not touch the seueritie of his iudgements nor the maiesty of his greatnesse touch mee not for though I am gone vp to the Father I am not come downe to you in power Then shall yee sit with mee vpon my throne as I sit with my Father vpon his throne vpon my throne for ye shall partake of my iudgements and yet vpon twelue thrones for ye shall haue your seuerall mansions whilst the whole world doth cry with the Antiochians In Theodoret vicit Deus Christus eius The Lord and his Christ hath got the victorie the Lord and his Saints haue got the victorie Be patient therefore and haue nothing to do with the stoole of wickednesse which imagines mischiefe as a law But stand as men waiting for the Bridegroome with your loynes girt and your lampes burning gird your loynes with chastitie and abstinence kindle your lampes with charitie and holinesse Blessed are the seruants whom the Lord shall finde so doing Verily I say vnto you Hee shall gird himselfe and make them sit downe at table with him and come and serue them Luke 12. 37. Euen so Lord Iesu come quickly it is long since thou camest in the flesh and wast made lower then Angels bee not slow to returne in the clouds and approoue thy selfe higher then Angels dost not thou heare the cry of those soules which lye vnder the altar Quousque Domine how long sweet Iesu Such is the voyce of all thy louing seruants that languish and faint with the continuall expectation of thy glorious presence Quousque Domine how long sweet Iesu Wilt thou hide thy selfe for euer and shut vp thy louing kindnesse in euerlasting displeasure Veni Domine Iesu Come Lord Iesu and make no long tarrying Cibus viatorium salus beatorum saith Fulgentius as thou hast bene the strength and comfort of all that trauell by the way so be the crowne and glorie of all that are come to the end of their way The Prophets desired to see thy comming vpon the earth to the end they might be redeemed Wee looke for thy appearing in the heauens to the end wee may bee glorified Tunc implebuntur vota saith elegant Bernard then shall our longing bee satisfied and our desires accomplished wee that haue followed thee in truth shall rest with thee in peace and wee that rest with thee in peace shall iudge with thee in righteousnesse this peace this truth this righteousnesse this glorie the Lord of his great mercie grant vnto vs for the merit of his Sonne Christ Iesus To whom with the Father and the Spirit bee praise and glorie from generation to generation Amen COELVM APERTVM THE Opening of Paradise HIERON in Epist Nihil Christiano foelicius cui promittitur regnum coelorum LONDON Printed for ROBERT ALLOT THE FIFTH SERMON MATH 25. 21. Enter into thy masters ioy THe best men are but Gods stewards and as it were dispensers of his manifold graces Whatsoeuer vertues wee haue they are pledges of his loue and gifts of his spirit or rather as it is implyed in the series of this parable talents and deposites of our Lord and master Paul and Dauid agree in one that when hee went on high hee bestowed gifts vpon men and there is none but may professe with Iohn the Euangelist De plenitudine eius of his fulnesse haue we all receiued some strength some vertue some wisedome some knowledge some power some eloquence some faith some holinesse some tongues some healings some prophesies some miracles for the honour of God the beautie of the world the gathering of the Saints the building of the Church the perfecting of our liues the crowning of our soules in the day of our Lord Iesus So that we may not bury our talent in the ground or hide it in a napkin with that vnprofitable seruant lest we be like the Iewes of whom Austin spake Verba non facta legis habuerunt They kept the words of the Law they neglected the works of the Law full of leaues void of fruit worthy to bee excluded the kingdome of heauen and exiled from the presence of God with those foolish Virgines For he is as the text notes a hard man That reapeth where hee soweth not and gathereth where hee stroweth not Though he forbid vs to put our money to vse yet doth hee charge vs to giue his into the banke that when he comes he may receiue it with increase being as Saint Ambrose notes Foenerator gratiae A great vsurer and a wonderfull extortioner not of things temporall as gold and siluer but of things spirituall as faith and holinesse the like endowments lent vs for the good of others Whence is that of a learned Father Augentur dona crescit ratio The larger our gifts the greater our account Hee that gaue vs a blessing will call
the sea as on drie land couer him all the day long and paue the waters with thy safetie as the hils are about Hierusalem so let thy Angels stand about his person bind vp all the winds saue onely Zephyrus and let none bee found at his returne Praeter Iapyga I meane the sweet gate of that Spirit which moued first vpon the waters make the sterne of his ship as the arke of thy resting place and let that heauenly power which came in the similitude of a Doue stand as an Eagle on the top of his mast whilst all the world doth praise God from the ground of the heart and say Blessed is he that enlargeth God blessed is he that enlargeth Israel As for those which make it their honour to suffer with Christ and to ride on in the course of spirituall warfare that so they may aduance the word of truth and of meekenesse and of righteousnesse what can they expect but that God the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ should blesse them with all their spirituall gifts of heauenly things in Christ and make them as Ephraim and Manasses the one signifies encrease the other forgetfulnesse till they grow in the fauour of God and forget the troubles of this miserable life they haue Christ and his fortune nay Christ and his saluation and must needs haue good lucke from the Author and fountaine of ioy and happinesse Ride on then I beseech you toward the price of your heauenly calling and remember that of Bernard Incipit deficere qui desinit proficere Hee begins to faile that leaues to profit let nothing stay your progresse vpon the scale of Iacob from the loue of Christ to the knowledge of Christ from the knowledge of Christ to the imitation of Christ from the imitation of Christ to that similitude and conformitie which is promised with him in glorie In Bethlem vilescit in Nazareth ditescit in Bethlem he is poore and little in Nazareth he is greene and flourishing but Hierusalem is the place of ioy and comfort Hierusalem that is aboue Hierusalem that is the mother of vs all there we must seeke him till wee be perfect and receiue that ioyfull inuitation in the Gospell Venite benedicti Come ye blessed of the Father and receiue a kingdome prouided for you from the foundation of the world receiue a kingdome that is your honour Come ye blessed that 's your good lucke such honour such good lucke haue all that heare mee this day euen for Iesus Christ his sake to whom with the Father and the Spirit be honor and glory power and maiestie through all eternitie Amen MVNDI PRECIVM The vvorlds ransome BERN. de Pass Per torcular crucis ad cellaria regis itur LONDON Printed for ROBERT ALLOT THE THIRD SERMON HEBR. 9. 12. By his owne bloud did he once enter the holy place hauing obtained an euerlasting redemption for vs. VNction is sacred and neuer vsed but to Kings or to Priests Christ was both and therefore a Christ indeed the annointed of the Lord and the Lords annointed annointed with the holy Ghost and with power annointed as a King and fought himselfe for vs annointed as a Priest and gaue himselfe for vs the combat with Saran the oblation to the Father who sware and will not repent Thou art a Priest for euer after the order of Melchisedech I might resemble the Priesthood of Christ to that of Aaron were there not dissimilitudes and antitheses as well as similitudes and conueniences both had their temple that earthly this heauenly both were to make entry hee often Christ once both came with bloud he of bulls and of goats Christ of his owne most deare and pretious both sought redemption he temporall to be renewed Christ eternall and consummate not for himselfe but for others All which the Apostle doth insinuate in this briefe Synopsis By his owne bloud entred he once the holy place hauing obtained an euerlasting redemption for vs. What then do wee obserue in the words of my text but a ioyfull procession and miraculous penetration of our high Priest into the holy of holies Those inward chambers of vnapproachable light and vnspeakable glorie where you must first note the way or passage It is bloud Secondly the benefit or aduantage It is redemption The bloud his The redemption ours The bloud once shed The redemption for euer purchased By his owne bloud entred he once the holy place hauing obtained an euerlasting redemption for vs. By his owne bloud there is the expiation and satisfaction of our iniquities Did hee enter the holy place there is the eleuation and prerogatiue of Christ Iesus Hauing obtained an euerlasting redemption for vs there is the saluation and libertie both of our soules and bodies from the power of darknesse and the hand of the enemie When Hannibal passed the Alpes he made his way with vineger Et montes rupit aceto as the Poet hath obserued though our Sauiours cup were mingled with gall and vineger yet was it not enough his side must be opened his most pretious heart bloud must be spilt that he may transcēd those heauenly Alpes and make way for our redemption Whence is that of Bernard Sanguis Domini clauis Paradisi The bloud of Christ is the key of Paradise Neither may he lift vp the head vnlesse hee taste of the brooke How shall the corne be laid in the garner before it bee threshed on the floore there is no entring into the wineseller of the King but through the wine presse of the crosse Will you see the grape the sweete grape brused and trod by the foote of pride and the malice of the aduersarie He enters by his bloud Will you see the wine the pleasant wine streame and flow to the saftie of men and the ioy of Angels There is redemption for vs. By his owne bloud entred he once the holy place hauing obtained an euerlasting redemption for vs. I haue now opened the veine of my text as it were and let it bloud ô let not one drop fall to the ground but water your soules with ioy and gladnes it is the sweetest oyle and purest balme that I can poure into your vessels as honie from the rocke And so I begin with the words in order 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By his owne bloud As the naturall life of man stands in the bloud of his flesh so doth the spirituall life of the Church stand in the bloud of Christ If that had not beene shed wee had all perished notwithstanding the yearely and the monthly and the daily and the hourely sacrifices of that Leuiticall Priesthood I will not trouble you with their seuerall kinds whether Hilasticall of peace and reconciliation for sins committed or Eucharisticall of thankfulnesse and gratulation for benefits receiued Sure I am they were types and resemblances hauing their vertue and acceptance from the bloud of Christ which speaketh better things then all the bulls and the goats the rammes and the calues
aspect of that face which the Angels desire to behold and that continually Whereupon saith Dauid Letificabis nos in lumine vultus tui Thou shalt make vs glad with the ioy of thy countenance And this is it which is termed Domini gaudium our masters ioy For indeed wee are all seruants of one master King and Priest sheepheard and flocke Prophet and Disciple Magistrate and subiect which made that great Emperour Constantine neuer writ to any Christian though neuer so meane but with this direction as Eusebius noteth ad fratrem conseruum to his brother and fellow seruant Worthy to bee obserued by such as are Grandes and Demigods vpon earth lest at any time they despise the humilitie of others low condition But I would not haue the name of master take vs from the ioy of our master that is it I would imprint into you that you may be receiued into it O that your hearts were fixt vpon it and that ye would seeke after the fountaine of eternall happinesse Then would yee fly your selues and abandon the corruption of humane infirmitie like that good man in Nazianzene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that would not suffer the nobilitie of his soule to bee depraued with carnall filthines How doth it come to passe that so many are caught with vanitie led with curiositie taken with desire inflamed with pleasure wract with enuie defiled with luxurie poysoned with malice enraged with furie stung with serpents haunted with maladies troubled with cares vexed with heauinesse drowned and plunged in the sea and gulfe of inextricable miseries but onely for neglect of this ioy because they do not looke after their masters ioy and sing with the blessed Virgine My soule doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit hath reioyced in God my Sauiour God forbid we should forbid any to reioyce the Text perswades it the Lord commands it and my heart is enlarged towards you with ioy and gladnesse Laetemur iugiter modo innocentèr Let vs reioyce daily so it be without hurt in the Lord in our master Wee haue iust cause to feare that many preferre the ioy of the world before the ioy of the master mutable vanitie before true felicitie And yet let me do them no wrong they are very desirous of their masters ioy but who is their master Is not pride or couetousnesse or violence or extortion or some domineering habit of malitious wickednesse Lust calls to one and sayes I am thy master Reuenge to another and sayes I am thy master seuerall vices to seuerall humours with the like claime of subiection and obedience So that where God hath many seruants created vnto good workes the Diuell hath as many pensioners sold vnto euill workes Base slaues mercenary hirelings if not for pleasure at least for profit they come into the diuels ioy his baites and his contentments the Diuell comes into their ioy their soules and their consciences into some by a pot into others by a sop as hee did that accursed miscreant and Apostate Iudas but wee hope better things of you and such as doe accompanie saluation For mee thinkes yee are come alreadie into your masters ioy the Tabernacles of God the Courts of his Sanctuarie Where yee serue him with gladnesse and come before his presence with a song For if there were ioy in heauen for one sinner that repenteth what ioy shall there bee with the Lord of heauen for so many Christians that mooue toward his Courts and fly as the Doues to their windowes O how beautifull are your feete how aimiable are your doings How is the Lord pleased with your sacrifices and oblations whilst yee come from the East and stand in the gates of the daughter of Sion and open your treasure and present the Lord with the riches of your substance euen gold and myrhe and frankincense For this it is that hee doth open his bosome and stretch forth his armes and lift vp his voyce and extend the golden scepter of his louing kindnesse to the end yee may come to his royall Pallace saying to vs as the King did to Hester What is thy petition and what is thy request it shall be giuen thee to the halfe of my kingdome Come with mee from Lebanon euen with mee from Lebanon or rather as it is in my Text Intra in gaudium Domini tui Enter into thy masters ioy O let not the ioy of man draw vs from the ioy of God O let not the ioy of the creature draw vs from the ioy of the Creator O let not the ioy of the left hand draw vs from the ioy of the right hand O let not the ioy of things visible and temporall draw vs from the ioy of things inuisible and eternall Could the ioyfull sound of Amphions harpe raise stones to the fencing of Thebes And shall not the ioyfull cry of our Sauiours Spirit draw vs to the building of that heauenly Ierusalem Audite vocantem quia exaudit inuocantem saith Austin be not slow to here the Lord when hee calls vnto you because he is ready to heare you when you call vpon him Yee see the power of your vocation yee are called by our Sauiour yee see the nature of your inheritance it is ioy and gladnesse yee see the benefit of your seruice it is the ioy of your Lord and master as the Romanes painted the Graces so hath God planted his children Semper gaudentes semper ridentes they were euer laughing and these are euer lauding lauding and praising and singing and reioycing with ioy vnspeakable and glorious My prayer shall be with Moses Si inueni gratiam if I haue found grace in thy sight shew vs thy way if wee haue found grace in thy sight shew vs thy selfe and shew vs thy glorie bring vs vnto thy rest and take vs into thy ioy that Israel may bee truly Israel and see God that Israel may bee glad in him that made him and Sion may bee ioyfull in her King euen Iesus Christ thine onely ioy and our onely Sauiour to whom with the Father and the Spirit three persons and one God bee ascribed all power maiestie and dominion this day and for euer Amen Angelorum ANTIPHONIA The Angels Antheme BERN. Cant. Ser. 13. Tibi Domine gloria maneat illibata mecum bene agitur si pacem habuero LONDON Printed for ROBERT ALLOT THE SIXTH SERMON LVKE 2. 14. Glorie bee to God in the highest on earth peace good will towards men WHat Iob prophesied time hath verified that when the corner stone was layd the sonnes of God reioyced and the starres of the morning praised him together Christ our Sauiour is the stone of the corner that lyeth in the foundation of his Church the starres of the morning are the glorious Angels and Citizens of heauen that shine as Iasper about the throne of God and cry Hosanna in the highest Blessed is hee that cometh in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest whereupon saith Ambrose Laudatur in coelis
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
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
power made vs the power of his God-head his weakenesse saued vs the weakenesse of his manhood Therefore may he iustly set his marke vpon vs yet is it not the rubie or the chrysolite or the saphir or the diamond or any other pretious stone that he would stocke and graft in vs but himselfe the image of himselfe more deare and precious then all the world beside O that we did esteeme him as a rich pearle or iewell of great price and incomparable value and not onely so but in this imitate Cleopatra put him into our draft and traiect him into our bowels with the hunger and thirst of righteousnesse We know the zeale of that Theban Captaine when being brought into the campe halfe dead he asked whether his shield were taken by the enemie as if nothing else were to be regarded and when he found it safe he began to kisse it and reuiue againe Such ought to be our zeale toward Christ the shield of our defence and the seale of our redemption What is the Church but as a garden What are we but as spirituall Bees O let vs sucke the flowers and draw the sweetnesse and neuer rest till we haue made a hiue of our soules and bodies that our hearts may be as waxe softened and mollified for the impression of this seale and nothing but this I meane Christ Iesus and him crucified The place he chuseth for himselfe is the heart by faith and confidence the arme by loue and charitable operations and that as a seale or a signet for esteeme and dignity Let me therefore once more beseech you that you would all be keepers of this seale without which nothing is to bee held but chiefly the house of Aaron and the Tribe of Leuie whether God hath placed vs as the signet of his arme iudge you there is peace within our walls and plenteousnesse within our palaces we sit vnder our vines and our figtrees and there is none to make vs affraid our sonnes grow vp as young plants and our daughters as the polisht corners of the Temple our garners abound and are full of all manner of store our sheepe bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our folds our oxen are strong to labour and there is no decay no leading captiue no complaining in our streets Thus hath he put vs as the seale of his heart and as the signet of his arme by the care of his loue and the tendernesse of his affection Not to do the like with him and to answer loue by loue were great inhumanity wonderfull impietie he doth not so with other Nations he rather maketh them as a marke to shoote at in the fiercenesse of his displeasure but let vs neuer forget his abundant louing kindnesse crying with Saint Bernard Sufficit amor Christi the loue of Christ sufficeth in him alone we are rich and haue enough he is very sweet and delectable the rest of our labour the stay of our pilgrimage the comfort of our heauines the pledge of blessednesse That as now we are as the seale of his left hand by temporall fauours so hereafter we may be as the seale of his right hand by his euerlasting mercies Which the Lord grant for the merits of his Sonne to whom with the Spirit three persons and one God be honour and glorie power and maiestie this day and for euer Amen Triumphus CHRISTI Christs Triumph AVG. Ser. de Temp. Didicit coelum portare hominem sub pedibus Christi famulantia aethera iacuerunt THE SECOND SERMON PSAL. 45. 5. Good lucke haue thou with thine honour ride on for the word of truth and meekenesse and righteousnesse CHrist is the end of the Law saith the Apostle yea and of the figures and of the Ceremonies towards him they all looke from him they receiue their accomplishment and perfection He is the Moses that shewes vs the true God and teacheth vs his Law He is the Ioshua that destroyeth our enemies and brings vs vnto Canaan He the Dauid that smote Goliah He the Solomon that built a temple a temple I say not made with hands but eternall in the heauens Where then shall I go for the meaning of these words but to that vniuersall center of euery line within this sacred volume Non recedamus à lapide angulari saith Austin There is no departing from the corner stone vnlesse we meane to loose our way Christ is the landmark and boundary of this and other prophesies what though Dauid write vnto the King or speake of his sonne It is the beloued Sonne of God that lyeth in the bosome of the Father that is the subiect of his prediction Thus doth one wheele run within another as in the vision of Ezechiel Christ in Solomon and grace in Christ for what the Apostles saw in the flesh the Prophets behold in the spirit and if euer Dauid were the pen of another mooued by the holy Ghost and set a worke by the finger of that eternall Maiestie to write and speake not after the will of man but after the will of God it is now whilst vnder the shadow of termes indefinit he proclaimes honour and felicitie with the flourishing increase of triumphant exaltation to the Lord and to his annointed and that for his words sake that Euangelicall word the word of the Gospell Good lucke haue thou with thine honour ride on for the word of truth and of meeknesse and of righteousnesse Referre my Text to Solomon you haue a bene diction referre it vnto Christ you haue a prediction it wisheth well to Solomon and there it is Oratio it speaketh well of Christ and there it is Oraculum Not shewing what he would haue done but what should be done by the rod of his power and the scepter of his Dominion Good lucke haue thou with thine honour What then do you obserue in the land-scope of these words But the dew of Hermon lying vpon the hill of Sion honour attended with felicitie the promise of felicitie as the dew of Hermon the sublimitie of honour as the hill of Sion Good lucke haue thou with thine honour Or rather if you please a golden branch on the top of Libanus the flower and the leafe thereof is honour the fruite and sweetnesse is felicitie Good lucke haue thou with thine honour The expansion and stretching forth is encrease Ride on with thine honour The roote and body is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word of truth Good lucke haue thou with thine honour ride on for the word of truth and of meeknesse and of righteousnesse O the blessed foundation whereon the Apostle builds gold and siluer and precious stones honour and felicitie with the ioyfull succession of victorious power and royall soueraignty It is a word of truth and confirmes his promises it is a word of meekenesse and prayeth for his enemies it is a word of righteousnesse and iustifies his seruants Hee was crowned with honour in the worke of our redemption he was aduanced to ride
candle in a darke place did not Paul so and the holy men of old I could leade you to that noble armie of heauenly Martyrs that wash their garments in the bloud of the Lambe and now stand about the throne of God with crownes on their heads and palmes in their hands Though I know the encounter of my text is not outward and temporall but inward and spirituall Yet let mee call to mind one exploit for the word of truth when these generous Argonauts were transported to the Citie of the great King for the honour of God and the libertie of his seruants France Germanie Denmarke Italie with this our mother Iland sent forth their strength and were mooued with zeale towards the house of God and the place of his Sanctuarie The greatest Princes and most heroicall worthies of this European clime engaged their liues their persons their honors their fortunes to redeeme Sion to recouer Ierusalem from the miserable bondage of Turkish slauerie Beloued the remembrance hereof is as fire within my bones and I must needs recount with exceeding ioy and exultancie of spirit how they rode on for the word of truth as the Knights of Rhodes or of Malta till their right hand shewed them terrible things and neuer left before they had hewne the enemies of God in peeces and crowned themselues with honour and renowne The stars from heauen in their order fought against that man of sinne and euery Christian tooke vp that song of Deborah Thou hast marched valiantly ô my soule thou hast marched valiantly the Lord grant that we may still preuaile against Amalek by the inuiolable faith of Christian Princes that keepe the vnitie of the spirit in the bond of peace and ride on daily for the word of truth and of meeknesse and of righteousnesse For its sake and by its power for it is the onely prop that beares vp the thrones of Princes and makes their crownes flourish Ferrum tuetur Principes melius fides The munition of armes doth well the armes of faith doe better Whereupon said Nestorius the Bishop to Theodosius the Emperour in the seauenth booke of Socrates Tuin profligandis c. Do thou see Gentilisme and impietie do not annoy the Church and wee will see violence and hostilitie do not hurt thee agreeable to that of Solomon mercie and truth preserue the King and his throne is establish by iustice I will not argue the translation yet let me tell you the originall is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not for the word of truth and of meekenesse and of righteousnesse but for the word of truth and the meekenes of righteousnesse for the word of truth there is the Law for the meeknesse of righteousnesse there is the Gospell The one as the Court of Iustice the other as the Court of Chancery that qualifies and mittigates the rigor of the former yet what is the word of truth but the word of Christ Hee is truth and in him are the figures verified what is the meeknesse of righteousnesse but the meeknesse of Christ He is righteousnesse and in him we are all iustified though he be true and iust it is not without the spirit of clemencie and of meeknesse that ye know is inseparable from a Lambe and must needs adhere to the Lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world If hee that walkt in the midst of the golden candlestickes had eyes like fire the head and the haire were as snow or as wooll It was not wine alone nor oyle alone which that good Samaritane poured into the hurt of the wounded neither was God in the fire nor in the earthquake nor in the wind that brake the rocks and tare the mountaines but in the still and soft voyce which is more powerfull then all the force of Periclean lightning and Pannicall execrations I remember in Plutarch a conspiracie betweene the Winde and the Sunne which should take away the trauellers cloake first the winde blowes cold and sharpe and makes him gather it close and hold it faster at length the Sunne pierceth with the subtle heate of his melting beames This makes him cast away both cloake and coate So that is often done by the mild insinuation of loue and gentlenesse which the blustering winds of terrible threats can neuer bring to passe How then do they recede from conformitie with our Sauiour in life and doctrine that speake stones and haue words as sharpe as arrowes that euer stand on the top of mount Horeb and breath nothing but thunder and lightning iudgement without mercie to their afflicted brethren well may they haue the word of truth they haue not the meeknes of righteousnes yet the Prophet ioynes them both Christ rides on for both and with both for we are not come to the mount that might not be toucht nor to the blacknesse and darknesse of a tempest where Moses said I feare I quake but to mount Sion the Citie of the liuing God and to that coelestiall Ierusalem and to God the Iudge of all and to the spirits of iust and perfect men and to Christ the mediator that rideth on for the word of truth and of meeknesse and of righteousnesse I haue done with Christ the substance I come to Solomon the type and yet what Solomon haue wee to mention saue onely the sonne of Dauid and the heire of peace that is gone forth and rides on full of glorie and honour that he may spread the truth of Christ as farre as the name of Christ beyond the pillars of Hercules and heale those waters of Ierico as with the salt of his most gracious spirit and incontaminate holinesse enuying the glorie of Iouinian Qui exercitum paganum fecit Christianum that made such Romans very good Christians as hee found heathenish and giuen to Idols Sure I am it is vpon the word of truth and of meeknesse and of power and of righteousnesse that sacred chariot I will not say of cardinall but heroicall and Princely vertues for they are the wings and the horses that aduance and lift him vp aboue his fellowes how can wee choose but wish him good lucke and send our prayers after him Good lucke haue thou with thine honour ride on for the word of truth and of meeknesse and of righteousnesse there is little Beniamin their Ruler the Princes of Iudah the Princes of Zabulon Good lucke haue ye with your honor c. O ye heauens resolue into showers and melt ye waters aboue the heauens into a dew of coelestiall benedictions crowne him with the blessings of Iacob and let all the gifts of the Patriarches descend on the top of him that was separated from his brethren from the vtmost bounds of these euerlasting mountaines say to him as to Zabulon reioyce in thy way as to Isachar reioyce in thy tents let him sucke the abundance of the sea and giue him the treasures that lie hid in the sands ô thou which sittest aboue the water-floud and treadest on
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
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
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
in this honour it is thou onely which hast the glorie And that in altissimis and ab altissimis First in the highest for the heauens declare the glory and are the stage and theater of thine euerlasting power and triumphant maiesty secondly of the highest For the Angels praise thee and the Saints giue thankes vnto thee the heauens and all the powers therein continually do cry Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabboth heauen and earth are full of thy glory thy praise is their ioy thy honour their comfort thy celebritie their felicitie by whose power they are made by whose wisedome they are illuminated by whose grace they stand fast and shall neuer bee remooued Whence is that of Dauid Beati qui habitant Blessed are they which dwell in thy house they will euer bee praising thee Though I could assigne many reasons of this glory from the Angels as the excellent dignitie of their wonderfull creation for they beare the signiture of God in their nature the continuall fruition of diuine sweetnesse for they tast and drinke thereof as from a riuer the sure confirmation of their eternall blessednesse for they are setled and established by the incarnation of our Sauiour Yet that which fills their hearts with praise and their tongue with ioy is their instauration of their decay because thou hast built vp the walls of Ierusalem and made vp their breach by the saluation of man and the redemption of our nature The walls of Ierusalem are the companies of Angels which are built vp and made compleat by reducing man to the state of their perfection Therefore do they reioyce and sing therefore do they cry aloud vpon their beds and to vse the words of Cyprian Gratulabundi praedicant they magnifie the riches of Gods mercy with exceeding ioy and wonderfull gratulation O my brethren and yee whom I tender as mine owne bowels in the Lord. What a motiue is this to Christian loue and perfect charitie Shall the Angels praise God for vs and shall not we praise the Lord for our selues Shall an armie of spirituall souldiers triumph in the redemption of man and shall not wee reioyce in our owne saluation and the miraculous deliuerance of our brethren True deuotion is full of compassion and the Saints of God do not onely suffer together but reioyce together with Hymnes and Psalmes of spirituall melody singing to the Lord with grace in their hearts Whence are they termed filiae Iudah daughters of Iudah and filiae confessionis daughters of confession as learned Austin makes the exposition such as praise God and offer the sacrifice of thankfulnesse for his loue to man and his blessings out of Sion Tell mee then what spirit they are of that call to heauen for vengeance and would haue the Lord send downe fire vpon their enemies that delight in the ruine and destruction of their brethren yea machinate the subuersion of States and Kingdomes with the diuellish practises of most hellish inuentions That curse where the Lord doth blesse and cry against the highest powers as the Romane legions against Iouian the Emperour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou hast escaped the edge of the sword and the furie of battell would God thy flesh had beene giuen to the fowles of the aire and the dogs had licked thy bloud as the bloud of Iezabell by the wall of Iezrael well may they resemble Abaddon and Apolluon the Diuell and his angels they are most repugnant to God his Angels For their song is of glory peace yea and of glory for peace and that with man vpon the earth which is the second note of this Hymne and desires continuance of your deuotion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 On the earth peace Though glory belong to heauen and peace to the earth yet was there a time when neither was to be found Man had prouoked God to anger and taken away our peace translated the worship of God to Idols and depriued him of his glory but now they are both in their naturall seate and the comming of our Sauiour is like the returne of that Doue into the Arke with the gracious branch of peace of mercy When Ionah was cast into the sea the storme ceast and there was a great calme when the Lord brought his first begotten into the world the troubles were abated there was a great peace throughout the whole earth Fluuius pacis as Esay writeth A floud of peace for a sea of misery and that which before was a place of exile and banishment is now the Tabernacle of rest and quiet where the Lord hath extended peace and safetie and righteousnesse and glorie as a flowing streame For that which hee taught as an Oracle in his life and bequeathed as a legacie at his death I meane the sweetnesse of peace and the aboundance of holinesse was now begun in the time of his birth and set as a pearle on the top and crowne of his blessed incarnation whence is hee termed a King of peace our heauenly Salomon yea our very peace that made both one and set at peace through the bloud of his crosse the things on earth and the things in heauen How can wee choose but rest in peace now the Lord is come who is to the whole earth as Apollo was to Delos that hee may settle and stablish it with an euerlasting quietnesse But Luke and Mathew are at variance and there is warre betwixt the words of my Text and that of the Gospell Thinke yee that I am come to send peace into the world I came not to send peace but a sword what a sword and yet peace Fire and yet peace warre and yet peace these things are incompatible and as the Poet notes Frontibus aduersis pugnantia Yet may they bee reconciled and stand together The sword of the spirit with the peace of conscience the fire of loue with the peace of religion war against Satan and his angels with peace towards God and his Angels For as the naturall body is framed of contrary elements so diuerse qualities may perfect the mysticall body of Christ Iesus And though we do not striue against flesh and bloud yet do we against the Prince of this world and against spirituall wickednesses in the highest places whence is that of Bernard Inter Babilonem Hierusalem pax nulla betwixt Babilon Hierusalem there is no peace Satan is the King of Babylon Christ of Hierusalem which he defends with cōtinuall resistances though he be not the God of confusion but of order in all the Churches of the Saints What then is the peace of my Text but sacred and diuine such as Christ wisheth to the Apostles and the Apostles to the elect in their generall salutations Peace with God for we are reconciled to the Father Peace with Angels for they reioyce in our conuersion Peace with men for they shall bee gathered into one flocke Peace with the creature for it shall be in league with vs Peace with our owne selues