weak to convey Christ and all his graces unto us but it is the Ordinance of Christ that appointed them for this end and hath promised that how weak soever they seem to be yet if we believe his words and prepare our selves to receive them as we ought to do we shall find them to be sufficient instruments to convey Christ and all his benefits unto us even as here the looking on a Serpent of brass was sufficient to preserve this people from the poyson of the fiery Serpents onely because God had appointed it and promised it should be so And therefore we must not prize things by the outward shew as Naaman did the waters of Jordan but we ought to consider the will and commandment of God that appointed and decreed such and such things to be done and hath promised that we shall receive such and such graces by them as the poor blind man to receive his sight by washing his eyes in the pool of Siloah John 9.7 and we to receive the body and bloud of Christ under the consecrated Elements of bread and wine And so much for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sicut the lifting up of the Serpent in the Wilderness Now followeth the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sic the lifting up of the Son of man which was typified and figured by the lifting up of that Serpent For 2. It is apparent that when God 2 The mystery which was the lifting up or crucifying of Jesus Christ which could by a thousand other means have cured this Serpent-bitten people commanded the same to be done by having a brazen Serpent upon a pole to be looked on had a singular consideration of some deep mystery that should be understood and was shadowed out hereby and now our Saviour taketh away the veil The resemblances betwixt the making of this Serpent and the manhood of Christ and explaineth the same to Nicodemus and sheweth unto him that this Serpent whose erection he being a great Doctor of the Law could not be ignorant of was a Type and a Figure of himself and did most excellently represent all the parts of the mysterie of his Incarnation As 1. The purity and sanctity of his assumption of our flesh Resem ∣ blance 1 For as the Serpent of brass was no Serpent indeed and therefore had no poyson in it Isai 53.12 1 Pet. 2.22 so our Saviour Christ though he appeared like a sinfull man and was numbred among the wicked yet in very deed he did no sin neither was there any guile found in his mouth for though he assumed the true flesh and the whole nature of man yet he assumed not the sin of man Ambros de Spiritu sanct l. 3 c. 9. and the vitiosity of his nature but as Saint Ambrose saith In veritate quidem corporis sed sine veritate peccati suscepit Dominus speciem peccatoris in the verity of a body but without the verity of sin the Lord took upon him the shape of a sinner Rom. 8.3 and therefore S. Paul saith that God sent his Son not in sinfull flesh but in the similitude of sinfull flesh Where you must observe saith Cassianus that Similitudo non ad carnis veritatem sed ad peccati imaginem referenda est the word Similitude is to be referred Cassian Collat. 22. c. 2. not to the flesh which was true but to the word Sinfull which the flesh seemed to be but was not Resem ∣ blance 2 2. This Serpent is a true Type of the manner of his Incarnation and Conception in the womb of his mother for this Serpent was not made of Iron or Wood or Stone which may be wrought into a form with a Hammer or Chezil and is made successively by parts one after another as any Image made in Wood or Stone must be done but this Image was made of Brass which before it can be cast into any form must be molten in the fire that purgeth it from all dross and the mould of any shape or figure being fitly prepared you need no more but pour the melted Brass into the mould and in a moment you have a perfect Image with all parts So the body of our blessed Saviour was begotten as the Greek Father saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not by the ordinary way of procreation as the carnal effusion of the seminal humour but by the power and operation of the Holy Ghost who framed this blessed Body Non de substantia sua What the Holy Ghost did in framing the manhood of Christ not of his own substance for so he should have begotten it a Spirit and a God Quia omne generans generat sibi simile but as S. Augustine saith Per potentiam jussionem benedictionem Spiritus sancti by the power command and blessing of the Holy Ghost who 1. As the fire purgeth all dross from the Brass 1. Purifie it as the fire doth the brass so did he prepare and sanctifie the bloud and seed of the blessed Virgin whereof the body of Christ was to be composed that it might be made a fit subject for the eternal Word to be united to it And 2. As the Brass melted in the fire 2. Perfect it in an instant as the molton brass did the Serpent is no sooner poured into the Mould but presently the perfect shape and figure of Man Beast Serpent or any thing that the Mould is made for is produced so though in ordinary generation first the Liver then the Heart and then the Brain are fashioned and so the other parts one after another and all not fully compleated till at least the fourtieth day yet the Holy-Ghost compleated the Body of Christ at the very instant of his conception perfectly quoad perfectionem partium non graduum in respect of all parts and indued the same with a reasonable Soul at the same instant of his conception which is not in other generations until the fourtieth day And so Christ from his first Conception was perfect God and perfect Man of a reasonable soul and humane flesh subsisting which is the true Catholick Faith and the Orthodoxal Doctrine of the antient Fathers and of the Primitive Church as it appeareth out of Saint Hierom in cap. 2. Jer. Athanaes in lib. de Incarnat verb. St. Aug. in cap. 18. de fide ad Petr. Damasc lib. 3. cap. 2. de Orthod fide St. Bern. in Hom. 2. sup Missus est and many more 3. The lifting up of the Serpent and fastening it to a long Resem ∣ blance 3 pole on high that the whole host of Israel might look up to it and looking on it might be healed from the poyson of the fiery Serpents was a Type that foreshewed the fastening of Christ upon the Cross to suffer death for our redemption that all men whosoever would might look on him with the eys of Faith and so be cured from the sting of the old Serpent the Devil and as
these wonderful Beasts in my Text repeat this Attribute three several times saying Holy holy holy Lord God almighty which we do not read of any other Attribute of God the Spirit of God to whom this Attribute is specially appropriated by the name of the Holy Ghost having a special regard to preserve this Attribute of all his Attributes inviolable because he foresaw that through the malice of Satan against God and the froward disposition of corrupt men this Attribute of all Gods Attributes should be most of all contradicted murmured against and traduced as if God were not so pure just upright and holy Especially 1. In the election of his Servants 2. In the distribution of his Graces 3. In the remuneration of our Deserts For 1. If he hath created the wicked for the day of wrath Proverb 16 4. Job 21.30 and for this cause hath raised up Pharaoh and hardened his heart to make his power known and hath from all eternity by his irrespective Decree before the Children had done either good or evil loved Jacob and hated Esau and determined the preterition of those whom he reprobateth How can the Reprobates otherwise choose but walk in the paths that leads them to destruction when the Apostle tells us plainly It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy and God by his unchangeable purpose to pass by them and to deny that mercy unto them whereby they should will to answer when he calleth and to lay hold of his Grace when he offereth it How can he be so holy so pure and so free from accepting of persons and of being some wayes the Author of the damnation of all Reprobates that as he saith of Pharaoh both his Justice and his power might be known To those rigid Presbyterians that make this indirect Objection to the great dishonour of God and the wounding of his chiefest Attribute we say That although God hath Jus absolutum in Creaturas an absolute power over all his Creatures so that he may do with them what he will Rom. 9.13 Even as the Potter hath power over the clay to make a vessel either to honour or dishonour as the Apostle speaketh Yet because it seemeth to be cruelty to make a Creature purposely for his own pleasure to be miserable and especially eternally miserable God doth not use this his power nor Preparare filios ad patibulum Sap. 1.13 14.6 for he made not Death neither temporal nor eternal but he made all things that they might have their Being and he takes no pleasure in the destruction of the living but through the malice of the Devil and mans own wilful frowardness death and damnation came upon us And Gods Decree of Preterition is but the just punishment of our transgression for God that had decreed our creation foresaw our transgression and the frowardness of the one and the readiness of the other that is of the elect and reprobate to recede from that condition and both of them being alike wrapped in the mass of corruption which came so by Adams transgression and neither of them could challenge any thing at the hand of God from whom both of them had alike receded God sheweth mercy upon whom he will and whom he will he leaveth still in that state wherein he was not created by him nor intruded by his means but most miserably fallen in the loyns of Adam and this he doth most justly too because he foreseeth that when he calleth he will not answer and though he should stretch forth his hand all the day long yet this froward wilful man will not regard it And therefore certainly Culpa non est vocantis sed renuentis there cannot be laid the least blame on God that in the election of the one whom he foreseeth will answer when he calleth he sheweth Indebitam misericordiam more then deserved mercy and in the preterition of the other whom he foreseeth will refuse his mercy he doth nothing else but render unto him debitam justitiam what he most justly deserveth And whereas the Scripture saith That God hardened the heart of Pharaoh and that it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth and that the vessels of wrath are fitted for destruction and the like some of them are not rightly understood when they are spoken in one sense and are applyed by our Presbyterians to another sense as those that are fitted or prepared for destruction are not so fitted and made up by God for that end but by their own sins that do fit them for their damnation some other speeches are spoken of God ad captum nostrum not properly to be understood as they are spoken but in that sense which the holy Ghost meaneth as God sware in his wrath when as God saith In me non est furor and he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye when as God hath neither feet nor hands nor eyes So when it is said Whom he will he hardeneth it is not meant that he hardeneth any man Efficiendo duritiem by working any hardness or stubbornness in him but Non molliendo per gratiam by not softening it by his Grace which he justly denyeth unto him when like Pharaoh he doth stubbornly refuse to obey his Voice And therefore seeing that in the proper sense God hardeneth no man and rejecteth or reprobateth no man but for his sins and wickedness but professeth As I live saith the Lord I desire not the death of a sinner And again Perditio tua ex te Thy destruction is from thy self and not from me If men will rob God kill their Brethren oppress their Neighbours and so damn themselves let them thank themselves and not lay the blame on God who is most just in all his wayes and holy in all his works 2. For the unequal distributing of his Graces we say that this inequality as of glory in the Stars and the Orders of Angels and so of all other Creatures maketh the better harmony and sheweth more of the Wisdom and Power of God then if all of them were equal Matth. 25.15 and though he giveth to one five Talents to others but one and to some none at all and that he exalteth some and make them rich and Lords and pulleth down others to make them poor and Beggars and so distributes all his gifts and graces diversly yet herein we say there is no ataxie no disorder nor injustice in Gods doing nor any wrong done to him that hath but one gift or to him that hath none at all Quia non tenetur Creator creaturae because God is debter to none and he is not bound to give any thing to any one and therefore he may lawfully and justly do what he will with his own as our Saviour sheweth most excellently in the Parable of the Labourers Matth. 20.15 hired into his Vineyard 3. For the remuneration of deserts we say that in
and humbly pray to God to grant us these eyes with these beasts continually to behold and to consider all these things that we may escape the dreadful doom of the wicked and attain to everlasting happiness through Jesus Christ our blessed Lord and onely Saviour to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be ascribed all honour and glory for ever and ever Amen THE FOURTH SERMON REVEL 4.8 And they rest not or ceased not day and night saying Holy holy holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come AFTER that the holy Evangelist had described these Beasts he sets down their practice and the exercise that they used Touching which we are to consider 1. Their Constancy They ceased not or rest not day and night 2. Their Harmony saying Holy holy holy c. The which Harmony consisteth of six special parts That is 1. The mystery of the Trinity of persons in the Vnity or one essence of the Deity 2. The sanctity purity and equity of God in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3. The power authority and dominion of God in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. The knowledge sight and providence of God in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 5. The strength and omnipotence of God in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 6. The continuance and eternity of God in the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And these six Points cannot well and fully be explained by any humane wit they all and every one of them being as God is ineffable and incomprehensible And therefore as Synefius saith as the Geographers use to draw the great Vniverse and Compass of the world in a little Map so I can speak and express but very little of these great and unspeakable Attributes of the great God 1. For their constancy in the service of God it is said they ceased not day nor night to sing this heavenly harmony saying Holy holy holy Lord God c. and it was not wearisome unto them continually to praise his glorious Names but it was rather their whole joy and felicity to glorifie their God and to magnifie him for ever for they are so satisfied with the sight of his presence the beatical Vision of God and so ravished with the love of his Majesty that they can never leave to praise him And this should teach all the Saints of God to be like these beasts and to do the like to be never weary of well doing but to be like King Therons Horses that as Pindarus saith were never weary of running so should the Servants of God be never weary of serving God but to continue constant in the performance of the duties of their profession night and day without ceasing because as St. Bernard saith Bern. Epist 129. Absque perseverantia nec qui pugnat victoriam nec victores palmam consequuntur without perseverance and continuance in well doing neither can they that fight obtain the victory nor the Victors get the Garland of honour for to triumph And St. Augustine saith He doth not truly believe in Christ that doth not continue constant in his profession unto the end Quia credere vere Aug. tract 106. in Joh. est credere inconcusse firme stabiliter fortiter ut jam ad propria non redeas clam relinquas because that to believe truly is to believe without wavering firmly and strongly so that you return not to your carnal and worldly desires and leave the things of Jesus Christ And therefore the Prophet David describing the blessed man Psal 1.1 2. saith He will not only withhold himself from walking in the counsel of the ungodly and from standing in the way of sinners and from sitting in the seat of the scornful but his delight is also in the Law of the Lord and in his Law will he exercise himself both day and night and so the Lord saith unto Joshua Let not this Book of the Law depart out of thy mouth but meditate therein both day and night that thou mayst observe and do all according to that is written therein Whereby you may see that perseverance and continuance in Gods service and preferring the duties of our calling is not to be done by fits but alwayes and especially without ceasing Alexand. Hal. secund 2. in tract de apostat without apostacy which is Temerarius à statu fidei vel religionis recessus a starting aside like a broken bow from that faith obedience and profession that we have formerly made How men relapse from their duties And such a one was Ammonius Alexandrinus the Master of Origen that being bred a Christian from his childhood and applying himself wholly to Philosophy did quite forsake the orthodoxal Faith And so Ecebelius at the first was a zealous Christian and in the reign of Julian a great persecutor of the Christians and after his death he became a Christian again and for his apostacy cried out and casting himself to the ground at the Church-porch Socrat. l. 3. c. 13. said Calcate me salem insipidum O tread upon me as upon unsavoury salt And how many men have we that like Ecebolius were very loyal and faithful Subjects and good Protestants in the time of Charles the first and when they saw the power of the Parliament increasing they became arrant Rebels and Traytors against their King and amphibolous in their Religion and within a while when God did cut in pieces that gâ—rdian knot and scattered those Rebels like a summers Cloud Who seem more faithful to Charles the second then these Schollers of Ecebolius that ever whirled with the strongest wind and yet they do not with Ecebolius fall down to the earth and cry out with him in true repentance Calcute nos salem insipidum but most of them jet it up and down in pride and shew themselves rather like the Borussians that being perswaded by Boleslaus Crispus King of Poland to imbrace the Christian faith What the Borusâ—ians did Cromerus lib. 6. within a while after renounced the same and told their Prince Se omnia ejus imperata excepta religione facturos they would be obedient to him in all things but only in the profession of his Religion for so these men profess themselves now to be good Subjects but they cannot endure our Ecclesiastical discipline and our Church service And therefore seeing many men do relapse with the Borussians from the true profession of faith or serve God by fits like those that are taken with the fits of an Ague or be like the Laodiceans neither hot nor cold and that we ought to be like these beasts serving God and discharging our duries without ceasing it behoveth us to preach in season and out of season and to do as we are required by the Lord himself Cry aloud ne cesses and give not over but lift up thy voice like a trumpet and shew my people their transgressions Esay 58.1 and the house of Jacob their
the first part of the practice of these beasts which is their constancy in the service of God day and night 2. Of the harmony of these beasts 2. For the harmony of these beasts I told you that it consisted of six parts whereof the first is concerning the mystery of the Trinity Touching which before I proceed any further I must say with St. Augustine Vbi trinitas unitatis unitas trinitatis Aug. de Trin. lib. 1. Of the true knowledge of the mystery of the blessed Trinity Patris Filii Spiritus sancti quaeritur nec periculosius alieubi erratur nec laboriosius aliquid quaeritur nec fructuosius aliquid invenitur we cannot any where erre more dangerously we cannot seek for any thing more laboriously neither can we find any thing more profitable then the knowledge of this holy mystery and therefore as he saith Non pigebit me sicubi haesito quaerere nec pigebit me sicubi erro discere it irketh me not to inquire where I stumble neither will I be ashamed to retract and to learn where I erre And so to proceed The holy Evangelist in this harmony of these beasts setteth down these two principal things Two things set down 1. 1 Of the Trinity of Persons The Trinity of Persons in the Vnity of Gods Essence 2. The Vnity of Gods Essence in the Trinity of Persons For the first To declare the Trinity of persons the Evangelist saith these beasts cry three times Holy holy holy as if they should have said Holy Father holy Son and holy Spirit and yet they say not holy Gods but holy God and to shew the same truth the very phrase and loquution or the like manner of expressing this mystery is used in divers places of the holy Scripture as where Moses saith Creavit Elohim coelum et terram God created the heaven and the earth where the Verb singular creavit doth manifestly declare the unity of Gods Essence and the Noun plural Elohim doth as plainly shew the Trinity of persons And again where he saith Faciamus hominem ad imaginem nostram let us make man in our Image where the Verb plural faciâ—mus declareth the plurality of the Persons and the Pronoun singular nostram sheweth the unity of the Essence even so here the word sanctus three times repeated doth manifestly declare the Trinity of persons and the word Deus God in the singular number doth as plainly shew the unity of Gods Essence And so the whole sum of all is 1. Quod Deus sit unus quoad essentiam that God is one That God is but one Essence and three persons and but one in respect of his Essence 2. Quod Deus sit trinus quoad subsistentiam that in the Vnity of that Essence there are three Persons in respect of their subsistence or manner of being And this will appear most evidently if you do compare together the 6. Deut. 6.4 Matth. 28 29. of Deut. and the 4. ver and the 28. of St. Matthew and the 19. ver For in the former place it is said Dominus Deus tuus Deus unus est the Lord thy God is one God and in the later place our Saviour commandeth his Disciples to go and to baptize all Nations in the Name and not in the names of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost therefore there is a Trinity of persons that is the Father the Son and the holy Ghost in the divine Nature Et una est numero essentia and yet there is but one Essence because no diversity can be given whereby these persons differ in regard of the Essence And therefore in regard of this identity and unity of essence in the three Persons our Saviour said Ego sum in patre et Pater est in me I am in the Father and the Father is in me and yet as St. Cyril saith Non est dicendum Pater est à filio vel in filio continetur we may not say the Father is from the Son or contained in the Son Nec est filius in patre ut nos in Deo esse et vivere dicimur Neither is the Son in the Father as we are said to be and to live in God Quia de ejus essentia nos non sumus because we are not of the essence of God but in and by the vertue grace and power of God But here it may be some will demand from whence have we the name of Trinity About the name of Trinity when as we cannot find the same in all the Scripture I answer that we have the word three from whence the word Trinity is derived for St. John saith There be three that bear witness in heaven and therefore as unity is derived ab uno from one so Trinity may as justly be derived from three and the Church of God Penes quam usus et forma loquendi to whom the phrases and forms of speech are committed hath power to use such words as may best express the Truth and confute the Hereticks so the same be not contrary to the sense and meaning of the holy Scriptures Now the difference between essence and person is this The difference betwixt the Essence of God and the Persons in the Godhead that the essence is the nature which is indivisible and common to the three Persons but a person Est subsistentia in natura divina as the Schools speak a subsistence or the manner of the persons subsisting in the divine Nature when the one person is distinguished from the others distinguished I say and not divided because there is no division in the divine Nature And the difference betwixt each Person is twofold The difference betwixt each Person and the others twofold 1. Difference internal 1. Internal and 2. External 1. The internal difference between the Persons is and consisteth in their internal operations and proprieties whereof the Divines say that Opera Trinitatis ad intra sunt divisa The internal operations of the Trinity are severed and divided because as St. Augustine saith Hoc est proprium patris quod solus est pater et quod ab alio non est nisi à seipso It is proper to the Father that he only is Father and that he is not from any other but from himself Et hoc est proprium filii quod do patre genitus est solus à solo coaeternus et consubstantialis genitori And it is the property of the Son that he is begotten of the Father the Son alone from the Father only coeternal and consubstantial to his begetter Et proprium est Spiritus sancti quod nec genitus nec ingenitus est sed à patre et filio aequaliter procedens It is proper to the holy Ghost that he is neither begotten nor created but equally proceeding both from the Father and the Son And this difference is not essential because the Essence of all three is the same
cleansed before we can receive the graces of God Spirit because as Solomon saith The holy Spirit of discipline flieth from deceit and dwelleth not in the body that is subject unto sin and can no more stand in one heart than the Ark of God and the Idol Dagon could stand upon one Altar and then as S. Chrysostom saith If thine hand be full of Counters thou must cast them out of thine hand before thou canst receive it full of Gold so if thy heart be full of sins thou must cleanse the same and cast thy sins away before there can be any room for the graces of God Therefore our Saviour first of all telleth us what we should not do that is not to be too carefull and solicitous for the things of this world but to take heed and beware of covetousness And to that end he laboureth much and produceth many reasons to pluck up out of our hearts this evil weed of Covetousness which as the Apostle saith is the root of all wickedness And the Summ and substance of the whole Discourse is this that of all the wealth and riches of the whole world 1 Tim. 6.10 no man no King no Lord can have any more but his food and rayment And the Providence of God hath so wisely disposed things that every man the poorest man hath these things though not so excellent yet competent while he liveth as we see the poor Labourer hath his food of coarse bread and roots as healthfull to him and his sleep as delightfull and oftentimes better then the daintiest Diet is to the greatest Glutton and the mean man that is clad in Frize or with John Baptist in Camels hair may be and is as well preserved from the heat of Summer and the cold of Winter and hath his nakedness as well covered thereby which is all the use and end of apparel as they that are clothed in Purple or Scarlet or fine Linnen And this Providence of God to find competent food and rayment for all men the poor as well as the rich our Saviour illustrateth by the example of the Fowls of Heaven and the Lillies of the field whereof the one i. e. the Fowls are sufficiently fed though they neither sow nor reap and the other i. e. the Lillies are as bravely clad though they neither weave nor spin And yet Solomon in all his royalties was not arrayed like one of these nor all the colors in the Court of Spain cannot make so glorious a show as these fading flowers and Sardanapalus Diet Herodian in vitae Heliogabali or Heliogabalus fare that as Herodian saith feasted on the rarest Fish when he was the furthest from the Sea and would have the daintiest Flesh and Fowls that could be gotten when he was nearest unto the Sea could add no more unto their stature then the Ravens carkases or the Horse his grass doth any whit lessen his full growth and therefore seeing none can have but food and rayment S. Paul saith that having food and rayment we should therewith be contented 1. Tim. 6.8 But seeing we are all so bewitched with the love of this world that we spend most of our time and bestow most labour and weary our selves in the pursuit of the vanities of this world give me leave to explain unto you four special properties of these wordly things that will shew unto you the great folly of them that are their greatest followers and are most delighted with them and beautified by them for The four inseperable proparties of all worldly things 1. They are variable 2. They are unprofitable 3. They are deceitfull 4. They are very hurtfull 1. They are variable and Solomon tells us 1. They are variable they are all vanities evanescentia transeundo and vanishing away by passing away from one to another as being with one to day with another to morrow and gone again from him the next day after as the Stories tell us how Cheops King of Egypt that built the Pyramides all of Theban Marble and kept every day above thirty thousand men afore that work became so poor that he was fain to prostitute his Daughter to relieve his necessities And of Croesus the rich King of Lydia the Poet saith Irus est subito qui modo Croesus erat He suddenly became as poor as Irus And to what end should I tell you of Caius Marius that was seven times Consul and yet was brought so low as to hide his head in the Fens of Mynturnes Or of Marcus Attilius Regulus that had fettered many a noble Carthaginian yet at last found himself fettered in Carthage Or of Belisarius that brave Commander and most excellent Souldier under Justinian and that was more famous then the King of Sweden and had taken Gilimer and Vitiges two mighty Kings his Prisoners yet came to so low an ebb as to cry Date obolum Belisario quem virtus exaltavit malitia depressit et fortuna caecavit O give one half-penny to Belisarius whom Vertue advanced Malice suppressed and Fortune hath made now a poor blind Beggar Or of a thousand more that Histories do record to have been tumbled from the top of all honour wealth and dignity to the lowest degree of all misery when as within these few years your own eyes may see and observe thousands of wealthy men and honourable persons that are brought to the dust and to have nothing and a thousand of others that had nothing to become filled some with the riches of Egypt and others with the spoils of Israel which doth sufficiently shew unto us how vain and variable a thing is wealth honour and all other worldly things that turn round like a wheel Et ut Luna mutantur And are as changeable as the Moon and unconstant like the Wind. 2. They are unprofitable 2. As they are vain and variable so they are unprofitable for none of all these things can redeem our souls from hell nor make satisfaction for one sin when as the Prophet tells us Mich. 6.7 That thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of oyle will not satisfie our God for the sin of our soul And the Prophet David saith It will cost more to redeem our souls then so And Christ himself saith Matth. 16.26 What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul As if he had said All the wealth and all the honour in the world are not sufficient to redeem one soul The which thing St. Peter meaneth when he saith 1 Pet. 1.28 That we were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold that could not do it but with the pretious blood of Jesus Christ And as all the riches of the world cannot purchase the redemption of one soul so no more can they procure the health of our bodies For the Poet tells us Non domus fundus non aeris
things there can be nec plura nec pauciora Arist Phis l. 1. c. 6. sed tria tantummodo Principia neither more nor less but only three Beginings that is 1. Matter 2. Form 3. Privation Of which I intend not now Philosophically to discourse but I only name them as a pattern of my method in this succeeding Sermon of the driving away of Devils which I may rightly term the first of the three beginnings of a Christian the beginnings I say non constitutionis sed renovationis not of his being and creation but of his well being and regeneration where by inverting the Philosopher's method the first of these must be Privation For as the Weeds of a Garden must be first rooted out before the delightsom Flowers are pâ—anted The first beginning of a Christian 1 John 3.8 so the first beginning of a Christian must be destructorium vitiorum an ejection of the Devils and the destruction of all Vices for which purpose Saint John saith The Son of God was manifested and came into the world that he might destroy the works of the Devil then the second beginning of our renovation The second beginning of a Christian is adificatorium virtutum to be just and upright and to behave our selves honestly filled as many of the very Gentiles were with all moral virtues and the third is gratiarum repletorium the replenishing of our souls with all divine graces as Faith The third begining of a Christian These three waies are the faiâ—est waies for us to assuâ—e our selves of our Christianity Hope Charity Patience and the like and these two last do depend upon and succeed the first for as in Nature nullus locus corpore caret sed semper aliquod corpus continet no place wants a body but it alwayes holdeth some one body or other as when one body departs and gives place another body fills that place immediately as when your vessel of Wine is emptied it is filled with Ayr ne detur vacuum in natura lest there should be a vacuity which Nature alwayes abhorreth even so when the Devil is expelled and our hearts cleansed 2 Cor. 7.1 as the Apostle saith from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit then virtues will begin to spring in us and our souls shall be fitted as clean vessels to receive the graces of Gods holy Spirit Sap. 1.4 5. which as the Wise man saith flieth from deceit and dwelleth not in the body that is subject unto sin And therefore touching this expulsion of Satan and his suggestions which is the first step to God and the sum and substance of my Text I shall desire you to observe these three things The division of the Text. 1. The Matter 2. The Form 3. The Privation 1. The Matter or the sum and substance of the work which is the ejection or casting out of Devils hoc genus ejicitur 2. The Form Manner or Means by which they are cast out and that is Prayer and Fasting and no ways else for non ejicitur nisi per orationem jejunium they go not out by any other means then by Prayer and Fasting 3. The Privation which followeth their ejection and casting out Aristot Metaphys l 5. c. 22. and is as the Philosopher teacheth absentia prioris formae cum aptitudine materiae ad aliam recipiendam the abscence of the former conditions that we had with an aptitude or fitness of our souls to receive far better qualities and therefore must consist 1. In Remotione mali the removal and rooting out of all evil thoughts words and deeds 2. The Reception and planting in our hearts all good virtues and graces of Gods spirit Or if you please you may consider in these words 1. Actus 1. The Act which is the casting out of Devils 2. Modus 2. The Means by which we cast them out which are Prayers and Fasting 3. Effectus 3. The Effect or Successe which followeth their casting or going out and it is a freedom from Satans tyrannie and a blessed fruition of liberty to be prepared to receive Gods holy Spirit and his graces for the saving of our souls And touching the first point which is the casting out of these Devils I shall desire you to consider with me these three things That is 1. The Ingredients 2. Their Ingression 3. Their Ejection 1. The Ingredients 1. Of the Ingredients or those that enter into a man to take possession of his heart and Soul are said to be genus Demoniorum a kind of Devils and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sciens a word derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 scio disco signifieth a knowing-One whomsoever he be whether he be from heaven or from the earth or from hell But use and custom hath most commonly appropriated this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the worser kind of knowing ones or intellectual creatures that is the infernal Angels which we call Devils or else the most wicked men which are termed Devils incarnate and which oftentimes do shew themselves Devils indeed and to do as much mischief as the Devils of hell as the experience we have had of the cruelty and wickedness of our late Rebels doth sufficiently testify unto us Whereby you may perceive that there are two special kinds of Devils 1. The Devils of Hell which are Spirits That there are two kinds of Devils or spiritual Devils 2. The Devils of the Earth which are Men or carnal Devils and of these I shall treat last And for the first kind of Devils I shall only speak of these three things Of the first kind of Devils Consider three things 1. Their Nature 2. Their Names 3. Their Number And 1. Touching their Nature you are 1. Of the nature of the Devils Observa ∣ tion 1 1. To understand that they are not Chimera's of apprehensions Danaeus Isagog c. 4. de Angelis Damasc l. 2. de Orthodoxa Fide but true real substances for though some men deny them to be any substances but rather to be motus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 certain inward motions and vehement passions of the mind whereby men are tossed and caried away to do this or that thing as Danaeus writeth yet not only the most ancient Fathers as Damascen Tertullian and others and so the School-Divines as Thomas and the rest of them Zanchius deoperibus Dei l 2. c. 2. and so likewise all the modern Writers as Zanchius doth by eight special Reasons prove them to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. things really existing but also the most sacred Scripture which is veritatis omnis regula the rule of all truth doth most plainly shew unto us that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Substances for they are said to talk with Christ to obey Christ to enter into the Swine to be tormented to be tied in chains to reside in everlasting
darkness and the like Quae omnia in ea quae sunt mera spectra res imaginariae non competunt all which things cannot be said of those things that are but meer phantasms and bare imaginarie things but of things onely which are verè 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 truly real things indeed saith Lambertus Danaeus quò supra Observa ∣ tion 2 2. You are to note that as they are Substances and not Apprehensions onely as the Sadduces and some other Hereticks thought Apud Casman Angelograph part 1. c. 4. Lactant. Instit l. 2. c. 15. Two Reasons to prove they have bodies so they be spiritual substances and not compounded of matter and form as Symonius and Swingerus in his Aethick Tables and divers others do affirm for though Origen in his second Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Tertullian in his Book de carne Christi and Lactantius and Rupertus Tuitiensis and others do affirm that they have a body by which they do subsist though the same be more subtile and purer then the bodies of all other inferiour subjects and for proof thereof they do render a double reason Reason 1 1. For that they had access unto the Daughters of men as Clemens Alexandrinus Gen. 6. Clem. Alex◠Strom. l 3. Tertullian Lactantius and others do expound that place of Genesis but this they could not do unless they had some bodies and therefore they are not pure spirits Reason 2 2. For that they are tormented and to be punished in a corporeal fire as S. Augustine and others do affirm but a meer spiritual substance cannot be tormented by any corporeal thing therefore they must needs subsist of some corporeal matter or substance Yet the evidence is so plain That the Devils are altogether immaterial that they are altogether immaterial and pure spirits ab omni materia liberi without any concretion of matter or bodies as that indeed it cannot be contradicted if we look into the reasons of the Fathers which they produce out of the eighth Chapter of S. Luke and the eighth Chapter of S. Matthew and the 103. Psalm and the sixth Chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians as of Dionysius in his Book de Divinis Nominibus cap. 4. Ignatius in his Epistle unto the Trallians Nazianzen in his second Oration de Theologia Epiphanius in the 26. Heresie S. Chrysostom in his 22. Homily upon Genesis Theodoret in his Book de Divinis Decretis Greg. Nyss in his Book of the life of Moses Basilius Magnus Fulgentius and the Council of Lateran under Innocentius the Third and divers others both ancient modern Writers 1. Reason answered Aug. de Civit. l. 15. c. 22. Chrysost Hom. 22. in Gen. Cyril l. 9. advers Julian Suid. in vocabulo Seth. And therefore to the first Reason we answer with Saint Augustine S. Chrysostom S. Cyril and Suidas that by the Sons of God we are not to understand the Angels but the Posterity of Seth For as by the Daughters of men we understand by men that carnal crue of wicked tyrants which were the posterity of Cain and were both worldly minded and fleshly given and so wholly negligent of Gods service as you may see it in many places of the Psalms Even so by the Sons of God we ought to understand the godly seed of Seth that despised the world and called upon the name of the Lord and at length began to grow cold in the service of God and to follow after the lusts of the flesh and the vanities of this world and these were called the Sons of God as all the godly are and To the second Reason we answer 2. Reason answered that as the human souls be pure spirits and yet are tormented in a corporeal fire as it appeareth by the soul of Dives that confesseth it self to be tormented in that flame when his body was buried in the earth even so these infernal Spirits that have no bodies but are altogether immaterial may by the omnipotent power of the Almighty God Vide Greenwood in a Sermon entituled Tormenting Tophet be perpetually punished and tormented with a corporeal fire as S. Hierom and others have most plainly and largely declared 3. You are to observe that as they are spiritual substances Observa ∣ tion 3 immaterial and without any kind of bodies so we must understand that they were all created good Angels in heaven and not Devils in hell God never made such creatures for though the Peripateticks and the Priscillianists that were a kind of Hereticks did imagine that they were eternal Evils or Devils from all eternity Zanchius de Operibus Dei l. 2. c 5. as Zanchius noteth because as they alledge there is no sin in heaven and he that once goeth to heaven cannot sin when he is there being as it were ravished with the Beatifical Vision and the love of the divine goodness and therefore say they if they had been made in heaven they could not have fallen away from God Whereupon Manichaus taught that there were two Gods from all eternity the one good and the Authour of all goodness Danaeus Isogog c 6. Clem. Recog l. 3. Nicephor l. 5. c. 31. and the Creator of all the things that are good the other evil and the doer of all wickedness and the maker of all the things that are evil and this most heretical Opinion saith Nicephorus continued almost 300. years before it could be rooted out Yet not only this Opinion hath been exploded and condemned for a most wicked heresie but also the very reason and foundation of their Opinion is so weak that it may be very easily answered For although now the inhabitants of heaven cannot sin and those celestial Citizens shall never be banished from their mansions because they are now confirmed by grace and supported by Gods Spirit ne à veritate voluntatem averterent lest they should turn their wills and minds from the truth as S. Augustine speaketh Aug. de Civi◠Dei l. 12. c. 9. yet Non fuit sic ab initio it was not so from the beginning for if God had made them immutably good It is the property of God alone to be immutably good Malach. 3.6 he had made them Gods and not Angels because it is the priviledge and property of God alone to be immutably good as the Prophet sheweth Ego Deus non mutor I am the Lord and I change not as if he were not a God if he had the possibility to change or that therefore he is God because he cannot possibly change James 1. and so Saint James setteth down this for an incommunicable property of God to be unvariable or unchangeable and without any shadow of turning And therefore as man in Paradise was created Omnino ad imaginem Dei altogether according to Gods own Image and yet was left in the counsel of his own mind either to stand or fall to continue happy or to become most