facis fac cito That which thou meanest to doe doe quickly And thus much for the first objection I come now to answer a second For Religion you will say and the early remembrance of those duties which we owe to our Creator they breed melancholie and fright the Soule with many sad and desperate thoughts not an idle word can be spoken not a Racha given or Thou foole not the least riot or excesse committed but presently the conscience checks us with judgment and Hell fire and gladly would we desire the freedom to live a little chearly in our youth Thus have I seene a patient sometime complaine of his Physick when as indeed he was heart sicke of his disease For pray tell me what is it which in those sad fits whereto the Soules of good men are oft-times subject and perhaps did we more often feele them the more happy might we be what is it I say which breeds this melancholy is it our Religion that wee know is the Physicke of the Soule no surely it is our sin and that is the disease Were it not madnesse in us then to desire to live freely in our sinne that we might live free from sorrow when as indeed there is nothing truly to be sorrowed for but sinne For let us reckon up a catalogue of all such delights as our owne Soule would wish to concurre to make a cheerefull life and you shall see religion hath the promise of them all Wouldst thou injoy long life and see good dayes Keepe thy tongue from vill and thy lippes that they speake no guile And this life of thine wouldst thou have as healthfull as 't is long Praise the Lord O my Soule for he it is that reneweth thy strength and maketh thee young and lusty as an Eagle And this health of thine wouldst thou have maintained with plenty Trust in the Lord and doe good and verily thou shalt be fed Delight in the Lord and hee shall give thee thy hearts desire And this plenty of thine wouldst thou have seconded with joy O be joyfull in the Lord all yee Lands serve the Lord with gladnesse and come before his presence with a song And lastly of this joy of thine wouldst thou have a patent not for thy selfe onely but for thy posterity The Righteous shall dwell at ease and his seed shall inherite the Land If then life and health plenty and joy can make a cheerefull man certainly religion cannot make him melancholly But yet I must confesse these rare effects they are perhaps but rarely to bee found and short life craz'd health small plenty unconstant joyes they are the portion oft-times even of GODS dearest Saints not that GOD hath forgotten to bee so good as his word promiseth but that men have not remembred to be so good as his word commandeth but have neglected the performance of those strict conditions whereupon the accomplishment of these so large promises depend But however do the righteous and such as daylie remember their Creator doe they onely eate sowre Grapes and are the sinners such as have not GOD in all theyr thoughts are their teeth never set on edge It is true indeed that GOD receives no man but whom hee doth chastice chastice not with crosse and affliction onely but with sorrow and anguish of Soule with feare and trembling for his sin yet here wee have a mixture of little judgement with great mercy the ioy of our receiving soone easing the smart of our chasticement But is it not true withall that the sinner hee shall receive his chasticement and yet never bee received here is iudgement without mercy With the righteous heavinesse may endure for a night but ioy commeth in the morning but with the sinner this order is inverted ioy indeed may endure for a night but sorrow returnes in the Morning When upon the sober view of of his intemperate luxuriances finding his Soule like CAINS guilty of more sinne then he knoweth how to have forgiven hee becomes subject to the fearefull expectation of more punishment then hee knowes which way to endure Indeed if we looke upon the surface of things onely the sinner may seeme to be the onely chearly man sits downe merrily to eate and drinke riseth to his play and wondereth that any man should refuse to follow the same excesse of riot with himselfe But let us now a little change his cōmons and remove him from his owne table which from the excesse and riot thereof I feare we may too justly ofttimes stile the Table of Devils and bring him to the Table of the Lord and then behold with how heavie a heart doth he reach forth his trembling hand to pertake of those sacred mysteries as justly fearing upon this Conscience of his great unworthines lest he should eate and drinke his own condemnation and rise up seavenfold more the child of Hell thē he sate downe When as the Righteous commeth with joy chearfulnesse whose innocent conscience as it keepeth a continuall feast so never then now is it more plentifully fed and thankfully saith Grace with a Nunc dimittis Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seene my Salvation For now I know that the Kingdome of Heaven true happinesse indeed it is not meate and drinke but Righteousnesse and peace and joy upon joy joy unspeakable even joy in the Holy Ghost It is a memorable speech of HAMAN who recounting the glory of his riches the multitude of his children the great honours whereunto hee had beene promoted above other Princes by the King yet in the end concludeth All this is nothing as long as MORDECAL sits in the Kings gate So surely hee that shall examine the Soules of the Hamans of this World men who for pleasure wealth and honour seeme to be the onely happy men will finde them sometime ingenuously to confesse All this is nothing for there is a MORDECAI a tormenting conscience dayly sitting in the Gate which like IONAS his Worme no sooner is the Gourd of their felicitie sprung up a little but presently it biteth and gnaweth it downe againe And therefore we see daily nothing more frequent thē for the luxurious prodigall upon the sad remembrance of the follies of his youth to breake out into a Laetare sterilis Happie are the barren and the Soules unsensible of these vaine delights the fruition whereof is but a transitorie vanity and the remembrance a perpetuall vexation of the Spirit As then GOD said once unto the Iewes Bring my tithes into my store-house and prove mee now if I will not open the windors of Heaven and powre downe a blessing without measure so let me say here to young and old Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth in the dayes of thy age even all the dayes of thy life serve him in chastity in temperance in justice in charitie in prayer in repentance make a tryall of his goodnesse and see whether he will not open the
him present after present first Goates then Ewes then Rammes then Camels and commands every Messenger to say These are thy servant IACOBS and it is a present sent to my Lord ESAV that if the first present could do nothing the second the third or fourth might move him and thus where he feared most hee findes most love ESAV imbraceth him falles upon his neck and kisseth him so let it be all our care being how onward on our way to seeke a Countrey and bow soone wee may meet with our LORD wee cannot tell to send before us present after present grace after grace that when hee shall meet heere with our patience there with our humilitie here with our prayer there with our repentance heere with our faith there with our charity hee may embrace us in the armes of his mercy and incourage our trembling soules with a Confide fili Be of a good comfort my Sonne thy sinnes are forgiven thee And thus much for the second exposition I come now unto the last Of his fulnesse have wee all received 3 Exposition and grace for grace that is grace to us answerable to the grace of CHRIST not hee one grace wee another but grace for grace grace in some proportion of like nature like condition with his GOD is faithfull saith St. PAVL by whom wee are called into the fellowship of his Sonne who when wee were dead in trespasses and sinnes hath by the same spirit quickened us together with CHRIST hath rais'd us up together made as sit together in heavenly places And indeed it is a meditation full of comfort that all those graces and favors imparted to CHRIST the head are communicable to us his members of his flesh and of his bones Was hee saluted with that gracious voyce from Heaven This is my beloved Sonne in whom I am well pleased behold the same spirit though secretly yet powerfully cryes Abba Father in our soules and assures us that wee also are the Sonnes of God nay heyres yea coheyres with his owne Son For as CHRIST was incarnate and made the Sonne of God by assuming our nature to his person so there is a kinde of incarnation in every Saint of God by uniting his nature to our persons And indeed every pious Soule is another Virgin MARY wherein wee reinwombe our SAVIOVR Qui parturit verbam Christum parturit Amb in Luc. lib. 10. cap. 5. and with whom wee travaile till hee be formed in us til he who is conceived in us is the Author of our new conception and giveth spirituall life and motion to our soules Had hee the wonderfull grace and power to worke great miracles give eyes to the blinde speech to the dumbe health to the sicke life to the dead Hee that beleeves in me saith he the workes that I doe shall he doe also nay even greater workes then these shall hee doe For if wee faile of the shadow in the practise of those great workes upon the body yet we have the substance of farre greater works upon the soule And such to this day is the powerfull efficacie of this quickning grace as that it openeth the blind eye and the deafe care with joy to behold and heare the wonderfull workes of God it looseneth the dumb tōgue and out of the mouths of babes and sucklings ordeineth strength it stretcheth forth the lame hand with cheerfulnesse to distribute to the necessities of others it softeneth the hard heart and kindleth it with zeale and forwardnesse O Lord my heart is ready my heart is ready Nay though wee bee dead in trespasses and sinnes grace is able to recover us Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and CHRIST shall give thee light Lastly is CHRIST ascended up to Heaven farre above all Principalities and Powers there for ever to sit at the right hand of the Father and will hee leave us comfortlesse alone No surely as hee hath given us grace for grace so will hee give us glory for glory too and therefore Blessed bee GOD sayth St. PETER who hath begotten us againe unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of IESVS CHRIST from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible reserved for us in the Heavens Now hitherto I perswade my selfe we all gladly give eare to this discourse and are ready to second it with the like Petition of the Disciples Lord evermore give us of this grace But yet I feare that as DAVID who went with joy to fetch the Arke out of the house of AMINADA◠on expectation thereby of a blessing to befall his owne house when hee saw VZZAH smitten with sodaine Death for presuming to touch the Arke was presently displeas'd and afraid too for how shall the Arke of the Lord saith he come to me and therefore he sent it to the house of OBED EDOM So I feare many there are well pleased with the grace of CHRIST as long as wee discourse of the joy the comfort the glory that attends it but let us once mention the sorrow and affliction which for grace and righteousnesse sake we must endure let us tell them that he that will bee CHRISTS Disciple must first in humility deny himselfe and with patience take up his Crosse and follow him this is a hard saying say they and who is able to endure it If these bee the difficulties which attend the Ark let it goe to the house of OBED EDOM we will not bring it to our City But before you send it away let mee aske you but one question shall we receive good at the hands of the Lord and shall wee not receive evill nay more Is it not enough that the Disciple bee as his Master and the Servant as his Lord Would wee receive grace and will we not have grace for grace would wee have the grace of his exaltation and will wee not have the grace of his humilitie CHRIST himselfe wee know first suffered before hee entred into glory and wee must first bee made conformable unto his death before wee can attaine the resurrection of the dead But blest men are we in that this conformitie now in a great part consists onely in a preparation and resolution to endure when as the peace and happinesse which wee enjoy have remov'd the misery of those evill dayes farre off from us which thousands and millions of the Saints of God have been inforced to endure Indeed we live by faith saith St. PAVL the best part of our life by Faith and not by sight yet what eye so dull that sees not the happinesse of this present life of ours or what tongue so tyed whose heart will not force it to breake out into termes of gratulation Praise the LORD O my Soule and all that is within me praise his holy name Let us looke into the primitive times or wee need not goe so farre but on the dayes of our Fore-fathers and how terrible then were the conditions of salvation What strength of grace what a compleat armour was then
for the sinne of man yet like the Sheepe before the Shearer hee opened not his month and how then dwels the patience of CHRIST in us Lastly if wee put off the chiefe care of our Soule till the last houre our prayer our repentance and strict examination of our wayes and thinke in the meane while that a Lord Lord a formall devotion will suffice we know that CHRIST spent whole nights in prayer and in the anguish of his soule and that for the sense of our sinnes sweat even drops of blood and how then dwelleth the devotion of CHRIST in us Those are quaeres able to startle a good soule and surely would we let passe those deceivable examples which from the frailties of men too indulgently oft-times we propose unto our selves this man will doe thus and that man thus and strive more nearly to square our actions according to this infallible patterne in my Text a world of sinnes there are wherewith the World through custome is now almost uncontroullably full fraught which we should then be as farre from any desire to commit as now I feare we are from any intent to amend and having receiv'd at first though but a sparke of grace wee should in time so kindle and inflame it as that like IOHN Baptist it might prove a burning and a shining light by which light we might then easily discover our owne happinesse and say with IOB Now I know that my Redeemer liveth But some men perhaps will heere reply as the Patient once did to the Physitian prescribing him to keepe a good dyet if I had meant saith hee to keepe a good dyet I should never have need to come to you for Physicke pray tell me how I may keepe an ill dyet and not bee sicke so you will say perhaps wee al know already what good wee must doe and what grace we must have that we may be saved but pray tell us what evils we may doe and what grace wee may want and yet bee saved May we not sweare a little ryot a little and if our beloved sinne bee but little one may not our soule flye thither and yet live But first I pray tell mee what sinne is there which any man dareth cal little which without repentāce is great heavie and enough to weigh him down to Hell Indeed so great is the mercy of God as that we finde a pardon oft times given to great sinnes but where ever doe wee finde before-hand a dispensation given to the least God sometime upon the fore-sight of our repentance antedates his pardon Thy sinne is forgiven thee saith Nathan unto DAVID though it is thought the solemne repentance for this sinne was afterwards perform'd but shall we therefore upon the fore-intendment of our repentance antedate our sin Surely if you would give me a house full of gold I dare not tell you so For this quaere is as if a man should aske how high may I fall downe headlong before I breake nay necke or how often may I stabbe my self before I be wounded unto death Surely because a little wound oftimes proveth dangerous or at leastwise full of paine a wise man will not rashly cut his skin and if skin for skin and all that a man hath hee will give for his life how diligent and tender ought to bee every mans care for his owne soule Quae insania est Salvian ad Eccles Cathol lib. 2. ut non quanta potes omnino facias cum ignores penitus quid tibi competat ad salutem What madnesse is it for a man not to take the best care he can for his soule when as he knowes that after all the care which he can take even the Righteous shall scarce bee saved Let us not then presume to inquire how farre we may suffer sin to abound Be we never so carefull to suppresse it sinne will abound too farre but aske rather how farre must grace more abound to obteyne the forgivenesse of our sinne and when we see what high patternes of obedience are every where in holy Scripture propos'd unto our imitation the perfection of the Father the grace of the Sonne the fellowship of the Holy Ghost the Communion of Saints and Angels may these great examples dayly inlarge our indeavours and as long as wee can never hope to doe what wee ought let us never cease to doe what we may Now then to draw all to a conclusion We reade in this Chapter of a two fold fulnesse in CHRIST there is a fulnesse of truth and a fulnesse of grace fulnesse of truth wee have reveal'd in holy Scripture and from hence truth for truth wee are able to communicate each to others but fulnesse of grace this is Gods praerogative which he reserves onely to himselfe and grace for grace what man ever durst take upon him to bestow Fulnesse of truth is the religion of the soule furnisheth the eye the eare the tongue the head but fulnesse of grace this is the soule of our religion and drawes all unto the heart fulnesse of truth it is a diligent MARTHA and provideth many commendable things but fulnesse of grace this is the devout MARY and bringeth the maine necessary part this is the pearle which though wee should sell all that we have to buy will buy a thousand times more then wee can sell this is the oyle which cheereth the countenance the wine which makes glad the heart of man and with a good conscience keepeth a continuall feast This is comes in via pro vehiculo the most gentile and faithfull companion in the world which whē wealth when honor whē strength when wit when speech when sense when life it selfe shall faile will yet never leave us nor forsake us I beseech you then as wee cannot but all thankfully acknowledge that we have already receiv'd the religion of the soule truth for truth let us dayly implore from Heaven the soule of our Religion grace for grace grace upon grace even the grace of our Lord IESVS CHRIST that having given us an understanding head hee would bee pleas'd to create in us a new heart and renew a right spirit within us that when with the sighes and groanes of this spirit from the bottome of this heart we shall call and cry unto him Abba Father hee may graciously make answer from Heaven I will be unto thee a Father and thou shalt bee to me a Sonne Amen Serm. IV THE FOVRTH SERMON ECCLES 12.1 Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth WHen I read the saying of St. IOHN My little Children this is the last time the time saith St. PAVL even of the end of the world consider withal that it is now neare 1600 yeares ago since this caveat was first given surely me thinks wee that live at the end of this end at the last period of this last time have now great cause together with the end of the world evē daily to bethink our selves of our own end and
facile in our youth And hee that shall compare the severall advantages which age and youth have each of other in matters of Religion will finde perhaps that it is no paradox to maintain against the great Philosopher that Iunenis est magis idoneus auditor moralis and divinae Philosophiae too that a young Timothy is a fitter Auditor of a lecture of Divinity than an old Nicodemus Age I confesse to give it its due honour hath many prerogatives of youth Age is coole and temperate those hot pursuites of vain delights if grace restraine not wee see in time nature itselfe forbeares Age it is stayed and resolute good courses well begun it will hold on though the hand bee hardly drawne unto the plough yet the eye will not suddainely looke backe againe Age it is wise and experienc't and having made frequent triall of the fickle unconstancie of all things under the Sunne can now truely say of laughter Thou art madnesse and that all the glory of the world it is but vanity and vexation of spirit Lastly Age it is sickly and craz'd and daily draweth onward nearer to the grave we see the tongue no not of men and Angels to be so powerfull an Orator to proclaime unto us Dust thou art and to dust thou must returne as but one dumbe fit of a disease ALEXANDER whom in his health all the World could not perswade but that a GOD hee would needs be upon a wound receiv'd seeing the blood come could then humble his conceit jam sentio me mortalem and now I see saith he that I must dye so that the old man dayly seeing that death which may be neare unto the young man cannot be far off from him is the more easily perswaded to prepare himselfe for the more easie passage when it comes These indeed are great advantages of age and yet perhaps the young man hath farre greater For first Youth it is bashfull and modest and modesty saith the Philosopher if it be not a vertue it is vertues companion And thus much Christianitie also seemes to acknowledge when wee say of a man that is not yet past shame that surely he is not yet past Grace For shame oft-times it is the Guardian of Grace and many sins there are for the forbearāce wherof even the best Soules are sometime as much beholding to their modesty as to their Religion But age you know it is more bold and daring and therefore oft-times for want of vertues companion vertue her selfe proves wanting and the losse of shame becomes the ruine of Grace Againe Youth it is alwayes subject to controll hath a Father a Mother a Tutor a Master or if all these may fayle yet old age it selfe wee see if for no other cause yet because old it challengeth a kind of Fatherhood over all youth and if but old ELIES gentle reproofe Nay my Sonnes why doe you such things it leaves some impression in the Soule But age 't is uncontrolable Rebuke not an Elder it is the precept in the Text and ELIHU in IOB conversing with his Ancients though they gave him just cause of speech and reproofe too yet you see how long hee layes his hand upon his mouth before ever hee durst speake so that wee see oft-times the greater is the old mans libertie the greater also is his licence Againe youth it is more free and generous in all dealings of the world liveth nearest to the best law of nature Do as thou wouldst be done unto not so ready to defraud and yet more readie to restore But Age it is penurious and griping and now come in those cruell times of extortion and oppression Quocumque modo rem a man will transgresse even for a peece of bread Lastly and that which is the maine advantage youth it is like golde soft and pliable if soone bent soone set to rights againe but age it is like Iron sullen and stiffe Youth indeed it is more heady but tendermouth'd but age it is more headstrong if it flie out it will run its course the old mans Motto is like that of PILATE Quod scripsi scripsi Hee will have his will Sinnes of youth they are but ill dispositions but sinnes of age they are commonly ill habits Here the flesh turneth Traitor and rebelleth against the Spirit but there it turneth Tyrant and commandeth In the dayes of our youth GOD patiently standeth at the doore of our hearts and knocketh and when hee hath spoke once and twice though wee regard not hee will not yet presently leave us nor forsake us but when once thirty or forty yeares long he hath beene grieved with a rebellious and gaine-saying generation in the end his patience turneth to anger What could I have done which I have not done and so gives them over to a reprobate sence Thus then you see the young man also hath his advantages and indeed what ever precedence our age can chalenge of our youth it is then onely to be found when the old man ploughes with the young mans heckfer For then it is no wonder that the incomes of our age multiplying upon the stocke of our youth should make the fairer revenew but set the comparison right and then thus much I dare boldlie say that whereas in these dayes of ours whereof out of zeale I presume to make them better wee wrongfully complaine oft-times as if they never had beene worse many rare and vertuous young men are not perhaps so rare to bee found yet I thinke it is almost a miracle to see a very good old man who never began to bee good till hee was old If then vertue be so hard a taske as to excuse our vices wee are all too easilie perswaded to beleeve surely in all discretion wee are to make choyce of the fittest season to attaine it and that I have shewen you are the daies of our Youth For let sinne have but its course a while and if you will not beleeve me Saint AVGUSTINE shall tell you what will be the issue Ex voluntate perversa facta est libido Confess lib 8. cap. 5. dum servitur libi dini facta est consuetudo dum consuetudini non resistitur factu est necessitas From a perverse will which naturally wee all bring into the World arise sinfull desires and while we humor our desire custome layes hold upon us and while this custome is not controld it proves another nature Heere then you see the difficulties of Sinne they are like the waters mentioned by the Prophet begin at the ankles rise to the knees thence to the waste after to the neck till in the end they overwhelme us Were it not better then at the first to venture over shooes then at the last over head and eares and therefore while the waters are yet low and passable before the overflowings of ungodlinesse shall too much fright our soules let mee commend unto you that Item of our SAVIOUR but upon a better errand Quod
windors of Heaven and in stead of sadnesse and melancholly powre downe joy and gladnesse the joy and comforts of his Grace and Spirit whereby like the wise men at the appearance of the Starre thou shalt daylie rejoyce and that exceeding greatly But suppose it were true that the sinner had the whole world at will came into no misfortune like other men were subject to no discontent no sorrow yet notwithstanding mee thinks that one saying of Lactantius might serve to settle and compose the affections of a good man in the constant profession of his goodnesse against all the feares and melancholies which for conscience and Religions sake hee might be subject to Institut lib. 6. c. 4. Bonis brevibus mala aeterna malis brevibus bona aeterna c. So hath the providence of GOD ordeined that for short pleasures hee hath threatned us with eternall paines for short paines hee hath made promise of eternall pleasures Let everie man therefore seriouslie consider with himselfe how much better it is to be subject here unto a little sorrow an assurance hereafter of eternall joy then for short and transitorie joyes to expose himselfe unto eternall sorrow And thus much by way of answer to the young mans Objections I come now in the last place to commend unto him a few short and usefull Remembrances and then I conclude Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy Youth Remember from the dayes of thy Youth even from thy infancie to whose service thou hast so solemnly been consecrated what promises what vowes have beene made at the partaking of one Baptisme to embrace one Faith to serve one Lord and be not deceived GOD will not be mockt thou art not now thine owne man thou hast not the freedome to goe serve another Master August in Ioh. Tract 7. Deus non vult communionem sed solus vult possidere quod emit For GOD cannot endure a Partner but what hee hath purchast alone hee will possesse alone Tanti enim emit ut solus possideat and indeed so deare a price hath hee payed for thy soule that well may he challenge the whole purchase to himselfe Remember the way to Heaven is difficult and at each third step there are mazes and by-paths and therefore be not rash in thy course but stand oft times and make a pause and inquire which is the old and the right way Will these actions these thoughts this company this discourse this idlenesse this expence will these lead a man to Heaven And though thou often see good men take an oblique course like the Sunne crosse the line and backe againe Hieron Epist 9. l. 2. edit Canis yet alwayes remember Securiùs esse perire non posse quam juxta periculum non perisse that it is the safer way not to have ventur'd on a danger then to have escap't it Remember alwayes in the serious estimation of thy sinne not to follow the loose account of men who are ready to set downe fifty for an hundred nay sometime scarce one of a thousand but the true and just account of God Call no sinne light which without repentance is heavie enough to weigh thee downe to Hell Think not so much on the smalnesse of the command as the greatnesse of the commander For even small commands oft times as we see by the example of the fall of ADAM tanto majori jusiâ—tia violantur Aug Civ Dei l. â—4 c. 12. quanto faciliori observantia poterant custodivi are with so much the greater injustice violated the greater justice punished by how much with the easier observance they might have beene fulfilled Remember alwayes to prize thy soule not according to thy nature but thy grace The guifts of nature gentlenesse civility wit understanding memory may raise us oft times like Saul higher then the people and get their applause who judge onely by appearance but they are the guifts of grace which like DAVID must make us gracious with God and winne his heart Melius est esse digitum Aug. in Iohan. Tract 13. esse in corpore quam esse oculum evelli de corpore For a thousand times better it is in the eye of God to stand though but for a finger and be joyn'd unto the body then in the eye of man to looke like an eye and yet to bee pluckt out Remember alwayes to part thy care between thy body and thy soule and if so much time bee perhaps too pleasingly spent in the food the dresse the sleepe the recreation of the one doe not forget to set apart some time also for the other Bernard Sermon 6. de Advent dom Noli O corpus noli praecipere tempora For why should the pampering of the body steale away that time which might be farre better spent in the tending of the soule Potes enim impedire animae tuae salutem tuam ipsius operari non potes too much care of the body may ruine it selfe and the soule too but it is the soule alone which must save both soule and body Lastly and to conclude all Remember that at the will of the Lord thou art but a Copy-holder of thine owne life the Tabernacle of thy body at his pleasure he hath set up and at the same pleasure he will pluck downe againe whether at the first or the last watch whether in the morning or evening of thy dayes thou canst not tell and therefore watch alwayes that thou mayst be prepared that when ever thou shalt lay downe this earthly Tabernacle of thy body thou maist with joy and cheerfulnesse commend thy soule into the hands of thy Redeemer in hope of an Eternall Mansion in the Heavens Amen Serm. V THE FIFTH SERMON IOHN 20.17 Touch mee not for I am not yet ascended to my Father WHen the fulnesse of time was come God sent forth his Sonne made of a woman that as in the beginning the woman saith St. PAVL was in the transgression first in the transgression not the man so now the seed of the womaÌ„ not the seed of the man was to obteine pardon for this transgression reconcile the woman to the man and both to God And surely it is not without a mysterie in the performance of this great mysterie of our redemption by the passion and resurrection of our Saviour that when the Shepheard was now smitten and the Sheep the Disciples the men were scattered yet the women they hold fast together his mother and mothers sister MARY MAGDALEN and MARY of Cleophas with many others stand resolute by the Crosse The first that after his buriall durst come unto his sepulchre were women and that for the greater commendation of this fearfull Sex early in the morning while it was yet darke The first to whom the Resurrection was made knowne were women Why seeke ye the living among the dead saith the Angell to these women He is risen he is not heere The first to whom our SAVIOVR himselfe
case for thou hast now enough layd up in store when as wee know there is no evill more common under the Sun then goods thus purchased to prove the undoing of the purchaser the stone will cry out of the wall and the beame out of the timber will make answer Woe to the man that thus addes house to house and land to land For what shal it profit thee for a time to have gain'd the whole world Salvian ad Eccles Cathol l. 3 in the end to loose thine owne soule for ever Et infaelicissime omniuÌ„ cogitas quam bene alii post te vivant non cogitas quam male ipse moriaris and unhappy wretch thou art to please thy selfe to think how happily thy posterity rais'd by thy art and industry shall live and never once think'st how miserably thy selfe must dye And indeed strange and wonderful it is to see the impotent desire of the world to purchase good house good laÌ„d good drink good aire yet how slender is their care to bee good themselves Aug. Civ Dei lib. 3. c. 1. quasi hoc sit homini maximum bonum habere bona omnia praeter seipsum as if this were the chief good of man to have all things good about him but himself Deut. 3. As then wee read that when Moses made that passionate petitioÌ„ unto God O Lord thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatnes and thy mighty hand let me I pray thee go over and see that good land beyond Iordan God with a short answer stops his mouth let it suffice thee speak no more of this matter for thou shalt not goe so if sometime our earthly desires shall make the like petitions unto God may we prevent his answer by replying to our selves Let it suffice thee to have spoke once or twice and if he wil not heare thee speake no more And indeed what madnes is it for a man to be importunatly solicitous for such things which he knoweth not whether they will prove unto him good or il For notwithstanding that great licentiousnes which coÌ„monly wealth honor usurpe unto themselves so strict an imposition doe we finde layd upon all things under the Sunne that hee that shall seriously bethink himself of his account and that of him who receiveth much much shall bee requir'd shal find perhaps the ods to be but very litle not to have the world to use or as St. PAVL requires to use the world as if we us'd it not unlesse in truth the taske may prove more easie with patieÌ„ce to want the world then with moderation to injoy it Quotus enim quisque sapientum est cui non crescat cum prosperitate vitiositas Salvian de Guber Dei lib. 7. For it is a great hazard to the vertue of a wise man but that if riches increase sin wil increase too Labour not then for the meat that perisheth nor take much thought for the blessings of this life For al these things touch not trouble not the Master with an honest and faire endeavor of our own dayly to aske our dayly bread it will suffice if we wil importune him let us make choyse of blessings worth our importunity not for religion onely but for shame lest it should bee said that we are more careful of our bodies then our soules let us first seeke the Kingdome of God and his righteousnesse and then though in a low condition it will be no hard matter to attaine unto that height of happines which St. Hierom commends in one of his devout women quae unius cellula clausa angustiis latitudine paradisi frucbatur De laudiâ—â— Asellae Ep. â—5 though cloistered within the compasse of a narrow Cell by divine contemplation to expatiate throughout the whole latitude of Heaven So shall we put more gladnes in our heart then if our corne and wine were never so plentifully increast and alwaies such blessings God is best pleas'd to grant which are most profitable for us to receive Secondly wee may observe that as Christ frustrats the expectation of Mary in denying the worldly blessings she desireth so to coÌ„fort her againe he exceeds her expectation in proposing the hope of heavenly blessings more theÌ„ she now thought on No sooner did Mary rapt with a sodaine joy cry out Rabboni have I found thee O thou whom my soule loveth no sooner could she fall downe and worship him as for joy that he was risen so in hope that she should bee rais'd too rais'd to honour in in that new Kingdome which shee perswaded her selfe would now shortly be restored but presently all this conceited happines is blasted with a Noli me tangere Touch mee not Doe not therefore honour me as if I were now risen to raise you to honour here on earth for though I be risen I am not yet ascended and till I be ascended you must waite yet with the same breath wherwith shee is disheartned she is comforted again for as the Yet in my text plainly intimateth and the end of the verse expresseth it he was shortly to ascend to his Father and their Father to his God and their God then and there would hee build up the houses set up the thrones and make them all Kings and Priests Thus is it usuall with GOD to with hold lesser blessings where hee intendeth to bestow greater for the earth whereon MARY had now seated the throne of her desires shall not be worthy to bee the footstoole of that happines which he inteÌ„ded to prepare Indeed if in this life only wee had hope of all men good men were most miserable But blessed be God saith St. PAVL who hath blessed us with all spirituall blessings in coelestibus in things heavenly in places heavenly and againe Blessed be God saith St. PETER who hath begotten us unto a lively hope to an inheritance incorruptible reserved for us in the Heavens and therefore oft times withdrawes his favors from us in the depth below that wee may the more earnestly seeke after theÌ„ in the height above For as God made some creatures meerly heavenly without any dependance for their preservation upon things below others meerly earthly without any hope or expectation of any happinesse above so hee made man in a condition betweene both his body from the earth earthly but his soule a sparke froÌ„ Heaven according to the two different parts whereof he doth consist he hath provided him two different mansions first the earth and then the Heaven Now however betweene these two mansions there be no compare for the earth which we see is temporall but the Heaven which wee see not is eternall yet because as in the absence of MOSES the people come flocking unto AARON and Make thou Gods say they to goe before us for as for this MOSES we know not what is become of him so in the absence of Heaven wee are too prone to lay hold upon the earth and set our affections upon
things below the providence of God hath purposely blasted the felicitie of all things sublunarie set a Noli me tangere vanitie and vexation of spirit on them all that even this vexation here on earth may raise our spirits up to Heaven with a Domine illic tabernacula Lord let us there there make our Tabernacles For alas the earth it hath no constant forme nor comelinesse and when we look upon it there is no true beauty that we should desire it If we complaine that long and tedious is our expectation here on earth before ever we can come to injoy those felicities in heaven let us solace our selves to think that it is enough abundātly enough that the Disciple be as his Master and the servant as his Lord now let us look upon our Lord and Master and forty daies is he tempted in the Wildernes hungry and thirsty in a barren and dry land yet he is not ascended The Foxes have holes the Birds of the aire have nests the Son of man not where to lay his head and yet he is not ascended He is betrayed arreigned condemned crucified buried and yet he is not ascended And that we may know this delay of his proceeded not out of any impotency but was meritorious and exemplarie unto us he riseth againe and the same power of his which rais'd him from the grave could presently have lifted him up to Heavē yet he cōtinueth visiting cōforting instructing his Disciples yet he is not ascended The Lord himself you see hath tarried tarried our leysure tarried for us and shall not we waite patiently and tarry the leysure of the Lord. Perhaps he therfore makes us tarry that daily here adding to our grace hee may one day adde also to our glory Et libenter suscipiam dispensationis moram magnitudine favoris duplicatam Hieron ep 33. ad Castratium and who would not forbeare the principal a while to receive it hereafter with such interest perhaps therfore himself tarries because we are not yet prepared for his cōming We complaine oft times upon the sense of sicknes and sorrow How long Lord how long wilt thou absent thy selfe Whenas indeed upon the conscience of our sins we might rather turn our cōplaint to a confessiō how long Lord how lōg have we bin absent frō thee Thy word hath been oftē preacht unto us in season out of season by thy Ministers teaching reproving exhorting and yet we have not obey'd Thy grace hath bin graciously offred unto us al the day long standing at the dore of our harts and knocking and yet we have not opened Thou hast made open proclamation Come unto me all yee that are weary and heavy laden and I will ease you and yet though never so heavie laden wee will not bee weary of our sinnes wee will not seeke out for ease Can wee then wonder that God should yet delay to put an end unto our sorrowes when as our selves have yet refus'd to put an end unto our sinnes Can wee bee impatient at the forbearance of that happinesse which if God should deale with us as we with him not yet nor yet nor ever should we bee so happy to enjoy Why art thou then so troubled O my soule may every pious soule now say and why art thou so disquieted within me delight thou in the Lord and hee will give thee thy hearts desire If thou faile of thy hearts desire on earth Mary her self you see hath thus been disappointed yet thou shalt abundātly bee recompenc't in heaven For though here thou seem'st to be but dead dead in regard of the fruition of any great felicity in this life dead in the opinion of the meere natural man who beleeveth not the hope of any life to come yet thou haft a life hidden with Christ in God and when Christ who is thy life shal appeare then shalt thou also appeare with him in Glory Lastly as you have seene whether Christ is ascended where he wil be Toucht so now behold to whom he is ascended and what hopes we have to Touch him My text tels you that as he was to ascend so he ascended to his Father Now if you shall say that Christ had a Father to ascend to and a Father pitieth his owne child but how shal we ascend shew vs a Father too and it sufficeth I will shew you and indeed with joy of heart we may observe that all the honours of Christ are for the most part diffusive and communicative and even of this neare Relation of Father Sonne we also doe participate Thou art my Sonne my onely begotten Son saith the Father vnto him In whom I am well pleas'd and pleas'd so well that in him he hath recōcil'd the world vnto himselfe of enemies he hath made us his adopted Sons and given us the priviledge to pray vnto him Abba Father If then my Text will not content you read but the words following and you can wish no more Goe to my Brethren and say vnto them I ascend vnto my Father but he stayes not there To my Father saith he and your Father to my God and your God And surely as when the Father giveth the Son so when the Son giveth the Father together with him he will give us all things And indeed when I compare both Testaments together observe at sundry times those divers manners whereby God in his goodnesse hath pleas'd to make manifest not the effects only but even the language of his love me thinks as after some cloudy storme I see the Heavens looke cleare againe and smiling whereas before God spake as it were in a mighty winde Earthquake looking high and holding his people under with those Majesticke names of Lord and Lord of Hosts now with a courteous affabilitie he hath bowed the Heavens speaketh in a still a soft voice as if he had set a vaile before his Majestie calleth himselfe our Father and the God of peace And surely but this single compellation Father proceeding from a piously devoted soule attended with sighes groanes the Heares most powerfull Oratorie is able to make such requests which as our selves oftimes for feare and trembling know not how to utter so neither doth God know how to deny The Prodigall you see after hee had spent all that vngratiously too yet when hee thinkes upon the gracious name of Father I will goe to my Father saith he and going but with a resolution onely to say Father I have sinned he is anticipated w th imbracements by an indulgent wellcome hath his pardon seal'd unto him before he could have time to aske it For the armes of Gods mercy they are like the windore of Noahs Arke if the Dove our soule shal sometime fly out the overflowings of vngodlinesse shall make us afraid let us returne upon the wing with humility repentance crave a new admission and behold all the day long are these armes of his wide open to