euery where It remaineth that I onely acquaint you with a safe station while you are here to stand in and a powerfull supplication while wee are here to pray with Let your station be like that of Elias in mount Horeb who stood in the clifts of the rockes entrance vntill the strong wind the earthquake and the fire in all which God was not were passed by but when he heard a soft and still voice he came out and stood before the Lord so let vs be continually meditating the passion and rents of our rocke Christ Iesus and hiding our selues therein while the winds of wickednesse the earthquakes of changings and chances the fire of might and malice and while all the works of darkenesse wherein God is not passe by vntill we heare a soft and sweete voice of the Lord to call vs forth of our station to rest Then let vs go forth willingly vnto our welbeloued and loue him and liue with him for euer Let our prayers and supplications in the meane while be the words of the hard-hearted and misbeleeuing Iewes but not their spirit for they cried His bloud be vpon vs and vpon our children and it was and is so to their vtter ruine and desolation euen vntill this day as a iust iudgment of God for their crucifying the Lord of life But we will pray and say in the spirit of the faith of Iesus in whom we beleeue His holy bloud be vpon vs and vpon our children to our saluation according to Gods blessed promise made to the Patriarks Prophets and to all the faithfull For he is the chiefest of ten thousand c. or as some reade it the chiefest of twelue thousand where in wee may see the mystery of the number both of ten and twelue as also the excellency of the partie that he is the chiefest in heauen and the choicest on earth together with the perfection of both heauen and earth in himselfe and imparted to his chosen the Church of the redeemed The Papists imitating the Platonists are very superstitious in numbers the one putting a fatall necessity in them in the period of estates and kingdomes the other affirming a certaine secret efficacy to be in many numbers but in the septenary number especially Hence haue they their canonicall houres for prayer and sacrifice But Bodin in his booke de Repub. iustly taxeth Plato for that dreame And the schooles conclude against them both that Numeri qua numerus nulla vis nulla efficacia Wee therefore will content our selues with the holy and mysticall vse which the booke of God maketh of them The mysticall numbers of sacred text are these to wit three foure fiue sixe seauen eight ten twelue Ten and twelue meete vs in this text by variation of readings both signifying perfection Ten is the highest of simple numbers all nations after ten begin to number againe The tenths was consecrated to the Priests Gods seruants In the tenth moneth the waters of Noahs floud abated Sem a father of the faithfull seeth the tenth age Ten words for the Creation of the world and ten words for the gouernment thereof as the Talmudists obserue For twelue we reade of twelue Patriarches the sonnes of Iacob twelue stones set vp in Iordan twelue precious stones in the breast plate of Aaron At twelue yeares Salomon decideth the plea of the dead child Christ the true Salomon at twelue yeares disputeth with the Doctors Twelue Apostles are sent to perfect the kingdome of grace Twelue foundations twelue gates twelue Angels the porters a tree that beareth twelue manner of fruites medicinable all the twelue moneths of the yeare describe the perfection of the kingdome of glory in the celestiall Ierusalem Thus we see that the mysterie of the number sheweth onely the excellency of the perfection of the partie being the chiefest in heauen and earth so described by Iohn the Diuine Apoc. 5. A throne is seene in heauen one sitting theron hauing a booke in his hand written within and without sealed with seauen seales But none was found neither in heauen nor in earth nor vnder the earth worthie to open the booke no nor once to looke into it Then wept the Diuine because none was found worthie to open the booke or once to looke therein But one of the Elders said Weepe not Behold the Lion of the tribe of Iuda the stocke of Dauid hath so preuailed that he may open the booke and loose the seales thereof This booke is Gods will these seauen seales are loosed and made knowne vnto vs by the declaration of Iesus Christ. The first seale is his Natiuitie opened Mal. 4. 2. But vnto you that feare my name shall the Sunne of righteousnesse arise and health shall be vnder his wings and ye shall go forth and grow vp as fat calues The second his Baptisme Zach. 13. 1. In that day there shall be a fountaine opened to the house of Dauid and to the inhabitants of Ierusalem for sinne and for vncleannesse The third his Passion poutrayed by Esay 53. chap. throughout The fourth his Descent deciphered Hosh. 13. 14. I will redeeme them from the power of the graue I will deliuer them from death O death I will be thy death O graue I will be thy destruction The fift is his Resurrection recorded Psal. 16. 10. For thou wilt not leaue my soule in the graue neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption The sixt his Ascension described Psal. 68. 18. Thou art gone vp on high thou hast led captiuity captiue and receiued gifts for men yea euen the rebellious bast thou led that the Lord might dwell there The seauenth is the sending of the holy Ghost pointed out vnto vnto vs Ioel 2. 28. And afterward will I powre out my Spirit vpon all flesh and your sonnes and your daughters shall prophecie your old men shall dreame dreames and your yong men shall see visions By the opening of the first seale to wit his Natiuitie whereby he became flesh he hath redeemed vs from being worse then very brute beasts For man being in honor vnderstood it not and therefore was compared to the beasts that perish S. Augustine speaking of the grace of the new Testament comforteth vs thus saying Let no man despaire but conceiue hope vnspeakable for by participation of the word we become the sonnes of God seeing that Iesus Christ by incarnation is become the sonne of man Aske your forefathers saith Moses and the daies of old euen since the day that God created man vpon the earth and aske from the one end of heauen vnto the other if there come to passe such a great thing as this Did euer people heare the voice of God speaking out of the midst of a fire as thou hast heard and liued If Moses spake thus of the voice of an Angell for the law was giuen by the ministrie of Angels what may we say of the gracious words of eternall life vttered by the Lord of life Indeed
faith the one of the obiect as that there is a life euerlasting that Christ died for the sinnes of the world Both certaine by the promise of God Yet this is small comfort vnlesse the other certainety of the subiect also be assured vnto vs. To wit that this euerlasting life is prepared for me and that Christ died for my sinnes This indeed is the vndoubted worke of faith Dauid could saie Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiuen Yet this is but Christ in the whole cloth as we may say but Paule had learned to turne Dauids quorum into his owne ego and say whereof I am cheefe and so cut himselfe a garment therof to couer his owne wretchednes For he well knew that as many as were baptized into Christ had put on Christ. So you see he is fitted as a garment to weare and not to gaze vpon The reason of this certainty is this Because faith maketh that present which is absent Therfore by the Spirit of God faith is called The euidence of things not seene Neither is this certainety of hope but of knowledge For S. Iohn saith We know that when he shall appeare we also shall appeare in glorie And S. Paule testifieth that the Spirit assureth our spirits that we are the sons of God Doubtlesse therefore most restlesse and most vnquiet is the mind of that man which doubteth of Gods loue For what auaileth it thee be thy estate neuer so happie if it be miserable to thy selfe What comfort is it to a king to weare a crowne of gold albeit in great happinesse of estate if he be not perswaded of the enioyment therof What sound solace is it to any Christian to know that there is a life euerlasting yet knowes not whether he shall heare Come ye blessed or go ye cursed it being a very dictate of nature That no man is happy but he that so thinketh himselfe The felicity thereof consisting not in the happy expectation but in the present perswasion Thus then you see the appropriation of this loue how necessarie it is and not onely herein but in all other inducements of godlinesse S. Augustine recordeth that he was conuerted by reading that of S. Paule Rom. 13. Not in chambering and wantonnesse strife and enuying but put on the Lord Iesus So S. Augustine applied the Scripture to the particular reformation of his owne life And Alipius S. Augustines louing consort applied the beginning of the 14. Chapter to the Rom. to the end that S. Augustine might thereby recouer confirme him that wauered and staggered in the holy faith of Christ Iesus So the spouse here appropriateth Gods deere loue to her owne affections whereby we may learne That to a deuoted and truly religious soule Christ Iesus applied is the onely loue and life O heare a godly soule speake in her diuine phrases to Christ Iesus applying him to euery part to her mouth saying Let him kisse me with the kisses of his mouth that her words might be gracious and seasoned by the salt of the spirit of God 2. To her breasts My beloued is as a bundle of myrrhe vnto me he shall lie betweene my breasts that by alwaies meditating on him she might not be drawne aside to the by-paths of follie and vanity 3. To her affections Set me as a seale vpon thine heart that she might neuer be without his impression 4. To her actions And as a signet vpon thine arme that she might neuer be destitute of his directions The reason is For loue is as strong as death iealousie as cruel as the graue Much water cannot quench it neither can the floud drowne it whence ensueth a whole resignation Therfore I am my beloueds and he is mine Thus the true spouse Dauid likewise in the same case I am thine ô Lord hide not thy commandements from me Dauid was now neither for sinne nor for Sathan nor for the world nor for the flesh nor for his owne selfe but for the Lord totally by resignation fully by affection And verily how can it be otherwise but that a religious soule should thus wholy deuote it selfe to God in all sacred affection if it call to mind but these motiues following First what Ieremie saith how the Lord speaketh when he considered whereof the sonnes of men were made and weighed that they were but dust and therefore in his mercie to them he said it and not to the Angels that fell Shall they fall And not arise shall they turne away and not turne againe Here is rising from the gulfe of hell and returning from the bondage and captiuitie of the diuell assured vnto vs by promise in Gods preuenting mercie Secondly when we shall remember that God hath omitted all his other creatures of heauen and of earth and as it were neglected them and hath set his loue onely vpon vs yea the Angels that fel he hath reserued in chaines of darknesse for the iudgement of the great day and yet saued a remnant of the sonnes of men Thirdly when it shall call to mind that to all other creatures God hath giuen a direct motion to content themselues in their now being but to man a circular motion that we should onely seeke our felicitie in him in whom we had our beginning Fourthly that forasmuch as Gods grace is giuen vs for our guide in this dangerous world which ouercometh infallibly the world the diuell and the flesh holdeth the truth inseparably against all heresie and schisme and leadeth indeclinably into the Paradise of God we should with all deuoted thankfulnesse entertaine this holy blessednesse Fiftly seeing that we may by holy faith as in a christall mirror behold the whole holy and vndeuided Trinitie in this worke of louing sauing and sanctifiing grace we should as those that had newly receiued their eye sight after a long blindnesse be rauished with ioy and comfort For see God the father so loued vs that he gaue his onely begotten sonne c. that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but should haue euerlasting life God the sonne so loued vs that he would die for vs God the holy ghost so loued vs that he maketh request for vs with sighes vnutterable in our soules Who would not then gather hence diuine affections according to the measure of grace giuen vnto vs calling to mind the precept of Christ which is the summe of all Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soule and with all thy mind that is saith S. Augustine Loue him with all thy right reason with all thy earnest affection and with all thy strongest powers loue him with all thy vnderstanding with all thy will and with all thy memorie loue him wisely that thou be not deceiued by the diuell in an angell of light Loue him sweetly that thou be not allured by the wicked and bewitching world Loue him
the cloud that led the people of God in the wildernesse was darke toward the Aegyptians but bright and lightsome toward the Israelits So if our Gospell be hid it is hid to them that are lost for now the booke is opened and the seales loosed By Baptisme the second seale we put on Christ Gal. 3. 2. For as many as are baptized into Christ haue put on Christ are engraffed into him by the Spirit Rom. 6. For if we be graffed into him by the similitude of his death euen so shall we be in the similitude of his resurrection It being the lauacre of regeneration both priuatiuely and positiuely priuatiuely in forgiuing our sinfulnesse and positiuely in conferring his owne righteousnesse vpon vs begun by sanctification perfected by glorification This blessed seale of sacred baptisme being vnto vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Clemens Alexandrinus calleth it the counterpoise of all deadly venime of corruption being also the diluuium peccati as Nazianzen cleapes it the deluge of sinne the water of adoption so Basil and the purgatory of life so Chrysostome These vertues being not in the element nor in the weight of the worke nor in the intention of the Baptizer but onely in the bloud of Christ which purgeth vs from sinne and shame By the third seale to wit his Passion we are reconciled to God the Father and sealed to euerlasting life Behold the wounds of Christ hanging vpon the crosse his precious bloud shed in his agony of death the price of our redemption Behold againe his head on the crosse inclined to heare vs pray his heart opened that we might see his deare loue his armes stretched forth to embrace vs his whole body exposed to shame scorne and torture to redeeme vs. His descent the fourth seale was the death of death and the death of the diuell who had the power of death the ruine of the gates of hell that they might neuer preuaile against his people the triumph ouer darknesse and the defiance of all hellish power and principalities By his resurrection the fift seale our corruption putteth on incorruption the bandes of death are broken the horror of the graue is turned to sweete repose and sacred rest in the Lord. By his ascension the sixt seale reuealed is opened an entrance to heauen for vs from whence before wee were exiled He is entred himselfe not in his owne name but in ours according as he himselfe saith I go to prouide you a place Ioh. 14. In a word he ascended to fulfill all things the earth with his mercie hell with his iustice and the heauens with his glory The mission of the holy Ghost being the seauenth seale hath furnished the Christian Church of the redeemed with the seauenfold graces of his glorious spirit Gregory vpon Ezech. saith that seauen ascents or steps were to go vp into Ierusalem the holy citie mystically signifying the seauen graces of Gods spirit tending to the perfection of Christian glory The first of these gifts is filiall feare making vs humble The second Christian pietie making vs mercifull The third diuine knowledge making vs discreet The fourth sacred intelligence causing vs to be prouident The fift is the wisdome of God making vs prudent The sixt fortitude setting vs free The seauenth counsell making vs wise to saluation in euery occurrence These graces of Gods Spirit are also signes vnto our brethren and seales vnto our selues of our heauenly perfection For by his reuealed Natiuity wee as new borne babes in the second birth must desire the sincere milke of the word to feede our soules therby vp to eternall life By baptisme we learne to confesse our sinnes to God and turne our misdeeds outwards as the Scolapendra doth her entrals to wash them By his passion onely to reioyce in the crosse of Christ whereby the world is crucified vnto vs and we vnto the world By his descent into hell to remember that we couet not lest we fall into temptation and snares of the diuell By his resurrection to striue that we may haue part in the first resurrection so shall not the second death touch vs. By his ascension to seeke the things that are aboue where now Christ our treasure is and not the things beneath And by the sending of his graces whereby the loue of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit which is giuen vnto vs that all things may be consecrated to Gods glory Which things that we may performe behold Christ the chiefest in heauen hath opened the book that we might know them and loosed the seales that we might do them Woe therefore be vnto them to whom his booke is yet shut and those seales yet vnloosed for our Gospell is hid to none but to them that are lost Christ Iesus is also the chiefest to be found on earth In the Reuelation of S. Ioh. Chap. 7. there are 144000 sealed by twelues Christ is sealed in the tribe of Iuda in whom also the rest are sealed to be the associats of the Lambe according to that ancient prophecy of Iacob Gen. 49. saying that the Scepter should not depart from Iuda vntill Silo come And against Dan he prophecieth thus O Lord I haue waited for thy saluation meaning Christ. Thus the Chaldaean paraphrasts I will not here mention the pourtraiture which Pub. Lentul sent vnto the Senate of Rome describing the lineaments of our Sauiour as he was vpon earth That he was gracious in aspect of a smooth brow of an aburne haire long and wauing at his backe like a Nazarite with a parted beard and the whole frame of his blessed body being incomparably beyond all men that euer were both in feature and fauour For I am not ignorant how apocriphall that relation is in sacred history and how grosly the Papists abuse themselues and others in the table painting limming of that Lord of life according to the rude hand of many an idle lozel that dares aduenture to pourtray that sacred beautie But what a one the Scripture mystically hath decyphered and described him to be that willingly will we looke vpon and behold with awfull eyes of feare and diuine reuerence And therein also we shall see him the chiefest of ten thousand The Psalmographer in the 45. Psal. setteth him out in the person of Salomon to be of surpassing beauty in the dignity of his forme For he was fairer then the sonnes of men Gracious in his speech for grace was powred from his lips valiant in his acts for he was mighty in renowne powerfull in his facts for his arrowes pierced the hearts of his enemies splendent in his royalty his throne being for euer and his scepter a scepter of righteousnesse it selfe Magnificent in his whole deportment for all his garments smell of Myrrhe Aloes and Cassia The beauty of Ioseph Dauid and Absolon are recommended in Scripture but the first had an alluring beauty the father and the sonne goodly to be looked on but in Christ it was the beauty