bodie nor with our substance He shall have neither our goods nor our knee but likely we put it off He shall have our soul why this is only to give God his thirds as a reverend Father saies to compound like Bankrupts and give him two parts less than we owe him and yet we look for ten thousand times more than He owes us We have some that are to be suspected for a kind of Sadduces among us that believe no resurrection of the body else they would never palter with discipline but be more forward in the prostration and worship of the bodie than the Church could be to command them Some have given a great blow to this duty by harping upon the bare words of S. John and not digesting the true meaning of his Text Joh. iv 23. The hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth Mark the occasion why this was spoken and the words precedent The woman of Samaria moved a doubt whether God was to be worshipped at Jerusalem as the Jews taught or at Mount Girizin as the Samaritans taught Now the Samaritans worshipt God falsely they worshipt they knew not what says Christ The Jews held strictly to Moses Law and observ'd figures and shadows of things to come which were all to give place and vanish upon the incarnation of our Lord. Now it is easie to discern the substance of our Saviours answer what it is to serve God in spirit and truth Truth is opposed to the false superstition of the Samaritans Spirit is opposed to the Jewish figures and sacrifices And Christ tells the woman God will neither be served any more after the Samaritan way or Jewish way but after the newness of the Gospel The hour cometh and now is when ye shall neither worship the Father in this Mountain nor at Jerusalem but they shall worship him in spirit and truth Do these words exempt the worship of the body nothing less The word spirit is not taken there for the soul divided from the body signifying only an internal act of the spirit but for all manner of virtuous actions as well external as internal which proceed from the grace of the Holy Spirit being acceptable to God because the Holy Spirit brings them forth not because they are figures of things to come I will sing with the spirit says St. Paul 1 Cor. xiv 15. and yet singing is a bodily action He did worship in spirit when he said For this cause bow I my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Ephes iii. to come to a point Remember therefore how we adore God in spirit when we adore him with those outward gestures of the body to which we are stirred up by the Spirit of truth And so much of the first member of my Text which I laid out to be handled by it self the Lord God is to be worshipped The next duty is the other Pillar of Religion which upholds the Church of the Elect the Lord God is to be served By worship you know already we understand all humble outward devotion and reverence Now by service you must conceive the inward conformity of the heart to all duty and obedience The will of the Lord is revealed to us two manner of ways Either as he doth promise us blessings and benefits and assures us great rewards in the Kingdom of heaven Or as he doth stipulate and covenant with us what we shall do to obtain his favour In the former respect as he hath given us the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth most liberally and as he doth promise greater fruits of his mercy most graciously we fall down and worship him for his benefits but as he doth condition with us to do somewhat for his sake that he may leave a blessing with us we serve him faithfully and bind our inward faculties our soul and our mind to be prompt and ready to execute all obedience That you may the better compose your hearts to attend Gods will in all things and to serve him I will supply your knowledge with these few motives following First There is no other Lord beside our God properly called 1 Cor. viii Though there be that are called Gods as there be Gods many and Lords many that is by opinion and nuncupation but to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him And again Eph. v. 4. One Lord one Faith one Baptism one God who is above all and through all and in you all Super omnes dominio per omnes providentiâ in omnibus justificatione Above all by his Dominion through all by his Providence in all by sanctifying us with his grace and justifying us from sin He that is subject to none inferiour to none independent of himself in all his power He may well be called a Lord and such a Lord deserves to be served Petty Magistrates hold of Princes favours and Kings hold their tenure under God Therefore some of the Roman Emperours having the perceivance that they could command nothing absolutely if he that sate above the heavens did stop it they would not be called Domini because themselves were servants in relation to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords therefore their circumscribed power did not answer the title When the Scripture brings in the most High the saying is Haec dicit Dominus Thus saith the Lord. If we would examine this after the stile of man you would say Lord of what Why universal Lord without any particular designment Specifications to be Lords of this or that are earthly phrases are notes of minority Attalus the Martyr was askt what name that Lord had whom he served Says he Qui plures sunt nominibus discernuntur qui autem unus est non indiget nomine Where there are many Lords they must be distinguish'd by their properties but what need that Lord a name for distinction who is the only Ruler by himself without any equal or partner in his dominion now since we must serve for sin hath brought servitude into the world whom would a man choose to serve but that only Lord to whose sheave all other sheaves do bend and who only hath authority Secondly In all service you will consider in what state and place it puts you Do so in this and spare not But let St. Peter be the Judge 1 Epist ii 9. Ye are a chosen generation a royal Priesthood an holy nation a peculiar people There is royalty in the very service Cui servire est regnare To do him service is a Kingly Ministry Nay there is more in one of our Church Collects in one Line of it than in the most Augustious title of a King God whose service is perfect freedom A King may be so much subject to naughty passions as he shall be in vile thraldom to his own sensualities and so
desired him to add two Collects naming first that for the second Sunday in Lent and then afterward that for the first Sunday after Trinity both most pertinent to that great occasion and then to give the Blessing which being done he thanked him heartily with a faltring speech whereby the Company plainly perceived that with the end of his Prayers he drew near the end of his mortal life and desired to be left alone and so all departed the Room save a couple of Servants who within half a quarter of an hour gave notice of his placid departure with as gentle a transmigration to happiness as I think was ever heard of Thus I have declared sincerely the Life the Sickness the Departure of this worthy Christian Prelate who lived as good men desire to live and as many men that are but shadows appear to live and then departed with as easie an ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as any man could desire to die His Funerals onely remain which were performed by the Reverend and Learned Dr. Scattergood his Lordships Chaplain in the Cathedral Church where He was interred neer the Body of his Predecessor Bishop Langthon as old people said both great Benefactors to that Church under a fair Tomb erected by the Piety of the most accomplisht Sir Andrew Hacket his Eldest Son and Heir both of his Estate and Virtues He was attended thither by multitudes of the Loyal Gentry and sorrowful Clergy of his Diocess all desirous to pay the utmost dues and rights they were able to his Memory thinking no Flowers too sweet for his Herse and no Box of Ointment too costly for his Burial all admiring his past Diligence sage Government admirable Ministrations and bewailing the great and universal loss by his Death Quantum praesidium Ausonia quantum Tu perdis Iule O Diocess of Lichfield what a Father hast thou lost O University of Cambridge what a Friend O House of Aaron what an Ornament O Church of England what a Saint Sic ora ferebant But we will no more deplore his Death or repine that He is taken from us but rather rejoyce and give God thanks that we ever had Him and that He lived so long with us This World was not worthy of Him who was fitter Company for Angels and Stars of Heaven then Clods of dust and bloud below and therefore God took Him from this Dunghil to stand before his Throne Where we leave thee blessed Soul among the Angelical Choir joyful in the illumination of the holy Trinity and ravisht with thy contemplation of the Divine and unconceivable glory We will endeavour not only to read and admire but practise all thy holy Counsels which now sound more loud from thy Books and Writings then they formerly did from thy rare Discourses and Preachings We ascribe the glory of all to God and will compose our selves to imitate thy Graces and Virtues O Divine Hacket whose Name is renowned and Memory for ever blessed And will hereafter listen with patience for the voice of the Arch-Angel and Trump of God for the Resurrection of the Dead the Renovation of the World the Creation of the New Heaven and New Earth at the glorious appearing of Christ Jesus with all his holy Angels and Saints and then in the Number of godly Prelates and faithful Doctors of the Christian Church I shall see again my Bishop and Father and hope to be seen of Him in Glory AMEN Come Lord Jesu come quickly OPTIMO PATRI PIENTISSIMVS FILIVS ANDREAS HACKET MILES F. F. JOANNIS HACKET Episc Lichf Coventr cinerib sacrum PRimaevae pietatis Et summae eloquentiae Praesulem Ecclesiae Anglicanae fidei orthodoxae Assertorem strenuum Concionatorem etiam ad ultimum assiduum Et Superstitionis Babylonicae tam maturum hostem Vt penè in cunis straverit Loyolitas Raro exemplo Vt Poeta praeluderet Theologo Vitae denique integritate innocentiâ Morum suavitate candore Charitate ergà pauperes eximiâ Et liberalitate erga suos insignem typum Verbo omnia Joh. Williams Metropol Ebor. Patroni sui Ectypum Desine ulterius quaerere Ista omnia Tabula haec unico in Hacketo exhibet Adversus positum caetera marmor habet Obiit 28. Oct. 1670. sub anno aetatis suae 79. Sistamus ergo Morae pretium est scire Quis demum Langthono claudit latus Solus HACKETUS tanto dignus contubernio Cujus piae liberalitati debetur Quod Langthoni cineres non frigescunt Aedis Cathedralis Lichfieldiae Instanrator illic Restaurator hìc jacet Ecclesiae Anglicanae antistitum par ingens Eóque ingentius quòd sibimet pares Scire vis Lector Quà m multis ille bonis flebilis occidit Schola regia Westmonast Alumnum Collegium SS Trinitatis Cantabr Socium Ecclesia S. Andreae Holbourn Quadragenarium Rectorem Et Cheam in agro Surriensi Quadragenarium Rectorem Aedes D. Pauli Residentiarium Sedes haec Episcopalis dignissimum sibi Praesulem abreptum deflet Sed ludo te Viator Dum inter mortuos refero Eum VIRVM Quem restauratae Pauli reliquiae Ceddae ruinae Quem Hospitium Episcopale SS Trin. Coll. de novo extructum Et Cantabr Bibliotheca libris cumulatè aucta Longum dabunt superstitem At the head of the Statue upon the Monument is ingraved I will not suffer mine eyes to sleep till I have found out a place for the Temple of the Lord. Psal 132. At the Feet Quam speciosa vestigia Evangelizantium pacem The Motto of the Coat at the Head of the Tomb Zelus domus tuae exedit me On the opposite Coat at the Feet Inservi Deo laetare Upon the Grave-stone that covers the Body in the Isle contiguous to the Monument JOHANNES HACKET Episcopus Lichf Coventr heic situs est THE FIRST SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION LUKE ii 7. And she brought forth her first born Son and wrapped him in swadling cloths and laid him in a Manger because there was no room for them in the Inn c. THis is a part of that joyful news which God did impart at first unto the Angels which the Angels in the twelfth ver did reveal unto the Shepherds which the Shepherds in the seventeenth verse made known abroad and thereby at first perchance it came to St. Luke which St. Luke made known in this Gospel to the Church which the Church from time to time hath delivered unto us which I at this day deliver unto you and which you must tell unto your Children that one Generation may comfort another with it unto the ends of the World I am in love with my Text but how shall I open and dilate my joy upon it No that most venerable name Mary the blessed Mother of our Lord knew not how to do it For although when Gabriel brought tidings unto her that she should conceive then she could come out with a strange word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as if her spirit friskt and danc'd within for gladness
into mourning and never suffer you to see a joyful day more Take heed you use not your liberty for a cloke of licenciousness Take heed of mid-night revels The Shepherds were not dancing but keeping watch over their flocks The Poet Virgil hath billited the sinful joys of the world mala mentis gaudia with Famine and Poverty and the very Haggs of Hell and indeed a vicious pleasure is a devillish thing for lawful and moderate pleasure is the preservative of nature filthy and corrupt pleasure destroys the glory of our nature I mean the soul And so much for this point that the coming of Christ doth inhibit all extravagant voluptuousness but for spiritual and bodily pleasure which is lawful the Angel brought tidings of joy of great joy which shall be to all people Now I must speak of the two supporters of this joy 1. That it is great for the size 2. That it is of long continuance for the measure gaudium quod erit joy that shall be unto you Great joy says the Angel he pass'd it over without a word of comparison lest he should seem to the Shepherds to have boasted but yet he meant there was no joy like to this to attain to such felicity as to have a Saviour born Other things may make us glad this is only a vehement and intensive exultation Let a carnal man pamper his skin with gluttony satiate the desires of the flesh with filthy fornication decline all industrious labour in pleasurable idleness let him have all things wherein fortune can favour a sensual Epicure Suppose that neither War nor Famine nor Death nor Dishonour nor Poverty eclipse his content yet for all this there is a Melancholy Fiend of Hell that upon sundry frivolous occasions will fret his heart and break his sleep and make his passions jar within themselves and he hath no firm and stable argument to perswade his soul to get out of this heaviness But if any discontent creep upon him that hath set up a stedfast Faith as a pillar in his heart and hath engraven these words upon it Jesus is my Redeemer this supports the soul that it shall not be cast down but it recovers it self from all pensiveness even as David chid all anguish from his heart Why art thou so sad O my soul and why art thou so disquiet within me still trust in God for he is the help of my countenance and my God Vna est ratio vincendi inimicum laetitia spiritualis This spiritual gladness and festivity is the principal assistance to vanquish Satan and all desperate doubts with which he would perplex our conscience it is a royal joy which comforts us that we shall be heirs of a glorious Kingdom it is a sanctified joy which gives us promise that we shall not only be Kings but Priests for ever to offer up the sweet odors of our prayers to God it is a superlative joy which cries down all other petty delights and makes them appear as nothing it is endless joy of durance and lasting for ever and ever for my Text says it is Gaudium quod erit joy that shall be unto you All the joy upon earth is gaudium quod est now it is and anon it is not joy for a spirt and away Eccles vii 8. as the crackling of thorns under a pot so is the laughter of a fool Like a gol-sheave all of a flame and out again suddenly The end of mirth that is of worldly mirth is heaviness Prov. xiv 13. Times of feasting have a period every man is glutted at last he that hath his fill of sport is weary by the late of night and glad to take his rest But the joy that you have in Christ is with you all the year in all your sorrows in all your adversities it sleeps with you it grows old with you it will change this life with you and follow you into a better And my joy shall no man take from you says our Saviour John xvi 22. Christmas joy was not only for the first twelve days when the Son of God was born but for all the twelve months of twelve hundred years and many hundreds after them unto the worlds end So St. Peter doth solace us 1 Pet. i. 8. Though now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Eccles xi 9. Mark I pray you how much line this Syren world gives a voluptuous man to play with Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thine heart chear thee and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes but when the hook is in his jaws observe how it is twicht and snatcht up at last Know thou that for all these things God will bring thee unto judgment So that let the wicked speed never so well in his frolicks and jocundities he returns home as Theseus did with black sails of sorrow as if he had never made a saving voyage All their laughter is like the joy of Herod's Birth-day dancing and revels and offering of great gifts last for a while but before evening you shall see an alteration and when their surfeited Tables are removed away the last service in the platter is the Head of John the Baptist But the mirth which we have in the Mediator of our salvation is a song which hath no rest in it nor ever shall have a close We begin the first part here that we may sing the other part in Psalms and Hallelujahs with the Saints for ever As Christmas is celebrated part of the new year and part of the old so it is joy that is in this life and shall be in the life to come Our last peroration upon the Text is to meditate upon the persons to whom these glad tidings and great joy are directed Vobis omni populo to you and to all people And personally to those Shepherds the joy was great I do not question it for the Angel did not light upon them casually as if he took the first he met chance and fortune are words made by our ignorance things of no being in the providence of God but certainly they were pickt out rather than any others because they were men of just and holy conversation fit to receive glad tidings from Heaven they were of an humble and a lowly spirit not of a proud and stiff opinion that would dispute against the Scriptures which said Jesus was the Christ like the Scribes and Pharisees they were useful men to the Commonwealth in which they liv'd painful in their vocation and watching over their flocks by night Out of all these premises we may collect that God had a respect to them in particular unto such belongs the Kingdom of Heaven the good tidings fell upon their head They did apply the benefit of Faith to themselves and that Saviour which was born was their Redeemer And vobis Judaeis to you Jews the Text will bear that I am sure
better tidings to you Israelites than to any other Nation if you will accept them The Son of God came of their Fathers according to the flesh in their Country he came to preach daily and no where in the world beside in their eyes he wrought his Miracles and upon their bodies he practis'd his wonderful power to cure their Diseases to make their Blind to see and their Lame to walk He professed himself to be more devoted to their welfare than to all the earth beside before the Canaanitish woman I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel They were his he did acknowledge it he was theirs but they denied it he came to his own but his own received him not To abreviate my discourse in this point Evangelizo vobis they are glad tidings to you because it is given to you to hear the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven for blessed is the ear that heareth the things which you hear Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God It is flat cheating in the Devil to put dubitation into mans fancy on this wise I am partaker of the outward word but I know not whether God have gone any further with me to give me his inward Spirit to quicken that seed unto immortal life Beloved as Christ did institute both Bread and Wine to be the outward Elements of the Sacrament of his Body and Blood Bread is the substance of food Wine causeth the concoction and makes it comfortable food So the word preacht is the food of life and God never lets it go alone without some drops of the Wine of his Grace to make it nourishing and beneficial Jude xiii 23. Manoah the Father of Sampson cries out to his Wife we shall surely die because we have seen God Nay says she If the Lord were pleased to kill us he would not receive a burnt-offering at our hand Neither would he have shewed us all these things nor would at this time have told us such things as these So let me answer all dubitative Christians unless the Lord did desire thy salvation he would not put his Word into thy ear nor his Sacrament into thy mouth The Gospel is an happy annuntiation to every one that hears it unless he quench the Grace which is offered unto him Evangelium omni populo the tidings are auspicious to all people To all people Trahit sua quemque voluptas There are so innumerous many fond pleasures desires vanities affections in several appetites can any thing satisfie them all yes it is relishable to every palat that will taste it though the true delight apprehended is included among the small number of the Elect yet it is given to all and no man shall say he is lost for want of a Redeemer and a sacrifice for his sins Cum omnibus scriptus significavit omnes says Origen He was taxed in his Mothers Womb by Augustus Caesar when all the world was taxed to intimate that he did communicate himself to all the world that after that conscription of their names in Caesars enrollment whosoever believed in him his name might be written among the Saints in the book of Life In the first lesson read upon Christmas-day thus you have it Isa ix 3. They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest and as men rejoyce when they divide the spoil A good Harvest is not welcome to one Village but it is gladsome to the whole Country round about and when spoils are divided after the vanquishing of an Enemy every Souldier is enricht and hath his share Such a communicative blessing is our Saviours Incarnation every man fills his bosom with the sheaves of the harvest every Christian Souldier that fights a good warfare plucks somewhat from the spoils of the Enemy The dew of thy birth is as the womb of the morning A learned Father of our own Church transposeth the Versicle on this wise Thy birth from the Womb is as the morning dew which waters the whole earth As the walls of Jericho fell down before the sound of the rams horns so the wall of partition between Jew and Gentile methinks it fell down flat to the ground at this blast of the Angels trumpet in my Text that these were glad tidings not toti populo but omni populo not to the whole people of the Jews but to all the people of the world The wall of discord is taken away in the universe which parted those two great houses and shall not the sweet welcome of the Birth of Christ take away a wall of partition between thee and thy neighbour which is in thy heart Can you out of enmity and hatred wish sorrow unto any when God wisheth joy great joy unto all dost thou envy at the prosperity of thy brother when the Lord would have the same glad tidings common to you both Lay down old grudgings and quarrels with the old year and begin the new year with a new reconciliation in love unfeigned and true meaning Charity and the Lord renew a right spirit in us all Amen THE SIXTH SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION LUKE ii 11. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. THE Angel hath made a brief Sermon upon a great occasion The occasion is the Incarnation of our Lord and who can be so copious upon that subject as the Mystery requires yet the Sermon which the Angel preacheth is neither a whole Chapter nor a whole Gospel but three verses of a Gospel In the multitude of words a great deal is lost unto the hearer the good application of a little whatsoever we think will yield the best fruits of increase But for such divine joy as is here proclaimed it was fit to roul it up in a small pill and to minister it to the audience in a little quantity How is it possible for frail flesh to subsist and not to be dissolv'd for gladness if the Angel had continued his tidings with such matter as he begun a Saviour is born unto you a Saviour is born no petty redeemer but the Lord strong and mighty a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. O it was provident care after the Shepherds had heard a little to tell them no more at once but rather to send them away into the City that they might see the rest After Israel had shaken off the Chaldean slavery and the Lord had turned the captivity of Sion David knew not how to express their astonisht joy but thus they were like unto them that dream as Livie says of the Grecians when the Romans that conquer'd them sent them unexpected liberty Mirabundi velut somni speciem arbitrabantur they received the tidings as if it had been a pleasing dream and themselves scarce awake So our sins have so much discomforted our hearts that our spirits are confus'd and faint if we receive all the comfort that God sends at once like a strong
can have no help from thence to understand it Erasmus says it is a particle Quae nec affirmat nec negat it neither assents to that which the woman uttered nor yet contradicts it but leaves it in medio untoucht and unanswer'd The Jesuit Maldonat will make Calvin his adversary many times where he is not and lays to his charge this impiety that Christ should cross all that was said before 'T is not so that the Womb is blessed which bare me no blessed are they c. Calvin God wot hath no such asseveration but thus Fere pro nihilo haec ducit Christus longe est inferius c. But 't is large in this form it cannot be denied says he but that God exalted Mary to the highest honour when he elected and destined her to be the Mother of his Son but Christ reputes this as nothing and much inferiour to the other to hear the word of God and keep it is there any offence in this not any And what if it be Maldonats own opinion in other words thus he Vtrum que quod dictum est quod dicendum affirmat sed dicto dicendum proponit Our Saviour affirms that the woman said true Blessed is the womb c. And he affirms it was blessed to hear the word of God and keep it but he prefers the spiritual blessedness of hearing the word of God and keeping it before the natural blessedness to bear him in the womb This is most true and runs thus in St. Austins elegancy Beatior Maria percipiendo fidem Christi quam concipiendo carnem Christi O sacred Virgin much more happy in entertaining the Faith of Christ than in conceiving the Flesh of Christ For the second Covenant which is the anchor of Salvation is Crede vive believe and thou shalt be saved not uterum gere vive bear the Son of God in thy Womb and thou shalt be saved Eusebius Emissenus speaks enough to have angred Maldonat yet sound and good in true construction She whom thou dost magnifie was not therefore blessed because she was my mother and bore me Sed quia verbum audivit audiendo credidit credendo custodivit but because she was glad to hear my word and what she heard she believed willingly and what she believed she practised diligently Her own Cousin Elizabeth extended her salutation to this sense Blessed is she that believed for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord Luke i. 45. A quip for her own Husband Zachary by the way who had a message brought him by an Angel and gave no credit to it and was strucken dumb for incredulity but Mary had all applause and congratulation from heaven and earth from Angels and men because she heard the word and believed it Nay Christ himself hath confirmed this construction most sharply and emphatically Mat. xii 48. Who is my Mother and who are my brethren and he stretcht forth his hand to his Disciples Behold my mother and my brethren for whosoever shall do the will of my Father that is in heaven he is my brother and sister and mother And if it would not profit Mary to have given the bread to such a Son without Faith and obedience how can any other carnal respect and advantage do us good fleshly consanguinities and prerogatives make additions in a coat of armory but we must stand before the tribunal of God disrayed of all such circumstances A wise Heathen could taunt at them that boasted the smoky Images of their Ancestors Vt quod in fructu non teneas mireris in trunco says St. Hierom as eloquent as any of the Heathens Shall we commend the stock of a tree when we cannot commend the fruit Finally St. Paul divorceth the Jews and all others from pretending a carnal propinquity with Christ says he We know no man after the flesh yea though we have known Christ after the flesh yet now henceforth we know him so no more 2 Cor. v. 16. The Mother whose paps he suckt must not glory that she fed him but that he fed her and gave her living waters of his Word and Spirit to drink Yea rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it I must not and if I would I have no time set forth before you what a secundity of error there is in mans heart about the notion of blessedness Our Saviour confines our stragling imaginations to this rule that no good thing of a subordinate condition can stile a man happy 't is a title to be given to that immense communication of good when the soul shall enjoy the fulness of him that filleth all in all But the means that impetrate a reward and the reward it self are knit so individually together that nothing is enjoyed in the one but is affirmed of the other And he that goes the right way to the eternal joys above is canonized happy as if he were in those joys already Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it The Kingdom of God is not meats and drinks but a pure and a righteous spirit ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã says St. Basil very truly a pure and a sanctified soul is the first ascent of happiness And this is tried by two particulars first if we treasure up the precious things of God in our ear then if we transmit them to a more inward and a safer place and treasure them up in our heart Whether your consciences be sometimes vexed with a Sermon or whether your heart be pricked or whether the Doctrine delivered be most opposite to your appetite in way of profit or pleasure or reputation yet still remember it is a blessed thing to hear and a great honour to dust and ashes that God will speak unto you And he that is cloy'd with hearing hath such a surfeited constitution that he is cloy'd with blessedness Mary her sitting attentive to hear our Saviour was unum necessarium not a thing well done but yet indifferent and at her own choice whether she would do it or no but it was unum necessarium a necessary part of obedience which concerned her salvation The Lord from heaven began his law with the command of hearing hear O Israel Deut. iv 1. And so the voice of the Father from heaven began the Gospel This is my beloved Son hear him The fault of this age to speak the truth is not in this that there want hearers for excepting some few that think themselves wise enough already and that they need not learn and excepting some irreligious and profane ones that refuse true wisdom and never think of their latter end but the generality in all places will not stick to shew their duty in hearing but with divers they are mens gifts and persons which they admire and follow if those men teach whom their ear tasts or if it be such kind of teaching as they will only like in their prejudicate
the deliverance of Israel when he was born that was the Redeemer of all deliverers This is that emplaister of which Isaiah Prophesied that it should lenifie all their sores Comfort ye comfort ye my people saith our God speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned Isa xl 1. And again the Lord shall comfort Zion he will comfort all her wast places he will make her Wilderness like Eden and her Desart like the Garden of the Lord joy and gladness shall be found therein thanksgiving and the voice of melody Isa li. 3. what a quick-sighted faith had Simeon that he could see so far into Christ upon what part of him did he cast his eye that he could find such a Champion in a little Infant wrapt in swadling clothes O what an heavenly light there shines before faith that the old man could espy in this little Bethlehemite that he should turn their captivity like the rivers in the South there was nothing to behold externally in Christ but contempt and weakness and poverty in those days who will distrust his protection now when there is nothing to be viewed about him but Power and Fortitude and Majesty O that men should be afraid to perish even in the presence nay even in the hand of such a Saviour He that is yet to seek for the peace of joy though death were at the door let him consume in his own infidelity Fourthly He had purchas'd peace before his departure because he had as much as could be askt his heart was satiated wirh good things a very greedy avarice had been in him if he could have askt any more And so Theophylact glosseth very judiciously upon my Text ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he that hath gained the sum and substance of all his hopes and petitions he may justly say that he can bid adieu to this world in peace So God promised to Abraham Gen. xv 15. thou shalt be buried in a good old age and thou shalt go to thy Fathers in peace that is thy desire shall be filled brim full and measure running over nothing that thou canst ask in Faith but I will give it thee So Simeon possessed the complement of all felicity he had so much that he could desire no more for he that hath given us his Son will he not with him likewise giue us all things And take this to your use from hence that a wishing heart which is ever thirsting for more strugling for some addition and yet some more to that cannot be said to be in peace no more than an Hydropical man that thirsts for drink continually can be said to be in health Crescit indulgens sibi dirus hydrops the satiating of one concupiscence begets another and that 's like a mill-horse in a circle that you can never say he is at his journeys end Therefore if you mean to be at ease and not to be wrackt with care let to morrow care for it self Fifthly And so to give this point its last allowance Origen and Irenaeus interpret my Text of that peace which Christ came to make between God and man St. Paul says that when we were darkened in our understanding walking in the lust of our own mind we were enemies with God and alas we are sure to come by the worst of that enmity for who is able to sustain his displeasure and it was no petty enmity but God did abhor us and provide all manner of scourges to plague us both in this world and in that which is to come No creatures which are noted for antipathies do shun one another at more distance than God doth abhor an impure soul and they are not sacrifices of Beasts that could make an attonement for us they were not Angels that could deprecate the Divine wrath and reconcile us they were glad to bring the tidings that an Eternal Son of an Eternal Father had done that good office for us Glory be to God on high and in earth peace it could never be well sung but at this Incarnation and therefore it could never be well said but at his Incarnation Lord now lettest thou thy servant c. You have heard of the supplicant and of his petition and the time which he sets and his good preparation of peace to go from hence and to be with the Lord. After this it is seasonable to speak of the assurance in which he trusted that God would grant him his desire for he askt nothing extravagantly and without warrant but it was secundum verbum tuum according to thy word and that word upon which he might stedfastly build is ver 26. it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death till he had seen the Lord's Christ revealed unto him But perhaps you will say why might it not be his own imagination that deluded him and no revelation from God We indeed that walk in the ordinary course of Grace may be cozened like Enthusiasts and think that our own doating fancies are inspirations from Heaven But Prophets that had extraordinary illuminations were able to distinguish between brain-sick notions and the word of God when it spake within them And Simeon you will mark it when I tell it you had a double and a double portion of the Spirit In the last days says Joel Your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions These are different graces for several persons only in this Prophet they concurr'd both He had the old mans dream to reveal unto him that he should not die till Christ was manifested and he had the young mans vision to accomplish his happiness His eyes did see his salvation No doubt then he had sufficient means to prove in himself that it was the word of God that is the word of the Holy Ghost from whom he received that Oracle and hence St. Athanasius doth learnedly prove the divinity of the Holy Ghost And the plenty of this point will contribute this especially unto us that it is presumption to expect any thing to be granted us without warrant and promise received from the word of God That 's the Organ or Tongue by which the Holy Ghost speaks with us and he that puts himself upon any hazardous action without encouragement from it to bring him off with safety he makes a snare to bring himself to destruction Satan durst not be so impudent to tempt our Saviour to fall down from a pinacle of the Temple without pretence of authority from the Psalm that He shall give his Angels charge over thee and therefore we justly exclaim against Monastical Vows of perpetual Chastity and we see how frequently they apostate from their Vow and wallow in all lust and uncleanness because it is no where written if any one will take this yoke upon him I will assist him and make it light It is a miserable thing to have no other staff to lean upon then
hath redeemed his people Take the whole verse now together which is the exordium of this Prophetical Song and it contains two parts the magnifying of the divine goodness and the reason rendred why it was fit to break out into that devotion In the first here is the comprehension of all praise in this word blessed Secondly the comprehension of the divine titles the Lord God of Israel The next general member why this praise is given is drawn from two acts that God hath visited and that he hath redeemed And the Object of both those acts is it which makes it praise-worthy and thanks worth he hath visited his People First of all here is a full ascribing of all glory to God in this word blessed O how Zachary did meditate this all the while he was dumb O how much he desired all the while his utterance was stopt to bring forth these good words to the honour of his Maker He kept silence a long time from this heavenly Canticle but it was pain and grief unto him Now his mouth was opened with the key of the Holy Spirit to discourse of the wonderful works of God and it was a blessed thing that as soon as he was able to talk this was the first language that flowed from him Blessed be the Lord. Two things are the grace and dignity of our Elocutions Deum laudare verum dicere to praise the great Majesty of Heaven and to tell the truth upon Earth but why do I divide them two which will most properly fall into one For no truth so clear and evident as that the name of Christ is blessed for evermore They that speak the truth of him must speak well of him and whosoever blasphemes his honour is a Liar and an Antichrist As Hezekiah paid the Tribute which Sennacherib imposed upon him out of the Treasure of the house of the Lord and out of the Gold which over-laid the doors of the Temple 2 Kings xviii 16. so the praise of God is the chief treasure of our heart the chief thing that belongs to this holy place the very Gold of the Temple therefore when we magnifie his name we pay him Tribute out of the best thing which the Church can afford Neither is there any good business of Religion whereof we may be so confident that we are in a right course and do not swerve Our Belief may be grounded upon strong errors as it is among Hereticks Our Zeal may be transported into Faction as it is among Schismaticks Our Repentance may be slight and superficial as it is among Hypocrites We may be too forward in our Hope having no firm assurance from the fruits of a good Conscience Too free of our Charity when we do not distinguish who are fit to receive it Too prodigal of our Commendations when we do not note mens Actions whether they deserve it but be as copious as you will in magnifying your Creator and Redeemer and you are certain the work is very good most certain that you cannot tread awry Yet Satan and our own negligence are able to frame an objection against any truth which is most demonstrative What will our sluggish spirit say The honour of God doth not depend upon the fame of this World His glory cannot be raised higher than it is by our Jubilees and Songs or by our Instruments of Musick no though we could praise him as loud as claps of Thunder But for all this will you be content to glorifie him if it will bring your self to honour though it be no amplification to the Majesty of God Agreed then And first it is an high advancement that he will permit us to do him that homage though we should have no recompence for our labour it is abundantly rewarded that he will give us leave to exalt him he hath not dealt so with all people Unto the ungodly said God Why dost thou take my name within thy lips As it is an honour to the Magistrate that God hath committed the Sword of Justice to their power so it is an honour to every Christian that he hath permitted unto us to talk of his honour it is an Angels life continually to bless him and sound forth his glory Therefore that parcel of the Psalm may look this way let the praise of God be in their mouth and a two edged Sword in their hand the one is as great a priviledge belonging to us as the other to a Magistrate Secondly St. Peter grants it generally to all godly people Yè are an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices to God 1 Pet. ii 5. What is the spiritual Sacrifice but Praise and Thanksgiving Therefore let us offer up the sacrifice of praise sweetly and devoutly and all Christians shall become Priests in that respect and the holy portion of God and having offered up this visible sacrifice of praise we our selves in our hearts shall become the invisible sacrifice of God and bring oblation upon oblation unto the Altar it is nothing worth unless your own soul be the principal Oblation I press this the rather because it is so ill forgotten in the Roman Missal For they that do so often trouble your ears with their sacrifice and their Altar have not one word in their Missal that we or our souls should be a reasonable holy and living sacrifice to God Thirdly In giving glory to the Lamb and to him that sits upon the Throne we do not give but receive for no man can ascribe much praise to God but out of a large capacity of faith no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost no man can speak of the King of Kings according to his due excellency but it will procreate devotion and reverence therefore though Gods honour be in the same state that it was before yet your soul is in better state than it was before by praise and glorification Fourthly We do all agree with St. Paul that Charity is greater than the two other Theological Vertues greater than Faith that believeth all mysteries greater than Hope that expecteth all Promises and therefore greater because it shall abide with us in the Kingdom of Heaven when the other two shall vanish away So to laud and magnifie our Omnipotent Creator is far above all other acts of Religion because nothing else shall abide with us when we see God face to face There shall be no confession of Christ our Mediator for none shall deny him there shall be no fasting for man shall eat Angels food and have no need of nourishment no Alms shall be given for it is life without want and scarcity no Prayer for forgiveness of sins no hearing of the Word no sufferance of the Cross no intercession for them that suffer but the praise of God continueth and supplieth all the rest uncessantly we shall cry out Holy holy Lord God of Hosts which was and is and is to come Therefore it is called blessing of God because it
to be ministred unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many Unto us therefore the mercy of God is most frank and liberal a gratuitous blessing a good turn as freely bestowed as ever was any so that we who received it conferr'd nothing unto it but on Christ's part he laid down a ransom of a most just compensation Fourthly As all mankind that is flesh and blood in every man and woman is honoured by his Visitation so all without exceptions are beholding to his Redemption Zachary the Priest with all his innocency who is said to have been blameless and righteous before God yet he blesseth God that he was redeemed Job a man so holy that God bears witness to him so upright that the Devil could not except against him yet glad he was to take notice of a Redeemer that was his anchor upon which he stayed himself I know that my redeemer liveth The blessed Virgin no doubt as holy a creature as ever walked upon the earth yet her Spirit rejoyced chiefly in this that she had a Saviour Great is thy benignity O Lord that thou hast given us a joyful recovery from an oppressing pestilence that thou hast given us all things necessary for life and sustenance greater is thy goodness that thou hast given us grace to repent to call upon thee to direct our heart in thy command and to believe in thy saving health but this is the most superabundant blessing of them all that since we are odious and unprofitable in thy sight with all our imperfect righteousness thou hast repaired us again by giving thy self a redemption for us Thrice happy therefore that we know with Job that our Redeemer liveth and comfort your hearts thus he came to redeem that which was lost therefore he will not let that be lost which he hath redeemed Having thus spoken of the benefits of Visitation and Redemption I should leave my Treatise very imperfect if I should not speak of the Receivers very briefly therefore concerning them upon whom all was conferr'd he hath visited and redeemed his people It is certain that the generations of mankind are meant by this word the Sons and Daughters of Adam and none others The Angels are called his servants his ministring spirits his messengers c. but they are never called his people Godly Bishops and Fathers of the Church have drawn out certain streams from the love of Christ by which the Angels should receive some utility St. Austin says his light did shine before them his example did kindle a desire in them to excel in zeal and obedience Bernard says Qui evexit hominem lapsum dedit Angelis ne laberentur that is he whose redemption prevailed to raise up man after he had fallen it confirmed the Angels in grace that they should never fall He brought us out of captivity he preserved them that they never came into captivity but that which these speak of that should turn to the utility of Angels it came from the power and good will of his God-head not by virtue of his mediatorship being made God and man to reconcile those to his Father who had offended The Schoolmen say though he was not Incarnate for the Angels nor shed his Blood for their sakes yet the fruit of his redemption did in some wise redound to them because it compounded the friendship between Angels and men whereas they were our enemies in Gods quarrel before our peace was procured by our Saviour Well this comes to nothing on the Angels part it is neither dignity nor commodity to them but unto us therefore we are the clear gainers by all the profit that my Text brings in he hath c. In a strict phrase we know who they were that had the happiness to be called his people for many ages his covenant was made with the seed of Abraham and with the children of Jacob but when they ceased to know the Lord and to obey him this Covenant was broken and it is very remarkable how zealously God did manifest it that his love was turned away from that Nation Hosea i. he made the children of that Prophet signs and tokens unto them calling his Daughters lo-ruhamah I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel and he called his Son loammi for says he ye are not my people and I will not be your God ver 9. You see in that place that God hath as it were torn the hand-writing wherein the Covenant was made it is cancell'd and it will not profit them That people lost their share in this redemption because they knew not the true redeemer nor minded the true redemption Light came into the world and they loved darkness more than light they knew not their Redeemer the holy One of Israel In the matter of redemption also they were quite mistaken never drawing their care inward to the use of their soul but gaping for a Champion that should fight for them against the Romans so they were neither delivered from the bondage of the Romans nor from the power of the Devil Where then shall we look for his people beloved not in one angle of the world but among all Nations both Jews and Gentiles God spake once and twice says the Psalmist first to the old Church of the Jews than to the new Church of the Gentiles and as many as call upon him faithfully they are his people and he is their King And that you may be sure the Gentiles have their interest in him the first in all the holy Scripture that calls him a Redeemer is Job and Job is a Gentile In every Nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him says St. Peter Acts x. 35. Nay that which Zachary utters restrictively he hath visited and redeemed his people the Angel as one more indifferent to all parties says I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people So St. John as liberally and largely as the Angel he is the propitiation for our sins and not for our sins only but for the sins of the whole world 1 Epist chap. ii ver 2. says Prosper very well a Father that was very cunning in this point Poculum immortalitatis habet in se ut omnibus prosit sed si non bibitur non medetur The cup of immortality is in his hand to bring all men to eternal life but it will cure none of their sins but those that drink of it To conclude all Christ came especially into the world for his Church sake and more especially in his Church for those that are called according to his purpose he came to purchase unto himself a people zealous of good works They were to be purchased and made his people they were not his people before he came unto them Non veniens suam invenit plebem sed visitando eam fecit if he had not visited them and redeemed them and taught them and given them of his spirit
is in the new Temple of Jerusalem above the Stars that doth secretly teach the heart As the times go the efficacy of grace had need be stiffly maintained against bare outward means Mark the consent of antiquity upon this Point Non satis fuisset stella nisi adfuisset fides illustratio sancti spiritus says St. Ambrose they had never moved so far for the Star alone without the illumination of faith and the holy Spirit Fulgentior veritatis radius eorum corda perdocuit says Leo certain impulsions and illustrations of the holy Spirit gave them understanding and will to come to Christ Deus direxit eos tam in viâ morum quà m in viâ pedum says Chrysologus God did direct them both in their inward and in their outward ways The natural man is not able to discern the things that belong to God let these alone to themselves and shew them a bright Lamp from heaven and they would have thought of any thing as soon as of this question Where is he that is born the King of the Jews Suppose they had certain Traditions in their Schools that when such a Star was seen the Messias was come into the world yet no man could apply himself to seek out Christ and worship him but by the Spirit of God Every man is full of his conjectures who should deliver the expectation of the Messias to those remote Gentiles whether Daniel or some other Prophet that was in the Chaldean Captivity Or whether Balaam who lived in the Mountains of the East a thousand years before Daniel Nay another Author puts it upon Seth that he left a Prophesie concerning such an occasion which should fall out against the birth of Christ and that the Wise-men of the East appointed twelve men of their Colledge to watch that Star every year from the beginning of Autumn to the Winter and when one of those twelve died they supplied the number that their Watchmen might never fail Some Predictions they had I will not contend about it preacht to the outward ear yet this had been but sounding brass and empty words if the Lord had not secretly moved their heart What you will say and was the Spirit diffused even among the disperced of the Nations that lived without the Law Yes Beloved that was more than seldom seen as the spirit of grace was in Cornelius to send up Prayers and Alms to heaven before he knew what it was to be baptized unto remission of sins in the bloud of Christ The spirit of direction was upon Cyrus an heathen 2 Chron. c. ult 22. he was admonisht from God to build the Temple The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus the King of Persia And the spirit of Divination or Prophesie was upon the wicked Soothsayers of the Philistins 1 Sam. vi 9. they divined if the Cart in which they put the Ark of the Lord went up straight to Bethshemesh to its own Coast then the Lord had laid evil upon them for detaining it and so it came to pass ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã says St. Chrysostom God did make the Event answer to the Prediction of those wicked Soothsayers No opposition therefore in this but the Spirit bloweth where it listeth even among the dispersed of the heathen even among these Wise-men of the East Dedit aspicientibus intellectum qui prestitit signum The grace of God was in their understanding and his signs and wonders in their outward eye And so much of their first Assertion what God had wrought for them We have seen c. Said I even now that the benediction of the Spirit was upon them So it is evident by the last part of my Text their second Assersion what God had wrought in them and are come to worship him Many might come a journey to see him as well as they for that Herod that cut off John Baptist his head desired of a long time to see him Many might see the Star as well as they and be never the better for sundry saw as great signs and miracles that never believed Many of the Scribes knew where he was to be born and were able to tell the Wise-men when they knew not the matter lies not therefore in venimus or in vidimus but in adoramus this is their praise and this is their piety that they came to worship him and that they profess they will worship him though they knew him to be but an Infant new born and never scan the case in what condition they may find him The Queen of the South came as far as these men did but she found a King in all Royalty and such a glorious Court as never was the like these men found a Child in a Cratch the poorest and most unlikely birth that ever was to prove a King no sight to comfort them not a word that came from him for which they were the wiser and yet they were as good as their word they did fall down and worship him and more than worship him present him with their gifts Why should not they humble themselves to the earth when they saw the Stars above did obey him and wait his attendance You will say If we could see such a Star as they did the obstinate would be more convinced to do him worship but it will be more acceptable to worship him though we have not seen Beside They adored him when he was so little in his humiliation who will be slack to perform that homage now he is so great in his glorification I will rather regard the time than dispatch all that remains But one thing is to be spoken of that some take the very foundation of this Point from us namely that the worship of the Wise-men was no religious worship they came not to exhibit a pious veneration to Christ as to the Eternal Son of God but they saluted him with their bended knee as the Persian manner was to behave themselves before their Kings But why should Persians tender such civil worship to one that was none of their own Kings but the King of the Jews One would answer it thus to ingratiate themselves into him betimes if happily he should become the Oriental Monarch in his elder years A conjecture too slight for his great judgment that uttered it Is it possible that wise men should conceive in him no more than a man and yet do him all Princely honour lying in the Cratch of a Stable Are they such men as were admonisht in a dream by the divine Oracles which way to return home and yet shall we interpret their actions politically and not after a divine manner St. Chrysostom says They did both adore him in Bethlehem and preach of his heavenly Kingdom when they came home into Persia ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã St. Ambrose is for the same they worshipped him being a little babe in swadling clouts Vtique parvulum non adorassent si parvulum tantum credidissent But
Ordination shall be necessary for us for nothing is necessary in it self but as the Lord hath decreed and made it so Wherefore this is my first Proposition That the use of Baptism is simply necessary to a true Church and where it is not in use as among Jews and Mahometans that alone is enough to defie them that they are not members of that body whereof Christ is the head It is not to be opposed that the due administration of the Sacraments is an inseparable note of the Church For the Church being an outward company of Professors that depend upon the grace of God How can it outwardly be discerned that we depend upon him unless we accustom our selves to the outward means that seal and assure his blessings unto us Touching Baptism therefore it is necessary to a company of Believers who make a Church it is so necessary that they could give no evident token of their Christianity to men if that mark of our initiation into the visible Church were omitted Though Baptism as I will shew instantly is not simply necessary for the invisible incorporation of Infants in to Christ yet it is certain that the sprinkling of water gives them that visible incition whereby they are ingrafted into him That must be our ordinary practice or else we are none of his flock he is none of our Shepherd In the description of Paradise we read of two things that were in it Pleasant Rivers of waters and Trees which did abound with fruit for sustenance So the Church in whose blessings Paradise is restored unto us hath spiritual sustenance for life in the Lords Supper and water of Regeneration in the other Sacrament Without these two it is no more it self and therefore the Church of God in general may say I have need to be baptized ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it is a necessity laid upon me My next Proposition consists of these terms Suppose that there are some grown to years of knowledge able to discern between good and evil who from their birth were Paynims Mahometans altogether ignorant in the truth of Salvation but at last the light of heaven hath shined upon them and by the preaching of the Word hath wrought upon their hearts to believe such Converts must desire to be wash'd in the Sacrament of water and confess that they have need and that they would be baptized First I say they must desire it cordially and with all the affection of their mind If it be not the only Lesson of the Gospel yet I am sure it is the main drift of Christ and his Apostles to teach all men to attain to Salvation by humility Therefore to pluck down our high imaginations see the admirable wisdom of Gods Dispensations he hath made man subject to those creatures which are much beneath himself that they should be the sanctified instruments to make him partaker of everlasting life Naaman the Syrian thought great scorn at first to make use of an whole River to recover his Leprosie Now leât any man should have such insolent thoughts that he would not be beholding to small things for his salvation they that will be heirs of heaven must come to a Font and be glad of a little sprinkling in token that Christs bloud will cleanse them from their sins They must kneel and fall down likewise at Gods Table to pick up the crumbs and to taste a little of his banquet of bread and wine And he that despiseth these Elements as poor rubbish for so great a purpose he despiseth God himself and his heart is not right with the Lord. It is an essential propriety of faith to long for the Sacraments even as the Hart thirsteth after the Rivers of waters And he that sets those Mysteries at a low price as if it were not material to his souls benefit whether he used them or no the Devil hath pust him up to destroy him he wants the true life of Faith and is given over to the captivity of Satan I say no more than God hath denounced against the uncircumcised Gen. xvii 13. My Covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting Covenant the uncircumcised man-child shall be cut off from his people he hath broken my Covenant Beloved if an Israelites child died before the eighth day which the Lord appointed for Circumcision that did not offend the Lord neither was the child accounted out of the Covenant but if an Israelite of ripe years or a stranger within his gates did despise Circumcision that soul was cut off in the anger of the Lord. My third Proposition touching Converts of ripe age is this that if they desired Baptism and were prevented by the suddenness of death the Lord will accept the desire of their Faith and their soul shall not suffer for the want of Baptism Two Texts in the New Testament imply a strict command that we must all be baptized if we desire to be entred into the Covenant of grace yet I will draw from them that they are not altogether without limits and mitigation Mar. xvi 16. They are our Saviours words He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned Mark with what wariness the words are repeated not thus he that is not baptized shall perish only the other member is taken into the threatning He that believeth not shall be damned To be an unbeliever to avoid the Sacrament out of disdain and not to be prevented by necessity that is the crime which according to our Saviours words shall not be unrevenged Hear in another place what he presseth more strictly upon Nicodemus Joh. iii. 5. Vnless a man be born again of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Here is no time limited but it is spoken as if instantly the institution of Baptism were in force and that from thenceforth no man could plead his right to the Kingdom of heaven without it Yet we know the soonest that it took place was not till anon after his Resurrection when the Disciples had the word given Go and baptize all Nations c. For as he said elsewhere Joh. vi 53. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his bloud ye have no life in you the words run in the Present tense yet he did not perfectly declare what he meant nor put in force till he eat his last Supper with his Disciples So it appears that Text before cited Vnless a man be born again of water and of the Spirit is not without limitation and the next verse clears the matter on this sort That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit where we see the Spirit alone is able to regenerate a man and not always necessarily both water and the Spirit Bernard in his 77 Epistle to Hugo writes more diligently I think than any before him in this argument He proves from the confession of the
volume of thy book it is written of me that I should fulfill thy Law then said I loe I come 2. He fulfilled the Moral Law not only by giving it the right interpretation but by exact obedience whereupon he said Which of you can accuse me of sin 3. He gave life to the Ceremonies pointing to their true meaning as instead of the Circumcision of the flesh exhorting to the Circumcision of the heart 4. Whereas the judicial Law of the Jews did mention temporary and corporeal rewards and punishments Christ changed that stile of speech into spiritual and eternal No doubt but Christ did fulfil all righteousness for he came not to do his own will but the will of his Father his justice was multiformous in all the actions of his life from his Cratch to his Cross yet my Text says that he did ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã thus by receiving Baptism by that one act fulfil all righteousness I know not one bad interpretation upon that Point which is rare among Expositors to be so divers in their judgments and yet all allowable One says it is meant quoad inchoationem justitiae that so it behoved him to begin the course of righteousness That was but one act of his humility but the first wherein he did manifest obedience So Baptism is the first step that we make into the Church of Christ therefore because light was the first thing that God made among his visible Creatures and Baptism is the first of his spiritual graces it hath ever been called in the Greek Church ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or the illumination of a Christian it is the day of inauguration when we first claim right unto our title of the Kingdom because we are adopted the Sons of God Surely the ordinary gloss conceits the words otherwise but very profitably Righteousness is either Legal which consists in an exact obedience to all the Commandments of God Or else Evangelical which knows Salvation is not attained unto by the works of the Law but thus Repent and believe and thou shalt obtain remission of sins therefore Christ speaking in the person of us who are his members says to John ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Thus must we fulfil all righteousness by calling upon men to repent and be baptized in the true faith and their sins shall be covered and blessed is that man or righteous is that man to whom the Lord imputeth no sin This was the Doctrine taught in the Church every where three hundred years past and more Omnis justitia impletur ex gratiâ All our righteousness is fulfilled through grace and not through works Ut nullus ex operibus neque ex arbitrio glorietur they are the words of the gloss to the end that none may boast of works or in the power of his own free will but acknowledge himself guilty of damnation and obnoxious to the dreadful justice of God let us fly to that grace which freely washeth away our sins Thus it behoveth us to fulfil all righteousness Chemnitius makes this apprehension of the Text. Christ did omit no means to reconcile us to his Father that we might be justified before him and this he brought to pass two principal ways 1. When he gave himself an Oblation upon the Cross to take away our sins 2. When he did institute the means and instruments to apply that meritorious satisfaction unto us on this wise therefore he did fulfil righteousness by sanctifying the Sacrament unto us which is the especial medium to apply the righteousness of faith to every one that shall be saved Another and the last sense of this word that likes me also consists in these terms By receiving this Sacrament of Baptism we are tied as far as we are able to fulfil all righteousness It behoveth them that profess the true Faith to keep themselves undefiled from the world and to be holy unto the Lord. As Rachel cried out to Jacob Give me children or else I die so a sincere faith cries out unto the conscience Let me bring forth good works or else I shall be a dying faith and altogether unprofitable Do we make void the Law through faith Says St. Paul God forbid yea we establish the Law Rom. iii. 31. So it appears how righteousness buds forth from Baptism our conscience being watred with the heavenly dew of that Sacrament it makes us fruitful with good works Sed in istôc nequaquam sunt omnia will some man say Will that serve instead of all righteousness For our Saviour saith Thus it behoveth us to fulfil all righteousness God gave the word great was the company of Interpreters and his Spirit is in them all You shall hear the several consolations which they pick out from hence 1. To be a perfect teacher and a perfect doer of Gods will these are Tabor and Hermon the two fruitful hills upon which the blessing of the Lord descends To be a Teacher and not to do well is very bad like Hophni and Phinehas those dissolute Priests who polluted the holy Sacrifice To do well and not to teach is laudable and good but it is not excellent for to be an instructer and a doer is a degree of perfection beyond it Omne tulit punctum it is more blessed to give instruction than to receive therefore our Saviour was abundant in both Praeivit in exemplo quod verbo docuit He did lead the way of obedience by example and afterward did preach it to the people Blessed is he therefore that is not only a teacher but a doer of the word this is to fulfil all righteousness 2. Suum cuique there are but three heads from whence all justice is distributed and they may be drawn out of this Baptism for by receiving Baptism we are obedient to the institution of God we provide a salutiferous medicine for our own soul and by letting our light shine before men we do edifie our brother But to render that which is due to God to our own soul to our brother is to be perfect in every line of justice therefore in the universality Christ might say thus he did fulfil all righteousness 3. Says St. Austin Quid est impleatur omnis justitia Impleatur omnis humilitas The Son of God had this meaning how he fulfilled all righteousness because he condescended to the lowest step of humility for there are these three fallings as I may say one lower than another To be subject to a Superiour and not to prefer himself before an equal is justitia sufficiens sufficient humility and no want To be subject to an equal and not to prefer himself before an inferiour is justitia abundans that is not only justice enough but large and abundant humility but to be subject to an inferiour yea the most mighty God to be subject in Baptism to his Creature this is justitia perfectissima most perfect lowliness none can submit it self more and thus indeed to make the pride of base man to blush who
Person of the Trinity did fight against them they resisted the Spirit of God and the same Spirit resisted them Certainly you shall confess out of holy Scripture that not only these but all other refractory men are inchanted with a kind of Sorcery who are contumacious and will not believe what the Word of God doth evidently perswade them 2 Tim. iii. 7. There are some says the Apostle ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth for as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses so do these also resist the truth men of corrupt minds reprobates concerning the Faith There are some who are always learning why there is no hurt in that nay it is most worthy of praise Seek the Lord and your soul shall live says David seek his face evermore My often named St. Austin hath a pure meditation upon it Quaeramus inveniendum quaeramus inventum ut inveniendus quaeratur occultus est ut inventus quaeratur immensus est That is seek the Lord that he may be found seek him when he is found be ever learning His glory is hidden secretly therefore he must be sought that he may be found And his glory is immense and infinite therefore seek him evermore when he is found But how comes it to pass that such as are always learning never come to the knowledge of the truth Because they deceive themselves and think that God hath made them wiser than their Teachers They will do nothing unless their own ignorant surmises and private spirit and doating revelations give them satisfaction There are labourers great store in the harvest you cannot say that you want Teachers I would we had not cause to complain that we want Learners Every illiterate man is as peremptory in his own opinion as if he were not a Disciple but a Judge of Divinity and if they be checkt for perverseness that they will not let the Pastor of their soul perswade them they are ready to reply as Zedekiah the false Wizzard did to Michaiah Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from us to you Take heed of this stiff-neckt perverseness as well in Civil matters as Spiritual ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã says the best Poet let us condescend one to another I to you you to me and reach out our arms to hold peace and charity fast between us As for the obstinate and contentious they are far from the spirit of John Baptist who knew himself to be most insufficient to baptize our Saviour yet after one words direction he obeyed and Then he suffered him And this is enough to be spoken of the first part of the Text unless some turbulent spirits among you do still resolve to be obstinate in their obstinacy John refuseth no more and the impediment of this famous baptizing is removed away so the instrumental cause being aptly prepared now follows the effect Jesus was baptized The reasons for which Baptism I will first pass on and then some meditations of Use upon it I draw the reasons why Christ submitted his own Person to be baptized into five heads First that an Institution so poor and despicable in it self might not be contemned for what can be said more to give it warrant and authority than to say Thus my Saviour was washt in Jordan What so divine an instigation to press us all to come unto the floud of living waters to thirst for that immortal spring of grace than this that the Son of God himself did not decline to be partaker of the Baptism of Repentance To what end did he apply that remedy to himself whereof most manifestly he did not stand in need but that sinners should wishingly affect it for their souls health whose infirmities before the eyes of God and men do want a remedy Christus recipiendo Johannis baptismum instituit suum John did neither point to any Prediction to enable him to baptize which was spoken of by the Prophets no miracle from heaven did shine upon his labours that all men might say this is the finger of God the Scribes and Pharisees although they durst not gainsay because of the people yet they did not encourage and applaud his Ministry this Ceremony therefore had faln away like water which is spilt and cannot be gathered but that the mirrour of heaven and earth that draws all men after him came to Jordan to be baptized of him God dwelleth in light incomprehensible and he is too great to be imitated by man Man himself is a creature of much corruption and is a most ticklish uncertain example to be immitated by man the wisdom from above therefore did provide for us in the safest wise Vt videret homo quem sequeretur Deus factus est homo says Leo To set up a spectacle fit for our eyes to look upon God himself was made man And as our own Histories report of Cesar being somewhat reproachfully repelled by the ancient Brittains insomuch that his Cohorts kept themselves in their Ships and durst not land at last Cesar cast forth the chief Ensign their Eagle upon the shore waded forth himself into the waters and bad the best daring spirits to follow him So to make my Parallel complete the beginning of the next Chapter manifests that we have a Ghostly enemy to encounter our Ensign is not an Eagle but a Dove that came down upon the waters our Commander is the mighty God who first casts himself into the waters of Jordan that we may follow him and at the same Sacrament defie the Devil our enemy and all his works A comfortable General that would wear his own Colours ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã says St. Paul The author and the finisher of our faith Heb. xii 2. which Text may comfortably be reduced to the two blessed Sacraments for in his Last Supper he was the Author of our Faith most probably it being supposed that first he eat bread after he had blessed it and then gave it to the Disciples In Baptism he is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the perfecter and finisher of faith for John did begin that wholsome Ordinance and Christ did finish it and stampt a Seal of Authority upon the Institution because himself was baptized Secondly Christ was not only baptized to seal the Sacrament with his Priviledge and Licence but in that act he did sanctifie the waters to the blessing of his Church If Naaman had not been filled with the disease of Leprosie Elisha had not sent him to Jordan to wash and be clean If there had not been some impurity upon the best of the Apostles our Saviour had omitted his Ceremony to rinse their feet in water and to wipe them with a Towel Because every Infant is polluted with bloud from the nativity Occiso magis quam nato similis says Seneca more like to one that is killed than to one that is born therefore it is rub'd with water to take away all defilement So unless much filthiness did inhere in every child
increase will soon follow when you have begun happily God will teach you to proceed and to put your Talent into the way of increase The Lord loveth the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Jacob says David that is he loveth the perfect Sacraments of the New Testament better than the types and shadows of the Old Now Baptism is called especially one of the gates of Sion for that it is but the first door to let us into the Church The Church it self is an upper Chamber as Christ is said to eat his Passeover with his Disciples in superiori caenaculo the highest in the world next to heaven it self there are many stairs and degrees of vertues upon which we must climb till we come to the top of the hill In Baptism we go down as it were into the River and sit in the lowest room of humility but as speedily as we can we must advance our soul and go up from grace to grace from vertue to vertue and you shall hear that voice of joy from Christ himself Friends sit up higher AMEN THE FIFTH SERMON UPON THE Baptism of our Saviour MAT. iii. 16. And loe the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove and lighting upon him AS Moses said unto himself when he saw the splendor of a bright fire in the bush so do I say unto you Let us now turn aside and see this great sight Great in the Object great in the Persons and great in the Mysteries Great in the Object to be seen for loe the heavens were opened And what mean trash was that which Satan did offer to the view of our Saviour in respect of this all the Kingdoms of the world made visible in the twinckling of an eye Great in the Persons to be understood in their several apparitions for these are the great Estates that rule the world God the Son manifested at the Baptism of water God the Holy Ghost to be discerned in the sensible shape of a Dove and God the Father whose glory was heard in the voice This is my well beloved Son This is no usual matter it must be some extraordinary solemnity which is graced by the full concourse of the Trinity I find it so once at the Creation Gen. i. and I find it at this time when Christ is baptized Man was created a brittle vessel for the Potters use without a Metaphor the servant of his Lord and to let him know to whom he owes his Creation every fountain of life is recited in the Story The Father the Word which was in the beginning and the Spirit which moved upon the face of the waters But in the New Testament we rise up higher from the state of Servants and become the Sons of our heavenly Father and that we may know to whom we owe our adoption and grace once again in this place Christ comes to Jordan the Holy Ghost descends in the bodily shape of a Dove and the Father utters himself in a voice from heaven Now for the mysteries I am bold to say the Church is capable of no greater than are here contained First Here are all the causes and instruments of our Salvation implied The Sacraments which are the Seals of righteousness the word taught which begets faith and the Spirit which moves upon them and puts life into them both The Father is in the Word the Son sanctifieth the Sacrament and the influence which blesseth them both unto us is the Dove which rested upon that sacred head unto whom all the members are fitly compacted And besides all these primary causes and instrumental helps of salvation here is an Epitomy of all those benefits which the Mediatorship of Christ will procure unto us The Heavens which were shut before set open to receive us the Spirit of Sanctification to be poured out upon us and that God will be pleased in us through his only beloved Son To recapitulate these things premised briefly the Mysteries are so great as none so superlative The Persons manifested infinitely glorious as none so excellent the Object so delightful to the eye of the soul as none so amiable And loe the heavens were opened unto him c. Of three immortal benefits which our Redeemer hath procured for us this Text contains a couple and both declared in no ordinary fashion but by the wonderful power of God First Here is a wonder wrought above Loe the heavens were opened unto him Secondly Here is another wonder come down below to the world beneath And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove and lighting upon him These are the two members of the Text the first part whereof is opened already for how could we unlock that hidden Mystery unless the Key of David had unbarred it And loe the heavens c. Take notice in the first part of the Text that here is a word of invitement to draw our eyes upon it Loe the heavens were opened Nature hath made man with that erection of face to look upward that he must often view the heavens but the sight is never clear enough without abundance of grace to see them open Wherefore without the advantage of the second Miracle in the Text we should never be capable to conceive the first Christ procures the Dove to descend he makes the holy Spirit light among his Saints and then our eyes which were be-darkned before shall be ready to look up and perceive Loe the heavens were opened In this order I shall briefly discourse upon it 1. What is meant by the heavens standing open 2. What did procure and obtain it 3. How this Miracle fell out to glorifie Christ 4. What joy and comfort it implies to all those that are of the houshold of our Saviour The first inquiry is to this purpose what is meant and exprest by the heavens standing open We do but grope in the dark for such notions as this and mens opinions are divided into five several conjectures First When the true glory of the heavens is made visible to the eye of a man upon earth God imparting and revealing to the senses of his body a taste of that happiness which is laid up for them that fear him So Stephen was ravisht with such a sight and cried out I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God It is not needful to say that the parts of heaven were set open like a window to let him look in but as it is concluded in fairest probability Oculus ejus porrectus fuit usque ad coelum empyreum The glance of his eye was endowed with vertue to penetrate through the clouds and through the spheres unto the Throne of God This acception doth no way agree with my Text for the heavens are said to be opened in this Scripture that all the multitude might behold the miracle but you must not think it was given to them all good and
So the Father is the Voice the Son is the Word the Spirit proceeding from them both is the Truth and these three are all one and undivided So you see why the Father is resembled in the signification of a voice I must adjoyn also how well this doth express the comforts of a Gospel The Law was a dead Letter litera occidit by the strength of sin it killed us all because we were not able to perform it The Gospel is viva vox a quickning living voice such a one as quickned Lazarus when he was four days in the Grave The Law was heard in Trumpet and Thunder upon Mount Sinai Now comes a still voice such a one as would not scare a Dove away now comes Musick from heaven now comes obsecro vos that fair spoken language of the Apostles I beseech ye brethren This is such a winning allicient voice that the words that proceed from it are rather kisses than words therefore the Church speaking to the praise of the Gospels sweetness begins the song on this wise Cant. i. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth The first time that ever we read of Gods voice in the Old Testament you shall hear what Adam says upon it Gen. iii. 10. I heard thy voice in the Garden and I was afraid But at the first time that you read of Gods voice in the New Testament it is made smooth and soft to our ear with This is my beloved and here I am well pleased What else to be concluded from hence But that an evidence and manifestation of faith shall be discovered to all men As when one telleth his mind to his Friend not by messengers or by Script but face to face Thou spakest sometimes in dreams and visions to thy people But says the Lord I will speak with my Servant Moses mouth to mouth Num. xii 8. So by the revelation of the Gospel we are all become as precious to God as Moses was and the Lord talketh with us as one doth with his friend face to face And with all succinctness that is the sum of the second Point Neither must I insist long upon the third thing noted which is the great Authority that this voice doth carry because it came from heaven and Loe a voice from heaven The Oracles of the Gentiles were wont to come out of hollow Caves and Rocks The Law of the Hebrews was delivered from the top of a smoaking hill but as Judges and great Magistrates were wont to publish their Laws from their Throne of State so doth God deliver the Law of Faith from Heaven and that Firmament above it is the Throne of God When the Earth opens it is to swallow Chore Dathan and Abiron When the Heaven opens it is to pour out consolation The Gospel reckons up three times that the Lord spake from heaven above and at each time it had the same Theme to magnifie the Saviour of the World The first time at his Baptism the second time at his Transfiguration the third time anon before his Passion when the Son begg'd earnestly Father glorifie thy name the Father answers him I have glorified it and I will glorifie it again Joh. xii 28. And that you may be assured how that celestial voice continues to speak unto us in the accent of comfort John tells us he heard a voice from heaven saying Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord Rev. xiv 13. Bode no evil with your tongue to any since the Lord out of his habitation speaks nothing but love and benediction towards us The voice of God is an open heaven but as for the curser and reviler his throat is an open sepulchre Sursum corda The tidings of Salvation come not from beneath they hover above our head therefore lift up your heart lift up your understanding and you will easily perceive that every part of sacred Scripture is a voice from heaven I know unless the inward testimony of the Spirit prevail upon your soul and induce it to believe all external Arguments from the judgment of the Church in all Ages from harmony of truth from fulfilling of Prophesies and whatsoever else will be insufficient to perswade you Yet if any thing more than other will puzzle the refractory it is this that in every part and scope it sounds like a voice from heaven far otherwise than the books of humane learning That which drives our labours and studies only to the glory of God that which propounds no other reward but the fruition of God that which talks of no acts and monuments but such as belong to God this must be divine and from above Nec vox hominem sonat Surely it must be a voice from heaven But do the Heathen thus in any of those three parts of their Sciences either in their Moral Institutions or Natural Disquisitions or Historical Narrations In their Histories they write to honour men in their Philosophy to know the World in their Moral and Politick Axioms to make a just and a noble Patriot for his Country No Tract throughout all mans wit and learning but only in the sacred Scriptures like a voice from heaven Perhaps here and there a Sentence of theirs may soar aloft but as Kites flie high yet still look down to the Carion upon the Dunghil So the stile of the Heathen may rise up in some things as it were in the clouds but from thence they look down how they may be famous and popular And that is no better than a blast of vanity sure it is no voice from heaven Beloved this is a most illustrious opening of the Gospel that the heavens assumed a tongue and began to speak wherefore it is for good reason that our Saviour had that diction so often in his mouth He that hath ears to hear let him hear Let me be bold to add he that hath a tongue to confess let him praise the Lord. As we delight to have the Lord speak to us so it delighteth the Lord to have us speak to him And as the Father did vouchsafe to send his voice from heaven to earth so let our lips be full of Prayers that we may send our voice from earth to heaven God is not an Eccho nothing but empty voice we read of his face and his presence and his right hand at which there are pleasures for evermore And as Absalon though he were a disloyal Son yet he did wishly desire to stand before his Father Says he to Joab wherefore am I come from Gerar to Jerusalem if I may not see the Kings face So the rebounding of the voice from heaven is to enflame our affections that we may see his face in heaven So shall it be their fair lot and inheritance who are Fìlii dilecti complacentes Sons Beloved in whom he is well pleased These are the Testimonials due to Christ and flowing from Christ to us which now I come to handle The fourth annotation is the Person to whom
us that we may be condemned and Christ upbraided on this wise See these Servants of yours see those Children of men how full of all iniquity they are for whom you have shed your precious bloud These slanders and foul detractions of his though we do not hear them yet I have satisfied you so far herein out of my Text because his name imports them But we do feel it to our hurt and molestation that he is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Tempter as it is in the third verse of this Chapter The word it self I would not have you think it is altogether evil for even God is said to tempt man Non ut ipse sed ut ij quos tentat se cognoscant says St. Austin not that he may bring any thing to light which was unmanifested to him but that our own effects may be known to our selves and to all the world as Deut. xiii 3. The Lord your God proveth you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul but the vulgar Latin reads it Vt palam fiat to make it known that you love him Again one man may tempt another to find what excellency is in him as the Queen of Sheba came to prove Solomon with hard questions besides there is a good Tentation wherein a man is bound to prove and to try himself Examine your selves whether ye be in the faith prove your own selves 2 Cor. xiii 5. In all these acceptions the Word is innocent but there is an abusive Phrase for man to tempt God as if we had not good experiment of his power and goodness but would search it further but let not us tempt Christ as some of them tempted and were destroyed of Serpents 1 Cor. x. 9. Lastly the word Tentation taken for allurement and provocation to sin is proper to Satan and to Satans instruments Among military rules this is one in all Authors it brings some advantage with it to study the nature and condition of our enemy I will beat a little upon that advice I have met with some who have humm'd and haw'd at it whether there were any Devils or no as if it were a thing that were disputable Perchance these give credit to nothing further than their outward senses apprehend after the manner of beasts or like the Sadduces that held there was neither Spirit nor Angel because they could see none If you ask them if Christ did not cast out divers Devils from those that were possessed their evasion is perhaps those might be enormous sins But could sins which are no substance but qualities cry out and tear a man and run into the Swine and confess Christ This is such an opinion says a late Writer Ac si oves putarent fabulam esse de lupis as if the Sheep should think Wolves were but a tale there were no such creatures that sought to devour them St. Austin brings in such an unbeliever objecting How should I overcome Satan How should I repel him whom I cannot see or perceive Well enough says the Father Facile habent remedium se ipsos interius vincant de illo foris triumphant overcome the instigations of evil motions within and you triumph over the Devil without None hath described the puissance of our ghostly enemies more tragically than St. Paul Eph. vi 12. We wrastle not against flesh and bloud but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickednesses in high places Every word of this description is Vae vae Woe be to them that are not strong to resist Our Adversaries in their essence are Spirits in their form invisible in their designs wicked in their power rulers of this world in their subtilties dealers in darkness in their place they have the higher ground much above our reach they hover in the air in high places The Prophet Isaiah demonstrated the weakness of the Egyptians That their horses were flesh and not Spirit Isa xxxi 3. The odds are the more against us that our adversaries are Spirit and not Flesh Daemonum tanto major nequitia quantò natura nobilior says Aquinas The more noble is the nature of hellish Fiends the more dangerous is their wickedness The more fleshly is our nature the more weak our resistance An Epicuraean will say perhaps that gives himself over to all licentiousness it is not in me to withstand the assaults of the Devil why should I go about it since I am made of a corruptible Elementary substance which cannot hold out against a spiritual wickedness But to make all such sinners inexcusable God hath made us a recompence and we have as good help on our side to say the least of it as they have of theirs partly by the help of his assisting grace partly by the Ministry of good Angels Some there are likewise that cry out man is unequally dealt withal because the Princes of darkness have that odds of us in their multitude they boast that their name is Legion Dionysius called the Areopagite as I read it in Aquinas reduceth the damnation of all sinners to this Multitudo Daemonum est causa omnium malorum the world is so over-laid with numbers of Devils that from thence ariseth all damnation I would not set so much by that single authority if St. Hierom had not said Communis est doctorum opinio this is the common received opinion of the Doctors Aer iste coelum terram medio dividens plenus est contrariis fortitudinibus The whole Element of the Air between heaven and earth is full of Diabolical troops that rise up against our soul and oppose our Salvation Howsoever this is but opinion and I am sure the Scripture doth no where put us in the perplexity of such a terror And that of Anthony the Eremite is confessed to be but a dream that he saw all the space between heaven and earth full of Satans snares to catch the souls of men Against these dreams and opinions I set the saying of Elisha on the one hand There are more that be with us than against us And the promise of our heavenly Father to the Children of Israel on the other hand One of you shall chase a thousand and two of you shall put ten thousand to flight Howsoever in all distress of tentation here is our refuge in this or the like Prayer Wilt thou suffer the destroyer O Lord to prevail against me Wilt thou permit him to say there there we have devoured him God spake once and twice that power belongeth unto God Semel atque iterum ob firmitatem once and twice because that truth is strongly established He that hath said unto the proud waves of the Sea hitherto shall ye go and no further He doth say unto Satan Hitherto shalt thou tempt and no farther It is not for the Devils deserving but for the wicked mans undeservings that God doth give him his
first took upon him the Kingdom Prohibition upon prohibition against Nehemiah when he laid the first stone to re-edifie the Temple When the first foundations of heaven were laid the proud Angels themselves fell upon the first plantation of Paradise Adam fell upon the first promulgation of the Law the Israelites worshipt a Calf in Horeb. Because the first fruits are the Lords therefore this rebellious monster would corrupt them Be not troubled therefore so St. Chrysostom comforts if you be infested with perilous tentations after Baptism after receiving the Lords Supper after your Prayers after your being at Church ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This follows of course it will often be so If you seek to quench the Devil he is nothing but fire and flame But especially a Jew or Pagan being of ripe years renouncing Infidelity and receiving the waters of Baptism for the remission of sins in the bloud of Christ they are the persons at whom the Adversary will strike with all his force after the similitude of this tentation There is a Text somewhat obscure Luk. xi 24. That an unclean Spirit walkes through dry places seeking rest and finds none St. Hierom doth thus interpret those dry places Loca inaquosa sunt gentes aridae nondum aquâ baptismi irrigatae Towns and Villages are scited by springs and rivers for the most part dry places where no waters are want the frequency of men and thither the unclean Spirit resorts these dry places says he are those barbarous heathen upon whom the dew of heaven did never fall I mean the sprinkling of Baptism But among these the malicious one finds no rest Non invenit requiem quia non habet cui noceat these alas for them are quite lost already he finds no rest among these for he wants matter to work upon therefore he returns to the house from whence he came to the house newly swept to them who were lately baptized and had put on Christ Secondly Just before the Spirit of God came down upon Christ in the shape of a Dove and although that Spirit was upon him in all fulness and abundance ever since he was made man yet that apparition did manifest him to have received the rich talents of grace in most plentiful measure Hereupon was the envy of the Devil enflamed In majorigratiâ major tentatio Where there is the most sanctification it falls out very often that there is the most tentation The Devil is like a thief who will venter for the greatest booty they that beset an house to rob it says St. Chrysostom look for cash and where tentations beat hard against a man it is to be granted that there are good gifts in the soul of which the envious man would bereave us ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it is evident that there is a great treasure committed unto thee because Satan would break in and steal If you ask who are most empestered with the assaults of the wicked one the question says Aquinas is to be divided with this distinction Potentia Diaboli est respectu infirmorum fervor respectu perfectorum the weakest and worst of men are most obnoxious to his power and domination the strongest and best of men are most obnoxious to his assault and fury Among all the twelve Disciples he can easiest possess the heart of Judas but among all the Twelve he did most desire to winnow Peter Where God gives a man a large measure of grace withall he gives the Devil the larger Patent Do not say I am cast out of the sight of the Lord and faith is much weakned within me for the provocations of ungodliness vex me sore It is quite otherwise Christ will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able to bear but a stiff knot can endure a more massie wedge and a strong defendant shall have a strong Antagonist Faith is called a Shield the Word of God a Sword Righteousness a Brest-plate is not such Artillery as this fit for an hot skirmish ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He that hath the weapons of the Spirit let him gird them about him to fight And this is it that I say why Christ was now tempted upon the manifestation of the Holy Ghost for the more grace the more tentation Thirdly There is no bait at which the old Serpent will bite sooner than the lofty commendations of the Saints At the Baptism of our Saviour and the descension of the Holy Ghost there came a voice from heaven that did resound his glory far and wide This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil The heathen were wont to say be moderate in the commendation of any man whatsoever was over-praised was obnoxious to the envy of the Gods Indeed as for the Gods of the Heathen they were but Spirits of damnation And whatsoever is highly praised an hellish envy dogs and follows it to take away the Garland from it Breves infausti populi Romani amores says the Historian Those whom the people of Rome did much prosecute with their love and applause they were never long prosperous What was the begining of Jobs affliction But those words wherewith God did so graciously testifie to his integrity Hast thou considered my servant Job that there is none like him in the earth Job i. 8. Some that are bold to conjecture say as much for David the envie of the Devil was stirred up against him because he was called a man after Gods own heart They carry the same conceit upon the first time that Peter was smartly rebuked Get thee behind me Satan immediately in a few verses before that Encomium was given him Thou art Peter and upon this rock well I build my Church Nectens ipsis ex vincula sertis As the Poet says the waggish Boys took Silenus his Garland and made fetters therewith to bind him So Satan contrives mischief out of the Garlands out of the praise of the Saints And certainly too much elevation of praise is a dangerous precipice to be tumbled into temptation or if it do not work to the ruine of the living this wolvish projector can bring his ends about to the injury of the dead For certainly the large Panegyricks and Commemorations made yearly upon the Festival of the Saints and Martyrs whereof I spake in the beginning stirred up the envy of the Devil to sow Tares among the Wheat to beget invocations of Saints prostration before their Images adoration of Reliques and the whole spawn of Idolatry If God lend his own voice to the praise of Christ this infamous Lucifer attends close to blot it out and to make God a liar like himself for if he could have entred the tentation of any sin into Christ he had not been the Son in whom the Father was well pleased Fourthly Christ had spent thirty years of his life in Judaea and it is most probable to
hold that in all that space Satan did not cast the least tentation before him Was this the time for the powers of darkness to begin their fury more than ever before So it seems and for this reason for those thirty years he was obedient to his Parents without the least noise made that he was the eternal Son of God that came to save the world and passed away his time in such obscurity that there is no print or footstep of any rare action that he did save that he disputed with the Doctors at twelve years old in the Temple But as soon as he began the work of his Mediatorship in open publication as soon as ever he began to advance the Banner of faith that all that believed in his name should be saved Hell could contain it self no longer but belch'd out defiance against him The Heathen had a common Maxim which Plutarch liked not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Apparitions of evil Spirits never infested any one that was wise and judicious This did not relish with that Author because Dion and Brutus a pair of most renowned Captains were even distracted with Phantasms and visions that haunted them So he whose opinion is good but upon another ground and it is thus Satan hath ever strived to set shoulder to shoulder against them who have either been the beginners or the restaurators of the Doctrine of the Kingdom of heaven That word of the Angel set him on fire worse than Hell it self Evangelizo vobis I come not with the Law but I do Evangelize I bring good tidings of great joy to all people and when Christ began to set that Gospel on foot it was insufferable to the Devil he must tempt him in the Wilderness Remember the tempest which was raised when Christ was embark'd to sail over the Lake of Genazeret to the Gaderens It was a tempest conjur'd up I suppose by means Diabolical that the Gaderens who were the most part Gentiles might not hear of Righteousness and Salvation The Spirit cried out to Paul to come over to Macedonia and help them He and Silas found no better entertainment than to be scourged for coming to Macedonia Acts xvi 9. How long how many hundred years were all the skilful men in the world deluded nay how long bewitcht I may well use that word that neither by the Sphere nor by Navigation nor by any other conjecture so many nimble wits and industrious men could not find out so large a portion of the world as America We were all so long held in ignorance that those miserable and vast multitudes of Nations might be held in infidelity And our late Stories report that many dear Servants of God who have sailed thither as well to enlarge Christs Kingdom as their own means have suffered most unusual wrecks and storms at Sea nay that they have encountred Phantasms and Apparitions in all likelihood Diabolical I will make no long excursion here but a short Apology for one that deserved well of the reformed Religion Many of our Adversaries have aspersed Luther with ill words but none so violent as our English Fugitives because he doth confess it that the Devil did encounter him very frequently and familiarly when he first put Pen to Paper against the corruptions of the Church of Rome In whose behalf I answer Much of that which is objected I cannot find in the Latin Editions of his works which himself corrected although it appears by the quotations some such things were in his first Writings set forth in the Dutch Language 2. I say no more than he confesseth ingenuously of himself in an Epistle to Brentius his meaning was good but his words came from him very unskilfully and his stile was most rough and unsavoury St. Paul says of himself that he was rudis sermone rude in speech But Luther was not so much ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the word used in Paul as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã after his Dutch Monastical breeding and his own hot freedom by nature he had a boisterous clownish expression but for the most part very good Jewels of Doctrine in the dunghils of his Language 3. If the Devil did imploy himself to delude and vex that heroical Servant of God who took such a task upon him being a simple Monk to inveigh against Errors and Superstitions which had so long prevailed why should it seem strange to any man Ribadenira sticks it among the praises of his Founder Ignatius Loiola that the Devil did declame and cry out against him believe it every one of you at your leisure and why might not the Devil draw near to vex Luther as well as roar out a great way off against Loiola I have digrest a little with your patience to make Luthers case appear to be no outragious thing that weak ones may not be offended when they hear such stuff objected out of Parsons or Barclay or Walsingham or out of Bellarmine himself If Beelzebub was busie with the Master what will he be with the Servants When Christ did begin to lay the first corner stone of the Gospel then he was led into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil I will suffer a reason of Tolets to make up the fifth place before I leave this Point Christ presented himself upon the desart of the Wilderness to undergo his tentation before he had wrought many Signs and Miracles to put a mist before the Devils eyes that when he did not ween him to be the eternal Son of God he might give the onset without distrust not as Ahab went disguised into the field lest the Army of the Syrians should bend their forces against him but to delude the great Adversary lest he should retire when he suspected to be over-mastered Sicut luctator inclinat corpus suum ut supplantet alium Bernards similitude I think Our Saviour omitted no evidence of humility and infirmity to win the day of Satan by this abasement As a cunning wrastler dops downward as low as he can that he may fetch over his Antagonist But this Point will meet us again upon a larger entreaty These five reasons if you can remember them will give you satisfaction I suppose what time and opportunity this was which Satan chose with all despight to set upon our Lord and Saviour the word of time is very emphatical Then was c. The next general part comes now to be handled how the Spirit like a Grand Marshal brought Christ into the field to combate with the Devil He was led up of the Spirit into the Wilderness I will deliver my mind upon this hint in these four particulars 1. Of what Spirit this place is to be understood 2. How the Spirit did lead him 3. Why this passage is inserted into the Story that he was led up of the Spirit 4. It will be expedient to annex unto these How the grace of God doth lead us and draw us on to vanquish the Devil and all the
corruption that is in us and to be the Sons of God Because there is mention of a good Spirit immediately before my Text that descended from heaven upon him in the shape of a Dove and all the business after my Text concerns an evil Spirit that assaulted him with many tentations therefore the quaere ariseth which of these did lead him into the Wilderness The Syriack determines it plainly Ductus â spiritu sancto he was led by the Holy Ghost And it is of more moment that certainly the Syriack Paraphrase took it from St. Luke Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they that understand Grammer and the original Text do easily discern that the same word in the same sentence implies one and the same thing the latter being an effect of the former for being full of the Holy Spirit he was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness And I will parallel it plainly anon with that of St. Paul Acts xx 22 Behold I go bound in spirit to Jerusalem Moreover the Devil approached not unto him till after he had fasted forty days he began to be an hungry for he had no motive to begin his tentations till he perceiv'd he was in the distress of hunger like a weak man Therfore it was not Satan that carried him into this place where he fasted for then the tentation had begun before he had set foot in the Wilderness The case is clear to say no more of the first Point that the Spirit which led him was the influence and impulsion of the Holy Ghost The second thing to be askt is how the Spirit did lead him This can be conceived but two ways Either by inward instigation or removing him suddenly from one place to another which is called outward translocation Each way may be admitted for both are according to Analogy of Faith and both are favoured out of the Greek Text of sundry Evangelists You shall read in St. Luke Chap. iv 1. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he was led by the Spirit which doth imply that the Holy Ghost did inwardly inspire that resolution into him and did assist continually while he abode in the Wilderness You shall read in St. Mark Chap. i. 12. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness as if he had been transported thither in some wonderful rapture And my Text is read thus in St. Mathew ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He was led up of the Spirit The Proposition ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã sursum to lead up hath either regard to the situation of the Desart which was by far the higher ground in respect of Jordan where our Saviour was before Or else that he was exalted from the earth and carried away by the Spirit through the air untill he came unto that place where he spent forty days in Prayer Fasting and Meditation I dare not contend out of the Scriptures but that the Spirit wrought both ways upon Christ both carrying his body into the Wilderness and instigating his mind No unusual thing in the first sense for the Spirit to transport a body suddenly through the air without the motion of the feet to a place of far distance And although the whole Trinity God the Father the Son and Holy Ghost concur to that action and produce it or perhaps appoint an Angel to be the instrument yet it goes under the name of the Spirit because that Miracle impresseth a strange vertue into a material body as if it were spiritual How Enoch and Elias were translated on high in their bodies I have declared my mind not long since And surely before Elias his last translation into heaven this did befall him often times Obadiah was jealous of it 1 King xviii 13. It shall come to pass when I am gone from thee the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not What Ezekiel reports of himself I cannot say but it was rather an imaginary than a real rapture but thus he Ezek. viii 3. The hand of God took me by a lock of mine head and the Spirit lift me up between the earth and the heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem This could not be imprinted in his imagination but that it was possible to be done really And Gregory meditates well upon it Every regenerate person during the time of this mortal flesh is so lifted up between heaven and earth Adhuc ad superna plene non pervenit sed tamen ima dereliquit His conversation and his heart are not altogether in heaven but they are higher than the earth What a direct instance is that of the Prophet Habakkuk He was carrying food to the Reapers in the Land of Jury and the Angel of the Lord took him by the crown and bare him by the hair of his head and through the vehemency of the Spirit set him in Babylon Neither need this be rejected for Apocryphal since there is an example to match it Acts viii 39. The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip who was then at Gaza and he was found at Azotus which two are forty miles distance after the best descriptions of the Holy Land A Faith that is but linum fumigans a dusky faith and shines not clearly may easily admit this for if the birds can cut the air with their gross wings naturally who will not be perswaded that God can make the body of man more nimble and fit for such a motion by his supernatural power But I marvel at those Expositors who are squemishly conceited against that opinion that they did not frame this objection God doth not use to work Miracles only to shew tricks as one would say no necessity requiring Then cui bono Why might not Christ have gone into the Wilderness step by step What occasion of moment should urge the Spirit to transport him Beloved it was thus far expedient that Christ should vanish and no man know which way he was departed that he might avoid the honour which the multitude would have done him upon that voice which came from heaven This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased So in the sixth of St. John after the miracle of feeding some thousands with a little bread and a few fishes Christ perceived that they would take him by force and make him a King therefore he made a sudden departure none knew whither till his Disciples met him walking upon the Sea in a dark night and a great storm Mat. xiv 23. This is reason then sufficient to decline the people who were astonished at the testimony which was given him from heaven that the Spirit snatcht him away in a rapture into the Wilderness Why this interpretation of the word should not take with you I know not but I am sure the next must take ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He was led by the Spirit that is the Holy Ghost did inspire this heroical
resolution into his humane nature to fight with and to overthrow the tentations of the Devil I shall reach this doctrine unto you the better upon certain questions And first what needed this Preface of all other before this mighty work that he was guided by the Spirit What action throughout all his life did not deserve the same commendation A young Rhetorician dedicated an Oration to one Antalcidas What is the subject of your Oration quoth he Says the young Orator the praise of Hercules Fie man says Antalcidas what needless pains have you taken Who did ever dispraise Hercules So it may seem as redundant an expression to say that Christ was led by the Spirit at this time for through the grace of Union and the grace of Unction he was always conducted by the Spirit It is sufficient for answer to this that this was the first exploit of those that Christ did act to shew he was the Christ and the Mediator of God and man therefore this clause being prefixt to the formost of his actions is a title to all the rest he was led of the Spirit 2. It is not to be taken per modum inhaerentiae that he was now full of the Holy Ghost as if he had received a larger measure than he had before but by way of manifestation for the Spirit even now had visibly descended upon him in the shape of a Dove Semper fuit actus à spiritu sed jam maximè ejus vis apparuit the common gloss of the best Writers The Spirit did always lead him and dwel in him but now it did appear and put forth its strength I move another question be not offended that I move these hard things as it were by way of Catechism are the leadings of the Spirit of more sorts than one Yea these two are degrees one above another The first is general to all the Sons of God for they are all stirred up to faith and hope and good works by a divine illumination If ye be led by the Spirit then are ye not under the Law of the flesh Gal. v. 18. The second is special to the chiefest and principal Ministers of God as Kings Prophets and Apostles when Saul was anointed King over Israel the Lord gave him another heart his Spirit came upon him and he Prophesied So Christ our anointed Prophet prepared himself for a famous enterprize and he had the badge of Gods good liking The Spirit came upon him or he was led by the Spirit Suffer but one interrogatory more and it is this Did the Spirit thrust on Christ and as it were hale him with compulsion at this time So a man might hap to fall into that error by St. Marks words The Spirit driveth him into the Wilderness And the Vulgar Latine gives the same offence Luk. iv 1. Agebatur a spiritu he was pusht on by the Spirit For answer hard words are soon mollified by good construction The very Heathen could say Generosus est animus hominis magisque ducitur quà m trahitur Mans will is a free generous thing and had rather be led fairly than drawn forcibly Therefore the other Evangelists must be expounded by St. Matthew that the Spirit led him by illumination and propounding the will of his Father unto him not by violence and coaction So Cajetan Non vis significatur sed efficientia impulsus spiritus All was done by the efficacy and motion of the Spirit nothing by compulsion Some there are who care not what old Pillars of Divinity they pull down to set up their new devises that hold that Christ did obey his Father and the Divine Law with so much liberty and freedom that it were no offence to say Christ could not have obeyed his Father not have kept the Law and so by consequent have sinned and whereas it is certain he did not sin they will neither allow that the Hypostatical Union was the cause of it O strange Theologie nor yet the grace of Unction wherewith he was anointed above his fellows O strange impudency Neither of these was fundamentum impeccabilitatis And all this to maintain that because he did merit by his obedience his will was not determined to do good but left indifferent to good or evil Away with this over audatious disputing Christ could not but fulfil all righteousness I must do the works of him that sent me Joh. iv 9. All good things conducible to the work of a Mediator were necessary to be done And it was necessary Gods will being declared that it should be fulfilled of Christ although he was not necessitated by a violent determination but moved willingly and obediently unto it by a certain perswasion Non necessitatus erat sed propter illud quod necessarium erat sponte motus says Abulensis The object propounded was necessary to be done of him though he accepted it with much alacrity and desire and no way driven by constrainment Therefore this was not like Peters case Another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldest not Joh. xxi 18. But the hand of the Lord was with him and carried him whither he liked himself Non invitus aut captus sed sponte liberè venit says St. Hierom He was not drawn on as if his own will drew back but rejoyced as a Giant to run his course To say no more but this Oblatus est quia voluit It was his own good will that he was slain for the sins of the world it was his own pleasure not to dread death and it was as much his own pleasure to grapple with tentations And so much for that question how the Spirit did lead him into the Wilderness You shall now be partakers of the third thing why this passage is inserted into the story that he was led up of the Spirit Good reasons are rather to be esteemed by their weight than their multitude take these few to content you 1. The Spirit is said to lead him because de did not run on blindfold but knew the task which he undertook he foresaw the difficulties that he would meet and weighed them in the balance of judgment and discretion Non ignarus sed consilio ducebatur says St. Ambrose The counsel of the Spirit did enlighten him to see what he had in hand Saul thought that David was but a fool-hardy Stripling and knew not what a perilous thing it was to fight with such a Giant as Goliah Thou art but a youth and he a man of War from his youth thou art not able to go against this Philistine But David shewed the reason of his confidence the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the Lion and out of the paw of the Bear he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine He had considered Gods mercies and protection therefore he was led by the Spirit into that noble action Beware to plod on like Balaam with our eyes shut never discerning what is
to the Members of his body and it was laudible in him to wish some trial that he might encounter the Devil and spoil him of his Kingdom Tentationem exoptare in eo qui succumbere nequit est laudabile say the Schoolmen It was an heroical magnanimity in Christ to wish tentations so might fall upon him because he could not be vanquished And therefore some gather an observation contrary to St. Chrysostom that our Saviour went into the Wilderness and fasted forty days and after was an hungry destinating that the Devil should find him out Obviam procedit Diabolo quem scit non pug naturum nisi lacessitum He went out to dare the Tempter because he knew he would not come on and fight unless he were provok'd yet it is the sounder way to collect that for our instruction when we should examine this Story Christ did not go in a bravado or a challenge to offer himself to be tempted but the Spirit led him as who should say this was not Curtius in foveam a precipitated intrusion Let not man expose himself to temptation Dubia est victoria who knows that carries the badge of Adams frailty in his body whether he shall come off with victory or captivity Happy is that man and the Lord shall bless his integrity who will not come near the suburbs of sin for no man can keep the Commandments unless he be careful to avoid the first invitations of evil and to shun the farthest and remotest impediments of obedience Have you seen little children dare one another which should go deepest into the mire But he is more childish that ventures further and further even to the brim of transgression and bids the Devil catch him if he can I will but look and like says the wanton where the object pleaseth me I keep company with some licentious persons says an easie nature but for no hurt because I would not offend our friendship I will but bend my body in the house of Rimmon when my Master bends his says Naaman I will but peep in to see the fashion of the Mass holding fast the former profession of my faith Beloved I do not like it when a mans conscience takes in these small leaks it is odds you will fill faster and faster and sink to the bottom of iniquity I have read of a Bishop that was performing the Office of Baptism to many that were converted from Gentilism and when a Virgin came near the Font of an extraordinary beauty he desired a substitute to discharge the place for he would not please his eyes no not for a few minutes to look upon such an object as allured his fancy What a careful Christian this was that kept off occasions of sin and would not suffer them before him as David charged his treacherous Son Absalom to keep a distance and not to come near Jerusalem Hannibal that approved Souldier placed himself in a battel where many Darts of the enemy flew round about him and when some commended him that he ventured his person upon the mouth of danger you mistake says Hannibal I am more ashamed of my self this day than ever I was in my life that being the General of the Field I came in peril to be wounded This is well applied to every Souldier that fights under Christs Banner when we are run into tentations it is good and blessed to come off with the least impairment to our innocency But why did you come so near the flame that you were in peril to be scorched Job comforted himself that he had kept his eyes from wandring Jeremy was careful neither to lend upon Usury nor to borrow upon Usury In a word when Tentations fall upon you by Gods permission resist them manfully but if you mean to be led by the Spirit do not wittingly and daringly fall upon tentations This is the sum of the third observation I defer the fourtn to a larger tractate To God the Father c. THE THIRD SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 1. Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the VVilderness to be tempted of the Devil THis Text you see will not let me go I have been parting from it twice and still it invites me to stay As the Levite took his farewel at Bethlem sundry times and could not get away Judg. xix And now I have good cause to tarry being led by the leading of the Spirit Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile with him go with him twain says Christ Mat. v. 21. And if the Spirit of God compel us to go with him one Sermon we will go with him twain it cannot be irksom or weary to follow such contemplations But it is fit I should satisfie you where I stick in this verse for the present that I do not proceed how Christ was tempted wherefore he was tempted by whom he was tempted when he was tempted I have rid my hand of these discourses Likewise I have passed thus far how Christ was marshalled into the field by the divine impulsion of the Holy Ghost Here I resume my task into my hands where I left it That which remains for me to survey and for you to exercise your attentions upon is this First Since Christ himself was led by the Spirit when he went forth to fast and pray and to fight against the Devil therefore I will make enquiry how the grace of God doth lead us to eschew evil and to do good And secondly I will bring you along to consider the place whereon our Saviour planted himself to encounter his enemy it was the Wilderness How all men whom God calls to the saving truth by the preaching of the Spirit are led by the Spirit that is governed and directed by his grace is the Doctrine with which I begin in which intricate subject I confess my self to be in a Wilderness before I come to the last part of my Text if ever there were a question which troubled the whole world it is this How the will of man is guided unto Salvation by the supernatural help of God It is run into a Proverb that there are three things almost impossible to be traced The one how a King doth govern his Kingdom the secret reasons of state make the course of his actions so obscure Cor regis inperscrutabile says Solomon The other how grace doth govern the soul And the third how God doth govern the world We are sure divine motions move within us and yet we know not how they move Our Saviour did admonish us it would be a hard matter to understand when he spake of the Holy Ghost who doth regenerate us The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou knowest not whence it comes nor whither it goes What impression a spiritual quality doth or can make upon a spiritual substance Philosophy cannot judge of it but so far as the Scripture opens the mysterie Divinity may examine it and faith must believe it In these labyrinths
called to hear the word of faith and of none other God might have left them in their bloud as the Prophet Ezekiel speaks and given them over to the reprobate sense of their own mind but because he requires a new Covenant from all those to whom Christ is preached therefore he gives them new abilities lest he should seem to invite them in vain but being supplied with these internal excitations of supernatural help they are unexcusable This is the way to give God the glory and to make all the hearers of the Word know what talent they have received But the force of exhortations and expostulations were taken away if a sinner were converted by Enthusiasms and sudden inspirations If God would immediately bring a man to himself without feeling of his sin without hating it without desiring pardon it were superfluous to say We beseech you that ye receive not the grace of God in vain I marvel you are so soon removed from him that called you to the grace of Christ Gal. i. 6. They that heard St. Peters Sermon Acts ii 37. at the beginning of it were unbelieving and rebellious Jews before he had ended they were terrified felt the guiltiness of innocent bloud upon themselves desired freedom submitted themselves to direction Men brethren what shall we do All these were good internal effects but as yet they were not converted and regenerate as yet unbelievers for had they believed they had never made that question What shall we do They come to that in the next verse says Peter Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins Well they followed this counsel and then at the soonest and not before they were justified in Christ for thereupon it is said There were added unto the Church above three thousand souls So I have made that conclusion undeniable I think that Christ doth produce some effects of initial grace before conversion The next conclusion is that since the natural man hath no powers in the freedom of his will to do good therefore the first effects of grace that are brought forth in us the Holy Ghost doth produce them solely and intirely the will of man conferring no strength at all As the ground receives the seed which is cast into it so a natural man takes the good seed from God which he casts into him passivè receptivè only passively and by way of reception Even they that will not be beaten off from their tenet but that the will of man hath some cooperancy with Gods grace in the act of conversion yet they give their suffrage to this doctrine that this preventing grace or grace of preparation is res infusa not comparata a thing infused from above not gotten by our diligence or acquired even as the air doth not dispose it self to admit the light of the Sun but is illuminated by the presence of the Sun They are best known by the name of Semi-pelagians who would not admit this truth for it was taught in their School that the beginning of faith was from man and the increase from the power of the Holy Ghost But why did they teach that the beginning of faith was from man Because they imagined that the talent of grace was promised to them that used the talent of nature well Habenti dabitur to him that hath it shall be given But I would have them find me any such Covenant in all the Scripture which God made with man that such as negotiated the talent of nature well should have an increase of grace for their reward It is a trespass and a foul one to bely a man and to father Covenants upon him which he never made the offence is greater to alledge Covenants from God and yet no tittle leaning that way in all his Testament The powers of nature are blindness of understanding obdurateness of will perverseness of affections what reward can be due to these but eternal death When thou wert in thy bloud Ezek. xvi that is when thou wert under the loathsom filthiness of sin and under the condemnation of death I said unto thee live that is I began to extend my mercy of vivification upon thee The beginning and introduction of all Christian vertue is to think of God From whence comes this From any good parts wherewith we were born Go to the fountain of wisdom and ask there We are not sufficient of our selves to think any thing of our selves but our sufficiency is of God 2 Cor. iii. 5. The next a b c and first rudiment of goodness is to pray to God Is nature a sufficient Mistris to teach you that Is it not the Spirit which the Lord sends into us crying Abba Father I will pour upon the house of David the Spirit of grace and supplications and upon the Inhabitants of Jerusalem Zach. xii 10. Thus St. Austin proves that the very firstlings and proems of all our Christian dispensations are from God because St. Paul said I obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful 1 Cor. vii 25. Misericordiam consecutus sum ut fidelis essem non ut fidelior essem That I was made faithful or had any faith it was the benefit of God and not only by way of increase or augmentation that I was made more faithful otherwise we should lead the Spirit to take his aim from us and not be led by the Spirit a Passive Verb and fit to express that we are merely passive in the first preparations of faith I shall speak anon touching that efficacy of the Spirit upon the heart of man But touching the work of preparatory grace in the first onset it brings illumination with it it dispels darkness from our understanding it makes us perceive we are gone astray in our sins like sheep that are lost it makes us know God is to be feared it makes us discern that we are in a wretched estate this illumination cannot be resisted Mens nostra ipsum scire effugere non potest Philosophy doth dictate that we cannot repel the knowledge of a thing palpably demonstrated before us though we would it pierceth as easily into the mind as a needle through a thin cloath Yet I do not say this grace which first possesseth the soul and makes it willing to good motions which was most averse before doth compel a man or force him compulsion is a word of hostility rather than of favour It comes with that sweetness and authority together that it will not be said nay Thus we are led by the Spirit in the first introduction of preparatory grace The third thing to be considered is how the Spirit doth lead us all the while we use this preparatory grace before conversion St. Austin comprehended all in this short rule Primùm gratia Dei operatur bonam voluntatem deinde per eam First Gods grace doth effect a good will in us and then by that will so illuminated and excited it produceth
good effects Then the will of man according to that free liberty it hath which is helped toward good works not taken away doth all things with that indifferency that it may cast away this initial grace or embrace it work fruitfully with it or unfruitfully This is that qualification and condition of grace which some wicked ones are said to resist this is that Spirit which other sensual men are said to grieve They will not understand they will not be gathered together they will not follow their Leader through the servile liberty of their own concupiscence It is this first pittance and portion of a good life that many are said to begin in the Spirit and to end in the flesh In the work of conversion though a man hath power to resist it being founded in the natural liberty of the will yet no man doth actually resist the grace of conversion yet this grace of preparation many do resist out of the pravity of their will in which respect they are said to quench the Spirit I cannot speak so much as I might in this subject but because the understanding of Gods favour and justice and the provocations of our own duty depend much upon it therefore I will give you some short rules and corollaries to bear away 1. I do not say all men but as many as are invited by the preaching of the Word are made partakers of some preparatory grace for as a Vein and Artery run together in the body natural to convey bloud wherein the life consists so the Word preacht and some measure of supernatural grace go hand in hand in the mystical Therefore St. Paul says We are Ministers not of the Letter but of the Spirit It is told to no man in vain that Christ died for him the possibility of apprehending the benefit of that sacrifice is offered him if he do not hinder the work of God 2. In this previous grace and for the good use of it we apply unto you the exhortations comminations invitations of all the Prophets and Apostles giving you truly to wit that God hath given you the means to be saved if you do not reject them The last end at which we drive in all our Sermons is your conversion and regeneration that is the Crown of all diligence in this world but the immediate and next end that we labour is that men and women do their diligence to make good use of this preparatory grace 3. This grace of preparation before convertion is shorter in some than in others God did presently hasten the conversion of Paul of Lydia of the Jaylor Why may he not do what he will with his own And give a Peny to them that have laboured one hour as soon as to them that have laboured ten But usually there is large trial and with some this preparatory grace continues alone till anon before they end their life 4. God forsaketh no wicked man within the Church till he hath quenched this grace and interrupted the chain of those means which were prepared for his conversion Prius quam deseratur neminem deserit multos desertores saepe convertit says Prosper which is in part thus Englished 2 Chron. xxiv 20. Because ye have forsaken the Lord he hath also forsaken you Solomon was an excellent Divine as well as a Philosopher Prov. i. 24. Because I have called and ye refused ye have set at nought my counsel they hated knowledge and did not chuse the fear of the Lord therefore I will mock at their calamity but though he forsakes none untill they forsake him yet he forsakes not all that forsake him So said Prosper Multos desertores saepe convertit Peter and Judas both did reject this grace of preparation and fall from it yet the one hath efficatious grace given to convert him the other hath not This inequality is from the pure pleasure of God and no man can sound the depth 5. Some are much more largely watered with this heavenly dew of preparatory grace all may drink their fill but some have their cup brim full some are endued with more patience proved with fewer tentations Yet none can justly grudge why hath he five talents and I but three Why doth God stand longer at the door to knock for him than he will for me God is not bound to follow men with all manner of grace 6. If these works of preparation be not hindred if this grace be not quenched God will follow the soul with saving grace Not that any man in the world did ever use this precedaneus help so well but that it deserved to be taken from him How many sins do we incur How stubborn how disobedient is the heart of every man Here we might be for ever forsaken according to our misdeeds but the Lord will accept of small endeavours as great accomplishments In a word the good use that we can make of this gift of God is no way meritorious to salvation the ill use of it in those that perish is demeritorious and makes them justly undeserving to be called to salvation This I am perswaded is the true doctrine of this Point to stop the mouth of them that are lost and to shew the plenteous riches of Gods mercy in the vessels of Election Fourthly I labour for the easiest notions I can invent to make these intricate things plain the fourth Point will require an intelligent Auditor with what great and mighty power the Spirit doth lead the children of God in converting grace I have spoke of the first preparation of grace and the will prepared so I must speak distinctly of the act of renovation and the will renewed and the nature of renovation or conversion is best conceived in these six heads 1. What this converting grace adds above that preparatory help 2. God doth work it alone and the will doth passively receive it 3. It doth infallibly attain its effect 4. It is no violent compulsion upon the will 5. It is more than a moral perswasion 6. This is not repugnant to the Promises to the comminations or to the exhortations of God First It adds this above preventing initial grace that it doth but dispose a man to life but after this act we may say justly this man is born of God That is common to them that are lost who quench the first beginnings of divine assistance by their own evil will this is only given to the elect servants of Christ God works by several quantities and doses of Sanctification 1. That they can resist if they will as in Adam before his Fall 2. In others that they will not though they can as in those in whom he doth conserve his preparatory grace 3. In others that they will not nor cannot in the introduction of that act as in them whom he doth actually convert 4. In others that shall never can nor will as in the Angels and Saints of heaven God foresaw if he should only give this grace of preparation all
nature Non agunt sed aguntur So in the act of renovation we are not fellow-workers but are led and carried whither the Spirit will And as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God Rom. viii 14. 4. We know divine mysteries best by negative expressions and therefore I go on fourthly that this immission of efficacious grace is no violent compulsion upon the will Compulsion I said was a word of hostility and not of favour When God doth his work in us throughly energetically that it shall not fail by a Catachresis it is called a coaction So it is said in the Parable to them that were sent to bring in the blind and the lame Cogite intrare compel them to come in I say this is a Catachresis so Prosper the great director of this way that I take Hanc abundantiorem gratiam ita credimus potentem ut negemus violentam We believe this eminent abundant grace worketh with great power but not with violent compulsion For because of those previous preparations I spake of which make us know and have some desire of heavenly things God saves no man against his will therefore it is no violent attraction for no man is ordinarily saved that hath positive repugnancy though in the momentary act of conversion he doth add no auxiliary co-operancy Nay so far is this most abundant benediction of the Spirit from offering coaction and force to the will that the will of a regenerate man doth instantly shew its complacency and turn it self to God This efficacious motion is infused from God and in the same moment exercised and put into act by man for to that end it was inspired by God that man should produce the act of believing and adhering to Christ This is an Altitude for faith to look upon Voluntas est subjectum istius volitionis causa suae volitionis in eodem instanti I think verily the not marking of this hath caused much debate that the will of man in the act of conversion is the subject upon which God works faith and it self the cause which doth produce the act of faith in the same instant They have my suffrage that say how these two cannot well be divided in time one from another Gods operation converting a sinner to be his Son and the act of believing in that man converting himself to God no object can be for a moment in the will but it must affect it one way or other but in order of nature Gods inspiration is first to be conceived and then mans embracing and assent Thus it appears the agitation of this divine motion is not by force and compulsion but with a sweet and fatherly attraction and the effect is no way rough and against nature but above it For to limit and determine the indifferency of the will is not the destruction of free will but the perfection witness the Saints and Angels who are confirmed in grace that they cannot sin If the Son make you free then are ye free indeed which is thus expounded by the Apostle Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty 2 Cor. iii. 17. Fifthly I annex that the powerfulness of this converting grace is not well expressed when it is entitled but a moral perswasion The hearts of Kings and surely of all other men whose power is less free are in the hand of God and he inclineth them which way he will perswasions may labour upon the affections it is the scope of an Orator but the most flexanimous Rhetorician that ever spake cannot be said to have the hearts of his Auditors in his hands that is a phrase out of humane capacity What moral perswasion was there in this Christ called Peter and Andrew James and John and Mathew from the receit of custom and they left all and followed him Shew me any ground here for moral perswasion that is probable allegation of reason Not a word more spoken than follow me or perhaps I will make you fishers of men few words God knows But a mighty efficacious impression was secretly instilled into the heart there it was it must needs be that celestial irradiation which made them leave all to follow Christ whose outward appearance was most contemptible and his society according to the wisdom of the world most dangerous Perswasion can but propound an end and as every man is affected so he likes the end which is offered We that disperse the Word have the Office to perswade you to the Kingdom of heaven but God forbid he should bring us no further The Devil can suggest and perswade likewise and prevail above his Makers perswasions as it appears Gen. iii. therefore ascribe the honour due unto the Lord that his Spirit is more efficacious to produce good than Satan to produce evil therefore his work consists not in perswading but in governing and inclining the heart Finally To dispatch this Point I said this potent and infallible assistance of converting grace doth well consist with the Promises and Threatnings and Exhortations of holy Scripture There are other matters objected against this but at the last you will find all sticks at this knot For after some wrangling in the end it is confest God can restrain the liberty and indifferency of the will and make it bring forth what act he please and it must be allowed that the taking away that liberty to work either good or evil is not the destruction but the perfection of the will The angry question is Whether the removing away that liberty and indifferency from the will in the act of conversion can consist with this order that a man shall be commanded to convert himself to God upon the condition of eternal life and upon the commination of Hell fire Now I must tell you this was the very thing that Pelagius quarrelled St. Austin for saying Da Domine quod jubes jube quod vis Give me to do what thou commandest O Lord and then command what thou pleasest But take all my answers like grapes upon a cluster 1. They that make this objection know we are commanded to have the first grace of illumination and they acknowledge it is freely and merely wrought by God Why then do they stumble at converting grace that conversion should be commanded us and God altogether cause it and yet allow it in preparatory grace 2. Doth not the Scripture frame our tongue to speak thus Make you a new heart and a new spirit Ezek. xviii 31. there is a command I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you Ezek. xxxvi 26. there he doth execute in us what himself commanded It is to be magnified and admired not to be disputed of when God will work that good by his Spirit within us which he might in rigour without that extraordinary help exact of us 3. Whither will Divinity be tost about if this be not certain That our just and omnipotent Lord commands
first onset the Devil was not only an Explorator to sent it out what Christ was but an evil Counsellor to allure him furthermore to disobedience Exploravit ut tentaret tentavit ut exploraret says St. Ambrose Yet I must resolve you before I do any thing what sin it was which the wicked one did drive at Many are so curious to suit this Tentation in every Point with the tentation of our first Parents and what need that be so exactly sought for That they give sentence it was the sin of Gluttony and nothing else to which he was prompted Yes surely to some other sin as well as that and much rather than that for if Satan had required no more than to make Christ dissolve his fast and eat he would have brought him bread and not put him to it to make bread of stones Moreover there is small likelihood that one should sin much in Gluttony by eating bread And especially I would have you mark that Christ answered the Devil out of the Scripture not by a Text which should exhort to sobriety but to rely upon Gods providence in all things Man liveth not by bread only but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God Wherefore if Gluttony be one skirt of the matter yet certainly according to Christs answer the sin mainly proposed was to make him distrust in God and to satisfie his wants by unlawful means And thus I have premised for your better understanding the drift of this wicked Fiend what mischief he would draw on by the words of my Text. If he had other secret policies which we cannot reach peradventure he had then let us say with the Spirit of God We have not known the depth of Satan Rev. ii 24. But now I have made you able to conceive how my Text may be broken into conspicuous parts The Tempter came to Christ for two ends Vt cognosceret ut corrumperet 1. To know Christ 2. To Corrupt him To corrupt him two ways principally by Infidelity consequently by Gluttony In the first we must watch Satan as a spie and beside the words of espial two circumstances shall be enquired into 1. When Satan made this address 2. How he made this address in what shape and fashion For the tempter came coming is a bodily motion And he said unto him speaking proceeds from corporeal instruments These little circumstances have some weight in them but the burden of the first part comes after where Satan plays the spie and explorator If thou be the Son of God c. And when the Tempter came to him is it not very natural to move this question upon those words When the tempter came to him Whether all the days that he continued in the Wilderness Satan was at his right hand to make him stumble at some stone of offence or whether the wicked Fiend approached not unto him till the forty days were ended there is the scruple And perhaps there is truth on both sides so I would judge it if it were left to my arbitration What more plain than St. Lukes narration He was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness being forty days tempted of the Devil So that it will agree with the Scripture that there were certain light skirmishes of Tentations between Christ and the Adversary all the while he was in the Desart but such faint assaults that they deserved not the relation Origen is of this judgment and this is his saying As the World could not hold the Books if all things were written which Christ did so the World could not hold the Books if all his Tentations were recorded Why not altogether probable that he passed not one day in the Wilderness without some Diabolical affront since his whole life was full of those hellish indignities Witness that praise which he gives to his Disciples Luk. xxii 28. You are they that have continued with me in my tentations his tentations were continual This is one part of Christs Passions and sufferings which the World takes little notice of the impostures of the Devil doing him molestation without ceasing Well might the Greek Liturgie urge him in their Prayers with these words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã By thine unknown torments sweet Jesu have mercy upon us Gall and Vinegar were not so untastful to his mouth as the offensive objections of Satan did grate upon his ear Nec in aurem tantûm Christi injectae sunt sed penetrarunt cor ipsum perfoderunt animum ejus says a late one Nor were these Tentations harsh only to the ear but their hainousness pierced his very heart Conceive thus much if a solacism rudely spoken is able to move the patience of a polite Grammarian then Blasphemy continually spoken by the wicked Angel must needs be a great contristation to the Son of God This is pleaded on the one side that in all the forty days some petty light tentations were darted by the Devil against our Saviour And on the other side again this is truth and reason the red Dragon did not begin his main battel nor did he propound those three infamous desperate Propositions upon which we entreat till the forty days were ended So I will alledge St. Cyprian to balance the Authority of Origen Postquam quadraginta dierum abstinentiam consummavit accessit Diabolus After our Lord had gone through the abstinence of forty days then the Tempter came unto him It is as fairly seen as the light that there was no ground for the first tentation till the long fast was absolved and Christs hunger did press him sore and call for sustenance then he provokes him to contrive for bread by any means in the world rather than want it Away with this tedious fasting and satiate your appetite Signum panis petit qui signum jejunii pertimescit the eloquence of Chrysologus Satan could not abide this miracle of fasting he had rather see him juggle for bread So the first question when the evil one came is now no more doubtful unto you He came oftentimes before with some weak provocations but at the end of forty days he put his Plough as deep as he could into the ground and harrowed up all the subtilties of Hell to prevail against him that is invincible Now for the shape and figure in which the Tempter came to our Saviour that is another circumstance of inquiry and very briefly upon it In his own substance you know Satan is a Spirit and this was the Arch-spirit of infernal darkness for surely says St. Austin the Regiment of Hell would trust no inferiour Goblin to try masteries with the mighty Son of God Yet there is no likelihood that he did offer himself now unto Christ in his invisible spiritual nature Undoubtedly he did exhibite himself in an humane body like some charitable good man that came to condole with our Saviour and was right sorry he had no sustenance I commend his ingenuity that
first observed it how Satan did clamber higher and higher in every Tentation and still changed his outward appearance to do the feat the better First as a man he did commiserate humane wants and necessities and insinuates the sin of Infidelity Secondly He transformed himself into an Angel of light and urgeth him to presumption and vain-glory In the last bout having now deceived himself that Christ was not the eternal Son of God he did truly manifest the Luciferian audaciousness and impudency and in his own shape he provokes the most holy one of God to most horrid Idolatry The Thief comes not but to steal says our Gospel and the Impostor of the world comes not but to deceive Totus quantus est mendacium est Every thing in him was lying and fiction and delusion The promises which he made were lying promises the pity which he pretended was lying pity the Scripture which he quoted as he quoted it was lying Scripture and the shape in which he came was a lying shape Alas that man who was made an excellent Creature after the Image of God should degenerate so much in all goodness that his shape should grow a fit coverture to cloak the couzenage of the Devil Might not this be the art of this our capital enemy That since God cursed the Serpent because the Devil came in his shape to tempt our first Parents so the Lord might be exasperated to curse mankind because his only Son was tempted to wickedness in the shape of man Beloved this inference from hence may be our instruction We know not in what form or transmutation Satan will come to seduce our souls therefore be wise as Serpents And since our own shape is not free from his Impostures as it follows in the next verse Mat. x. 17. Beware of men Take heed that beauty tempt you not to wantonness it is but dirt well tempered with bloud Let not pleasing words steal away your heart from the truth that is but to dance when the Devil Pipes Every man that speaks contrary to faith and holiness his mouth is become the instrument wherein Satan speaks his Oracles And so much for that circumstance how he disguised himself in the shape of man After this I will lay hold of one of the main parts of the Text. The Tempter had two ends in casting forth these words before our Saviour Vt cognosceret incognitum ut corrumperet cognitum First to learn more perfectly that which he terribly mistrusted whether Christ were the Son of God and upon this do depend some remarkable observations And to make this Point profitable I begin from hence that Satan had not yet perfectly discovered who our Saviour was and therefore he wrought in this Mine in the first Tentation to find it out Many of the Fathers do acknowledge that this was part of his business and St. Hillary doth well express it Erat Diabolo de metu suspicio non de suspicione cognitio The Devil being rather suspicious than clearly resolved took this course to find it out whether this were the Seed of the woman that should bruise the Serpents head And mark how his words lie to this purpose He did not say since you are hungry bid this stone be made bread that were to entice him to bare gluttony Nor thus you are the Son of God bid this stone be made bread but in a doubting irony If thou be the Son of God It is strange that a Spirit so subtil by nature so intellectual so vigilant to espy Christ in all his ways so able to understand Jacobs Prophesie that the Scepter was departed from Judah and therefore Shiloh should come should hold off so long and doubt of that which was clearly manifest There were some Divines in St. Hieroms time that took a middle way for their opinion how the Inferiour Furies of Hell did long before believe and tremble and had cast it up for certain that this was the Son of God but Beelzebub the Prince of Devils was so much blinded with malice more than all the rest that he continued a time after all the rest in ignorance and Infidelity But this is meerly their own fancy without the suffrage of the holy Scripture The darkness of unbelief was upon all the Angels of disobedience for Satan who is the accuser of the brethren and no doubt complaineth to God that many of his Elect are slow of belief hath this malicious slander retorted upon himself that after many evident tokens better known to him than to weak men he faltred and doubted shamefully as my Text says If thou be the Son of God This was like for like repayed unto him he blinds our hearts with sundry fallacies that we should not know good from evil and God blinded his understanding that he should not discern truth from falshood And that you may not marvel that the Tempter should be dubitative in so manifest a case and knew not which way to incline recollect one thing that did infatuate him he being the Angel of pride and judging all events according to the pitch of his own ambition how could it come into his mind that the Son of God would debase himself with so much humility And so it hath fared ever since those days nothing hath so much hardned their hearts who are slow of belief as pride and insolency For it is the arrogant conceit we have of our own wit which hinders sometimes that we do not subject reason to the knowledge of God I must be careful in this Point that one place of Scripture may not make another obscure especially to leave no shadow of contradiction between one Text and another In this business Jesus fasting forty days in the Wilderness the Devil seems not to understand perfectly that he was Christ the Lord. In the Synagogue of Capernaum Luk. iv 34. the unclean Spirit calls him by his name and title and Country Jesus of Nazareth I know thee who thou art the holy one of God So intelligent above any of the Jews that he is the first that ever called him a Nazarite Nor do I reckon upon these words so much that the evil Spirit said I know thee who thou art for Satan is a liar and must not be credited when he speaks truth But the Evangelist St. Luke says in his own person from the inspiration of God he suffered not the Devils to speak for they knew that he was Christ in the same Chapter verse 41. Beloved distinguish the times and the matter is reconciled Before the encounter of this Tentation the enemy knew him not Christs humility and extreme exinanition did shadow him that he was not discerned After the infamous repulse that Satan suffered in these Tentations and upon the admiration of some other subsequent miracles he was compelled to confess thou art he that art come to torment me and to destroy my Kingdom the holy one of God So Nazianzen exprobrates to the Arians how they resisted that
Receiver Also we apply general Promises to our selves by the word of absolution For although God only pardons sins yet he hath promised to his Priests if our hearts be well disposed to admit their work Quicquid recipitur recipitur ad modum recipientis What they loose upon earth shall be loosed in heaven but the special motive is the inward testimony of the Holy Ghost speaking in the conscience of true believers by the effects of grace This last is it which is opposed by some namely that there is no assurance ordinarily begot by the Testimony of the Spirit to a mans private spirit that he is the child of God But this I will prove This is not denied that this is the faith of the Gospel on which we lay hold for eternal life whosoever truly believeth on Christ he shall be saved and cannot a man infallibly infer but I do through Gods grace truly believe in Christ Cannot a man search into his own heart that he doth receive Christ not only in his judgment by a firm willing and unfained assent but also by an earnest desire to be made partaker of him and by a setled resolution to acknowledge him to be his Saviour Surely the mind is not ignorant of its own actions when it understandeth when it assenteth it knoweth it self to assent when it desireth it knoweth it self to desire when it resolveth it knoweth it self to resolve Much more is it able to examine it self being holpen by the Spirit of God I may boldly say the Letter of the Scripture is not more plain for any point of Divinity than for this Rom. viii 16. The Spirit it self beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God Either we can feel this witness and make use of it or to what end is it given And why else are we bidden to feel and try that good work of the Spirit if it be in our selves Examine your selves whether you be in the faith 2 Cor. xiii 5. The true sorrowful penitent hath not less comfort now than if Christ were still upon the earth But to some of them while he lived in Jury it was graciously spoken Daughter be of good chear ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã be confident thy sins are forgiven thee And again I have prayed Peter that thy faith may not fail he let Peter know so much that he might enjoy that comfortable perswasion They that oppose frame this retorsion Some of the most excellent Saints as Peter and Paul knew that Christ did live in them and that they were living members of his body for whom God had received the Crown of life yet this they attained unto not by the ordinary strength of faith but by extraordinary revelation No such matter for says St. Peter Give deligence to make your Calling and Election sure This exhortation were frustrate to stir up our diligence for that work if certitude of salvation come only by extraordinary revelation and St. Paul protesting that neither life nor death could separate not himself only but us many more of the Elect from the love of God draws his perswasion from such reasons as were common to him with all the Saints Rom. viii 32. to the end of the Chapter Because God hath not spared his own Son for our sakes because with him he would freely give us all things because Christ is risen from the dead because he sits at the right hand of God and makes intercession for us And now I will draw up my meaning in this first conclusion 1. Nothing but true faith can breed this particular application that any regenerate person should have affiance for his own salvation 2. That true faith doth not attain it in all but is kept back in many by tentations afflictions weakness want of instruction 3. Every good Christian ought to endeavour to get this assurance 4. Many without presumption have that stedfast and infallible comfort of Christs mercies applied unto themselves 5. In all that are truly justified it hath a sure foundation to beget it if they would well examine it Let no man therefore cavil upon any of these Points single unless he remember them all together The second conclusion follows the Holy Ghost doth beget this certitude of salvation in some measure in the faithful by causing them to examine what good fruits they have produced already from a lively faith and do firmly resolve to produce hereafter Let a well-guided conscience search how contritely we have repented us of those sins which we have committed What good works we have brought forth I mean good in their kind according to the manifold imperfections of our frailty examine whether they were done to be praised of men for fear of the Magistrate for fear of infamy or for Gods glory Whether we would not willingly leave all we have life and all rather than lose our integrity Examine all these things after Gods Word and not after the fashion of the world and what strong and serious resolutions you have for the time to come and upon strict inquiry if you find a good account then conclude I feel the Lord dwell in me by his holy Spirit I feel by these good effects he will not forsake me If any look for Enthusiasms as if God should whisper this to them in their ear they are much deceived Mark by what Index St. Paul directs us by the marks of sanctification There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit And St. John clean throughout his first Epistle Hereby do we know that we know him if we keep his Commandments And by this we know we are translated from death to life if we love the brethren St. Austin thus upon it for an interpreter Let every man enter into his own heart and if he find there brotherly charity let him be secure for he is passed from death to life I confess it and I admonish you upon it it is no such easie thing as the most imagine to try and find out whether our charity be rooted in a lively faith And in examination of particular actions from whence it must be manifested there may be much deceit much mistaking this causeth doubtings and fears and suppositions and intermissions of confidence Yet this is a possibility to sound the depth of a mans own heart and so St. Austin pleads on my side again A man may know the charity wherewith he loveth his brother better then he knoweth his brother Some there are and not a few who would cloy the Doctrine of special faith with this absurdity That many are encouraged thereby to run on in all manner of iniquity as if it were no matter how many and how grievous sins they committed so long as they were assured by this special application of Christ that all their sins were remitted But mark this second conclusion and it is abundantly enough to put to silence this cavillation
in the Field As the Fable is that the Vnicorn dips his horn into the River and makes it wholsom for all the beasts to drink so the mercy of the Lord shall breath upon all thy sustenance and sanctifie it for chearfulness and health and thy bones shall be filled with marrow and fatness But though we take our meat from God yet through infidelity it seems to me we will not take his word that he will concoct it to vivificate and strengthen us For if you do trust to that secret infusion that he gives unto his gifts why are you so sollicitous what you shall eat and what you shall drink Why do you confect every thing you take with such licious cost Why do you ingurgitate your selves with superfluity I am sure this makes it evident that you will neither trust God nor nature unless all the Art which Luxury and Wantonness can excogitate be added unto it As Elkanah said to Hannah his Wife Am not I better to thee than ten Sons So let it run in your mind as if the Lord spake it to you in your ear Am not I better unto thee than all the Corn in the Fields Than all the Cattel upon a thousand hills Than all the Cookery in the world that can be sweet upon the Palate What is bread What is a plentiful Table without my benediction Man shall not live by bread alone c. The last Proposition shall be the more succintly handled as it is least of all the meaning of the Text. That there is another life for man to look to beside this which is sustained with bread the inward man the spiritual man which lives upon the first word which I handled in my Text Scriptum est it is written Non in solo pane vivet homo non potior pars hominis quae est anima as St. Ambrose The better half of man which is the Soul and Spirit lives not by material bread but by the Word of God A heavenly Doctrine and is not minded yet not the proper and native construction of the verse I confess Yet the reason why some Fathers inclined to that meaning in their Commentaries was forasmuch as Christ mentioned the Word which proceeded out of the mouth of God now indeed that particle Word is not in the Hebrew Text which goes no further than thus Man liveth not by bread alone but by every thing suppose that cometh out of the mouth of God The 72 Translators made it up by every word and so St. Cyprian and others made this plausible sense that bread indeed strengthens mans heart but the soul liveth by the Law of God Yet in this meaning the Devil had had room to prosecute his Argument and would have said Give your soul such comfort as befits the soul yet that is no impediment but the body also must have his necessary refection Satan dares not be so impudent to deny but there is somewhat in man which is to be cared for more than the flesh for he himself is a Spirit which will make him confess that a spiritual substance deserves our sollicitous love before a body which is made of dirt Therefore the banquet for the soul is like Benjamins Mess five times yea five hundred times as good as the victuals of this Carkass Martha was careful to provide meat for the families her Sister Mary sate at our Saviours feet and fed upon the Manna of those divine words which fell from him You know who made the comparison Mary hath chosen the better part A Philosopher that preferred solid knowledge before the best diet could say He had rather be invited by Plato than by any Nobleman in Athens for he that supp'd with him might be the better for his discourse the morrow after O how much better is it then to sup with Christ Sometimes tasting of his Sacrament sometime hearing his Priests deliver the Mysteries of Faith sometime reading the mellifluous story of his Gospel sometime meditating often praying that we may not suffer a famine of the Word which we justly deserve for our sins but that his sayings may sink into our hearts and nourish us that we may grow up from grace to grace from vertue to vertue that we may eat the bread of life in the Kingdom of Heaven and never hunger again AMEN THE TENTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 5. Then the Devil taketh him up into the holy City and setteth him on a Pinacle of the Temple AT this Verse Satan fenceth against Christ with a new weapon and after the tentation of the Wilderness Now follows the tentation of the Pinacle wherein Christ fulfilled that Doctrine in the Gospel He that will compel thee to go with him one mile go with him twain for it was no presumption in our Lord to go with him from one trial to another because he was sure he should out-go him As the Romans said of Hannibal their enemy that he was a perpetual fire Cui nihil deerat nisi qui eum excitaret that would instantly flame if any man would stir him up So neither loss nor victory will make the Devil sit down with peace he is a perpetual fire to kindle sin in man that wants nothing but an occasion to stir him up When he could do no good by his first Patent taking away all that Job had he comes and sues for a new Commission that he might touch his flesh and bone Semblably when his first onset took no effect and could not penetrate our Saviour to make him satiate his hunger by unlawful means now he deals with him in a most different way whether he would be taken with pride and vain-glory He that will not despair of his Fathers Providence but that he shall be fed will he then presume of his protection that in the midst of the greatest dangers he shall be preserved Let not the Pontificians take my similitude in ill part for I shall speak no more than the truth As they have particular ways to ravish all mens affections and to fit each humour that every fancy may be satisfied and every appetite find what to feed on they have the dignity of a Cardinal to allure the magnificent mind the humility of a Capuchin to agree with a despiser of the world Employment enough for the stirring metal'd spirit of a Jesuite and ease enough for the sullen restive disposition of a Monk a Cloyster of Virgins for the chaste a street of Curtezans for the dissolute So Satan will be with some in the desart Wilderness with others in the populous City Practiseth with one man upon his hunger and poverty with another upon his ambition no retiring place so low but he hath an Engine to use in that no Pinacle so high but he can reach at that Cum tristibus severè cum remissis jucundè as the Orator did point out Cataline for a Devil incarnate he can sigh with them that want but to make them murmur
death was contrived and his accusation laid before Pilate he that maketh himself a King is not Cesars friend I have often both read it and seen it that Pride Vain-glory Faction and I know not what have been laid to the charge of the Innocent by some uncharitable mouths who have spread it so far that for all their innocency they could never wipe off the stain Many times the more they decline those crimes the more occasion is taken to accuse them Every thing that Paul could say or do to purge himself wrought him envy and misreport that he was turbulent and a mover of sedition He could never shake it off with all his meekness and modesty Well if mischief and defamation must have their course the remedy is easie though it be desperate commend your innocency to God The Lord of life himself was haunted with a wrong opinion from the time that Satan made this motion to his death that he had a purpose to be a Monarch and to display his Banner against Cesar in the quarrel of the Jews for their ancient liberty The people would have made him a King Joh. vi and he hid himself out of the way yet that would not acquit him his very Disciples not seldom but even till after his Resurrection till they saw him taken away to heaven lookt for honourable command and superiority under him It cost the sweet Babes of Bethlem their lives that the Wisemen of the East called him a King It lost him his own life as I toucht upon it before that the children of Jerusalem entertained him with that acclamation Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord Luk. xix 38. That question was and is scandalous to the Jews was and is a stumbling-block to some Gentiles what manner of Kingdom belonged to Christ as he was man Before ever the Magi of the East said Where is he that is born King of the Jews The Angel upon the first tidings of his Incarnation told the blessed Virgin his Mother The Lord shall give unto him the Throne of his Father David And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever and of his Kingdom there shall be no end Luk. i. 32. From hence some Papalins whom I formerly refuted stile him a Temporal King who bequeathed all his Dominions to his chief Apostle St. Peter and he to one that is his Successor if it please God in all but his Sanctity Then the perfidious Jews object since the Prophets say that the Messias shall be a King and sit upon the Throne of David the Messias is not yet come because Christ did not triumph and exercise Lordly authority upon the Throne of David To draw out truth against both these at once like a two edged Sword I lay down these three things 1. That neither the Prophets nor St. Luke do teach that Christ had a Temporal Kingdom 2. That he had Dominion given to him by his Father over all earthly things but not by way of ruling all things like a King in his Kingdom 3. In most proper and safe construction we must say his was a spiritual Kingdom I will be brief in all these especially in the former To make much ado that Christ had no temporal Kingdom were to light a Candle at Noon-day The case is clear for I hope we will believe him rather than his enemies These are his words Joh. xviii 36. My Kingdom is not of this world if it were my servants would fight for me that I should not be delivered to the Jews but my Kingdom is not from hence He meant say some Papalins that the world gave him no Kingdom neither chose him a King yet he doth not deny but he received an earthly Kingdom from God A most empty Objection For Pilate sate his Judge to examine if he made himself a King to injure Cesar The same Pilate liked his answer so well that he told the Jews he found no fault with him But would Pilate have put it up if he had answered no better That he claimed a Kingdom indeed by a right and title derived from heaven frivolous and the Cavil of the Jews comes to nothing that God would set the Messias upon the Seat of his Father David Stretch not the Phrase too far and the meaning is 1. The Messias should come out of Davids Loins 2. And be a King as David was 3. Not after that way an earthly Potentate but after a more noble glorious perfect way than ever David governed And I pray you how could it be that he should be a King over Judah and Israel as David was when that Kingdom was taken away from Davids house before Christ was born and a Prophesie denounced it should never return to that house again So it was foretold to Jeconiah Jer. xxii 30. Write this man barren there shall be no man of his Seed to sit upon the Throne of David and to have power any more in Judah In a word Scripture elsewhere shews that to sit upon Davids Seat was to have the Jews subject unto him not after a carnal way but to be worshipped of them in spirit and to enjoyn them to keep his Laws and Commandments for their salvation So it is Hos iii. 5. They shall seek the Lord their God and David their King and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days Secondly I said Christ had Dominion given to him by his Father over all earthly things but not by way of ruling all things like a King in his Kingdom for by uniting the Humane Nature to the Godhead through the admirable influence of that Hypostatical Union So the very Manhood was made Lord over all things according to those places Mat. xi All things are delivered unto me of my Father And in these last days he spake unto us by his Son whom he made Heir of all things Heb. i. 2. And that you doubt not how he had power over all things as being man united with God he whose name was called the Word of God had a name written on his thigh King of Kings and Lord of Lords Rev. xix 16. Super femur mark that Vpon his thigh that is upon his Humane Nature Now this in him was of a more eminent and sublimed condition than all Regal Authority on the earth It came to him the most glorious way that ever was by the Hypostatical Union not by Conquest Inheritance Election Donation or any earthly sort 2. His power reacheth not only to command the outward actions but the very thoughts and conscience 3. He is over things sensible and insensible Men and Angels quick and dead heaven and earth and the very Regions of darkness 4. When men die their glory perisheth with them but of this mans Kingdom it is often testified there is no end Yea after his death he rose again and then began his Dominion to be most absolute by many exteriour works It was his pleasure oftentimes to exercise
ãâã ãâã get thee behind me Satan which confutes those Expositors that consulted no further than St. Matthew and have made quiddetts upon it that Christ did not reprehend St. Peter Mat. xvi with the same chiding that the Devil hath here Yes even the very same because Peter suggested most carnal counsel from the evil one he suffred this reprehension Get thee behind me Satan But I leave to touch that any further it is not in the Verge of my Text. This is the first time throughout all the three Tentations that Christ calls him by name Satan And surely Cajetan says well upon it Quia manifestavit se esse principem mundi Christus non ei amplius respondit ut homini Because he manifested himself to be the Prince of this world Christ communes not with him now in the former key as if he were a man And unless he had revealed himself perhaps our Saviour would have forborn to detect him that himself might have remained undiscovered to be the Son of God Well though the Tempter borrowed shapes before to hide himself notice is taken now what he was and with much passion our Lord shook him up Get thee hence Satan Our Saviour passed over the two former Tentations mildly but purposes of Idolatry deserve no meek answer The irreverent usage of Gods House when it was defiled with money-changers and the most irreverent abuse of Gods glory in this Text stirred up fire in Christ more than in all other cases and made him hot and vehement Moses the meekest man on earth that would resent no injuries against himself when God was dishonoured in the Calf which the Children of Israel worshipped his anger was so kindled that he threw stones at the Idolaters and broke the Tables which he had in his hand as who should say the Law is broken Let not Gods quarrel want a Patron in you and you shall not want an Advocate with the Father in Christ But what did Satan suffer upon this rebuke What was he the worse for it You can scarce imagin how to conceive more punishment out of so few words than some contemplative men have collected from these First If the High Priests servants were terrified and fell backward when no more was said unto them but Ego sum I am he then what amazement must this reproof strike Get thee hence get thee far from me thou presumptuous Spirit This did not only cast him to the ground but even bruize him under our Saviours feet Rom. xvi 20. The least check from the Lord is able to make the stoutest stomach look pale as death When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin thou makest his beauty to consume away O if that dreadful Judge speak one word of anger who is able to abide it Secondly To be commanded away by one that appeared a man of weakness and infirmity what a great fall was this from that high opinion which even now the Devil had of himself He went away says Chrysologus and was fain to give glory to him of whom he askt adoration He boasted of giving a Kingdom to Christ and Christ gives Law to him and he must obey it Before he would be Christs Leader he lead him to the Mountain he took him nay carried him to the Pinacle of the Temple now he is compelled to change places and come after Get thee behind me Satan Yet I do not say he hath the dignity to come immediately next after Christ Solo Deo minor that is the title of anointed Kings upon earth Nay this reproachful word Get thee behind me deposeth him under all the servants of God Non retro Christum solùm sed post omnes qui spiritum Christi habent ire cogitur He is not only set beneath the Son of God but is an underling far after all those in the Church that have the spirit of Adoption Thirdly You know that this word Get thee behind me was a word of hostility in Jehu's mouth What hast thou to do with peace Get thee behind me So this rebuke proclaims the Devil an enemy whom God drives away and puts him out of his view and sight like an antipathy to the Godhead Ejicitur à facie Dei as one says he was cast behind God hid his face from him he should never more see the beams of that comfort Fourthly It is not expressed whither Christ did banish him when he charged him with his Vade Get thee hence to some woful banishment that is certain but to what degree of woe is most uncertain The Devils not long after this story in spight of their infidelity acknowledged him and trembled for fear which way he would send them Therefore they besought him that he would not send them into the depth In abyssum into that inestimable depth of woe in the nethermost Hell Luk. viii 31. And some do so interpret Get thee hence as if Satan before these Tentations were cast out of heaven into the earth but from this time that Christ rebuked him and bid him avant further he was cast from the earth into the lowest darkness They are questions not to be heeded which some move whether the Prince of the air were bound fast by these words that he should hurt the earth no more by his own person but by his instruments Or rather whether not until anon before our Saviours Passion at those words Now shall the Prince of this world be cast forth Or whether the binding is to be accounted from some other time Apoc. xx Tyrannis vivit tyrannus occidit Whether the great dragon so called be chained up or not God knows his tyranny and mischief lives in the power of other instruments all the Church of God knows that by experience Fifthly These words Get thee behind me Satan are our Saviours epinicium or Song of triumph that he hath conquered the Adversary both for his own peace and kingdoms sake and for the members of his body So many gross sins were reformed throughout all the world from this time forward especially in the redress of Idolatry that some say the malicious weapons of Satan are rebated and their edge taken off Indeed if it be meant with this distinction that follows the doctrine is acceptable the Devil hath less power since Christ came unto us in the flesh then he had before Non quod demonum sit imminuta virtus sed quod fidelibus per Christum abundantior concessa est gratia The Devils are as malicious as instant as operative as cunning as ever they were but since the holy Ghost hath put upon us the Armour of light since grace hath abounded through Christ we are better able to resist our Ghostly Enemies To conclude all whosoever is tempted of his own evil concupiscence let him spend no time to please himself with the first motions of sin but let him rebuke his own heart instantly in these words Apage Satana get thee hence away depart from me Satan Conjure
of St. Austin where doth he say that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is another species of religious worship which is divers from latria I cannot find that nor they neither yes it is extant that He teacheth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is an honour to be given to Angels and Saints but doth he say that honour is an inferiour part of religious worship at no hand nor of religious worship I believe mistakes have past on both sides that worship hath been divided by our Divines into religious and civil without further explication for some acute wits have objected that the honour given to a person is grounded upon some excellency in him but excellency is threefold therefore there must be a threefold honour or worship there is the divine and infinite excellencie of God which requires an honour peculiar to it self of the highest strein then there is humane excellencie consisting in such honour and reverenced qualities as men have to which a civil reverence is to be paid Between these there is another excellency which is supernatural that grace and glory which the Angels and Saints have here they demand that some honour above the ordinary civil garb should be paid to supernatural excellency This I believe S. Austin for want of words called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but never meant it was a religious expression But to make things clearer I have divided worship before into three parts the first is of most holy religion to God alone the second of civil subjection to our Superiors honour to whom honour belongeth as the Apostle says but the third must not be forgotten when we give moral reverence to some not upon the relation of being subject and under them for excellent endowments so Kings have faln down prostrate before Prophets so Abraham bowed down to the three Angels and this moral reverence is greater or less as we apprehend the person to have natural or supernatural excellency This surely was St. Austin's ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and so the meaning of his distinction is tolerable but he states a difference in words which are not to be differenced as I will declare it briefly The words both ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã both ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã either of them stand for all sort of worship confusedly of religion of moral reverence and of civil subjection ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã each word in Eustathius denote a Servant if there be any odds ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is the more enthralled and captivated Servant for ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is the hired Servant a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which signifies the wages of an hired one But an hirling is at his own choice whether he will do a mans work or no but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is a Bond servant part of his Masters possession he mustgirt him to his work and cannot avoid it therefore we are Gods ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã his Servants that must do his will his Bond-servants we ought to obey him in all things though He had covenanted to give us no wages 'T is the greater subjection if you stand upon words and therefore due to the greatest I press further that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Scripture stands not only for holy service but for civil observance Matth. xviii that Servant that owed his Master more than he could pay fell down and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he worshipt him but evidently Levit. xxiii 3. The Seventh day is a Sabbath of rest an holy Convocation ye shall do no work therein ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã so it is in the 72. which must not stand for Religious that is the day proper but for secular tasks and businesses Once again let me strike upon the same Pin How often do both these words present unto us the same thing Even Gods holy service Rom. i. 9. God is my witness ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Whom I serve in the Spirit In the same Epistle Cha. xvi ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they serve not our Lord Jesus Christ And nothing more fairly markt out that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in a Religious relation is only due to God then that Text Gal. iv 8. St. Paul tells the Galatians that while they were Gentiles ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ye served them that by nature were not Gods The Argument is fix'd on this ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã religiously belongs to the true God and not to Angels Saints or any nuncupative Gods So the Arrians were accused of Idolatry by Athanasius because they professed to worship Christ and yet confessed him not to be God eternal coequal with his Father They had no such distinction as latria and dulia to shift the Objection I have been compelled to fight with words I know with little profit to the ordinary hearer but the skilful will bear me witness these things could not well be omitted upon this Theme Now I come to ponder the meaning of the distinction yet no Pontifician whom I have read hath made a clear meaning of it Yes some will say they hold latria is a supreme religious Adoration to be given to God alone Dulia is an inferiour religious worship aptly given to persons or things of some supernatural graces or divine relations That is God hath his due reserved the Angels the Saints and their Images and Reliques are worshipped Absque latria which is to say in strictness of Grammer they worship them without worship For latria put in English is Worship But I leave that and demand here are two Religious Worships in their Church the one to God the other to some of his Creatures what belongs to the one that doth not to the other if both be religious Do they differ in degrees only That the intention of the heart is bent more earnestly to honour the one and with less zeal and ardour the other That is no real difference for so the same man praiseth God with more vehemency of spirit at one time than at another Or is it diversified to be another species of Religious Worship by performing the same external garbe and the like internal honour to the Creator and to the Creature but with this odds that the Devotee doth apprehend God as an infinite essence but the created substances as fellow Servants and therefore no way to be worshipped above Servants with God-like honour This I think is all that can be said I have read no more said for it yet this is nothing for so the understanding only conceives a different object but it is not demonstrated that the will or the body brings forth several acts of Worship And it is enough to overthrow their errour if they would mark it that they say how they consider it is but a Creature which they adore with dulie or secondary religious Worship for the foundation of all religious Worship is Excellentia infinita apprehensa sub ratione primi principii summi
Saviours triumph I will break the words into these two even parts The Decession of Satan and the succession of the good Angels As there is but one Comma in the Grammatical reading so there is but one part divided from the other Then the Devil leaveth him there is the decession of the evil Spirit And behold Angels came and ministred unto him there is the succession of the good To these somewhat now directly and distinctly Then the Devil leaveth him I will propound four Questions to it and answer them in their order When Satan left Christ Why he left him To what place he went upon the leaving And if ever he returned again after he had left him All these have reference to this Text and to the Antecedents of this tentation as I will declare in their severals The first question When he left him Is answered by St. Luke Chap. iv 13. when the Devil had ended all the temptation He had run out his line and tried all his strength our Saviour stood it out till his Enemy tilted the very dregs of his Gall and drew them out He that undertakes an ill cause cannot except but the hearing of it was very fair if he may plead out his matter till he can say no more so the Tempter cannot say he was cut off before he came to a period he was provided of better Arguments but he was stopt from proceeding he could not make these cavils for shame for his departure was not commanded untill he ended all his tentation Like the Martyrs of old who lived and died in the best times of grace it is recorded in their Diptychs that their patience did weary their very tormentors So the innocency of Christ did weary the malice of the Devil to assault it his constancy to Gods honour did nonplus the Blasphemer that he knew not which way to turn him or upon what occasion to ground another temptation St. Ambrose says that Satan had run over all manner of wickedness in those three motions which go before my Text And that the Scripture would not have said he had ended all his mischief Nisi in his tribus esset omnium materia delictorum unless all naughtiness were couched in the triple mystery of iniquity which preceded And to make this interpretation good out of the mouth of two Witnesses St. Austin concurs in these In Diaboli tribus propositionibus tota iniquitas in Christi tribus responsionibus tota justitia All kind of sin is thrust together in the Devils threefold Propositions and all kind of justice is comprehended in our Saviours threefold answers St. John says that there are three roots which supply matter to all the fruits of impiety the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye and the pride of life I know it may be fetcht about and some wits have tried it that the three former devises of Satan do belong to this division Gluttony or commanding stones to be made bread is that which is otherwise called the lust of the flesh Ambition or vaulting from the Pinacle of the Temple to be gazed upon stands for the pride of life Covetousness which would be owner and possessor of all things in the world is ascribed to the third general sin which is the lust of the eye thus some of the Fathers have fitted these three particulars of tentations and the three seed plots of sin in St. John one to one I will not say how properly a searching wit may compass in any thing But all the three ways of Tentation are exactly to be observed from hence from no part of Scripture more exactly and so he may be said to have ended all his tentation For some are tempted through infirmity some through ignorance some are emboldned in open and prophane malice to defie the Lord. When it was motioned that he should make stones of bread he laid siege as he thought to his hunger and infirmity which could not well withstand it when he incited our Lord to fall down from a Pinacle of the Temple it was to make him destroy himself through ignorance expecting in vain that Angels should come between him and harm to succour him Lastly when he urged Christ to fall down and worship him he required a sin of most obstinate malice and flat Idolatry By Infirmity by Ignorance by Malice these are all the ways that the Tempter works therefore having run through all these it may pass for current that he had ended all his temptation I infer but one thing from hence that those Spirits are become merely diabolical and poysoned all over with hell that spare no kind of sin that they can commit but defie the Lord as far as the Devil can thrust them on such as swear all kind of Oathes in their wrath commit all kind of extorsions in their Covetousness defile themselves with all kind of lust and drunkenness in their intemperance Herods cruelty had no stint he slew omnes infantes all the Infants of two years old in Bethlem Israel went a whoring after strange Gods till they had committed all kind of Idolatry and made them high places upon every Mountain says the Prophet Thou hast spoken all manner of lies that may do hurt O thou false tongue says David Though the Character which I shall give was Neroes it agrees to all them who sin as much as life and strength and means and opportunity will suffer them He grew by degrees so infinitely wicked that nothing can be fathered so horrible upon him which his sutable manners would not render credible Nothing can be pleaded for such but that they deserve an infinite punishment who would sin in infinitum if they could When they have ended all the sins they can commit they shall be commanded to their own place of eternal woe as Satan was when he had ended all his temptation The question why he left Christ is the next in order to which I will answer many ways First quia jussus he was bidden depart and therefore there was no staying for him Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered let them also that hate him fly before him The Lord hath set every thing in its place and order and what is there which he cannot root up and displant again If he say unto this Mountain be thou cast into the Sea it shall be carried away with the breath of his mouth Or unto Adam get thee hence out of Paradise or unto any Nation be thou carried away into a strange Land or unto the whole heaven and earth pass away and be gone they shall pass away and be rouled up as a garment And to come to the likeness of this very case in my Text when Christ threw out sundry evil Spirits with a word the Jews were amazed and spake among themselves saying What a word is this For with authority and power he commandeth the unclean Spirits and they come out The Magicians and Sorcerers can cast out Devils
industry that can attain to such excellent things but by Gods grace and clemency Yet we must not think to fold onr arms together and sleep out our time with Solomons Sluggard and yet be made happy we must awake from sin before we receive the hope and comfort of that future glory in this life and we must awake from death before we can see God and his glory face to face hereafter O that we could awake from the sluggishness of the flesh and open our eyes illuminated by faith then we should see many admirable mysteries which now pass away from our knowledg and we never seek them out Wake thou that sleepest stand up from the dead and Christ shall give thee light There is an eye-salve of Prayer and humility and long-suffering in these dayes of trial to dispel the mists of darkness which obscure our faith and when we awake up after thy likeness O blessed Jesus we shall be satisfied with it AMEN THE FOURTH SERMON UPON The Transfiguration LUKE ix 33. And it came to pass as they departed from him Peter said unto Jesus Master it is good for us to be here and let us make three Tabernacles one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias not knowing what he said UPon my entrance into the handling of this beautiful miracle of the Transfiguration we found Christ at Prayer and he continued in that exercise by himself alone for he needed not to have his Petition recommended to his Father by any other mouth by any Intercessor in Heaven or Earth He indeed prays for every mans wants but in all the Gospel throughout no man prays for him Pro quo nullus interpellat sed ipse pro omnibus hic unicus verusque mediator est says St. Austin He in whose behalf no man sollicits the Father to bless him and he whose Lips bless every man this is the true and only Mediator of Mankind But though we found Christ at Prayer yet we did not find his Apostles waking to say Amen If God be for us who can be against us Rom. viii 31. I answer the Apostle though God be for us all a man may be his own Enemy and fight against himself Christ was occupied in Prayer Who could be against Peter when his Master was on his side But Peter slept while his Master prayed therein he was against himself Thrice our Saviour rose from Prayer in the Garden and found him sleeping therefore the watchful Cock was a sign unto him soon after that he had denied his Master thrice So to lay this upon our own building if the three Disciples whom Christ took with him to Mount Thabor had imployed their time in watchfulness and Religion as their Master did doubtless the Lord had guided their understanding in the right way but because they laid them down to rest when they should have prayed and did not lift up their hands as an Evening Sacrifice therefore the Lord sent upon them the Spirit of slumber Rom. xi 8. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã an imagination as dark as the darkness of Egypt in which they could discern nothing ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as Aquila reads it Isa xxix 10. a strong drowziness which is in the manner of a Lethargy a Spirit of error and stupidity Loe what words do come from Peter in my Text let him shake himself as Samson did when he came out of sleep and he shall find that the Spirit of the Lord was gone from him He did not watch and pray that he might not fall into error therefore he slept and fell into error that he might pray to come out of it Because his tongue was tied when it ought to speak therefore when he began to speak he knew not what he said And that shall appear unto you both this day and once again God willing upon this whole Verse which I have read At this present I have bounded my meditations to go but half way It came to pass as they departed from him Peter said unto Jesus Master it is good for us to be here All this matter must not be drawn into an heap but into this order 1. What came to pass which caused Peter to speak now when he had been silent before Why Moses and Elias were taking their leave and he would have retained them It came to pass as they departed from him Peter said 2. To whom he did direct his speech not to his fellow servants Moses and Elias but to his Master Peter said unto Jesus Master 3. That his Disciple went about to teach his Master in the words following Master it is good for us to be here Those being the words of especial use to spend our time upon I will enlarge my self to shew that they contain three things to be well allowed and six things to be doubted of that I may not say condemned 1. At the first blush that he saw Christ in glory he said it was bonum he was excellently delighted with it for the glory of the Gospel is no affrighting thing but a delectable object 2. He said true it was bonum nobis good for us for God doth shew his glory for us and for our satisfaction 3. It is as true that it is very good to be continually present with his glory and never part from it O it is the best of all goods to enter into the joy of our Master Thus far he built upon a Rock his foundation is infallible In the rest he builds upon the sands yet to censure the errors of so great an Apostle with modesty I will contrive all that is objected against him into six questions 1. An bonum non videre mortem Whether it were good for us not to see death 2. An bonum non affligi If it be good to remain in pleasure and not be afflicted 3. An bonum sit in terrâ manere Whether it could be good to dwell always upon the earth 4. An bonum sit quod paucis solummodo bonum Whether that can be a true good which is restrained to few Bonum nobis if it were not enlarged beyond those that were present 5. An bonum consistit in aspectu humanitatis Whether it could be the supreme good of man to behold the Humane Nature of Christ only beautified without the revelation of his divine glory 6. An bonum sit Christum non crucifigi If it could be good for them that Christ should entrench himself in Mount Tabor and never go to Mount Calvary to be crucified These are the parts of the Text not one to be spared They shall not trouble you with length though they do with multitude I begin with the occasion which moved Peter to speak it was the departure of the two Witnesses Factum est cum illi discederent ab eo dixit He was ever prompt to speak and now he could not hold when those two the most heroical Prophets that ever had lived did now come from another world and
is one ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã one who hath the preeminence in all things the Master who is over all and above all which is Jesus Christ I mean not as it is alleaged out of Bartholus and some of the impudent Canonists that Christ as he was God and Man was Lord of the whole World Monarchically and Peter after him and by Peters right the successive Bishops of Rome by which fetch those branded Flatterers entitle their Popes to the direct right of all the Kingdoms of the earth indeed the Devil promised our Saviour all the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them and since He refused it then the same Devil by the mouth of those Canonists profers it again to try though He will none of it himself if some other in the name of a Vicegerent will take it for him This is not the meaning of the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but that he is our Master in Heaven and Earth the Head to which all the Body is fitly knit by joynts and bands Colos ii 19. Joints and Bands Beloved neither of those words is idle or superfluous ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã commissurae the joints are all those blessings and benefits which are bestowed upon us and knit unto us Christ by reciprocal gratitude ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã juncturae are all those offices of Christian charity which bind the Members one to another all things which belong to the Communion of Saints and hold us together under the Head which nourisheth us with his influence Now it is a very ill disjunction which some make to argue upon the two natures of Christ according to whether he is our Master and our Head If you name the one or the other alone you will confuse your own Creed and know not what to believe for all the conditions belonging to a Head are in neither but in both First it was fit the Church should have such an Head which is agreeing and conformable to the Body which is knit unto it a spiritual Head and fleshly Members are not consonant to make an unity Therefore Christ and his Church are said to be like Man and Wife which are one flesh Ephes v. 31. But the Head of the Church must be fit to nourish every part of the Body with spiritual blessings and make it increase with the increase of God this can come from none but the Divine and Infinite who can give spiritual life alone and quicken them which are dead in their sins this He can do as he is Magister Verbi Magister Spiritus who but Christ is Master of the Word preacht and who but the same Christ is Master of the Spirit which gives power unto the Word You see then it is no complemental Name which is given to Christ in courtesie but a Title of due Royalty and condign Authority when we call him Master Master says Peter it is good for us to be here Upon the same Bank of earth you may gather Flowers and Weeds the Flowers are set by art in the Garden the Weeds are the natural offspring So in this same speech which the Apostle uttered in a rapture of love and delight here are good conclusions to be approved and bad contents to be reprehended but the errors arise naturally out of the words the good conclusions are rather forc't than natural yet they deserve the precedency in my discourse and this is the begining that when Peter started out of sleep and saw Christ in glory it pleased him at the heart bonum est says he this is good and he never spake truer in his life The bravest Nations in the World when they have been at the height of their Empire have took more pride and delight in Theatrical Shews and Magnificent Spectacles of Triumphs than in any other pomp for the satisfaction of the eye when it meets with a right object is above any other pleasure But all other things in the world are Counterfeits to right Jewels in respect of the Object of Divine Glory when the eye gets that to gaze upon the Soul dilates it self with such greediness to be filled with it that it would be infinite to receive it O how amiable are thy dwellings thou Lord of Hosts Psal lxxxiv David takes up his verse and goes no further to express it but leaves off with indefinite admiration And Theodoret refused to comment upon those words non tam explicandus sensus quam intimo sensu degustandus the sense and meaning of that Verse is not to be expounded but to be rellished and tasted by our affections We have stoln a name from virtue and called our Riches our Goods but beware to steal from Heaven as Prometheus did and to call the fruition of any thing upon earth good if the delights of the earth could speak they would say unto you why do you call us good nothing is good but to dwell in the Tabernacle of the Most High One day in thy Courts says the Psalmist is better than a thousand The days of this Life are called Thousands of days the Life of Glory is called One day These are called Thousands for the mutability that 's called One for the unchangeable eternity says St. Austin Howsoever it is true in this sense the shortest salutation of those supernal joys is more satisfactory Canis ad Nilum a touch and away than the longest saciety of these transitory exhilarations Two great Prophets rise from the dead to represent the glory of the life to come three living Disciples Peter especially are ravisht with it si mortuis non credideris saltem viventibus credas either believe the dead or the living which you will it is a good thing to see Christ in the Majesty of his glory Mark those words says Tertullian with special note quae fingendi non habent arbitrium extemporary acclamations wherein a man hath no leisure to invent dissimulation so out of the first pure passion of his mind which could not be forged St. Peter cried out when he saw the Glory of Christ bonum est it is good We cry out of the times now adays and the Age we live in but the more unthankful we for we do or may live more happily by far under the New Testament than the Jews did under the Old Every vision of Majestical glory did exceedingly terrifie the antient Israelites When the Lord came down upon Mount Sinah with triumph and with the sound of the Trumpet the people removed and stood afar of and durst not come near it now the Gospel hath expelled this fear so far that the Spectators did not shun the glory of Christ when they saw it but desired they might continue upon the place where it was for ever Deus se magis amandum exhibet quà m spectandum says one upon it God doth exhibit himself in the New Testament rather to be loved than to be dreaded and doth not now intend our terror but our comfort The glory of the Gospel
could be suspected like Cato that came into the Theater at one door and went out at another Ideo tantum intrarunt ut exirent Surely the Disciples thought if these would have staid they could have hung at their lips and heard the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven from their mouth No says the voice let them go here is one that is the chief Master in Israel far above Moses and Elias hear him Moses will stand dumb while he speaks and this is Moses his own Doctrine concerning Christ A Prophet will the Lord your God raise up unto you like unto me hear him Deut. xviii Moses confesseth of himself O Lord I am not eloquent I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue therefore hear not him Exod. iv 10. Elias is rigid and severe and will call down fire from heaven hear not him Peter knew not what he said in this very story David said it in his haste but it is very true upon deliberation all men are liars Lying is not all that is naught in the mouth of man filthiness and blasphemies issue from some uncircumcised lips no ways fit to be heard as Eliakim the servant of Hezekiah besought that odious tongued Rabshekah to speak in such a language as few or none might understand him The talk of him that sweareth much maketh the hair stand upright and their brawls make one stop his ears Ecclus. xxvii 14. In a word men may bewitch us with their fair words not to obey the truth but we are sure how all that Christ speaketh is just and righteous therefore let men vanish away the truth of the Lord abideth for ever hear him Again the Disciples might be confused not only for the departure of Moses and Elias but because the form and fashion of Christ did return to his wonted humility the fashion of his countenance did no more look like the Sun neither was his rayment white and glistering what amends can be made for this loss But that God declares our happiness consists not in seeing but in hearing His Person must ascend unto the Father and his glory dwell there but his Word abideth for ever if we keep his sayings we are Christs and Christ is one with us hear him Be it the abrogation of Moses Law be it the contempt of the world the denying of our selves the sufferance of the Cross the losing of our life all is one his roughest Precepts are to be obeyed hear him indefinitely without restriction or exception As the Blessed Virgin his Mother said unto the Servants at Cana in Galilee Whatsoever he saith unto you do it Joh. ii 5. Be the Commandment great or small it claims obedience whosoever breaketh one of the least Commandments and doth not repent him shall be counted the least in the Kingdom of heaven Some man I know hath framed this cavillation already in his own heart if Jesus Christ were now upon the earth as sometimes he was in the Land of Jury who would not travel over Sea and Land to hear him This Precept should be kept with all alacrity Indeed the words which dropt from his own lips were most winning and pathetical Therefore this voice might justly challenge the Jews to give him fair audience and hear him speak and they could not refuse him If Tertullian presumed in his Apologetick to the Emperor that the Christian cause in his days had never been cried down if it might have been heard speak in the trial of judgment much more must it hold in the person of Christ himself Nolentes audire quod auditum damnare non possunt The Judges would not hear our Plea says Tertullian for had they heard us with patience they knew they could not cast us so the gracious words which fell from our Saviour made those Officers relent at least if not repent that were sent to betray him Never man spake like this man Joh. vii 46. They brake out into that passion before the Pharisees They had heard but little from Christ says St. Chysostome yet enough to turn their hearts from that purpose which they were sent to execute Cum mens fuerit incorrupta non longis sermonibus opus est Few words will prevail where the mind brings no corrupt passions to hold off the truth This is to shew that the Oracles which the Son of God spake from his own mouth were most moving and gracious that tongue was able to charm the very Devils to obey him Why Beloved we do hear him speak continually in the Church as verily as if he were now among us and preach'd daily as sometimes he did in the Temple at Jerusalem So St. Paul commends the Thessalonians that his Doctrine took with them as if they had heard Christ himself Ye received it not as the word of man but as it is in truth the Word of God For whatsoever we believe if you ask after the formal cause of faith the answer is neither because the Apostles writ it or the Church delivered it or such to whom God hath commited the dispensation of the Word do preach it but because God reveals it the formal cause of all faith is divine revelation therefore hear Christ speaking among you to this day not by the instrument of his own tongue but by the revelation of his Spirit I say the formal cause of faith is divine revelation but the Church is the mouth that utters it And therefore because the Church is the Pipe which conveys those sacred mysteries which Christ reveals our Lords own sentence was If he will not hear the Church let him be unto thee as an Ethnick The meaning is while the Church directs you in a right line The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses Chair all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe observe and do You hear what awful submission is due to them who are sent from God to teach you Perhaps you will demur upon those words of our Saviour For in that same Chap. Mat. xxiii 16. Christ calls the Pharisees blind guides reproves their interpretation of Scripture for saying If a man swore by the Temple it was nothing if he swore by the Gold of the Temple he was a debtor Generally he gave his Apostles a caveat Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees not meaning their Bread but their false Traditions But take our Saviours exhortation in a right construction and thus it is all that the Scribes and Pharisees recite out of Moses and the Law observe and do They are the mouth of God by their place and calling When they speak the truth all is one whether you hear them or Christ or God speak from heaven it is the same Gospel and all have but one intendment He that receiveth you receiveth me and he that heareth me heareth him that sent me you know who spake it This voice did not purpose the present Age should hear Christ only but that the future Ages should hear his Priests when they speak like
emulation may go out for want of combustible matter and in this case not he that violates the peace by stickling much but he that obeys and holds his peace deserves the greater reward This power our Saviour exercised over his Apostles to tie their tongues for a time that they should not publish the glory of his Transfiguration till men were fit to receive it He charged them they should tell no man of the things which they had seen I would but so much humility might be marked from hence as would repress insolence and vain boasting Christ laid his command upon this matter rather than upon any other and imposed silence upon all the three Witnesses that they should not blab the Vision of his Excellency abroad How much unlike is this to them who had rather lose an ounce of their blood nay the sweet odour of virtue than an hour of fame and popularity And so much good as is done and not openly known and divulged is soon repented Where shall we find such a modest temper as that of St. Paul so much admired by Theophylact after fourteen years he tells the Corinthians of the Revelation which God granted him and of his Rapture into Paradise and in all that space he did never impart that celestial honour which was done him either to friend or stranger and then he was ashamed that he was put to it says he I am become a fool in glorying ye have compelled me but what fools are they then that will make such proud boasting without compulsion Jospeph being but a child he did as a child and having the inspiration of two several Dreams he could not hold but made all his Brethren acquainted with them to his own affliction He dreamt a dream and told it to his brethren and they hated him the more Therefore in his riper years though God had given him the spirit of Prophesy he would not divulge himself that he had the interpretation of Dreams He bad Pharaoh's Butler remember him when he was in place And according to the old Saw qui bene latuit bene vixit he conteined himself from manifesting the Gift of God which was in him till the Butler could not choose but call him to mind to put Pharaoh's heart in peace Elizabeth hid her self five months after the Lord had made her conceive a Child miraculously to the astonishment of all the World that great Prophet John the Baptist The Blessed Virgin was saluted by an Angel from Heaven conceived by the Holy Ghost visited by the Wisemen from the East she encountred every day many strange celestial Tokens and yet made no noise of these things to the World but kept all these sayings in her heart Luke ii 51. The mighty power of God will shine and shew it self at last be not ambitious to have it displayed for your own ostentation Christ refrained to have the Vision of the Transfiguration presently notified He charged them c. Generally the Fathers consider the Apostles but as Novices in sacred matters who were yet but in training up and as deficient in those abilities which were requisite to handle such a mysterie Sacred things saies the Greek Proverb must not be toucht ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã with unwashen hands This made the ancient Fathers of the Church as fearful to come into a Pulpit as our raw Scholars now adays are forward You need not charge these hasty Predicants as our Saviour did his Disciples not to speak of that for a certain time which they know I would they could be admonished not to be so bold to speak of that which they know not I am not certain for the greater part of such that they have seal but I will bear them record with St. Paul it is not according to knowledg But will you know the spring head from whence this abuse ariseth How can they preach unless they be sent And why was Authority so overseen to send them licentiâ sumus omnes deteriores it is the licence which enables for those things wherein they have no ability Yet again another Text of St. Paul rubs my memory multa licent quae non expediunt there are too many such licences granted which are not expedient If men would let knowledg ripen in them before they speak and not blurt out any thing with extemporary barbarism the Word of God preached would not come so much in contempt for a Parable is an undecent thing in the mouth of a fool Prov. xxvi 9. Our Saviour destined a large space of time to have the cogitation of his great Works mellow in the thoughts of Peter James and John before they testified them to the World which is another reason why they must not speak of that which they had seen till the Son of man was risen from the dead Another reason shall stand in the last place of this point it is fit that they and none but they should preach of Christs Glory who are affrighted with nothing The Apostles were very timerous and would desert a good Cause if they were strongly opposed you know the infirmity of Peter that could not answer the challenge of a silly Damosel but denied his Master This was in diebus illis when the Holy Ghost had not yet come down upon him in the shape of a fire afterward he durst speak the truth though he had been in the midst of fire nay he could not repress the Gospel his will was overcom and could not revolt if the literal sense of the Text be right as sure it is We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard Act. iv 20. Grace was as it were turned into nature in them now as in the Angels confirmed in grace says the ordinary Gloss Vino coelesti ebrit se continere non poterant says Lyra the Scoffers of Jerusalem said they were full of new wine it was indeed by a figure a celestial wine with which their spirit was inebriated and as a drunken mans tongue will not ly quiet so in this resemblance they were such that could not but speak the Gospel of Jesus Christ they were these times of courage which Christ had destin'd that in them his Transfiguration should be revealed openly Moses found not constancy in himself and therefore would have balked Gods Message says he Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh So the eleven Disciples were so fearful after out Saviours death that they shut the doors upon themselves where they were assembled for fear of the Jews and after the Resurrection we read that Christ did many times erect their courage which was dejected with these words Be not afraid and therefore he said unto them Tarry ye in the City of Jerusalem until ye be indued with power from on high Luke xxiv 49. When that power had possessed them with spirit and resolution they had leave to unfold this mysterie and not before he charged them saying Tell the Vision to no man till the Son
and Saviour was God from everlasting and by him the worlds were created his hands had made and fashioned every one of these malicious Jews when their substance was yet imperfect in their mothers womb shall he not disdain then as well as Sophocles to contest in judgment with his own Creatures Ask Job if it be fit for God to come in judgment like the Son of Man No let his patience speak for his humility His fasting forty days for his sobriety his miracles and healing the sick for his charity his cleansing of the Temple of buyers and sellers for his zeal to the House of God Let Judas speak before he goes to his own execution let the Wife of Pilate speak and her vision let the Ruler himself speake his conscience and if these be silent the stones shall speak but let Jesus hold his peace and taciturnity it self shall prove him a just person Indeed I have seen a great evil under the Sun I do honour our Courts of Justice for my part and the municipal Laws of the Realm but I cry out shame upon this fault that it is grown an art among pleaders to be a good Accuser He that can aggravate a crime well is in good hope to be a thriving Practiser Alas if Accusers were charitable Innocents should not need to pay so dear for learned Counsel to defend them That which might be dispatch'd by yea and nay is grown a volume and if it be wyre-drawn by Statute upon Statute it will fill five hundred sheets of Paper Brethren this ought not to be so for pity sake let it not be so costly a matter to be a just person The truth of the Lord says David Psal xii Is like Silver purified seven times in a furnace of fire But this custom is grown so chargable that the truth of an honest man must be purified seven times in Silver If we had less eloquence among pleaders and more plain dealing a just person might come before Magistrates either as our Saviour prepared his Apostles Care not what to say The Holy Ghost shall direct you in an answer or else the Judge might find the defendant to be innocent as Pilate did esteem our Saviour when he answered not to his Accusers but stood dumb before him But hear a second reason more forcible than the former from the unanimous consent of all the Fathers Christ held his peace when his just dealing was suspected before Pilate Ne passionem suam impediret Lest upon manifestation of his good life his Passion had been hindred And what would he not suffer suspicions infamies imputations rather than the work of our Redemption should become void Though he went leisurely on foot from one City to another to preach the Gospel yet he would needs ride to Jerusalem to suffer nay rather than his Cross should be left behind or come tardy after he would carry it part of the way upon his own shoulders unto Golgotha There passed but a little time from midnight to mid-day betwixt his Attachment his Arraignment and his Execution as if his feet had stood upon thorns until his head was crowned with them After the manner of men who expect verily to be gathered to their Fathers his Grave was provided before he was dead in Josephs Garden Why did he not take Judas to Mount Olivet Why did he not carry him with Peter and James and John and cast him into a dead slumber in the Garden nay mark the Commission which he had for his Enterprise fac citò do it quickly as if he had been sent like Ahimaaz to outrun the rest of the Servants and to be the first that should betray him I had like to have said Judas was not the only one that did betray him let me speak it with reverence did he not betray himself when he gave up his life saying Whom seek ye I am he Take all the lump together so forward of his journey so mindful of his Cross so hasty to dismiss Judas so well provided of a Grave who would not presume that he would suffer his back-biters to revile him and say nothing David made this Cause both a Psalm and a Prophesie a Psalm of remembrance and a Prophesie of wonder I held my tongue and spake nothing I kept silence yea even from good words but it was pain and grief unto me His heavenly tongue should it have pleased him to touch the string of defence and apologie would have made the Judges to license his life and to fall down and worship him the Servants would have said to their Masters as the High Priests did sometimes to their Servants when they were astonisht at his speech and words What are you also taken to say more than this had he but shed a few tears when they smote him on the head as Moses did in the Ark of Bulrushes some mild spirit as merciful as Pharaohs Daughter would have rescued his life from the power of the Enemy So I have given you two observations warrantable why so just a person should neglect to purge himself of his accusation First the Enditements were grosly slanderous and therefore he would not speak Secondly he would endure such contradiction of sinners as the Apostle speaks rather than purchase deliverance from the Cross to hinder our redemption The consideration hereof will bring forth two Sons more unto Jacob a double speculation arising from the former First that Jesus could have hindred these bloody passions But secondly out of endless compassion he had set us as a Seal upon his hand and as a Signet upon his right arm and love was strong to death Passus est quia voluit He would not hinder them Posse nolle nobile He could have hindered his death The Jews were so far from thinking that such a feeble man in outward appearance could deliver himself that they did not think when He was fast and nailed that God could deliver him He trusted in God let him deliver him if He will have him Insultando quod non fieret non credendo quod factum esset says St. Austin not supposing that God could rescue him but braving him with that which was impossible O fools and slow of heart this was not the unruly Sacrifice impotent to help it self bound with cords to the horns of the Altar but such a Prisoner as St. Paul was Act. xvi who might have sprung out of prison when the doors were opened by the Angel but yet contented himself in bonds without liberty or enlargement Give me leave to forespeak your attention and I will discourse unto you briefly in the conclusions of the Schoolmen how the humanity of our Saviour might have been exempted from death and passion First had it pleased him to discover his Glory as he did at the Transfiguration in Mount Tabor would He but charm the Jews from their furious outrage with one graceful word what Devil durst have laid hands upon him Tun ' homo audes occidere Caium
the Gospel could do no good for it was but one Talent upon the return but one single Petition will fructifie like a grain of Wheat into stalks and handfuls For as it is said of the nine Muses ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã call but upon one by name and all her Sisters beside will assist the invocation so call but for one blessing piously and though you ask but for a drop much abundance of waters of comfort will gush out when the spout is opened Fear not Zachary says Gabriel when he came to tell him of the birth of John for thy prayers are heard Luk. i. 13. Why surely says St. Austin he prayed for the whole Congregation at that time and not for Children Not for Children for his Wife was old and barren he despaired of Issue What of that He prayed for the publick good and God gave him joy in particular he prayed for the Congregation as it was fit for the Father of a Flock and God made him the Father of a Son Such notice was taken of this solemn Prayer which our Saviour made for Lazarus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã says St. Chrysostome a Church was built from the ground in that place where the Monument of Lazarus had been before For who would not flock to pray in that place where Jesus had prayed unto his Father It was na Oratory wherby the Prelates of the highest state might learn to officiate by Christs example and execute in their place Alas of too much contempt to pray in the Congregation The proud Emperors of Rome did so perswade themselves Vt sibi viderentur Principes esse desinere si quid facerent tanquam Senatores They thought it did derogate from the Magnificence of a Prince to employ their pains toward the publick good like Senators So to mutter Mass once a year is enough for the Roman Bishop to bless the people with so much breath as to pray for them by the Book O it is too mean a Function for a dignified person What And was it a disparagement to the Son of God to pray among the people when he raised Lazarus The Arrians indeed did object against Christs Divinity in this place for making a Petition in the behalf of Lazarus Where was the vertue of his own Godhead Where was his Omnipotency Say those graceless Hereticks is it not a token of infirmity to ask that of another which we are not able to do by our own efficacy And doth this offend them that Christ should pray that he might conjoyn with us in our infirmities But to give a larger resolution to the doubt Says Martha in the 21 22 verses before Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not died but I know even now whatsoever thou dost ask of God God will give it thee Christ then had no need to pray for Lazarus to support his own power but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to satisfie the desire and weakness of Martha he betook him to a prayer Says the Centurion Lord only say the word and my servant shall be healed Be it so says Christ and he went no further O says another Come and heal my daughter vouchsafe your presence to the sick person Why Christ came and healed her Could they ask any more Not only the diseases were remedied but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it was done in what fashion or circumstance they pleased Will Martha have her brother raised with a formal supplication before She hath her will and Jesus prayed unto the Father It was not done then for Lazarus his sake it needed not not for Martha's sake only but for the people that stood by nay that 's not all not for them alone but for us and for as many as shall hear the Gospel preached to the ends of the world For as the beating of the wings and the crowing of the Cock raised up Peter when he was buried in the sins of the High Priests Hall so the knocking of the breast and the voice which cries unto the Lord before the morning watch is that which must raise us up from the luxurious beds of sensuality Some Orders of Mendicant Friers wander about and present themselves to the eyes of men but say not a word for an Alms to make themselves known to the ear of the charitable This is rather sharking than begging for benevolence Let them bear the badge of St. Francis but we the badge of Christ ask and pray for a quickning spirit if you would be raised up to newness of life Hezekiah having emptied his heart of some words which were well disgusted out an as if he had opened a vein in each eye to let out tears by that means saw fifteen years more after a desperate sickness Ahaziah's Child perchance had gained twice fifteen years if the Father had done as much but it lived not fifteen hours after the King had sent for Physick to the God of Ekron Like Coriolanus whom the people thought worthy of any favour if his proud heart would have stoopt and asked for favour Not long before the destruction of Jerusalem the great Gate toward the East fast barr'd and lock'd opened of its own accord says Eusebius This is good luck said the more confident Priests Deus aperuit nobis portam bonorum God hath opened unto us a gate of good fortune of his own accord Nay said the more wise Hostibus introitum patefecit He hath opened a gap for the enemy to come in and that proved to be the truest Divination Dearly Beloved if a blessing fall into your lap when you were dissolute irreligious and never thought of God to give it the gates of your heart being barr'd and fastned do you dream like the foolish people of Jerusalem that a gate of good fortune is opened of its own accord No no beware the after-clap It may be pleasant it may be rich which comes without a Prayer to usher it into the world but like a base-born child it is seldom prosperous Me thinks I should be very much afraid if God had sent me any blessing for which either in special or in general I had not earnestly prayed Whatsoever good thing you possesse and never pray'd for it I pity your title you came to it by robbery And so much for the first dignity of this work it had the preparation of a Prayer Jesus first cast up his eyes and opened his lips to heaven before he stoopt to the Corps beneath and opened the Monument before he cried with a loud voice Lazarus come forth He cried with a loud voice and that is the dignity of the publication When our Saviour issued out of the Grave the third day it was done early in the morning the stone was rolled away and no noise was heard that which was done was done with wonderful silence Why doth Lazarus come out with a loud voice Nay why shall the Angel at the Great Day call the dead out of the earth with the blast
of the Fathers I do confess speak ambiguously as if his soul had retired ad inferos which is no other than Hell it self although they speak of no dolor or calamity going with it Some place of darkness there may be say they which expound them where pain is not heard of And to little purpose is that fancy of Poetry cited out of Prudentius Sunt spiritibus saepe nocentibus Paenarum celebres sub Styge feriae Exultatque sui carceris otio Vmbrarum populus liber ab ignibus where there is no desperation nor worm of conscience there is no Hell those are worse than fire and brimstone Desperation and an evil conscience were far from this man and therefore no unknown dark corner of Hell could be a retiring place for the soul of Lazarus Now as the servants of Elisha would needs go look for Elias whether he were faln upon the Mountains or the Valleys all this while Elias was ascended up into heaven So to seek out the Spirit of Lazarus either with Enoch or in Limbo or in Purgatory or in Hell it is but lost labour for the Spirit of one whom Jesus loved so dearly why was it not all this while as well as the soul of the repentant thief in the joys of Paradise Nay but say the Adversaries of this opinion once a comprehender of the joys of heaven is a comprehender for ever and never more turned out to be a weary Pilgrim in the state of misery When the soul is once ravished with that unspeakable joy of the Beatifical Vision it is impossible to draw it back from that object Angeli non sic foras exeunt ut visione Dei priventur The Angels when they came upon messages to the Sons of men were at the same instant possessed of the Vision of the divine glory in heaven at the same instant that they did officiate upon earth So that the Spirit of Lazarus if it were once in Paradise it would never yield to return to mortal flesh but to a glorified body which stands always before the face of God I answer The eternal Godhead of the holy Trinity which makes the beholders so happy it is not speculum naturale but voluntarium man doth not see into it what he would see in the vehemency of his own desire but what it pleaseth God to reveal and so far forth as he doth enflame the heart of man to desire it Why might not God lay his hand upon him as he did upon Moses and cover his face deferring the felicity of the highest degree until the more full times of refreshment were accomplished O but you will say had he been but in the Cliff of the Rock with Moses and suffered there to see nothing but the hinder parts of God yet who would not rather still abide in the Cliff of the Rock than be translated into the throne of a Monarch Grant him but a door-keepers place the worst share in heaven grant him but a good passage out of this vexatious world and what benefit can it be to return again Were he no higher than the Orbe of the Moon yet he were better there than in Canaan a Land flowing with milk and honey Quis non exhorreat mori eligat si rursus ei proponatur aut mors perpetienda aut rursus infantâa Who would not rather choose to die says St. Austin than live again but the age of infancy wherein we remember not any evil we received But when Lazarus was passed the danger of Tentations quit from storms put safe into the Haven was it not an injury to be brought back again to try the danger of the Seas When Monicha was drawing to her end What should I stay for here any longer my Son says she There was one thing that made me desirous to live to see you a Catholick Christian this I have seen now I desire to be dissolved So might Lazarus say I desired mine eyes might see my Redeemer and I have seen him to be beloved by my Lord and he hath called me friend to see him entertained in our poor Cottage and my Sisters have received him it is but loss to me to stay Yea shortly my Saviour is to be crucified shortly to ascend into heaven and should I return to earth to lose him Nay what good to be done in such a place where there will be nothing but the envy of the Pharisees and the blasphemy of the High Priests against my Saviour Dearly Beloved I can quickly dispatch an answer to this and shew that the soul of Lazarus was happy to recoile again from heaven into the body There are degrees in the habitations of heaven one above another and one Star differs from another in glory put case that the righteous Abel was the first Saint dying in Gods favour But John Baptist was the greatest that was born of a woman and the Blessed Virgin the Mother of our Lord was a most glorified Vessel which all generations shall call blessed These living and dying four thousand years after Abel came later into the Kingdom of heaven yet as late as they came both being crowned with a more excellent Crown than Abel was which of them obtained the more desirable felicity Without question the Blessed Virgins Lot was the better for what are four thousand years reckoned in the time before to such an increase of joy for ever and ever Here is Lazarus his case Few days had he seen three years were the most that he had resorted to our Saviour perchance he had suffered not so much as ignominy for the name of Christ to bloud I am sure he had not ventred or resisted yet his eyes being closed according to the measure of his faith he is received into Abrahams bosom Let him there abide you will say if Christ love him truly let him return no more to mortality Nay not so Lazarus come forth see the days of thy Saviours Passion and be not offended confess his name and be scourged take your possessions once more into your hands and spend them upon the poor preach the Gospel as if the Angels had sent you back to bring more souls to bear them company die not in your bed the second time but upon the Cross as your Redeemer did then return the way which you know so well to the fellowship of Saints and bless the mouth which said Lazarus come forth for the second life I may well assure my self hath gained joy of a thousand fold increase in the life everlasting The first voyage was short and safe but not of the greatest profit the last was long and dangerous but as if you went for Gold to India Thus I have shewed that Lazarus was verily dead the soul quite flitted from the body that no other place but heaven did receive it that it was no miserable fortune to assume flesh again upon earth but an occasion to promote him to a far abundant exceeding weight of glory Now a
have taken away the Body of my Lord. It savours therefore of justice that she is the first that after his resurrection profest her self his Servant and said Rabboni which is Master Now in the manner of this appearance three things are eminent among many that may be observ'd First Christ was known by the tone of his voice when this holy Saint mistook his person Therefore you see by this where you shall always have Christ seek him in his Word and there you shall find him He sends us unto them Joh. v. 39. Search the Scriptures for in them ye look to have eternal life and they do testifie of me In the works of nature we may understand that God is good by the crisis of reason we may beat it out that he is a rewarder of them that serve him by the tenour of the Law we may read what Ceremonies will please him but if you would meet with Christ look him out in the words of that sweet and blessed Covenant of our salvation the Gospel O how sweet is that word of God which is the only instrument and none but it to make us see Christ our Redeemer As we have heard so have we seen says David love to hear his word and then you shall see him see him here in his Sacraments of grace and hereafter face to face in his Kingdom of glory Secondly it lies in his own breast I may say and in the power of his own saving grace when his Word shall be effectual to bring us to the knowledg of him Mark it that Christ spake more largely and more distinctly one would think to this pious Matron when she mistook him than when she came to take notice of him He began thus with her Woman why weepest thou whom seekest thou Was not this Sermon enough to bring her into the right way yet the darkness of her mind continued and she had no stronger faith but that his sacred Body was transported out of the Sepulcher by some malicious injury and not revived by his omnipotent Divinity Yet after this he speaks unto her again speaks but a very little no more but Mary and her heart was opened Like that celebrated piece of Rhetorick which C. Caesar used to his Souldiers with no long oration but with one word Quirites he drew them to accord and appeased their mutiny So that there is hope as we pray and put our trust in God that although some have taken arms in this Island and will not lay them down notwithstanding much hath been said by way of treaty much hath been written by way of motive and perswasion yet God knows his own time and will bring it to pass we trust when some few lucky words to which the Lord will give his blessing shall distil down as a joyful rain to bring forth the sweet fruits of peace and obedience It is not line upon line word upon word but the assistance of the Divine Spirit with the Word that works knowledg and salvation With a short invitement follow me and I will make you Fishers of men Peter and Andrew left their Nets and followed their Master With a little call or beckning rather Matthew forsook the Custom-house and became an Apostle A little was said to Zacheus and it produced wonders in him Less was said to the Saint of my Text than to any of them all no more but Mary and she saw and believed Thirdly here the doctrin of St. John is verified chap. x. 14. I am the good Shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine Do you not spy an excellent order in the words the Sheep do not know him first but in the first place he knows the Sheep and then it follows that they know their Shepherd and his voice So he knew Mary Magdalen and called her aloud and then she was brought to confess the Lord. St. Paul corrected his own language to keep close to this method Gal. iv 9. Now after that ye have known God or rather are known of God our salvation begins at that end God hath chosen unto himself a people zealous of good works as who should say first he knows who are his but it is very preposterous to invert this as if first of all we did our endeavour to be known that is to be elected of God and to this is a witty allusion made Cant. ii 9. My beloved looketh forth at the window shewing himself through the lattess As if Christ did look through a Grate and saw us when we saw not him It is enough to have said thus much of the Apparition The remainder of my Doctrin must be raised out of the person of Mary Magdalen c. If this be the same Mary that was Sister to Lazarus of Bethany many learned Pens contend for it and let them for me but if it be the same woman Christ hath made good his promise to her and gone beyond it his promise was that wheresoever the Gospel was preached it should be told for a memorial of her how she had poured an Alabaster Box of Ointment upon his head to bury him but far more than so wheresoever the Resurrection is preached of she is enwrapt into the story and extol'd by a kind of singularity above all other persons he appear'd first to Mary Magdalen a thing which I dare say she did not request neither was that ambition in her to aspire to such a prayer that she might see the Lord before any of the faithful but it was a favour that was cast upon her Some immoderate zelots to the honor of the Blessed Virgin do little less than offer violence to the Evangelists for omitting that Christ declared himself immediately after he was risen to his Mother before Mary Magdalen saw him To prove it is impossible therefore to believe it is incredible None of the Ancients but Sedulius a Poet do adventure to affirm that Christ made any apparition to his Mother to shew he was no accepter of persons in way of carnal affinity He did appear to the Eleven and to those that were gathered together with them Luke xxiv 33. I suppose she was there at that time because she was St. Johns charge to take her with him He did appear to more than 500 Brethren at once it may conveniently be concluded she was one of that Assembly always preserving this priviledg to Mary Magdalen that he appeared first to her she was the first that saw Christ risen from the dead and the first that preached he was risen from the dead for she told it to the Apostles Yet that ye may know what soundness there is in Traditions Nicephorus pleads Tradition that after he rose to life first he made himself known to his Mother So Rupertus who allows to Mary Magdalen that she saw him first inter testes praeordinatos a Deo as a witness that should first preach him But the Blessed Virgin saw him before as one that did first rejoyce in him Bernard
they prophesied and did not cease Num. xi 25. Elegantly St. Austin to favour this opinion Christ warned his Apostles not to stir from Jirusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father and that not many days thence that is 10 days after his Ascension they should receive the Holy Ghost But says the Father Christ gave this spirit not only to them but to ten times as many as the Twelve to sixscore in all Ea est fidelitas imo liberalitas Christi docens nos pauca promittere sed decuplo plura praestare this is the just dealing nay the liberality of Christ which bids us promise no more than we will perform but rather perform ten times more than you promise But whether the cloven tongues which lookt as if they had been of fire did descend upon the whole Congregation men and women may a little be doubted for they were Types and Figures that the Lord would send forth of his Servants to be bold and fervent Preachers in all Nations and women were interdicted from the public ministry of Preaching though in the beginning they were imployed in some private labours of the Word And if the women had the gift of tongues they did not utter them in this Chapter for when all were amazed to hear such diversity of languages from illiterate ones and such as never travelled some mocked and said these men are full of new wine ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the masculine gender And 't is not to be despised for an observation that ver 4. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã all are said to be full of the Holy Ghost and ver 3. the firy tongues are said to sit not upon all but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã upon each of them meaning I conjecture upon each of the Apostles but I will not strive for it In the old Missals I am sure I have not perused the latter it reads the Epistle thus omnes discipuli all the Disciples were with one accord in one place and Beza says in two antient Greek Copies he had found ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã all the Apostles and none other mentioned Certainly they were primarily intended to reap the benefit of the day For it is well noted by the first Writers that there were four things proper and peculiar to the Apostles given them for the gathering together of the Saints which were not communicable to any other Servant of Christ The first was immediate vocation from Heaven St. Paul demonstrated he was not inferior to the best of the Apostles because of that property The second was infallibility of judgment in the necessary points of faith 3. A Generality of Commission to have the care of the whole world committed to every one of them to exercise their power in all places towards all persons 4. To speak in all the tongues and languages of the world to confirm their Doctrin by signs and miracles and by the imposition of their hands to give the like miraculous gifts of the spirit to others For although the having of miraculous gifts and the power to work miracles was not simply proper to the Apostles yet to have them in a sort as by the imposition of their hands to give the spirit unto others and to enable such as they thought fit to do signs and wonders through the finger of God this was a benediction upon the heads of the Apostles from the great day of Pentecost and only upon them Simon Magus that Mammonist you may remember would have bought it of them but had a curse instead of a blessing Nay when Philip the Deacon had baptized some at Samaria the Apostles went to confirm those whom he had baptized by imposition of hands that they might receive some extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost And as these graces were reserved only for the Apostolical honor in their time so were they never since passed over to any by succession Instead of immediate calling God be praised we can shew our Vocation derived by succession from the Apostles Instead of infallibility of judgment we have the direction of the Scriptures to guide us in finding out the truth instead of general Commission over the whole World we have particular assignment of several Churches and parts of Christs Flock to feed instead of their miraculous gifts and power to confer them to others we have that faith which was confirmed by the Apostles miracles And so I have declared that many even all the Believers that met together shared in the blessings of this day but the Apostles had an excellency and preeminency above them all for the government of the Church not disputing what particular irradiations and sanctifications the Blessed Virgin had which we may suppose to be incomparable beyond all others such as were fit for her to receive but they are not here revealed But of the persons hitherto I can spare no more time for that for it is worth much observation how they were prepared to receive the Holy Ghost which I handle in this order howsoever the words ly first that they were ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã then ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã first unà then unanimes they were all in one place To be altogether in one City in Jerusalem and not to stir from thence till they had received the Comforter even the Spirit of Truth to that purpose Christ laid his command upon them but they were met together not only in one City but in one house not only in one Vineyard but like Grapes they hung together in one cluster Behold how good and how pleasant a thing it is for Brethren to dwell together in unity In publick they consorted together Luke v. ult they were continually in the Temple praising and blessing God together in private they held fast the same friendship and amity by this says our Saviour shall they know you to be my Disciples if you love one another Whether it were the time of praying or hearing the Word or breaking of bread mark it in several places of this Chapter they did it with chearfulness and mutual friendship they were never asunder Unity in matter of circumstance in matter of place carries blessing and edification with it that we are Brethren it is the Lords doing to make men to be of one mind to dwell in one house Psal lxviii 6. We read it in our last Translation he setteth the solitary in Families that is he reduceth the dispersed into unity and outward conformity I told you and pressed it earnestly about this time the last year what an acceptable thing it was to God that when Noah and his Sons and Daughters were all the living of men and women that were left in the World that these should all praise the Lord together in outward unity with one voice and with one Sacrifice this was called a sweet smelling savour so much it delighted God this day to see the Church met together those 120 names that after Ages might know how well compacted the Primitive
having such near relation I have found out most principal Texts for them both this year out of the same Chapter for Easter day Ver. 24. whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death For Whitsunday in that notable portion of the story which I have read unto you And I told you upon the last great solemnity that Whitsunday was principally ordained for this end to make Easter day famous over all the world But the principal fruits of this day are three if we may comprehend an Ocean of graces in so small a number In the zeal of our Prayers we passed them over in the Morning Collect and that Collect extracted them from the Epistle and Gospel appointed Thus you may perceive that the Service of the Church of England is the treasure of my observations The Collect runs upon these three Points Teaching Illumination Consolation God which upon this day hath taught the hearts of thy faithful people for heavenly Doctrine began to be made common to all the world from this day Yet many hear the Word but most unprofitably therefore it follows that God hath sent us the light of his holy Spirit to have a right judgment in all things And many have the benefit of true Doctrine and the help of Illumination but with much sorrow and persecution therefore the Holy Ghost came down also that we might rejoyce in his holy comfort Thus far the contents of that short Prayer have helpt me The Gospel for the day runs altogether upon the last branch upon Consolation I will pray the Father and he will give you another Comforter The Epistle falls upon the two former upon Doctrine and Illumination and that in two sensible miracles For Doctrine that a sound came from heaven as of a mighty wind to foreshew that the sound of the Word should go forth into all Lands for Illumination that cloven tongues appeared and sate upon them as it were of fire The noise was as a Trumpet to wake the World the firy Tongues as so many lights to let them see their visitation Thus the Holy Ghost is presented to both the senses to the Ear as to the sense of faith to the Eye as to the sense of love The Ear is the ground of the Word and Doctrine and that gives the first admittance to Faith and therefore the Holy Ghost began his operation there according to my Text and that in these particulars to be considered 1. That God caused a sound to be heard upon the descending of the Holy Spirit 2. The manner of the sound is resembled to a Wind. 3. To a sudden wind 4. To a rushing mighty wind 5. It was from heaven 6. It filled all the house where they were sitting All these particulars are worthy of my labour and your attention That there came a sound from heaven at the mission of the Holy Ghost is the first thing remarkable A sound first to call in them that were without Secondly To demonstrate the Office of them that were within As the chiming of Bells calls us together to Church so an audible sound from heaven was a warning to the Jews to flock to that place where the Apostles were gathered together The Master of the Feast in the Gospel sent forth his Servants and invited the Guests and bad them be told what preparation he had made for their coming so the men of Jerusalem had as sensible an invitation to draw them to the great Feast of the Gospel as if a Canon had been discharged in their Ear. Or if they were yet unprepared to taste of such Manna as fell from heaven into their lap yet the Lords doings were so palpable before them that their consciences must be extremely stupified with malice if they made an ill interpretation of others that were then filled from above with the great power of God And indeed Oecumenius says that the sound did pierce the ears of all that were in the City that such as were curious to know the reason might come and see ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that the open manifestation of the miracle might preserve it from calumny But you will say it did not gain the good opinion of the Jews for all the gift of Tongues had such a forerunner not vox clamantis but sonus intonantis not the voice of a Crier but a peal of thunder to bring it into the world yet the people did disgrace it with a vile imputation of drunkenness True it proved as ill as could be expected but says St. Chrysostome if they said the Apostles were full of new Wine when these signs concurred what would they have said without them The most graceful and melodious sounds in the world are lost to deaf men and though a clamour and a cry from heaven were come down as it is in my Text yet it moved not those that like the deaf Adder had stopped their ears The Serpent in that place is called in the Greek ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by Antiphrasis or the contrary because it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã an unperswaded Creature all Art and Charming is spent in vain it will not listen it will not mitigate its venomous wrath and so the Translator Apollinarius says upon it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that when the Adder is mischievously angry for the time of his violent anger and while that lasts he is stark deaf though he can hear by nature So such as are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Tit. i. 16. Disobedient and reprobate to every good work though they have the sense of hearing by nature yet when they are violently set upon infidelity and stubbornness they give no more attention to the sound that comes from heaven than do the stones of the Temple When Stephen preached so divinely to the Jews that the heavens opened in the time of his Sermon Acts vii 56. as if way had been made for the Angels and Saints to be his Auditors even then when the gates of heaven stood wide open at the grace of his words they that should have given him best attention stopped their ears and ran upon him But the sin of them that will not hear let it lie upon their own head they cannot say but there hath been a Trumpet among them to awake them from the sleep of sin The sound which God hath sent forth is shrill and loud to call in those that are without And he that hath ears c. But secondly the Spirit came in a very audible sound to declare what a door of utterance should be opened from thenceforth to the Messengers of Christ That their sound should go out into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the World Rom. x. 18. The Gospel preached to every creature under heaven Col. i. 23. How many were in that lamentable condition like the Disciples at Ephesus that had not so much as heard whether there were an Holy Ghost Angels themselves began to be Preachers when a door of entrance was
dead works were not quickned by grace better it might be for us that we had never been born therefore the life of Sanctification was begun in the Church as it were with a gentle gust of wind when Christ breathed on his own and said Receive ye the Holy Ghost So you see this outward sign of insufflation was constantly used at our Creation at our Resurrection at our Sanctification to shew how it is the same God that worketh all in all Yet St. Ambrose comes in with a third Meditation upon it Says he God did give man a living soul at first by breathing or inspiration to let him see he did not only give him a temporal or carnal vivification but grace and sanctity to live for ever But when man had lost this primitive grace and original righteousness it was fit to let us know that such losses could be repaired by none but Christ therefore Christ breathed again upon man to demonstrate that he was the restorer of those immortal blessings which exceed our merits and pass all understanding But when Christ was ascended up on high the Spirit could not be infused immediately from the breath of his mouth but in Analogy to it it came into the place where the Apostles were gathered together like the murmuring wind or the breath of heaven As Solomon fore-told it in his Poetical Ode Cant. iv 16. Awake O North wind and come thou South blow upon my Garden that the Spices thereof may flow out And here again I shall pass through some humane Comparisons to the illustration of most divine Mysteries First of all Elementary Creatures the Wind is the most active thing in the world nothing so quick and active as it Vsque adeo agit ut nisi agat non sit when it is not active it is not at all no stirring of the air no wind So it is with the Spirit of faith and love the very being of it consists in being operative What shall I do to inherit eternal life ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã says St. Chrysostome it impels the heart to be never out of motion in some spiritual exercise Either the Tongue is praying or the Ear is hearing or the Heart is meditating or the Hand is giving or the Soul is thirsting for remission of sins When the Spirit beats not in the Pulses there is no spirit in the body it is a dead Carkass and in whomsoever there is a cessation from all good works you may say it justly that there the Holy Ghost is extinguished there is no difference between a standing Puddle and a dead Sea And cozen not your selves with a vain confidence that albeit you be altogether barren and unprofitable no fruit of Sanctification budding from you yet Semen Dei manet the sap may be in the root the vertue in the Seed-corn though it do not put out These may-bees are pitiful Anchors of hope and miserable comforters Will you say the wind is up when there is a still Serena no puff of air moving Then think as little that God dwells in that brest where there are no tokens of Sanctification Secondly I have it from St. Austin Flatus ille à carnali palea corda mundabit The Wind is the advantage of the Husbandman to winnow Chaff from Wheat and where the Spirit blows upon the conscience it will purge it from all dead works The cares of this world the thought of getting Riches anxieties for honours and advancements these overspread the life of a natural man left to the ways of carnal reason but as soon as ever we begin to sift and discuss these cogitations by the doctrine of the Spirit they vanish and disperse Tradam protervis in mare Creticum portare ventis they are light and empty of true goodness and so are blown away to the Father of errors and delusions to the Devil himself from whence they came Thirdly Says St. Chrysostome Suppose a Ship be well appointed with Pilot Mariners Sails Cables Anchors and all convenient appurtenances to what use will all this serve if the winds stir not So let there be profound Judgment quick Invention neat Eloquence and all the graces of Art in a man these will not bring a man one whit onward in his Voyage to the haven of happiness to the kingdom of glory unless the sweet gales of the Spirit carry him forward those are the wings of the Dove upon which the Soul shall fly away and be at rest Another Author taken for St. Chrysostome writing upon St. Matthew composeth it thus As the ground doth not fructifie by rain alone but there is a prolificous vertue in the winds which blows upon the fields and makes the Spring to sprout So it is not our Doctrine alone which converts your Souls though it distill like the soft drops of rain upon the earth but benediction of inward grace that goes with the word breaths salvation upon our heart The Letter may kill but the Spirit quickneth and in our Evangelical Priesthood we are Ministers not of the Letter alone but of the Spirit also Qui instat praecepto praecurrit auxilio the words of Leo which I take to be solid truth in this Point when God presseth us with the outward instruction of his Word He impresseth the secret operation of his Spirit to make it fructifie And now to come to another portion of the Text it agrees very accurately with the nature of that supernal gift which God infuseth into his Saints that the Spirit came with a sudden flaw of wind And I am very willing to make that collection of it which divers have done before me Datur haec gratia ex improviso sine meritis Grace is a blessing that comes unlook'd for unawares nay it is impossible for an unconverted man to say now I am prepared for it now I expect it now my heart is ready to receive it for there is no good preparation for grace in the soul of man till some portion of it have entred before Natural dispositions cannot attain to bring in supernatural grace Therefore the first influx and admission of it must needs be sudden and unawares As you can make no rules for the Wind why it should blow South to day and North to morrow why from this Point of heaven at such a season rather than from another So there is no aim to be taken how this or that man was first partaker of the heavenly light which is thus couched in our Saviours words The kingdom of God cometh not with observation neither shall they say loe here or loe there for the Kingdom of God is within you Luk. xvii 20. For what observation can we make or through what tokens can we collect that God will begin to draw a sinner unto him Will you say he lives justly and chastely If they were Christian justice and chastity the seed of the Spirit was in his heart before If they be but moral conformities he is still the
Child of wrath and those laudable actions were but sins or imperfections with a good gloss Will you say they desire and pray for the holy Spirit and therefore this illumination comes not suddenly but with invitation O but says the Arausican Council which handled this Point of the grace of God more copiously and Orthodoxly than ever any Council did the utterance nay the very thought of every good Prayer it is instilled by the divine irradiation of Gods help and the Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of Prayer and if any man say that the grace of God is bestowed upon our Prayer and Invocation and that grace did not first enable us to make that Prayer he contradicts the Prophet Isaiah and the Apostle Paul who both have these same words I am sought of them that asked not for me I am found of them that sought me not Thus that Council whereby you hear that we whose nature is rank corruption do not prepare and dispose the way to attract the blessing of heaven upon us by little and little upon congruity of Gods favour it comes suddenly and unawares when we least deserve it It must not be let alone without this addition to it which is S. Ambrose his descant on it Nescit tarda molimina spiritus sancti gratia the spirit of purity and renovation is quick and sudden in the work of conversion he doth not linger and mature his good effects by soft leisure he doth not creep like a snail or as a Father of our own Church says like a Serpent Serpentis est repere Commonly motions that come from the old Serpent the Devil creep upon us and men grow bold in iniquity by degrees Nemo repentè fit pessimus was the old Proverb but where the Lord loveth the man whom he chooseth he doth in an instant take away his stony heart and give him an heart of flesh And as the Resurrection of the dead shall be in an instant so in an instant he translates him from death to life It is done with such dispatch and celerity that the gift of Prophesie nay of Sanctification is called but the touch of the lips Says the Angel to Isaiah upon the living coal which he brought from the Altar This hath touched thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged Isa vi 7. The loyal Israelites that feared God and the King are called a band of men whose hearts God had touched 1 Sam. x. 26. O admirable workman says Gregory Mox ut tetigeret mentem docet solùmque tetigisse est docuisse He doth but touch and teach and the mind is reformed in a moment as soon as ever the finger of his Spirit is laid upon it An Apostolical Spirit came suddenly upon St. Matthew penitent restitution upon Zaccheus confession and grace upon the Thief on the Cross The Eunuch made haste to believe and as soon as he believed he would be baptized of Philip at the next water he came to and go no further Men must not neglect present motions of grace though suddenly rising in them Now the Lord moves my heart and now at the first touch I will obey the Spirit This is a brave and a pious resolution But if you let the grace of God knock at door once and twice and do not open it is to be feared that you will grow deaf after a while and never hear it Modo modò non habebant modum Anon and to morrow and hereafter at more leisure and as Festus said to Paul Go thy way for this time when I have a convenient season I will call for thee these are not words of good manners to so great a King as the King of heaven Can Impenitancy or continuance in evil be good at any time Then break it off at the first pang and throw that the Conscience suffers for it The Spirit is a sudden wind he deceives his own soul that continues in a long consumption of any sin and thinks to be helpt out of it by a lingring remedy The description of the suddenness hath not been unuseful you see and we shall collect as much from that which follows that it was Flatus veniens vehemens a rushing mighty wind Methinks I see the Spirit of God set out here in his manifold strength and efficacy Is there any thing in it self so thin and poor as a puff of Air It is neither Iron nor Brass nor Bones and yet what strange effects it works Turns up Oaks and Cedars by the roots breaks the Ships of the Sea in pieces casts down Bulwarks and Fortresses so Epiphanius received it from some good hand that God overthrew the Tower of Babel with a violent wind So the principles of the Spirit seem to be very mean and foolishness to flesh and bloud the Instruments in which it wrought homely illiterate Fishermen yet the learning of five Synagogues putting their wits together was not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which Stephen spake Acts vi 10. It brings down strong Holds and high Imaginations it brings into Captivity every exalting thought to the obedience of Christ Wisdom Learning Might Majesty all have stoopt before it As the Scripture says often that the Spirit came mightily upon Samson and then his Foes were sure to fall before him so it rusheth upon some holy men with a gallant heroick zeal and then all the subtilties of Satan are not able to make a part against it No Fear can dismay them no Persecution can make them hide their head no Favour or Reward make them swerve from a good conscience no Discipline so strict that they will not undertake for the love of Christ The Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force Mat. xi 12. The Kingdom of heaven was among the Jews but Rapuit regnum coelorum Centurio The Centurion did as it were invade it and take it from them for upon his confession our Saviour said I have not found so great faith no not in Israel Neither is it only expedient to make it manifest that the Spirit is strong and mighty like a stiff vehement wind in actu exercito in the power of it which the Saints of God have to exercise to others but also in actu primo informante when it enters into the heart of them whom God converts it comes with a mighty force and will not be gainsaid with the opposition of our rebellious nature Neque resistere ultra potest cui velle resistere sublatum est says a Reverend Father of our own Church that is neither shall our vicious nature resist the mighty working of Gods converting grace since the first thing that such grace works is to conquer our perverseness in resisting I do not say but our will hath always a liberty and indifferency in it to do or not do To chuse or refuse but the act to resist is suspended for that time by the grace of God and though
says St. Hierom that is if the Wolf come near the Sheepfold he must not only be threatned with the Staff but the Dogs must bark at him likewise and then he will leave his Prey and take him to his heels St. Austin presseth the same Doctrin out of St. Paul Ephes iv 11. He gave some Apostles and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers Says he I collect from hence that every Pastor that is every Bishop must be a Teacher for it is not said he gave some Pastors and some Teachers as it went before some Apostles and some Prophets but Pastors and Teachers are put together without a distinctive member ut intelligerent Pastores ad officium suum pertinere doctrinam that Pastors may know how teaching is included in their duty and cannot be separated from it This then was the principal intent of giving the tongue at the Feast of Whitsuntide as it is Isa l. 4 The Lord hath given me the tongue of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season First then negligent silence in Pastors is a stifling the grace of God Quantùm vitae merito aedificat tantùm destruit silentio Secondly affected silence is affronting the grace of God as those Orders of Friars that bind themselves by vow and institution of life not to utter a word excepting one day or it may be one hour in the week sometimes not so often Agatho the Anchorite is commended in the lives of the Fathers that he never spake what is this but as it were to advow not to receive the benediction of the Holy Ghost Finally to be preproperous and over-hasty to teach the Gospel is to prevent the Spirit or rather not to wait for the grace of God For Christ had first rooted the knowledge of the Word and Scripture in the Apostles and then endued them with a tongue but they that start up Teachers before they be grounded in the Word speak with their own tongue before they have received the tongue of the Holy Ghost But the tongue supplies another office in nature and that 's to taste The ear trieth words as the mouth tasteth meats Job xxxiv 3. so the Spirit makes us feel and know the good things of God that are in us even as the tongue makes us relish that which is sweet upon the palat and will be delectable for nourishment Nay we do not only taste the things of heaven slightly and as we say upon the tip of the tongue but the same Spirit makes us to ruminate upon them and chew the cudd my heart is always musing of thy testimonies says David O 't is a comfortable thing to have a tast of Heaven in our Soul to have some persuasive Experiment that the Holy Ghost dwelleth in us especially to have it proceed to that most pleasing Sapor when the Spirit shall testifie to our Spirit that we are the Sons of God but in all that are meetly disposed to Eternal Life there is some perceivance in others more in others less there 's some Tast some Consolation that Christ is in them and works in them by Faith and Love and the more you tast it the more sweetness you shall find to breed an Appetite The Natural Man perceives not the things that are of God he counts the Doctrin of Christ and him crucified to be Madness and Foolishness he thinks they that kill his Apostles do God good service he puts bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Isa 5.20 there 's all the Tast that he hath he wants a Tongue to dijudicate of the Manna that comes from Heaven which no man knows but he that receiveth it Rev. ii 17. He to whom it is given to know what is the height bredth and depth of the Love of our Lord Jesus and his Redemption he accepts of all things in a diverse manner from him to whom the mind of the Lord is not revealed he interprets the Poverty of Christ to be the Riches of the World his Ignominy to be the Triumph of the Saints Tribulation for the truth is a Refreshing to his body Mortification and pious Sorrow a dainty Lenitive to his soul he receives the Doctrin of our Ministry not as the Word of Man but as it is indeed the Word of God he cannot but speak the Truth though his life ly at the stake for it negare Dei verbum non valeo quia spiritus sancti linguam habeo it is Gregories I cannot deny the word of God because the Holy Ghost hath given me a tongue to speak it To conclude this point no man can have a smack of the Kingdom of Heaven but through the rellish of this tongue no man can say that Jesus is the Christ but by the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. xii 3. as we are born children of wrath in our unregenerate estate we have bitterness in our throat and the poison of Asps under our lips how can we savour the things that are of God but the Spirit makes us a new creature and takes away all this sourness and ill relished acrimony and then his fruit will be sweet unto our mouth Cantic ii 3. Having delivered unto you the substance of this Vision which is a tongue it follows to speak of the Figure and Form of it It was cloven that 's truly called the Figure and like as of fire that 's truly called the Form A Tongue was a Commission and an enabling of the Apostles to preach but a Cloven Tongue was their hability to preach unto many The Syrian language was all that they could speak before and in that they faultered too and mouthed it rudely and unelegantly a silly Damosel quipt even St. Peter with it Thou art a Galilaean and thy speech betrayeth yet such a tongue as it was they were unlettered men and could speak no more all the world beside were Barbarians to them and they Barbarians to all the world But the Lord knew that they had need of many tongues to pay that great debt which they owed his Church ite praedicate universae creaturae go and teach all Nations from Jerusalem and Samaria even unto the ends of the world I would a little satisfie my Auditors before I go any further that would know how the tongues did resemble a cloven figure that sat upon the Apostles If you look upon such types of it as Picture-drawers have framed remember that there is no heed to be given to their Pencil for they will extremely abuse your ignorance they usually represent the Apparition as if every Apostle and the Blessed Virgin sitting in the midst of them had a little lamp of fire like the flame of a small Torchet blazing upon their head and so would thrust this belief upon the rash gazer that God sent down a shew of many firy tongues into the place where this holy Society was gathered together and that there was singularis flammula a little flame proportioned somewhat like a Tongue sitting
for God will be mild as a Dove toward us if we will be hot as fire against our selves That he may spare us with his mercy let us be angry at our selves with godly revenge And so they that made no bones of lies and fictions have renowned St. Dunstan in his Legend that a Dove descended from heaven upon him Et remigia alarum scintillantis ignis splendorem prae se ferebant says Capgrave And the wings of it when they were stretcht out did sparkle like fire Their meaning is in this Fable as I call it to set him forth as most full of the Holy Ghost upon whom both the Dove and fire descended Fourthly says St. Austin where God causeth the Tongue to speak the truth fire that is sorrow and trouble will follow Ignis portendit tribulationem quam propter linguas erunt perpessuri The fire imports that tribulation which the Apostles must undergo by preaching the Gospel The Devil did rage against those that were the Pillars of the Church and of true Doctrine and blew the coals of many a fire to consume them Fifthly and to shut up that Point the Tongue being left to it self is full of much corruption as I have amplified already and it had need of a purging fire to cleanse it and refine it In all the old Sacrifices of the Grecians Homer says ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they threw the tongue of the beast into the fire whereupon says Coelius Rhodoginus Comburendo linguas perperam dictorum labes expurgabant They made expiation thereby in the flames of fire for all words that had been spoken offensively St. James says the Tongue is a fire Chap. iii. 6. meaning a fire of discord and mischief and that fire had need to be corrected by another fire from heaven or else the torments of hell-fire would be the end of it And now we will rest at last in that Point which is the resting and setling of these Tongues There appeared unto them c. and it sate upon each of them It sate Why we spoke of Tongues in the Plural number before What Enallage is this Cajetan and the most Divines interpret it that the fire sate upon each of them Calvin by a Metonimy of signi pro re signatâ that the Spirit sate upon each of them The Syrian Paraphrast refers it directly to the Tongues and puts it in the Plural number sederunt they sate upon each of them Indeed to refer it to many Tongues and yet to make the Verb of the Singular number is the best exposition of all it sate to shew that it is one Holy Ghost in the administration of divers gifts ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as I said before one root and many stalks There are diversity of operations but it is the same Lord that worketh all in all 1 Cor. xii 6. But upon whom did they descend and sit For now I make haste Upon every one of the hundred and twenty that were gathered together Or upon the Apostles only Somewhat is in it that when all are named to whom this fire appeared all to be filled with the Holy Ghost yet the Tongues are said to sit upon each of them In two ancient Copies some of our Criticks say that the Text runs they sate upon each of the Apostles and I think that a very probable gloss The Reasons are First the Spirit in some particular manner was promised to them only Acts i. 7. Secondly when some Scoffers said they were full of new wine that had the gift of Tongues St. Peter makes his apology for himself and the Eleven only Thirdly it is said hereupon that they all spake or preacht the mighty things of God This befits the Apostles and not those one hundred and twenty among whom was the Blessed Virgin and other women whose office it was not to preach Fourthly the standers by said Are not all these of Galilee that speak with divers tongues which was true in the Apostles now Judas was taken away but very improbable to agree to all the rest Howsoever let there be no discord about this it is not worth the while no more is the next quere upon what part of them the Cloven Tongues did sit That is not exprest but in all likelihood it was their head for thereunto all Expositors do give their suffrage The Spirit must be in summo loco we must give it and the inspiration thereof the pre-eminence in all things These Tongues says Gregory did encircle about their head Vt novae coronae spirituales capiti eorum imponerentur as if the King of heaven had crowned them with spiritual Crowns from heaven They are ridiculous among the Pontifician Writers that would fetch it from hence that Christ did ordain the Apostles Bishops at this time and used this Ceremony to touch their head from heaven for Consecratio Episcoporum est in capite as they urge it out of Clemens Constitution For another while they confess that the Episcopal character and all Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and authority was given them in those words As my Father sent me so do I send you These things being thus put out of the way the main Doctrine agreed on all hands is that the sitting of the Tongues did betoken the constant abiding of the Spirit he is no flitter he doth not come with a lick and away but his gifts are without repentance ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã so St. Chrysostome and his true follower Oecumenius ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã both agree that the Spirit was setled upon them not to depart away It is a fire like that on the Altar permanent and never going out according to our Saviours Promise Joh. xiv 16. I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that may abide with you for ever Some of the Schoolmen find a knot in this plain Doctrine whether the Apostles and all upon whom the Spirit did now abide were confirmed in grace Certain Ecclesiastical Historians trouble them in their conclusions who say that Nicholas the Deacon from whom the Nicolaitans were derived and many other ring-leaders of Hereticks were present at this time and although the Spirit descended upon them yet they forsook their first faith The answer is if these stories be Authentical these gifts were gratiae gratis datae not gratum facientes Gifts which God did graciously give not gifts which made them gracious to God that received them And the continuance and residency of these tongues is established in these words that the Comforter whom Christ would send should abide with them for ever that is it should abide in the Church that is in them and in their Successors unto the ends of the world till Christ should come again in glory as I will open upon the next verse AMEN THE FOURTH SERMON UPON THE Descent of the Holy Ghost ACTS ii 4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them
utterance ALL the joy which we celebrate for the famous acts of Christ is irksom to the Devil and the particular Solemnities which we keep are grievous to those that shut their eyes against the truth Upon the yearly day of our Saviours Nativity the Jew is sad and displeas'd because he believes not that he that was born of Mary a pure Virgin was the Son of God and the Messias whom their Fathers lookt for that should sit upon the Throne of David for evermore Upon the high Feast of his Resurrection the Sadducee gnasheth with his teeth because he denieth that the dead can be raised to life So upon this triumphant Feast wherein we abound with comfort for the sending of the Holy Ghost the Pelagian is malecontented who is an enemy to the efficacy of Grace and the more cause we have to maintain the dignity of it and to be throughly disciplin'd what the Holy Ghost hath wrought for our Soul because the Church is miserably soured of late in all places with the leaven of Pelagius Again as all the parts of our Saviours Mediatorship were several degrees to advance our Salvation and like the several steps of Jacobs Ladder to bring us nearer and nearer to Heaven so in this comparison the sending of the Holy Ghost is the loftiest degree and as it were the top of the spire which is next neighbour to the Kingdom of Glory for as man in his first creation had but an incomplete being till the Lord breathed into his nostrils the breath of life so man in his reparation was but incompletely restored till Christ did send the Comforter to infuse into him the breath of sanctification This day therefore is the concluding Feast of all the great days wherein we rememorate the noble works of our Lord and to go further this Text is the upshot of all the blessings that were conferred upon the Church in this happy day Christ took our nature upon him that he might die for our sins he suffered and was crucified that he might reconcile all such to his Father as would repent and believe repentance and faith to please God cannot enter into the heart of the natural man by his own abilities a power from Heaven must be the means to bring that about which is so repugnant to our corrupt nature Traverse over the mystery of our Redemption and you shall find that the work is at a stand till supernal grace poured in do draw it forward as Physicians say that spiritus est ultimum alimenti the last concoction and the most refined part of our nourishment is that which makes the spirits so the donation of the Holy Spirit is the accomplishment and final resolution of all the benefits which we partake in Christ And the last payment collated by that precious liberality to enrich the Church for ever is here in my Text nay indeed it was but a preparation before the talent of grace was not tendred till now That which was set forth in figure in the former verses is here exhibited in real substance Before a rushing wind made a noise here was the very thing imparted which was shadowed by the wind before certain firy tongues made a glittering that sat upon their head now their own tongues became most fluent and voluble with wonderful eloquence In brief to the exact building up of the Church two things were requir'd which are not wanting but abound in this verse First that the Lord should speak unto the Heart Secondly that he should speak unto the Ear by an invisible word and by a visible He spake invisibly to the Heart when they were all filled with the Holy Ghost he spake visibly to the Ear when his Ministers began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance Nay more to gather a Society together whose Labours should be dispread over all the world it was expedient that the Lord should confer both ordinary and extraordinary Gifts upon them His ordinary Blessing and indeed nothing is blest without it is some quantity of Sanctification his extraordinary Blessing is twofold to send such as are not lightly sprinkled but filled with the Spirit and to speak with divers Tongues that their sound may go forth into all the World Yet again to shew the Amplitude of Gods allowance to his Primitive Church he makes a double provision first for every Disciple as he is one Member of this Body and so all and every one of them were filled with the Holy Ghost and then he provides for all the Members of his Body junctim in one union and communion they began c. so that here 's the inward and the outward blessing the ordinary and the extraordinary the particular and the universal The inward ordinary and particular blessing is this that they were all filled with the Holy Ghost If you look for the provision with which the Primitive Church was stored look for it in this Chapter and you will find out upon judicious survey that there are three things which make it plenteous with all manner of store Pastores Verbum and Spiritus First certain Pastors allotted to the sacred Function to guide the souls of the People 2. the Word of life which is put into their mouth to be preacht unto all Nations 3. The Spirit of grace accompanying the Word to make it fruitful and prolificous in the hearts of them that hear it and obey it That some were ordeined Pastors and Bishops to teach and rule the Church that 's clear the Apostles met together in Jerusalem with one accord as Christ had appointed and the Cloven Tongues which came from Heaven sat upon each of them that was their Commission to take their Bishoprick upon them that the Word was delivered unto them which they should preach and Elocution to impart that Word to every Kingdom and Language that 's as clear Eight times in this one Chapter St. Peter quotes the Scripture of the old Testament and with divers tongues according to the capacity of all the Nations and Languages that were met together and that the Holy Ghost was infused with much abundance at the same time that 's as clear and pregnant as the rest 't is twice gone over in my Text both in the beginning and in the end they were filled with the Holy Ghost and the Spirit gave them utterance A Church without lawful Pastors is but a Synagogue of Schismatiques a Pastor without a Tongue is but an Idol Shepherd or a dumb Dog a Tongue without the power of the Spirit is but sounding Brass or a tinkling Cymbal As St. Paul said of the three grand Theological Virtues Now abideth Faith Hope Charity these three but the greatest of these is Charity so I say of these necessary parts that constitute the Church the Ministry the Word and the Spirit but the chiefest and most excellent of these is the Spirit In some strange manner God may have a Church without a consecrated Priesthood as when Adam and
Eve were first placed in Paradice he may have a Society of holy Servants without the Word taught and proclamed by the organ of a Tongue as the Angels are illuminated to know his will by immediate inspiration but with reverence let me speak it I cannot see which way the Lord can have a Church without the Gift of the Holy Spirit God may be known by his wonderful works and effects without his special grace but can he be present in the soul of man and make it blessed by knowing his Divine will to please him without his special grace Praesens est in quantum praesentem facit beatitudinem if he make all his good to pass before us it must be by these means I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious Exod. xxxiii 19. Those creatures that seek no higher perfection nor greater good than a temporal being and that which is found within the compass of their own nature they may attein thereunto by the strength of nature without any other help but Men and Angels that seek an infinite and Divine good that is everlasting happiness which consisteth in the vision of God they cannot attain their wished end which is so much removed from them and so far above them unless they be lifted up unto it by a supernatural force of grace Eternal felicity is the Haven to which they sail and it is no ordinary wind but the stiff gale of the Holy Spirit that must bring them to the Port of endless glory that is they cannot ascend of themselves they may be lifted up to the Vision of God especially Man since his woful fall they are the words of the tenth Article of our Church can have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God without the grace of God by Christ preventing him that he may have a good will and without the same grace working with him when he hath a good will Natural habilities and inclinations at the best reach no further than to dispose all things well for the honor and preservation of the natural being but when we are put to it and become content yea and rejoyce to lay down our life for Christs sake which is the abolition of the natural being this vigor and strength must come from a supernatural influence that is from the fire of the Spirit which is predominant above the breath of nature This hath given you satisfaction I suppose that it did more import the Church to receive the Spirit than any other benefit I draw forward to a more distinct inspection of it and the first scruple about which I find a difference is this Whether the very Person of the Holy Ghost be meant in this place or only certain impressions of his Gifts and Graces I will streighten my self to a short answer both the Person of the Holy Ghost was here and the virtue of the Holy Ghost that which sat upon the head of each of them in cloven tongues as it were was the infinite Majesty of the third Person of Trinity in that apt and visible similitude but that which filled them was not the very essence but the operation of the Spirit Implet non seipso formaliter sed dono quod producit say the Schoolmen he that filleth all things with his presence cannot be said formally to fill one thing more than another but he that blows where he listeth with his inspiration is said to fill those whom he sanctifies not with his essence but with that inspiration The Founder of School Divinity is noted for one error above the rest that he makes the Grace of God to be no effect of the Holy Spirit but the essence of the very Spirit to purifie the thoughts and mind He stuck too litterally to St. Austin and so wandred from the right way For thus that Father preaching upon my Text Christ was present with his faithful Servants this day not by his Visiting Grace but by his Personal Majesty atque in vasa non jam odor balsami sed ipsa suba sacri defluxit unguenti their vessels were not only perfumed with the odour of the sweet Ointment but that fragrant Balsam the very Unction it self did flow abundantly into them To this it is most proper to rejoyn that St. Austin meant it of the extraordinary Apparition of the Holy Ghost upon this day not of his ordinary inspiration For in the same Sermon he says that the immortal Spirit is vicarius successor redemptoris the Deputy to succeed our Saviour in the Church now he is gone away on high But how is he Christs Deputy not as if by his personal communication he wrought his gifts in us but thus quod Salvator inchoavit peculiari virtute Spiritus Sanctus consummat the faith which Christ did begin in his Apostles by teaching them daily the Holy Ghost did perfect by the special virtue of sanctification No Text doth more evidently convince that the infinite and increated essence of the Spirit is to be distinguisht from the finite and created qualities which he infuseth then those words Jo. vii 39. He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters but this spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã those are all the words in the Text for the Holy Ghost was not yet we make it up for the Holy Ghost was not yet given But stand we to the words of Scripture ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Holy Ghost was not yet This will never hold without differencing the third Person of Trinity from his sanctifying effects the Person was before and had no beginning but nondum erat manifesti muneris efficacitate says Theophylact as yet he was not revealed in his plentiful efficacity The close of the Point is thus the very Person of the Holy Ghost came down into the place where they were gathered in an external visible form and his effects or efficacy was breathed into them in wonderful gifts But concerning those gifts wherewith they were filled there 's another scruple whether they were saving graces such as are collated upon them that are the Elect of God or whether they were only miraculous assistances as Prophecies Gifts of Tongues Gifts of Healing and the like which are impressions indeed of the Holy Ghost not that they sanctifie him which hath them but they are given to men for the confirmation of the holy Faith That which brings this into doubt is a Tradition that hath no good founder that some Apostates and Revolters as Nicolas the Deacon from whom the Nicolaitans are derived were some of this Assembly that are said to be filled with the Holy Ghost and it is not to be contradicted but that gratiae gratis datae habilities to work miracles may be in those that make shipwrack of a good conscience Yet that Exception though it may hold in others yet it is not to be applied to
these persons and to this season not to these persons for it is most likely that none but the Apostles were partakers of the Divine illumination which came from Heaven upon this day and the Apostles no man calls it in question had the talents of that grace delivered unto them which saved their souls Ir is a masterless and a false fame that any castaways were in the number of these that were filled with the Holy Ghost Christ himself is said to be full of the Holy Ghost Luke iv 1. and the Blessed Virgin gratiâplena full of grace and St. Stephen the Captain of all Martyrs full of the Holy Ghost Acts vi and Barnabas the Son of Consolation full of the Holy Ghost Acts xi None but such as were peerless Saints are deigned with that praise to give this scruple a full satisfaction regard the time and season wherein this dew of heaven did drop down into the Fleece of wooll it is the day so long before promised wherein the Spirit should be poured out upon all flesh the scaturigo the first spouting out of the Spirit and do you think that this being the original from whence the spring began that all the best Balsams and Liquors did not flow into them that received it I resolved therefore that these persons in my Text did not only partake such gifts as made them wonderful in the eyes of the world but such also as made them holy and acceptable in the sight of God that is it did not only speak in their tongues but it was diffused in their hearts To end this matter remember what manner of spirit that is which God bestows it is from above it is holy it is not our own but Christs a Spirit from above and not from beneath as St. Paul says Now we have received not the spirit of this world but of God 1 Cor. ii 12. Spiritus mundi est per quem arripiuntur phanatici says St. Ambrose that 's the spirit of this world with which phanatical men are led which drives them into contention or vain glory but they are enemies to peace and savour not the things which belong to God And since we are bidden to deny our selves if we will be Christs Disciples we must also deny our own private Spirit and submit our selves to the Spirit of the Church which is the Spirit of God for our Saviour hath promised to be with it unto the end of the world Take heed of this hot windy humour which makes some cleave pertinaciously to their own imagination and attribute far more to their own ignorant judgment than becomes them The Spirit of the Prophets is subject to the Prophets but if any one think that some new mysteries are revealed to him which the Church never heard of before and begin to trouble our peace with his falsesly pretended raptures and enthusiasms I say unto such in Ezekiels words Woe unto the foolish Prophets that follow their own spirit and have seen nothing Thus far I have spoken of the Gift which was given to the Apostles to supply the room of Christ himself now he was gone and ascended into Heaven Hominem portavit in coelum Deum misit in terram says St. Austin he carried away his Manhood into Heaven and instead thereof he sent down God unto the Earth I mean the Holy Ghost and this Gift more worth than all the world beside is his usual and continual favour but the measure of it is more than ordinary repleti sunt omnes they were all filled with the Holy Ghost And Leo did very well to mark it that this was not spiritus inchoans but cumulans not the initiation but the accumulation of the Spirit the augmenting of the old stock which the Apostles had in a good quantity before not the beginning of a new They had the Spirit before as appears particularly in St. Peter when Christ told him he had prayed that his faith might not fail therefore he had a portion of faith In general it is most manifest that Christ breathed on them all and said Receive ye the Holy Ghost But as it appears by Elisha's request to his Master Elias there are single and there are double Portions of the Spirit there is a single Talent of Grace given to one Servant two to a second and five Talents committed to him that was most entrusted by his Master there are such as have a little of this Manna in their Omer and them that have it top full And these that received the Holy Ghost at this Feast were such as were not sprinkled but replenished with it quibus nulla pars animae mansit carens spiritu sancto says Cajetan the fruits of sanctification did not grow thinly in them here a berry and there a berry upon the top of a bough but pious conformity to Gods will obedience and the fear of the Lord were in every faculty of their soul and body The Romanists oftentimes put in such impertinent cautions that their bedging in of some needless exception lays waste the truth of God Among others of that bad stamp this is one that the Apostles and other holy men are said to be filled at this time with the Holy Ghost because an Increase was put to that which they had before but the Blessed Virgin was so full before that she received not any new addition or if she received a new distillation of it now illud erat ut in nos tantum effunderet says Lorinus it was for our sakes that it might overflow and be transfused from her to us even as Christ was full of grace and truth from the first moment that he was incarnate and yet for our sakes the Spirit came upon him when he was baptized in Jordan Matth. iii. a most scandalous comparison between the Infinite and the Finite between the Creator and the Creature for though Christ thought it no robbery to be equall with God Philip. ii yet it is a great robbery of the Divine honor to make the Blessed Virgin equal with Christ But to keep to mine own work the Apostles had an earnest penny of the Spirit before but they came to the fulness of it by degrees first they were baptized and so had an introduction unto sanctity afterward Christ breathed on them that was their proficiency last of all came this mighty rushing and cloven tongues as it were fire and sat upon each of them that 's their perfection by nature and of themselves they were of the earth earthly but they were regenerate and born again in Baptism that 's an Element above the Earth The next step of their heavenly promotion was that the Lord breathed on them so the Air is above the Water In conclusion the Holy Ghost came down upon them in fire this is a sign that they were now full to the brim for that 's the Element which is above the Water and the Air and is the next to Heaven And well may it be called a
them should have no inspiration to speak Salmeron is much troubled that he could not give that magnificent report to his Associates that they spake with new Tongues by inspiration in India as well as the Apostles did when they were sent to teach the Gentiles But because he would not have his Order give ground to the Apostles see the stomack of the man he makes this comparison that it is no less Gods benefit and grace to take pains to learn a strange tongue than if it were immediately poured out from heaven nay says he In illâ adipiscendâ plus meriti positum est It is more meritorious to atchieve it by much industry than by inspiration as it is more praise-worthy to raise up a fortune by a mans own diligence than to have it bequeathed him by inheritance I was astonish'd when I read this that this Loyolite should dare to compare and to prefer himself and such like even before the Apostles of our Lord and prefer their smattering in Tongues before the mighty Miracle of this day the greatest that ever was granted to men I confess it is the wisdom of God which teacheth learned men their exact insight into the Sacred Tongues and the Lord hath furnish'd many Heroes of the Reformed Churches with such exquisite skill in that kind far beyond our Adversaries that out of their over-flowing envy they have called us Pedants and Gramarians But God be thanked many of our Linguists are able to communicate in Speech with those of the world beneath which is a sign to me that God is gathering the world unto him by the calling of all Nations and hastening his Kingdom These being the general extractions of this last part of the Text both touching the matter of it and touching the end for which it was done which is the form of it I will spare much of that which remains rather than exceed my time upon this day and yet I will rather point at the particular inferences than quite omit them 1. It is to be collected from the persons that received this utterance of Tongues that the Tongue is a member of diligent employment in an Apostle for how can he discharge St. Pauls Canons to be ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã apt to teach fit to reprove and exhort unless he open his lips in the great Congregation that his mouth may shew forth the praise of the Lord. But remember that this hability was only infused into Apostles and Teachers How shall they speak unless they be sent Let others be contented with that monition He that hath ears to hear let him hear Suarez the Jesuite makes the case of the Blessed Virgin to be transcendent that she did not only receive the power from heaven to speak with divers Tongues on this day but she was able to do as much long before Therefore she conversed with the Wisemen of the East and had skill in their Eastern Tongue and when she fled away into the Land of Egypt with our Saviour she wanted not the knowledge of that Language Cajetan denies that ever she had this gift of Tongues For to what end It was not her part to preach unto the Gentiles And for the coming of the Wise men of the East my answer hath more likelihood than Suarez objection that they brought Interpreters with them For they asked at Jerusalem Where is he that is born King of the Jews And all the people understood them Let this grace therefore be ascribed only to the Apostles and to such as in those days joyned with them in the same labour 2. When they had these Tongues ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they began to speak But first they were endued with Spirit and then with a Tongue to speak God doth first cleanse the mind within and then he puts his Word into the mouth of his Pastors Unless the heart have a sincere feeling of that which it speaks there will be a jarring in the Tongue as in a Bell that is crackt or an Instrument that is broken Without the help of the air the Organ of the natural voice cannot speak and without the Spirit there is no speaking in the name of God Why dost thou take my Laws into thy mouth since thou hatest to be reformed The Exorcists of the Jews that had no faith the Devil flew upon them when they began to speak of holy things Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are ye 3. Mark what an alteration the impression of the Holy Ghost makes in our very speech Now they begin to speak with boldness with Parthians Medes and Elamites with all Comers Jews and Gentiles Nay ye shall be brought before Kings says our Saviour yet fear not to profess my name Dabo vobis os loquelam Here was a great mutation since that time that Peter could not hold parly with a silly Damosel but he faltred We have tongues now adays but certainly we are empty and have none of this Spirit or else we would be bolder in delivering the Message of the Lord. Thirdly They began to speak with other Tongues Moses habuit linguae balbutiem as one says Moses that brought the Law had scarce the use of one Tongue he confessed he was of a slow speech and of a slow tongue Exod. iv 10. But the Gospel was not terrible like the Law which would make the tongue of him that brought it to falter and tremble but it is sweet upon the tongue and full of grace were their lips that brought it 5. Wherefore this variety of Tongues but that all may praise the Lord as well publickly as privately in a known Language What a tyranny it is in the Roman Church that the Common People in the time of Mass are edified by nothing but the mopping and nods and gestures of the Priest Lyra confesseth that if their vulgar Auditors understood to what they said Amen they would serve God better be converted sooner and answer much more devoutly to the words of the Liturgy 6. When the Apostles spake it was not with the demonstration of humane wisdom but with the power of the Spirit as the Spirit gave them utterance And yet it was not baldly and rudely performed for my Text says the Spirit gave them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Sententiosa mirifica loqui says Beza To speak sententious and admirable matter ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã says St. Chrysostome they were Apophthegms and ponderous sayings which they brought forth they spake Magnalia Dei the wonderful works of God ver 11. Yet now adays that is said to be spoken by the Spirit and nothing but that which is frothy and windy and perhaps never a wise word spoken and other men that have care of every word which they deliver in the sight of God and in his name that is studied affectation or some such bitter censure Whereas St. Paul requires in Titus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã sound and learned doctrine Tit. i. 9. And St. Peter If any man speak let him
very Apostles were enough to prove the Majesty of God 't is strange to work good upon any of us all our will is knotty timber our heart hollow and unsound what can the Workman make of such stuff but to commit the Talents of the Holy Ghost to such as these and to make them the Bankers from whom we should borrow the stock of the Church this is his exploit alone who can make a graine of mustard seed dispread into a tree that the Fouls of the air may build their nests in it Lord what are we that thou hast given such power unto men But Lord what art thou that hast given such power to most homely and simple men O Lord how excellent is thy name in all the world Thou that out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast ordained praise and put the Eloquence of the earth to silence by such unlookt-for Instruments These were no men of spirit active and stirring in the world such busie heads would never be fortunate to propagate the Gospel of peace Again they were of no honourable Order the Spirit had more use of humility than of dignity Inspirat non inflat as one said very well it inspired them it did not puff them up To be short they were not of the Scribes and Doctors that were Proficients in Arts and Learning that the work of God might disperse the greater amazement through such who were noted for ignorance and infirmity Yet they were not sent forth like Ideots and Fishermen that knew nothing but their Mechanical trade but were endued with power from on high to teach the Mystery of Godliness in all the Tongues that could be spoken Which is the next provocation to transport them with wonder as we read it ver 9. How hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born It will ask travel and pains through the whole life of a man to be cunning in two or three Tongues good Linguists know what study it costs them to come to a Grammatical excellency in a few Languages much more to a voluble pronunciation of them But to preach Christ Jesus in all the borders of the earth required more dispatch than to begin to get the elements of learning therefore by a shorter cut God gives them an inspiration to speak all Tongues in a moment and to preach the true sense of the Scripture in all those Tongues Sentire quae velint loqui quae sentiant they had words to cloath their matter as they pleased and they had matter to utter as well as words Quid voveat dulci nutricula maejus alumno quà m sapere fari quae sentiat They needed no more abilities than wisdom to know the mind of God and a tongue to declare their wisdom As in the beginning when God created the Heaven and the Earth he spake what he pleased and it was done Let there be light and there was light Let there be a Sea and there was a Sea So in the first foundations of the Church it was no more but let there be a revelation of the mysteries of the Gospel and there was a Revelation Let there be Tongues and there were Tongues Let there be a fountain opened in Jerusalem whose several spouts may water all the quarters of the world and it was so in the twinkling of an eye If God himself had come from heaven in his own Majesty his Almighty Word could not have been clearer than in this miracle Such as have an incredulous grudge in their minds an Ague that will never leave some carnal hearts they are troubled with a longing when they hear of this O that we had lived in those days when the arm of power from on high was made so manifest We take things up as the long revolutions of time have committed them to us but we live not in the days of wonder we see nothing for us by this strange omnipotency Beloved if there were a new Gospel to be preached we should have new Tongues as the Apostles had to publish it but the truth hath been preached round about the world to all Nations the continuance is old therefore why should new Wine of new Miracles be put into old bottles Then it was meet I mean on the first Whitsunday that the Gentiles should understand that way was made to call them to Salvation which could not be confirmed better than to hear the Cross of Jesus Christ published in so many forein Dialects and that the Prediction of the Psalm is fulfilled His sound is gone forth into all the earth and his Word unto the ends of the world there is neither Speech nor Language but their voice is heard among them Now it is confessed that it is accomplished and were not a miracle a most unnecessary and supernumerary thing to confirm it Hold you content that the Spirit is yet upon your tongues the seal is printed upon them to pray to God to bless one another to comfort one another If any thing will amaze a man in these days it is the bitterness the murmuring the swearing the lying the slandering of the tongue that we should do God more dishonour with one tongue than the Apostles did him honour with twenty So much for that Passion which took away the reason of them that were present for a time ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they were in an extasie they were amazed Now follows that which troubled their reason and exercised their reason I will put them both in one they hang so close together They were in doubt saying one to another What meaneth this Doubting is the unquietness of the mind which proceeds from ignorance It flutters about like Noahs Dove and knows not where to set its foot they wanted the Anchor of faith to fasten them to some certain resolution for as yet they knew not the Scriptures of the Prophet Joel to which St. Peter directed them Ver. 17. It shall come to pass in the last days saith God I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh Doubtfulness is the fruit of carnal wisdom it holds to nothing stedfastly it hath more faces than Janus looking every way and on every side and hath as many thoughts as there be minutes in the hour and it is impossible it should be fix'd until it pitch upon some clear Text of Scripture and say this is the truth I build upon it for so it is written in the Word of God The benefit of the holy Spirit descending as this day upon the Church was to bring us out of the windings and crooked Lanes of doubting and reduce all opinions to one setled conclusion that there was no salvation to be found but in the meritorious Passion of Jesus Christ The Academicks of Greece were so far from any certainty of knowledge that it was the perfection of their learning to doubt of every thing Whereupon an Egyptian Priest reproved them for that puerility ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã you that call your selves
their nearest Relations if they be a bar to the Kingdom of Heaven And who cares if revilers call it a drunkenness of the Spirit Thirdly Much Wine gives a great edge to valour and courage In praelia trudit inermes it runs into any danger because it knows not what is danger but there is nothing of such animosity nothing so undaunted as the Spirit of God The righteous is bold as a Lion says Solomon It must needs be that strength is doubled in him because he hath two lives in his heart this life and the life to come What could the world say but that some illapse from heaven was in the breast of the Apostles that those miselli those neglected worms should overtop the terrors of Councils of Prisons of Death of Devils Let such as Rabshekah call it drunkenness it was the boldness of the Spirit Fourthly Wine is a rejoycer of the heart Ecclus xl 20. But what joy is comparable to that which is begotten by the infusion of the Holy Ghost Let the righteous rejoyce and be glad let them also be merry and joyful A good conscience recreated by the Promises of God and assurance of forgiveness of sins is like a volary of sweet singing birds chirping and carolling within the Soul nothing but the pleasant notes of heaven and immortal blessedness When we sing Psalms of chearfulness let Scorners censure it for vanity but it is the new Wine of the Spirit which makes the heart glad Lastly As the airy vapours of wine make a man to broach his secrets and reveal them Arcana recludit so the Holy Ghost coming down this day did open the fountain which was sealed up before the Mysteries of Gods eternal counsel brought to pass in time by the Incarnation of his Son were made manifest to all the world This was it which confounded the Jews that were present to hear those abstruse things of Godliness divulged and they did not understand them The Spirit made the Apostles pour them out and they could not hold they were transported above natural to supernatural reason and they were carried above themselves as men even drunken with great Revelations Upon those words of St. Paul 2 Cor. v. 13. Whether we be beside our selves it is to God or whether we be sober it is for your cause says Bernard Audi sanctam insaniam Festus told Paul he was mad here he professeth little less for the Gospel sake he neither says that he was sober and he doth not contend whether he were beside himself or no. Such as he was he was for the Church sake possessed of the Spirit and full of that new Wine which gave him a tongue of utterance to preach Jesus Christ to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness These uses rise out of an holy and mystical sense of the words and that is no thanks to these taunting Jews who being full of malice a sin that is worse than drunkenness burden the Apostles that they were full of Wine or as the Syrian Paraphrast reads it without mincing these men are drunken The just upright man is laughed to scorn Job xii 4. Isaac the Son of Promise was scoffed at by Ismael the Profane Gen. xxi 9. The Septuagint calls it Ismaels play or sport Illa lusio erat illusio says St. Austin it was his pastime to mock the righteous Be prepared therefore against evil words and reproaches you must have your share of them if your conversation be Christian First you have a Paracletus which is a spirit of comfort to bear them off with patience Then you have a Paracletus for that is the word an Advocate to answer against the Accuser of the Brethren who shall discover your innocence Apoc. xii 10. There is no good action but the Devils claw of scornfulness is upon it At our Saviours Resurrection the Jews made the Apostles Thieves they forsooth had stoln away their Master by night and at the coming of the Holy Ghost they make them Drunkards But this was a baptizing with the Holy Ghost not a sousing with Wine it was somewhat poured on them no strong drink poured in them it was no drunken thing but rivers of living waters springing up to everlasting life and this he spake of the Spirit which they that believed on him should receive Joh. vii it is the fountain of the water of life issuing from the Throne of God and of the Lamb Rev. xxii So Moses likened the inspiration of Prophesie to the dew falling on the herbs or to the rain poured on the grass Deut. xxxii It is no distempering heady liquour but the Cordial of joy and the Balm of Gilead If then the effusion of the Spirit was tax'd with drunkenness what do you that think profane persons have devised concerning the Cup of the Sacrament Horrendum dictu because it is our Saviours Doctrine by a figurative speech that the Cup is the New Testament in his bloud the heathen traduced the Christians soon after the Apostles days that they killed a Child in their private Feasts and Sacrifices and drank his bloud And a long time it was before the heathen Magistrates would be perswaded that such as partaked the holy Communion were not murderers Indeed it is true though they understood it not that such as partake unworthily are murderers of their own souls But again if Gods mighty miracle was scoft at when he gave grace to his Apostles to preach so divinely what will profane persons say to our weak Doctrine so much inferiour to theirs Quoties dicimus toties judicamur nothing is more snatcht at to be made matter of idle talk and frumping discourse than that which is delivered in the Pulpit Take heed and remember that Michol was barren who scorned ac David that no Scorner might be begotten of her says St. Ambrose But the Devil hath got a new way to bring both Preaching and Praying into contempt For Preaching let every one practice it that will and then it will come to pass I am sure if not Musto pleni spumâ pleni if they be not full of new wine they will be full of froth Says the Apostle 1 Cor. xii 29. Are all Prophets Are all Teachers Are all workers of miracles It can no more agree that all should be Teachers than that all should be workers of Miracles As for publick Prayer the deriders of sanctity call it not new wine but they call it worse by the name of that homely broth for which Esau sold his birth-right But as the Prophet said to the calumnious Jews against whom do you sport yourselves Against whom do you make a wide mouth and draw out the tongue Against whom do you shoot out Arrows even bitter words Are ye not children of transgression a seed of falshood Isa lvii 4. But this is the derision which Satan would put upon Religion in this unsanctified unpeaceable Age. First take away directly the publick Liturgie of Prayers that the people may have
a little extemporary acquaintance and no more with that to which they say Amen Next let every man preach that challengeth he hath the gift sorrily God knows and then he knows that Preaching will come to nothing as well as Prayer Beware that you let not our great Adversary subvert all Piety and Religion by these encroachments bad men may mock holy Ordinances but God is not mocked Fear the Lord reverence his ways receive the blessings of the Spirit with thanksgiving and praise rule the Tongue to glorifie him that made it to set forth his honour that gives it utterance AMEN THE FIRST SERMON UPON THE CORONATION PSAL. cxviii 24. This is the Day which the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and he glad in it THE words which I have selected to preach upon are part of a Psalm which excels both in the Letter and in the Spirit rich in the litteral sense copious in the spiritual the Kingdom of David set forth magnificently in the one the Kingdom of Christ glorified in the other Sometimes the ditty of the Song points directly at the Throne of David and sometimes at Christs Triumphs over his Death and his victorious Resurrection I cannot choose between them both but think of the Country of Mesopotamia the fruitful Garden of the world girt about with waters the Rivers did flow in and out in all quarters of the Land and the Land was much more pleasant for the windings and intricate Maeanders of the Rivers So this Hymn hath a most delightful alternation in it skipping often from Christ to David and from David to Christ with sundry melodious changes as if it purposed to make the Reader lose himself if he did not curiously note the Narration There hath been much ado among Expositors whether the Psalm should concern them both or only one of them choose you which you will Some refer it all to David and to the rejoycing of the People in his behalf that they saw him happily inaugurated King of Israel after he had been long kept back by the House of Saul and many other potent Enemies The Jewish Rabbins make no other construction of it and they follow the Chaldee Paraphrast who doth thus read the 22. verse of this Psalm the Builders did reject the youngest of the Sons of Jessai and would not let him reign over them but he hath deserved to be received for their Prince and Governor therefore we will keep holy day and rejoyce Thus Vatablus and Isidore Clarius and many others of this latter Age have dived no further than into the superficies of this Scripture that is into so much and no more than concerned the Monarchy of David But they did not see into the bottom that lookt no further for the Antient Fathers of the Church not one but all have discover'd so manifest a Prophesie concerning our Saviour that nothing can be clearer It is a general rule that David in most of his Psalms had more regard to Christ than to Himself in this more eminently than ordinary so that the New Testament is full of the application Pick out the 22. verse The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner according to three several Gospels our Saviour demonstrates that himself was the Stone which the Scribes and Pharisees refused but God had exalted him to be the Head of the Church both ih Heaven and Earth St. Peter proves as much in the audience of many thousands of the Jews and none of them did contradict him Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom ye crucified this is the Stone which is set at naught of you Builders which is become the head of the corner ver 26. of this Psalm Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord I doubt not but all the loyal hearts of Juda and Jerusalem did congratulate David in those words when he entred into the Royal City but all the Multitude of the People applied them to the Advent of the Messias Hosanna to the Son of David blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord Matth. xxi 9. And indeed St. Hierom says that the Jews in their Liturgy of old were wont to read this Psalm in their Synagogues for the Messias sake and did put it among those Prayers in which they did heartily desire the coming of Christ the Lord Nay says Cajetan the 17. verse can become the mouth of no mortal man but it is the voice of the immortal Son of God to say I will not die but live and declare the works of the Lord. Therefore those Authors that had the most judicious Palat have acknowledged that sometimes Davids matters are brought into this Psalm and sometimes Christs nay sometimes both of them in one verse as in my Text. The begining of the Psalm says St. Chysostom was a Celebration for the setting on the Crown upon the head of the King of Israel but ex improviso mutavit argumentum in a sudden extasie the Prophet changeth his argument and speaks of Christ nay says Euthymius if a man will be acquainted with the stile of the Propets let him remember that this is their custom intercidere solent sermones in rem aliam transire ne adversarii manus injiciant they use to break off abruptly and fall from one thing to another lest if the Enemies of the Truth did understand them they would make away those holy Writings to the irrecoverable loss of the Church of Christ This was necessary to be premised that you might know what to look for out of my Text namely David's Day in the Letter and Christ's Day in the Spirit In the Case of David no man doubts what day is pointed at surely it is the day of his Inauguration when after much resistance made by his Enemies at last he did enjoy the Scepter of all Israel quietly and peaceably and there was an Holy-day instituted to remember it with sacred Solemnity The Lord had made that Day happy unto David and the People did celebrate it in a joyful and religious manner I need not to tell you how proper that construction of my Text is to this Day wherein God hath settled our Anointed Sovereign over all the Kingdoms of his Father and I trust you profess your due thankfulness to God for his most pious and religious Reign and that we have great cause to rejoyce and be glad in it But which is that among all the days of Christ which God did make more transcendently than the rest there 's a little scruple in that point I find one or two refer it to the day of his Nativity but their reasons are weak and they are no considerable number to be followed St. Hierom and St. Austin are in the right I think for they apply it to the whole time of the Gospel wherein the terrors of the Law are broken and all things are most sweet and pleasant to penitent Believers Behold now is the acceptable Time now is the
can we spend our time more profitably than to speak of time as it is to be referred and allotted to the glory of him that made all time But that I may leave no part of my Treatise naked but cover that which I shall run through with some portion of my Text I must put you to call to mind what I delivered in general in two Sermons that these words excel both in the Letter and in the Spirit In the Letter they are part of a Psalm which was sung for Davids sake and for that Festival which the People kept to God for his Inauguration when he was made King over Israel In the Spirit they reach to Christ as David in most of his Psalms had more regard to Christ than to himself and that with two interpretations By some the whole Age of the Gospel is entituled the day of Christ for through the Gospel the terrours of Sin and Death and Hell are broken and we are comforted on every side to rejoyce and be glad By others among all Evangelical days the Feast of the Resurrection is pickt out by way of eminency for never did the Sun shine upon any day wherein we had more cause to triumph and be joyful than when the Son of God having been crucified for our sins did rise from death the third day to conquer mortality and corruption that we might live forever These Points being dispatcht in their proper season what is left to be handled Two things of great moment Beloved First the Resurrection of Christ did not only sanctifie that one day wherein he rose but occasion was taken from thence to sanctifie the first day of every Week to the Lord because Christ rose on the first day Hence I am your debtor to shew how this and every Sunday is the day which the Lord hath made and we must rejoyce and be glad in it Secondly Forasmuch as an holy day was appointed that all Israel might worship Jehovah for that precious benefit that so good a King as David was reigned over them therefore the Ordination of Festival days to profess thanksgiving for the high and excellent works of God becometh the Church for so good a sanction and becometh the righteous to be joyful in them Then of the Lords day for our ordinary Assemblies in Gods House and of holy Festivals for our extraordinary Assemblies these are the matter of my ensuing Discourse which I will follow upon the touchstone of truth and for the benefit of your edification Concerning the day which we keep weekly in the name of the Lord I must speak of it two ways in reference to Gods making and our rejoycing in reference to the Divine Sanction and out Sanctification The Divine Sanction of the day must be traversed in four Points 1. What ground we have for keeping the Lords day in the fourth Commandment 2. What ground we have for it from the Resurrection of Christ 3. What ground we have for it in the Gospel from the Precept of Christ or his Apostles And 4. What ground we have for it from the practise of the Apostles and from the practise of the Church in all ages In this piece of a Sermon I will deliver you my mind upon this Controversie which now adays makes voluminous disputes First It is manifest that the Fourth Commandment hath another air and Constitution in it than the other Nine Those Nine being consonant to the light of natural reason so that they bind the Conscience without a Law-giver this is neither principle or necessary conclusion of natural reason in such a clear manner as that a judicious man shall be forced upon understanding the terms to yield assent unto it And I wonder that any one should stumble so grosly to say that it is natural Law to keep every seventh day that is the last day or the first day of the Week holy when the distribution of time into Weeks is arbitrary and not natural This Commandment therefore having a composition in it diverse from the rest it hath somewhat in it particular to the state of the Jewish Synagogue and somewhat that binds the Christian Church For it doth not stand for a Cypher in the two Tables at this time as if the force of it were expired but there is somewhat in it which is Moral and obligeth mankind unto the end of the world The enforcement of the seventh day in strict and Sabbatical rest is out of date as well as the rest of the Pedagogical Ordinances of Moses But there is this Kernel within the shell that holy Assemblies are for ever to be called together at fit and convenient times to praise the Lord nay further reason and gratitude cannot imagine a more fit and convenient time than the constant solemnizing of a Seventh day nay than the constant observation of this Seventh day the first day of the Week Therefore I determine that we ground the keeping of the Lords day upon the fourth Commandment not upon the Letter of it for that were Jewish but upon the natural equity or moral contents of it We recede from the Letter as much as can be for they rested and we work on their Sabbath but to rest on the seventh day and to work on the seventh day cannot flow out of the same Statute For the moral equity we give all diligence to obey it and he that rejects the Lords Day or violates it transgresseth the Fourth Commandment because though neither that day there mentioned nor the determination of a Seventh day is absolutely commanded yet it is deduced out of it by consequence It is enough to have general and common Rules for Ecclesiastical Orders of time and place under the liberty of the Gospel And God gives us the light of discretion to draw out special rules at what time in what place with what Decorum and Order to meet together and if the governance of this discretion be not observed the Spirit of the Lord is disobeyed The Lord hath not given over his interest in our time but that we must allot some days and hours to his Service as it were for the redemption of all our time which is due unto him Neither hath he given us a vagrant liberty to serve him when we will but the out-goings of the Morning and Evening must praise him and we must often throng together at solemn times to worship him To go further though the Commandment hath not prefixt us a day for it prefixt no definite day but the Sabbath to the Jews yet it hath given us light what ought to be done by way of prudent Constitution viz. that we of the Evangelical Kingdom should grievously sin if we did not voluntarily devote as much time to the honour of God as the Jews were bound to do And then since the Lord did enforce why that day was enjoyned to them it was the day wherein the Lord did rest from his work and it was most pious that they should remember the benefit
of Gerar and if you dam and stop up the windows of your breast as the Philistines did the Fountains let us call them as he did The Wells of hatred and contention Gen. xxvi There was great devotion no doubt in the Vigils of the Primitive Church praying and singing Psalms in the dead hours of darkness as if they were prepared to meet the Bridegroom at midnight but because this custom smelt of too much secresie it was wisely left off as an offensive Ceremony And that all may be done in the face of the Congregation though we allow and exhort you unto private Prayer in your secret Chambers yet the chief part of the Liturgy I mean the Lords Supper it is a Communion of Saints and but in case of sickness or extremity never to be dispensed in private Families And now I pray you call to mind the bloudy conjuration of this day to whose secresie those desperate Pseudo Catholicks swore even at the Table of the Lord. Was not Religion turned topsie turvy when those sulphurious traitors and their Father Jesuits turned the Communion of our Saviour to a non-communion to link and combine themselves in eternal silence That Sacrament of Charity the strongest tie of love that ever God made became an Oath to unite the malice of Satan Sweet Jesu thy side was opened to let out that bloud which they dranke down to close up their sin in darkness Thy body was exalted on high upon the Cross that the world might look upon thy sufferings which they broke and took secretly as if it were to be buried for ever and should never rise and appear in glory And thus they thought to carry their stratagem as the High Priests Servants did when they blinded our Saviour and smote him saying Ariolare nobis quis te percussit prophesie if you can who they were that smote you down It was commended for plain dealing in Agesilaus that he was wont in his travels abroad to take up his lodging in the Temple where he lighted as if he that revealed himself to men by day would not conceal himself to the very Idols by night Alas how can they expect to shine hereafter like stars in glory that are openly seen whose actions are as unknown to the world as hidden qualities Or how can they make St. Pauls word good that the vail is taken away under the Gospel that have taken away all knowledge from the people and instead of explicit faith profess mystery For if ever false wares were sold to ignorant people under dark lights the Lay part of Rome have been so abused the Jesuites shall carry it for the best Juglers that ever practised Such tricks are pretended to enthrall their Novices in belief that if you resolve their cause into the last principles the unnurtured people have nothing but Templum Domini for their share First Every Prayer they say it is a Creed somewhat indeed they mutter in an unknown tongue but for ought they know instead of a Prayer it may be a Blasphemy And is not that Religion maskt in secresie Yet if the Church doth not teach them explicitly the Word of God will teach them to pray but as the Spirit said to Christ so do they to the Scriptures Quid nobis tibi What have we to do with thee thou Book of God It were as good for the Philistins to bring the Ark into the house of Dagon 1 Sam. v. And is not that imperfect Religion maskt in secresie Well fare the Fathers yet they talk'd of them much to much purpose indeed when like the Feast of King Saul many Guests are there but Davids place is empty Index expurgatorius hath left the Parable behind and spung'd out the Moral As when one painted a Cock untowardly says Plutarch to his no great commendation his Friends advised him to drive away all true Cocks from comming near it so Falshoods are maintained and Truth must not stand cheek by soule in the Fathers and is not this Religion maskt in secresie Well though the Doctrine of the Fathers be brew'd and spoil'd with their compositions yet hold fast your Traditions say the Tridentine Bishops and all is well And how came they do you think into credit No question says Salmeron but our Saviour delivered them to St. Peter in the forty days between his Resurrection and Ascension No question but Salmeron can never prove it and is not this Religion maskt in secresie Nay says Melchior Canus Hereticks may be busie with other proofs yet the Schoolmen will stand the shock against all incursion of Adversaries Those are of good use many times but many times and perchance more often the winding stairs where you are still going down from conclusion to conclusion and never see the bottom and is not all this Religion maskt in secresie The sum of the first part of my Text is this in the actions of the wicked there is nothing but labour in the undertaking and shame which makes them dig to shrowd themselves Now I come to their object ad inferos fodiunt Though they dig into Hell c. The Souls of wicked men and evil Angels says St. Austin have these three qualities Rationem passibilitatem aeternitatem and all these blessings turn to a curse 1. They have reason to be apprehensive of misery 2. Obnoxiousness to passion that they may feel the smart of misery 3. Immortality that they may groan in endless misery O ye transgressors of Gods Law can you deny that you have knowledge what are the sufferings of damnation Why God hath given you reason are you not sensible that sometimes in this life you find a torture in your soul Why but God hath made you sensible and passive Why are you so wilful O ye desperate ones to cast Heaven at your back and when Hell is before you and the eternity of damnation to out-stare the Devil and dig into his Kingdom Mark how Hell it self cannot open its mouth so wide as the wicked would have it they dig a bigger pit to enter in Non expectamus tentationem in multis sed praevenimus says St. Austin We are in many things of our own accord so hasty to do evil that we do not wait for bad suggestions but even prevent tentations All Nations whom thou hast made shall worship coram te before thee O Lord says David Psal lxxxvi .9 If you look upon God your faces shall shine with innocence like Moses in Horeb Stephens at Martyrdom or our Saviours at his transfiguration And then you must not dig downward but say to the Tempter get thee behind me Satan and leave it to treacherous men to beat their brains out with knocking their heads against the gates of Hell Vultures ad odorem putredinis statim convolant incorruptum corpus non attingunt says Plutarch Vultures will flutter about a putrified carkass but they have nothing to do with that which is clean and sincere Therefore Idolaters are in their right way and
of Devils are but Gods Serjeants not executioners by their own power Since Michael and his Angels are the better number and more couragious since Christ hath the key of the bottomless pit to bind the binders Quamvis ad inferos fodiunt though they dig into Hell Sion shall dwell in safety Having dispatched the Action and the Object it is to be examined what use these Fugitives can make of Hell Why 1. To escape danger and betake themselves to safety says Hugo 2. To inchant and complot against the innocent says Lyra. Beloved let your patience stay a little and only see what the wicked would have Every creature under the Sun hath a natural inclination and propensity to save it self and to avoid that which may destroy it The Lamb yeaned but yesterday makes hast from the Wolf the Chicken newly hatch'd hides it self from the gliding of the Kite As for Sinners and Reprobates ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they are so foolish that when destruction doth threaten them they dig into Hell for Saviours Like a runnagate servant that was well-nigh overtaken and ran away to hide him in a Mill Vbi te occuparem nisi in pistrino says his Master it is the very place I wisht to find you in Somewhat like to that which Phocion said of his bitter enemy Aristogiton whom he visited in prison Vbi congrediare cum Aristogitone libentiùs quà m in carcere In all the world the jail was the fittest place to encounter Aristogiton So these Fugitives have chosen their rendezvous where God would have them fodiunt ad inferos c. It was the Elogy of Heraclitus the Philosopher Vivis esse unum omnibus communem mundum all that are awake know they live in one world together Dormientes in peculiarem mundum divertere men that dream and are in sleep every one in his phancy is in a world by himself Give me leave to turn the River into my own Channel The godly man that knows his sins and trespasses knows he is in that world where God may take vengeance of him But the presumptuous sinner as foolish as the man that dreams thinks his life secure and that he is in a new-found world where God cannot find him out Whom God destines out to destroy it is his providence to make them find out a place instead of preservation for their own destruction I will begin with Catesby and his fellow Assassinates They lived in plenty amongst men and in favour with their Prince but being uncertain what might befall them they devise a stratagem to advance their heads that they might never be removed why in this was Gods providence to overwhelm them in their own cruelty So one of the Cassii being perfidious to his own Nation and luckily discovered fled to the sanctuary of a Temple his own Father sentenced to have the door damm'd up and so to starve him there was his Sanctuary Among five Kings of Canaan that were discomfited Josh x. in all likelihood some or all might have escap'd by flight but they take a Cave at Makkedah over their head and there they are inclosed Jonah was sick with fear and durst not walk upon the ground when God was displeased at him then to make all sure he prepares for shipping A strange resolution as if the Sea had not as many deaths as there are winds that blow from all the corners of the world as many graves as there are billows surging How often have we seen our friends like superstitions Gamesters shift their ground and remove into fresh air and pleasant dwelling for their health who have laid down their Carkass in that dust where they look'd for recovery In manus tuas Domine in manus tuas Into thy hands O Lord into thy hands alone we commend all we have Heaven is the only treasury where we may cast our two Mites safely as the Widow did I mean our soul and body This then is the first part of folly in these profligate persons to dig for Saviours into Hell But secondly they are a kind of men who cannot build except they pluck down they purchase nothing but by other mens ruins therefore they undermine they would settle Religion by undermining the truth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã We have had experience of such ill neighbours alas when we did stand before their faces they did design us unto death and we may say as David did living with Saul in his phrensie As the Lord liveth there was but a step between us and death Circa serpentis antrum positus diu non eris illesus says Isidor here lurks a Serpent and there a Viper and who could tread any where and not be bitten Quid gloriaris tyranne Faithless men why do you boast so much of your refined wits that you can do mischief When Songs were sung in every Town of Greece how King Philip had defaced the fair City Olynthus But when will he build up such another City says a silly woman That would be cared for Take away conscience and dispense with the Word of God and every soft Spirit and silly man could cheat as much as any promoter It was never otherwise from the beginning of the world but that a bloud-thirsty rabble have always treacherously opposed the new setling or reviving of the faith The Israelites began to be a visible Congregation in Egypt to call upon God let us deal subtilly says Pharaoh and cut off the Male Children there was one plot The next change of their State was in Captivity but finding favour in a strange Land and growing to a competent number of religious souls Haman had like to have cut them off in the twinkling of an eye there was another plot The next change after the Captivity was the Incarnation of our Saviour Sweet Babe no sooner is he born but Herod calls for the wise men privily to destroy him there is a third plot Anon after our Saviours Ascension Ceremonies are evacuated and Paul preacheth the Gospel then their heads were busie to pluck down the Cedar and plant the Heath-thorn and more than forty men bind themselves with an oath to take away his life Here are four plots and since that time there have been four thousand An honourable story for our reformed Sion and if we glory let us glory in our infirmities that for a long time the Monasteries of Friers the Colledges of Jesuits and the Consistories of Cardinals have been nothing but Conventicles to conspire against us They seem to practise as against the eldest heirs of Gods Inheritance and they like younger Brothers by wile and by guile would fain succeed us So I have let you see the two ends why the wicked spend their time about this fearful object which is Hell First For their own safety and therein they deceive themselves Secondly To undermine others and therein God will deceive them The frustrating of their end is the last part of my Text in these words Inde educet eos manus
and the names of the Stars and Constellations and with flat Romances about the good Angels falling in love with mortal Creatures things most unworthy to be fathered upon Enoch that walked with God Therefore St. Jerom moderates the variance Non probavit librum totum Judas sed illud duntaxat testimonium St. Jude did patronize no more of that Book but that Prophesie which he copied out into his Epistle As St. Paul gave no divine authority to certain heathen Poets but only to those particular Verses which he borrowed To come to a point It sounds nearest to truth that Enoch was no such Prophet as left Canonical Records because Christ was wont to argue against the Jews from Moses and the Prophets allowing Moses for the most ancient Prophet that delivered Scripture to the Church by inspiration A late Capuchin Frier hath laboured to prove as he thinks solidly as I think very superficially that Monkish Fraternities and Covents were the first invention in the Church and in his sense to be a Prophet is all one as if Enoch had been of some Colledge or religious Order separated from the ordinary Sons of God Out of his own conjectures he doth erect two strict sodalities of Religion in those ancient days From Enos the Enoscaei such as professed silence from all talk and sequestration from all men And from Cainan the Cinaei or Kenites such as lived in a regular but an active Vocation More of this in due time but we read of no vow or affected institution of life into which the Patriarchs entred we read of some illuminated Prophets or Prophet among them and that was Enoch As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets which have been since the world began Luk. i. 70. 3. His next mark of glory follows That he was an example of repentance to all Generations They that are careful to expound these words in Ecclesiasticus accurately are divided in the sense Some have searched among the Rabbines for their opinions of this and one of them says that wickedness did abound in the Age of Enoch the foul crimes of Sorceries and Witchcrafts had begun to shew their blade and Lamech was the seventh from Adam in the Race of Cain a Bigamist and a Murderer His sins in all likelihood were scandalous and contagious at that time over a great part of the earth and for these iniquities the Lord drowned the third part of the habitable world in Enochs time and Enoch threatned an universal Deluge to all flesh if they did not repent which indeed came to pass so his Doctrine and Prophesies gave notice of Repentance to all Generations But Procopius says upon this Text and he had it from some Jewish Scribes that this holy man had been very incontinent and vicious before he begat Methusalah but after that he proved so relenting a Convert laid hold so fast on God because he knew what a misery it was to lose him that his few years of repentance did God more faithful service than almost a thousand years of innocence in the best of the Patriarchs Which aspersion upon this holy Saint since it hath no ground to build upon it is answered well enough by Cajetan Enoch is twice commended in this Chapter that he walked with God in this Text and within two Verses before it the ingemination of that puts it into more probability that he was a constant follower of good works from his youth up till the time that God translated him Leaving these far-fetch'd conjectures this is the most sutable exposition to the words as I apprehend repentance is often taken for all that sanctification and righteousness which is in man that is born and conceived in sin Acts v. 31. God hath exalted Christ to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins but God gives a new heart and a new spirit to Israel and new obedience when he gives them forgiveness of sins To repent is properly reverti à peccato to return from a sinful life but sometimes it is avertere à peccato to turn a side from the broad way which leadeth to perdition though the Child of God never went astray in it So Enoch having a corruptible body which pressed down the pious alacrity of the soul and doing those things by frailty sometimes which he ought not to have done his innocency and holiness is called repentance whereupon the Son of Syrach calls him an example of repentance to all Generations 4. To be a Prophet to be an example of repentance both of these gives us an introduction to understand this Phrase that he walked with God but the true key that opens it is the fourth thing Vpon the earth was no man created like Enoch says the Son of Syrach A Cedar among other fair trees a great Star among other lesser lights a most sanctified man among many just ones like the man in the Parable that was the truest servant to his Master exceeded him that gained but two Talents exceeded him that gained five Talents he made return of ten Talents to his Lord and bore the praise away from them all that had done very well before him upon the earth was no man created like Enoch We commend those from our lips that are inter non pessimè malos not so bad as the worst But God commends them from his mouth that are inter optimos praecipui the most excellent of them that are the best Reuben was kinder towards Joseph than the rest of his Brethren so Reuben tells them of it Gen. xlii 22. yet he was but unnatural Jehu was a truer worshipper of God than the Priests of Baal yet wanted much of sincerity Gamaliel was more favourable to the Apostles than the rest of the Judges yet he did them unjustice and was an unbelieving Pharisee The Kingdom of heaven is not to be look'd for upon assurance that there are greater sinners than you but hereby you shall try if the love of God be in you when you pant and strive with all your soul and with all your might that none may be better It is a pitiful and indeed a dishonourable praise to point out a man and say he is religious devout or conscionable as the world goes Hath God ever promised to take measure from that form as a bad world goes how he will give a man an heritage with the Angels in the world to come To be an Hercules among the Argonautes I mean the first Champion in the Lords cause in the first file a Peter among the Disciples Lovest thou me more than these An Elias among Prophets a Moses an Aaron among his Priests and Samuel among such as called upon his name an Enoch among the Patriarchs upon the earth was no man created like him this is the pitch we must desire to grow unto and not to say with the Proverb Occupet extremum scabies All is well if you be not the worst of a wicked company Whatsoever you know or hear of
as his sins let him look upon this Pillar and mark that it is a Monument erected against a relapsing convert against one that was turning from the vain pomp of the World and did not persevere For she that fled from Sodom and lookt back perished as well as they that never came out And he that will consider what an heinous crime it is to be invited unto mercy and abuse it let him taste of this salt and feel what a strange judgment remains in this example to cast away that which God would have saved All this is tacitly included in the words which I have read unto you and as the Prophets of old uttered their Prophetical spirit many times by deeds and gestures as well as by word and speech So God doth teach his Church as well by fact as by precept Those Exhortations I premised were not doctrinally delivered at the castigation of Lot's Wife but miraculously exhibited in a visible work objectivè non praeceptivè they are not passed over in a line or two by the Pen of a ready Writer but built up for all posterity to look upon in a durable Monument And when judgment advanceth it self in a Trophy in a standing Pillar every man will conceive that it is meant it should be a monitory to all succession rather than if it were a fluxive a transitory penalty that left no print behind it The Idol Calf which the Israelites worshipped was beaten to powder the dust of it blown away before the wind and drunk up in the River The Sea which had given back on either side for the passage of Gods Host met together and overwhelmed Pharaoh and his Army in the bottom that they were no more seen The Earth clave and opened it self to swallow up Korah Dathan and Abiram and it closed again so that no appearance of them remained Nothing was found of Jezebel eaten up of dogs but her skull her feet and the palms of her hands So it pleased him who sits on high that all visible memorial of these sinners should be rid out of the way But He made brine of Lot's Wife and congealed it into a Statue where it stood longafter nay I cannot convince those reporters who have written that the reliques of it are to be seen to this day that passengers might shake their heads at it and say Ah thou that wert pluckt out of Sodom like a brand out of the fire and yet didst loiter by the way and couldst not refrain to cast back a wishing and a voluptuous eye upon those filthy habitations Ingenious fancies have taken scope to riddle upon this judgment Cadaver nec habet suum sepulchrum sepulchrum nec habet suum cadaver sepulchrum tamen cadaver intus that she was a dead corps that had no sepulcher and that she was a sepulcher that had no dead corps and yet it was both corps and sepulcher This gives me the hint to divide my Text into an Epitaph and a Tomb the Epitaph His wife looked back from behind him the Tomb which that Epitaph respects is that she became a pillar of salt If you will have it in Logical terms which come all to one pass thus here are two principal heads to which all the matter is to be referred qua fecit quae passa est first what she did and that 's the summary Enditement of her sin secondly what she suffered and that 's the sentence of her punishment I bind my self to the first part only at this time in which there is cumulus salis as many corns of salt as will lie upon a knifs point so in these few words she looked back from behind him many Commandments are broken 1. She was inobsequens she looked back being expresly forbidden there 's disobedience 2. Excors here 's blindness of heart she might have saved her self by going streight on and looking forward yet she violated those easie conditions 3. Iâdocilis she looked back from behind him Lot was a good example that went before her and she would go her own ways 4. Incredula she doubted whether those Cities should be destroyed as God had sent word or she thought it would not be the worse for her though she stood still and gazed upon Sodom 5. Recidiva she fainted in well doing and had a desire growing upon her to live again among those filthy sinners whom she had escaped 6. Misericordiae contemtrix she was slow to save her self and did not fly away upon the wings of mercy 7. Beneficii pertaesa she rather valued what she had lost than what she had saved her Habitation her Estate and Riches were consumed for her lifes preservation she set little by that and so loathed the benefit The Angel speaks in the 17. verse of this Chapter Escape for thy life look not behind thee neither stay thou in all the Plain yet she would not hearken no not to such a Monitor as an Angel but she looked back from behind him and so stands guilty of disobedience For disobedience is a sin by it self alone Cum crimen potius contra prohibitionem quà m contra rem ipsam fiat says the School when the fact it self were innocent but that the prohibition of the Lawgiver makes it nocent There are some Commandments of Gods which lean not so much upon apparent reason as upon absolute authority For though there be weighty causes which moved the most wise God to appoint it so yet when those reasons are not emergent out of the seeds of nature nor any way exprest and revealed as the Angel expresseth none in this place then the Command is said to come from absolute and uncontradicted dominion to try obedience There is a natural Law which lighteth every man that cometh into the World to choose the good in sundry cases of honesty and to refuse the evil this light is not a pure elementary fire but ignis culinaris as we say in Philosophy an impure smoaky flame which makes it apparent to the understanding what 's filthy to the soul as well as what 's noxious to the body And in those things where God is little known or at least little thought of humanity it self doth suggest the performance But because we rest not in the good of nature only as beasts do but aspire to a supernatural end and felicity therefore there is a supernatural Law to bring us to it Repent and believe and thou shalt be saved this is the Covenant of mercy and forgiveness which is made in Christ and the grace of God doth work in us a good will to those Divine duties that we do not frustrate our salvation Then thirdly the Sacraments of the New Testament are the Seals of the righteousness of faith as Sacraments they are Ceremonial Ordinances and are solemnly kept upon submission to the absolute Command of the Divine Authority but as faith is necessarily now knit unto them so they are a limb of the supernatural Law and are carefully observed not as Canons
man were frustrate then God riseth up in his greatness goodness and Majesty expels the wonder of a vengeance by a wonder of healing removes the punishment of the body by a blessing of salvation and drives away the Serpents by Christ I have now spoken enough to the Sin of Israel which was Murmuring and to the Punishment of their Sin by Serpents That was their grief and not ours Now by way of application I must tell you of those Serpents which we must pray unto the Lord to take away from our selves And those are three the Serpent Satan the Serpent Sin and the Serpent Man when he changeth himself from manhood into such a beast The first that may justly be called a Serpent is Satan For it is all one to say the Serpent beguiled Eve and Satan beguiled her 'T is frequent to involve the principal cause in the name of the instrument The Devil indeed is not so much as named Gen. iii. but necessarily to be understood Though his name lie in silence his effects bewray him for none else is left to father the wickedness God can tempt none to sin the good Angels wish us good and no harm there were none of humane generation on earth but Adam and Eve themselves bruitish creatures could not contrive it None is left to own it but the Serpent called the Devil and Satan who deceiveth the World Revel xii 9. Therefore God did not say to the creeping worm why hast thou done this as he charged our first Parents for that Creature did not do it As the words which a man says that is possest are not his own but the spirits that is entred into him so the evil that is attributed to the Snake was not his doing but the Devil 's that managed it Take warning therefore of the malice of that evil Fiend who never forgave himself that injury but seeks continually whom he may devour Be watchful of him for we wrestle not against flesh and bloud but against the Rulers of the darkness of this World Eph. vi 11. He makes out matter of tentation by the words that often fall from our mouth notes our usances searcheth into all our inclinations there is no passion nor frailty wherein we lie open to assault but he knows it As David was more afraid of the counsel of Ahitophel than of all the Host of Rebels that followed Absolom so all that the wicked world can muster together is not so dangerous as the methods of Satan Fast as you are able pray that God would bruise him under your feet So did Paul three times when the Messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him Paul had much grace grace that was sufficient for prayer Holiness becometh the House of Prayer and holiness becometh the mouth of Prayer What have they to do with Prayer that have no fellowship with holy Practice To come before God with a lapful of sins and a mouthful of prayers is a motley Sacrifice And in Fasting and Prayer watch your wandring heart that the Devil steal it not away with idle fancies when you pray against him which will flutter in your mind like motes in the Sun But challenge him of Sacriledg that he hath rob'd you of your devotion follow him with hue and cry and he will fly away from you Let there be any thing that we are more eagerly set upon to obtain than all the rest we will never start aside never run out of the circle when we come to that Petition And this Petition is as useful as any That the Lord would take away the old Serpent from us If Satan be a Serpent so is sin Partus sequitur ventrem such as the Dam is such is the Issue Then secondly pray unto God against Serpent sin The mortifying of it is called crushing a Cockatrice in the egg and Solomon says of drunkenness it bites like a Serpent and stings like an Adder Prov. xxiii 32. To begin with original sin 't is fitly called by Tertullian Plaga antiqui serpentis the biting of the old Serpent And many good Authors delight themselves for good cause to note it on the accident that I preach of that the people in the Wilderness did pray that the Lord would take away the Serpents from them yet he did not and for all that their Prayer sped well For God gave means to as many as were stung to be healed by looking on a Serpent that was lifted up So we are all wounded with a loathsom disease from our Mothers womb and remain wounded Baptism and Prayer make the wound less howsoever still it is a wound but God hath provided how to cure the guilt of it by intuition of faith looking on Christ who bare our sins upon his Cross And as the living Serpents were charm'd by the dead one that they had no power to kill so sin that lives in us is weakned that it shall not condemn by the Son of God that died to save us And as this sin is one by likeness in us all so one Saviour crucified for the sins of the World is sufficient to help us all The Israelites had not distinct Serpents erected after the number of their Tribes much less many more according to the number of their Families but one Serpent lifted up and but one Mediator between God and Man Aim by that level and you hit the mark The hope of remedy is founded in unity Our Gods are not plural our Redeemers are not many they that have divers Saviours have never a Saviour They that have tutelary Saints for every day for every disease Patron Martyrs for every Kingdom almost for every Parish have a serpentine swarm of superstition But as our wound is one in all so one Jesus is rich in mercy unto all Likewise a serpentine corruption is notorious in all our actual and wilful sins For the biting of a poisonous worm is not only perillous to that part of the flesh in which it fixeth its tooth but every drop of bloud draws in the malignity of that which was next unto it till there be no sound part remaining So one member of the body being tainted with the venom of sin traduceth corruption to another If the ear be tickled with filthy talk the loins will be unchast if the eye be wanton it will run into the heart Observe it by another propagation when you commit one sin you are at the brink of another the second offence makes the way smooth and slippery for a third Any transgression not presently physicked with the antidote of repentance will fetch in so many that they will sink you into the bottomless pit Yet there is another serpentine dispreading in the works of the flesh One sinner is an hundred sinners in the catching infection of his leprosie one Absolom is an Host of Rebels one Ringleader a shole of Schismaticks one Jeroboam a Kingdom full of Idolaters one incestuous Corinthian a leaven that will leaven the whole lump Therefore
needless exceptions as they hear would hiss at themselves But what charge can be worse and yet a true one that their very Prayers not seldom are Serpents and of the hissing Dialect exposing those they pray for to the ill opinion of their Auditors And when they speak to God they traduce man Is this to lift up holy hands without wrath 1 Tim. ii 8. Would not such hissing throats be silenced Not so will their well-willers say for they are diligent and profitable in their Ministry But what is the Church the better nay is it not the worse if Satan stamps his figure upon the finest mettal and to say a man hath all the Ornaments of a Preacher but a peaceable spirit is like the praise that Tacitus gives to Poppaea Sabina That she had all tbe Ornaments of a brave Lady but an honest mind Praeter honestum animum Perhaps my Doctrin will not scape hissing for this point but this is plain dealing and the Serpent is subtle That 's the fift note The Devil is a beguiler and the Master of the School he hath entailed a cunning craftiness to the mystery of iniquity Then why should not mischievous plotting be as hateful to us as a Basilisk as odious as Satan Wo be to those who have their sharpness of wit from no better Prompter that have no measure in their dissimulation no trust in their word no fidelity in their oath no distinction of causes or persons whom they ruine I do not altogether blame the Turks if it be true that they repute natural fools to be Saints I am sure they are Saints in comparison of such cunning Gipsies But a good Christian is a compound out of the better part of two qualities Rom. xvi 19. Wise to that which is good and simple concerning evil This is right inoffensiveness tempered with intelligence the simplicity of the Dove mitigating the wiliness of the Serpent To say all in a little Foul actions are supported by forgery and stratagems vertue by sage knowledg the City of Satan is for malevolence the City of God for providence the one is a Machiavel the other a Solomon Subtlety is the web and snare of the Spider but his substance is poison so is the Serpents Take it either with David Adders poison is under their lips Psal clx 3. Or with St. Paul That their word eats as doth a canker The venom of pernicious Doctrin is the most fatal cup of death The worst fraud is to poison the conscience with a deadly drink For of all pestilent contagions the worst is that which infects the spirits The greatest trust between man and man is the trust of giving counsel then what can be more scandalous than to be unfaithful in a trust of the greatest concernment It is not making over a crackt title in the sale of Lands nor turning over light and adulterate money in payment nor thrusting bad wares into the hand of a Chapman Those are shuffling dishonest tricks But in the other the ignorant committed his soul unto thee and thou didst betray it He gave thee the custody of his strongest Fort to keep for him and thou betrayedst it to the power of the enemy Christ came into the World to seek and to save that which was lost and the empoisoner hath done his part to lose that Soul which Christ would have saved He laid a stumbling block before a Disciple who should have been eyes to the blind And cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way Deut. xxvii 18. Now the conclusion of all is to pray that the Serpent Man may be taken away from us thereby the Canker-worm that spoileth flieth away Nahum iii. 15. We are assured that Moses prays for all his Israel And it is the office of him or them that have great interest in God to bless others with their prayers All must do their part all are concerned The greater Saints may prevail with God one by one others had need to meet by hundreds and thousands in great Congregations that every single mans prayer may be a drop in a shower Keep set and appointed times for that purpose for to pray only when you are at leisure is to give God the worst of the day your spare and idle time Pray with the Church which will teach you words that will meet with all your necessities Be not in love with your own conceits Make not a Form for Moses and as if without that you would leave the Communion of Saints And let the People joyn together with the Priest in sweet returns and answers to fill up the work with a Quire of voices If any one would refer all to the lip of one single mouth and says there is no benefit to interpose the suffrages of the Congregation he is he and I am I shall he perswade me that his is best when I feel the contrary in my own heart Do not others know better than he what they are sensible of in the motions of their own spirit But the season of Lent calls for Fasting to be joyned with Prayer And St. Ambrose says lib. 6. Hexam c. 4. that if a Serpent suck up the fasting spittle of a man it is mortal to it Finally pray and look up to Christ the brazen Serpent Lift up your Prayer on high higher than Satan the Prince of the Air. Get the upper ground of him it is a good advantage against an Enemy Maxim Taurin says of Simon Magus let the Story be of what credit you please that having made himself as it were sails to hover in the air St. Peter ascended higher with his Prayers and threw him headlong down Ante pervenit justa petitio quà m iniqua praesumptio So dart your Prayers out of strong zeal to enter into Heaven and say From all the Serpents of this evil Age from all Sedition and privy Conspiracy from all false Doctrin and Heresie good Lord deliver us AMEN A SERMON UPON JOSHUAH xxii 26. And that man perished not alone in his iniquity AND that man was Achan the Son of Zera that did commit a Trespass in stealing the accursed Spoils of Jericho I hope you make not dainty of the Story it is famous in the seventh of Joshuah How easily we have found him out All Israel on a time were quite to seek and seriously enquired for such a man Joshuah rent his cloaths and lamented to know his name and now if we read the first line of this verse he is discovered Though his iniquity was as close as Hell though he durst trust nothing but the dull earth with the secret of his sin yet Babes and Children learn it now in their Paedagogy that iste the man pointed at no less unhappy in his punishment than unjust in his crime was Achan the Son of Zerah that perished c. Let us enter into these words not without our demurest thoughts and holy reverence for what place of the Church is more beautiful than the
together enough to purchase a good Fee-simple in Canaan if the Lord had not given him his Portion Men think themselves now adays past the Law and penalties of death when they have sinned so much that they are grown wealthy in iniquity because if need be they can buy the favour of the Judg and he that has Achan's wealth a Wedg of gold and two hundred Shekels of silver legit ut Clericus I warrant him he is a learned Clerk and deserves his pardon But this man when he began to say deliciare anima when he was furnished to live sumptuously then he is cut off that as Solomon says the remembrance of death may be bitter to that man who thought it pleasant to live This was St. Austins rule when he was old and had learnt the World Mundus ille periculosior est cum se illicit diligi quà m cum se cogit contemni I fear no hurt from the World when it goes against me and casts a froward look upon my fortunes but my danger is near at hand when it smiles and flatters me as if all were happy When St. Basil observed how carefully Kings and Princes gathered up Pearls into their Treasury ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which the wise God to shew the contempt of them had put into Oister-shells and scattered about the Sea-shore as vile and unprofitable You do not well says he to make a Treasury of that which is so mutable in the Generation and will ebb and flow from you like the Sea which begot them Fortune never stood long upon a Pinacle summo stare loeo nescia The Sponges that swell with liquors are most likely to be pressed and emptied You do all remember how Cesar gloried in his Victory among the cowardly Asiatiques veni vidi vici he did but set his feet upon their Soil and looked them in the face and so dismaied and vanquished them 'T is no more than King David tells of himself Psal xxxvii Vidi veni non inveni vidi I saw the ungodly flourish like a green Bay-tree veni I passed by and sought him non inveni he was quite gone in the twinkling of an eye I could not find him Now recollect these three qualities of Achan who was more likely to prosper than a Souldier in the flower of his age a joyful man at his journies end in the Land of his peace a wealthy man in the plenty of his riches Take it to thought all you that have the World tied unto you with a threefold Cord of health and peace and prosperity which men dream as if it could not be broken for it broke like Tow among the sparks and iste periit c. But as Demades said when news was brought that King Philip was dead and there was no other talk among the people Peace says Demades if he be dead to day he will be dead to morrow and the next day following so I will end my discourse how Achan perished it is the way of all sinners and not much to be lamented But for an innocent to be cast away it deserves pity wherefore St. Hierom reads my Text thus utinam solus periisset it makes not much for Achans death but I would he had perished alone in his iniquity There is no word of wonder beside this in the Text and here we must stay a while as all the Hoste of Israel did when they found the dead Corps of Amasa bleeding what the Spirit of God means by this vengeance non solus that he perished not alone in his iniquity It is St. Austins rule Relevatio mali non fit per communionem cladis sed solatium charitatis To perish together with more than our selves is no comfort at all but more anxiety So it made the Scene of Achan's Tragedy full and very bitter to see 36 Israelites that drew swords for the same Victory to be slain about him On the right hand there is more misery nati cruentâ caede confecti jacent the Sons ask for bread and their Father gives them stones to stone them Two things stand before us to be observed as the Angel did in Balaams way first what Companions Achan had in his punishment and secondly how it will stand with Gods justice that every man should not perish single by himself for his own iniquity First his fellow Souldiers turn their backs and are cut down at the Siege of Ai a sort of men that I presume are prepared alwayes to die but seldom provided to die well men that engender great love together as I think David and Jonathan did at first by entring their bodies into the same dangers Wherefore St. Paul did express his love to Epaphroditus in that name ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã my fellow Souldier and so to Archippus my fellow Souldier In the Roman Discipline it was held so honourable to save another of the same company that he carried for his reward civicam coronam a Crown upon his head made of the grass of that earth whereupon he saved anothers life The infamy of Achan was as notorious on the other side that caused six and thirty to be slain of the Camp of Israel To see that bad things are sure to do us hurt and the best things are not sure to help us The Ark of God was sent into the Camp at Shilob Arca fortitudinis Domini the Ark of Gods strength Psal 132. and yet the Philistins prevailed and the Ark was taken but if one Achan come down into the Battail there is plain treachery in that mans conscience and his Wedg of gold shall fight more against Israel than all the swords of the men of Ai. Good qualities stick close to them which have them as Virtue and Learning and we cannot part or bequeath them to any man Gifts of fortune as Honours and Riches may be removed to others as you like it But it is a hard case our vices are sure to fall down upon the head of such only as are dearest to us Beloved is it so Was the hand of the Lord in the battel of Israel and doth God direct the Sword of Simeon as well as the books of Levi Those that spend their bodies so courageously for our peace deserve to have their souls well instructed Nulla fides pietasque viris qui castra frequentant I trust it is but a slander that Souldiers have small Religion where the Angel of God did draw his Sword at the threshing flore of Araunah the Jebusite David built an Altar So in every just quarrel it is the Lord himself and his anointed King that draws the Sword Wherefore do not defile the Camp with oaths and lust and drunkenness for the ground is fit for Davids Altar and the place is holy I have told you what it was to Achan to lose his fellow Souldiers yet the loss was not Achans so much as Joshuahs and he like a loving Prince did fall upon the ground and shewed much bitterness for the death
no not in Israel Nor is this a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as the Heathen called it an embasement of a good courage for the humble man hath the loftiest mind of all others if it be well observed for he reckons not by the magnificent pomp and praise of the World though he have no little part in it but esteems God and nothing else to be his glory and because he doth give God the glory in all things that are excellent therefore he doth invite the Spirit of Grace unto himself by a religious policy as thus Grace is no longer Grace than you confess it is conferred by meer gift and frank benevolence The proud is so arrogant in all his thoughts that he would not yield to that he thinks it was his due which could not justly or at least congruously be denied him Needs must the rain fall down from such a steepy Mountain and where will it find a place to rest but in a little Valley in a lowly heart which magnifies the love and favour of Christ for the gift of the Spirit above all things but we had no right to ask it because we were sinful we had no understanding to desire it because we were foolish it is omni modo gratuita a good turn freely bestowed in all respects why do you not see says Bernard gratia nullibi nomen suum tuetur nisi in humili the Grace of God should quite lose its nature unless it dropt upon the humble man sink down therefore like a valley to receive this water for the Lord resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble 1 Pet. v. 5. Secondly The Spirit holds this Analogy with water it washeth away all filth from the soul and maketh the heart clean which was defiled No superstition hath lasted longer or spread further than one I shall name unto you that an external sousing of the body in water did quite take away the guilt of all those sins which had been committed by the body So Euripides as wise an Heathen as any in the pack ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Dive but into the Sea and it would rense away all their iniquities then the Jews encurred this errour by that corruption which the Romans brought among them especially the Pharisees who if they had walked in the streets or been in the Market presently washt as soon as they came home lest they had toucht or been toucht by somewhat unawares which was defiled by the Gentiles And if they washt all was well No marvel therefore if the savage Moriscoes have a strong fancy to this day how their filthiness is purged away if they bath in some river water every morning It is more strange that the Russian Christians in these times should attribute secret power to such an idle Ceremony but most foppish of all that the Priests of Rome would lead their whole Church into this delusion that venial sins are done away if a few drops of an hallowed casting bottel light upon the gaping people and many a shrewd knavery passeth under the name of a venial sin as it is to be seen in their Cases of Conscience Against all their errours which I have recited I lay my conclusion again nothing but the grace of God that water indeed which is above the heavens doth wash away all filth from the soul and make the heart clean which was defiled The which will appear the better by noting this preeminence in their difference Elementary water well applied takes away all impure soil that cleaves to a vessel But can it add a brightness to the Vessel better than it had in the first making No you will say that is not to be expected I but such is the operation of inward grace when it maketh clean an earthen vessel is still no better than earth when it is rensed in a River but if the Spirit from above abide within us if it wash and sanctifie this Vessel of clay it overlays it with Gold and makes it more precious by far than ever Then but a word spoken with grace and in due season is like apples of gold with pictures of silver says Solomon O how much have we need of it We are all black before God like the Children of an Ethiopian says the Prophet Amos. We have Vultus adustos faces as if they were scorched with flames Jer. xiii 8. And of others whom God did begin to loath their visage is blacker than a coal Lam. iv 8. Black will take no colour we use to say there is no help for it either by Art or Nature but if the supernatural hand be stretched out upon us then the Blackmore shall change his skin and the Leopard his spots As the bloud of the Mother after the birth of her Child keeps not the colour of bloud but becomes milk in her breasts so after we are begotten again by the Spirit and bring forth the fruits thereof our bloudy sins shall become milk and though they be read as Scarlet they shall be white as snow Isa i. 18. Yea the Prophet says of Jerusalem while it served the Lord her Nazarites were whiter than snow purer than milk Lam. iv 7. Doth not David promise as much unto himself if the Lord would renew a right spirit within him Lavabis me dealbabor super nivem Thou shalt wash me and I shall be whiter than the snow As if by the Sacred Unction from heaven his soul should have a new beauty which it never had before a plain Transfiguration such as our Saviours was in the Mount so that no Fuller upon earth could make a thing so white Solomon in all his Royalty was not cloathed like a Lilly of the field But take Solomon in his repentance whereof I perswade my self and his soul was much whiter than any Lilly in the field This is a superlative vertue wherewith the water in my Text is endowed to cleanse that which was foul from every spot and to make it surpass the whiteness which it had by nature Thirdly Happy is the tree that grows by the Rivers of waters No Plant can prosper unless sap and moysture nourish it So Grace is that coelestial water which supplies the root within us it makes the conscience abundant in good works and without it it is impossible to bring forth the fruits of righteousness Mark the rain which falls from heaven and the same shower which dropt out of one cloud increaseth sundry Plants in the same Garden according to the nature of the Plant. In one stalk it makes a Rose in another a Violet divers in a third but sweet in all So the Spirit is a moistning dew which works rare effects in several dispositions and all most acceptable to God Is your Complexion Cholerick Try thine own heart if it be apt to be zealous in a good cause If it be so it is the fruit of the Spirit that works upon your constitution Is Melancholy predominant The grace of God turns that sad
if he had pleased but to grasp the Loaves or to hold them in his Palm it was a full signification that his power and liberality were eminently met together for it is that hand which openeth and filleth all things The Apostles knew where these Loaves were forth-coming but they set not their mind upon them they would not meddle with them The People were an hungry and far from home in a desart place where there was nothing but grass Two hundred penyworth of bread perchance would have staid their stomachs and Philip thought that would be too little Howsoever they had not the money to buy it Five barly Loaves and two Fishes were all they had in store and who durst take them forth and shew them openly lest they should scramble and quarrel for them The People were ready to stone Moses and Aaron in the Wilderness when they were pinched with scarcity of food Therefore some gave counsel to send them away betimes certainly suspecting a mutiny But here is an accepit which runs cross to all their imaginations Christ betakes himself to those means which they contemned instead of dismissing the Congregation he calls them closer together instead of referring them to the Villages round about he contents them amply in that barren place Instead of the Tumult which was dreaded the issue came to great applause and admiration In all their days they had never seen such a Feast as this Table in the Wilderness where every Crum became an Handful Great things became vile and vile things became great by the dispensation of Christ In his own Person the stone which the builders refused became the head of the corner and in his own hand the Loaves which the Disciples refused became such a Banquet as never was prepared Lord take it first into thine own hand whatsoever we receive and then it will increase and prosper Give us our daily bread and if it be thy gift for no more than one day the vertue of it will last a year Labour not then so much to have good things as to have them of God As David did quickly cast up a chearful account of all his estate O Lord my God all the store that we have it cometh of thine hand 1 Chron. xxix 16. whatsoever drops from his fingers is sweet smelling Myrrh Cant. v. 5. but all false ways he utterly abhors and whatsoever comes in by fraud by extortion by cavillation it will consume away as fast as ever the Loaves and Fishes increased But surely the whole quaternion of Evangelists have set down this Preamble to the Miracle with such joynt consent He took the Loaves that it cannot choose but have some depth of observation in it St. Chrysostome hath reacht it so far that great numbers follow him namely that our Saviour did impatronize himself thereby to the work which followed and published himself from thence to be the Author of the Miracle It was alike easie to his Omnipotency to say the word and to make bread of nothing Or to take a little into his hand and to amplifie it into a great quantity Depend upon this what we have he can increase and what we have not he can create it is all one to him But by handling the lump and so giving vertue to the augmentation the People might behold him as the Fountain of all Power and Majesty and say with the Lycaonians God is come down unto us in the likeness of man Hear what that Father says more unto it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It was very expedient that the People should be taught these two Articles of their belief that Christ came from the Father and that he was equal with the Father The one must be proved by power the other by holiness The one by taking the Loaves the other by giving thanks The one by doing all the other by calling upon God when he did all Put the case he had looked up to Heaven and furnished them with satiety of victuals out of nothing what would the multitude have said why this comes from above this is Gods doing and this Jesus is a Prophet that 's come from God O but can humane reason be brought to no better opinion of him 't is true whatsoever can be done they that are unbelievers may gain-say it yet to subdue all contradiction in them that are willing to obey the truth he took the bread and took the glory to himself to make every loaf content a thousand that they might cry out with the Centurion this is of a Truth the Son of God and it is no robbery to say he is equal with the Father So at Cana in Galilee he did not create wine when they wanted and supplied them out of nothing but he turned water into wine water of their own fetching as this was bread of their own bringing a pre-existent matter whose substance they knew to be vulgar and natural he wrought upon these sensible things before their eyes that they might impute the transmutation to his own Divinity Unto which of the Prophets therefore can you liken him in this Miracle Moses obtained Manna from Heaven by prayer and supplication Christ did this by his own hand The Widows Barrel of Meal did not waste nor her Cruise of Oyl fail it was Elias his prediction not his immediate operation Elisha bad his Servant set twenty barley loaves before an hundred men they did eat and left thereof yet for his own part he did not meddle with it because he would have the children of the Prophets ascribe all to the Word of the Lord they did according to that spirit upon them which was circumscribed and limited God had lent them a tongue to declare his noble acts but the hand which did all was far above the hand of power was radical in Heaven therefore this is a distinctive note to know the Master from his Servants he took the loaves He took them indeed but for justice sake it is fit to ask unde habuit from whence he had them A mean question many times hath found a grave resolution it may prove so in this Whence he had them Why some say the Disciples did own them for they answer him Matt. xiv 17. We have here but five loaves and two fishes The words bear it as if they were theirs because their Master was wont to carry them into desolate places and to detein them there all night it was their wonted providence to carry some small refection with them in their journey as it appears Matth. xvi 7. When our Saviour bad them beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Saducees they reasoned among themselves saying it is because we have taken no bread Then they had not yet usually they do not forget it and it may be this was their provision for the present season But the votes of them are more that conceive they did belong to some other In the nineth verse Andrew says there is a Lad here
natural men began from Religion whensoever they feasted for before they tasted any thing they did offer or sequester a first fruits to their Gods as Plutarch says in his Symposiacks But as for Christians though it were no Feast though their Fare were most course and slender yet says Tertullian Non prius discumbitur quà m oratio ad Deum praegustetur aequè oratio convivium dirimit And Gregory tells us it is in his Dialogues indeed that a man that eat but a few herbs and blest not God before the eating was possessed with a Devil I will not say upon so poor a Repast but where there is a full Table I will say it with Origen that there is a kind of bewitching in meats and drinks a kind of luxurious devil that dances in the Dish Which made holy Job offer Sacrifice for his Sons and Daughters when they had spent some days in liberal entertainments For though I may charitably suppose that the Children of so Venerable a man were educated in Sobriety yet it is an hard thing to be confined within an unblameable temperance Quis est qui non aliquantulùm rapitur extrametas necessitatis Says St. Austin in his Confessions and yet a man of admirable abstinence Who is it that doth not pamper himself with more than that which is barely necessary And therefore all men had need to protect themselves with Prayer against excess and superfluity If Christ thought it meet when five thousand were to be fed with five Loaves and two Fishes what need have we to be munitioned against Luxury Where Quails and Manna are but homely fare in respect of our condited delicates Seria ludicra verba jocos trina superna regat pietas says a sacred Poet. You may be serious you may be frolick at Table and mirth is more beseeming than sadness at that season yet begin all in the name of God that seriousness may not turn into melancholy nor mirth into scurrility Fie on their corrupt ears that love to be tickled with lascivious Ballads while they are pampering their belly Penelopes Suitors were great Gluttons and Minstrils they had meal by meal but blind Homer says any new Song would please them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã yet these were nebulones Alcinoique Now a days it must be obscene or it is nothing O these that abuse both the sustenance of the Body and the sweet delight of the Spirit they are neither worthy of Meat nor Musick but are reserved for howling and gnashing of teeth Now I shall come to an end for this time For I have done with that word of sacred and ghostly preparation which St. John useth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he gave thanks the other Evangelists use the term ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã be blessed That you may learn that to bless and to give thanks are words convertible says St. Cyril that signifie the same thing he makes no more of it And it is true that at some times they are Synonyma as 1 Cor. xiv 16. When thou shalt bless with the Spirit how shall he that supplies the place of the unlearned say Amen at the giving of thanks There they must be the same but here they must be divers for Christ gave thanks unto his Father but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã says St. Luke he blessed the bread To give thanks was the Piety of his Humane Nature but this blessing came from the vertue of his Divine Nature He did infuse a new miraculous quality into the Loaves and imparted a seminal power unto them of increase and multiplication I know not what ailes some Interpreters I think they are afraid of Magick that they do so avoid this word and turn it from the right signification when our Saviour is said to bless any outward matter that was before him But saving their Criticisms wherein they are most laboriously impertinent to confound it with Prayer and giving of thanks I find a threefold blessing of the Creature in the Gospel Communis Miraculosa Sacramentalis First at a common Supper for so I conceive it Luk. xxiv 30. Our Saviour blessed bread Not as if there were any impurity in the Creature especially there could be none to him Deo artifici tam mundus est porcus quam agnus says St. Austin But it teacheth us to invocate Gods goodness that those things which we use may be salutiferous unto us And herein I cannot deride them that have a Ceremony to bless their Honey and Eggs on Easter day their Pastures on St. Stephens day their Wine on St. Johns day their Orchards and Gardens on the Assumption as they stile it of the blessed Virgin There is no vanity in these common Benedictions Secondly There is a blessing of the Creature with a mighty hand when a Miracle is wrought So these Barly Loaves were blessed exalted to an enlargement above their nature and this is to be adored and not to be imitated If you would have it inquired into whether this blessing was executed with any outward Ceremony I have no resolute answer for it Whether Christ did use some set form of Prayers or words or used the imposition of his hands or the gesture of his body in some remarkable Figure I cannot tell One of these are not unlikely because the Passengers that went to Emaus knew him by his blessing and breaking of bread It may be they had been at the spending of these five Loaves in the Wilderness and knew the form of his customary Benediction Cajetan puts it off with a trifling conjecture that he was used to break bread with that evenness as if it had been cut with a Knife and that discovered him It is more likely I take it that he was known by a decent and outward Ceremony of Benediction Lastly There is a Sacrament al Benediction of the outward Elements So the water of Baptism is sanctified to be the Pool of Regeneration So our Saviour did not only give thanks but he blessed and consecrated both the Bread and the Cup which he divided among his Disciples No doubt in the beginning of the Supper before they fed of the Lamb he had blessed the Table That he did as the Son of man But afterward he began an eximious and singular Benediction for a new work as the Son of God he exalted them thereby to be the lively Sacrament of his body and bloud Et non sunt quod natura formavit sed quod benedictio consecravit says St. Ambrose They are no more that which Nature hath made them but that for which then Christ and since we in our Priestly Benediction do consecrate them The hand of Jesus is with us in our work and the blessing c. THE SECOND SERMON UPON JOHN vi 11. He distributed to the Disciples and the Disciples to them that were set down and likewise of the fishes as much as they would THis is the second time I take leave to remember you of it that I have propounded
the Apostle from him that sent him What if the Lycaonians are so ravished with the actions of such Instruments that they acknowledge no God but Barnabas and bring forth Sacrifice to offer unto Paul and not to Christ Why there is no remedy against wilful blindness There is a beam as big as the whole âarth in their eye that will look about them and not above them Choose you whether you will be dazled with that vertue which our Saviour hath given to his holy Servants but this is the tenure of their Commission Joh. xiv 12. He that believeth on me the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do That is multiply Loaves and Fishes as I have done and multiply them more than I have done Are you scandalized at this Truly I confess it is a word of no easie digestion that any Saint or friend of God should do greater works Majora If Christ had not said it who could have heard it with patient ears He doth not mean the works of the Law for no man ever did the like because none but the unspotted Son of God fulfilled the Law He doth not mean the works of Redemption and Salvation they were so proper to his own person as the Angels were not good enough to have any fellowship in them He means his Miracles most certain they were called works and none but they by the popular estimation For without them all that had been done beside to their palates had been impertinency or idleness But how shall we measure one by another that greater Miracles were brought forth than those which he effected Well enough says St. Austin For was it not more for the sick to be cured by the shadow of Peter passing by than by touching the hem of our Saviours Garment And again our Lord did cure diseases by speaking the word and laying on his hand yet the world was more amazed that evil Spirits were cast out of the Possessed if but an handkerchief was applied which was brought from the body of Paul And another Father it is St. Hierom puts it home that mightier things should be brought to pass at this day than ever were seen since the Creation if there were any just cause to declare the glory of God by such wonders If you say where is the promise that a Fig-tree should wither away and a Mountain be removed into the Sea when a strong Believer should say the word Did any Apostle or Martyr make trial and accomplish it Nevertheless says the Author the Promise is in force and if there were just occasion to pray unto the Father it should be executed Such things are not unproduced as it were upon emulation because the story of Christ you may think hath nothing to parallel such vast Miracles When the hour shall come to glorifie the Gospel such works shall be brought to pass which are apted for that end perhaps less perhaps greater than in former Ages Finally if it should be brought to pass at this day that twenty thousands were fed with one Loafe you should not say true if you affirmed it were a greater Miracle than Christ did for Jesus Christ yesterday and to day is the Author of that very Miracle So Theophylact hath a subtil note upon that Text of St. John that Christ did not say He that believes shall do greater things than I How was that Not of themselves possible when they did nothing of themselves but by him and his Spirit but thus they shall do greater things than these viz. when I assist them and they pray unto the Father So let us honour God in his Saints as that we rob not the Lord of his honour When he that is mighty hath magnified his Servants to do great things give unto the external cause all moral veneration but give unto the supernal cause all religious adoration None did distinguish upon this with a more singular dexterity and unanimity than these five thousand that were fed so marvellously in the Wilderness What they received was from the Disciples and from none beside and that which they received if it swelled miraculously in Christs hand it exceeded much more in the hands of the Disciples and yet the People were so prudent in taking the right way that they baulked the Disciples and glorified Jesus they found out the Founder and discerned him from his Instruments As it is a Proverb in Nazianzen Vestem consuit Istiaeus caeterum induit Aristagoras Istiaeus made the Coat Aristagoras did but wear the Coat So Christ made the Miracle the Apostles were no more than the representers or the publishers of the Miracle This was espied not by one or two but by the whole Assembly that had met in the Desart and they pick out Christ from the herd of the Disciples him they proclaim to be the Prophet that should come into the world they worship him they design him to be their King and nothing that appears was devised to gratifie the Disciples for they were not the primary Agents in whom supernatural power was immanent and habitual but Balislae Spiritus Sancti the Engines of the Holy Ghost that uttered forth such vertue as they received by his infusion As the gift of Prophesie is not born with the soul but comes by inspiration Or as the Peripateticks say that the Intelligences assist the Orbs of heaven and move them about but they do not move by a soul that informs them So it was not a native and ingenite quality which the Worthies of the Primitive Church had to speak with Tongues and to effect Wonders but an adventicious vertue according to the pleasure of him that distributes where he pleaseth In Christ the power is absolute home-born undependent in his Ministers it was but borrowed derivative dependent in him that was the brightness of his Fathers glory it is original and essential in his Servants it is gratuitous and accidental in him it is without measure and infinite in theirs it is limited and finite Far be it from us then to think that it gave the Disciples any precedency no nor equality no nor the least degree of comparison with their Master because when they distributed to them that sate down the Loaves increased in their hands more abundantly than they did in Christs I am now past the first Point the extraordinary grace that descended upon the Disciples but we that would walk in their steps according to the ordinary grace of God shall make more use to look upon them as boni viri and boni Pastores First As good men that gave liberally as God enabled them And the former grace would bear no price at all if it wanted this Though I have all faith so that I could remove Mountains and have no charity I am nothing but with this it makes a propitious conjunction As fast as Christ gave unto them they gave unto those that were in need Tu vade fac similiter There
hid but shewed its manifest lustre I say was never hid yet nothing repugns to the nature of a true Church but it might disappear and be enclouded from the sight of most men in mists and storms of Heresies and Persecutions Let not the Antagonists dissemble and they know the discord is at another point namely whether the main Principles of saving truth being reteined and taught famously in a Church which is otherwise very corrupt in divers Doctrins whether those that distaste and in heart renounce such over-added Superstitions are always distinct and culled out from the rest so that nominately they may be discerned from the more potent Faction We affirm and are sure of what we affirm by uncontroleable experience that the Israel of God do not always profess their Faith and Religion in Congregations apart but many times they continue in the external Fellowship and common Society of corrupt Believers and these have been so suppressed by the tyranny and subtlety of great ones who have laboured to obscure them that as for the present they have been little set by so they have had small or no reputation in History to commend their name to after Ages Much might be said and invincibly formed for this out of Ecclesiastical Annals I appeal to one Instance above their Monuments which beget nothing but humane faith The Master Builders of Jerusalem about the time of our Saviour's Incarnation reteined the sum of the Law but admixt with it most impure Divinity and partly by their cunning and partly by their supercilious Authority there was no open distinct Assembly of the People which concurred not with them Joseph and Simeon and Zachary men not carried away with their fraud were but here a berry and there a berry upon the top of a bough and if it hapned thus to Jerusalem below where lies the odds who can tell that it may not sometimes be the condition of the Christian Church which is Jerusalem from above Now far be it from this Remonstrance of the paucity and obscurity of the sincere Church as if it inclined to a schismatical disjunction Nay Simeon and Zachary had rather hold communion with the Synagogue of their times which was much departed from the Truth but then they were not compelled to subscribe to the prevailing errors of the Scribes and Pharisees Jerusalem is not Jerusalem if it be not a building well compacted together of them that hold society as much as in them lies with all those that have received the Mark of Christ in their forehead We are called a spiritual Building and living Stones 1 Pet. ii 5. Stones that lie scattered are troublesome to the Passenger and dangerous to stumble at joyn them to others for the erection of a Building and then you have employed them to their most physical property As in a Wall one stone supports another so when we cleave fast together and bear one anothers burdens God will dwell within us Where two or three are gathered together there am I in the midst of them Says Ignatius in his Epistle to the Ephesians we are Stones squared by the Line of the Holy Ghost and raised up by Charity from Earth to Heaven And when the Holy Ghost doth dispose us to supply our fit place in the Structure then we are living stones Lapides mortui nihil possunt per se nisi cadere says Hierom to that of St. Peter a dead stone hath no motion of it self but to drop out of the Wall of the House and to fall down as who should say there is nothing but decay and death in division as on the contrary there is prosperity and life in unity But as Pliny tells of Theophrastus that he taught in his Philosophy that there were some stones that by nature brought forth other stones as it is in Plants and Trees so the stones that build the Walls of this Jerusalem must bring forth that which is fit for the ornament of the Building but if they do very wicked things fitter for the Tower of Babel than for the Temple of Christ they they shall be plucked out of the Building like accursed stones upon which the spot of leprosie appeared and the Priest shall cast them into an unclean place without the City Levit. xiv 40. Jerusalem consists in external communion but they are not worthy of it And so ends the first point It was not enough in St. Pauls Judgment to denominate the Spouse of Christ from the best Habitation for earth is but earth be it never so much a selected portion therefore he carries her aloft in his praise and adds that it is Jerusalem which is above an heavenly City Heb. xii 22. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as if it had not its original here but fell down from the starry Firmament A notion fit for the most oratorious style of the Prophet Isaiah says he It shall come to pass in the last dayes that the mountain of the Lords House shall be established on the top of the Mountains To which the Rabbins give a childish interpretation that toward the time when God shall finish all things Mountains shall be piled upon Mountains Thabor upon Sinah Sinah upon Carmel and Sion upon them all as the Poets feign that the Giants threw Pindus and Pelion on the top of Ossa how low they creep in their understanding that do not stretch that description to Heaven Let such Blind-worms lick the dust as the Psalmist says but we must find out certain Raptures rather than Expositions how the Seat of Christ's Kingdom where his Servants do him homage in praise and holiness is not beneath but above First because Christ our Head is ascended into Heaven and governs all things beneath from thence sitting at the right hand of his Father As a King upon whose safety the weal of the Kingdom depends is said to carry the lives of his people with him when he adventures his person into danger so our Souls do hang upon Christ our Redeemer in him we live and move wheresoever he goes he draws us after him if he be lifted up on high so are we also by vertue of concommitancy it is his will and we have his word for it that where he is there should we be also When we pray unto him if our spirit do not issue out from us and prostrate it self before him in Heaven that Petition sollicits faintly and is not like to speed because it comes not nearer to him who is our Advocate with the Father When we come to his holy Supper unless we carry up our heart unto him by strong devotion and presume that we see that very Body which was crucified for us before our eyes we pollute the Sacrament for want of faith There are such joints and bands which knit the body unto the head as mortal reason cannot express but through faith and love we are often with him by invisible ascensions but most assured be we that there he intercedes for us
Gospel He prosecutes the Trope from Ishmael the Son of the Bondwoman who was aliened from his Fathers house and from Isaac the Son of Sarah who was the Heir of the Promise And all this is curious and inlac'd like Mosaick work with most artificial correspondencies Thus Solomon delivered the Institutions of an honest life in plain and concise Proverbs but when he wrote upon the beauty of the Church he altered his stile into a polite and mystical Song And our Apostle doth frequently utter the things belonging to Justice and Temperance in lowly and vulgar forms of speech but when he goes about to describe the rights and graces of the Church then Paulò majora he is quite another man and handles that subject with many gradations of eloquence Witness my Text as in part I have unfolded it already which is a flower growing upon the stalk of this Allegory which I discuss the oftner to keep the Precept which David gives Psal xlviii Walk about Sion and go round about her tell the Towers thereof mark well her Bulwarks and consider her Palaces The Sion in that Psalm is the Jerusalem in my Text which consists of no ordinary Bays of building but all of sumptuous Architecture There is never a word in this Text but is either a Tower a Bulwark or a Palace of Jerusalem Mark them well go round about them says the Psalmist Her Towers rise up in state for Jerusalem is above she hath Bulwarks of safety for we are made free therein by the bloud of Christ Her Palaces are of large containment for she is the Mother of us all Out of six words in the verse I formerly considered six attributes of honour that belong to that Church which Christ hath purchased with his bloud ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 1. She is a Jerusalem a visible fair City there is her external Communion 2. A Jerusalem above that is its internal Sanctity 3. A Jerusalem that is free which is her most proper Christian Badge and supernal Redemption 4. A Mother that is her fruitfulness 5. The Mother of us which imports a Brotherly Unity 6. The Mother of us all which expresseth the universality I have told and numbred the Towers of it and in a former day I proceeded to Jerusalem above Now I will mark her Bulwarks and consider her Palaces that she is free and the mother of us all Jerusalem which is above is free The precedent praise of the Church adheres unto this word for the consummation thereof If there be any that take upon them to belong to the New Jerusalem and to the City which is above let them shew the Copy of their Freedom that they are not led by the Spirit of Bondage but by the Spirit of Adoption There may be a plausible conversation of life in them that are out of the Pale of Jerusalem For Moral Vertues do not belong to Christian men as Christians but they pertain to them as men says Hooker There may be fair manifests of sanctity and the contempt of the world in their outward carriage whose heart is not above The sower morosity of the Pharisees would make you believe they renounced all vanities Pestilent Hereticks have exceeded that I may not say excelled in works of mortification Pelagius was of a demure honesty Vir ut audio non parvo profectu Christianus says St. Austin Severus Sulpitius says of Priscillian he was noted for many laudable parts of mind and body in fasting in humility in contentation So Anthimus and others Doth not this shew as if it were all for the world above And yet they had neither part nor lot in that matter The Reason because they had some bondage in them they were under a Captivity which they had not shaken off They had not liberale ingenium so that the last enquiry who belong to that Jerusalem above is upon this question Whether the truth hath made them free Joh. viii 52. For Jerusalem that is above is free It is a word that comprehends in it much favour and much duty And it shall pass under my hand with this examination 1. What this freedom is 2. How we got it 3. How we must use it Our freedom consists in a manumission from a four fold servitude 1. We are delivered from the Yoke of Ceremonies called the bondage of the Elements of this World in this Chapter verse 4. 2. We are most free for the New Covenants sake which is made with us For salvation is not offered us through the Works of the Law but through the Promise of grace We Brethren as Isaac was are Children of promise verse 28. 3. We have not received the Spirit of Bondage to fear but the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Rom. viii 25. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã says Theophylact upon my Text the Gospel exhorts us gently it doth not affright us tyrannously 4. The rewards of the New Testament are not momentary things such as the Law propounded but heavenly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã says the same Author we are not servants that do our duty for visible wages And all these together make the copy of a perfect freedom He that is under rudiments is under age he that is bound to the works of the Law is under condemnation He that is curbed by threatnings is under thraldom He that looks for momentary things from God is under base afflictions From all these Christ hath exempted us by the Gospel which is called the perfect Law of liberty Jam. i. in this complete sort our Jerusalem which is above is free First To be exempted from the incumbrance of well nigh a Million of Levitical Ceremonies will not appear so gracious a benefit as it is unless we take a great deal of leisure to mark it Never was any people so Paedagogically handled as the Jews were The observation of the greatest part of their days was calculated their meats were stinted their bread was prescribed They had Ordinances upon their Garments precise rules for the fruits that grew in the field directions for their building appointment for their Apparel Not so much but the very cutting of their hair was subject to a Commandment What strict Orders against Pollution What nice receits to cleanse pollution What tedious Traditions in their Oblations and Sacrifices What Punctilioes to be nicely kept in all the discharges of their Religion In Secular affairs they could do nothing wherein their soul delighted In Sacred affairs it was impossible for them to perform every thing which Moses enjoyned God knew how much addicted they were to their own inventions therefore he leaves them nothing either holy or profane to be managed by their own discretion but are quite rejected as unworthy to judge of the smallest matters and they had their hands full of these petty duties to leave no room to extraneous Superstitions Tertulliam adds Et Deus operosis officiis dedolaret God did plain and smooth the ruggedness of their nature with many
disputation but to inward examination how you look to be freed from the fire of Hell when you shall stand before the Judgment Seat of God Will you trust to inherent righteousness and say it will be well for me this good I have done Or to the imputed justice of Christ which is true and perfect justice and pleaseth the eyes of God O there is no ground can be laid for peace and salvation but in his righteousness that justifieth a sinner They that carp at this take them from their sentences and quodlibets and search what they say in their Books of Devotions Manuals of Prayer Graduals of love and repentance Meditations of Death then nothing comes from them but O Lord deliver us O Saviour redeem us O Son of God remember not that which is past then they never fly to the bloudy Altar of the Law but to the Sanctuary of the Gospel In a word whosoever refers his justification in any part to a legal righteousness is yet in bondage but Jerusalem which is above is free It is this Covenant of Faith that turneth away the captivity of Jacob. Now under the Discipline of Faith the Spirit attracts us by love and meek perswasions it doth not threaten and bend the fist at us as the Law did and that 's the third part of bondage which our Jerusalem hath escaped it is not awed with compulsion and fear but it follows the direction of the Spirit with gladness which is the next step to the state of Angels It is not good for a Child to be too much scar'd by Praeceptors and Governours such nipping weather is an enemy to a flourishing Spring Then imagine what a shivering Ague it was to the Israelites Sons of God but not yet come to age as St. Paul describes them to struggle with so many austere Statutes as Moses gave them Scourgings loss of eyes loss of limbs burning stoning forfeiting the life of a man for the trespass of a beast losing the right hand for a casualty a moral man that knew not the strictness of Gods Judgments would say for a trifle Add unto these so many pollutions circumstantial natural that could not be helpt to be expiated with continual cost and labour add above all these that noise of Malediction louder than thunder Cursed is he that doth not continue in all the words of this Law to do them amidst these terrours that came so thick as they were good to bridle stubbornness so many generous resolutions of the mind that would have put forth must needs be suffocated The Angel of God when he came with a message from heaven and would have it intelligently received likely he began with this Preface Fear not Nay God did deliver this People from the fear of Pharaoh and his Host before ever he would give them a Law to serve him Men that are held to their Tasque by minacies Magis aguntur quà m agunt He that doth a thing out of love is carried to it by an internal complacency he is a self mover and the action is his own he that goes forward to his Tasque because the scourge is behind him the action is not his own raptatur ad obsequium his will rows against the stream but the Tide is so strong that it carries him with it by Coaction And that harvest of obedience which is reapt with the Sickle of stern dominion and threatning when all is done it is not worth the bringing into the barn For it keeps a man that he dares not break out into a scandalous transgression of the Law Is not that all The External Act is smooth and conformable to justice But what reformation is there all that while in the heart It is not fear but love which takes upon it to cure the concupiscence which is in the mind If there be no better School-master than fear the body may worship God alone and the mind remain an Idolater A longer declaration of this there needs not We all know that a Palsie of fear will shake Judgment out of the wit The Oratour that pleaded upon peril of his life Lugdunensem rhetor dicturus ad aram he would pronounce but badly and surely much of the imperfections of the Jews may be imputed to this that the Law did subject them to the Spirit of Bondage It is the Spirit of the New Testament which turns us about and sets us free from the superciliousness of the Law and it would have us please the Lord for his mercies sake and out of the sense of his goodness it exhorts us that our service should grow out of his favours and our duty out of his bounty and benefits so shall there be alacrity and readiness in the soul to all manner of vertue as well as passive obsequiousness in the body The Schoolmen observe it rightly that filial fear which is the freedom and ingenuity of obedience riseth out of the love of God but servile fear which is a plain captivity of Spirit riseth out of the love of our selves The Servant who goes through his Tasque that he may not suffer correction would do as much as may keep his skin whole that is for love of himself A Son that honoureth his Father and rejoyceth to hear his voice seeks his Fathers glory that he may receive of his glory and this is purely out of the love of God No wonder therefore if this hath redounded to far more fruits than ever the tree of the Law did bear which was pelted and beaten For as one hath noted it well Gods Church hath increased more by the love of God than by the terrour which he sent in the old time but when persecutions were rife it increased more by the terrours of men than by their love The use of it is that we serve God as those that are past the Spirit of bondage reverently with fear and chearfully without fear Faith is the great promoter of reverential fear and breeds in us an awe of Gods Majesty and a dread of his glory as the Cherubins do cover their faces with their wings before him This is clean and pure refined in the flame of love caused neither by sin nor punishment but it reflects upon the baseness of our own substance the Creature compares its own vileness with the infinite excellency of the Creator and so approacheth with all due distance of humility But Faith again cools the inflammation of servile fear with the water of Baptism wherein we were sprinkled with the bloud of Christ It teacheth us to decline offences with all care and study not to escape punishment but out of gratitude to him who hath done so great things for us It ingenders an ardent sollicitousness to be unblameable not because the wrath of the Lord is terrible when he is displeased but because his Mercy and Redemption deserve to be recompenced with all manner of obedience Labour for that integrity which is expected from one that is free from sin but a servant to
Prologue for both the Vision which he saw and the words which he heard though they deserve an Interpreter yet they are much more obvious to the capacity than the Antecedent Predictions If I had put it into my tasque to speak of the opening of the fifth Seal which begins the verse then I must have embarqued my self in a great controversie about the precise Age when such things fell out and what distance of Ages the several Seals do include But I undertake not to foretell events that were to Prophesie out of my own brain I apply nothing which St. John saw either to the Empire or to the Church below I deal no further than the prospective of these words doth carry me that is the Theatre of the Church Triumphant The Church Triumphant That puts another objection upon me For who is sufficient to handle that Subject Eye hath not seen ear hath not heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man what God hath done for his Saints in those glorious places I submit unto it and will not touch their inscrutable glory with my unwashen hands Upon two things we may taste without surfeiting of curiosity and I will set no more before you They are these Let us neither think that the Saints are extinguished in death for St. John saw the Souls under the Altar of them that were slain for the Word of God and for the Testimony which they held Nor let us think that their enemies are forgotten for those Souls cry night and day saying c. To contract it into short terms for the more apt division here are two parts what the Apostle saw in the Church Triumphant and what he heard But of no more than the first of these at one time Wherein first I must speak a little de modo videndi after what manner he saw this Theory I saw 2. Quid vidit what he saw he saw Souls 3. Quales vidit what kind of Souls they were Souls of them which were slain for the Word of God and for the Testimony which they held 4. Vbi vidit where and in what place he saw them Vnder the Altar When St. John relates how he did comprehend this wonderful object he says he saw it With what eye doth he mean No bodily Instrument you may be sure not such an eye as every birds dung can put forth not these foggy lights in our head that wax dim with Age and at last will spend themselves quite out in their Sockets these cannot attain to behold the Spirits of Saints Tertullian mistook a Parabolical passage for a real branch of a story where the Rich man in hell is said to see Lazarus in Abrahams bosom from whence he ascribed effigiation and colour to a soul and would not endure Critolaus and the Peripateticks that said it was a quintessence and no body no error more visible than this that the Souls in heaven are visible and have corporality The eye of man shall be endued with vertue to see the Angels nay to see the very Essence of God when this flesh shall be clarified and refined in the Resurrection In virtutem ipsius mentis quodammodò convertentur oculi says St. Austin This bodily eye shall then be transformed into an intellectual Faculty But as yet it can discern nothing but that which is earthy like it self Search we out therefore for some other way how John saw the souls under the Altar It lies in those words which we meet twice before in this Book ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it was in the Spirit That is as I take it a Prophetical Revelation was infused into him through imaginary forms joyned with an abstraction from the senses Blame me not if this desription be somewhat difficult for who can tell what a divine Rapture is unless himself had been in a rapture I call it a Revelation it is the title of the Book for this reasân Pharaoh and Nebuchadonosor had Visions and understood not what they meant but when the intelligence of the thing is opened as it was to Joseph and Daniel it became a Revelation So St. Austin observes Maximè propheta est qui in utroque excellit ut videat in spiritu corporalium rerum similitudines eas vivacitate mentis intelligat He is an eminent Prophet both ways who sees in the Spirit certain Figures and Similitudes of things to come and knows them by illumination So did this Apostle no question for all Scripture was opened to the Apostles much more was this Scripture opened to the Apostle who wrot it from the mouth of God 2. I blazon'd it for a Prophetical Revelation for the Angels have all things revealed unto them in the Vision of the Divine Essence but that is no Prophesie to them because as the Schoolmen speak it is Sine omnibus creatis adminiculis they have it put into them neither by word nor by deed nor by dream nor by figurative presentation but this being communicated to St. John by imaginary species it was no Angelical way of seeing but a Prophetical Revelation 3. I add infused by the holy Spirit For when Moses saw the bush burn and not consume it was a Prophetical Revelatio yet without inward infusion because he beheld it with his eyes This was not so but he saw it through abundant inspiration He was in the Spirit which is in effect to say that he became very Scriptural As Camerarius fits the phrase out of the Poet Euripides that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã are very learned men most intimate with the Muses so this phrase denotes that the Holy Ghost had the dominion in John for the Spirit was not in him but he was in the Spirit 4. This must go with the rest that the Spirit infused this Revelation into him through imaginary forms supplying his fancy with the fashion of an Altar of a Throne a Lamb newly slain a Sea of Crystal and a thousand things more Many times new species and forms are created in the fancy of him that is illuminated many times that light which God gives doth shine upon those notions and conceptions which were in the mind before So we see that Isaiah and Amos this Apostle and other Prophets do utter their Prophesies through the similitudes known unto them in their former conversation 5. The utmost of all is that this Revelation was accompanied in him with a Rapture or abstraction from the senses So Beza interprets that phrase he was in the Spirit Correptus spiritu he was swallowed up of the Majesty of God so that his mind was taken away from the body Ezekiel says in one place that the Spirit entred into him Chap. ii 2. In another place that he was carried away in the Spirit Chap. xxxvii 1. There is great odds between these two the one was by ordinary inspiration the other by extasie and so was this of our Prophet when he saw the souls under the Altar he was so enwrapt in Celestial
Visions that he could take no notice for the present that he lived or had a body but his Spirit was quite abstracted from the senses and lifted up to converse with supernatural speculations Now to sum up this Point touching the modus how John saw the souls of the blessed you shall hear how St. Austin made no scruple of the like case The Angel appeared to Joseph in a dream How did Joseph see an Angel when his eyes were shut Nay rather says the Father how could he have seen an Angel if his eyes had been open So the more the senses of this Prophet were bound up the less communication he had with his mortal nature the more capable he was to see the secrets of God It were no digression at all to tell you at large in this place that St. John was not every body when he saw the Mysteries of the Ages to come in an holy trance Examine him from the time that he was the beloved Disciple while his Master Jesus Christ was upon the earth behold him in his other cognizances that he was an unspotted Virgin a patient Confessor An Evangelist that sored higher than his fellows an Eagle in his Gospel but a Dove in his Epistles where every line is enchased with Jewels of love the aged Patriarch who had long survived all the Apostles the Oracle that resolved all the Churches in their Controversies Finally that supereminent man that left not his like behind him and since his days his equal did never rise up after him Put all this together and mark what a sanctified Vessel this was to see the souls under the Altar and all those things which the Angel told him should come to pass in the days to come What wretch can think himself so prepared as he was to receive these Prophetical graces of God With how many favours of God is a Vision qualified to make it a perfect illumination Let it deter any one that is not possessed with the spirit of Arrogance to think that he is possessed with the spirit of Divination Quia videre non possumus audiamus says St. Austin There is no hope that we vile sinners should see such Visions it is our blessedness that we hear of them What laughter doth it give our Adversaries that this caution is not observed among us we had proof of it lately and almost year by year every hair-brain'd Schismatick that out of pride thinks himself more holy than others fancies that he is a Prophet These filthy dreamers presume they have learnt all that the Scriptures can teach them and therefore like apt Scholars they must be promoted to an higher Form to learn supernal Revelations As the Romanists are excessive in forging lies for their Saints sakes so these are excessive in forging lies for their own sakes both are liars both are Legendaries It was a gift which St. Austin says his Mother Monica had that she could distinguish inter Deum revelantem animam somniantem she knew when God gave her a supernatural inspiration in her sleep and when it was but a common dream By what mark or token could she do this Nay none at all Nescio quo sapore quem verbis explicare non poterat she could not express by what relish of the soul she made a difference between them Of whom have our modern Wizzards it is too good a name if I do not put frentique to it I say of whom have these phrentique persons learnt the trick of Divination Since they that were Prophets upon earth could not teach another how to be a Prophet If St. John knew how he saw this Theory in heaven it was his priviledge alone or with some very few more But God doth not carve a Prophet out of every Christian And so much de modo videndi which is the first Point Take the object now to your attention which he saw an object too subtil to be discerned by a bodily creature but disclosed to this Apostle in his Rapture in the excellency of Revelation he saw the souls of the blessed in heaven It could not out of Tertullians mind as I told you before but that he thought the soul when it was separated from the body had some bodily figure and dimension in it Those polite heathen men indeed whom he had perused did speak grosly in the point as if the Soul after it left this world did flit about the Elysian fields in the form of a thin cloud witness that fancy of the best Poets Infelix simulacrum atque ipsius umbra Creüsae And it is no injustice to excuse such Authors for though the substance of the Soul be incorporeal yet it is impossible for one of us to conceive a Spirit or an Angel but by the help of some corporeal Idea it is a true Metaphysical rule Nihil intelligimus in hôc statu sine verbo materiali in intellectu we understand every thing in this life by some material expression within our selves yet we are able by the undeniable proofs of Art to transcend the narrowness of our own fancy and to affirm that the soul cannot choose but be immaterial that it is not circumscriptive in any place though it have a determined and defined subsistence But this is no time to Philosophize and our Saviours words will carry it clear without the help of Humane Arguments Handle me and see a Spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have Luk. xxiv 39 which is thus in effect there is no corporeity in a Spirit And the Sixth general Council held against the Monothelites hath these weighty words Nascitur Deus humano corpore animam rationalem incorpoream habens The Son of God had an humane body with a reasonable and incorporeal soul I dismiss that Point it shall not hold you longer There are those that doubt it in their heart or at least they live as if they doubted it whether their soul hath a second state in reversion after this life Can there be any exception against such a Witness as St. John that was taken up into heaven to relate the truth to all Generations upon earth Why he saw the souls of the Saints in a triumphant and immortal condition after they were uncloathed of the body There cannot be an Apparition of that which had ceased to be that were a delusion Not one natural Writer that had a sound brain but maintained that the soul did survive the body and that it was at best liberty when it was released from the prison of the flesh ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã says Aristotle that the Mind or Spirit can subsist by it self not mixt with any composition not affected with passions They could not search far enough why it should be so they never discovered that the dissolution of the soul from the body was brought into the world after Adam was created for the punishment of sin but their dim Candle gave them light to see that the soul was
apt to be separated I suppose an Epicure may lose his conscience in a mist for a little while and dispute it like a Galenist that the soul is nothing else but the temperature of the first qualities and so in death extinguished but can you imagine that the Spirit it self doth not often give him the lie and say within his breast you do me wrong I am immortal Verily I believe that they that put it off doubtingly and would be uncontrouled in their voluptuousness it may be it is not so are often tormented with the other part of the opinion it may be it is so If you will hear this truth upheld out of holy Scripture there is no resistance or cavillation against it Because I will not tie my self to every Text which chimes that way I will choose compendiously where others have made choice before me The Sadduces being stiff opposers against the separated existence of the Spirit and yet commending themselves in the Holy Patriarchs from whose Loyns they descended our Saviour selected that Scripture above all other to convict them which would catch them in their own net I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac the God of Jacob God is not the God of the dead but of the living How was God the God of Abraham unless he lived And in what did Abraham live but in his soul which was divorced from the body Irenaeus admires that any one should doubt of the souls perseverance after death since the enarration is so âlear that the rich man saw Lazarus in joys when himself was tormented St. Hierom sets his rest upon those words Mat. x. 22. Fear not them that kill the body but are not able to kill the soul St. Austin recommends the words of Stephen to nick the Point without all contradiction Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Si animus moriturus esset causae nihil foret cur animum potiùs quà m corpus commendaret Aquinas against the Gentiles lays his strength upon that place of St. Paul 2 Cor. v. 8. We are confident and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with God One quotation were enough then how forcible are all these together He must be a beast in understanding that knows not that the souls of good men are Angels in reversion There are others that profess so much faith that the soul hath a state of happiness in reversion to those that die in the favour of God But that it comes not to any gust of this happiness till the end of the World For the soul say they falls asleep when the body perisheth that is it dies together with the body and when the flesh shall be quickned again and gathered out of the dust then the soul shall live again when both it and the body shall be exalted in the Resurrection I do not create Monsters to fight with all St. Austin found such Hereticks in his days he calls them Arabians who taught it every where that the Soul had no being after death till in the consummation of the World they both obtained together a joyful Resurrection Nay these Tares were sown long before St. Austin lived Irenaeus took the pains to root them up in his Age and he confutes them out of my Text says he how did St. John see the souls of the Martyrs who had been slain for the Testimony of Christ if the Soul should cease to be till the final Resurrection And if a Caviller shall say it doth not cease to be but it lies quiet and senseless in a trance Irenaeus blunts the point of that objection because in the next verse they desire vengeance for their bloud that was shed but principally because in the eleventh verse they are clad in white garments which are cognizances of their joy and glory and doubtless they wear them not sleeping but waking And do not think that I rake in the ashes of ancient Heresies that are quite forgotten For the Anabaptists in their Theses Printed at Cracovia Anno 1568 have this position We deny that any Soul hath a separated being after death that was a devise invented by the Papists to maintain Invocation of Saints and Purgatory this is Popery trimly reformed and according to that Proverb of the Jews they cast out Devils through Beelzebub the Prince of Devils And even at this day a new Generation of Vipers risen up at Racovia in Polonia do pledge the Anabaptists in the same cup namely that there is a futurition of glory for the soul when the whole Fabrick of man shall be redintegrated again in the Resurrection but they profess they cannot tell whether in the mean time there be any such thing extant as a separated soul yet St. Paul says he desires to be dissolved and to be with Christ And yet Christ told the good Thief that day he should be with him in Paradise And yet the Souls of just men departed do follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes Rev. xiv 4. These instances are more perswasive I am sure than that which they pretend that the Just do rest from their labours What rest in Gods name do they dream of They are not in a profound trance without motion or action as Adam was cast into a deep sleep when Eve was taken out of his side but it is a rest when the Spirit doth acquiesce in the Vision of God as David said Turn again unto thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath rewarded thee There are some that I must afford a little Patronage who are accused to lean to the Anabaptists in their opinion that do nothing less It was allowed for 1400 years as a Problem wherein Christians without breach of charity might have Latitude to dissent granting that the soul after the dissolution from the body was received into the joys of heaven whether it be not sequestred in some distance from the highest heaven where the invisible God doth chiefly reign in Power and Majesty till the whole Body of the Saints be accomplished It is well known what way St. Bernard took Nec sancti sine plebe nec spiritus sine carne That such as die before us shall not see the Beatifical Vision of the holy Trinity without us nor without their own body and that an integral Beatitude is not given but to an integral person And Calvin hath taken his freedom to be of the same mind says he Christ himself only is entred into the supreme Sanctuary of Heaven Et solus populi eminus in atrio residentis vota ad Deum defert and he alone commends the Petitions of the Saints to his Father whose Spirits attend in the outward Courts Those over-awing Fathers of the Florentine and Tridentine Councils have defined it indeed as an irrefragable Article of Faith that the Saints enjoy the most perfect Vision of God immediately after death What is that to us who will not lose our moderation in indifferent points for their
dwell on the earth Haec commemoratio est quaedam necessitas exaudiendi How can this great King to whom they supplicate choose but grant them their asking when his own Attributes intercede in their behalf How can their Enemies choose but fall before them when they sound out these awful names of God as with the blast of a Trumpet As a Christian Poet says of Satan who was cast out of the Possessed in the name of Jesus Nec fulmina verbi ferre potest that blessed word was like Thunder in his ears he could not endure the noise of it So when the men of the earth have exalted themselves To run over the Attributes of God against them is as it were to give fire to a peal of Ordnance and their Pride will totter before them Religion hath its name à religando it binds man to God and it binds God to man The Martyrs were bound by their Vow in Baptism to stand to their Faith to the death and the Lord hath bound himself by his Truth and Holiness to avenge his Saints that cry day and night unto him With much confidence may we appeal unto him in the name of the Lord. Magnum nomen sub quo nemini desperandum says St. Austin Who can be discouraged that can recite that word with a true feeling in the Preface of his Prayer It is in effect to say Rise up thou arm of the most High Isa li. 9. Stir up thy strength and come and help us Psal lxxx 2. Let all the Kingdoms of the earth know that thou art the Lord Isa xxxvii 20. It is to challenge protection from the relation which can never be dissolved as who should say Thou art our King and we are thy Subjects therefore we claim our Copy that thou shouldst guard and defend us at least that thou shouldst pluck down the arrogance of those that have offended us But what passionate Advocates are the other two sacred terms that go together with it Holy and True Which is in effect to plead Thou hast made us holy as thou art holy thou hast kept us in the truth even as thou art truth thou hast given us such gifts as are in thine own Titles therefore we are sure thou dost love us with an everlasting love thou that art holy and true wilt pluck thine arm out of thy bosom to avenge them that are holy and true against their oppressors The Holiness of God calls upon him to hate the ungodly that have devoured Jacob and laid wast his dwelling place His Truth calls upon him to put them to confusion because he hath promised to recompence them for the evil which they have done unto his Servants He that is holy cannot favour their part that are ambitious bloud-suckers invaders of the Possessions of the Innocent He that is truth it self cannot support them that are dissemblers truce-breakers full of fraud and equivocation The Holy One will be sanctified the True One will be justified the Lord will be glorified I will hold you no longer in the Porch of the Text for the Invocation is no more I come to the Prayer it self the Souls under the Altar cry out unto the Lord to judge and avenge their bloud ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Verb to judge may belong to the sifting of the Cause the other Verb to avenge may import the dispatch of the sentence against the Delinquents but I take them both to be an amplification of one thing urged that vengeance may fall upon the head of them that have spilt the bloud of the Saints a Prayer that a mild man perhaps will stand amazed at His Lesson is Bless them that curse you pray for them that despitefully use you Whence comes it that the Saints in Heaven take the liberty to perform Christs will not so charitably as the poor Disciples on earth But good words and all grace and piety be ascribed to the Spirits which are in the bosom of God We cannot say to them as our Saviour did to the Sons of Zebedee You know not what ye ask This is a voice which came not from Earth but from Heaven and therefore we must maintain it And it is as easie a task as a man can put his Pen to because it will admit such variety of Apology First of all Vengeance being not usurpt by the hand of a private man but prosecuted under the shelter of lawful authority like Vsque quo Domine In this place it is not unlawful It is pars justitiae punitivae a stirring up of that part of justice which distributes punishments to them that deserve them and to demand it in a regular way is in no wise rugged to the Law of charity The Schoolmen comprize the right use and the abuse of it in one short distinction Velle vindictam ad odium saturandum pessimum est ex amore justitiae bonum It is honest sometimes to claim revenge for wrongs out of the love of Justice it is abominable when we aim at nothing but to glut our spleen and hatred with the ruine of our enemy St. Austin puts it better home with two exceptions Revenge is strictly repressed in the Gospel Non ut correctionem hominum negligamus sed ne alieno malo animum pasceres not quite repressed so that offenders must not be called to account to be corrected but when a rankerous mind would be fed and fatted with the penalty of another Again says he Non ut praeterita vindicemus sed in futurum consulamus The injuries that are past and done might be friendly put up but recompence must be required sometimes that the times to come may be more peaceably ordered Many stumbled at this Doctrine because they made not a clear difference between the affections of malice and justice Origen against Celsus disputes that if is not lawful for Christians to go to war yet David praiseth God for teaching his hands to war and his fingers to fight The Manichaeans brooked not Moses for those words An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth yet he saith Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people Lev. xix Julian charged the Christians that they were enemies to Civil Courts and all Political Orders for they held that no wrong was to be called in question And they that replied unto him defended it coldly that it was a thing adiaphorous and better let alone St. Austin in one place says that the Old Law did license the Jews to commence suits against their Enemies but it was a permission to the hardness of their hearts this mistake came upon a slip of memory for he thought there had been such words in the Text of the Old Law Thou shalt hate thine enemy Hugo taught that the Precepts of strict charity which Christ taught agreed to the suffering times of the Primitive Church but were now expired Some of the School Divines would have the Prayer for our
hands Defiled hands in the original are common hands for whatsoever was commonly touched by them and the Gentiles they called it defiled and in suspicion they might touch meat or vessels or apparel which was unclean by the Law they washed often to purge themselves from that defilement This is well illustrated Joh. ii where we read that at the marriage in Cana of Galilee there were ready standing six water-pots of stone after the manner of the purifying of the Jews containing two or three Firkins a piece these have reference to that Pharisaical tradition of washing often lest they should be defiled Now mark how God observes both the heathen and the Pharisees in their own weakness and out of that which they made a vain tradition he makes a gracious Sacrament A good Author cites out of the Rabbins that the Jews had added over and above Moses his institution of the Passeover first these words in eating the sower herbs with the Lamb Take and eat these in remembrance of our deliverance from bondage And likewise they gave a cup of Wine one to another with these words Take and drink this in remembrance of the same c. And from hence according to a Custom of their own our Saviour did break bread and give wine and use the same words in his holy Supper Thus both the Sacraments to please them the better had their original from some of their own Ordinances but cast in a new mold so the heathen Temples were changed to be houses of Prayer The Cross which was no better than their Gallows is made a significant and laudable Ceremony in Christian Baptism And lastly Their superstitious bathings were turn'd by John and confirm'd by Christ to be an immortal Laver. This I hope satisfies the first question how this Institution of Baptism began being never heard of untill the days of John The dignity of Johns Baptism is now to be examined It is grown like many things more to be full of difficulty because of mens contentions and without discussion of these three things it cannot be understood 1 What is the vertue of a Sacrament 2. That Johns Baptism had the same substantial vertue with the Baptism of Christ that it now hath 3. That in some respects both Baptisms being one and the same the Baptism of Christ doth exceed the Baptism of John Sacraments are thus distinguished into such as went before the fall of Adam and such as went after Before the Fall there was one Sacrament and no more that was the Tree of Life ordained to be a sign of the Covenant of Works After the Fall God did not make a Covenant of Works but of Grace with man and ever since the Sacraments are Covenants of Grace and seals of the same And they of the Old Testament betoken the Covenant promised to our Fore-fathers they of the New Testament do imply the Covenant performed Let me distinguish again that in the Old Testament all the Sacrifices and a great part of the shadows and Types are sometimes in the Fathers called Sacraments because they had a signification of Christ to come but Circumcision and the Paschal Lamb they only had the Promise of Grace and Reconciliation annexed unto them which is a great deal more than bare signification And as St. Paul speaks honourably of Circumcision that it was a Seal of the righteousness of Faith so our Church thinks it not fit to speak contemptibly of the faith of the righteous men under the Law nor of those visible signs which God appointed to establish his Promise unto them but we make them equal in efficacy with Baptism and the Lords Supper That according as their faith did apply the Promise unto them their Sacraments were as profitable for Salvation as ours Only these are Circumstantial differences 1. That our Sacraments are meerly spiritual which betoken nothing of this world The Jews Sacraments had somewhat in them both which belong'd to the body as well as to the soul for Abraham received the sign of Circumcision that he should be the Father of many Nations and the Paschal Lamb was a remembrance that they came out of Egypt out of the house of bondage 2. As the light of Faith is brighter with us the measure of the Spirit more abundant so our Sacraments are justly said to to be Virtute majora more efficacious because we are endued with better means of application 3. Our Sacraments are actu faciliora to wash and be clean and to eat bread and drink wine are performed with more facility than the cutting the foreskin of Infants or the slaying of a Lamb to eat it with sower herbs 4. Take all the Types and Sacrifices of the Jews together which were an heavy burden because of their multitude then our Sacraments are numero pauciora we have but twain and so their number is not troublesom These are accidental differences but otherwise as St. Austin said of Manna that it was to them as the Lords Supper is to us In signis diversis fides eadem the Elements were divers but such as begot the same faith and are tokens of the same Lord Jesus Christ and beget the same Salvation That which thwarts this Doctrine is the distinction of the Schoolmen that the Sacraments ordained in Moses Law were significancies of Grace but the Sacraments of Christ did exhibit and confer Grace What means that Surely he that did eat the Paschal Lamb by faith to him it was spiritual nourishment and he that eats the Lords Supper to him only it is spiritual nourishment I can see no odds The late Romish Writers disclaim their gross opinion maintained long ago that in men capable of reason and knowledge for we set Infants aside the taking of the Sacrament should add a benefit to the Receiver Ex opere operato externo sine motu interno says Biel by the meer outward act without an inward preparation This opinion their Cardinal Controverser disavows for he that eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks his own damnation Then if Faith be requisite in the Participant I cannot see how one Sacrament exhibits Grace more than another It is far from my meaning to diminish the excellency and vertue of our Sacraments No I had rather set all disputations aside and say with St. Austin Quorum vis inenarrabiliter valet plurimum that is their power prevails in such a sort as we cannot utter how it is Yet this may be safely taught that they are not helping and partial causes of Salvation to be joyned in office with the merit of Christ but only Instruments ordained to work Salvation by the Promise of God and the application of a lively faith Origens words express much if I could explain them Non sunt justitiae sed conditurae justitiarum The Sacraments are not our righteousness but as sauce makes meat fit to be eaten so they make righteousness fit to be put upon us The Word preacht is the power
of God to every man that believeth not as if there were any Magical power in the pronunciation of the Syllables but because it prepares ye to faith and is a means by which the Spirit works his efficacy So the Sacraments setting aside the merit of Christ and the Sanctification of the Spirit are not available but by those Instruments the Father hath promised to work the Son to communicate the merit of his Passion and the Holy Ghost to sanctifie us I am sure it is no disparagement to compare him that hath received a Sacrament with the blessed Virgin that received our Saviour in her womb yet when one cried out Blessed is she that bare thee and the Paps which gave thee suck Yea says Christ Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it So the Sacraments are wonderful helps great trials of obedience Seales of mercy increasers of charity the best comforts of the soul in the world they are all this I confess if they be received in faith So I have spoken of the vertue which is in all kind of Sacraments the next part of my remonstrance is that the Baptism of John hath the same vertue with the Baptism of Christ Take my reasons briefly 1. It was the Baptism of Repentance and Repentance cannot be taught without faith in Christ and Remission of sins in his bloud take them two away and Repentance is but a lesson of heathen Philisophy Put them both together and is there not all the benefit of Christs Baptism faith and forgiveness of sins Nay directly Mar. i. 4. John did preach the Baptism of repentance for the remission of sins And indeed no man can separate true repentance from remission of sins At what time soever a sinner doth repent him c. 2. The scope of his Baptism was to warn men to fly from the wrath to come that is the true washing of the Spirit Says he to the Pharisees when they came to him to Jordan O ye generation of vipers who hath warned ye to fly from the wrath to come 3. Our Saviour fortelling to his Disciples that the time was coming at the feast of Pentecost when they should have a greater blessing from heaven than ever they had before Acts xv John truly baptized with water but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence Then the Disciples had no other Baptism but Johns untill they were baptized with fire and surely they had a true and an efficacious baptism So Apollos knew of no other baptism but Johns Acts xviii 25. and yet we do not find that he was sprinkled with any other baptism 4. This reason is of great weight if Johns were not the true baptism of the Spirit which Christ received then either all we have received a baptism divers from our Saviour which were very comfortless or else we have not received the baptism of the Spirit which were every whit as comfortless 5. John baptized at the same time while the Disciples of Christ did baptize even till the time that he was shut up in prison by Herod And this he ought not to have done if his washing had been uneffectual but to have it laid down when a more perfect Sacrament was a foot These are the reasons sufficient as I suppose to prove that the Baptism of John had the same substantial vertue with the Baptism of Christ This is that opinion against which the Tridentine Council doth thunder forth Anathema 1. Because it is called the Baptism of John and therefore a mere external Ceremony which is distinguisht from Christs Baptism that is accompanied with internal Grace Beloved I conceive it was called Johns Baptism not as if it wanted the grace of God from above for the Pharisees durst not reply to our Saviours question that the Baptism of John was from heaven and not from men but because it began with John even as the Law of God is called Moses Law because Moses was the first Mediator of it Sacraments are of three sorts Praenuntiativa venturi Messiae Some that promised a Messias to come as Circumcision and the Paschal Lamb Some that promise the Messias now a coming monstrativa venientis as the Baptism of John Some that promise the Messias is come already annuntiativa exhibiti Baptism and the Lords Supper these meet all in one center of faith and have the same efficacy 2. It is urged that John puts a difference between his baptizing and Christs I baptize you with water he shall baptize you with the holy Ghost and with fire I answer with St. Hierom Ex quo discimus homo tantùm aquam tribuit Deus spiritum sanctum From whence we learn that the Ministry of man suppeditates only water the power of God suppeditates the Holy Ghost wherefore one sign is not opposed to another but the Ministry of man to the authority of Christ otherwise it will follow that now the Holy Ghost is given by him that baptizeth The baptism of the Spirit is not another Baptism but an heavenly blessing upon the baptism of water and it comprehends all the benefits of the New Testament that is all the merit of Christ 3. I confess this is strongly opposed Acts xix 3. that some Disciples of Ephesus who were baptized unto the Baptism of John were baptized again in the name of the Lord Jesus as if Johns washing had been a watry Meteor rather than a Baptism Of many answers I like but two to this place First says Lombard all were not rebaptized whom John had baptized before the Disciples were not for whatsoever some Apocryphal stories say that Christ baptized his Mother St. Peter yea and John Baptist himself yet the Scripture says he baptized no man but where a substantial error might be committed or apprehended in Johns Baptism there the parties were re-baptized Now it is my own conjecture out of the Text that these men were baptized after our Saviours Passion In nomine venturi Messiae in the name of Christ to come who was come and had suffered for mankind therefore to correct that fundamental error it may be the Disciples of Ephesus were baptized again Secondly I see no exceptions at this answer that the Disciples of Ephesus were only baptized in Johns Baptism and Paul teacheth that all whom John baptized were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Therefore at your leasure mark the fifth verse of that Chapter Act xix that they are the words of Paul preaching how John baptized not the words of St. Luke how they of Ephesus were rebaptized and that very difficult place is easily answered Wherefore it stands I am sure as most probable of two opinions that the Baptism of John to which Christ came is the same with the Baptism of Christ and as for these that curse our opinion with Anathema I say unto them Woe unto those that call light darkness and make the truth a lye Though so ancient Fathers may seem to dissent from
but his illumination Wherefore the Church by way of external testimony was ever the best approved and most faithful witness of Christ yet this testimony so much beneath his Person were unauthorized and fruitless but that it is always governed by the inward Spirit of the Father Aquinas in a certain Sermon upon the Pentecost hath drawn up those things which bear witness of Christ into a certain number and that the verdict is given from twelve the most principal things in the world God the Father in this Proclamation God the Son in his own Confession God the Holy Ghost in the Dove-like Apparition the Angels at his Nativity the Saints that rose from the dead the Miracles which he wrought the Heaven which was darkned at his Passion the Fire when he sent the Comforter in that Element upon his Disciples the Air when he commanded the winds to be still the water when he made the Seas to be calm the Earth when it shook and quak'd at his Resurrection and lastly Hell it self when the Devils did acknowledge him calling him Jesus of Nazareth and saying We know thee who thou art But above all this testimony in my Text enforceth credence upon us more than any other as St. Ambrose thinks Si dubitatur de filio paterno non creditur testimonio If there be any spice of unbelief in your heart run hither to take it out for will you not take the Fathers word for the excellency of his Son that this is the Sacrifice in whom he is well pleased Shew us thy Father says Philip and it sufficeth Joh. xiv 8. Much more resolutely might the Church say Let us hear thy Father and it sufficeth We ask no surer warrant to confirm our faith For as Abraham answered the rich man concerning his brethren that did not believe If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded though one arose from the dead So I may say to all that receive not the faith If they will not believe the Father in whom all the treasures of knowledge are hidden then they may question if there be light in the Heavens perspicuity in the Air life in their own souls every thing that flesh and bloud can alledge must be dark and doubtful to their capacity God spoke from above through the air and it received his voice and when he speaks in our hearts shall not we receive his testimony Thus St. Ambrose in a sweet strain upon it Credidit mundus in Elementis credat in hominibus credidit in exanimis credat in viventibus credidit in mutis credat in loquentibus The rude Elements of the world were taught to admit the doctrine of Faith then much more let men embrace it inanimate things took the Symphony from the Fathers mouth let things which live much more receive it the dumb things of nature were taught to embrace the voice let those things which have tongues much more praise God for glorifying his Son To the upshot of the Point I add this and have done John Baptist did bear witness to our Saviour but his witness was too mean for so great a Person Quo ad nos in regard of our apprehension the testimony and approbation of holy men is a great matter but in regard of the honour of Christ it was fit that the Father who is coequal should testifie of the Son and so doth the Son of the Father which is excellently knit up in one Text Joh. v. 32. There is another that beareth witness of me and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true So by the voice of the Father we know the excellency of the Son and by the preaching of the Son we know the truth of the Father This is their mutual testimony In the second place the manner follows how the Father testified to the honour of his Son and that is by a voice Every Creature whether it live or whether it be inanimate every season of the year every blessing for our use that the earth brings forth though it be dumb yet I am not ashamed to say that it speaks aloud how there is a God that made us and preserved us To this purpose St. Paul spake to the Lycaonians Actc xiv 17. The living God left not himself without witness in that he gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons filling our hearts with food and gladness Since therefore all the Elements continually are dumb witnesses of the glory of God how easie is it for the Father Almighty to put a tongue into the air and make it speak I will not argue upon the strict terms of Logick how this can be called a voice being not uttered by the Throat and Palate and other Instruments of a rational Creature God is a transcendent above all the Arts in the world and many things proceeding from him are not to be examined by such rules this I may definitively say it was sonus articulatus an articulate intelligible sound of words as if it had come from the tongue of man And I would pass by this Point but that two things come in my way 1. How properly the Father is known by a voice 2. How well it expresseth the comforts of the Gospel Upon the first the School doth distinguish Efficientia vocis erat à totâ Trinitate declaratio spectat ad solum patrem Every effect belongs equally to the whole Trinity therefore this voice was as well the work of the Son and of the Holy Ghost as it was of the Father For so St. Austin beat down the blasphemy of the Arians who taught that the Father gave some honour to the Son which he had not nay says he Ille transeuntium verborum sonus non sine filio factus est alioquin non omnia per ipsum facta sunt That transient voice which was intended to glorifie the Son was made by the Son otherwise the Scriptures had not said All things were made by him and without him nothing was made But though the efficiency of the voice be common to every Person of the Trinity yet the signification of it was appropriated to the Father for he said the word and by it he made the worlds he spake and all things were created The Lord said indeed let the Firmament be made let the light be made and all things else not by oral prolocution but by the Decree of his holy will and as one said Facilius est Deo facere quam nobis dicere God can sooner make all things visible and invisible than we speak of it therefore the Phrase runs as if all things were existent at the uttering of a word And I know not if any similitude do speak that ineffable mystery of the Holy Trinity better than this from the manifest pronunciation of a speech wherein are these three things together which cannot be parted The voice begets a word spoken and there is truth in that word which was spoken by the voice
the wicked Spirit out of thy breast by speaking hatefully and reproachfully to the old man within thee and to his corruptions The rod of the wicked shall not rest in the lot of the righteous lest the righteous put forth their hands to wickedness Psal cxxv 5. And though in many things we sin all and who can say he hath not offended Yet take heed ye commit not sin with greediness as if you delighted in the servitude of iniquity nay as if you did it with that full resolution that you saw hell fire before you and yet you will not be reformed This is to gaze the Devil in the face and to have no remorse of conscience But if frailty steals upon us yet extinguish not the ardour of zeal which would fain be delivered from that captivity let it cry out I am carried away with the violence of my depraved nature and the evil which I would not that I do This is to commit sin but with such a delight as is mixt with great unwillingness The love of God still abideth in us and we cry out against the Tempter Get thee behind me Satan Though a good man be carried back sometime in his pious endeavours yet he looks towards Gods glory he minds that chiefly and he will not cast his eye off He moves not willingly toward the Devil though the Devil tread upon his heel behind him and sometimes prevails to pluck him back from God But remember how David composed himself and with that I end I have set God always before me therefore I shall not fall AMEN THE EIGHTEENTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 10. For it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve THE Lacedaemonians had this Lesson in the private Instructions of their State and observed it as far as they could ut nunquâm cum eôdem hoste ter confligerent by no means to give battel three several times to the same Enemy for that Enemy encountring them so often might learn to overcome them by their own wayes and stratagems Why Satan hath this advantage to try masteries the third time with our Saviour neither did Christ varie one jot from his usual manner of defence he fights with the same sling and with a stone taken out of the same brook as before scriptum est for it is written the written word is all the refuge that our Lord did seek Satan knows full well at what guard He will lye doth then the adversary speed ever the better for this can he improve that knowledge to help himself Nay but far otherwise Christ is so surely fixt upon one true ground so constant to that rock of the Divine Law which is stronger than all the waves of the sea that some against it that his adversary discern'd at last the longer he strove the more unable he was to maintain the quarrel If the tempted entrench himself within the Scriptures indignation shall vex the tempter but he shall never prevail The Devil believes and trembles at it that all the Law is irresistable and shall triumph over the enemies of the Lord but this Text after which no more was said as if more could not be spoken it contains a more strict and high command than any other portion of the Law it extends not only to transgressors to hedg them in their duty that they may not start from it but to the blessed Angels that are confirm'd in grace to the damned Devils that are incorrigible in sin ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã worship and adoration is lookt for at all these and every particular whether they be such as are comforted under mercy or such as are tormented under the Judges fury or such as sing praises for ever before the King of glory all must bend and do him homage At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow both in the highest region of souls in the middle region of the Militant Church or in the lowest region of Hell at that name every knee shall bow both of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth Therefore Justin Martyr call'd upon all the Heathen with whom he disputed to receive this charge which my Text gives This says he is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the greatest that is the most spacious Commandment of all other a Charter between God and all his Creatures That upon which David speaks on this manner thy Commandment is exceeding broad Psal cxix 96. this is a chain to which all the works of the Lord are fastned and therefore our Saviour was sure it would bend his opposite with whom he disputed that he should not reply Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Where the Text is so clear I will not make it hard to be understood with dividing it The specials to be spoken of are these First the Lord God is to be worshipped Secondly the Lord God is to be served Thirdly He onely to be worshipped and served therefore fourthly whatsoever things they are beside to which men do offer religious worship and service let them mince and excuse it with what distinctions they please they run into flat Idolatry Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God let this be first the query upon the first point tu adorabis is there any emphasis in the Pronoun thou shalt worship Is the Commandment directed to the Tempter for that doubt I find in St. Chrisost whether it be ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Precept or a Repulse a Doctrin or a Defiance Thou shalt worship I answer it in several conclusions First the outward act of worship and adoration is enjoyned continually even to the spirits of damnation and they must perform it God hath put all things under Christs feet the Grave and Death and Hell Who is meant by Hell but Satan and his Camrades that are sunk into that place of sorrow wherefore he was bound to pay worship himself where he call'd for worship and let all the Angels of God worship him Heb. i. 6. yea and the Devil forceth himself sometimes to pay this tribute unto Christ though much against his will and content but sometimes he doth outwardly worship him that he may not fall into greater torments For as a Servant that hath run away and is taken falls down at his Masters feet that he may not be beaten so this unclean spirit having entred into a man that lived in tombs in the Country of the Gaderens when Christ came into those coasts the Devil did not keep the man close out of sight but came forth to meet Christ and worshipt our Saviour Mark v. 10. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the very word in my Text ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Luke vii 28. he fell down in that body into which he had entred before him and he besought him very much that he would not send him away out of the Countrey Indeed it is seen by the sequel