him Apoc. 1.7 even they that nailed him to the Crosse and pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall mourne before him Yea and Amen then he shall bring or send forth judgement unto victory He brought forth judgement in his life by preaching the Gospel in his owne person and he sent it forth after his death by the ministery of his Apostles and doth still by propagating the Church but hee bringeth not forth judgement unto victory in the Evangelists phrase because this his judgement is much oppressed the light of his truth smoothered the pure doctrine of the Gospel suppressed the greater part of the Kings of the earth and Potentates of this world refusing to submit their scepter to his Crosse and saying as it is in St. Lukes Gospel Luke 17.14 Wee will not have this man to reigne over us but when the sonne of man shall display his banner in the clouds and the winds shall have breathed out their last gaspes and the sea and the waters shall roare when heaven and earth shall make one great bonefire when the stage of this world shall be removed and all the actors in it shall put off their feigned persons and guises and appeare in their owne likenesse when the man of sinne 2 Thes 2.3 8. that exalteth himselfe above all that is called God shall be fully revealed and after consumed with the spirit of Christs mouth and be destroyed by the brightnesse of his comming then he shall suddenly confound the rest of his enemies Atheists Hypocrites Jewes Turkes Idolatrous Gentiles and Heretikes and breake the neckes of all that stubbornly resist him and then the truth shall universally prevaile and victoriously triumph All this variety of descant which you heare is but upon two notes a higher and a lower the humility and the majesty the infirmity and the power the obscurity and the glory the mildnesse and the severity of our Lord and Saviour his humility upon earth his majesty in heaven his infirmities in the dayes of his flesh and his power since hee sitteth at the right hand of his Father the obscurity and privacy of his first comming and solemnity of his second his mildnesse and clemency during the time of grace and mercy and his wrath and severity at the day of Judgement and Vengeance Ecce tibiâ cecinimus vobis Behold out of this Scripture I have piped unto you recording the pleasing notes of our Redeemers mildnesse and mercy who never brake the bruised reed nor quenched the smoaking flaxe now I am to mourne unto you sounding out the dolefull notes of his justice and severity which shall one day bring forth judgement unto victory But before I set to the sad tune pricked before mee in the rules of my Text I am to entreat you to listen a while till I shall have declared unto you the harmony of the Prophet Esay and the Evangelist S. Matthew the rather because there seemeth some dissonancy and jarre between them For in Esay we reade Esay 42.3 Hee shall bring forth judgement unto truth that is give sentence according to truth but in St. Matthew He shall send forth judgement unto victory which importeth somewhat more than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. that the judgement he shall send forth viam inveniet aut faciet shall either finde way or force it take place or make place no man or divell being able to withstand it Besides this discord in their notes there is a sweet straine in the Prophet he shall not faile Verse 4. nor bee discouraged till hee have set judgement on the earth left out in the Evangelist To the first exception the Jesuit Maldonat saith that the Syriack word signifieth both truth and victory and that Saint Matthew wrote not in pure Hebrew but in the Hebrew then currant which was somewhat alloyed and embased with other languages which if it were granted unto him as it is not by those who defend that the Greeke in the New Testament is the originall yet the breach is not fully made up For still the originall Hebrew in Esay and the Greeke in Saint Matthew which hath been ever held authenticall are at odds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Hebrew signifying truth and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greeke signifying victory and not truth I grant the truth of Christ is most victorious and hath subdued all the false gods of the Heathen as the Arke laid Dagon on his face and the rod of Aaron devoured all the rods of the Magicians yet truth and victory are not all one A weake Judge may bring forth judgement unto truth yet not unto victory as on the contrary a potent and corrupt Judge may bring forth judgement unto victory yet not unto truth Tully in a bad cause prevailed against Oppianicus by casting dust in the Judges eyes And Aeschines prevailed not against Ctesiphon in a good cause Right is often overcome by might and sometimes by the sleight of a cunning Advocate for the false part To the second objection Beza answereth that these words that hee will not faile nor be discouraged till he hath set judgement on the earth were anciently in St. Matthew but of late through the carelesnesse of some transcriber from whose copy ours were drawne are left out But sith this Verse is wanting in all the copies of Saint Matthew now extant neither can Beza bring good proofe of any one in which this Verse was ever found it is not safe to lay any such imputation upon the first transcribers of St. Matthewes Gospel whereby a gap may be opened to Infidels and Heretickes to cavell at the impeachable authority of the holy Scriptures in the originall languages A safe and easie way to winde out of these perplexed difficulties is to acknowledge that the Evangelist who wrote by the same spirit wherewith the Prophet Esay was inspired tyed nor himselfe precisely to the Prophets words but fitteth the Prophets sense to his owne purpose and what the Prophet delivered in two Verses he contracteth into one For what is hee shall bring forth judgement unto truth and he shall not faint nor be discouraged till hee hath done it but that he shall doe it effectually and powerfully and what is that but he shall send forth judgement unto victory Hee shall send forth Cal. in Mat. 1. Hoc verbum educere quo utitur Propheta significat officium Christi esse Regnum Dei quod tum inclusum erat in angulo Judeae propagare in totum orbem This phrase reacheth forth unto us a twofold observation the first touching the extent the second touching the freedome of this judgement here spoken of By judgement is here meant the Kingdome of Christ which must not bee confined to Jury nor bounded within the pale of Palaestine but hee sent forth that is propagated and spread over the whole world according to the prophecy of the Psalmist a Psal 110.2 The Lord shall send a rod of thy strength out
similitudes of true things similitudines auri with studs or points of silver id est scintillis quibusdam spiritualis intelligentiae that is points spangles or sparkles of precious and spirituall meaning For example Aarons mitre and his breast-plate of judgement engraven with Urim and Thummim and his golden bells were similitudines auri similitudes of gold or golden similitudes and the studs or points of silver that is sparkles or rayes of spirituall truth in them were Christ his three offices His Priestly represented by the breast-plate His Princely by the mitre His Propheticall by the bells Againe in the breast-plate of Aaron there were set in rowes twelve precious stones here were similitudes of gold or golden similitudes and the studs of silver that is sparkles or rayes of spirituall meaning were the l Apoc. 21.14 twelve Apostles laid as precious stones in the foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem that is the Church Take yet a third example in the Arke there were the two m Heb. 9.4 Tables and the golden of Manna and the rod that had budded these were similitudines auri golden similitudes and the puncta argenti that is the cleere and evident points of spirituall truth in them are the three notes of the true Church 1 The Word or the Old and New Testament signified by the two Tables 2 The Sacraments prefigured in the golden pot of Manna 3 Ecclesiasticall discipline shadowed by Aarons Rod. Thus I might take off the cover of all the legall types and shew what lieth under them what liquor the golden vessell containeth what mysteries the precious robes involve what sacraments their figures what ablutions their washings what table their Altars what gifts their oblations what host their sacrifices pointed unto The Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrewes observeth such an admirable correspondency betweene these things that in this respect the whole Scripture may be likened to one long similitude the protasis whereof or first part is in the Old Testament the antapodosis or second part in the New For in the Old as the Apostle testifieth there were n Heb. 9.23.24 similitudes of true things but in the New we finde the truth of those similitudes Which if our new Sectaries of the precisian or rather o Mr. Whittall Bradburn and their followers circumcision cut had seriously thought upon they would not like Aesops dog let fall the substance by catching at the shadow they would not be so absurd as to goe about to bring the aged Spouse of Christ to her festraw againe and reduce all of us her children to her p Gal. 4.2.3 nonage under the law they would not be so mad as to keepe new moones and Jewish Sabbaths after the Sunne of righteousnesse is risen so long agoe and hath made us an everlasting Sabbath in heaven These silly Schismatickes doe but feed upon the scraps of the old Ebionites of whom q Hay hist sac l. 3. Ebionitae pauperes interpretantur verè sensu pauperes ceremonias adhuc legis custodientes Haymo out of Eusebius writeth thus The Ebionites according to the Hebrew Etymologie of their name are interpreted poore and silly and so indeed they are in understanding who as yet keepe the ceremonies of the old Law Nay rather they licke the Galathians vomit and therefore I thinke fit to minister unto them the purge prescribed by the r Gal. 3.1 2 3. Apostle O foolish Galathians who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath beene evidently set forth crucified among you This onely would I learne of you received yee the Spirit by the workes of the Law or by the hearing of faith Are yee so foolish having begun in the Spirit are ye now made perfect by the flesh Behold I ſ Gal. 5 2. Paul testifie unto you that if you be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing we may adde If you keepe the Jewish Sabbath or abstain from swines flesh out of conscience and in obedience to the ceremoniall Law Christs flesh shall profit you nothing if you abstaine from bloud in any such respect Christs bloud shall profit you nothing For I testifie againe saith St. Paul to every man that is circumcised that he is become a debter to the whole Law And will they not yet learne that Mosaicall rites and ceremonies were at severall times 1. Mortales or moriturae 2. Mortuae 3. Mortiferae They were mortales at their first constitution mortuae that is dead at Christs death and now mortiferae deadly to all that observe them Will they put off the long white robes washed in the bloud of the Lambe and shrowd themselves with the old rags or as St. Paul termeth them beggarly rudiments of the Law If they are so minded I leave them and fill up this Border with the words of Saint t Ser. 7. Antiqua observatio novo tollitur sacramento hostia in hostiam transiit sanguinem sanguis excludit legalis festivitas dum mutatur impletur Leo The ancient rite is taken away by a new Sacrament one host passeth into another bloud excludeth bloud and the Legall festivity is fulfilled in that it is changed The second exposition of this Scripture which understandeth the golden borders and silver studs of the glorious and pompous splendour of the Christian Church seemeth to come neerer unto the letter faciemus wee will make thee the verbe in the future tense evidently implyeth a promise or prophesie and the sense of the whole may be illustrated by this or the like Paraphrase O glorious Spouse of Christ and blessed Mother of us all who art compassed with a straight chaine about thy necke that suffereth thee not to breathe freely being confined to the narrow limits of Judea in the fulnesse of time the fulnesse of the Gentiles shall come in and in stead of a straight chaine of gold or small string of pearle we will make thee large borders we will environ thee with Christian auditories and congregations as it were borders of gold and these borders of gold shall be set out and supported with studs of silver that is enriched with temporall endowments and upheld by regall authority u Esay 49.23 King shall bee thy nursing fathers and Queenes shall be thy nursing mothers Nay such shall be thy honour and power that thou shalt binde Kings with x Psal 149.8 chaines and Nobles with linkes of iron who for their ransome shall offer unto thee store of gold to make thee borders and silver for studs Which prophesie seemed to have been fulfilled about the dayes of Constantine or a little after when such was the sumptuous statelinesse of Christian Churches and so rich the furniture thereof that it dazled the eyes of the Heathen Foelix the Emperours Treasurer blessing himselfe when hee beheld the Church vessels and vestments saying En qualibus vasis ministratur Mariae filio See what plate the sonne of Mary is served
the Lord our Saviour Jesus Christ For he strove not nor cryed nor was his voice heard in the streets A still small voice naturally produceth no eccho For as a ball layd softly on the ground boundeth not up againe but if it be strook downe with a vehement stroake riseth from the ground again and again so a low and whispering voice which gently moveth the aire is not returned againe by an eccho but a strong and a loud sound which forcibly smiteth the aire is reverberated from mountains rocks by a double or treble eccho Yet here a still small voice is returned by an eccho For the words which I have read unto you in S. Matthew are no other than the eccho of the voice of the Prophet Esay As Esay of all the Prophets is most Evangelicall that is most plainly delivereth the story of Christ his life and death by way of prediction so S. Matthew of all the foure Evangelists is most Propheticall that is alledgeth most passages out of the Prophets in his Gospel None so frequently inserteth testimonies out of the Old Testament into his story as hee which hee so pertinently applyeth that in his Gospel every man may discerne the truth of that observation of the Ancients viz. that the New Testament is vailed in the Old and the Old is revealed in the New The Prophets Evangelists being the organs of the same holy Spirit like divers instruments of musick playing the same tune though in different keyes Or rather like opposite looking-glasses reflecting the same image one upon the other to wit the brightness of God his glory Hebr. 1.2 the expresse image of his person Or like thick bright clouds on both sides of the Sun which receiving the beams therof with them an impression of the similitude of that Prince of the celestiall lights reflect the same one upon another make as if there were divers Sunnes in the sky which are indeed but parelii pictures and representations of the selfe same Sunne Malach. 3.1 Esa 42.1 2 3. the Sunne of righteousnesse The Prophet Esay pointeth to the Messias as it were afarre off saying Behold the servant of God whom he upholdeth his Elect in whom his soule delighteth upon whom he hath put his spirit he shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles he shall not cry nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets a bruised reed shall hee not breake and smoaking flaxe shall hee not quench till hee bring forth judgement unto truth The Evangelist viewing Christ neere at hand findeth all those markes in him by which the Prophet describeth him Which you shall plainly descry if you cast backe your eye on the story set down a little above my Text. There shall you find Christ stretching out his hand of mercy to a withered hand and healing it on the Sabbath day and the Pharisees murmuring at it and conspiring against him for it Against whom notwithstanding hee made no forcible resistance nor so much as opened his lips but giving place to their wrath leaveth that country and though hee were so ill requited for his good deeds and miraculous cures yet he goes about still doing good in all places healing their sicke curing their blind lame and deafe and withall charging them that they should not make him knowne That it might bee fulfilled saith the Evangelist c. That it was fulfilled which God spake by the Prophet Esay and how it will evidently appeare by comparing the predictions of the Prophet with the history of the Evangelist Behold my servant saith the Prophet The sonne of man came not to bee ministred unto but to minister Matth. 20.28 Luke 23.35 Mat. 3. ver ult Luke 2.32 saith the Evangelist Mine Elect saith the Prophet Christ the chosen of God saith the Evangelist In whom I delight saith the Prophet In whom I am well pleased saith the Evangelist Hee shall bring judgement to the Gentiles saith the Prophet A light to lighten the Gentiles saith the Evangelist Hee shall not strive saith the Prophet Hee did not strive saith the Evangelist neither here with the Scribes and Pharisees nor in the garden with them that sought his life but contrariwise when St. Peter drew a sword in his defence Matth. 16.52 53. and strooke off a servant of the high Priests eare he rebuked him saying Put up thy sword thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father and hee shall presently give mee more than twelve legions of Angels but how then shall the Scripture be fulfilled He shall not cry Mat. 27.14 Acts 8.32 nor lift up his voice saith the Prophet Hee was silent and answered not a word saith the Evangelist but was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a Lambe dumbe before the shearer A bruised reed shall he not breake saith the Prophet The Evangelist testifieth he did not For the people which lay maimed and diseased like bruised reeds upon the ground he went not over but raised them up and the Scribes and Pharisees whose malice smoaked against him he did not destroy or extinguish when hee might as easily have done it as tread out the weeke of a candle on the ground with his shooe For hee came not to quench but to kindle not to destroy but to save not to launce but to plaster not to revenge but to reconcile not to punish but to suffer not to breake the bruised reed but to be beaten and bruised with reeds and whips yea and to be broken also upon the crosse You have heard how this Text is inferred Now in the second place listen what it inferreth both against the Jew and for the Christian 1. It inferreth for the reproofe of the Jew that the first comming of the King Messias was to be private and silent without any outward pompe or great noise 2. For the instruction of Christians that the members ought to bee conformable to the head and frame their dispositions to his most sweet and gracious temper 3. For the comfort of all that the Judge of all flesh is meeke milde and mercifull to all that bow to him or fall downe before him like bruised reeds First we have here the character of the true Messias and the manner if I may so speak of his stealing into the world at his first comming Wherein judicious Calvin willeth us to observe the difference between the Messiah and other Kings and Princes They when they ride in progresse send their Harbingers before to take up lodgings and Martials to make way and when they enter any City it is with great noise and tumult ringing of Bels sound of Trumpets peales of Ordnance ratling of Speares clattering of Coaches and clamours of the People but our King the Prince of peace entred the world in a far different maner As in the building of the materiall Temple there was not heard the noise of any toole so neither in the building of the spirituall Temple I meane
of Sion be thou ruler in the middest of thine enemies Whilst our Saviour lived upon earth the soveraigne balsamum of wounded mankind yeelding a savour of life unto life was kept as it were in a narrow boxe but at our Saviours death the boxe was broken and this precious oyntment poured out and the whole world filled with the smell thereof This doctrine touching the naturalizing if I may so speak of the Gentiles into the spirituall Common-wealth of Israel was implyed in the Metaphor of the Rose of the field Cantic 2.1 I am the Rose of the field Christ is not a garden flower for few to see and fewer to smell unto but a Rose of the field for all to gather that have a hand of faith to touch him but it was unfolded at large to Saint Peter in a vision of a sheet let downe from Heaven knit at foure corners Acts 10.11 12. in which were all manner of foure footed beasts of the earth and wild beasts and creeping things c. The foure corners of the sheet signified the foure parts of the world all sorts of living creatures all sorts of men of all kindreds nations and languages The sheet in which they were all wrapped is the Church militant In the end of the vision the vessell was received up againe into heaven Acts 10.16 to shew that in the end of the world the whole Church militant shall be transported into heaven and become triumphant St. b Orig. comment in Cant. homil 1. Quemadmodum in Evangelio mulier illa quae sanguine fluebat archi Synagogae filiam curatione praevenit sic Aethiopissa id est Gentium Ecclesia Israel aegrotante sanata est Origen representeth this truth most cleerly unto us through the mirrour of an allegory Though saith he the found of the Gospel came later unto the Gentiles yet the Gentiles prevented the Jewes in giving credit to it and were justified before them as the woman in the Gospel that was sicke of a bloudy issue was healed before the Rulers daughter The daughter of the Ruler of the Synagogue was a type of the Jewish Synagogue the woman that was in a long consumption by reason of her continuall fluxe of bloud was an embleme of the people of the Gentiles lying more than twelve ages sicke of a bloudy issue weltring in her naturall filth and bloud Now as Christ going to cure the Rulers daughter was touched by the Canaanitish woman sicke of a bloudy issue and she by that touch was cured so though Christ came first to heale the Synagogue yet the Gentile Church touching the hemme of his garment by faith is first healed and saved The phrase of sending forth judgement expresseth our Saviours readinesse in opening the treasures of heavenly wisedome and unfolding the mysteries of eternall salvation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 till he shooteth out casteth out or sendeth forth judgement of his owne accord as a tree doth his fruit or the Sunne his beames Matth. 12.35 A good man bringeth forth out of the treasure of his heart good things Matth. 2.11 The Sages opened their treasures and every Scribe which is instructed unto the Kingdome of heaven is like unto a man that is an house-holder which bringeth forth out of his treasures things new and old I have not hid thy righteousnesse within my heart Psal 40.10 saith David in the person of Christ I have declared thy faithfulnesse and thy salvation I have not concealed thy loving kindnesse and thy truth from the great congregation Ver. 9. I have preached righteousnesse in the great assembly I have not refrained my lips O Lord thou knowest And according to this fore-going type how ready the truth himselfe was to publish the Gospel of the Kingdome appeareth by his taking all occasions from every ordinary occurrent to instruct his Disciples in points of heavenly wisedome as from a draught of fish to admonish them of fishing for soules from Well-water to treat of the water of life from barly loaves to exhort them to labour for the food that perisheth not from burying the dead to reprove those that are dead in sinne from curing the blind in body to rebuke the spirituall blindnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees from a question concerning the materiall Temple to fore-tell the dissolution of the temple of his body and raising it up againe in three daies To conceale any needfull especially saving truth is to bury the gold of Ophir and thereby deprive not only others but our selves also of the benefit and use thereof Wherefore St. c August l. 12. confess Veritas nec mea nec tu◠nec illius est sed omnium nostrûm quos ad ejus communionem publicè vocas admonens nos ut nolimus eam habere privatam ne privemut ea Augustine sharply censureth such as would challenge a peculiar interest and propriety in that which is the common treasure of Gods Church saying The truth is neither mine nor thine nor his but all ours in common whom thou O Lord callest publikely to the communion thereof dreadfully admonishing us not to desire to have it private lest we be deprived of it In speciall the truth of judgement ought not to bee kept in but to bee sent forth For to detaine any private mans goods is but a private wrong but unrighteously to detaine justice which is the Kings or the Common-wealths or rather both their good is a kind of peculatus or publike theft We laugh at the Indians for casting in great store of gold yeerly into the river Ganges as if the streame would not runne currently without it yet when the current of justice is stopt in many Courts the wisest Soliciters of sutes can finde no better means than such as the Indians use by dropping in early in the morning gold and silver into Ganges to make it runne Pliny reporteth of Apis the Aegyptian god whom they worshipped in the likenesse of a Cow or Oxe that hee gave answers to private men è manu consulentium cibum capiendo Taking alwayes some food from their hands otherwise the Oracle was dumbe I need not to prosecute the application in this place where by the testimony of all men and the truth it selfe the streame of Justice if any where runneth cleerly most free from all filth and corruption Therefore I passe from Christ his sending forth judgement to his victory Hee shall send forth judgement unto victory There are two principall acts or to speake more properly effects of our Lords Princely function 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 judgement and victory judgement upon and victory over all his enemies Wee have them both in the words of my Text Judgement which hee shall send forth and Victory unto which But of what Judgement or Victory the words are to bee construed the learned Interpreters of holy Writ somewhat differ in judgement Some in their ghesses fall short upon the particular judgement and utter
some pastours and eminent professours to sow his field in future times and propagate Religion to posterity These may and ought to flie in time of persecution provided first that they flie not when their conscience perswadeth them that their flight will be a great scandall to Religion and a discouragement to the weaker and they feele in themselves a great and earnest desire to glorifie God by striving for his truth unto bloud For being thus called by God and enabled and encouraged they must preferre Gods glory before their life and a crowne of martyrdome before any earthly condition 2. That they leave not the Church destitute For Christ giveth it for one of the characters of an hireling to y John 10.13 flie when hee seeth the Wolfe comming and looke to his owne safety taking little care what becommeth of his flocke 3. They must not use any indirect meanes to flye they may not betray Gods truth or their brethren to save their owne life he that saveth his life upon such termes shall lose it and he that loseth his life in Gods cause shall finde it You will say peradventure how may this be I answer as that which is lost in Alpheus after a certaine time is undoubtedly found againe in Arethusa so that which is lost on earth shall be found in Heaven Hee that loseth his life for Christs sake in this vale of teares shall finde it at the last day in the z Psal 16.11 river of pleasures springing at the right hand of God for evermore When the Starres set here they rise in the other hemisphere so when Confessours and Martyrs set here they rise in heaven and shall never set againe Therefore as Christ spake of Virginity wee may say of Martyrdome what he spake of the garland of white roses we may of the garland of red Qui potest capere capiat Hee that is able to receive it let him receive it he that is not able let him trace the footsteps of the woman here that fled Into the wildernesse Not by change of place saith a In Apoc. c. 12. Fugit non mutatione loci sed amissione status ornatus Pareus but change of state and condition I see no reason of such a restraint the Church may and sometimes doth flye two manner of wayes 1. Openly when being persecuted in one country shee posteth into another 2. Secretly when shee abideth where shee was but keepeth her selfe close and shunneth the eye of the world and worshippeth God in secret mourning for the abominations and publike prophanations of true Religion Thus then wee may expound the words the woman fled into the wildernesse that is she withdrew her selfe from publike view kept her exercises of Religion in private held her meetings in cryptis hidden places as vaults under ground b Heb. 11 38. They wandred in deserts mountaines and dens and caves of the earth dens and caves in the earth or if persecution raged above measure and without end removed from country to country and from city to wildernesse for safety By wildernesse some learned Expositors understand remote countries inhabited by Paynims and Gentiles where yet the fire of persecution is not kindled For say they though such places be never so well peopled yet they may be termed deserts because never manured by Gods husbandry never sown with the seed of the Word never set with plants of Paradise never watered with the dew of heavenly grace And if the Church had not removed into such wildernesses she had never visited us in England severed after a sort from the whole world Toto divisos Orbe Britannos But such hath beene Gods goodnesse to these Ilands that the woman in my text was carried with her c Ver. 14. And to the woman was given two wings of a great Eagle Eagles wings into these parts before the Roman Eagles were brought in here our Countrey submitted it selfe to the Crosse of Christ before it stooped to the Roman scepter Howbeit I take not this to be the meaning of this Scripture For the propagation of the Church and the extending her bounds to the remotest regions of the world maketh her catholike and by it she becommeth glorious whereas the Spirit speaketh here of her as in some eclipse The wildernesse therefore here meant must needes be some obscure place or region to which she fled to hide her selfe If you demand particularly when this prophecy was fulfilled I answer partly in those Hebrewes of whom St. Paul writeth that they lay in wildernesses and dennes and caves of the earth partly in those Disciples that were in Jerusalem in the time of the siege and a little before who mindfull of our Saviours commandement fled into the mountaines and were miraculously preserved in Pella as Eusebius writeth partly in those Christians who in the dayes of Maximinus and Dioclesian fled so farre that they never returned backe againe into any City but were the fathers of them that live in woods and desarts as Hermites or inclosed within foure walls as Recluses and Anchorites partly in those Orthodoxe beleevers who in the reigne of the Arrian Emperours tooke desarts and caves under ground for sanctuary of whom St. Hilarie writeth saying d L. adver Auxent Ecclesia potius delituit in cavernis quam in primariis Urbibus eminebat The Church rather lurked in holes and vaults under ground in those dayes than shewed her selfe openly in the chiefe Cities partly in those professours of the Gospell who ever since the man of sinne was revealed have beene by him put to great streights and driven to lie hid for many yeeres in solitary and obscure places in all which persecutions of the Church God prepared for her not only a place to lodge in but a table also that they should Feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore dayes Some referring this prophesie to the Jewes abode in Pella find the time to be precisely three yeeres and an halfe others by dayes understanding yeeres reckon from the declining age of Constantine till the great reformation in our age neere upon a thousand two hundred and threescore yeeres in all which time the true Church hath played least in sight and beene in a maner buried in oblivion But neither is this calculation exact neither as I conceive doth St. John speake of one flight onely nor of any particular place nor definite number of yeeres but after the manner of Prophets putteth a definite number for an indefinite and foresheweth that the true Church must for a long time lie hid and withdraw her selfe out of the worlds eye as it is afterwards exprest a time times and halfe a time a time under the heathen Emperours times under severall Heretikes and last of all halfe a time in that last and greatest tribulation immediately before the utter overthrow of Antichrist For that e Mat. 24.22 persecution shall be shortened as our Saviour intimateth for the Elects sake lest all flesh should
ruddy in the hiew of his passion white in his life and ruddy at his death or white in his garland of c Cyp. l. 1. ep 6. Floribus enim nec rosae nec lilia desunt pax acies habet suos flores quibus milites Christi ob gloriam coronantur lilies unspotted Virgins ruddy in his garland of roses victorious Martyrs or lastly as some flourish upon the letter ruddy in all his Disciples save St. John who shed their blood for his name and Gospell and white in the Disciple in my text who alone came to a faire and peaceable end abiding according to the words of our Saviour till hee came unto him by an easie and naturall death For this priviledge Christ gave him above them all that none should have power to lay violent hands on him who lay in his Redeemers arms d Joh. 1.17 The law was given by Moses but grace and truth by Jesus Christ and with grace came in John a name that signifieth grace Wee read of no John in the old Testament but wee finde two in the Gospell the one the forerunner the other the follower of Christ the one in allusion to the Hebrew Etymology of his name may bee called Gratia praeveniens grace prevenient the other Gratia subsequens grace subsequent the one may bee compared to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Morning the other to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Evening starre for Saint John Baptist as the Morning starre ushered in the Sunne our Saviour Saint John the Evangelist as the Evening starre appeared long in the skie shining in the Churches of Asia after the Sunne of righteousnesse Christ Jesus was set at his death This latter John is the Disciple whose feast wee now keepe and memory wee celebrate and graces wee admire and title wee are now to declare As Christ spake of the Baptist e Mat. 11.9 What went yee out to see a Prophet nay I say unto you and more than a Prophet wee may say of this Evangelist what are yee come to heare of a Disciple nay I say unto you and more than a Disciple a Prophet an Evangelist an Apostle f Cic. in Brut. O generosam stirpein tanquam in unam arborem plura germina sic in istam domum multorum insitam et illuminatam virtutem O noble stocke on which many grafts of the plants of Paradise are set In some parts of the skie wee see single starres in others a conjunction or crowne of many starres the other Disciples were like single starres some were Prophets some were Evangelists some Doctors some Apostles but in Saint John as a constellation shine the eminent gifts and callings of many Disciples Saint Luke was an Evangelist but no Apostle Saint Peter was an Apostle but no Evangelist Saint Matthew was an Evangelist and Apostle but no Prophet Saint John was all 1 In his Gospell an Evangelist 2 In his Epistle an Apostle 5 In his Apocalypse a Prophet And in all according to his divine Hieroglyphicke g Rev. 4.7 The fourth beast was like a flying Eagle An Eagle Hee was an Eagle in his Apostolike function h Mat. 24.28 Luk. 17.37 where the body was there was this Eagle still lying at his breast In his Gospell like an Eagle hee soareth higher than the other three beginning with and more expresly delivering the divinity of Christ than any before him Lastly in the Apocalypse like an Eagle with open eye hee looketh full upon the Sunne of righteousnesse and the light of the celestiall Jerusalem whereat all our eyes at this day are dazeled Yet this divine Eagle here flyeth low and in humility toucheth the ground stiling himselfe nothing but a Disciple Obser 2 Wee read in i Exod. 15.27 Exodus They came to Elim where are twelve Wels of water and seventy Palme trees In these twelve Springs of water Saint k Hieron tract de 42. mansionibus Nec dubium quin de Apostolis sermo sit de quorum fontibus derivatae aquae totius mundi siccitatem rigant Juxta has aquas 70. creverunt palmae quas ipsos secundi ordinis intelligimus praeceptores Lucà Evangelistà docente duodecim fuisse Apostolos 70. Discipulos minoris gradus Vid supr Ser. 10. The Apostolike Bishop Jerome conceived that hee saw the face of the twelve Apostles and on the branches of these seventy Palme trees the fruit of the seventy Disciples labour In allusion whereunto most of the Ancients make the Apostles the Parents and patterns of all Bishops and the seventy Disciples of Priests the Bishops they make as it were the springs from whence the Presbyters like the Palme trees receive sap and moisture whereby they grow in the Church and bring forth fruit in the parochiall Cures where they are planted The Bishops they called Pastours and Teachers primi ordinis of the first order or ranke the Presbyters or Priests Praeceptores secundi ordinis teachers as it were in a lower fourm To confound which rankes in the Church and bring a Bishop perforce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 downe to the lower fourm or degree of a Priest is defined sacriledge in the great Councell of Chalcedon Yet Saint John the Apostle here of himselfe descendeth into that lower step or staire assuming to himselfe the name onely of a Disciple 1 In humility 2 In modesty 3 In thankfulnesse to his Master 1 In humility to take all Christians into his ranke hëe giveth himselfe no higher title than was due to the meanest follower of Christ The weightier the piece of gold is the more it presseth downe the scale even so where there is more worth you shall ever find more lowlinesse the empty and light eares pricke up but the full bow to the earth 2 In modesty Saint John was the youngest of the Apostles and in that respect tearmeth himselfe rather a Disciple that is a learner than as hee was indeed a great Master in the Church though hee were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet hee was not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 young hee was in yeeres but not in conditions his youth was wiser than others age his dawning was brighter than their noon-tide his blossomes fairer than their fruits his Spring exceeded their Autumne yet like Moses hee saw not the beames of his face which all other beheld Young men doe not so much usually over-value themselves as here Saint John doth under-value himselfe the stile wherewith the Church hath most deservedly graced him is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 John the Divine but the title which hee taketh to himselfe is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Scholar or Disciple 3 In thankfulnesse to his Master he chuseth this title before any other thereby professing that whatsoever knowledge hee had hee suckt it from him on whose brest he lay About the time of our Saviours birth as l De vit Pont. tit Christ narrat Orosius l. 6. c. 21. Augustum Caesarem eodem die
mandasse ne quis se dominum deinceps vocaret divinantem credo verum Principem orbis terrarum ac mundi totius natum esse Platina writeth Augustus by a Proclamation forbad that any should call him Lord whereby though he intended no such thing yet God who secretly moved him to it may seeme to give all men to understand that no Lord ought to be named the same day with his sonne that when he came into the world all other Lords and Kings were as much obscured as the starres are at the rising of the Sunne m Hom. Il. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In his presence and in comparison of him there is no King Lord or Master For as all Kings are but his subjects all Lords his servants so all Masters his scholars in whose schoole there is great difference betweene the scholars some are able to construe a lecture to others but none can give a lecture but he who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both the wisedome and the word of God From whence we heare n Mat. 11.29 Learne of me of whom we heare o Mar. 3.17 This is my well beloved Son in whom I am well pleased heare him p Col. 2.3 In whom we heare all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge are hid to whom wee heare St. q John 6.68 Peter beareth record Thou hast the words of eternall life and St. Ignatius r Ignat. epist ad Philad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ is my ancient record and Tertullian ſ Tert. Nobis non opus est curiositate post Christum nec inquisitione post Evangelium cum hoc credimus nihil amplius credere desideramus hoc enim prius credimus nihil ultra esse quod credere debeamus There needs no curiositie after Christ nor farther enquiry after or beyond the Gospell when we beleeve it we desire to beleeve no more and St. Cyprian t Cyp. ep l. 2. ad Cacil It is agreeable to the Religion we professe and our reverence to God to keepe the truth of that which our Lord hath delivered and according to his commands to correct what is amisse that when he shall come in his glory and majesty he may find that we hold that he admonished us to keepe and observe what he taught and doe what he did and St. Jerome u Hier. ep 57. Nullum primum nisi Christum sequentes We follow none as first but Christ and Vincentius Lerinensis adver heres Keepe the Depositum x Quid est depositum quod tibi creditum non quod à te inventum quod accepisti non quod excogitasti Custodi fidei catholicae talentum esto spiritualis tabernaculi Bezaleel pretiosas divini dogmatis gemmas exculpe fideliter coapta adorna sapienter adjice gratiam splendorem venustatem intelligatur te exponente illustriùs quod ante obscurius credebatur eadem tamen quae credidisti ita doce ut cum dicas novè non dicas nova What is the Depositum That wherewith thou art trusted not which thou hast found out that which thou hast received not which thou hast invented keepe the talent of the Catholike faith be thou a Bezaleel of the spirituall Tabernacle cut the gems of divine doctrine shining in his word insert them curiously in thy discourse set them off with a good foyle let men understand that by thy exposition clearly which before they beleeved obscurely yet be sure to teach no more than thou hast learned of Christ though thou speake in a new manner yet deliver no new matter If we teach not that which we have learned of Christ or teach any thing as needfull to salvation which we have not learned of Christ we hazzard if not lose the name of Christians for Disciples of Christ Christians are all one no Disciple of Christ no Christian every one so far a Christian as a Disciple of Christ What Christians then are Papists whose Creed consisting of foure and twenty articles twelve of them they learned of Christ the other twelve of Antichrist as may be seene in the Bull of Pope y Bu la S.D.N.D. Pii Papae quarti super formâ juramenti professoris affix ad Conc. Trid. p. 439. Pius affixed to the Councel of Trent Shall we simply affirm that they are Christians we wrong then our selves and all the reformed Churches who have severed from them Shall we absolutely deny that they are Christians we wrong them who hold with us the profession of the Trinity the two Sacraments Baptisme and the Lords Supper and the three Creeds the Apostles the Nicene or Constantinopolitane and that of Athanasious Although the Roman Cardinall might justly be blamed who caused his Painter to draw King Solomon halfe in heaven and halfe in hell yet I suppose they could not justly be censured who should draw Popery or the Church of Rome as she is at this day partly in heaven and partly in hell in heaven in respect of those heavenly truthes which she maintaineth with us against Atheists Jewes Turkes and all sorts of Infidels and many ancient Heretiques but in hell in respect of many pernicious and hellish errours which she pertinaciously defendeth against the cleere letter of Scripture and doctrine and practice of the Primitive Church The blessed Apostle resolveth a like question concerning the Jewes who received the Old Testament but rejected the New in a like manner y Rom. 11.28 As concerning the Gospell they are enemies for your sake but as touching the election they are beloved for the Fathers sake Wee can hardly come off this controversie upon better tearmes than these that Papists as concerning the principles of the common faith are Christians but as touching their proper errours by addition to it detraction from it corruption of it they are no Christians You wil say this is no simple or direct answer neither need it so to be because the question is not simple As it is superfluous to give a mixt or double answer to a simple question so it is dangerous to give a simple and single answer to a mixt question or a question of a mixt subject 1 For instance let the question be concerning Ayat the Jew who used indifferently either of his hands as we use our right hand Whether was he a right handed or a left handed man 2 Or concerning a part of speech which taketh part of a noune and part of a verbe Whether is it a noune or a verbe 3 Or concerning a Myrmaid which in the upper part resembleth a maid in the lower a fish Whether is it a fish or a maid 4 Or concerning the Muscovy Monster which feedeth like a sheepe yet groweth like a plant and hath his root affixed to the earth Whether is it a beast or a plant 5 Or concerning an Androgyne that hath in it both sexes Whether is it a man or a woman 6 Or concerning the apple mentioned by Seneca that hath in it a middle kinde
word of God both conceived by the holy Ghost and brought forth in sacred sheets that as the one consisteth of two natures humane and divine visible and invisible so the other of two senses externall and internall externall and visible in the shadow or letter internall and invisible in the substance or spirituall interpretation either tropologicall or allegoricall or anagogicall as the learned distinguish Doth e Sen. ad Lucil. ep 23. Levium metallorum fructus in summo est illa opulentissima sunt quorum in alto latet vena assiduè pleniùs responsura fodienti experience teach us that the richest metals lie deepest hid in the earth Shall we not think it very agreeable to divine wisdome so to lay up heavenly knowledge in Scriptures that the deeper we dig into them by diligent meditation the veine of precious truth should prove still the richer Surely howsoever some Divines affect an opinion of judgement it is judgement in opinion onely by allowing of no sense of Scripture nor doctrine from thence except that which the text it selfe at the first proposing offereth to their conceit yet give me leave to tell them that they are but like Apothecaries boyes which gather broad leaves and white flowers on the top of the water not like cunning Divers who fetch precious pearles from the bottome of the deepe St. f L. 2. confes c. 31. Sensit omnino ille cogitavit cum ea scriberet quicquid hic veri potuimus invenire quicquid nos non potuimus aut nondum possumus tamen in t is inveniri potest Austine the most judicious of all the Fathers is of a different judgement from them herein For he confidently affirmeth that the Pen-man of the holy Ghost of purpose so set downe the words that they might be capable of multiplicitie of senses and that he intended and meant all such divine truthes as we can finde in the words and such also as we have not yet or cannot finde and yet by diligent search may be found in them Now as the whole texture of Scripture in regard of the variety of senses may not unfitly be likened to the Kings daughters g Psal 45.14 raiment of needle-worke wrought about with divers colours so especially this of the Canticles wherein the allegoricall sense because principally intended may be called literall and the literall or historicall as intended in the second place allegoricall Behold here as in a faire samplar an admirable patterne of drawne-worke besides King Solomon in his royall robes and his Queene in a vesture of gold divers birds expressed to the life as the white h Cant. 5.12 ver 11. â— 2.2 ver 13. c. 4.14 c. 2.1 c. 5.14 c. 1.17 c. 5.15 c. 1.10 Dove washed with milke and the blacke Raven divers trees as the thorne the fig-tree and the vine the myrrhe spikenard saffron calamus cinamon with all trees of frankincense divers flowers as the Rose and the Lilly divers precious stones as the Berill and the Saphir lastly divers artificiall woâ—kes as Houses of Cedar Rafters of Firre Tents of Kedar Pillars of Marble set in sockets of fine gold rowes of Jewels Chaines and here in my text Borders of gold and Studs of silver Sanctius and Delrio upon my text observe that Solomon alludeth to the i She shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver and her feathers with yellow gold 13. verse of the 68. Psalme and what the Father prophesied of the Spouse the Sonne promiseth to her viz. to make her borders or as the Hebrew signifieth also k Brightman in Cant. Turtures aureas alii murenulas aliilineas septuaginta similitudines turtles of gold enameled with silver Howbeit it seemeth more probable that these words have a reference to the 9. verse of this chapter and that Solomon continueth his former comparison of a troup of horses in Pharaoh's Charriot and thus the borders and chains in the 10th and 11th verses are linked to the 9th O my beloved and beautifull Spouse as glorious within through the lustre of divine vertues and graces as thou art resplendent without in jewels and precious stones to what shall I liken thee or whereunto shall I compare thee Thou art like a troupe of milke white horses in Pharaoh's princely Charriot adorned with rich trappings and most precious capparisons For as their head and cheekes are beset with rowes of stones so thy cheekes are decked with jewels that hang at thine eares as their neckes shine with golden raines so thy necke is compassed with chaines of gold and pearle and as their breasts are adorned with golden collars quartered into borders enamelled with silver so that thou must herein also resemble them wee will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver to hang about thy necke and downe thy breast Thus much of the letter or rather letters of my text which you see are all golden flourished over with strikes or as Junius translateth the words points of silver now let us endevour to spell the meaning As artificiall pictures drawne by the pencill of a skilfull Opticke in the same part of the frame or table according to divers sites and aspects represent divers things looke one way upon them you shall see a man another way a lion so it is in this admirable piece drawne by the pencill of Solomon according to divers aspects it presenteth to our view divers things looke one way on it and there appeareth a man to wit King Solomon looke another way and there appeareth a lion the lion of the tribe of Judah looke downeward upon the history and you shall see Solomon with a crowne of gold and his Queen in her wedding garment looke upward to the allegory and you shall see Christ crowned with thornes and his Spouse the Church in a mourning weed and under the one written a joyfull Epithalamium under the other a dolefull Elegy Agreeable to which double picture drawne with the selfe same lines and colours wee may consider the chaines and borders of gold in my text either as habiliments of Solomons Queene or ornaments of Christs Spouse If wee consider them in the first sense they shew his royall magnificence and pompe if in the second either they signifie the types and figures of the Jewish Synagogue under the law or the large territories and rich endowments of the Christian Church under the Gospell k Faciemus tibi similitudines aurâ— cum puncturis argenti Origen who taketh the seventy Interpreters for his guide thus wadeth through the allegory The Angels saith he or Prophets speake here to the Spouse before her husband Christ Jesus came in the flesh to kisse her with the kisses of his lips and their speech is to this effect O beautifull Spouse wee cannot make thee golden ornaments we are not so rich thy husband when bee commeth will bestow such on thee but in the meane time wee will make thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
and easilier spell the letters of the Gospel he vouchsafed to worke them in embroidered silkes and engrave them in gold silver and such precious treasure as fill the rowes in my text Thus much concerning the legall Hieroglyphicks we learne by St. Paul who in his Epistles to the Galathians Corinthians and Hebrewes expounding divers types and stories of the old law spiritually satis ostendit caetera quoque ejusdem esse intelligentiae b Hieron ep ad Fabiol teacheth us plainly that the rest are of the same nature and admit of the like interpretation And hereto S. c In Cant. hom 1. Origen fitteth the words spoken to the Spouse in the Canticles Faciemus tibi similitudines auri cum puncturis argenti we will make thee golden resemblances of true things cum * With certain points rayes notes or sparkles of spirituall meaning puncturis argenti id est scintillis quibusdam spiritualis intelligentiae According to which allusive interpretation of that allegorizing Writer the gold it selfe of the Altar was but a similitude of the true gold d Apoc. 3.18 I counsell thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou maist be rich profered by our Saviour to the Angell of Laodicea and the precious stones named in my text are but similitudes of that precious stone to which St. e 1 Pet. 2.6 Peter pointeth Behold I lay in Sion a chiefe corner stone elect precious whereupon St. f Jer. in Ezek. de gemmis coro Reg. Tyr. 28.13 Jerome sweetly inferres that all the Jewels mentioned in my text are to bee sold by the wise Christian Merchant to buy that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pearle of great price mentioned in the g Mat. 13.46 Gospel Omnes istae gemmae Prophetarum Apostolorum sunt quae comparatione Christi venduntur in Evangelio ut ematur preciocissima Margarita h Mart. ep l. 5. Sardonychas Smaragd ' Adamantas Jaspidas uno Portat in articulo stella Severe tuus O Severus thou settest out thy mistresse most richly with every joint in her fingers laden with Jewels Rubies Emralds Jaspers and Diamonds but pardon me if I beleeve there are more gemmes of art in thy verses than of nature on her fingers Multas in digitis plures in carmine gemmas Invenies inde est haec puto culta manus Behold here in Aarons breast-plate all those and many more precious stones in all twelve bearing the name of the twelve Patriarkes set in ouches of gold and tied to the golden rings of the Ephod a sacred vestment which Aaron and his successours were to put on before they gave judgement when the people asked counsell of God So much of the pectorall is cleerely set downe in this booke but that Aarons breast-plate of judgement was a perfect astrolab is but Abenezra his fantasie without judgement refuted by Tostatus Likewise that together with the names of the Patriarkes there was engraven in every stone the name of some Starre or Angel ut confirmaretur memoria tribus apud Deum is but a muddie talmuddie tradition implying ridiculously and impiously that God needeth or useth the helps of artificiall memorie i Antiq. Judaic l. 3. c. 9. Per duodecimas gemmas quas in pectoâ—â—â—â—ontifex insuâ—â—◠〈◊〉 in bello â—â—â—toriam Deus pronunciare solebat Nam priusquam exercitus se moveret tantus fulgor ex iis emicabat ut toti populo facilè innotesceret adesle Deum opemque iis esse allaturum Josephus telleth us a faire tale and Baronius graceth his annals with it of an unusuall and marvellous lightning of some of these gemmes which clearly foreshewed victory to the people when they asked counsell of God by the Ephod before they went into warre a strange kinde of propheticall illumination not by the irradiation of the Spirit into their mindes but by the scintillation and lustre of stones to the eye But the Scriptures silence in a matter of such note and Josephus his owne confession that for the space of two hundred yeares before his time there was no such new kind of soothsaying not by the aspect of the heavens but of the Priests breast not by twinckling starres but by sparkling stones giveth us just cause to suspect the truth of this narration and much more of an appendix thereunto which we find in Suidas and Epiphanius that the Diamond in the second row of stones as it cleerely foreshewed victorie by the extraordinary glare of it so it portended bloody slaughter by suddenly turning into a red colour and finall desolation by changing into blacke For in the booke of Judges we have the manner of Gods revealing future events to the Priests when they had on the linnen Ephod set downe not by mute signes but by created voyce and therefore St. l Qu. 117. in Exod. Austine accounteth the former relation to be a meere fable Fabulantur quidam lapidem fuisse cujus color sive ad prospera sive ad adversa mutaretur Howbeit sith the m Ca. 18. v. 24. Author of the booke of wisedome affirmeth that the glorie or as others translate the memorable acts of the patriarches were engraven in the foure rowes of stones whether in the choyce of these jewels respect were not had to such as fittest resembled by their beautie or vertue something memorable concerning the Patriarch or his posteritie whose name it bare I determine not absolutely on either side First because neither the Jewish nor the Christian Interpreters agree in the reckoning of the stones or the order of the Patriarches names engraven in them The Thargum of Jerusalem and the Chaldee Paraphrase expresse them after this manner Upon the 1 Sardine was graven 1 Reuben Sonnes of Leah 2 Topaze 2 Simeon 3 Smaragd 3 Levi 4 Chalcedonie 4 Judah 5 Saphir 5 Issachar 6 Sardonyx 6 Zabulon 7 Hyacinth 7 Dan Of Bilhah Rachels maid 8 Chrysoprase 8 Napthali 9 Amethyst 9 Gad Of Zilpha Leahs maid 10 Chrysolite 10 Asher 11 Beryll 11 Joseph Of Rachel 12 Jasper 12 Benjamin Others differ in translation of the stones and conceive the names of the Patriarches to have beene graven in them according to the order of nature according to which after Judah they place Dan and then Napthali after Gad then Asher after Issachar then Zabulon then Joseph and Benjamin The Author of the vulgar translation which the Councell of Trent defineth to be authenticall thus ranketh the stones in the foure rowes In the first 1 Sardius 2 Topazius 3 Smaragdus In the second 4 Carbunculus 5 Saphirus 6 Jaspis In the third 7 Ligyrius 8 Achates 9 Amethystus In the fourth 10 Chrysolitus 11 Onychinus 12 Beryllus The Kings Translatours thus In the first 1 Sardius 2 Topaze 3 Carbuncle In the second 4 Emrald 5 Saphire 6 Diamond In the third 7 Alygure 8 Agate 9 Amethyst In the fourth 10 Beryll 11 Onyx 12 Jasper Secondly because Aben Ezra a great Rabbin ingenuously confesseth that there is no certainty to
should dye Mori infirmitatis est sic mori virtutis infinitae There wanted not other meanes to redeeme man but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was meet that by the death of the Sonne of God wee should bee redeemed Sanguine quaerendi reditus animâque litandum No escaping the stroake of the Angel but by sprinkling the Lambes life bloud no meanes to returne from exile till the death of the high Priest Must hee dye then and are the Scriptures so strait in this point O death how bitter is thy remembrance witnesse our Saviour Si fieri potest transeat hic calix but sith for the reasons before named that was neither possible nor expedient sith dye hee must what death doth the Holy Ghost thinke to bee most expedient If hee may not yeeld to nature as a ripe apple falleth from the tree but must be plucked thence there are deaths no lesse honourable than violent shall he dye an honourable death No hee must bee reckoned among the malefactors and dye a shamefull death In shamefull deaths there is a kind of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rid him quickly out of his paine Misericordiae genus est citò occidere No that was not expedient Feri ut se sentiat mori it was expedient that hee should dye a tedious and most painfull death wherein a tract of lingering misery and lasting torment was to bee endured What death is that I need not amplifie even by the testimony of the Holy Ghost the death of the Crosse was for the torture most grievous for the shame most infamous He humbled himselfe and became obedient unto death Could his humility goe on one step further Yes one step even to the death of the Crosse that is a death beyond death the utmost and highest of all punishments saith Ulpian Having in it the extent of torture saith Apuleius The quintessence of cruelty saith the Roman Oratour It is not amisse to know the manner of the execution of this death First after sentence given the prisoner was whipped then forced to carry his Crosse to the place of execution there in the most tender and sinewie parts of the body nailed to the Crosse then lifted up into the ayre there with cruell mercy for a long while preserved alive after all this when cruelty was satisfied with bloud for the close of all his joynts were broken and his soule beat out of his body This was part of his paine I say part I cannot expresse the whole the shame was much more Infoelix Lignum saith Seneca truly and unhappy for untill this time the curse of God was upon him that was hanged It is a trespasse to bind 't is wickednes to beat it is murder to kill Quid dicam in crucem tollere Look we to the originall it was first devised by Tarquinius as the most infamous punishment of all against such as laid violent hands upon themselves Look we to the use of it they accounted it a slaves nay a dogs death for in memory that the Dogge slept when the Geese defended the Capitoll every yeer in great solemnity they carried a Goose in triumph softly laid upon a rich carpet and a Dogge hanging upon a crosse Looke wee to the concomitancy Non solent suspensi lugeri saith the Civilian no teare was wont to be shed for such as were crucified And was it expedient that our Saviour should dye this death It was expedient that the prophesie of Esay might be verified We saw him made as the basest of men and of David A scorne of men and the out-cast of the people and of himselfe They shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock scourge and crucifie him These were prophesies that it should be so yet we want a prophesie that saith It is expedient That we doe not Oportet filium hominis exaltari ut Moses extulit Serpentem for that Serpent lifted up to cure all that looked upon it was an embleme of Christ Thus himselfe who was a high Priest for ever did prophesie of himselfe being now both priest and sacrifice It was expedient that he should dye thus dye to be forsaken of his friends falsly accused by his enemies to be sold like a slave mocked like a foole spit upon like a made man whipt like a theefe crucified like a traitour make up a misery that the sun shamed the earth trembled to behold it yet it was expedient it must be done God hath said it Mee thinkes I heare our Saviour say in this baptisme of bloud as he said in his baptisme of water Thus it becommeth us to fulfill all righteousnes and thus it became him for whom by whom are all things to consecrate the Prince of our salvation through afflictions The prophesies had said it it should be so and it was expedient that he to whom they pointed should fulfill them that so in fulness of truth he might take his leave of the crosse and say Consummatum est those things which were written of mee have an end All this while we see not the reason why he should be thus tormented Goe to Pilate his answer will be I am innocent of the bloud of this man Enquire you of the Scribes and Pharisees their answer will be We have a law and by this law he must dye because he made himselfe the Son of God This was no fault he was so and therefore without robbery or blasphemy might both think and declare himselfe to be so Goe wee further from popular Pilate and the cruell Jewes to God himselfe and though we be but dust and ashes for the knowledge of this truth presume we to aske Cur fecisti filio sic How may it stand with thy justice that he should dye in whom there was found no fault worthy death nay no fault at all the unswer is Expedit mori pro populo yet O Lord wilt thou slay the righteous with the wicked nay which is more wilt thou slay the righteous and spare the wicked nay which is yet more wilt thou slay the righteous for the wicked shall not the Judge of all the world doe right God cannot chuse but do right the wages of sin is death though he have not sinned the people have If the principall debtour cannot pay the surety must if the prisoner dare not appeare the baile must Christ was the surety the baile of the people and so God might permit his justice against sin to take hold on him and hee must dye for the people if he will not have the people dye It being knowne that he dyed for the people it is worth the while to know who these people were for whom he dyed Caiphas had respect to the Jewes only and their temporall good but the Holy Ghost intended the spirituall good of the Jewes primarily though not of them alone but of the people also through the world But is it possible that of all people he should dye for the Jewes Ab ipsis pro ipsis these were they
serious lesson of the vanity of earthly delights worldly comforts we reade in many Texts of Scriptures heare in divers Sermons see in daily spectacles of men troubled in mind at their death yet we never thoroughly apprehend it till Gods rod hath imprinted it in our bodies and soules then finding by our wofull experience that earthly felicity is nothing but misery masked in gaudy shewes and that all the wealth of the world together with all carnall delights cannot ease a burthened conscience nor abate any whit of our paine we begin to distaste them all we grow out of love with this life and entertaine death in our most serious thoughts Here the eye of faith enlightened by divine revelation seeth beyond death the celestiall Paradise in it a chrystall ſ Apoc. 22.1 2. river of the water of life by it a tree of life which beares twelve sorts of fruits and besides these a heavenly City shining with t Apoc. 21.18 19. streets of gold and foundations of pearle and precious stones the sight wherof leaveth an unspeakable delight in the soule which sweetneth all temporall afflictions and stirreth up in us an unspeakable desire of those solid comforts and substantiall joyes u Ramus in orat Heliogabalus was wont to set before his parasites a banquet painted on cloth or carved in wood or cut in stone and whatsoever hee fed upon in truth they had drawne before them in pictures and images such are the joyes and delights which the Divell the World presenteth unto us false shadowie vaine The true are to be found no where but in heaven where those joyes are in substance which we have here but in shadowes x Aug. confes l. 2. c. 5. Fornicatur anima quae avertitur abs te quaerit extra te ea quae pura liquida non invenit nisi cùm redit ad te pure which we have here polluted full which we have here empty sincere which wee have here mixt perpetually flourishing which we have here continually fading to these substantiall full pure sincere everlasting joyes God bring us for his Son Jesus Christ his sake Cui c. THE NURTURE OF CHILDREN THE XLVII SERMON APOC. 3.19 As many as I love I rebuke and chasten Right Honourable c. THat which Pliny writeth and experience confirmeth concerning hony-combes that the thinner and weaker hony runs out of them at the first but the thickest and best is pressed squeezed out of them at the last we find for the most part in handling Texts of holy Scripture compared by the Prophet a Psal 19.10 David to hony-combs the easier more vulgar observations flow out of them upon the lightest touch but we are to presse each phrase and circumstance before we can get out the thickest hony the choicest and most usefull doctrines of inspired wisedome The more we sucke these combes the more we may the hony proveth the sweeter the combe the moister and which is nothing lesse to be admired the spirituall taste is no way cloyed therewith Wherefore with your good liking and approbation I will presse again and againe these mellifluous combes in our Saviours lips dropping celestiall doctrine sweeter than hony to delight the most distempered taste and sharper than it to cleanse the most putrefied sore I rebuke and chasten there is the sharpnesse and as it were the searching vertue of hony As many as I love there is the sweetnesse Parallel Texts of Scripture like glasses set one against another cast a mutuall light such is this Text and that Deut. 8.5 Thou shalt also consider in thy heart that as a man chasteneth his sonne so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee and Job 5.17 Despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty and Prov. 3.11 12. My sonne despise not the chastening of the Lord neither bee weary of his correction for whom the Lord loveth he correcteth even as a father doth the sonne in whom he delighteth and Hebr. 12.7 If yee endure chastening God dealeth with you as with sonnes for what sonne is he whom the father chasteneth not As a Musician often toucheth upon the sweetest note in his song Paven or Galliard so doth the holy Spirit upon this and therefore we ought more especially to listen to it For 1. It convinceth the Papists who over-value crosses and afflictions accounting the bearing of them satisfactions for sinnes For with a like pride whereby they cry up their actions to be meritorious they would improve their passions to be workes satisfactory by satisfactory intending such as make amends unto the justice of God wherein they as much over-reach as they supererogate or rather superarrogate in the former Satisfactions to our brethren for wrongs done unto them by restitution mulct or acknowledgement of our fault with asking forgivenesse for it we both teach and practise but they shall never be able to satisfie us in this point that any thing they can doe or suffer can satisfie God Neither can our actions satisfie his law nor our penall sufferings his justice none can satisfie for sinne but he that was without sinne nothing can recompence an infinite transgression but an infinite submission or to speake more properly the submission and passion of him that was infinite It cost more to redeem sinnes than the world is worth and therefore they must let that alone for him who f Esay 63.3 trod the wine-presse alone Before I noted the difference between chastisement and punishment in the one a compensation of wrong done to the person or law is intended in the other a testifying of love and a care of amendment of the party chastened Who would ever be so unreasonable as to thinke that a few stripes given by a tender-hearted father to the childe whom he most dearly affecteth were a satisfaction for the losse of a Diamond of great price yet our sufferings hold not such a proportion For what are our finite and momentary sufferings to the offence given to an infinite Majesty Nothing can be set in the other scale against it to weigh it downe but the manifold sufferings of an equall and infinite person the eternall Sonne of God Neither will it help our adversaries any whit to say that Christ satisfied for the eternall but not for the temporall punishment of our sinnes For this is all one as to say that our Redeemer laid downe a talent of gold for us yet not a brasse token or payd many millions of pounds yet not a piece The Apostle said hee gave himselfe a g 1 Tim. 2.6 ransome for all will they deny it to be a sufficient one or was there any defect in his good intention They have not rubbed their foreheads so hard as to affirme any such thing Well then let them tell us how that man is perfectly ransomed by another who is still kept in prison till he have discharged part of his ransome himselfe This very conceit that they merit by
double with God and are of a changeable religion to have no faithfulnesse or honestie By how much the graces and perfections of the mind exceed those of the body by so much the imperfections and deformities of the one surpasse the other what may wee then judge of wavering inconstancie which is compared to a spirituall palsey or an halting in the mind Halt yee Though the metaphor of halting used in my text might signifie either a slacknesse or slownesse in the way of godlinesse or a maime in some member or article of their faith yet according to the scope of the place and consent of the best Expositors I interpret it unsettled wavering and inconstancie For he that halteth is like a man of a giddie braine in a cock-boat or wherrie who turneth the boat sometimes this way sometimes that way not knowing where to set sure footing The opposite vertue to this vice is a stedfast standing in the true faith whereto S. Paul exhorteth the Corinthians i Cor. 15.58 Therefore my beloved brethren be ye stedfast unmoveable alwayes abounding in the worke of the Lord for as much as you know that your labour is not in vaine in the Lord. And the Colossians If yee continue in the faith k Chap. 1.23 grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospell and for it he heartily prayeth For this cause I bow l Ephes 3.14 16 17 18 19. my knees to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ that hee would grant you according to the riches of his glorie to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith that yee being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the bredth length depth height to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fulnes of God The Pythagorians who delighted to represent morall truths by mathematicall figures described a good man by a cube whence grew the proverb Homo undique quadratus A perfect square man everie way The reason of this embleme is taken from the uniformitie stabilitie of this figure which consisteth of six sides exactly equall on which soever it falleth it lies stedfast As the needle in the mariners compasse while it waggleth to fro till it be settled fixed to the North-point giveth no direction no more doth our faith till it be settled unmoveably pointeth directly to the true religion which is the only Cynosure to guide our brittle barks to the faire havens where we would be Between two opinions It is bad to halt but worse as I shewed before to halt betweene two opinions which may be done two manner of wayes 1. Either by leaving both keeping a kind of middle way betwixt them 2. Or by often crossing from one to the other and sometimes going or rather limping in the one and sometimes in the other The former is their hainous sinne who in diversitie of religions are of none the latter of them who are of all The former S. m Confess l. 6. c. 1. Cum maâ—â— indicassem non me quidem jâ—â— esse Maniâ—â—aeâ—m sed nec Catholicum Christianum Austine confesseth with teares to have beene his piteous case when being reclaimed from the heresie of the Manichees and yet not fully perswaded of the truth of the Catholique cause he was for the time neither Catholique nor Manichee Which estate of his soule he fitly compareth to their bodily malady who after a long and grievous disease at the criticall houres as they call them feele suddenly a release of paine yet no increase of strength or amendment at which time they are in greater danger than when they had their extreme fits on them because if they mend not speedily they end For there can be no stay in this middle estate betweene sicknesse and health The wise Law-giver of Athens Solon outlawed and banished all those who in civill contentions joyned not themselves to one part How just this Law may be in Common wealths on earth I dispute not this I am sure of that our heavenly Law-giver will banish all such out of his Kingdome who in the Church civill warres with Heretiques joyne not themselves to one part I meane the Catholique and Orthodox The Praetor of the Samnites spake to good purpose in their Senate when the matter was debated whether they should take part with the Romans against other Greekes or carrie themselves as neuters n Media via neque amicos patit neque iniâ—icos tolliâ— This middle way saith hee which some would have us take as the safest for us because thereby we shall provoke neither partie as bolding faire quarter with both is the unsafest way of all for it will neither procure us friends nor take away our enemies Of the same minde was the great Statesman Aristenus who after hee had weighed reasons on all sides o Romanos aut socios habere aut hostes oportere mediam viam nullam esse Liv. Dec. 4. l. 1. Macedonum legati Aetolis sâ—â—ò ac nequiâ—quâ—m cum Doâ—inum Romanum habebitis socium Philippum quaeretis resolved that the Romans so peremptorily demanding aid of them as they did they must of necessitie either enter into confederacie strict league with them or be at deadly fewd that middle way there was none Apply you this to the Roman faith and it is a theologicall veritie upon necessitie wee must either hold communion with the Roman Church or professedly impugne her and her errours God cursed q â—udg 5.23 Meros for not taking part with the Israelites against their and Gods enemies and Christ in the Gospel openly professeth r Matt 12.30 He that is not with me is against me Media ergo via nulla est The second kinde of halting betweene two opinions may be observed in those who are sometimes of one and sometimes of another Men of this temper though they seeme to be neerer health than others yet indeed they are in more danger as the Angell of Å¿ Apoc. 3.16 Laodicea his censure maketh it a cleare case For though they may seem to be more religious than they who professe no religion yet sith it is impossible that truth falshood should stand together all their religion will be found to be nothing else but dissimulation and so worse than professed irreligion Here that speech of Philip concerning his two sons u Plut. Apoph 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hecaterus and Amphoterus may have place Hecaterus is Amphoterus and Amphoterus is Udeterus that is hee whose name is Either of the two is worth Both but he whose name is Both is neither The Nazarean Heretiques saith S. Austine while they will be both z Aug. de haer Ad quod vult Deum 2 Kings 17. 29 30 33. Jewes and Christians prove neither one nor the other Doth