fall out with the whole Profession of Chivalry for one Miscreants sake that pierced my Saviours side or for four at the most as some say that scourged him Quis requiescet super lonco quo perfossum est Christi latus for by that reason we should fall out with the Priests and High-Priests too who were deeper interested in the business than the Souldiers The Sons of Aaron were his first Enemies as you would say Hereticks and corrupt Teachers that sow Tares among the Wheat were the first Adversaries against the Church of Christ The Military men were his last Enemies they that wounded him in my Text and belyed the truth of his Resurrection afterward watching at the Sepulcher So the Battels of usurping Princes put on pestilently to be the last ruin of the Church Caesaris milites Caesar's Souldiers such as these were his Souldiers that would be an Universal Monarch the Caesar over all the Princes of the earth Some Expositors out of their respects to the honour of a Martial life would have this person to be ne unus militum no Souldier at all rightly called but by abuse and usurpation and I think you will say they speak reason when I tell you why When Hannibal was Master of the field against the Romans a People of Italy called Brutiani revolted to the Conquerors side But fortune turn'd and the time came that the Romans had clear'd the Coast of the Carthaginians and could take revenge of their Enemies at home then they neither would let those Brutiani live so happily as in Peace nor so honourably as to bear Arms in War but took them along with their Camp and made them Lictores Lorarii that is base Instruments for correction and execution of Malefactors so that by good conjecture this was but unus è Brutianis an Executioner and not a Souldier but as he lived in the Camp Now where villany was bred in the bone and the condition of the man was to be like Satanas emissus ad vexandum orbem appointed to vex all that came into his hands what could be expected but that he should thrust his Spear into the bowels of an Innocent As it was said of Maximinus the Tyrant who was born a Barbarian both by Father and Mother in quo fuit conscientia degeneris animi he did not apply himself to good because his conscience always told him that his original was base and degenerous Let him be as bad as we would have him or as good as the Text calls him he was as we are in one thing a Gentile and not a Jew a Gentile that did malice Christ The divisions of both those two great Houses did concur to these cruel and dolorous sufferings that both in their Posterity to the worlds end might think themselves indebted to expiate so great an offence both had an interest in these bloody passions prosecuting our Saviours death ut qui pro persecutoribus oraret Gentiles non excluderet says Origen That since he prayed for his Persecutors the Gentiles who were at one end of his Persecutions might be partakers of his Prayers And the counterfet Gospel of Nicodemus tells us what success this Gentile had upon our Saviours most potent Intercession and Prayer for his Enemies For this Longinus that name his new Godfathers have given him having lost the use of one eye long before a little sprinkling of this bloud did light upon it and restore it again The miracles and the grace of God made him a Christian and finally a constant profession of him that was crucified made him a glorious Martyr Whether the Story be true or false I dispute not this Author knew that there was a possibility we might believe it For 't is true that St. Hierom said upon the conversion of many Publicans and Harlots Christus est succinum ad congregandas sibi stipulas paleas many who had copious vices were drawn unto Christ as the Coral and the Jet draw chaff and straws and things of the least moment about them Men and Brethren to this day Christ is crucified to this day Armed men and Souldiers bend their fury against the Church of Christ are about his Cross For as the Philosopher said that an ill man was the worst of all Beasts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for he was arm'd with wit and reason to do injustice So every sinner is not so strong as a Souldier to hurt nor furnisht with ability to be so bad as he would be he wants a spear to thrust Christ into the side as Isaiah said of the Army of Senacharib which threatned sore against the Temple of the Lord but fell short of their purpose The Children are come to the birth and are not able to bring forth But when I see Power and Authority make the worst use of it to oppress when I see a pregnant Wit set it self to scoff and libel when I hear Eloquence whet her tongue to plead against the innocent alas say I this is robusta iniquitas this impiety is armed with a Spear the weapons of malice are girt about it my Saviour and his poor Members are sure to smart for it Says the Prophet Ezekiel chap. xxxii they shall go down to Hell with their Weapons of War that is with their violent and powerful sins Transgressors we may be Souldiers that fight against Heaven I hope we will never be Cast away the weapons of Satan and put on the armour of light I have done with the Person I come to the Violence offered lanceâ fodit he pierced him with a Spear The hand of Jereboam which was stretched out against the man of God dried up and withered the hand of the Emperor Valens shook with an extreme Palsie and could not subscribe to the Banishment of Basil the Great says Theodoret but the hand of the Persecutor which aimed at the Body of Christ himself that was stedfast no infirmity in it no sinew shrunk Let these go their way says Christ of his Disciples when they were all taken together in the Garden let not these be apprehended the Shepherd rather than the Sheep the Master than the Servants In me convertite ferrum whosoever escapes his own flesh shall never flinch at torment St. Austin asks why his dearest flesh was pierced and despitefully mangled but according to the Scriptures not a bone of him was broken quia ossa sunt electi eorum virtutes his flesh was the Sacrifice which must be offered upon the Altar of the Cross but his Elect and their Virtues are understood by his bones and whatsoever betides himself yet his Elect that is his bones must not be broken In the Similitude of the Vine whereunto our Saviour is compared more than once Bernard hath thus continued the Allegory that in Circumcision he was vitis praecisa a Vine that was pruned and though a little cut yet no substantial part was wounded In the captious questions of the Pharisees when
is the brightness of his Fathers glory and the express image of his person Upon those words of the Apostle Col. iv 18. the salutation of me Paul with my own hand says S. Chrysostom it was great comfort to the brethren to see salutations and greetings and wishes under Pauls own hand Some comfort it might be but far short of this to see not only the word of salutation but the word of salvation dwell among us the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth As Pliny said to Trajan of his virtuous Wife Nihil sibi ex fortuna tua nisi gaudium vendicat she desired no further interest in his good fortune but to rejoyce and to be glad at his felicity so the righteous man leaves the wide world for the children of the world to share it among them Nihil sibi nisi gaudium vendicat all that he challengeth for his own is the Blessed Virgins solace and My spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour O my beloved it cannot be uttered what tranquility and joy is in that heart which seriously apprehends those evident signs that God is reconciled unto us Those heavens which Pythagoras spoke of that they were never without concent and harmony that Fable being moralized is agreeable to nothing but to that soul which is comforted in the mercies of Christ Semper illic serenum est it is like the state of the world above the Moon it is ever fair and clear in that place without any storm or tempest it is like the tribe of Zabylon situated in a safe harbour close unto the tumultuous Seas Aliorum videt naufragia sed ipse salvus est it looks forth upon the Seas and sees how some are tost in perilous waters how some are shipwrackt and cast away but it self is safe under the shadow of Christ and in no such terror or calamity The ordinary comforts of this world which concur to the being and to the well-being of nature may be wanting perchance to a true servant of God these may a little abate the courage perhaps it makes us appear says St. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as sorrowful 't is but as if it were so Tanquam lugentes as sorrowful but always rejoycing The tongues of men and Angels are not able to devise a message of joy more sweet and allective than this that our severe Judge hath sent his Son to be our Mediator and that Mediator to be our Judge and that Judge to be our Brother for so he calls us by that term of intimate affection This is such a demulcing comfort to a sin-wounded conscience that it leaves our heart in St. Austins phrase to be Thalamus Dei palatium Christi habitaculum Spiritus sancti the marriage-chamber of God the courtly Palace of Christ and the habitation of the Holy Ghost This is the proper joy of Christs Birth with which the Angel did accost the Shepherds the delight and serenity of a good Conscience It is agreeing to the solemnity of this time to speak also of the other branch of joy which is sufferable and may be warranted which is called Risus ad naturae recreationem pastimes and delightful exercises to refresh the sadness of the heart And if there be any man whose strictness will allow of no sports or pleasurable jocundities at this season of our Saviours Nativity let me tell him that such austerity is groundless and hath no foundation in the Word of God and to censure all innocent relaxation of mirth because with some men and in some places it is done with excessive vanity and riot he wants a grain of Charity Shall we build no houses to put our head in because fools built a Babel shall we plant no Vineyards because Noah was overseen shall we forswear courtesie because Absalom's kindness was full of flattery what is another mans sin to my harmless mirth Joy is in the Text and if there be harmless joy in the time no judicious man will disallow it But why do sickly men imagine that all meats taste rank and unsavory it is the ill affection of their own palat Why do Boat-men think that the shore goes from them because they go from the shore So the heart of churlish men is undelightsome and that makes them to think all delight is vicious There is a time to weep and a time to laugh says the Wise man Eccles iii. 4. And what time more convenient for rejoycing than this when Solomon dedicated his Temple to the Lord first he magnified God in a solemn prayer then all Israel kept a Feast and a joyful holy day This Temple was but a figure of Christ the everlasting Priest these are the days wherein we celebrate the dedication of this Temple and after we have magnified Gods name in solemn Prayer for his mighty work we may chear and refresh our selves with joy in a lawful measure of innocency and sobriety Why should we lowre and look sad like those hypocrites the Pharisees who had nothing in them but a form of outward austerity True joy cannot contein it self in a contemplative meditation it will exult it will break forth like John Baptist in his Mothers womb who rejoyced in the Spirit that Mary had conceived the Messias in her Womb. Nor was that all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Babe sprang and leapt for gladness Whatsoever mirth is honest and lawful whether spiritual or civil joy the Angel gives liberty to the Shepherds to use it Behold I bring you tidings of great joy The spiritual and the innocent civil joy are both native and proper to these festival days of the Birth of Christ but by our abuse that which is most frequent and common is the third member of the distinction which is sinful Risus ex immoderata turpi laetitia a mirth bestain'd with riot and all kind of offensiveness It is time to cry down the noise of all immoderate and wicked pleasures with an heavenly song How different are our tunes of beastliness from that which the children of Jerusalem did sing upon the Advent of Christ Hosanna to the Son of David Hosanna in the highest How different were their modest garments from that pomp and pride which divers of us do bear upon our backs they spread their garments in the way to entertain the King of Glory Christ would not have honour'd yours with his feet he would not have trod upon your Peacock attire which is so vain and alterable O beloved what an incongruity is this Christ came down from Heaven to dwell among us and you rake Hell for merriment to make him welcome If a Jubilee come once a year wherein you have indulgence for a sweet relaxation in Sports and Festivals must you needs lose your wits exeat Cato as if no sober man all that while were fit for our company If you will spend a few days of solace and recreation so wickedly so untowardly do you not deserve that God should turn your Feasts
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 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 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 leâ—t 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
that Psalm they that are just and faithful in their sayings he that speaks the truth from his heart v. 2. he that hath used no deceit in his tongue v. 3. he that sweareth to his neighbour and disappointeth him not though it were to his own hinderance v. 5. David desired to know by some sign whether he should come into the presence of Saul or fly from him Why Jonathan kept his word with David Jonathan desired that David would be merciful to his Posterity after him David sware unto him and kept his word with Jonathan But be you just in your promises to your brother and God will make good unto you the promise of eternal life the Lord is faithful in all his sayings and holy in all his works The next collection from hence shall be this that the Devil would not offer less than all he had to win a Soul he would not offer a trifle for that which he knew was the most precious thing upon earth And it is a little excuse though far from a good answer when a man is fetcht into a sin for a great bewitching recompence pretio octuplicis stipendii illectus as that famous Renego pleaded for himself that he was enticed back to the Church of Rome with a stipend eight times greater than he had in England but to be enticed from our heavenly Father like a Child with toyes of no estimation it accuseth us that we do not value our own soul at so good a rate as the Devil doth What a narrow mean reward was that for which the lying Prophets did change the service of God Ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread Ezek. xiii 19. What will you give me sayes Judas and I will betray him And you do not find that he did drive the Market with the Priests and Elders but took the first sum that they appointed him Anima lucri cupida etiam pro exiguo perire non metuit sayes Leo. A greedy covetous mind will damn both body and soul for a little money What could Esau have taken less than a mess of pottage especially made of lentiles the meanest pittance of relief that a beggar looks for at every door and what had Esau in this world to exchange for it so precious and valuable as his Birthright the Law shews the dignity thereof that all the first-born were peculiarly consecrated and given unto God Exod. xxii 29. they were next in honor to their Parents they had a double portion of their Fathers goods Until the Law was given the first-born administred the Priesthood in the Family that was a sacred thing and yet more sacred he was a type of Christ for Christ is called the first-born among many brethren Rom. viii 29. Moreover and above it was a type of our adoption and being heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven See what a vile exchange Esau did make for all this heavenly dignity that the Holy Ghost for good cause calls him a prophane person who for one meals meat and for such a course meal sold his birthright Heb. xii 16. If we will prostitute our selves so cheaply to the Prince of darkness and ask less than for shame he can offer to put our selves into the bondage of iniquity mark what will follow the Lord will debase us as we have debased our selves thou sellest thy people for nought and takest no money for them sayes the sweet Singer of Israel or as Moses told the Israelites if they sold themselves to commit iniquity they should be sold for slaves and no man would buy them Deut. xxviii 68. But for all this I must give you to know in my next admonition though Satan offer'd all that is in this world yet he did not offer enough for that which he would gain namely to win a soul every thing under the Sun comes short of that appretiation much more in this case it is to be considered that if our Lord Jesus could have been supplanted which was impossible all mankind had perisht for upon his righteousness and upon his perfect obedience did depend our Crown and our Salvation if therefore one soul is worth the whole world and more what could be valued against all the souls in the world But I will instance upon this for our use there is nothing so valuable that should bribe a man to commit the least sin against our Heavenly Father You will smile at the Indian Savages that part with gold and spices and amber for glass beads and saffron brouches yet whosoever sins for the mammons of iniquity barters for a far more unequal merchandise you change immortality for death eternal joy for continual care a certain treasure for uncertain riches the most happy fruition of the Creator for less than the felicity of a dream aut transeunt nobis viventibus aut dimittuntur nobis dormientibus the living may lose all they have got by injustice but for certain the dead cannot keep it What is a man advantaged if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be cast away Luke ix 25. if he lose himself the word following is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the vulgar read it detrimentum sui faciat from whence a good Expositor sayes there is no comparison in the purchasing of earthly things non solùm cum damnatione aeternâ sed etiam cum jacturâ gratiae Dei though damnation and hell fire were not incurr'd to suffer the loss of the Holy Spirit and of the Grace of God Wherefore all that Satan could shew and let him shew as many worlds as Alexander could wish all is not worth such a cringe as he would have the Son of God to make to bow down and commit Idolatry We read of one Apostle so abounding in charity to his own Nation that he could be content to lose his part of heaven cupio anathema esse pro fratribus it was St. Paul who was willing to be anathema for his brethren that God might be glorified in all the people of Israel but he would not exchange the least degree of his sanctity and faith in Christ for all the muck in the world Joseph had rather lose that was comfortable to him in this life liberty good name yea the garments from his back then be defil'd with lust I have no instance fit to come after that of Moses Hebr. xi 24. who by faith refused to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season Philo sayes of him that Thermut the only child and daughter of Pharaoh being long married and quite barren wanting issue to succeed fained her self big and at last to be delivered of Moses whom she found in an ark of bulrushes exposed to be drown'd him she brought up for her adopted child to inherit all the Kingdoms of Egypt But because Idolatry reigned in that place he could not
breakers up of Graves and robbers of the dead Say ye his Disciples came by night 4. The main intended contrivance was to discredit the true Doctrine of our Saviours Resurrection Say ye his Disciples came by night and stole him away 5. In the last place I will handle the improbability of all of what contradictions the Plot consists never to be pieced together for all this if it like you must be done while they slept Say ye c. The Text being part of a Confabulation of some that laid their heads together to do mischief in the first place it will be most proper to speak of these Confederates On the one part to see that men of the best gifts and qualities are the most wicked Sons of Belial when they are left to themselves they are of no worse credit and calling than High Priests and Elders The selected Tribe of God to burn Incense to his name and offer Sacrifice continually the eyes of the people for counsel and their tongue to pray for them So blessed by Jacob and by Moses in the name of their Father Levi that nothing but such an horrid sin as a conspiracy against Christ could unbless them again Every house thought it self happy to receive one of that order so Micah of Mount Ephraim every Lot of Israel took them for innocent and unsuspected as it is 1 Mach. vii 14. One that is a Priest of the Seed of Aaron is come and he will do us no harm Marcus dixit ita est their word was Law and their righteousness unquestioned All this credit they had that now the Devil might use them the better to suppress a manifest truth When one did highly commend Julian the Cardinal the Popes Legate at the Council of Basil Sigismund the Emperour answers Tamen Romanus est for all your great commendation this man is a Roman So the High Priests sate in Moses Chair were zealous of the Law fasted look'd sowerly pretended much affection to the Temple of the Lord Tamen sunt Pharisaici for all this praise they tasted deeply of the Leaven of the Pharisees and envied it that God himself should send his own Son to have more authority among the people or to be greater in estimation than they such as loved the praise of men more than the praise of God That was a mild character of our Saviours but the meaning of it is they had rather conjure with Hell to maintain their Error than retract it with open repentance and incur a little shame for their former obstinacy When Lazarus was raised from the dead and all the people wondred at it presently the High Priests warn their Council to meet for upon every good deed they fell a conspiring and the matter propounded to the Council was What do we For this man doth many Miracles O fools and slow of heart If he do many Miracles what should ye do But confess him to be the Son of God and fall down and worship him Is Lazarus revived to their knowledge And doth it not say unto them why will ye perish and not believe Nay God invited them thus far that those mighty sinners the Authors that put Christ to death heard of his Resurrection on this day within a little while after he was risen and by their own Ministers such as were of their own Faction that watched the Sepulchre those told them very certain tidings that an Angel of God had said to certain devout women He is risen he is not here They saw it they heard it they quak'd for fear and felt it they could not be mistaken O God what abundant means were these to let them know the truth and be saved For all this they are at their old santez What do we This man is risen from the dead let us cast a mist before mens eyes that they may never believe it Thus that which should have begot Faith in them begot madness and that heart will never be well softened which is hardened with the very grace of God Was Pharaoh ever religiously mollified that wax'd stubborn after so many Messages which Moses brought after so many Plagues on Earth so many Wonders from Heaven He never had a true relenting heart that dodg'd the grace of God so often Beloved that Pharaoh and these High Priests let them be your examples what a fearful thing it is to make ill use of those good means which are ordained for your salvation But I am not yet off from the main Point the Priests are one part of this wicked combination and they invited the Souldiers to joyn with them in the Plot against Christs Resurrection and undertake for another Plot to make Pilate wink at all passages and be pleased Davos Davos omnia these are the wits that carry the whole stratagem before them For what Impostures will not pass for fair dealing when they are recommended upon the credit of the Chief Priests Iis qui occaecantur authoritate sacerdotali facilè pro veritate obtruditur mendacium When well meaning men have the persons of some great Clerks in reverence and think the Spirit of God is among them how easie it is to fall into great errors upon that trust That it is no wonder if many stick obstinately to Popish superstition whose eyes are dazled with Pontifical Authority Woe be to them who are rotten in their own foundation and yet inveigle others to build upon their conscience And mark who those others were whom the High Priests made their Confederates some of those Souldiers that watcht the Sepulchre So the Fox and the Lion are yoked together Vulpina pellis leomna force and policy wit and violence The Sword of Paul as Pope Julian the Second said with the Keys of Peter Some of the Watch came into the City and shewed the High Priests all things that were done ver 11. At first they told the certainty of Christs Resurrection and gave God the glory and made a just Apology for themselves that they were charged indeed to look to the Tomb that the body which was in it might be kept safe and unremoved but some dreadful Powers from above came down and broke open the Sepulchre who could blame them therefore that they did not fight against Heaven If they might have been let alone to themselves they had said no more and gone away well excused But the High Priests more unjust by far than these Heathen make them unsay every word which they had spoken true and scandalize Gods name among the Heathen by teaching them to blaspheme A very hard case that in all likelihood these had been far more honest and sincere if they had never consulted with those that by their Duty and Office were their Teachers But a little matter alas draws men into the high-way of iniquity and the Priests could no sooner propound treachery but the Souldiers are in the knot First they carry more reverence to man than unto God and conjoyned to betray the greatest
that the worst they could say slander us so and spare not says St. Austin upon it maledictio sit super nos super nostros liberos let that reproach fall upon us and our Children for ever But if any Age were more in jeopardy than another to wrest the word Disciple to an ill sense I am perswaded 't is ours For if a Disciple be a learner of the Divine Testimonies there are many that affect to be Discipulissimi by their good will there is no day of the week but they would sit at the feet of their own Gamaliels the pretence of learning is so great in these our days that I am sure all former times come short of this double diligence And were they such Disciples that were first called Christians Certainly the word of God was very precious unto them and as St. James bids it be so they were swift to hear Seek the Lord while he may be found seek his face evermore quaeramus inveniendum quaeramus inventum seek him for He is glorious seek him evermore for He is infinite And that Heathen saying was to good purpose when we have one foot in the Grave be still willing to learn But these Disciples gathered their heavenly Manna by moderate measure in a fit proportion to digest it not like our open-ear'd people in a numberless quantity to make them loath it Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth says the great Doctor 1 Thes iv always walking and never going home not desiring to have instruction fall down in sweet drops to make the seed of the Word fructifie but with an Inundation to make it putrifie and continually gaping for somewhat that tends to the curiosity of knowledg rarher than the conscience of practice And where have they got this use but from outlandish fashions where there is no decent face of a Church no air of Devotion no solemn Liturgie to employ the time in whereby they must needs make up that which is wanting with continual preaching But you will say if this ravening after Sermons as I may call it be a fault it flows from the zeal of them that mean well and charity may construe it to the best There 's more in it than so as I conceive First it is too manifest to conceal it or deny it that superfluity of hearing is a cloak of dissimulation and hath bred a consumption of practising and scire est propter ire say the old Friers we know the way that we may go the way 2. Let any one descend skilfully into the nature of man and he shall see that it is our humour to grow too familiar with that which is told too often a decent distance and intermission would breed more reverence and attention 3. Whom doth it not afflict that hath a right sense of piety to see so much havock and loss of that which is so precious A Carpenter may hew off large chips from a Block but a Lapidary will make no waste of a Diamond when he pares it It was not the itching ear then which thinks it can never hear enough that made a Disciple in the Primitive Church they did not heap to themselves vain Teachers that every one of the common sort might prove a Doctor rather than a Learner and controul the best as if they were Masters rather than Disciples yet their heart was bent with meekness to receive the Word as St. James says they discharged their duty in good sort to hear and learn for hearing is the Key of knowledge but they did not turn the Key continually in the Lock and never open the door they were wise builders that heard the truth and did if and their desire was set to incarnate the written Word in their Souls by doing it as the blessed Virgin gave flesh to the Eternal Word by bearing it In a word they were such Disciples as gave the tongue of praise just occasion to call them Christians I will recite but a little of that which antiquity hath witnessed for their sakes Their Vessel was kept so chaste and clean that every day if persecutions dispersed them not they partaked of the body and bloud of their Saviour their temperance so great their fasting so constant that one says The Constitution of Lent began not till such time as their perpetual sobriety began to be unimitated Their Charity drew this admiration out of their forest enemies See how they love one another Even their Tormentors while their bodies lay bleeding under their hands were converted to believe and suffer with them by their Patience and Fortitude Finally Their contempt of the world was testified in this That no man said that ought which he had was his own but they had all their possessions in common Angelica respublica nihil dicere proprium says St. Chrysostom That made it no less than a Society of Angels to renounce their part in any proper possession It was not therefore hearing upon hearing that denominated them Disciples these were the Elements of which their Piety consisted and then they proceeded to be called Christians Yet before I come to the birth of this new title which is the chief corner-stone of my Text it will suit well to speak a little of the privation or cessation of their old names by which in former times they were known And they are of two sorts Such as the Church claimed to her self and delighted in or such wherewith flanderous tongues did think to wound her And they may be equally divided into three of the one sort and of the other First you meet it every where in the Epistles of the New Testament that such as professed to obey the Gospel were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the brethren One is the Mother of us all in our natural being the earth One Mother of our spiritual Connexion the Church one common Father of our flesh the first man Adam one Father of our Regeneration the Holy Ghost But certainly Charity was the special scope in this appellation for no relation of love is so complete in all points as between Brother and Brother The love between Husband and Wife is not born with them The love between Father and Son is not level and reciprocal because it is not between persons that are equal the love between Friend and Friend is of our own choice nor of necessary duty only the love of Brothers is from the Womb from instinct of nature stands upon equal conditions and is underpropt with all circumstances that ingender affection And to give Charity the pre-eminence this was the first precious oyntment that was poured upon our head we were called brethren And secondly Saints to the Saints that are at Ephesus to the Saints at Colossi And many of the Saints did I shut up in prison says St. Paul before King Agrippa Acts xxvi 10. And this Attribute was given to our famous Predecessors from the Sacramental Seal of Baptism as