living God because God dwelleth remaineth in our souls our souls in our bodies our bodies in the Church the Church in the world There are many other reasons of this appellation but the Apostle dwelleth most upon this of dwelling Where God dwelleth there is his Temple but he dwelleth in our hearts by faith we are therefore his Temple If exception bee made to this reason that dwelling proveth a House but not a Temple l Cal. in hunc locum De homine si dicatur hic habitat non erit protinus templum sed domus prophana sed in Deo hoc speciale est quod quemcunque locum suâ dignatur praesentiâ eum sanctificat Calvin answereth acutely that if wee speake of the habitation of a man wee cannot from thence conclude that the place where he abideth is a Temple but God hath this priviledge that his presence maketh the place wheresoever hee resideth necessarily a Temple Whereas the King lyeth there is the Court and where God abideth there is the Church It might bee sayd as truly of the stable where Christ lay as of the place where God appeared to Jacob This is the house of God and the gate of heaven Here I cannot but breake out into admiration with Solomon and say m 1 Kin. 8.27 The heaven of heavens cannot containe thee O Lord and wilt thou dwell in my house in the narrow roome of my heart Isocrates answered well for a Philosopher to that great question What is the greatest thing in the least n Isoc ad Dem. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The minde said hee in mans body But Saint Paul teacheth us to give a better answer to wit God in mans soule And how fitly hee tearmeth here believers the Temple of God will appeare most evidently by paralleling the inward and outward Temple of God the Church and the soule 1 First Churches are places exempt from legall tenures and services and redeemed from common uses in like manner the minde of the faithfull and devout Christian is after a sort sequestred from the world and wholly dedicated to God 2 Secondly Temples are hallowed places not by censing or crossing or burning tapers or healing it over with ashes and drawing the characters of the Greeke and Hebrew Alphabet after the manner of popish consecration but by the o Joh. 17.17 Word and Prayer by which the faithfull are also consecrated Sanctifie them O Lord with thy truth thy Word is truth 3 Thirdly Temples are places of refuge and safety and where more safety than in the houshold of faith God spared the City for the Temples sake and hee spareth the whole world for the Elects sake 4 Fourthly the Temple continually sounded with vocall and instrumentall musicke there was continuall joy singing and praising God and doth not the Apostle teach us that there is p Eph. 5.19 joy in the holy Ghost and continuall melody in the hearts of beleevers 5. Fiftly in the Temple God was to bee q Phil 3.3 worshipped and Christ teacheth that the true r John 4.24 worshippers of God worship him in spirit and in truth and Saint Paul commandeth us to ſ 1 Cor. 6.20 worship and glorifie God in our body and spirit which are his 6. Sixtly doe not our feet in some sort resemble the foundation our legges the pillars our sides the walls our mouth the doore our eyes the windowes our head the roofe of a Temple Is not our body an embleme of the body of the Church and our soule of the queere or chancell wherein God is or should be worshipped day and night The Temple of God is not lime sand stone or timber saith t Lact. divin instit l. 5. c. 8. Templum Dei non sunt ligna lapides sed homo qui Dei figuram gestat quod Templum non auro gemmarum donis sed virtutum muneribus ornatur Lactantius but man bearing the image of God and this Temple is not adorned with gold or silver but with divine vertues and graces If this be a true definition of a Temple and description of the Ornaments thereof they are certainly much to be blamed who make no reckoning of the spirituall Temple of God in comparison of the materiall who spare for no cost in imbellishing their Churches and take little care for beautifying their soules Hoc oportet facere illud non omittere they doe well in doing the one but very ill in not doing the other It will little make for the glory of their Church to paint their rood-lofts to engrave their pillars to carve their timber to gild their altars to set forth their crosses with jewells and precious stones if they want that precious pearle which the rich Merchant man sold all that hee had to buy to have golden miters golden vessels Mat. 13.46 golden shrines golden bells golden snuffers and snuffe-dishes if as Boniface of Mentz long agoe complained Their Priests are but wooden or leaden Saint u Amb. Auro non placent quae auro non emuntur Jnven sat 11. Fictilis nullo violatus Jupiter auro Ambrose saith expresly That those things please not God in or with gold which can bee bought with no gold In which words hee doth not simply condemne the use of gold or silver in the service of God no more than Saint x 1 Pet. 3.3 Peter doth in the attire of godly Matrons Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the haire and wearing of gold or of putting on of apparrell but let it be in the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price but he Lactantius both speak comparatively and their meaning is that the chief adorning of Churches is not with the beauty of colours but of holinesse not with the lustre of pearles and precious stones but with the shining of good workes not with candles and tapers but with the light of the Word not with sweet perfumes but with a savour of life unto life It will bee to little purpose to sticke up waxe lights in great abundance in their Churches after they have put out the pure light of Gods Word or hid it as it were under a bushell in an unknowne tongue Rhenamus reporteth that hee saw at Mentz two Cranes standing in silver into the belly whereof the Priests by a device put fire and frankincense so artificially that all the smoake and sweet perfume came out at the Cranes beakes A perfect embleme of the peoples devotion in the Romish Church the Priests put a little fire into them they have little warmth of themselves or sense of true zeale and as those Cranes sent out sweet perfumes out at their beaks having no smelling at all thereof themselves so these breath out the sweet incense of zealous praiers and thanksgiving whereof they have no sense or understanding at all because they pray in an unknowne tongue And so from the
against his owne body doth not his conscience tell him that God is highly displeased with him doth hee not feele the effects of his wrath in his soule and oftentimes in his body and estate also and if the hand of God upon him bring him not to a sight and a sense and an acknowledgement and a detestation also of his sinne dare any man secure his salvation On the contrary if after his relapse his heart smite him and hee feeles the pricke of conscience if there bee any sparke in the weeke any bitter fume drawing teares from his eyes any fervour of zeale any heate of love in him any vehement desire of saving grace though hee receive the sentence of death in himselfe and breathe out his last gaspe in a disconsolate sigh and with a lamentable groane yet none doubteth but that he may passe even by the gates of Hell into Heaven There is nothing so easie or frequent as for a man to slip or fall who walketh upon the ice and what is this world compared by Saint John to a sea of glasse Apoc. 15.2 but slippery ice in which though they who goe most warily slide often and receive grievous falls yet they may take such hold on the one side upon the promises of God Jer. 31.40 I will not turne away from them to doe them good but I will put my feare in their hearts that they shall not depart from mee and on the other side upon Christs praier I have prayed for thee that thy faith faile not that they fall not irrecoverably or so dangerously as that they dye of their fall Luke 22.31 For whose comfort in their fearfullest conflicts with dispaire I will lay such grounds of confidence as will amount to a hope that maketh not ashamed and at least to a morall assurance of the recovery of their former estate In the ninth of Proverbs and the first wee have a description of a house built by Wisedome b Prov. 9.1 Wisedome saith hee hath built her an house shee hath hewen out her seven pillars By this house albeit some of the Ancients understand the incarnation of the Sonne of God who is the Wisedome of his Father and might bee said then to build him an house when hee framed a body to himselfe yet may it bee applyed to the spirituall house which every Christian buildeth by faith upon the rocke Christ Jesus for as that so this standeth upon seven pillars 1. The constancy of Gods love in Christ 2. The certainty of his decrees 3. The truth of his promises 4. The power of regenerating grace 5. The efficacy of Christs prayer and intercession for all Beleevers 6. The safegard of the Almighties protection 7. The testimony of the true ancient Church which the Apostle himselfe graceth with the title of the pillar and ground of truth The first pillar to support this building is the constancy of Gods love to all that are in Christ which may be thus hewen to our purpose They upon whom God setteth such an especiall affection in Christ that hee maketh a covenant of peace and entreth into a contract of marriage with them can never bee cast utterly out of favour much lesse grow into eternall hatred and detestation in such sort that they become the objects of endlesse misery and subjects of everlasting malediction For this kindnesse whereby the Lord our Redeemer hath mercy on us Esa 1.54.8 With everlasting kindnesse will I have mercy on thee saith the Lord thy Redeemer Ver. 10. The mountains shal depart and the â—â—ls be removed but my kindnesse shall not depart from thee neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed is everlasting The covenant of this peace is immoveable this contract is indissoluble * Hos 2.19 20. I will betroth thee unto mee for ever I will betroth thee unto mee in righteousnesse and in judgement and in loving kindnesse and in mercies I will betroth thee unto mee in faithfulnesse and thou shalt know the Lord. But all true beleevers are embraced with this love comprised within this covenant parties in this contract What then can steale their hearts from Christ or alienate his love from them z Rom. 8 35.38 What shal separate them from this love of God in Christ shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakednesse or perill No neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. That fire which generateth and produceth its owne fuell can never goe out and what is the fuell which nourisheth this heavenly flame but grace and vertue in us which it selfe continually worketh in all them that are new creatures in Christ Men affect others because of worth but contrariwise Gods affection causeth worth in all who are indeared unto him All the spirituall beauty they have wherewith he is enamoured is no other than the reflection and glisening of the beames of his grace which a Heb. 12.2 Looking unto Jesus the beginner and finisher of our faith beginneth and consummateth all good in us b Phil. 2.13 For it is God that worketh in us both to will and to doe of his good pleasure working in us both the wil the deed Philosophy teacheth that the celestiall and superiour bodies work upon the terrestriall and inferiour but not on the contrary The stormes or calmes in the aire change not the motions or influence of the starres but contrariwise the motions conjunctions and influences of the Starres cause such variety in the ayre and earth The rayes of the visible Sunne are not moved at all by the motion of the object but immoveably flow from the body of that Planet and though blustering windes tyrannize in the ayre and remove it a thousand times out of its place in an houre yet they stirre not therewith in like manner though our affections are transported with every gale of prosperity and storme of adversity and our wills somewhat yeeld to every wind of temptation yet Gods affections like the beames of the Sunne remaine immoveable where they are once fixed Wee play fast and loose even with those oftentimes to whom wee are bound in the strongest bonds of duty and love wee praise and dispraise with a breath frowne and smile with a looke Esay 55.8 love and hate with a conceit but Gods affections are not like ours John 13.1 nor are his thoughts our thoughts For having loved his owne which were in the world 2 Tim. 2.13 hee loveth them unto the end and though we beleeve not yet hee abideth faithfull he cannot deny himselfe The second pillar is the certainty of Gods decree for the salvation of the Elect 2 Tim. 2 19. and thus I reare it up The foundation of God standeth sure having this seale The Lord knoweth them that
erit timor ut mihi perseveranter adhaereant I will put my feare in their hearts that they depart not from me what is it else than to say the feare which I put in their hearts shall be such and so great that they shall assuredly or perseveringly cleave unto me They whose hearts are kept alwaies in this feare need never feare finall Apostacy from God Counterfeit f Sen. de clem l. 1. Nemo potest personam diu ferte ficta cito in naturam suam recidunt things are discovered by their discontinuance variation but true by their lasting That which glareth for a time in the aire and out-braveth the stars even of the first rank or magnitude but after a few daies playeth least in sight is a Comet no true starre Stella cadens non est stella cometa fuit Likewise that which glistereth like gold yet endureth not the fire is Alchymy stuffe no pretious metall The stone that sparkleth like a Diamond yet abideth not the stroke is a cornish or counterfeit not a true orient Diamond It is artificiall complexion and meere painting not true beauty which weareth out in a day and is washed off with a showre Feigned things and false saith the g Cic. de â—sâ—c l. 3. Ficta omnia tanquam slosculi decidunt vera gloria â—adices agiâ— â—que etiam propagatur Oratour soone fall like blossomes true glory taketh root and spreadeth it selfe The truth himselfe our h Joh. 8 31. Lord and Saviour maketh perseverance a certain note of true Disciples If yee continue in my word then are you my Disciples indeed Would any of you know whether he be a true sonne of God and member of Christ he can by no thing so infallibly finde it in himselfe as by the gift of perseverance This St. i 1 Joh. 2.19 John giveth for a touch-stone of a true Apostle They went out from us but they were not of us for if they had beene of us they would have continued with us but they went out that they might bee made manifest that they were not of us Saint Paul of a true k Heb. 3.6 member of Christ or temple of the holy Ghost But Christ is a sonne over his owne house whose house are wee if wee hold fast the confidence and the rejoycing of the hope firme to the end Saint l Aug. de correp grat c. 9. Tunc verè sunt quod appellantur si manseâ—int in co propter quod sic appellantur Augustine of the true children of God Then they are truely what they are called the sonnes of God if they continue in that for which they are so called The fourth pillar I named unto you was the power of regenerating grace 1 Pet. 1.3 4. whereby wee are begotten againe unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us That which is incorruptible cannot bee destroyed or perish that which is reserved for us cannot be taken away from us Now if any demand what preserveth faith in the soule in such sort that it is never habitually lost though the act thereof be sometimes suspended I answer 1. Outwardly the powerfull ministry of the Word and Sacraments 2. Inwardly renewing grace infused into the soule at the first moment of our conversion This grace is by the holy Ghost termed the * Jam. 1.21 Receive with meeknesse the engraffed word which is able to save your soules engraffed word sometimes the a 1 Joh. 2.27 But the annointing which ye hâ—ve received of him abideth in you and as it hath taught you ye shall abide in him annointing that abideth in us sometimes the b 1 Cor. 3.16 Know ye not that ye are the temples of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you spirit dwelling in us sometimes a c John 4.14 Whosoever drinketh of the water I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a Well of water springing to everlasting life Well of water springing up to everlasting life sometimes Gods d 1 John 3.9 Whosoever is borne of God doth not coÌ„mit sin for his seed remaineth in him seed remaining in us sometimes e 1 Pet. 3.23 Being borne againe not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever incorruptible seed whence we may frame an argument like to that of our Saviours to Nicodemus As f John 3.6 That which is borne of the flesh is flesh but that which is borne of the spirit is spirit that which is borne of corruptible seed is corruptible so that which is borne of incorruptible seed is incorruptible How can he that is borne of incorruptible and spirituall seed be corrupted and dye spiritually how can hee that hath in his belly a Well of ever-springing water thirst eternally how can he in whom the annointing S. John speaketh of abideth putresie in his sinnes how can hee in whom the spirit dwelleth be estranged from the love of God how can he that is borne of God become a childe of the Divell Saint g 1 John 3.9 John strongly argueth against it Whosoever is born of God cannot commit sinne because he is borne of God I conclude this argument with that daring interrogation of Saint h Aug. de bono persev c. 7. Contra tam claram veritatis tubam quis voceâ— ullâ—s auaâ—â—t humanas Austin Against so cleere and loud sounding trumpet of divine truth what man of a sober and watchfull faith will endure to heare any voices or words from man The fifth pillar is Christs prayer for the perseverance of all true beleevers The pillar is like to Jacobs ladder that reacheth from earth to heaven and though heaven and earth be shaken yet this pillar will stand immoveable I know saith Christ that thou i John 16.23 Verely verely I say unto you whatsoever you aske the Father in my name he will give it you O Father hearest mee alwaies If wee obtaine whatsoever we aske for Christs sake shall not Christ obtaine what he asketh for us If the Word of God sustaine the whole frame of nature shall not Christs prayer be able to support a weake Christian Doth God heare the softest voice and lowest sigh and groane of his children upon earth and will he not heare the loud cry of his Sonne in his bosome in heaven What therefore if Sathan seeke to winnow us like wheat Saint k Cypr. de simpl prelat Triticum non rapit ventus manes paleae tempestate jactantur Cyprian biddeth us never to feare blowing away It is empty chaffe that is blowne away with the winde the corne still abides on the floore Shall Sathans fanning bee more powerfull to scatter than Christs prayer to gather us shall any winde of temptation be of more force
ancient as now shee is For she was made so at Christs death cum è terra sublatus fuero omnes ad me traham like Eve shee was formed out of the second Adams side whence issued the two Christian Sacraments the water of baptisme and the blood of the holy Eucharist At the first she was fed with the sincere milke of the word in the Apostles time came to her perfect growth strength and full dimensions in the Fathers dayes when shee valiantly encountred all persecutors abroad and heretickes at home After 600. yeeres she began apparently to breake and in every latter age decayed more and more and now in most parts of the Christian world except onely where by reformation her age is renewed shee is become decrepit dimme in the sight of heavenly things deafe in the hearing Gods word stiffe in the knees of true devotion disfigured in the face of order weake in the sinewes of faith cold in the heart of love and stouping after the manner of bowed old age to graven Images Wherefore it may bee doubted that Cardinal Bellarmine was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 participated somewhat of the infirmities of old age in his bookes of the notes of the Church where hee would have o Bell. de not Eccles l. 4 c. 5. Secunda nota est antiquitas antiquity to be a proper marke of the true Church He might as well have assigned old age to bee the proper note of a man which neither agreeth to all men nor to man alone nor to any man at all times no more doth antiquity to the Church What neede I adde any more sith the truth himselfe hath dashed through this marke againe and againe Matth. 5.21.27.31.33.38.43 teaching us that the essayes of the auncients are not the touch-stone of truth but his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I say you have heard that it was said by them of old time c. But I say unto you c. Yea but say our adversaries of Rome Christ himselfe elsewhere argueth from antiquity both affirmatively o Mat. 19.4 He which made them at the beginning made them male and female and negatively p ver 8. From the beginning it was not so And Saint John also q 1 Joh. 2.7 This is the message which ye heard from the beginning And r Tertul. contra Prax. Id vertum quod prius id adulterinum quod posterius Tertullian That is true which is first that is counterfeit which is latter And Saint ſ Epist ad Pomp. Nonne ad fontem recurritur c. Cyprian saying If the pipe which before yeelded water abundantly faile suddenly doe we not runne to the spring And the councell of Calcedon crying with one voice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let the auncient rites and customes prevaile and before them the Prophet Jeremy t Jer. 6.16 aske for the old paths and walke therein All which allegations make strongly for the prime and originall antiquity not for any of later standing The old pathes which the Prophet Jeremy speaketh of are the pathes of Gods commandements laid downe by Moses and the Prophets there wee are to aske where is the good way and to walke in it not because it is the old way but because it is the good way For there are old wayes which are not good wayes which God forbids us to walke in * Ezek. 20.18 Walke not in the statutes of your Fathers nor observe their judgements And u Psal 49.19 David forewarnes us of He shall follow the generation of his Fathers and shall never see light A fit poesie to be written upon the doore of every obstinate recusant among us The councell of Calcedon cryeth up ancient customes and ordinances and so doe wee such as are descended from the Apostles or at least are not repugnant to their doctrine and practice Saint Cyprians advice is good If water faile in the pipe or conduit or runne muddily to have recourse to the spring but what spring doth he there point unto fontem dominicae traditionis the fountaine of the Lords tradition that is the scriptures Tertullians observation is true 'T is good coyne that 's first stampt and afterward that which is counterfeited the husbandman first sowed good seed and then the envious man sowed tares Let the Romanists prove their Trent doctrine to be Dominica and to have in it the Kings stampe wee will admit it for currant After Christ and his Apostles had sowne the good seede which wee yet retaine pure in our reformed Churches they by their additions have sowne upon it tares Saint John draweth an argument from the beginning of the preaching of the Gospell and Christ from the beginning that is the first promulgation of the law in Paradise Let the Romanists fetch an argument from antiquity so high and we will soone joine issue with them And to this antiquity we might strictly tye our adversaries as Saint Cyprian doth his opposites u Cyp. ep 3. Non debemus attendere quid aliquis ante nos faciendum putaverit sed quid qui ante omnes est Christus Wee must not respect saith hee what any hath done before us in the matter about which wee contend but what Christ did which was before all When they pleaded ancient tradition hee demands x Epist ad Pomp. Unde est ista traditio utrumne de dominicâ evangelicâ autoritate descendens c. si in evangelio praecipitur aut in apostolorum epistolis aut actibus continetur observetur haec sancta traditio whence is that tradition is it derived from the Gospel or Acts of the Apostles or their Epistles then let such a holy tradition bee religiously kept And Saint Augustine * Aug. contra lit Petil. l. 3. c. 6. standeth at this ward against the Donatists whether concerning Christ or concerning his Church or concerning any thing that pertaineth to our faith and life wee will not say if we but as he going forward addeth if an Angel from heaven shall preach unto you but what you have received in the Scriptures of the Law and Gospell let him bee accursed Yet wee give them a larger scope even till the beginning of the seventh age wherein Mahumetanisme began to spread in the East and Antichristianisme in the West For the first sixe hundred yeeres they cannot finde any Kingdome Commonwealth Country Province City Village or Hamlet under the cope of heaven professing their present Trent Faith Wherefore as Phasis while hee was highly extolling the Emperours proclamation for placing men of quality in the Theater according to their ranke was by that very edict thrust out of the place hee had got there by Lectius the Marshall x Mart. epig. l. 5. Edictum domini deique nostri Quo subsellia certiora fiunt Et puros eques ordines recepit Dum laudat modo Phasis in theatro Phasis purpureis ruber lacernis c. Illas purpureas arrogantes Jussit surgere Lectius
departure Buried out of the said Hospitall this yeere 200 Remaining under cure at this present 304 There hath beene brought into the Hospitall of Bridewell for this yeere past of wandring souldiers and vagrant persons to the number of 1578 Of which number many have beene chargeable for the time of their being there which cannot be avoided by reason of their misery nor passed away without charge There is maintained and kept in the said Hospitall in arts and occupations and other workes and labours Apprentices taken up out of divers parishes and streets of this City to the number of 200 I have made an end of the Catalogue but you must not make an end of your good workes I have set before you a faire copy you must write after it or else this schedule will prove a hand-writing against you at the day of judgement who have had not onely many most forcible exhortations to good workes in this place but such noble and royall presidents as you see and yet have not been bettered by them You cannot want pitifull objects of mercy your pious charity hath daily Oratours the teares of orphans the sighes of widowes the groanes of the sicke and the lamentable cryes of prisoners and captives Neither is it sufficient for you now and then to drop upon the dry and thirsty ground you must stillare pluviam liberalissimam you must powre downe golden showres to refresh Gods inheritance To whom much is given much shall bee required of him In other seizements you give as you are in the Kings books but contrariwise you are in Gods bookes and hee valueth you as you give to pious and charitable uses And let mee intreat you for the love of your Redeemer from everlasting thraldome to open your hands towards the redemption of many hundreds of our countrey-men whose bodies are in captivity under Turks and Infidels their wives and children in misery at home and it is to be feared their soules in worse case Next to the redemption of these spirituall Temples of the holy Ghost I commend unto you the reparation and beautifying of his materiall Temple you have most decently and beautifully adorned and trimmed the daughters of Zion the lesser and later built Churches in this City let not your piety bee lesse to the Mother-Church dedicated to the most publike and solemne worship of God where you are fed with the finest flower of wheat and drinke of the purest juice of the grape and in the fullest manner partake of the communion of Saints which was the second inference I made from the attribute of Christ in my text whereby hee is stiled Primitiae dormientium The first fruits of them that slept 2 The second inference from the attribute here mentioned the first fruits of c. is the communion of the faithfull with Christ both in sanctification and glorification for the further manifestation whereof it will bee requisite to specifie whereof Christ is the first fruits viz. 1 Coeli for he is the first begotten of his Father 2 Uteri for he was the Virgins first borne 3 Sepulchri for hee is the first fruits of them that slept In all three the faithfull partake with him after a sort 1 In that hee is Primitiae coeli the first fruits of heaven For as hee is the naturall sonne of God so are wee the adopted sonnes of God and by his spirit made l 2 Pet. 1.4 partakers of the divine nature as hee is the first borne of heaven m Heb. 12.23 so wee are also of the generall assembly and Church of the first borne which are written in heaven 2 In that he is Primitiae uteri virginei the first fruits of a virgins womb For as Christ was borne of a virgin Mother so the Christian Church our Mother is continually in child-bearing and yet remaineth still a virgin 3 Most properly doe wee partake with him in that hee is Primitiae sepulchri for hee is n Joh. 12.24 that corne of wheat Saint John speaketh of which was sowne at his death digged deepe into the earth at his buriall sprang up againe at his resurrection and now is become the first fruits of them that slept in like manner wee are sowne at our death digged deep into the earth at our buriall and shall spring up againe at the last resurrection and bee offered as o Apoc. 14.4 first fruits unto God and the Lambe Where the first fruits are taken out there must needs bee a lumpe or heape out of which they are taken p Calvin in hunc locum In primitiis totius anni proventus consecrabatur in the first fruits the whole crop of the yeere was hallowed so in Christ who is our first fruits all true believers are sanctified as those words of our Saviour in that most divine prayer to his Father recorded import q Joh. 17.19 for their sakes I sanctifie my selfe that they also might bee sanctified through the truth If Christ sanctified himselfe for us shall not wee endeavour as hee enableth us by his grace to sanctifie our selves also for him If hee impart this his dignity to us and maketh us r Jam. 1.18 the first fruits of his creatures let us dedicate our selves unto him let us bee given to him as Å¿ 1 Sam. 1.28 Samuel was all the dayes of our lives Hee hath chosen us to bee marke I beseech you what fruits not blossomes not leaves fruits I say not stalkes not empty eares like those who make a bare profession of the truth and all their religion is in their eares bearing no fruit at all or in no degree answerable to their holiest profession If God hath made us fruits let us not make our selves ranke weeds by heresie or filthy dung by a corrupt life After the first fruits are carried away out of the field the rest of the shockes or sheafes follow of course t Theod. in hunc locum primitias universa massa sequitur Christ the first fruits is carried away long since out of the field of this world into the celestiall barne A barne farre more stately beautifull and glorious than any Princes pallace upon earth and when the harvest shall come which is u Mat. 13.39 the end of the world wee shall bee carried thither also every one in his owne order the first fruits is Christ after they that are Christs at his comming ver 23. Before I can proceed according to my desire and your expectation to the period of my discourse and end of all mens course viz. death called here sleepe I must remove sixe rubbes that lye in my way For wee read of three dead men raised in the Old Testament and as many in the New before Christ himselfe rose how then is hee the first fruits of them that slept 1 I will offer to your consideration many solutions of this doubt that you may take your choice Saint Jerome gives but a touch at it yet because it is upon the
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
what face doe I see this is none of my workmanship I never drew this feature Saint r Jerom. ep ad Furiam Quid facit in facie Christianae purpurissa cerussa fomenta libidinum impudicae mentis inditia quomodo flere potest pro peccatis suis quae lachrymis cutem nudat sulcos ducit in facie quâ fiduciâ erigat ad Deum vultus quos conditor non agnoscat Jerome takes the like up in his time as sharply What makes paint and complexion on the face of a Christian it is no other than the fire of youth the fuell of lust the evidence of an unchaste minde How can shee weep for her sinnes for feare of washing away her paint and making furrowes in her face How dare shee looke her Maker in the face who hath defaced his image in her selfe But because I see it will be to no purpose to draw this their sinne of painting in its proper colours before them for they cannot blush I therefore leave them and come to her in my Text Which calleth her selfe a Prophetesse As Novatus the Schismaticke ordained himselfe a Bishop so Jezebel the Nicolait annointed or rather painted her selfe a Prophetesse that by this meanes shee might teach more freely and perswade more powerfully The true Prophets of God received their name and calling from God and wonderfully confirmed the sincerity of their doctrine by the truth of their miracles and the truth of their miracles by the holinesse of their doctrine So many tongues as they spake with with so many testimonies so many miracles as they wrought with so many hands they signed and sealed their calling but deceivers and impostors grace themselves with high and strange titles and glorious names to bleare the eyes of the simple So Psaphon called himselfe and taught the birds to call him magnus deus ſ Run Comment in Aristot Rhet. MS. Psaphon great god Psaphon Theudas said he was some great one Simon Magus stiled himselfe the great power of God and gave it out among his scholars That hee delivered the Law to Moses in Mount Sinai in the person of God the Father and in the reigne of Tiberius appeared in the likenesse of the sonne of man and on the day of Pentecost came downe upon the Apostles in the similitude of cloven tongues Montanus arrogated to himself the title of Paracletus the comforter and to his three minions Priscilla Maximilla and Quintilla the name of Prophetesses * Manes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Manes bare himselfe as if hee were an Apostle immediately sent from Christ and his followers would be thought to be termed Manichei not from their mad master but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but because they poured manna out of their mouthes The great Seducer of the Jewes who in Theodosius time drew thousands after him into the sea and there drowned them perswaded his followers that he was Moses and the abomination of the Turkes Mahomet calleth himselfe Gods great Prophet t Plin. nat hist lib. 1. Inscriptionis apud Graecos mira foelicitas favus Cornucopia ut vel lactis gallinacei sperare possis haustu◠Musae Pandectae inscriptiones propter quas vadimonium deseri possit at cum intraveris dii deaeque quam nihil in medio invenies Pliny derideth the vanity of the Greekes in this kinde who usually set golden titles on leaden Treatises And Heretickes alwayes like Mountebankes set out their drugs with magnificent words Nestorius though he were a condemned Hereticke yet covered himselfe with the vaile of a true Professour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ebion though he held with the Samaritans yet would be held a Christian The Turkes at this day though it appeares out of all stories that they descended from Hagar yet assume to themselves the name of Saracens The Donatist Schismatickes impropriate to their conventicles the name of the true Church And no marvell that the Salmonian off-spring of Ignatius Loyola christen themselves Jesuits sith the Prince of darknesse not only usurpeth the name but also taketh upon him the forme of an u 2 Cor. 11.14 Angel of light It is a silly shift of a bankrupt disputant in the schooles to argue a vocibus ad res from the bare name of things to their nature and yet Bristow in his motives and Cardinall Bellarmine in his booke of the notes of the Church and other of the Pope his stoutest Champions fight against us with this festraw We are say they sirnamed Catholikes therefore we are so By this kind of argument Pope Alexander the sixt his incestuous daughter might prove her selfe to be a chaste matron because she was called Lucrece Lucrecia nomine sed re Thais Alexandri filia sponsa nurus And Philemon his theevish servant might prove himselfe to be honest because his name was Onesimus and the three Ptolomies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 profitabl◠whereof the first killed his Father and the second his Mother and the third his Brother might prove themselves to be full of naturall affection because the one was sirnamed 1 A lover of his Father Philopater the other 2 A lover of his Mother Philometor the third 3 A lover of his Brother Philodelphus Were mens names alwayes correspondent to their nature x Eras apoph in Philip. Philip of Macedon had lost a witty jest which he brake upon two brothers Hecaterus and Amphoterus thus inverting their names 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He whose name is either of the two deserveth to be called both because hee is worth both and he whose name is both shall be called neither because he is of no worth at all But to throw away foyles and come to the sharpe Will they thus argue in good earnest Protestants are called Sectaries or Schismatickes and Papists Catholikes therefore they are so Will they condemne the Primitive Christians for Atheists because the heathen usually so termed them in regard they had no faith in their gods Will they brand St. Paul for an Heretick or the Truth himself for a Seducer because ignorance and malice fastened these calumnies and blasphemies upon them Protestants are termed Heretickes by Papists and are not Papists also by Protestants what gaine then the Papists hereby Papists are termed Catholikes I would know by whom If by any Protestant they know well it is but by a Sarcasme or Ironie as Alexander was called a god by the Lacedaemonians Quoniam Alexander vult esse deus sit deus Yea but they are so stiled by all that adhere to the Church of Rome and were not the Arrians called Catholikes by Arrians the Nestorians Orthodoxe by Nestorians the Novatians the best Christians by Novatians the Donatists sole members of the Church by Donatists the most impure Sect of Anabaptists the Family of love by those of their owne cut If this argument may passe for currant Papists terme themselves Catholikes therefore they are so what exception can be taken against these and the like The
Turkes call themselves Saracens therefore they are the off-spring of Sarah they of Satans Synagogue call themselves y Apoc. 3.9 Jewes therefore they are Jewes indeed the Angel of Sardis had a name that he z Apoc. 3.1 lived therefore he was not dead the Angel of * Apoc. 3.17 Laodicea said he was rich and needed nothing therfore he was not wretched miserable and poor blind and naked Jezebel called her selfe a Prophetesse therefore she was so indeed Without question Jezebel set some fairer colour upon the matter than this else she could never have dazled the eyes of Gods servants well she might offer to teach in the Church under this pretence which yet S. Paul expressely forbids a a 1 Cor. 14.34 woman to doe but certainely she could never have foyled any servant of God with so weake an argument grounded upon a bare title assumed by her selfe yet the Spirit saith that she not onely taught but prevailed also with some and seduced them To teach and seduce my servants I doubt not but at the reading of these words your thoughts trouble you and you begin to question whether this doctrine is not a seduction to teach that any of Gods servants can be seduced Can any elect child of God fall from grace Is it possible to plucke any of Christs members from his body Can the Sun-beames by any winde or tempest be stirred out of their place b 1 John 2.19 Doth not St. John dispute strongly They went away from us because they were not of us for if they had beene of us they would not have departed from us Is not St. c Cypr. de simplic Praelat Triticum non rapit ventuâ— nec arborem solidâ radice fundatam procella subvertit inanes paleae tempestate jactantur invalidae arbores turbinis incursione evertuntur Cyprians observation as true as it is elegant The winde bloweth not away the corne neither is a tree that hath taken a deepe root in the earth overthrowne in a tempest it is but chaffe which the winde scattereth abroad and they are hollow and rotten trees that are blowne downe in a tempest To dispell all mists of ambiguity and cleare the truth in this point I must acquaint you with two sorts of Christs servants or retainers at least some weare his cloth and cognizance but doe him little or no service others perform faithful service unto him some give him their names only others their hearts also some professe outwardly that they are Christians but have unbeleeving hearts others are within that they professe without some are called onely to the knowledge of the truth others are chosen also to be heires of salvation Of these latter our Saviour speakes in St. John d Joh. 10.27 28 My sheepe heare my voyce and I know them and they follow me and I will give unto them eternall life and they shall never perish neither shall any man plucke them out of my hands But of the former the words of my text seeme to bee meant Howbeit because the Discerner of all hearts calleth them his servants saying to seduce my servants and it is not likely that he would grace hypocrites with so honourable an appellation wee may yeeld somewhat more in this point and without prejudice to the truth acknowledge that the true servants of God and ministers also of Christ Jesus may be sometimes seduced out of the right way but not farre I am sure not irrevocably The difference betweene them and others in this respect is like that which the e Cic. tusc 1. Boni in ertorem sicut aes Corinthium in aeruginem incidunt rariùs facilius revocantur Oratour observeth betweene the Corinthian and common brasse as the brasse of Corinth is longer ere it rust and when it is rustie is sooner scowred and more easily recovers the former brightnesse than other brasse so good men are hardlier withdrawne from the true faith and more easily reclaimed from their errours than those who beare no sincere love to the truth but are wedded to their owne opinions whatsoever they are and oftentimes blinded by obstinately setting their eyes against the bright beames of the Word Out of the Arke of Noah which was a type of the Church there flew two f Gen. 8.7 birds a Raven and a Dove the Raven after hee had taken his flight returned not againe but the Dove came backe with an Olive branch in her bill The Dove saith Saint g Cypr. adver Nâ—vit Prosp l. de prom c. 7. Cyprian represented the seduced Catholike who after hee is gone out of the Church never findeth rest till hee returne backe with an Olive branch of peace in his mouth and bee reconciled to the Church But the Raven is the obstinate Hereticke who leaveth the Church with a purpose never to returne to her againe And many such Ravens have beene of late let flye out of the Arke which never returne againe or if they returne it is to prey upon the sicke and weake members of our Church and to picke out the eyes of her dearest children and I pray God wee may never have cause to renew the Poets complaint Dat veniam corvis vexat censura columbas To commit fornication Fornication as h Lyra in Apoc. c. 2. Fornicatio est quadruplex in â—nimo simulierem concupiscâ—s in actu in cultu Idolorum in amore terrenorum Lyranus harpeth upon the word is committed foure manner of wayes 1. By the impure lust of the heart 2. By the uncleane act of the body 3. By the religious worship of Images or Idols 4. By the immoderate love of earthly vanities For when the soule turneth away from God and setteth her love wholly upon vile and base creatures so farre below her that God hath placed them under her feet what doth shee but like a Lady of noble descent married to a Prince which disloyally leaveth his bed and maketh love to the groome of her chamber Certainely this is sordidum adulterium not onely filthy but base adultery Howbeit I take it this was not the staine of the Church of Thyatira but either fornication properly so called which is corporall Idolatry or idolatry which is spirituall fornication For idolatry defileth the Spirit as adultery polluteth the flâ—sh idolatry provoketh God as adultery doth man to jealousie as adultery is a just cause of separation betweene man and his wife so idolatry maketh a breach betwixt God and the soule and causeth in the end a divorce by reason of which separation for disloyalty and unfaithfulnesse Saint i Cypr. de hab virg Prius viduâ—s quam nuptas non mariti sed Christi adulteras Cyprian wittily tearmeth certaine virgins widowes before they were married wives yea and adulteresses too not to their husbands which they had not but to Christ to whom they had plighted their troth And looke how a jealous husband would bee transported with passion if hee should finde his
the unquenchable fire in such sort that it hath no power upon any of the members of his mysticall body and by his temporall death hath delivered all that are his from eternall Shall wee not then eternally sing his praises who hath saved us from everlasting weeping and mourning in the valley of Hinnom Shall any waters of affliction quench in us the love of him who for us quenched unquenchable fire Shall not the benefit of our delivery from everlasting death ever live in our memory Shall any thing sever us from him who for our sakes after a sort was severed from his Father when he cryed k Mat. 27.46 My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee Shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or the sword No I am perswaded I may goe on with the Apostle and say l Rom. 8 38 39. Neither life nor death nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. To whom c. FERULA PATERNA THE XLVI SERMON REV. 3.19 As many as I love I rebuke and chasten Right Honourable c. HOw unwilling the author of life and Saviour of all men especially beleevers is to pronounce and execute the sentence of death and destruction against any if the teares which hee shed over Jerusalem and groanes and lamentations which hee powreth out when he powreth forth the vials of his vengeance testifie not abundantly yet his soft pace and orderly proceeding by degrees in the course hee taketh against obstinate and impenitent sinners is enough to silence all murmuring complaints wrongfully charging his justice and raise up all dejected spirits dolefully imploring his mercy For hee ever first sitteth upon his throne of grace and reacheth out his golden Scepter to all that cast themselves downe before him and if they have a hand of faith to lay hold on it hee raiseth them up before hee taketh hold of his iron rod and hee shaketh it too before hee striketh with it and hee striketh lightly before hee breaketh in pieces and shivers the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction So true is that which hee speaketh of himselfe by the Prophet Hosea a Hos 13.9 O Israel thou hast destroyed thy selfe but in mee is thy helpe and the Prophet of him b Psal 25.10 All the pathes of the Lord are mercy and truth in which he walketh thus step by step First when wee begin to stray from him hee calleth us backe and reclaymeth us from our soule and dangerous wayes by friendly counsels and passionate perswasions by increase of temporall and promise of eternall blessings as we may read in the tenour of all the Prophets commissions 2 If these kinde offers be refused with contempt and greater benefits repayed with greater unthankfulnesse he changeth his note but not his affections he exprobrates to us our unthankfulnesse that it might not prove a barre of his bounty c Hos 11 3 4. I taught Ephraim to goe taking them by their armes and they knew not that I healed them I drew them with the cords of a man with bands of love and I was to them as they that take off the yoake from their jawes and d Isa 5.2 My Beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitfull hill and hee fenced it and hee gathered out the stones thereof and planted it with the choicest Vine and built a tower in the midst of it and also made a wine-presse therein and hee looked that it should bring forth grapes and it brought forth wild grapes 3 If exprobrations and sharpe reproofes will not serve the turne he falls to threatning and menacing fearefull punishments but to this end onely that hee may not inflict what hee threateneth as wee see in Niniveh's case e Jonah 3.4 Yet forty dayes saith the Prophet and Niniveh shall bee overthrowne yet Niniveh was not overthrown f Vers 10. because the Ninivites repented of their workes and turned from their evill wayes God repented of the evill he had said that hee would doe unto them and he did it not 4 If neither promises of mercies nor threats of judgements neither kind entreaties nor sharpe rebukes can worke upon the hard heartednesse of obstinate sinners hee useth yet another meanes to bring them home hee taketh away their goods that they may come to him for them hee pincheth them with famine that hee may starve their wanton lusts he striketh their flesh with a smart rod that it may awake their soules out of a dead sleepe of security and this for the most part is the last knocke at their hearts at which if they open not and receive Christ by unfained repentance and a lively faith the gates of mercy are for ever locked up against them According to this method Christ here proceedeth with the Angel of Laodicea First g V. 15. hee friendly saluteth him next h V. 16. Ver. 17. Ver. 18. hee sharply reproveth him then hee fearfully threatneth him lastly he severely chastiseth him and all in love as you heare in this verse As many as I love I rebuke and chasten Which hath this coherence with the former wherein Christ taxed two vices in this Angel luke warmnesse and spirituall pride against these hee prescribeth two remedies zeale vers 19. and spirituall providence I counsell thee to buy of mee gold tryed in the fire that thou maist bee rich and white rayment that thou maist bee clothed and that the shame of thy nakednesse doe not appeare and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve that thou maist see But here because the Angel of Laodicea might reply Alas to what end is all this what prescribe you unto memedicinal potions who am to be spewed out of Gods mouth what can your counsell doe me good my doome is already past and my heart within mee is like melted waxe Christ opportunely in the words of my text solveth this objection and giveth him a cordial to keep him from fainting Be not too much discouraged at my sharp rebukes nor faint under my fatherly chastisements for I use no other discipline towards thee than towards my dearest children whom I love most entirely yet rebuke most sharply to break them of their ill qualities I chasten those and those onely and all those whom I love and I chasten oftenest whom I love best wherefore faint not but be zealous neither despaire but amend and thou shalt finde my affection as much enlarged and the treasurie of my bounty as open unto thee as ever heretofore Behold then in the words of this Scripture 1 A rule of direction to those that are set in high places of authority 2 A staffe of comfort to those who are fallen into the depth of griefe and misery To the former the Spirit speaketh in the words of my text on this wise Ye Masters of servants Tutors of Scholars
last of all by Antichrist and his adherents Yee see by this Epitomy of her story the reason of her complaints n Cant. 1.6 Regard mee not because I am blacke for the sunne hath looked upon mee the sonnes of my mother were angry against mee o Cant. 5.7 The watchmen that went about the City found me they smote mee and wounded mee and tooke away my vaile from me Stay me with flaggons and comfort me with apples for I am sick for love Hereby also you may give a fit motto to those emblemes in holy Scripture A lilly among thornes A dove whose note is mourning A vine spoyled by little foxes and partly rooted out by the wild bore of the forrest A woman great with childe and a fiery dragon pursuing her According to which patternes Saint Jerome frameth his p Rubus ardens est figura ecclesiae quae flammis persecutionum non consumitur sed viret magis Hier. in verb. Exod. 3.2 A bush burning yet not consuming and as fitly Saint Gregory draweth her with Christs crosse in her hand with her challenge there unto Ecclesia haeres crucis The Church is an inheretrix of the crosse And it appeareth by all records hitherto that she hath possessed it and if wee examine the matter well wee shall finde that Christ had nothing else to leave her at his death For goods and lands upon earth hee never had q Mat. 8.20 The foxes saith hee have holes and the birds nests but the sonne of man hath not where to lay his head His soule hee bequeathed to his father his body was begged by Joseph of Arimathea his garments the souldiers tooke for their fee and cast lots upon his vestments onely the crosse together with the nailes and gall and vinegar bestowed upon him at his death hee left her as a Heriot For these withall the appurtenances scourges cryes sighes groanes stripes and wounds hee bequeathed to her by his life time in those words r Joh. 16.33 Mat. 10.17 18. 24.9 10 11. Joh. 16.10 In the world yee shall have troubles they shall persecute you in their Synagogues and scourge you and yee shall bee hated of all men for my names sake insomuch that they that kill you shall thinke they doe God good service Yee shall weepe and mourne but the world shall rejoice Upon which words Å¿ Lib. de spectac c. 28. Vicibus res disposita est lugeamus ergò dum ethnici gaudeÌ„t ut cum lugere coeperint gaudeamus ne paritèr nunc gaudentes cum quoque paritèr lugeamus delicatus es Christiane si in seculo voluptatem concupiscis imò niâ—iâ—is stultus si hoc existimas voluptatem Tertullian inferreth God hath disposed of joyes and sorrowes by turnes let us mourne when worldlings rejoice that when they mourne wee may rejoice Thou art too dainty and choice O Christian if besides the joyes of heaven laid up for thee thou lookest for a liberall portion of delights and pleasures in this world nay thou art too foolish if thou countest there is any true pleasure in such things wherein they place their happinesse I need not presse many texts of Scripture which yeeld this sharp juice as t Psal 34.19 Many are the troubles of the righteous u 2 Tim. 3.12 All that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution * 1 Pet. 4.17 Judgment begins at the house of God this verse alone which I now handle is sufficient to cleare Christs afflicted members from all note of heresie and imputation of reprobates For if afflictions are chastisements of Gods children and tokens of his love I rebuke and chasten as many as I love then are they not necessarily judgements for sinne messengers of wrath much lesse proper markes of heretickes and reprobates The kingdome of heaven is not necessarily annexed to earthly crownes nor is eternall glory any way an appendant to worldly pompe To conclude affluence of temporall blessings is no note of the true because store of afflictions is no note of the false Church Which truth is so apparent that many Papists of note have expresly delivered it in their annotations upon holy Scripture as u Stap. in verb Joh. In mundo pressuras habebitis Stapleton the Rhemists and x Mald. in Mat. 5. Facit solem orire supâ—r bonos malos unde perspicuum est hominum aut nationum prosperos successus nullum signum aut testimonium esse verioris aut purioris religionis Maldonate God causeth his Sunne to rise upon the just and upon the unjust whence saith the Jesuite it is evident that the prosperity of men or nations is no certaine signe or argument of the truth or purity of religion which they professe Howbeit as Praxiteles drew Venus after the picture of Cratina his Mistresse and all the Painters of Thebes after the similitude of Phryne a beautifull strumpet so Bellarmine being to paint and limme Christs Spouse took his notes from his own Mistresse the Romane Phryne the whore of Babylon and mother of fornications Looke upon the picture of that strumpet drawne to the life by Saint John Apoc. 17. and let your eyes bee Judges I saw saith hee a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast vers 3. full of names of blasphemy having seven heads and ten hornes vers 4. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour and decked with gold and pretious stones and pearles what is this but Bellarmine his note of temporall felicity having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations of which it seemeth the Cardinall dranke deepe when he tooke the pencill in his hand to pourtray the true Church else hee could not be so out in his draught nor so utterly forget not only what others but himselfe also had formerly set downe in this point For in his solution of an objection of Martin Luther who stood in the opposite extreme affirming afflictions to bee an inseparable note of the Church hee confesseth freely that the Church in the beginning and in the end was in great straights and for this purpose to shew that persecutions though they eclipse the glory of the Church yet can never utterly extinguish it hee alledges such remarkable passages out of the ancient Fathers as these y Justin Mart. in apolog Persecution is but the pruning of Christs vine and z Tertul. in Apologet the blood of Martyrs is as seed and * Leo Ser. 1. de Pet. Paul the graines that fall one by one and dye in the earth rise up againe in great numbers If the Church runne into superfluous stemmes without the pruning knife of afflictions if the blood of martyrs turneth into seed to generate new Martyrs if the Church in her nonage had many sore conflicts and shall have greater in her old age certainly abundance ease pleasure and glory which make up temporall felicity are no notes of her for a L. 1. de
contra religionem nostram dicuntur horrete sed etiam quae pro religione ipsi dicimus cum grandi metu dicere debeamus Salvianus professeth that hee wrote in defence of the true religion in feare and trembling To the end therefore that the Apostles who were appointed to be Pastores pastorum Pastors of pastors and Doctors of Divinity through the whole world might not speake of him who dwelleth in a light which none can approach unto without light the holy Ghost on this day cast his beames upon them shining in the fiery cloven tongues The tongues appeared cloven saith Saint c Bernard serm de Pent. Sunt dispertitae linguae propter multiplices cogitationes sed earum multiplicitas uno lumine veritatis uno charitatis fervore fit tanquam ignis Bernard to represent the multiplicity of thoughts yet the multiplicity of them shined in one light of truth and one fervour of charity as it were one fire There appeared new lightnings saith d Câ—rysol serm de Pent. Nova lucis fulgura coruscâ—runt micantium splendor linguaruÌ„ igneae ut scirent quod loquerentur linguae ut loquerentur quod scirent Chrysologus in the aire and the lustre of shining tongues shining to give them light that they might know what they spake and tongues to give them eloquence whereby they might utter what they knew This apparition as it was very strange so to outward appearance also most dreadfull for it was an apparition of a spirit and that in fire and this fire cast it selfe into the shape of tongues and these tongues were cloven Of all sights apparitions of spirits most affright us of all apparitions of spirits those in fire most dazle our eyes and never fire before seene in these shapes sitting upon the heads of any Yet was it a most comfortable apparition because it was the manifestation of the Comforter himselfe The Spirit was no evill spirit but the holy Ghost the fire was no consuming but only an enlightening flame the tongues proclaimed not warre but spake peace to the Apostles neither did the cleaving of them in sunder betoken the spirit of contradiction or division amongst them but the diversitie of languages wherewith they were furnished neither did the fire sitting on them singe their haire but rather crowne their heads with gifts and graces befitting the teachers of the whole world Let the seeming and outward terrour then of the signes serve to stirre up your attention to listen to what the tongues speake unto you and yee shall finde the fire of the spirit at your hearts to enlighten your thoughts and enflame your affections and purge out the drosse of your naturall corruptions Lo here 1. An apparition of tongues 2. Tongues of fire 3. Fire sitting 1. Tongues cloven and floating in the aire a strange sight 2. Tongues as of fire a strange matter 3. Fire sitting a strange posture Of which before I can freely discourse I must loosen three knots which I finde tyed upon the words of my text 1. By Grammarians 2. By Philosophers 3. By Divines The first is how doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or sedit in the singular number agree with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or linguae in the plurall The second whether was the miracle in the tongues of the Apostles or in the eares of the hearers For either way it might come to passe that men of severall languages might heare them speake in their severall tongues the wonderfull works of God The third how was the holy Ghost united to these tongues hypostatically or sacramentally The first knot is thus untyed either that there is an errour in our copies vitio scriptoris writing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for α or that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to bee construed with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ignis not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it sate that is the fire upon each of them The second is thus dissolved the miracle was in the tongues of the Apostles for e Mark 16.17 Christ promised that they should speake with new tongues not that their hearers should heare with new eares Yee saith f Act. 1.5 Christ shall be baptized with the holy Ghost and with fire not many dayes hence and accordingly the Apostles saw fierie cloven togues not cloven eares and the fire g 1 Cor. 14.2 sate upon them it licked not the eares of their auditours Moreover it is evident out of the Epistle to the Corinthians that many who were endued with the gift of tongues might and did use it in the assembly of the faithfull when they that heard them understood them not which could not be if the miraculous gift had beene in their eares and not in their teachers tongues The third knot is thus loosened the holy Ghost was united to these tongues neither hypostatically nor sacramentally but symbolically only If hee had beene united to them hypostatically the Apostles might and ought to adore the Spirit in them and the fire might as truely have beene said the holy Ghost as the man Christ to be God Neither were the wind and fire Sacraments because no seales of the covenant no conduits of saving grace of no permanent or perpetuall use S. i Tract 99. in Johan Non magis ad unitatem personae spiritui sancto hic ignis fuit conjunctus ut ex illo Deo una persona constaret quam columba Matth. 3. ista enim facta sunt de creaturâ serviente non de ipsâ dominante naturà Austine thus resolveth This fire cut out as it were into severall portions like tongues was no otherwise united to the holy Ghost than the Dove Matth. 3. neither of which was so assumed as that of it and God one person consisted the Spirit in these apparitions useth the creature but united not himselfe unto it personally or substantially And there appeared In the originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there were seene for it was no delusion of sense but a true and reall apparition the Apostles with their eyes beheld them and with their tongues testified the truth of this apparition of tongues False religions such as the Pagan and Popish make use of false apparitions and lying wonders whereby they bleare the eyes and seduce the soules of the simple but the true religion as it disalloweth all sophisticall arguments and false shewes of reason so also it disavoweth all false apparitions and deceivable signes The witch at Endor raised up a man or rather a spirit in the likenesse of Samuel who never was seene after that day he communed with Saul but those whom our Saviour raised lived many dayes if not yeeres after Conjurers and Inchanters set before their guests daintie dishes in shew and appearance but their greater hunger after them is an evident demonstration that the Divell all the while fed their fancies with Idaeas and resemblances and not their stomacks with solid meats but our Lord when hee k
First it is sinne for God in the Law appointed a z Levit. 4.2 5.15 sacrifice for a trespasse by ignorance and the servant in the Gospel which knew not his Masters will and therefore did it not shall be beaten with fewer a Luke 12.48 stripes indeed than the other who knew his Masters will and did it not yet with some Secondly it is the parent of sinne viz. of many errours in matter of faith which are sinnes This b Psal 95.10 people saith God hath erred in their heart because they have not knowne my waies And Christ imputeth the grosse errour of the Pharisees concerning the resurrection to their ignorance of the Scriptures c Mat. 22.29 Ye doe erre not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God And it is also the punishment of sinne as we reade Because they did not like to retaine God in their d Rom. 1 21 28. knowledge God gave them over to a reprobate sense and their foolish heart was darkened Even this is a sin of ignorance not to know that ignorance is a sin I speake not only of ignorantia pravae dispositionis of wilfull ignorance but also of nescience which they call simple ignorance why else doth the Prophet pray Effunde aestum tuum in gentes quae te ignorant Poure downe thine indignation upon the e Psal 79.6 nations that know thee not and upon the people that call not upon thy Name Why doth the Apostle threaten f 2 Thes 1.8 flaming fire to all that know not God I would S. g De grâ—t lib arbitr c. 3. Sed illâ— ignorantia quae non est eorum qui scire nolunt sed eorum qui tantum simpliciter nesciunt neminem sic excusat ut sempiterno igne non ardeat Austines censure might upon good ground from Scripture be qualified where he passeth the sentence of damnation to eternall fire even upon those who never had knowledge of the means of salvation and not only upon those who might have known them if they would Yea but we have all knowledge our ignorance will not cast us the clearest beames of the Gospel have for these many yeers shined in our climate we should be most unthankful to him that dwelleth in an unaccessible light if we should not acknowledge as much It is most true in these parts as in the part of heaven over our heads we see continually many goodly starres yea many constellations of starres but as about the South pole so in divers remote parts of this Kingdome there is scarce any starre to be discerned or if any but a blinking starre of the sixth magnitude Yet to yeeld us a greater knowledge than other nations I feare that this plea will rather hurt us than help us if we could say truly we were blind we should not have so much to answer for but h John 9 41. now because we say we see our sinne remaineth if we so perfectly know our Masters will and doe it so imperfectly a few stripes will not serve our turne i De gubern Dei lib 4 Quanto minore periculo illi per Daemonia pâ—jerant quà m nos per Christum Et nunquid tam criminosa est Hunnorum impudiâ—itia quam nostra nunquid tam rep chensibilis Almanni ebrietas quam Christiâ—ni Doe ye thinke saith Salvianus that the heathen so much dishonour God when they forsweare themselves by their false gods as you when you forsweare your selves by the true Doe you thinke a Jew or a Pagan or a Papist by his profane or loose life causeth the truth to be so evill spoken of as we that have the word taught among us most purely yet live impurely who know better yet doe worse As we presume of our knowledge so did Jerusalem which is by interpretation the k Rob. Steph. interpret nominum Heb. Châ—ld Visio pacis seu visio perfecta vision of peace much more yet our Saviour upbraideth her with ignorance saying Thou even thou Our Saviour strikes twice upon the same string he rubbeth againe and againe upon the same sore Thou even thou Thou which carriest peace in thy name thinkest not thou of those things that belong to thy peace Jerusalem was once the light of the world and yet behold she is darknesse From Moses to the daies of John Baptist and from the daies of John Baptist till this present she was instructed by Seers sent from God and directed to the way of peace yet she seeth it not Let those who assume to themselves most knowledge take heed lest they be like Pentheus Sapientes in omnibus praeterquam in iis in quibus sapientem esse convenit wise in all things save those where wisedome might stead them l Eurip 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is not to be accounted a wise man saith the wise l Eurip 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Poet who knoweth simply most things but who knoweth things of most use Is Jerusalem ignorant of the maine point of all of the comming of the Messias notwithstanding all the light she might have taken from the Law of Moses from the visions of the Prophets from the doctrine and miracles of our Saviour how grosse then is that errour of all the rest in the Romish Church by which shee maintaineth and holdeth that she cannot erre Was Jerusalem seated upon so high a hill so neer heaven obscured with the fumes arising from the bottomlesse pit and may not the City situated on seven hills have a thicke mist cast over her What can shee plead for her immunity from errour in matter of faith more than Jerusalem could that faith was planted in her by S. Peter the Christian faith was planted in Jerusalem by Christ himselfe that it was watered in her with the bloud of the Apostles Jerusalem was watered with the bloud of Christ himselfe If Rome can alledge any one promise made to her Jerusalem can many But to leave Rome and come with a Nathans application to our selves mee thinks I heare Christ saying to us and our Church If thou even thou if thou which art the Queen of all the reformed Churches if thou which hast enjoyed the sun-shine of the Gospel without any eclipse by persecution for more than 60. yeers if thou who hast had line upon line precept upon precept admonition after admonition exhortation after exhortation if thou whom God hath miraculously preserved from imminent destruction by defeating the invincible Armado in eighty eight since discovering the matchlesse powder plot if thou even thou who sittest quietly under thine own vine when all thy neighbour vines are plucked up by the roots or trampled under foot if thou even thou knowest not or wilt not take notice of the things that belong to thy peace At least in this thy day that is the day of thy visitation the day of grace a day given thee for this end to provide for thy peace to call thy selfe