of Israel may bee as plants growen vp in their youth Psal 141. that the daughters may bee as corner stones polished after the similitude of a Pallace that their garners may be full affording all manner of store c. But as before you heard that the places are taken not only historically but also mystically so must these words be answerable thereunto God then did good when he sent his Sonne into the world dissolued the works of the Diuell and gaue gifts vnto men And we must not conceiue of the corporall prosperity of Israel otherwise then as a Type of the spirituall It is excellently set forth by the Prophet Esay Chap 25. in this mountaine shall the Lord of hosts make vnto all nations a feast of fat things c. Finally the word vsed by the Psalmist signifieth not onely to doe good but to doe it with delight and so God speaketh in the Prophets that hee will delight to doe them good and so doe it abundantly for we are not sparing in doing a thing when we de it with delight Yea and the good done as the word also signifieth Act. 14.16 shall containe in it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it shall be such as shall cheere vp the spirits of the Israelites hee desireth that to them that mourne in Sion may be giuen â—sa 61. beauty for ashes the oyle of ioy for mourning a garment of praise for the spirit of heauinesse Thus Dauid would haue Israel restored to the state of Grace Not onely restored to it but also preserued in it so it followeth in the Text Build vp the wals of Ierusalem In muris tuitio salutis Ierusalem could not be blessed but it would bee enuyed yea the more enuied the more it was blessed therefore it is not enough that it haue good it must also haue meanes to preserue that good otherwise better neuer haue it then to lose it againe Non minor est virtus quam quaerere parta tueri therefore is Dauid as carefull of the safetie as the plentie of his people And indeed he did strongly fortifie both Sion and Ierusalem the Psalme testifieth as much â—sal 48. Walke about Sion goe round about her tell the Towers thereof marke well her Bulwarkes c. But I dwell too long vpon the materiall Sion the Church also needeth a preseruation and she must haue her Wals but they are of another kinde A Lacedaemonian being asked why their City was not walled answered that they had valiant defendants which were in stead of wals vnto their Câ—â—ie the Heauenly Ierusalem hath no other wals the wals are the Angels that pitch round about it Zach. 2.5 yea God himselfe doth enuiron it as a wall so saith the Prophet Beside this inuisible it hath a visible wall the wall of the Citie hath 12. foundations and in them the names of the 12. Apostles of the Lambe All Gouernours that watch ouer Gods people Reuel 21. 1 Sam. 25.16 1. Pet. 2.5 Reuel 19. Cant. 6.4 and keepe away their enemies from them are as a wall vnto them for this is a liuing Citie and all the parts thereof are liuing and therefore Ierusalem is not onely said to bee trimmed as a Spouse but also the Spouse is said to bee faire as Ierusalem Yea euery mans Grace of perseuerance is a Wall vnto himselfe and thereby doth hee hold out against all the manifold temptations wherewith hee is exercised while hee is militant our Faith our Hope our Charity all our spirituall weale and comfort are secured by perseuerance Here is mention made not onely of Wals but of building and building importeth an addition vnto the former Fabricke And indeed great Cities are not brought to their perfection in an instant Rome wee say was not built in a day no more was Ierusalem it did flourish in the dayes of Dauid but it was to flourish more in the daies of Salomon the Temple was not yet built nor furnished with those Orders which Dauid receiued from God neither was the Policie setled or the Crowne entailed Dauid wished that all these things might bee perfected and the state raised to that pitch of Glory which it attained in the dayes of King Salomon But to the Mystery As the Church wanteth Wals in that it is militant so in that it is in Via in that we are but on our Way wee need Edification and Building vp Churches haue their nonage and euery member hath no beter beginning then of a babe in Christ wee must not alwayes feed vpon milke we must vse our stomacks to stronger meate Heb. 5. Ephes 4. they that are young lings must grow on to the age of perfect men in Christ they must grow on in Faith in Hope in Charitie these must receiue dayly accessions so lonâ— as wee liue in this world yea and wee must not thinke that here will be an end of our building our Faith must end in the sight of God our Hope in the fruition of God our Charitie in vnseparable Vnion with God vntill we haue put off our mortalitie and infirmitie and attained this perfection we haue not ended our Building And there is no doubt but Dauid looked thus farre But here we must take heed of two Errors First we may not looke for new Reuclations from Heauen as if God would adde any thing to his Oracles old and new Heretickes fancying otherwise haue set on worke the forge of their idle braines and haue broached illusions of the Diuell as diuine inspirations But Gods truth is consummated in the writings of the Prophets and Apostles neither doth it admit any accession either of Romish Traditions or Anabaptisticall Illuminations such building is Babylonish the building of Ierusalem is onely the working of Gods Word into our heads and our hearts to make vs wise and holy men The second Error is of Iudaizing Christians who dreame of an earthly restitution of that Citie and erecting of a glorious worldly Monarchie there which shal not only ouer top but ouer-rule all the world To countenance this fancy they corrupt many a Prophesie and deserue no other refutation then that check which was giuen vnto the Iewes vaine atempt in the dayes of Adrian the Emperor by his Generall and in the dayes of Iulian the Apostata by the hand of God himselfe Certainly my Text fauoreth no such Building but that out of Amos in Acts 15. vers 16. You haue heard the Contents of King Dauids desire I come now to see to whom he doth direct it vnto God vnto him it is that he saith doe good build thou And indeed to whom should he goe but to him that can and will grant what hee sueth for God onely can for hee that is Goodnesse must doe good 〈◊〉 1 17. Euery good and perfect gift commeth from aboue it commeth from him The eyes of all looke vnto him hee openeth his hands and filleth all things liuing with goodnesse In the Creation hee gaue beginning to the
is the swiftnesse of the flight The Eagle flieth very high Prou. 23. Ier 49. whereupon many Prouerbs are grounded in Scripture And this high flight intimateth that the Israelites were carried aboue the reach of their enemies so that they could neither hinder nor hurt them Not that they were lifted vp in the aire but they were as safe as if they had beene because saith the Psalmist thou hast made the Lord the most high thy habitation Psal 91 â— there shall no euill befall thee Certainly the Cloud interposed betweene the Israelites and Egyptians would not suffer them to take any harme And indeed the children of God are very secure except it bee for their good their enemies shall neuer haue their will of them no more then the Egyptians had of the Israelites As the Eagle flieth high so doth hee flie swift also the Scripture groundeth many similies hereupon Iob 9.1 Sam. 1. and giueth vs to vnderstand that from the time that the Egyptians let the Israelites goe which was â—o soone as Moses had performed all the miracles intended of God for plaguing the Egyptians the Israelites had a very quicke passage And indeed it is a wonder that sixe hundred thousand men besides women and children and a rabble of strangers should in one night be readie and get out of their enemies land and that with all their impediments of stuffe and cattle and flockes Neither was it a lesse wonder that in one night they should all passe through the Red Sea and standing on the shoare the next morning see that all their enemies were destroyed Certainly they that made such speed were carried vpon Eagles wings it was a diuine power that conueyed them And how quickly doth God change the face of the world when he is pleased to worke a great deliuerance The Church of Christians is not herein inseriour to the Church of the Israelites For as the Israelites had a Dragon so Pharaoh is called Ezek. 29. from whom they fled euen so haue the Christians Reuel 12. And Eagles wings are there giuen to the woman the type of the Christian Church to slie into the wildernesse as the Israelites vpon Eagles wings were carried into their wildernesse So like is God alwayes to himselfe and the Church alwayes prouided for a like I may not forget the order of these words that worke which was first done is first commemorated and that which was last done is commemorated in the last place And why though God for sinne doth otherwise punish the wicked yet in this world he doth it commonly that hee may free his Church But I toucht at this before therefore I will passe it ouer and come to the end of both workes God brought them to himselfe And this is a greater blessing then that he carried them on Eagles wings that shewed a deliuerance from euill this a bestowing of good The Eagle doth sometimes carrie her young ones only from a dangerous vnto a safer nest sometimes shee rouseth them out of their sloth and directs them where they may find their prey Euen so dealeth God with his children hee freeth them from danger Luke 1. and bringeth them to comfort Hee bringeth them to himselfe to his seruice saith the one Chaldie Paraphrase to the doctrine of his Law saith another and indeed we are deliuered from our enemies that wee may serue God and liue according to his Lawes If there were no more in it it is a great comfort so to be imployed But there is more in it I told you that the end was a Couenant of wedlocke so that to my selfe is as much as to be appropriated vnto me and to be my Spouse to bee the Mother of my children and beare inheritors of the Kingdome of Heauen Any way to come neere God is a great honour but to come so neere and become so deare is more grace then mans heart can conceiue or his tongue vtter But the two next Sermons will bee spent for the most part in amplifying this therefore I will speake no more of it at this time You haue heard of both the workes One point remayneth which I will touch in a word Both these workes are vndeniable the proofe is Vos vidistis I appeale to your eyes whether I speake not a truth and your fresh experience doth iustifie my words Rationall proofes satisfie much but not so much as sensitiue therefore the intuitiue knowledge that Angels haue is farre more excellent then our discursiue and what is our hope but that our faith shall be turned into sight Neither doth sight worke so vpon our head only but vpon our heart also Segnius irritant animos dimissa per aures Quam quae sunt oculis commissa fidelibus had God done these things and they had only heard of them they would haue beene moued with them much lesse the more vndoubted their knowledge the more strong should their affections be Finally obserue that Vos vidistis you haue seene is referred not only to the worke of Mercie but also to that of Iustice wherein God doth condescend to an affection that is predominant in vs. It doth adde not a little to the content we take in our better estate if we see withall our enemies brought into our worser Psal 58. When the righteous seeth the vengeance he will reioyce and wash his feet in the bloud of the wicked Mal. 1. Your eyes saith God to the Iewes shall see the desolation of Edom and you shall say the Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel Luke 16. Lazarus in Abrahams bosome to his greater comfort seeth Diues burning in Hell Esay 66. And after the last judgement the Saints shall goe forth and see the carcasses of them that haue transgrest against God This doth not commend 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but allowes congratulating of Gods iudgements To conclude These two workes serue to worke two affections which sway much in the ordering of our life Feare and Loue. In the worke of Iustice you see that God is almightie there is no striuing with him hee that will not relent with repentance shall bee grinded with his vengeance In the worke of Mercie you see that God is bountifull Let vs not bee vnthankfull but let vs repay Loue with Loue. In a word seeing euery day God doth present such spectacles before our eyes God grant wee bee not like the Israelites of whom Moses complayneth that they were as if they had no eyes RAther he giue vs grace to make such vse of our eyes in beholding his workes that his Feare and his Loue may euer liue in our hearts So may hee euer manifest his Iustice for vs his Goodnesse to vs vntill hauing deliuered vs from all our enemies here on earth hee bring vs to himselfe to liue with him blessed for euer in Heauen AMEN The third Sermon EXODVS 19. VERS 5 6. Now therefore if yee will obey my voice indeed and keepe my Couenant then shall yee
sound that way also But Etymologies doe not alwayes yeild good grounds of Diuinitie It is well if there bee a correspondencie an equalitie is more then may bee hoped for betweene Gods worke and ours Which I obserue the rather because the Rhemish note findeth Sacisfactorie workes in this word forgetting their owne Dininitie which maketh Satisfaction attend penance but not the Sacrament of Baptisme But to leaue them and deliuer the truth concerning Repentance We must obserue that in sin there are two things the Guilt and the Act of sin the Guilt infinite the Act finite Nothing can worthily satisfie for the Guilt but only the pretious death of Iesus Christ his Bloud only is the propitiation for our sins But the Act is finite wherwith we sin so is the Act wherwith we repent between these Acts we shuld endeuour to shew an emulation so that looke what pleasure we tooke in sinne against God so much sorow should we expresse when wee returne againe vnto God hee that sinneth a great sinne must not thinke it enough to sorrow as hee doth for a small one Peter wept but bee wept bitterly because he had sinned grieuously and King Dauid wore out his eyes and watered his Couch with his teares sorrowing for those sinnes wherewith he had prouoked God But let vs draw this through both parts of Repentance Mul ò firmior est Fides Charitas quam repoint I â—enitâ—ntia Lactantius Vitque Deo gratior amore ardens pest culpam vita quà m securitate torpens innocentia Gregorius and see how the degree must appeare in them In the first of solemne Repentance the rule is If a man slip in his faith or loue of God and recouer he will cleaue faster vnto God and loue him mere ardently and he pleaseth God the better when his loue after a recouerie groweth zelous then when in innocencie it groweth lukewarme As in the bodie of a man if an arme or legge bee broken and bee well set againe it groweth the stronger Take an example from Saint Paul who as he was a bloudie persecutor so did hee proue a most painfull Apostle and most patient Martyr Saint Austines Confessions shew how erroneous in iudgement how dissolute in life he had beene but since the Apostles dayes neuer had the Church a better Bishop then was Saint Austin But if we should looke for this degree in this age we might happily seeke long but scarce find any parallel not but that there are euery where those that exceed them in sinne but of those that imitate them in Repentance we find none no Adulterers that so change as to become markable spectacles of Continencie no Oppressors that turne Deacons and minister out of their goods to the necessitie of the poore no Drunkards that pinch their bodies with Fasting and Abstinence He that hath not commited vnlawfull things may be bold to vse the lawfull blessings of God and notwithstanding performe acceptable workes of Pietie but hee that hath beene a Fornicator an Adulterer c. must goe as farre in abstaining from the contentments of this life which are otherwise allowed him as hee hath exceeded in the vse of them 〈…〉 But this Rule is growne too much out of date and we thinke that so we repent it matters not in what degree we repent and so we make a reall Confession that howsoeuer we doe turne to God yet wee are afraid to bee too farre estranged from our sinne Wherein God doth not obtaine so much of man as the Deuill doth For when a good man degenerateth hee keepeth no meane but commonly striueth to be the worst plunging himselfe most deeply into sinne and persecuting goodnesse and good men most bitterly It were to be wisht that our zeale that turne vnto God were no worse in the loue of goodnesse and the hatred of sinne But it is rather to bee wisht then hoped for The Reason of it lieth in our neglect of that degree which should be in the second kind of Repentance for if we did affect that we would bee more apt vnto this The Degree of the second kind of Repentance is when a mans outward life striueth to bee answerable to his inward calling It is strange to see how in worldly state euerie man striueth to liue futably to his ranke and is accounted base if he doe not so if of a Yeoman hee become a Gentleman of a Gentleman a Knight as his person is improued so will he improue his port also yea the excesses of all sorts of men shew that herein euery man goeth beyond his ranke in his house in his fare in his clothes But in our spirituall state it is nothing so for our house we can be contented to dwell in seeled houses when the Arke of God is vnder Tents and who doth endeuour that himselfe may be a Temple fit for God As for our Clothes they should be royall our Garments should euer be white the wedding Garment should neuer be off but we are so farre from couering our nakednesse with conuenient robes that it appeares not in the eyes of God as that we take no care to hide our filthinesse from men Certainly we doe not endeuour to be clothed with the righteousnesse of Saints Finally for our diet we that are called to the Table of the Lord and should be sustained with Angels food content our selues with Swines meate for what else are filthy lusts Wherein wee are so much worse then the prodigall childe in that he did desire them and no man gaue them to him we haue our sils his was desired of necessitie but our food is voluntarie In a word we are called to be sonnes of God our eye is seldome vpon our Father to see what beseemeth his Sonnes wee are called to be members of Christ but little doe wee care what beseemeth that Mysticall Bodie wee rather are in name then in deed either Children of God or Members of Christ I conclude this point with Nazianzens Admonition we may not counterfeit our puritie but haue it remarkable and illustrious wee must haue our soules perfectly died with grace Let vs walke worthy of that vocation whereunto we are called This lesson belongeth to them that are of age betweene whom and infants there is this difference that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Repentance which is Gods worke is enough for Infants but bring forth fruit belongeth to them that are of riper age If time be granted vnto vs after our Conuersion it is granted to the end that by our good Conuersation wee may set forth the vertues of him that hath called vs into his maruailous light And we should thinke it enough if not too much that we haue spent the time past in those lusts that are vnbeseeming Christians but wee may vse that saying of the Apostle Rom. 2.5 Know you not that the patience and long-suffering of God draweth you to Repentance but you after your hearts that cannot repent treasure vnto your selues wrath against the day
These foure speeches containe the whole doctrine of the Annuntiation of which I haud pitched onely vpon the first branch It is enough for this time enough if I onely vnfold the true meaning of the words but if I should moreouer encounter the false glosses made thereon then certainly you would say it were more than enough For there are no words in the Scripture so few in number I alwayes except the Sacramentall words Hoe est corpus meum whereupon idolatrous superstition hath so much fastened as it hath vpon these But the full ripping vp thereof is a worke for the Schooles here I had rather edifie with truth than refute falsehood wherefore well may I touch at the latter but I will principally bend my selfe vnto the former not doubting but a Dagon compounded of so many impieties will of it selfe fall downe and fall asunder at the presence of the Arke and they which shal be but reasonably informed of the truth will neuer be perplexed with the opposite grosse errours Let vs come then to the words They are gratulatory in them the Angell sheweth How and Why hee would haue the Virgin affected hee would haue her affected comfortably hee signifieth so much in his first word Haile or be of good cheare there is good cause why consider thy estate consider it in it selfe consider it in comparison both wayes considered it sheweth there is good cause why Thy state in it selfe is good first because thou standest in so good termes with God Highly fauoured secondly because thou hast so good a pledge of that fauour the Lord is with thee if thy state be such it is surely good good in it selfe But good things the more peculiar they are the more are they precious and thy state is a prerogatiue it is good also in comparison for Blessed art thou among women This is the summe of the Angels congratulation wherein you easily perceiue that I must speake of two principall points the Affection required in the Virgin and the Motiues working that Affection they are two the nature and the measure of her state That these Motiues may worke in vs no lesse than they did on her that blessed affection which I wish cōmon to vs God grant vs all her ears her heart in hearing though not the Angell Gabriel himselfe yet him whom God hath appointed to be vnto you as the Angell Gabriels voice As my Text then so doe I begin at Haile the Affection which is required to be in the Virgin Haile is a Saxon salutation it was wont to be more full as the Antiquaries obserue and to be pronounced Was-haile corruptly Wassaile a salutation answerable to the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Latine Salue that is health be vnto you the Syriac Paraphrase translates Shelom Leki that is Peace be vnto you which was the Iewes common salutation both translations may stand with the Angels meaning because howsoeuer we varie phrases in saluting yet is our meaning still the same we wish all good to them whom we salute But yet neither of the Translations doth expresse the proper signification of the Euangelists word for his word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is be of good cheare the English Cheare is plainly the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore we must note that of salutations some doe expresse the blessing that is conferred vpon vs and some the sense and feeling thereof that must be in vs he that saith Haile wisheth health or good estate of our persons he that saith Peace be vnto you wisheth a happy successe in all our affaires but he that saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be of good cheere doth wish vnto vs the comfort of them both of our persons and of our affaires This I note the rather because my Text doth plainly distinguish betweene the blessing bestowed on the Virgin and the feeling that she was to haue thereof and it is her feeling that he calleth for in this first word The feeling is Ioy an affection sutable to the blessing for the blessing is a Gospell so the Fathers obserue that what goeth before these words is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 begins here here begins the Gospell And where the Gospell beginneth there must ioy begin also wee learne it of St. Paul who relates it out of the Prophet Rom. 10. yea the word it selfe doth speake it the Greeke word doth the English word doth the old word Gospell which is nothing else but a Good spel darke English because old but we make it plaine by an equiualent phrase and significant to our purpose when we translate it Glad tidings Ioy then must attend the Gospell And if you reade the Prophets hardly shall you finde where they mention the one Psalme 96. and do not call vpon vs for the other Reioyce O heauens and be glad O earth Let the sea roare and all the trees of the field reioyce for he commeth for he commeth c. saith the Psalmist speaking of this first comming of Christ And Esay Cap. 9. Thou hast made them reioyce as in the day of haruest and as they that diuide the spoiles for vnto vs a childe is borne vnto vs a sonne is giuen c. But what need more places seeing our Sauiour Christ in the fourth of Luke giues a plaine intimation that his first comming was the true yeare of Iubile and that you know began with Iubilation This Iubilation or Ioy is common to all the Church so wee learne of the Angell speaking to the Shepheards Behold I bring you glad tidings of great ioy that shall bee to all the people for vnto you is borne a Sauiour c. If required in all then specially in the Virgin according to her interest in ought her ioy to be for this Gospell Her interest was the greatest as will appeare in her state therefore is this ioy so expresly commended vnto her There is another reason also why it is commended and that is that the truth may be answerable to the type Abraham saith Christ saw my day and reioyced Iohn 8. And when did Abraham see it and reioyce If we looke into Genesis we shall finde when euen then when hee receiued the promise that he should haue his sonne Isaac then he laughed as the Text obserues and for a memoriall that he did laugh God commanded him to giue vnto his sonne this name Isaac which signifieth laughter St. Paul Heb. 11. that pierced deeper into the secrets of the Scripture than euery reader is able to doe doth obserue that Abraham did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verse 13. see this obiect a farre off and as being a farre off did with reuerent ioy giue entertainment thereunto he meaneth that he did not only apprehend Isaac the Patriarch who was to be born within some few moneths and so was at hand but our Sauiour Christ also figured by Isaac who was not to come but after many generations and so was a farre off
that should trouble vs Therefore let vs keepe our eyes on him and we shall bee vndauntedly patient of any disgrace or danger that wee must passe in performing our charge Againe though we bee naturally proud and thinke our selues worthy of high preferment and sufficient for great employment yet when wee are called to these supernaturall Acts we are farre from being ambitious yea we are plaine incredulous that euer such things can be done by vs or that we are fit to be vsed in doing them wee can then plead our imperfections the imperfections of our head the imperfections of our heart it is strange then to see how vile we will be in our own eies and be glad that any one should haue the honour of this seruice rather than our selues we see this truth in Moses Ieremie and others But this is a mis-placing of our eyes Christ taketh them off from this contemplation and placeth them vpon himselfe Behold I am with you it is my spirit my wisedome my grace that produceth these heauenly effects I doe you the honour to make you my Instruments but I will be the principall Agent regard not your weaknesse but my power and doubt not but that I will doe by you whatsoeuer I shall giue you in charge Let this be your encouragement Christ would neuer send vs to baptize with water but hee meaneth to baptize with the holy Ghost hee will neuer send vs to dispence bread and wine but hee will bee present to giue vnto beleeuers his body and blood if he send vs to binde and loose on earth himselfe will binde and loose in heauen finally the foolishnesse of Preaching which he vttereth by our mouths himselfe doth accompany with a demonstration of his Spirit Ecce Behold this Behold how I am with you how I cooperate with you The last particular which I obserued is contained in the last word Amen and this must second Ecce Behold So soone as euer our eyes are vpon the right obiect and wee see what shelter what succour wee haue who doth support vs who doth worke by vs we must fall to our Amen we must vndoubtedly beleeue the truth of Christs promise and heartily desire the accomplishment thereof the word Amen implieth both and we must say Amen both waies Christ doth promise I am with you I will not leaue you nor forsake you whensoeuer or whithersoeuer you goe in my seruice we must answer Amen Lord I am assured it will be so I am sure it will be so also when thou sayst Loe I am with you by you to giue light to them that sit in darkenesse and in the shadow of death and guide their feete into the way of Peace And seeing what thou Lord sayst shall bee what is my desire but that it should bee Da Domine quod iubes inbe quod vis Lord be thou with me and I care not what charge thou dost impose vpon me thou biddest me goe into all the world Amen so bee it I will goe thou promisest to be with me wheresoeuer I goe Amen so be it Thus should Ecce Behold set a-work Amen and Amen So be it should euer attend this Ecce Behold I haue done with my Text and with the particulars which I pointed out therein lay those particulars together and see how many things there are to be obserued by you that are to enter into Holy Orders Here you may see that the Originall of your calling is from Christ that Christ calleth you to bee his Embassadours the errand whereupon you are sent is the gathering of Gods children into his Church Hee trusteth you with the seales of his Couenant his Sacraments He maketh your mouthes his Oracles vnto the people his presence maketh your persons secure and sacred whether hee bee pleased that you be Patients or Agents his presence shall make you conquerours vnder the Crosse and conuerters of sinnefull men And this hee will doe by you and those that shall bee honoured with the like calling vntill the number of the Elect are fulfilled and we all meete comfortably after our seruice is happily ended to raigne with him for euer in his Kingdome of Glory HEe that giueth you this Charge grant you this Comfort and make you so behold it that you may say Amen vnto it Amen Amen IHS A SERMON PREACHED AT A VISITATION At BATHE ZACHARY 11. vers 7. And I tooke vnto me two staues the one I called Beautie and the other I called Bands and I fed the flocke THis Chapter containes the last and worst destruction of the Iewes the manner and the cause is contained herein The Manner is most wofull for it is Libellus Repudij God will haue no more to doe with them and they were to be Lo-gnammi no longer the peculiar people of God no degree of person was to bee exempted from this plague neyther were they euer to recouer their state againe Of so wofull a manner the cause was most iust Curati noluerunt curari God gaue the Iewes ouer Pastors and People to a totall to a finall desolation because in their day the last of their dayes they would not know they did not regard those things that belonged vnto their peace What those things were for the most for the best part wee are taught in these words that now I haue read vnto you The whole text is a Parable wherein a ghostly shepheard is resembled to a bodily and the care of the one is represented in the others care This is the summe of the whole text But more distinctly In moralizing the Parable wee are to make two enquiries first Who it is that speaketh these words secondly What that is which he meaneth by this speech By laying together the parts of this Chapter you shall finde that he that speaketh is our Sauiour Christ it is he that saith I tooke to my selfe two slaues c. As it is he that speaketh so that which hee speaketh concerneth himselfe the contents of his words are his owne exemplarie pastorall care In opening this care the text will teach vs 1. how hee did furnish himself sutably to his calling 2. how he did employ his furniture to the good of his charge His furniture was Authority and Ability Authority noted by the staues for Padum insigne Pastoris a Shepheard is designed by his crooke and the crooke is an embleme of Authoritie Authority is not enough he hath Abilitie also his Ability is noted by the propertie of the staues The properties are two and so the abilitie groweth to be twofold the first is noted by Beauty by which is meant Veritas Euangelica a Shepheards skill in the couenant of Grace the second is noted by Bands whereby is noted Charitas Christiana the Shepheards care of the Churches peace With these doth the Shepheard furnish himselfe so hee saith I tooke vnto my selfe I tooke he receiued this furniture from his Father so I gather out of the fourth verse and what hee tooke therewith he qualified himselfe
that the Sinewes by which wee are supported in this Standing are deriued from Christ if out of Him we looke vpon our selues Psal 113. we may well say Enter not into Iudgement with thy seruants O Lord for in thy sight shall no flesh liuing be iustified Or to keepe to the word of my Text Psal 130. If thou Lord marke iniquities who shall be able for to Stand Wee cannot Stand without Corruption except his Grace doe clense vs neither can we Stand against Condemnation except his Merits doe secure vs. Some here worke vpon the difference which they suppose to be betwixt Vngodly and Sinners vnderstanding by vngodly those wicked men who are open and professed Enemies to God Malefactors Deprehensi in flagranti Crimine taken in the manner of doing by Sinners vnderstanding other wicked men which seeme to be in the Church and are as it were but Probabiliter suspecti Challenged vpon suspition And they tell vs The first sort of wicked men Shall not stand in Iudgement that is shall not be graced with any formall Arraignment before their Condemnation The second sort howsoeuer they may stand in Iudgement so farre as to be legally tried yet they shall neuer come to stand in the Congregation of the Righteous In Iob. c. 36. neuer partake with them in Happinesse Princes saith Gregorie deale otherwise with their Subiects then they doe with their Enemies in point of Iudgement for if they take an Enemie they vse Martiall Law and command Execution without any iudiciall Processe but if a Subiect be called in question hee hath the benefit of the Law he is suffered to plead for himselfe neither is hee doomed before hee is tried The meaning is that of the wicked which shall bee arraigned at the Day of Iudgement such as are without the Church shall without all plea as profest Enemies of Christ bee proceeded against for their Infidelitie shall be vndeniable But those that are within the Church God condescends farther vnto them they shall haue a trial they shall be heard what they can say though it will steed them little because it shal be shewed them how vaine it is And indeede such a forme of proceeding is exprest Matth. 25. and Luke 13. Where by the way It is good for vs to take notice That though it be a Priuiledge to be of the Church Militant in this world yea and it giues vs also a Priuiledge aboue Infidels at the entrance into the World to come Yet except we so shew our faith in our workes on Earth that we may haue the benefit of it at the Day of Iudgement there is little comfort in such a Priuiledge For in regard of Death a Citizen is no freer then an Enemie if both come to it though one come to it by Martiall Law the other by Processe in a Ciuill Court So if both meete in Hell it skils not whether one come as an Infidell and the other as a wicked Christian except haply the Christians case be the worse because he neglected the good meanes which the Infidell had not I haue shewed you wherein the Vngodly and the Righteous agree and differ at the entrance into the world to come we must now following the Text see the very same points in the state of both which followeth vpon that entrance And here first we doe find something Common for both are Socteties or Congregations They haue beene so from the very beginning of the World there hath beene the Serpent and his Seede the Woman and her Seed the Sonnes of God and the Daughters of men Michaell and his Angels the Dragon and His Babel and Hierusalem Saint Austen in his learned Bookes De Ciuitate Dei hath enlarged this point it is so cleere I neede not dwell longer vpon it But we must marke that these Societies may bee distinguished â—ither onely Habitu or also Actu onely in Qualitie or also in Place In this World they are in place confounded though they are distinguished in qualitie the Righteous though they are not of the World Iohn 17 yet they are in it and many false Christians are in the Church which are not of it the World is as Gods Feild wherein grow both Wheate and Tares in his earthly Barne there is both Graine and Chaffe his House hath Seruants Thriftie and Vnthriftie and in his Flocke are as well Goates as Sheepe But this confusion shall not hold on alwayes they that differ in Qualitie shall also be sundred in Place the Goates from the Sheepe the Tares from the Wheate the foolish Virgines from the Wise the Vnthriftie seruant from the Thriftie This is the first point of Difference But it is not the onely point but as they are separated Luke 16. so this separation shal continue for euer so doth Abraham assure Diues Betweene you and vs there is a great Gulfe no passage from one to the other The same God that separated the Egyptians from the Israelites by the Pillar of fire when they came out of Egypt will neuer suffer them to come together will so part the Saints of Heauen from the Feinds of Hell that they shall neuer grow into one Societie againe Not that absolutely it cannot be otherwise but God will haue it to be so 2. Cor. 6.14 he will haue it cleerely to appeare that there is no Communion betweene Light and Darknesse Christ and Belial the Temple of God and the Synagogue of Satan Eay 66.14 It is true that the Godly shall goe out and see the wicked tormented Luke 16. and Diues in Hell shall see Abraham in Heauen and Lazarus in his bosome to the greater Comfort of the one and terrour of the other But they shall neuer come together neither shall they change their Place or State This latter Difference is grounded vpon the former for they that differ at the entrance into the World to come must needes differ in the state thereof for Iudgement is the Gate that doth as it were lead vnto that State therefore if the vnchangeablenesse of the State doe moue vs wee must not bee carelesse of the Iudgement Let this suffice touching the Contents of these words a word of the Inference and so an end Therefore the first word of this Verse lookes backe vpon that which goeth before and out of that truth collects this You haue heard that the Vngodly shall not stand in Iudgement wonder not at it The Vngodly are but Winnowed Chaffe and how should that Stand that is so light as Chaffe or rest which is so restlesse as Chaffe which is winnowed The Righteous shall stand and wonder not at it They are Trees well planted Trees Trees laden with Fruit with Leaues Trees wel-liking well liked euery point addes weight vnto them maketh them firme and standing If a man bee disenabled to stand it is because hee is Chaffe and if hee bee a Tree hee shall bee well able to stand You see what you should feare what you should desire
is the chiefest and to be vsed Contra Luxuriam which is not the least of those seuen Deaths Heads When we looke vpon the Deluge of Sinne wee find that all the fountaines of the deepe the bottomlesse Pit are broken open and the streames thereof drowne many Soules in perdition yet amongst them there is none more vniuersall none more preualent then is this Sinne of Luxurie Desire you a proofe You shall haue a short but yet a pregnant one Men are turned into Women and Women into Men. Anatomize that Carrion well may you find more certainely you can find nothing worse therein There is nothing worse then this preposterous Vnreasonablenesse and vnreasonable Preposterousnesse Well what then is the Remedie Surely I know none better then that old one practised by the Church and therefore haue I chosen to recommend vnto the World this Penitentiall and shall be glad if any that is bewitch with that pleasing poyson may bee cured hereby This Psalme was occasioned by a wanton Man and Woman and therefore the better fitting to our Wantons of both Sexes and I doubt not but the most monstrous Changeling if hee meditate sadly hereon may bee brought to change againe but for and to the better I meane hee may resolue to turne from his Sinne and turne vnto God To worke this shal be my endeauour and to this end will I bend the Exposition of this Psalme Let vs come then to it There are two meanes of Instruction Rules and Examples a Rule is more apt to make a man wise but to make a man good there is much more power in an Example an Example is not onely a quicker but also a more quickning course Of Examples some are onely reported some are represented also the force of a Report is very great yet comes it far short of that which proceedes from a Representation for wee are much more affected with that which wee see then that which we heare this was the ground of instituting Tragedies and Commedies or to speake more to our purpose of those seuere Penitentiall Formes practised in the Primitiue Church Now the Doctrine of Repentance is in this Penitentiall deliuered not in a Rule but in an Example in an Example not reported but represented Ambrose therefore a Latine Father cals it Monumentum A liuing Portraiture of a Penitent Chrysosome a Greeke Father cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A speaking Image it doth so eye vs that it cannot but affect vs affect vs not Sensually as dead Pictures doe but Morally as a reflecting Example that transformes into it selfe all those that doe discreetly behold it Certainly if any this kind of Instruction will worke vs and worke Repentance into vs. Touching then this Vertue of Repentance wee may learne heare Whence it springs and What it is The Fountaine of it is opened in the Title but the Nature of it is vnfolded in the whole Body of the Psalme The Title doth set before vs a Person and his State the Person is Dauid for this is a Psalme of Dauid But the words must bee resolued into more then appeare for Dauidis is as much as a Dauide and de Dauide Dauid was the Author and Dauid is the Argument of it with his owne Pensil doth he draw this Picture of himselfe He represents Himselfe two wayes Cadentem Resurgentem in the State of a Sinner and the state of a Penitent In the state of a Sinner he confesseth that he went went into Bath sheba in the state of a Penitent in the other words Where you haue the Meanes by which he was brought to Repentance and the Successe of those Meanes The Meanes are Nathan the Prophet Nathan King Dauids subiect but as a Prophet he was the Embassador of God the King of Heauen had his Leidger with that King on Earth Neither doth the holy Ghost only mention the Meanes but giues vs also to vnderstand the needefulnesse and the powerfulnesse thereof the needefulnesse in the word Venit Nathan came to Dauid Dauid neuer sought to Nathan we are as carelesse to returne as wee are gracelesse to goe from God it is needefull therefore that God seeke vs that wee may seeke to him otherwise we will not nay we cannot The Meanes is no lesse powerfull then needfull that is intimated by After that that is after he had committed his Sinne. Sinne doth not only wound to death but disenable also to rise there from for the holy Spirit of Discipline will flie deceipt Wisd 1.5 will not abide when vnrighteousnesse commeth That which we cannot doe lying in the dregs of sinne God doth supplie by the Ministrie of his Word the Ministerie of his Word is the Meanes to worke Repentance Reade this truth in the Successe of those Meanes The Successe was King Dauids speedie and sollemne Conuersion speedie no sooner did Nathan reproue him but he gaue glorie vnto God he acknowledged his sinne and penned this Psalme Neither was his Conuersion only speedie but solemne also hee deliuered this Psalme to the chiefe Musician he would haue it published in the Church the Church to be a witnesse vnto his Conuersion I haue broken vp the Title and poynted out the Particulars to the fuller vnfolding whereof let vs now so listen that we may by Gods grace be led onward some steps in our owne Repentance The first thing that offers it selfe is the Person One Person is both Authour and Argument of this Psalme and when we consider the Argument we may wounder at the Author wounder that there should bee found a man so humble as to record his owne so notable defects But yet such Ingenuitie though neuer so distastfull to flesh and blood hath beene found in manie worthie Children of God especially in those that haue beene chosen to be Penmen of the Scripture they report as sincerely their owne faults as their vertues no lesse Gods Reproofe of them then his Fauours towards them such Ingenuity wee finde here in King Dauid But it was not only in King Dauid Moses went herein before him so did Samuel also Saint Mathew followeth them so did Saint Paule none of these spared themselues neither were they ashamed to record the errors of their life to record them I say which is much more then only to acknowledge them though the acknowledgement be publike They obserue not amisse who herehence gather That the Scriptures are diuine because the Penmen thereof are so vnpartiall such dealing is vnlikelie to come from flesh and blood whereupon it followeth well that they wrote as they were moued by the Holy Ghost 1. Pet. 1.22 Our lesson is the Humilitie of a Publican sauoureth much more of Gods Spirit then the Pride of a Pharisee and if wee desire either to resemble these worthies in our Persons or that our words should bee conformable to the Holy Canon wee must indite no lesse Penetentials then Panegyricks and make Remembrances of our Sinnes aswell as of our Vertues Certainelie
proofe is the vnreformedliues of the Professors therof It caÌ„not then be denied but that though in the eye of flesh bloud when we sin wee satisfie our lusts vpon the creatures mandoth iniurie vnto man as Dauid to Vriah to Bathsheba yet the offence redounds vnto God and God is a party Against whom we Sinne whensoeuer we sinne Tibi peccaui I haue sinned against thee must be put in the Confession of euery sinner Besides this Confession that is common to all sinners here is added another Confession which is proper vnto Kings Tibi Soli peccaui against thee only haue I sinned could no man say but he that is a Soueraigne But to open these words more fully we must obserue that some vnderstand them Absolutely some Comparatiuely and of those that vnderstand them Absolutely some vnderstand them onely de Facto some de Iure some consider only what was done some what ought to be done these different senses agree all well with the Text and because the knowledge of them is vsefull I will touch at them all First at the sense which conceiueth in these words that which was vsually done Great Men especially Kings are beset with flatterers that will rather blanch sinne then set it forth in its owne colour pleade for it rather then against it they turne Princes vices into vertues and adore their imperfections as if they were heauenly perfections and so if they begin to bee bad they neuer leaue vntill they haue made them starke naught to glorie in their shame 〈◊〉 10. â—4 which they see others magnifie But God hath no respect of persons he soweth no such Pillowes vnder the elbowes of Kings neither will hee couer their ruines with such distempered morter when their subiects doe sooth them 〈◊〉 3.5 he will speake home and be a swift witnesse against them when all others hold their peace hee feareth not the faces of the mighty neither will he spare to strike the greatest Monarch Iob toucheth this more then once and the Author of the Booke of Wisedome doth euidently amplifie it neuer a Booke Historicall in the Bible that hath not some examples of it And this may be the first thing that King Dauid meaneth in these words he might haue slept and died in his sinne for ought was sayd or done vnto him by men but hee found one that rowsed him that searched his wounds to the quicke and that was onely God when the Prophet when the Priest the Councellors of State all were silent none made any Remonstrance to the King of his sinne God put forth His voice 〈…〉 yea that a mighty voyce that shiuered both the soule and body of King Dauid and made him acknowledge the difference betweene his Soueraigne in Heauen and his Subiects on Earth saying Against thee onely haue I sinned As these words are true de facto note what is vsually don so are they true de Iure also note what lawfully may be done In sinning there is a double difference betweene a Subiect a Soueraigne the one is ratione Praecepit Commandments Lawes the other is ratione Paenae mulcts and Chastisements The subiect hath two obligations vpon him the Law of God and of the King hee is bound to yeeld his Obedience to them both neither can hee dispence with his Obedience vnto either of them the King is absolutely bound only to Gods Law ouer his owne Lawes hee hath power although hee should vse them as Directions for the good of his people yet when there is iust cause he may dispence not only with himselfe but with others also in this respect do the Lawiers affirme that a Monarch is Solutus Legibus that a King in regard of his own Lawes cannot deale vniustly because in foro Soli hee onely is to iudge when it is expedient for him to dispence with his Lawes So then when a Subiect offendeth he offendeth against the Law of his Soueraigne and of God but when a King offendeth against the Lawes of a Soueraigne he cannot offend hee offendeth onely against the Lawes of God And so in that sense it is true Tibi Soli peccaui Besides the Precepts of Lawes there are Sanctions these containe the Penalties which they incurre that breake the Lawes as manifold as the Lawes are so manifold are the Sanctions And here commeth in a second difference betweene a Subiect and a Soueraigne A Subiect is liable to both Sanctions to the Sanction of his Soueraignes Lawes the Sanction of Gods Lawes if he offend he is punishable by both But a Soueraigne is subiect but vnto one Law so but vnto one Sanction that Sanction which is annext vnto the Law of God to the Sanction of his owne Law he is not subiect Nature abhors progressum in infinitum as in Philosophie so in Policy therefore subordination of Persons that ariseth by degrees must rest when it commeth to the Soueraigne all within his Territories are subiect to his chastisement but hee to the chastisement of none In Apolog. Dauid Cap. â— tutus est Imperij potestate saith Saint Ambrose it is the principall of his Roiall prerogatiues and vpon this point doe most of the Fathers insist that haue occasion to speake of these words euen from the verie dayes of the Apostles haue they made these words a Sanctuarie vnto Kings and a sacred plea for their exemption from the censure of any vnder God This Doctrine is the rather to be vrged in this Age because the two extreames that impugne the truth Papists on one side and Schismaticks on the other are both vsurpers vpon the Crowne and Scepters of Kings both will giue them Lawes both will correct the errors of their Liues and Gouerment one by the Pope the other by the People But both their vsurpations are condemned in this Text Tibi Solipeccaui Against thee only haue I sinned confuteth them both and subiects that will not passe for Rebells must be contented to take not to giue Lawes to suffer from not to inflict Punishments vpon their Soueraignes Yet though this be the duty of Subiects Princes are not lawlesse neither is this a Doctrine of Impunity for though it bee peccaui Soli Tibi yet it is Peccaui and Tibi God is their Lawginer and will call them to an account for breaking of his law Et potentes potenter Wisd 6. the greater they are the greater shall their punishment bee Lactant. Lib. â— de Iustitia c. 24 though they bee exempted from the power of man they are reserued vnto a greater power the power of God This may stop all mutinous mouthes and hold in all treacherous hands that declame against the vnbridled power of Soueraignes and thinke it long before Iustice is done vpon them But enough of the absolute sense of these words Some obserue besides this a Comparatiue sense King Dauid offended God and Men though the offence were great against both yet was the former infinitely
Diuines call them Peccata Vastantia Conscientiam they argue that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is fallen asleepe and so is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too when wee vse neither the directiue Principles before hand nor the correctiue after hand but as wee shewed our selues gracelesse in committing sinne so shew we our selues senslesse in not iudging our selues for sinne King Dauid seemed not to be farre from such a case and therefore hee had good reason to exaggerate his contempt by calling his sinne not onely Malum but Hoc Malum not only Euill but this Euill so exasperating Euill before so sacred Eyes And indeed the lesse excuse wee haue for sinne the more we should deplore it deplore that we make that the Obiect of Gods Eyes which hee so much detesteth especially seeing hee hath vouchsafed to bee so gracious vnto vs as to make vs the delightsome Obiect of his Eyes for his Children are as the Apple of his Eye 〈◊〉 2. ◠though all the World bee before him yet his contenting Obiect is his Church the walles of Ierusalem are euer in his sight and hee beholds his Israel as the Seale on his Arme and Signet on his right Hand Certainly the delight that God desireth to take in beholding vs when wee doe well doth much aggrauate our contempt when wee are not respectiue of his priuitie to our couersation whensoeuer we offend him But I conclude Out of all that which you haue heard the Lesson that we must learne is Religiously to amplifie our sinnes from the circumstance of the person against whom they are bent Secondly wee must obserue how many wayes the Euill done on Earth reflecteth vpon Heauen Thirdly how much the presence of Heauen on Earth adds vnto sinne especially if it bee a crying sinne Fourthly we must learne that our sinnes offend the more the more neere wee are ioyned vnto God Finally none should more insist vpon these points then they that taste deeply of the Mercie of God the more they are indebted for his fauours the more should they bee afflicted with Godly Sorrow when wittingly and willingly they offend before his Eyes GOd grant that the reference that we and those with whom wee liue haue to God and the presence that God hath continually with vs both may make vs as sensible as wee ought to be of the impietie that is so naturall to all sinne making it reach as high as from Earth to Heauen and arguing the small regard that sinfull man hath of his Righteous God So may this sense worke in vs such Repentance as may finde Mercie with him who onely can forgiue sinne and with-hold that stroke of Iustice which for the wrong done to him and the contempt of him whom wee offend besides and aboue our Neighbours may iustly bee feared by vs and may wofully destroy vs. AMEN PSAL. 51. The latter part of the 4. VERS That thou mightest bee iustified when thou speakest and bee cleare when thou iudgest KIng Dauid confessing the sinne which himselfe committed openeth vnto vs the naturall Properties that are therein and the supernaturall Euent that followed thereupon Of the naturall Properties you haue heard heretofore I come now vnto the supernaturall Euent The supernaturall Euent then is the Praise of the Iustice of God The Iustice of God here touched is twofold Fidelity and Integrity Fidelity is Iustitia in verbo a persons being as good as his word Integritie is Iustitia in facto the vprightnes of his doome God hath the praise of both of Fidelity for he is iustified when he speaketh of Integritie for he is cleare when he iudgeth This is the praise of Gods Iustice and this praise in reference to King Dauids sinne I call a supernaturall Euent An Euent because it floweth not from and yet it followeth vpon the sinne but this Euent is supernaturall because it must be a Diuine Prouidence that must make these figs to grow from those thistles and so cleare light to shine out of so grosse darknesse These are the Contents whereof I shall now entreat wherefore I will now resume them that I may open them more fully and you more profitably heare them Iustice then is the Argument of these words God that is Soueraigne aboue all dealeth with all according to an euen Rule the Rule is well squared and being well squared is applied well also Fortune or Chance haue no place in his Gouerment whether hee contract with or take an accompt of the sonnes of men vpright reason and euennesse are the properties of his Actions and all things serue to commend them they are the vpshot of all his Prouidence as will appeare in the more distinct vnfolding of these words The first Branch then of Iustice here remembred is Fidelitie Fidelitie as I told you is Iustitia in verbo Gods being as good as his word we must then find out first what Word is heere meant And you shall read it 2. Sam. 7. where God sendeth by Nathan a comfortable Message a Message that containes manifold and those gracious promises for it concerneth a Crowne and the entaile thereof read it at your leasure but in your reading marke that the Message is Verbum Mysticum Mixtum It is a Mysticall Word for it consisteth of a Type and a Truth the Type was Dauid and his posterity the Truth was Christ and his Church Saint Paul hath taught vs so to vnderstand it Heb. 1. where he applieth the very words of Nathan vnto our Sauiour Christ As it is Verbum Mysticum so is it Verbum Mixtum also the Message is a temper of the Law and the Gospel yet so that the Gospell hath the vpper hand of the Law God will not haue his presume and therefore hee vseth the Law as a Curbe to hold them in but hee will lesse haue them to despaire the Gospell serueth to keepe them in heart This is the Word and God will euer be as good as his Word his Fidelitie warranteth as much Fidelitie is a compound Vertue it consisteth of Veritie and Constancie First there is Verity in it no word in the Tongue that commeth not from the Heart and the Tongue is a true looking Glasse of the Heart for God speaketh in Veritate Mentis without all simulation or dissimulation without all equiuocation or mentall reseruation whensoeuer God speaketh his speech is true And as he speaketh in Veritate Mentis so doth he in certitudine Veritatis also 2. Cor. 1.22 Numb 23.19 his Word is as stable as it is true his Promises are not Nay and Amen all are Amen that come from him God is not like Man that he should lie Rom. 11. Math. 24.35 Psal 89. nor the Son of Man that he should repent but his Promisses are without repentance Heauen and Earth shall passe but his Word shall neuer passe he will neuer lye against his owne Truth and therefore is he in the Reuelation stiled Cap. 3. the faithfull and true witnesse Fidelitie then there is in
King Dauid spake no more in his owne person then may beseeme the person of euery man especially if he be a Christian And therefore his practise should be a patterne vnto euery one of vs we are as hee was Si Dauid talis Rex talibus parentibus in peccato natus quanto magis Nos The fountaine of Corruption runnes as high now as euer it did well may wee deeme our selues worse better without intolerable arrogancy wee cannot deeme our selues therefore his Ecce Behold will well beseeme vs and we may well fall as low as he in the Confession of our sinnes I presse this the rather because this is a secret which Philosophers could not Hereticks would not know and so indulgent are we to our selues that we are too willing to be ignorant of at least to forget that which our proud nature doth not easily brooke The lesse the Old man doth like it the more should the New man studie it And that we studie it not in vaine let vs all pray God that wee may haue Grace to exemplifie so good a Sampler that we may so deepely launce our Spirituall woundes as that they may be the better cured by our Heauenly Physitian and the more seuere we are against our selues we may finde our Sauiour more mercifull vnto vs. Amen PSAL. 51. VERS 6. Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisedome Kâ—ng Dauid in that Vow which in this Psalme hee maketh for himselfe prayeth that he may bee restored vnto and preserued in the state of Grace To this end hee layeth open his own wickednes and layeth hold vpon Gods goodnesse how he layeth open his own wickednesse you haue heard at seuerall times as I vnfolded the verses that goe before and you shall God willing heare particularly how he layeth hold vpon the goodnesse of God as I shall haue opportunitie to expound vnto you the following verses But my Text commeth in betweene these two maine poynts so that it is hard to say to whether of them it referreth most for surely it may fairely be referred to either of them it may bee referred either to King Dauids vnfained repentance for his sinne or steadfast considence in the mercy of God therefore it is diuersly expounded by others and it will not bee amisse if I shew you how the words looke backward and forward respect King Dauids either godly sorrow or hope of Grace To come to the Text The argument of it is remarkeable Sinceritie Sincerity is fitly described in these words truth in the inward parts without truth there can be no Sinceritie but the truth that maketh perfect Sincerity must be in the inward parts Touching this Sincerity wee are moreouer taught first of what regard it is secondly how we may attayne it It is of principall regard because entertayned with the best affection that is Delight and this affection is in the greatest person it is in God God desireth this truth in the inwards parts But how may it be had surely not without diuine instruction of our inward man The inward man is noted by the secres part that must be furnished with good grounds which here are meant by Wisdome and this wisedome must come from Heauen God must make vs know it These particulars wherein Sincerity is set forth in this Text are remarkeable particulars so wee are taught by the first word behold Behold they are euident they may not be denied Behold they are vsefull euery one must make his profit of them And so haue I set before you the contents of this Scripture which I shal now farther enlarge as the time shall permit and we may best be edified But before I doe enter vpon the distinct poynts I must acquaint you with the Language of the holy Ghost which vseth often times to mention parts of our bodies when it meaneth the powers of our soules the reason whereof is in vulgar experience because so long as the soule dwelleth in the body the powers therof in their working make some sensible impression vpon the parts of our body those parts which euen for this cause haue by the wisest Philosophers and most iudicious Physicians been reputed the proper seats if not of the whole soule yet of the seuerall faculties therof My Text doth occasion me to instance in two parts the Kidneys and the Heart which are here to bee vnderstood though in the translation they are not exprest in the Originall the Kidneys are plainely mentioned which because they are two therefore they are translated parts and those inward or hidden parts because in the body the Kidneys are vsually couered with fat The Heart is a single entrall and therefore called by the name of a part also a hidden part because of the couerings wherein it pleased God that naturally the heart should be inwrapt vpon these two parts seuerall powers of our soule doe worke at least when they worke or are wrought there will be some sence thereof in these parts in the Kidneys of Affections as of Resolutions in the Heart this euery man that obserues himselfe may easily assure himselfe to be true Hauing thus opened vnto you the reason why the Holy Ghost thus speaketh let vs now come and looke a little farther into the things By the inward parts then are meant the Kidneys and by the Kidneys the Affections that discouer themselues therein now our Affections haue long since by those that haue been curious obseruers of them been reduced vnto foure Heads wherof two are exercised with Euill and two with Good Euill if it be absent wee feare and if it be present we Grieue as for Good that which we haue not we Desire and we ioy in that we haue To apply this to my Text I told you that it looketh backward and forward to Dauids Repentance and to his Confidence If to Repentance then to Euill malum culpae the Euill of sinne for which hee Grieued and malum poenae the wages of Sinne which he iustly Feared If to Confidence then to Good to Mercy which so farre as he had receiued hee ioyed in and desired so much as he had not yet receiued These are those inward parts the affections of King Dauids soule that are to bee vnderstood in this place in these it is that Sincerity must appeare so much is intimated by the word Truth But what is Truth surely nothing else but a conformitie of one thing to another whereof the one is the Sampler and the other is the exemplification All that is in mans nature receiued its being from God and was formed according to the patterne of Gods eternall decree which hee exprest in the Creation and which hee often toucheth at in the reproofes which taxe the obliquities of our nature we should bee in our Affections as God first made vs and that is the first Truth required in them a Truth that is opposed vnto vanity that vanity which doth dimimish the wel-being of
is longed for also when it is wanting in our nature By the Fall amongst other endowments this was lost Psal 62. â— The Sonnes of men are become vanity the sonnes of noble men are but a lie God then beholding them must needs finde wanting what in the Creation hee bestowed vpon them and what hee findeth wanting that he desireth may be recouered Behold how hee sheweth himselfe as a Father that might deale with vs as a Iudge what hee might exact hee desireth and desireth as a Father the supply of that the want whereof hee might punish as a Iudge hee taketh more delight to see vs recouered mercifully then iustly to perish in our sinnes The words must not be vnderstood exclusiuely Hee desireth Truth in the inward parts as if he desired it not also in the outward The inward is his Peculiar a closet whereinto none can enter but himselfe and as his residence is specially there so doth his eye principally looke into that wee may not thinke that the Holinesse that will content the Creature will content the Creator also when we go about to reforme wee must goe as deepe as Gods eye goeth and not thinke that all is well vntill all is well there But when we are prouided for that Mat. 5.29 wee must Let our light shine also before men the outward parts must haue Truth in them also God that is the Author of societies loues the bands of them also and by commanding the obseruation and commending the obseruers testifieth his good will towards them to the confusion of all Equiuocaters that diuorce the Inwards from the Outwards and care not how much fraud they vse outwardly while they please themselues with a counterfeit truth inwardly Wee must entertaine both such a truth in the Inward parts as manifesteth it selfe in the Outward and giueth good content both to God and Man But marke God that desireth Truth in the inward parts commendeth not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he doth not bid vs root out our Affections but order them aright he calls not for stupidity but simplicitie he wills vs to flie all serpentine wiles but to entertaine a singlenesse of mind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril vnleauened affections are much set by of God and sincerity is a vertue that yeelds sweet sauour vnto him Finally our Repentance our Confidence must specially be seasoned with this vertue for vnto them is the Text specially applyed And let this suffice for the regard that is yeelded to Sincerity I come now to the meanes by which it may be had and that is by diuine instruction of our Heart The Heart is here meant by the hidden part which elsewhere is called the Hidden man of the Heart why it is called Hidden in some sort I told you before as also why it is called a Part and not Parts the entrall is single and it hath a couering as it appeareth in the anatomizing of our bodies But by the entrall is meant the Vnderstanding the thoughts whereof are knowne onely vnto God They that write of the Temple of Salomon doe many of them parallel it with our persons which are temples of the Holy Ghost as that was partly vncouered and partly couered so haue wee an Outward and an Inward man and as that part of the Temple which was couered was partly Sanctum and partly Sanctum Sanctorum so haue we in our Inward man a couert seate of our desires which must be holy as you haue hitherto heard and a couert seate of the rule of our desires which must be more holy and that is our Heart there doth God reside as in his most Holy place and from thence by our conscience giueth order to the whole course of our life This place or power must be furnished with Wisedome The Apostle doth teach vs to distinguish betweene the Wisedome of this world and the Wisedome of God whereof the former is seeming the latter is Wisedome indeed This Wisedome is nothing but that guiding knowledge wherewith the Conscience must be furnished our desires haue no reason of themselues that which they haue they haue by participation of the higher power which is therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it is the guide of the inferiour powers now you know the vertue of a guide is Wisedome take away Wisedome hee will bee but a bad guide a bad did I say nay a blinde guide for Wisedome is his Eye and you know what our Sauiour Christ saith Mat. 6.22 The light of the body is the Eye if therefore thine Eye be single the whole body shall be full of Light if thine Eye bee euill the whole body shall be full of darknesse This Wisedome is nothing else but those good and sound Principles of Direction which should giue order to our affections which of them should stirre when and how farre did not Wisedome giue this order out of a true iudgement past vpon the Obiect Feare would stirre where Hope is called for and we would Ioy where wee should Grieue but that each affection taketh his proper turne and obserueth its iust measure wee are beholding vnto Wisedome But whence is this Wisedome Iob 38.36 Iob moued the question who hath put Wisedome in the inward parts or who hath giuen vnderstanding to the heart hee answereth himselfe fully in the 28. Chapter and the summe of his Answere is that God is the giuer thereof The reason may be taken from the nature of Wisedome which is answerable to the name thereof C. 6. â— 23 so saith the Sonne of Syrach 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wisedome is as the name thereof importeth and it is not reuealed vnto many Fuâ—lâ— Misâ— l. 1. c. 5. Now it hath its name from Tzaphah which signifieth to couer And indeed true Wisedome had a double Couering in the dayes of King Dauid a Couering of Ceremonies that darkened the things and a Couering of Infidelity that made most men incapable of them only God could remoue these Couerings cleare the Mysteries of Religion and giue men eyes for to discerne them not that God vseth not the ministery of men and by men informeth vs of our duties but they can goe no farther then the Outward man Ambros Cathedram habet in Coelo qui docet corda none but our Master which is in Heauen can open our hearts and worke these good instructions into our consciences This is the tenour of the Couenant of Grace Behold Ier. 31.32 the Day is come saith the Lord that I shall make a new Couenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Iuda I will put my Lawes into their inward parts and in their Hearts will I write them and so saith Saint Paul 2. Cor. 3.17 Ibid. v. 18 where the Spirit of the Lord is there is libertie libertie from both the Couerings so that Men with open face behold the glory of the Lord. And indeed who should repaire these guifts when they
Souldiers brought them direct word of it but see what a peruerse choice they made Matth. 28. rather then they would giue glorie vnto God by acknowledging the truth they bribe the Souldiers to out-face it with a grosse lie This seruilitie of there will is more plainly set downe in the Acts 4. Chap. where after Peter had healed a Creeple in the Name of Iesus they therefore apprehended him and Iohn and fall to this consultation What shall we doe to these men For that indeed a notable miracle hath beene done by them is manifest to all them that dwell at Ierusalem and wee cannot denie it a man would expect that their will should yeeld vnto such cleere euidence yet doth it not for marke how they resolue That it spread no further amongst the people let vs straightly threaten them that they speake henceforth to no man in this name O seruile will Neither are these principall faculties only but their attendants also seruile First the concupiscible or that faculty whereby we ensue what wee suppose good the seruilitie thereof is most palpable God made all these visible creatures to serue vs and vs to serue only himselfe but what creature is there which man doth not aduance aboue himselfe Yea deifie that he may be a drudge vnto it Our meates and drinkes so rauish vs that Esau sold his birth-right for a messe of pottage our money and wealth how base doth it make vs Chap. 1â— There is nothing worse then a couetous man saith the Sonne of Syrach for such a man will sell his Soule for a morsell of bread The Apostle calleth the couetous man a plaine Idolater which is nothing else but a slaue to an Idoll And to whom is not an ambitious man a slaue Whose eyes are obseruant of euery mans lookes whose eares attend euery mans tongue whose tongue pleaseth euery mans humour whose feet goe whether whose hands doe what euery man will that can inch him forward to the place whereunto hee aspires Finally looke whatsoeuer humour possesseth vs there is no slauerie which for the satisfying thereof wee doe not willingly affect yea marke that the baser things are the stronger are mens affections that bow to them as we see in Epicures Wantons Couetous and other wicked ones it is hard to see a man so humbly so earnestly to serue God as they doe serue their earthly lusts Neither is the irascible or the facultie wherewith we encounter difficulties while we pursue good lesse seruile then the concupiscible is in pursuing of vanitie and toyes it maketh Pigmies seeme Gyants vnto vs euery danger is as vgly as death euery frowne will ouer awe vs and the least terrour cast vs into a Feuer If we be put to it whether we will lose Heauen or Earth God or the World we will quickly betray with what resolution we are carried vnto the best things and how hardly we brook walking in the narrow way though it lead vnto the Kingdome of Heauen how hardly we endure momentany afflictions though they worke vnto vs an exceeding and eternall weight of glory 2. Cor 5. Read the Storie of the Israelites passage from Egypt to Canaan in them you may read what man-hood we haue Seruilitie hath so cowardized all our Fortitude that we set lightly euen by God himselfe if we may not possesse him easily and speedily I need say no more by this time you see what a base and seruile spirit we haue certainly by nature it is most base and seruile I haue amplified this that you might see there is great reason why King Dauid should make this Prayer and perceiue better what that is which hee desireth and what he meaneth by a free spirit Hee meaneth not a Libertines freedome hee would not bee a sonne of Belial haue a cloake for licentiousnesse but hee would bee enthrawled to none but God And indeed his seruice is perfect freedome he would haue his iudgement free he would walke by no light but by the light of Heauen his vnderstanding he would haue captiuated only to the wisdome of God and then he is sure he shall neuer mistake his true obiect truth because Gods Word is truth and he can neuer erre whom God doth guide and verily hee is the wisest man that maketh Gods Commandement the rule of his iudgement his iudgement is free indeed And what is a free-will Sure that which chuseth the only good that whose souereigne good is only God he chuseth all that chuseth him so that hauing him the will misseth nothing of her proper obiect let it pitch vpon other goods and it will bee if not deluded yet certainly skanted because nothing can satisfie which is lesse then that for which the will was made As grace doth thus free the reasonable facultie so doth it the sensitiue also it freeth our desires though there be no Law to compell yet doth a man readily run the way of Gods Commandements he thinketh hee cannot speed fast enough nor haue enough of that good which a holy will guided by a wise iudgement recommends vnto him vnto him Modus diligendi Deum est diligere sine modo hee drinkes himselfe drunke at the riuer of diuine pleasures and is so vnsatiable in that that he passeth in the World for a foole and a mad-man This is the freedome of desire it made King Dauid daunce in an Ephod before the Arke it made Abraham follow God whithersoeuer hee did call him and many holy men to affect solitarinesse that they might haue the more of the societie of God and his Angels Such a desire is no hireling it loueth good for good and will serue God onely out of the content it taketh in his seruice and such seruice God requireth and such a desire is a free desire The last facultie that is free is the irascible the courage of a man must be made free Saint Paul hath exprest that excellently Rom. 8. Who shall separate vs from the loue of Christ Shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakednesse or perill or sword No I am perswaded that neither death nor life neither Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor heigth nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus Behold a free courage such a Martyrs courage as will readily obey and runne to Christ though he must be loaden with the Crosse that will be contented to hate Father and Mother Wife Children if they hinder him from being Christs Disciple Put these together and you may reasonably conceiue what King Dauid meaneth by a free spirit And such freedome is to be desired by vs all we must all desire to be so free in our iudgement will desires courage and so we shal become generous persons such as stoupe to no base things and shall sticke at the bestowing of nothing we haue though it bee our owne selues whereby we may compasse the
haue vsed those You must not be of seruile minds and doe your duetie for reward his Disciples hearing this desired him to expound himselfe more fully Whereupon he addeth that men must not exspect the reward of wel-doing in this world but stay for it vntill the world to come To these words Tzadock a chiefe Disciple of his tooke exception and said He neuer heard of any such thing as the world to come And thereupon hee with another fellow Disciple of his called Baithos turned Apostataes and repaired to the Schismaticall Tempell built vpon mount Gerizzim and became principall Rabbins of the Samaritans And amongst them did Tzadock first broach his Heresie and taught them that there was no Resurrection of the dead because no immortalitie of the Soule and Spirit and so consequently no Iudgement for to come Therfore in this life was euerie man to make his fortune as well as hee could without any scruple of Conscience and satisfie his lust whatsoeuer it were If a man desire a fuller relation of their impietie let him but read the second Chapter of the Booke of Wisedome where you haue a Sadducee painted out to the full you haue his liuely picture But that which I specially marke vnto you is that the Samaritans and the Iewes were at deadly feude Ish. 4. ver 9. they had no commerce one with an other And here we find the Heresie of the Samaritans to haue corrupted the Iewâ—s and that euen in Ierusalem there were many Sadduces I say too little the Sadduces were chiefe Gouernours in Ierusalem reade it Acts 5. where you shall find that the chiefe Priests to represse the Apostles preaching the Resurrection from the dead were assisted with those of the Sect of the Sadduces Flauius Iosephus goeth farther and obserueth that the Sect of the Sadduces was most fauoured by those that were rich And indeed it is most likely because they that haue a worldly state whereon to rest are commonly so addicted thereunto that they could well bee contented there were no other life So earthly so sensuall are their thoughts their hearts that they hardly beleeue and doe desire but coldly the things of a better life Yea they thinke all men senslesse and starke mad that make little accompt of things below that they may more fully enioy those things which are aboue It is a lamentable thing to see a Church degenerate so farre as not onely to endure but to giue countenance vnto a Sect that did raze the verie foundation of Pietie But it was not their fault onely though Christendome hath none knowne by the Name of Sadduces yet Sadduces it hath too many too many that not onely liue as if there were no Resurrection but also where they may be bold are not ashamed to maintaine so impious a conceite and perswade men out of Conscience to liue lewdly who before did it onely out of Impotencie of affections Magistrates are too patient to negligent in finding them out in rewarding them as they deserue I goe on in my Text you haue seene what these Sadduces were now see how Christ putteth them to silence The word is markable it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he bridled their mouthes which is a phrase borrowed from fierce and stomackfull Horses which are impatient of the ryder yet are they held in by a strong bit and so subiected to the will of the Rider perforce not out of their owne tractablenesse Men are resembled in the Scripture to such horses Be not like horse and mule which haue no vnderstanding Pet. 32. but must be held in with bit and bridle least they runne vpon vs wherein you may perceiue that the bridle doth not alter the disposition of the horse but onely stay him from doing what otherwise hee would Euen so did our Sauiour Christ silence the Sadduces though they were ill affected to him and men as you heard of great authoritie among the Iewes yet did Christ so clearely dissolue their sophismes and resolue their doubt with that Authoritie that they became tongue-tide had not a word to returne vpon him Which is strange whether you consider and compare the meane out-side wherein Christ appeared with the great countenance of the Sadduces or the out facing of Heresie with the modestie of truth But though Christ stopped their Mouthes yet did hee not alter their Hearts for though they could not defend Sadducisme yet did they continue Sadduces as appeares Acts Chap. 5. and Chap. 23. The reason wherof is because they moued their question not out of a desire to know the truth but with a purpose to scoffe at Christ When men seeke with such minds vnto God God is pleased to bring the scorne vpon them but hee leaueth them in their grosse ignorance Adde hereunto that when men haue resolued to make the satisfying of some corrupt lust the vpshot of their endeauours they accept or refuse all things in reference thereunto and stop their Eares and Hearts so that they heare with a deafe Eare and with a dull Heart entertaine whatsoeuer maketh against them Hence is it that the Ministers paines taken with those who make their â—elly their God or commit Idolatrie with their Gold or incline to any erronious conceite or sinful affection is coÌ„monly so fruitlesse Christs was who will wonder that ours is The Vse we must make hereof is this Neuer to moue question in religion but out of the loue of truth bringing with vs a desire to yeeld when it is reuealed vnto vs. Secondly we must take heed how we set our Affections vpon any thing for if that become once our last end a Black-more will assoone change his skin and a Leopard his spots as we will be remoued from it And let this suffice for the Occasion giuen No sooner was it giuen by Christs foyling the Sadduces but it was taken by the Pharisees for vpon the hearing of it Conuenerunt in vnâ—m they fell to consultation But here must I briefely shew you what these Pharisees were Iâ—b cap. 1. 2. We find in the Booke of Maccabees that when Antiochus Epiphanes had taken Ierusalem and as the Prophet Daniel foretold had put downe the seruice of God and interdicted the obseruance of the Law many Religious Iewes chose rather to feare God then the King And when manie Apostate Iewes made couenant with the Gentiles and vncircumcised themselues the Religious held on the Circumcision and obserued the Law strictly they are there called by the Name Aâ—ideans from the Hebrew Chasidim 1. Mac. 2. v. 42. which signifieth men of pious or Religious hearts in time they changed their name into Chacamim that is wise men and became the oracles of the people and were consulted in doubts of Religion Religion by this time was come out of their hearts into their heads They changed their names a third time and were called Pharisees they went still from better to worse For a Pharisee is he that is separated from other men you
mixt it proceeds partly from infidelity and partly from malice they did not belieue that hee was the Messias and they would willingly haue destroyed him because hee affirmed himselfe to bee so In this sense they often tempted Christ somtimes tempting his Power Luke 11. sometimes his clemencie Ioh. 8. sometimes his Zeale in the question of diuorce Math. 19. sometimes his allegiance as in this Chapter in the question of Tribute That which we must marke in the temptation is that as temptation presupposeth ignorance of the Person whom we tempt both what he is and what he will doe So there is great difference betweene simple ignorance which in simplicity of heart maketh triall for better resolution such a triall as Nathaniel was willed by Phillip to make of Christ Ioh. 1. Come and see when hee doubted whether any good could come out of Nazareth and that of the Samaritanes Ioh. 4. who being bid by the woman to come and see a Prophet went heard and belieued such kind of tempting in simplicitie of heart neither is ill nor displeaseth But the Pharisees proceeded from Ignorantia prauae dispositionis notwithstanding Christ had done so many things miraculously and spoken so many words most wisely yet are they not moued either with his words or workes but passing by that which should reclaime them they seeke matter of aduantage whereby they may oppresse Christ There is no kind of people so mischieuous as those which are learned and want a good conscience for their Learning is nothing but armata nequitia it serueth both for defensiue and offensiue weapons of sinne A learned wicked man is two wayes worse then he that is vnlearned though hee be wicked worse passiucly for hee can most hardly bee wrought by or brought vnto the truth worse actiuely for he can find out most trickes and take most aduantages of doing ill Wherefore we must take heed to our knowledge and pray God that hee would giue vs such as may bee accompanied with a good conscience least otherwise wee become brethren of the Pharisee and our Questions moued to Christ proue no better then his temptation You see that he came with a sword in his heart and that hee had a mischieuous purpose see now what oyle streameth from his lips He saluteth our Sauiour with a smoth tongue Master Saint Hierome doth not vnfitly compare flatterers vnto Bees which haue honie as well as stings flatterie is the best art of insinuation The title is honourable which this questionist giueth vnto Christ for it was the title of the Rabbins of all those that tooke vpon them to teach the people It was much affected both by the Scribes and Pharisees as you may reade in the Gospell and why They held it an honourable acknowledgement of their learning But though they did affect it yet was it due to Christ by reason that He was the great Prophet that should come into the world Dâ—â—â— 8. he was the Wisedome and the Word of God Iohn 13. you call me saith Christ to his Disciples Lord and Master and so I am But as for this Scribe he had no intent to expresse so good a conceite of Christ or such purpose as to bee Christs Disciple you may learne it out of S. Iohn where with scornfull indignation they bid the blind man be Christs Disciple as for themselues they were Moses Disciples Origen hath a wittie obseruation vpon the nature of correlatiues as none is a father except he haue a child so none except he be his child can truly call another father The same correspondencie should there be between Master Schollar we do but abusiuely cal him Master to whose instruction we purpose not to commit our selues as doth beseeme a Schollar but as Iudas cried Haile Master when he was playing the Traytor so doth this man vse the word Master when he is playing the Tempter and enerie one that cals Christ Master or Sauiour and is not a true correlatine in disposition est frater Pharisei and many such brethren haue the Pharisees in the world Couple that which you haue heard of these Persons what they were indeed and what they were in shew and you shall perceiue that the questionist is an Angell of darknesse though he make shew of an Angell of light The Diuell neuer appeareth in his owne hue and they must not want a faire pretence that plot mischiefe against others I haue discouered the Questionist sufficiently vnto you it remaineth that we briefly consider of his Question And here we shall find first that the Question is indeed good for it is about Gods Law and men cannot better employ their thoughts then there about King Dauid doth often recommend this study But there are two soule abuses wherewith this Scribe this Lawyer doth corrupt his question the one is vaine glory the other is impietie He heard Christ taxe the Sadduces for their ignorance in the Scripture he thought it was now time for him to get himselfe credit and no better meanes then the mouing of such a Question The vaine glorie is a foule fault but the impietie is much worse for hee maketh Gods word serue for a weapon in the Diuels quarrell He learned this of the father of Temptations who vsed such weapons against Christ and he is folowed therin by most hereticks whose practise is to oppose the truth by the truth God by himselfe As if the malice of man could deprehend any such aduantage of ouersight in God whereby any might be induced to sinne against him but abuse they may they can neuer vse aright such weapons and if they doe abuse them well may they sometimes nay they doe too often succeed in their aduenture against men but it is senselesse that they should hope to speed against God or Christ The Question is not onely good but it is waightie also for it is about the great Commandement in the Law great for greatest for the Hebrewes haue not superlatiues Marke calleth it Primum omnium the chiefest of the Commandements Another Scribe Luke 10. seemeth to expound the word great by those words What shall I doe to inherit euerlasting life So that the great Commandement seemeth to be that the keeping whereof doth best please God and giueth vs the neerest communion with him Wherfore though it skils not which is the greatest so we set our selues to keepe all as we ought yet is the resolution desired vse-full to make a man know how farre hee is gon from God It should seeme that there was a Question here abouts betweene the Iewes some holding for the Ceremoniall Marke 12.33 some for the Morall as we may gather from this Scribes answere made elsewhere And this Scribe as Marke cals him or Law yer as here would shew himselfe to bee no ordinarie man by his question It is true that though all the Commandements of God bee equall in regard of the Author and nothing may be accounted small that commeth from God yet in
what these two Commandements enioyned vs is by Christ fulfilled for vs. Saint Pauls wordes sound that way Rom. 8. That which was impossible for the Law by reason of the weaknesse of our flesh God sending his Sonne in the similitude of sinfull flesh and for sin condemed sin in the flesh Math. 5.17 Rom 10.4 Gal. 3 2â— that the righteousnesse of the Law might be fulfilled in vs and Christ saith I came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it and he is the end of the Law and the Law a Pedagogue to Christ But Hilarie hath a good Rule Sensus dictorum sumendus est ex causis dicendorum Christs words are an Answere and therefore must bee vnderstood sutably to the Question Now the Question was touching that which was enioyned vs therefore the Answere is not to bee thought to extend farther And doubtlesse the Questionist thought nothing of the Gospell for how should hee thinke vpon that whereof he had no knowledge Wherefore in contracting of those parts wee must include no more then that dutie which is enioyned vs by the Law as it is contradistinct to the Gospell and all that is contained herein Yea Saint Austin was conceited that not only God did worke the Law and the Prophets out of this ground but that the very Heathen also wrought all their allowable Moralitie and Policie out of it Neither is there any point of this kinde in Christian Religion which may not bee fetched out of Heathen Writers Not that any one of them hath all the Rules but that there is no Rule which may not bee found in some one of them I except alwayes the Rules of the Gospell Whereupon it followeth that Reason it selfe acknowledgeth the truth of all those Rules I will not be so confident as to affirme that the Heathens did euer acknowledge all that I haue opened on these two Commandements a glimpse they had of most of it the writings of Plato Seneca others doe testifie as much the fragments of the twelue Tables which are the foundation of the Ciuill Law and the bodie thereof testifie how farre Reason hath gone But I hasten to an end You haue heard a Lesson which is recommended vnto vs in Christs Answere I told you it is a briefe of the Bible the whole is no more in effect then Loue God aboue all things and thy Neighbour as thy selfe a short lesson you would thinke but it is a very hard one whether you respect the proper worke of Loue or the workes which it commands The reason is partly in our Ignorance which doth not easily learne our dutie and partly in our Concupiscence which hinders vs from doing that which we know from these two impediments no meere man euer was free De perfect Iustit ad Coelest 1. Cor 13. since the fall of Adam neither is it likely any man shall bee vntill the end of the World Wherefore Saint Austin is of opinion that our intire obedience is reserued for our state in Heauen When that which is perfect is come then shall that which is imperfect be done away Saint Paul speaketh it of Charitie which shall not be abolished in Heauen but consummated where wee shall loue God though not quantum diligibilis in se yet quantum ab homine and our Neighbour as our selfe But Saint Austin giueth a good Rule why these Commandements were giuen I am ante praecipitur quia non recte curritur si quo currendum nescitur quomodo autem sciretur si nullis praeceptis ostenderetur Therefore wee must vnderstand the Commandements aright wee are wayfaring men and these Lawes trace out the way which we must goe to Heauen Wee I meane as many as are faithfull For to vs is the Law giuen and some steps must we make herein euery day that wee may bee the forwarder to our iournies end So all our worke should proceed from it and the Loue of God should order our life especially with that we should be principally affected and coldly with other things in comparison of that 1. Cor. 7. v. 31. Vse the world as if we vsed it not If a man bee perplext in his deliberation how hee should carrie himselfe because the profound disputes of Moralitie exceed his capacitie let him hearken to the good counsell of an ancient Father Noli per multa tre nec discendi terreat te ramorum diffusio radicem tene de magnitudine arboris noli cogitare A man may rid himselfe of much trouble in resoluing his conscience what to doe if hee season his Heart well with the Loue of God and of his Neighbour I meane not that he should refuse other helpes if hee may haue them but the more hee hath of this the lesse he will need other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that makes vs obey out of feare this out of goodnesse The Papists abuse this Text for they say this is one of the directories of the Church whereby shee may supply her Traditions but it warrants no supply of the Morall Law much lesse of Articles of Faith though if it be reasonably vsed it may extend to positiue Lawes Lastly seeing all hang on these two Commandements none can crie nesciebam I knew not what to doe But I draw to an end In the Hebrew Bibles the first Characters of these two Commandements are extraordinary great whether by the appointment of Esdras when he digested the Bible or by the Authours of the Mazoreth when they set downe the various lections I will not dispute of this wee may bee sure that whosoeuer was the Authour hee meant we should take notice of these as most remarkable Commandements Not such notice as the Iewes take who write them in schedules and weare and reade them as Amulets to keepe from them all euill which superstition diuers Christians did imitate in Saint Hieromes dayes hanging about their neckes little Gospels In Matth. c â—â— But that Father saith well that caskets and closets may hold our Bibles and be neuer the better for them they are the better for Scripture who lay it vp in their hearts and this God meant the Iewes should dâ—e when he bade them bind his Lawes as frontlets about their heads Deut. 6. and bracelets about their armes hee would haue them in all their wayes thinke vpon them and be euer exercising themselues in them and not to vse the ceremonie only forgetting the substance And I pray God these Commandements may be such frontlets on our eyes as God meant and not such as the Iewes vsed Charitie is the end of the Law the fulfilling of the Law 1 Tim 1.5 Rom 13.10 Col. 3.14 as Saint Paul speakes in imitation of Christ the bond of perfection the way of life yea the superexcellent way all these commendations the Scripture giueth it But beyond all commendations goeth that which Christ giueth it in my text Vpon it hang all the Law and the Prophets Wherefore owe nothing to any but this
whose hands he knew he should haue no thankes for his labour So to confesse must needes be an ingenuous Confession And indeed such an ingenuous Confession doth well beseeme all in debates of Religion For it fals not out in them as it doth in the Games of Actiuitie wherein onely he that conquereth is crowned the conquered also shall haue his crowne in this case if being conuicted hee acknowledge and submit himselfe vnto the truth It were to bee wished that the World would imitate this Ingenuitie that God might forgiue vs our infirmities and giue vs grace to profit in the way of eternall life But the World is possest with a spirit of obstinacie so that men will not be perswaded though they bee perswaded nor conuicted when they are conuicted bee it in head or heart When wee deale with Papists or Anabaptists we haue too lamentable proofe hereof they carrie themselues like deafe Adders they stop their eares and will not heare the voyce of the Charmer charme he neuer so wisely But to leaue the absent and direct my speech to our selues that are present Are our Hearts better disposed then their Heads I would they were but experience teacheth that though our sinnes bee laid neuer so clearely before vs and Gods Law that condemnes them often applied close to our Conscience yet few there are that become sensible as Dauid was vpon Nathans reproofe or as the Niniuites were at the preaching of Ionas The want of this Ingenuitie is the cause why drunkards sweareas adulterers all wicked liuers notwithstanding all our instruction continue still like vnto themselues But let them take heed their obstinacie will one day cost them deare they will be put vnto a worse shame for perseuering in sinne Eccle 4 Aust Epist â—8 then euer their Repentance coulde bring vpon them You haue heard one branch of the Scribes Ingenuitie manifested in his acknowledgment of the truth when he heard it But hee doth not onely acknowledge but he doth iustifie it also hee sheweth that he is able soundly to confirme it And indeed this is compleate Ingenuitie when a man doth not onely yeeld when he hath nothing to say against the truth but also goeth farther and becomes an Aduocate thereof shewing the reason that moues him and may moue others to subscribe vnto it See how this Scribe doth it To loue God with all our heart saith he and our Neighbour as our selfe is better then all burnt offering and sacrifice Nothing could come in competition with Morall Law but the Ceremoniall giuing it then preeminence aboue the Ceremoniall he giues it absolute preeminence and so prooues Loue to be the great Commandement following herein the direction of God himselfe in Esay Osea Amos Cap. 1. Cap. 6. Cap. 5. Cap. 7. and Ieremie I haue handled this point vpon the fiftie one Psalme and therefore intend to passe by it at this time onely giuing you this rule whereby you may the better iudge of his proofe Charitie pleaseth God immediately of it selfe Sacrifices please not but in vertue of Charitie But marke how with this his Reason hee doth perstring his fellowes You know the Pharisees were for their Corban Irenie i. â— c. 323 and taught children to disobey and destitute their parents rather then not to performe their sacrifice which Doctrine of theirs this Scribe acknowledgeth to be most peruerse a fruit of couetousnesse Of whom we may learne this good lesson that we must not perfunctorily read the Scriptures but learne by them how to argue for them by knowing what is contained in them and weying what will follow vpon them Secondly marke that whereas this Questionist came as a Tempter he so profited by Christs answere that hee went away a commender of Christ which ingenuitie of his makes it probable that of himselfe hee was well disposed but carried away with ill companie of which sort no doubt but there are many in the Church of Rome many that rather follow the streame then their owne iudgement whose vnhappinesse it is to be so vnhappily yoked which must teach vs to take heed how we sort our selues with malicious aduersaries of the truth least wee become like vnto them at least be made instruments of theirs Finally obserue that Christ hath a greater conquest ouer the Pharisees then he had ouer either the Herodian or the Sadducee for he onely put them to silence so that it was left wholy to the Auditorie to iudge whether they were fully answered or no but the Scribe that thought to speed better is driuen to a harder straight hee is driuen to confesse and that before the people that Christ had answered the truth hee that thought to procure his disgrace is made the trumpet of his prayse and glorie so strangely doth God worke in the hearts and consciences of men according to that in the Psalme He receiued gifts for men euen for his enemies that the Lord God might dwell amongst them and to this purpose are his arrowes said to be verie sharpe and to pierce the hearts of the Kings enemies Psal 45. the preparation of the heart is of man but the answere of the tongue is of the Lord Baalam went to curse the Israelites God made him blesse them Saul went to take Dauid God made him prophesie of his succession the messengers went to take Christ but they returned with this commendations of him Neuer man spake as he speaketh Saul went to persecute the Christians of Damascus but on the way hee was so changed that when he came thither he preached the Gospell So doth the rage of man turne to Gods praise and the fiercenesse of their Spirits doth he refraine hee turneth Lyons into Lambes And thus much shall suffice to be spoken of the Scribes Ingenuitie I come now to Christs Clemencie the clemencie wherewith he entertained that Ingenuitie the Text saith first that he tooke notice of it he saw that he answered discreetly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word is significant as one hauing a reasonable soule The proper obiect of our vnderstanding is Truth it is naturally carried thereunto and so is the will to Good the the naturall obiect thereof But these reasonable abilities are diuerted and peruerted by our sense and sensuall appetite which beset vs and which we are desirous to please Whereupon it followes that though men be reasonable creatures yet are their resolutions for the most part carnall so that it is no small commendation for a man to bee able to sequester in his consultations the better part from the worse and notwithstanding the solicitations of the worse to follow the direction and inclination of the better as did this Scribe And what he did Christ saw his piercing eye discerned not onely the words which he spake but the fountaine also from whence they sprang otherwise he would not haue spared after his custome to haue told him plainely that hee was an hypocrite But Christ is so farre from blaming him that hee seemeth rather
the Israelites abound both with meate and drinke there that wildernesse was to them as commodious as a paradise they had showres of bread from heauen and streames of water from the rocke God that prouided so for their bodies in so desolate a place prouided no worse for their Soules whose condition was by nature as barren as the wildernesse They were to conceiue that his Law was to bee vnto them a spirituall Manna and a spirituall Drinke that streamed from the rocke Christ they were to repute it the bread and water of life Learne the Allegorie out of Esay The wildernesse and the solitarie place shall be glad for them Cap 35. v. 172. the Desert shall reioyce and blossome as the Rose it shall blossome abundantly and reioyce euen with ioy and singing the glorie of Lebanon shall be giuen vnto it the excellencie of Carmell and Sharon Cap. 44. ver 3. they shall see the glorie of the Lord and the excellencie of our God And againe more plainely I will powre out water vpon him that is thirstie and flouds vpon the drie ground I will powre my spirit vpon thy seed and my blessing vpon thine off-spring I will adde one reason more Reuel 12. Heb. 11. the Church is oftentimes by Tyrants driuen to flee into the wildernesse Gods children are made to wander in Deserts and in Dennes and Caues of the earth but God giuing his Law in the wildernesse biddeth vs bee of good courage for there is no place so desolate in worldly respects but God will not onely be there with his but will there also open vnto them the treasures of his wisedome and receiue their Deuotions Wherefore though I walke in the middest of the valley of the shadow of death I will feare no euill thou O Lord wilt be with me thy rod and thy staffe shall comfort me Psal 23. It was not onely a wildernesse wherein God gaue his Law but the wildernesse of Sinai there were more wildernesses then one through which they passed all the countrie from the Red-Sea to the Holy-land is wildernesse therefore in their Trauels wee read of the wildernesse of Sur of Sin of Pharan and here of Sinai which was in Madian for there Moses dwelt and fed his Father in-lawes sheepe when God first appeared vnto him Gal. 4. ver 25. But more distinctly we learne of Saint Paul that Sinai is a Mountaine in Arabia And whereas there are three Arabia's Felix Deserta and Petraea this was the last of the three and it was through that their way lay into Canaan that compasseth the South and South-east part of the Holy-land Sinai a Mountaine in this Arabia did denominate the wildernesse that lay about it But whence was it denominated it selfe Surely the word in the originall signifieth a bramble bush Some histories report that there are such brambles there that a Bird cannot light on them but hee will loose all his feathers I leaue the truth of that to the reporter Of this we are sure that there was a Bush there wherein God appeared to Moses in a flame of fire and from that bush it is most likely that this hill was named as all the rest of their stations beare Hebrew names For from whom should they learne how to call them that had no body there besides themselues But God was pleased that that hill should keepe a perpetuall remembrance of his apparition in the bush because the bush was such an excellent embleme of his Church A double embleme First noting that though we by nature are as fruitlesse and hurtfull as brambles Heb. 12.19 and God is a consuming fire Yet that consuming fire can bee so gracious as to abide in this vnworthy plant of the wildernesse and not to consume it Secondly what himselfe will not consume abiding in it that no fierie triall shall consume be the wicke I neuer so much enraged against it I will not trouble you with the tradition that you shall read in some that there are stones to be found about this Hill which if you breake in memorie of this bush you shall find in them the print of a bush Of this we are sure Exed 3 ver 4. Antiq lib. 2. that in honour of this bush Moses calleth the Hill though vnder another name Horeb which was a part of Sinai Montem Domini in honour I say of this bush Although Iosephus saith that before God appeared there to Moses vulgari rumore creditum numen ibi habitare it was commonly reported that God frequented that place and so was it inâ—â—â— ssâ—â—â—lis propter Religionem men durst not ascend into the top of it not onely because it was an exceeding high mountaine so high that men could not see to the top of it but also for the reuerence that men did beare to some Diuine power that was thought to abide there This conceit though it may haue some colour from the third of Exodus because it is called the Hill of God before the storie is reported of Gods appearing in the bush yet we must know that anticipations in giuing names are vsuall in Scripture especially where stories are written long after the euents are past and Moses seemeth to controule that conceite of Iosephus in the blessing which he giueth to the Tribe of Ioseph Deut. 33. ver 16 for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush let the blessing come vpon the head of Ioseph dwelt he saith not dwelleth teaching vs that it was a transient not a permâ—â—ent abode Exod. 2 5. And God meaneth no more when he biddeth Moses put off his shoes because the ground whereon he â—â—ood was holy ground Holy when God was present but when God departed the holinesse ceased although the title continued euen in the dayes of Elias but that was in a mysterie that God 1. Reg. 19. â—er 8 would in the very same place haue the Prophet report the foule breach of his couenant where his couenant was first made with Israel This maketh little for any countenance of pilgrimage to the Holy-land for God himselfe said that of an holy he would make it a prophane place because the Israelites had polluted it with their sinne But I will not trouble you with that point This I may not omit that God gaue his Law vpon a Hill As Hell was shadowed in the valley of Hinnom which was a very deepe place so heauen is vsually figured by hils places lifted vp high aboue the earth And such places were anciently designed for sacred vses whether God reuealed himselfe to men or men performed their deuotions to God The places are obuious in the Old Testament and in the New Sion Gibeon in the old the mount where Christ made his Sermon where he was transfigured in the New Testament c. To speake a little to the day Christ ascended this day in his Person and we in good time shall ascend in ours But there is an ascension which must goe
his libertie out of the Loue hee bare to his Master and his Wife and Children Christ in his owne person maketh the allusion and we may accommodate it to our owne persons In a word a man doth heare Theologically when the Law which is perfect conuerteth his Soule the testimonie of the Lord that is sure Psal 19. maketh him wise of simple the statutes of the Lord that are right reioyce his heart and the commandement of the Lord that is pure doth illighten his eyes so that this hearing-eare is of God Deut 29. as also the Voice is and therefore Moses tels the Israelites that God hath not giuen them eares to heare and Christ in the Gospell saith qui habet aures ad audiendum audiat for vobis datum est it is not to euery body giuen to heare but of them to whom it is giuen Christ hath pronounced Blesse are the eares that heare that which you heare Hauing heard what the Voice is and what it is to Heare we must now ioyne them together and indeed speaking is for hearing in ciuill societie neither would God euer haue giuen men tongues if hee had not giuen them eares And if for this life hee so prouideth how much more doth he prouide so for the life to come Surely S. Paul saith that he receiued grace and apostleship 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom 1 5. 1. Thes 2 13. that men might heare him with faith and he calleth the word of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word of hearing that is a word which must be heard Esay goeth a step farther and calleth the word of God Cap 53 1. Rom 10 16. Schemugnah Saint Paul rendreth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hearing who hath belieued our hearing So it is in the originall the meaning is who hath belieued the word that we Preach to the end that men might heare it The word of God is still to sound in mens eares and men are still to heare the sound thereof How iniurious then is the Romane discipline Luke 11. Matth. 23. which like the Iewish Lawyers takes away from people the Key of knowledge and shut vp the kingdome of heauen against men Which heretofore made it a mortall sinne to read Gods word And now clogs the libertie it grants with such cautions that very few especially of those that are with in the reach of the Inquisition dare bee acquainted with it yea and those clogs content not but now it is thought fitter vtterly to denie libertie As such teachers are iniurious so are there some schollars impious that may but will not heare whether out of contempt or neglect they are impious murtherers of their owne Soules for this Voice onely is the Voice of life and it quickneth by the eare although wee must not so limit the conueiance thereof by the corporall eare that wee exclude the eye for our eye also since Gods word is written by reading may conuey Gods Voice vnto the eare of our Soule and men by this second meanes are not a little edified in Gods truth the Fathers especially Chrysostome doth commend reading earnestly to the people yea the Law hath commanded it long since when it willed the Iewes to write the Law vpon their doore posts certainely the Iewes euen at this day inure their children to a daily reading of the Law so soone as they come to yeeres of discretion and it were to be wisht that Christians did imitate them therein But marke that as the Israelites must heare Gods Voice so they must heare it absolutely for God doth not yet acquaint them with the contents of his Voice he speaketh indifinitely hee requires obedience not to this or that Commandement not to this or that Article of faith but to whatsoeuer he shall purpose And well may God require such obedience for he is first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Truth of himselfe yea Truth it selfe so that a man need not feare that at any time or in any thing God can bee deceiued or will deceiue vs neither can agree with the Omniscience and Holinesse of his nature Secondly God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Almightie and the soueraigne commander of man so that his word is not onely Truth but a Law where the word of this King goeth there goeth power it admitteth no disputing no resisting As he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Truth so we may safely captiuate our wits vnto his wisedome as he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so we must dutifully submit our wils vnto his commands vpon these two foundations are built our absolute obedience vnto Gods indefinite Voice The word my voice is a word of limitation Ioh. 10. Christs sheepe heare his voice the voice of a stranger they will not heare Gods voice must bee reputed obiectum adaequatum of his people hearing wee must neither stretch nor shrinke it neither adde thereto nor take there-from These two Attributes of Truth and Power are so proper vnto God that they are not communicable to any creature Omnis homo mendax Psal 116. euerie man may deceiue or be deceiued and Omne sub regno graniore regnum est the greatest Soueraignes vnto men are subiect vnto God therefore mens words must be tried before they must be belieued wee must not credit all their words and we must yeeld obedience vnto men no farther then may stand with our obedience to God This must be obserued because the glorie that is due onely to God is too often communicated to men so Disciples take their masters instructions as Diuine oracles and follow them in errour out of a preconceipt that they are not men likely to erre But Saint Pauls rule is Omnia probate 1. Thes 5 1. Iob. 4. quod bonum est tenete proue all things but hold that which is best and Saint Iohn trie the spirits whether they be of God or no for many false Prophets are gone out into the world Amicus Plato magis amica veritas we must neuer dote so vpon any man as to forget that he is a man that is a creature subiect vnto errour If this caution had beene obserued and the Disciples had in all ages examined their masters Doctrine by his word that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neither should the Church heretofore haue beene neither would it now be pestered with those many Sects that dictract the same As Disciples haue their caution so haue Subiects also they must dutifully obey their superiours but alwayes with a sauing sauing the Allegiance which they owe vnto the Superiour of Superiours that is vnto God so long as there is no contradiction betweene the commandements of God and superiour men subiects must obey though the obedience be vnsauorie and the command rigid but so soone as there appeares a contradiction endure they must patiently the Sanction of the Law but perform the Precept they must not Were this caution obserued by Subiects did they consider the subordination of all earthly Powers to the power of
God many enormous sinnes had neuer beene committed neither would the people so familiarly shift their Religion at the becke of their superiour But aboue all vsurpations of Gods glorie in this kind take notice of the Votiue blind obedience of the Religious Romanists especially of the Iesuites they make it a part of their solemne profession and put it in practise impiously and mischieuously as the world hath palpaple and woful proofe True it is that they pretend good limitations set to their Vow as that the superiour must not be obeyed against Gods Law and the law of Nature but while they make the superiour the interpreter of both these Lawes and that they must rest in their superiours Voice as in the Voice of Christ what they abhorre in words that they commit in deeds they commit many things both against the Law of God and nature And in generall all Papists that hold the Popes infallabilitie taking from him the resolution of our faith and manners how doe they serue God against Gods will and massacre Gods seruants out of an erroneous zeale for Gods glorie Let the conclusion then of this point be that no man may dispute or resist any voice of God but withall he doth challenge Gods Truth and his Power and whosoeuer requires absolute credit and obedience to all his words he vsurpes Gods Attributes which are incommunicable that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnerring Truth and Vncontrowable Power And so haue you the first of those things which God doth require which is Obedience The second followeth which is Fidelitie Israel must keepe the Couenant of God a Couenant is a solemne contract made betweene diuers persons and Gods Couenant is the contract that is made betweene him and his Church in those termes I will bee your God and you shall be my people But of Couenants there are two sorts Foedus aequum and Faedus iniquum as the Ciuilians speake Foedus aequum is that which is made betweene persons that are of equall ranke whereof one is not superiour to the other Foedus iniquum is that which is made betweene persons that are impari iure of vnequall ranke whereof the one is superiour to the other When we speake of Gods Couenant made with man wee must not conceiue that that the persons are equall they are very vnequall there is no proportion betweene them neither can there be betweene an infinite and a finite person this must be obserued in the very first Couenant that euer God made the Couenant of the Creation for then the Persons differed as the Creator and Creature there was oddes betweene them Secondly as there may bee oddes betweene the persons that enter into a Couenant so there may haue beene before they enter into the Couenant no enmitie or no great enmitie betweene them Nations that neuer were at warre may enter into Couenant one to strengthen himselfe by the other or one to haue the freer commerce with the other but oftentimes it fals out that Leagues put an end vnto quarrels and Couenants are the securitie of a reconciliation and open the intercourse of mutuall good offices which war shut vp Though the Couenant of the Creation had no precedent enmitie yet that of the Redemption had and therefore it is called not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Couenant but also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Reconciliation when we were enemies Christ died for vs and by his bloud was the New Testament ratified Thirdly the Couenant primarily here meant is the Decalogue on those Ten Words did God make a Couenant with Israel and the Tables wherein they were written were called the Tables of the Couenant 1 eut 9 11. the Arke wherein the Tables were put is called the Arke of the Couenant 1. Reg 8.1 and the Tabernacle wherein the Arke was was called the Tabernacle of the Couenant But this Couenant of the Decalogue hath a double consideration whereof the one is Intrinsicall the other is Extrinsicall the Intrinsicall is that which looketh to the naturall power of the Law which is to discouer sinne to conuict a sinner and to doome him according to his desert the Extrinsicall consideration is that which looketh to the supernaturall power of the Law and that is to be a Schoolemaster to bring vs vnto Christ who is the end of the Law and came to fulfill it To shadow this double consideration the Decalogue was cloathed with the Ceremoniall Law wherein the offerer imposing hands vpon the Sacrifice did confesse himselfe guiltie and the slaying of the Beast shewed the desert of a sinner thus there appeared what is the naturall power of the Law The supernaturall power also appeared in the ceremonies in that the offerer vnburthened himselfe vpon the Sacrifice as a sinner doth vpon our Sauiour Christ and that by the death of the beast the offerer was exempted from death as men are deliuered from death by the death and passion of our Sauiour Christ Wherefore though the Couenant of the Redemption bee but one yet in regard of the shadow it is called the Old and in regard of the substance the New You haue seene what is the Couenant of God you must now learne what it is to keepe it First wee must learne to obserue our distance though God doe vs the honour to contract with vs yet must not we presume to equall our selues to God for so shall wee betray our ignorance that we know not of what kind the Couenant is we must therefore discerne the inequalitie of the Persons that haue contracted and wee must confesse how low God hath descended that hath vouchsafed to take vs into so neere a reference As in keeping the Couenant wee must obserue our distance so must we not be vnmindfull of the danger which we haue escaped thereby he that considereth not that he stood at Gods mercie when hee was receiued to grace that he was by merit a firebrand of Hell when by mercie he was designed to be a Saint in Heauen cannot as he ought keepe the Couenant of God Now the Decalogue wherein this Couenant standeth hath a double consideration therefore he that will keepe Gods Couenant must make vse of both First he must make vse of the Intrinsecall consideration and of euery branch thereof by the Law commeth the knowledge of sinne therefore that he may haue a true iudgemement of the nature differences and degrees of sinnes he must be well conuersant in the Decalogue he must not trust to Morall Philosophie to Ciuill Constitutions and Customes to Pharisaicall or Papisticall Traditions these are but imperfect guides in such inquiries Only Gods Couenant can tell what is and what is not finne Moses is the best Casuist Secondly he must often suruey himselfe at this glasse of the Law and there find the excesses and defects of his life no other thing can represent them so truly as this will doe this Glasse will neither flatter nor deforme vs our consciences
Soueraigne Good in regard of Gods loue of vs which haue in vs no louelinesse at all Nay marke it biddeth vs tender our selues vnto him and what are we but as earthen vessels and what doth hee with vs hee maketh vs vessels of gold the peculiar treasure of the King of Heauen He biddeth vs obey but that hee may make vs Commanders wee must heare his voice keepe his Couenant these are markes of obedience but thereupon we shall be Kings and Priests those are markes of authoritie Finally hee biddeth vs apply our selues vnto him which doth beseeme a creature and hee will make vs like vnto himselfe like vnto our Creatour we shall be holy as he is holy Behold here then the bountie of God and folly of man the bountie of God who giueth though according to our capacitie yet not according to our deserts hee giueth as beseemeth himselfe according to the widensse of his owne Greatnesse and Goodnesse doth hee fill his creatures with his blessings especially Man and aboue all men these whom hee receiueth into the Church A man would haue thought that it had beene mercie enough in God in such a strange fashion to deliuer Israel out of Egypt to take such sharpe vengeance vpon their enemies to promise the Israelites that they should not bee subiect to the plagues of Egypt and that hee would bring them into a good land a land flowing with milke and honie a man would thinke I say that these blessings did more then deserue their best obedience and fidelitie and they could in reason desire no more but so to deale with them was not enough in the eye of Gods bountie he measureth vnto them with a more liberall hand and how often doth he giue vnto euery one of vs more not only then we deserue but also then we can desire especially concerning our spirituall state wherein hee is most bountifull to the meanest of his children As God exceeds in bountie so doe men in folly for their eares are open to none seldomer then vnto God to whom they are due neither are they false to any so much as vnto him Let the World or the Deuill or our owne flesh sollicit vs how attentiue how credulous are we how willingly doe we suffer our selues to bee deceiued to bee robbed by them but when God speaketh to vs whose word is truth who counselleth nothing but for our eternall good how heauie eared are we shall I say nay how rebellious Christ may complaine I haue laboured in vaine I haue spent my strength in vaine Esay 49. all the day long haue I stretched out my hands to an vnbeleiuing and a gainesaying nation Yet this is not the vttermost of our follies for in our falshood to God we are not only contented to be robbed by others but rather then wee will not haue our will to doe our selues mischiefe we will hire them that shall rob vs. God in Ezekiel obserueth it in the resemblance of the Israelues to a strange kind of Harlot for whereas vsually they are hired to be naught she did vse to hire her louers and prodigally to bestow vpon them the blessings which shee had receiued from God that with them shee might commit spirituall fornication against God so much more doth our sottishnesse esteeme our chiefest enemies then the author of our soueraigne good This folly first tooke place in Eue wherewith she infected Adam and from them both doe we all deriue it and there is none of vs which doth not vsually betray it witnesse the many good Sermons which we heare and whereby we profit little but runne madding after euery vanitie that woes vs and euery new corruption how suddenly doth it ouerspread most of vs I will dwell no longer vpon these primitiues obseruations I come to those which I deriued from them There are three vertues which are called Theologicall Faith Hope and Charitie of these three consisteth as it were the life of a Christian man now though they are all three giuen to a Christian at one time yet in nature one of them goeth before another This text will teach vs how we must order them Faith must haue the first place for wee must first heare Gods voice Hebâ—â— i. and to heare Gods voice is the worke of faith And indeed the Apostle telleth vs that Hee that commeth vnto God must beleeue and without faith it is impossible to please God Saint Austin therefore maketh Faith the foundation of our spirituall building we must begin our Pietie there There is in euery one of vs by nature a knowledge of God and so a kind of Pietie but this will not make a man Gods peculiar treasure but the limiting of our pietie to his voice and performing his Couenant for naturally men vanish in their discourse and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not please God The next Vertue must be Charitie for as heate springeth from light euen so doth Charitie from Faith Faith worketh by Charitie and as a man beleeues so will he loue Now Charitie is meant by keeping Gods Couenant that is the worke of Charitie But withall obserue that Faith and Charitie both goe before Hope for wee must heare Gods voice and keepe his Couenant before wee can looke to be his peculiar treasure which is the matter of our Hope if we doe not we shall be peruerse seruants hope vntowardly for Sine fide spes non habet firmamentum a man that doth not beleeue cannot hope how should a man hope for good from him whom he doth not belieue and Sine charitate spes non habet inuitamentum hee should not hope that doth not loue and loue is a strong incouragement vnto hope A very Heathen could say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—lutarch they that are well bred hope not but vpon sound reason Saint Paul He◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cap. 8. Cap. 5 Eccles 1. a better Author saith that Faith is the ground of things hoped for hee then that hopeth without faith hath an vngrounded hope The same Heathen Author saith that the hopes of a vertuous soule are genuine but if they be in a vitious soule they are but bastards Iob compares them vnto a Spidersweb the Booke of Wisdome varieth the resemblance of them with great cloquence Yee that feare the Lord trust in him Quaenam spes hypocritae what hope hath the hypocrite Seeing then that vice can bee no ground of hope it is not without cause that Saint Paul in his two Apologies which he maketh for himselfe the one to the High Priest Acts 24. the other to Agrippa Acts 26. layeth for the foundation of his hope his care to keepe a good conscience and indeed by how much the more a man loueth God the bolder may he be to trust in him When Faith and Charitie haue done their worke and yeilded their furtherance vnto Hope then commeth Hope in seasonably with her worke and maketh amends vnto them both by quickning both Faith and Charitie First it quickneth
what he did except God were with him the very Magitians confessed so much Digitus Dei est hic Secondly God not contented to giue him the power of Miracles because Magitians might if not doe them yet make shew of them added also this second confirmation of Oracle which putteth the other out of controuersie because it is not so casie to be counterfeited Our Sauiour Christ by whom was laid the foundation of the Canon of the New Testament had the same euidences to confirme his doctrine besides the many Miracles which hee wrought that Oracle was once and againe vttered from Heauen Matth 3. Matth. 17. Matth. 24 25. This is my beloued Sonne in whom I am well pleased heare him And withall he forewarned his Church not to rest barely vpon Miracles for that false Christs and false Prophets shall arise and shew great signes and wonders But why did God grace Moses by speaking with him in the hearing of the people Surely the end was that they might beleeue him for ouer that faith towards his person might be wrought in them For Faith properly relieth vpon the person and resteth vpon his word although it doth not comprehend many things which he speaketh as indeed the Israelites did not vnderstand many parts of the Law yet neuer did they question them because they were deliuered by Moses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was enough to them farther enquirie they made none But how could Moses be beleeued for euer seeing he is dead diuers thousands of yeares since Surely Moses liueth in his Writings hee that beleeueth them beleeueth him The Prophets long after him referre themselues to him in his Writings Ad legem testimonium Chap. 8. saith Esay Remember the Law of Moses which I gaue him in Horeb saith God in Malachie Thus also in the New Testament Chap. 4. Christ referreth to him You beleeue in Moses Matth. 22. Iohn 9. The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses his chaire And wee find the Iewes still couering their oppositions to Christ and his Apostles with pretence of their faith to Moses Wee know that God spake to Moses wee are Moses his Disciples So deeply did this Oracle of God take roote in them that through ignorance and misconceit it became their stumbling blocke and that which truly vnderstood should haue brought them to the Gospel through the errour of their iudgement set them against it God doth as much as is fit to establish our faith but we often peruert the best meanes to our owne ruine I may not here forget to obserue vnto you a grosse errour of the Church of Rome God spake once to Moses saith my Text in the hearing of the people that the people should beleeue his words for euer therefore the Canon of the the Law was to stand for an eternall truth The same must we affirme of the Canon of the New Testament whose confirmation is much surer as Saint Paul testifieth Heb. 2. Hence it is that wee call vpon the Church of Rome to reforme according to this double Canon but they call as fast vpon vs for Miracles and Oracles to confirme our Doctrine But new proofes are only for new Doctrines wee alleage nothing but that which was taught by Christ and his Apostles and consequently nothing but that which hath beene alreadie proued by Miracle and Oracle an◠that which hath beene once thus proued is to bee beleeued for euer The last note which I gaue on my Text is that it hath a word which biddeth vs marke diligently all the points thereof marke what Gods comming is in what sort hee doth manifest himselfe vnto vs that which is not vulgar 〈◊〉 must not vulgarly bee regarded marke that Gods comming to giue the Law was full of Maiestie full of Mysteries wee must adore his Maiestie and not neglect any one of the Mysteries finally marke that whom God employeth in his seruice he vouchsafeth honour to their persons that his Word may passe with more weight from their mouthes The end of all is our good that we may cleaue faster vnto God ANd God grant that by the Ministerie of man our faith in God may so increase that at Christs second comming our faith may end in a beatificall Vision and then we shall haue no other Teacher but God The eighth Sermon EXODVS 19. VERS 10 and part of the 15 and 22. VERSES And the Lord said vnto Moses Goe vnto the People and sanctifie them to day and to morrow yea and the Priests to Verse 22. and Let them wash their Clothes and be readie against the third day Adde out of Verse 15. And not come at their Wiues YOu may remembe what I haue told you more then once that there was a Preparation to goe before the Promulgation of the Law a Preparation of God and of the Israelites This Preparation was first ordered and then the meeting followed So much of the Order as concernes God I opened the last time it followeth that I now come to the other part which concerneth the Israelites This branch of the Order doth prescribe First their Puritie and Secondly their Modestie Their Puritie whereof only at this time is deliuered in those words which now I haue read vnto you Wherein we will obserue First A Worke that is enioyned and secondly the Circumstances that doe attend that Worke. The Worke in a word is to Sanctifie But we are moreouer taught wherein this Sanctification doth stand and Whom it concernes It standeth in a Ceremoniall Obseruance They must wash their clothes and forbearance this you must must supply out of the 15. Verse They must not come at their Wiues These Workes that must be done concerne the Gouernour and his Charge the Gouernour is Moses he must sanctifie his Charge are the Israelites but they are diuided into the People and the Priest you must supply the Priest out of Verse the 22. both these must be prepared The Circumstances that must attend this Worke are two place and time the place is the Tents the ordinary place of the Israelites abode Goe to this people The Circumstance of time is double for here wee haue mentioned first the time during which the Worke was to bee a doing and that is to day and to morrow Secondly the time against which the Worke was to be done and that was the third day the day wherein God would appeare vnto them and they were to come in his presence You see then the particulars of my Text I purpose God willing to open them now and God now so open all our eares and hearts that we may learne by them to sanctifie our selues so shall God neuer appeare vnto vs nor wee appeare before God but to our endlesse comfort Come we then to the first particular and that is the Worke which must bee done this is in a word to sanctifie To sanctifie is to separate from a common to a sacred vse God made vs not only men that is reasonable creatures but also his children
he is entitled he hath none except he partake of the same grace that was in the Patriarke These two must concurre they cannot bee seuered without danger danger not to the Couenant for God will be true though all the World be lyars Rom 3 4. but vnto so many as were gracelesse Iewes although they vaunted that they were Abrahams seede yet were they neuer to come into Abrahams bosome Wherefore seeing the Iewes did diuorce these things which God would haue conioyned Saint Iohn aduiseth them to correct this errour and to begin to tread Abrahams steps least otherwise they be nothing the better for being Abrahams sonnes So then the Baptists exhortation hath two parts the first teacheth what these Iewes ought to intend the second vpon what they may not stand That which they ought to intend is Penitencie that whervpon they may not stand is their Pedigree at this time only of the former That which the Iewes ought to intend is exprest in these words Bring forth therfore fruits worthy of repentance wherin we are to obserue first the Inference then the Argument The Inference S. Iohn gathereth this counsell out of his former reproofe and wisheth them to take a better course because they were in so bad a case this is the force of the particle therefore In the argument we haue the workes and an answerablenesse that must be betweene them the workes are two Gods and mans God giueth Repentance which man must imploy in bringing forth fruites The answerablenesse is Mans worke must keepe good correspondencie with Gods Men must bring forth fruites such as are worthy of repentance Of these points briefly and in their order I begin with the Inference Although in the fits and heate of our passions it seeme otherwise yet is it a grounded truth that there is no man except he be giuen ouer to a reprobate sense which doth not naturally abhor to be either wicked or a wretch You may perceiue it by his iudgement in cold bloud And â—o peccanti oâ—endere mala suâ— vitia si non excidero inhibeho Seneca Epist 40 certainely reason doth acknowledge this to be so true that Seneca thought one of the best meanes to reclaime a man that goeth a stray was to set his case before him though I shall little please saith hee yet I will bee bold to let him that erreth know his fault for it is likely that thereupon if hee doe not presently turne Tunc melius proteruns coriqimus c Greâ— Mag in astor yet hee will at least make a stand Gregorie the great a better Authour speaketh in the voice of Religion we cannot take a better course to reclaime vntoward natures then if wee shew them how ill they doe when they suppose they doe well and turne their vaine glorie into a profitable shame The holy Ghost master both of reason and Religion is the guide vnto them both For in the Scriptures wee find that the Prophets seldome shew what God requires before they haue shewed the Iewes what they want they preface the doctrine of that which they should be with a former doctrine of that which they were the instances are euerie where to bee found I will alleadge some few God himselfe when he dealeth with Adam after his fall beginneth with Where art thou The fathers Commentarie is not vnfit Non modo vbi loci sed vbi conditionis God demandeth of him not onely in what place but in what case he was Surely their Commentary is made probable by Adams answere for Adam doth answere as well in what case I was naked as in what place he was I hid my selfe Wisedome in the first of the Prouerbes dealeth thus plainely with men How long yee simple ones will yee loue simplicitie and yee scorners delight in scorning Our Sauiour Christ vseth the same method in his Epistle vnto the Church of Laodicea 〈◊〉 3. Thou art wretched and miserable and poore and blind and naked Thus they all set before their eyes with whom they deale as Saint Iohn Baptist doth their poore and wofull case But they rest not therein but proceed from the reproose vnto the remedy as S. Iohn Baptist doth least other wise they should seeme rather to reproach then to reproue to insult vpon them rather then to correct them Nemo prudens punti quod peccatum sit sed ne peccetur It is not so much as good Policie much lesse Pietie to punish because men haue offended they should rather prouide by punishments that they offend no more and therfore are chastisments called corrections because they are not so much afflictions for as preuentions from committing sinne Now reproofes are Verball punishments therefore they must imitate them so shew a disease as that withall they prescribe the cure thereof 1. Sam 2.6 imitating God who as Anno speaketh killeth and maketh aliue againe Certainely he which asked Adam where are thou Relieued him againe with the seed of the woman shall bruise the Serpents head and Wisedome that began with How long will yee fooles delight in folly c. concludeth with Turne you at my reproofe I will powre out of my spirit vpon you I will make knowne my words vnto you And our Sauiour Christ least he should seeme to vpbraid the Laodiceans offereth them a present supplie of gold of rayment of eye-salue Rnuel 3. of whatsoeuer they did want Certainely if so be we adde the meanes how they may recouer whom we reproue we are most likely to speed of their amendment for the remedie prescribed is an euidence that the reproofe proceeded from Loue and the reprehender may say with S. Paul 1. Cor 4 I wrote not these things to shame you but as my beloued I warne you and Loue is so necessarie in reproofe that Saint Austin is of opinion That no man should reproue except he first strictly examine his conscience whether hee doe it out of Loue I adde that this Loue must bee made euident by the care that we shew of the reproueds good The reason is plaine for although the inborne principles before specified I meane our naturall desire of goodnesse and happinesse make vs capable in our worst case of good counsell yet whether the counsell that is giuen vs be for our good wee argue oftner from the person then from the things and our iealousie of the person is a preiudice to his words and stoppeth vs from deliberating vpon the truth of his reproofe whereas on the contrarie side the Loue of the person doth open our eares and be his words neuer so tart they sinke downe into our soule and our most stubbourne affections are contented to bee wrought by them Let the righteous reproue me saith the Psalmist and it shall be a precious balme and Saint Austin Loue me and say what thou wilt let it appeare that they meane our good and it shall not grieue vs if we be blamed so much as wee deserue I note this the
of wrath Repentance should be vsed while we may sinne for then it will be fruitfull and medicinall because we leaue sinne before sinne leaueth vs but if we will then vse Repentance when we can sinne no more our Repentance will be vnfruitfull and only penall And indeed they which will not vse Repentance in this World fruitfully shall will they nill they repent in the World to come but it will be vnfruitfully they will not weepe here for their sinnes but in Hell they shall both weepe and gnash their teeth they will not here manicle and fetter their lusts but there they shall be bound both hands and feet they will not here purge their stubble and drosse with the fire of Gods Spirit therefore hereafter they shall burne and their drosse their chaffe shall be endlesse fuell of the flames of Hell O then let mee weepe let mee repent out of the loue and with the comfort of Iesus Christ that hereafter I be not driuen to repent out of feare and with the paine of the fire of Hell The conclusion of all is God by the sight of our euill moueth vs to a desire of our good when he preuenteth vs with his grace we must take care that we receiue not his grace in vaine and this shall we doe if we disparage not our heauenly Conuersion with an earthly Conuersation LOrd graft in thy Preachers such Charitie that they may aime wisely at their hearers good and increase in their hearers that desire of goodnesse and happinesse which may make them capable of wholsome counsell So shall the dew of Heauen worke fotnesse in the Earth and wee shall all grow in thy Church as trees loaden with abundance of fruit when wee sinne wee shall repent and we shall repent also that we may not sinne vntill the Haruest day come when thou shalt haue reaped all the fruits thou requirest of vs in this state of Grace and we shall begin to reape those fruits which thou hast premised vnto vs in the state of Glorie Amen The fourth Sermon LVKE 3. VERSE 8. And beginne not to say within your selues we haue Abraham to our father for I say vnto you that God is able of these stones to raise vp children vnto Abraham OF the remedy of their Heart which came to Saint Iohn Baptist I haue already spoken the next point is the remedy of their Heads which taketh vp the remainder of the Text. In applying this remedy the Baptist doth first open then correct their errour hee openeth it in their obiection and in his owne answere doth correct it their errour was this vaunt We haue Abraham to our Father this they obiected against the first part of Iohn Baptists Sermon But the words are ellipticall they include more then they expresse you may gather it out of the Baptists answere which is the rust measure of their obiection for what he correcteth in that they erred Now he correcteth in their obiection Ignorance and Arrogancie both double double Ignorance double Arrogancie double Ignorance for they first maine secondly misplace the truth They maime it in that not knowing how much was requisite to the making vp of a child of Abraham their words meant that they were wholly his whereas they were his but in part and that too the worst part Saint Iohn correcteth this he forbiddeth their claime say not we haue Abraham to our father you haue nothing in you worthy of so honorable a title As they did maime the truth through ignorance so did they also through ignorance misplace it they did misplace it in beginning their defence at this claime For although there bee comfort in being any wayes a child of Abraham yet the triall of our comfort must begin at our resemblance of not our allyance vnto Abraham therefore Saint Iohn that corrected their defect in matter correcteth also their defect in order Begin not to say let not this be the entrance to your Apologie Hauing thus corrected their Ignorance hee goeth on and correcteth their Arrogancie Arrogancie is the child of Ignorance of the good things which we thinke we haue the lesse we know the more we crake certainely the Iewes did they were doubly arrogant first they did appropriate Abrahams family vnto them selues As they thought them selues to bee wholy his so they thought none his but themselues onely they held all other Nations vile the Iewes onely to be noble And this first branch of Arrogancie sprang from the first branch of their Ignorance for indeed as they were children of Abraham so none were children but they Saint Iohn correcteth this Arrogancie and telleth them that there is no impediment in Gods power but Abraham may haue yea there is faire euidence in Gods Couenant that Abraham shall haue other children seeme they neuer so vnlikely to become children not onely besides them which is enough to take downe their pride but also which striketh them to the very heart insteed of them though they all faile this Saint â—ohn meaneth when he saith that God is able euen of these stones to raise vp children vnto Abraham The second branch of their Arrogancie is their scoffing at Gods Iudgements as if We haue Abraham to our father were armour of proofe against them and they needed no buckler but their pedigree This second Arrogancie springeth from their second Ignorance for where they begin their defence vpon that they stand and thinke their needeth no more prouision against the wrath to come so they put it off as if liued they neuer so inordinately it did nothing concerne them This Saint Iohn correcteth hee telleth them that they are not so in the Couenant but they may be cast out that they must haue some worth of their owne besides that of their fathers otherwise they must looke for and that shortly a totall a finall eradication Now is the Axe layed to the roote of the tree You see what particulars remaine vnhandled of these by Gods affistance and your Christian patience I will now touch at so many as the time will permit And first because no defect nor excesse and such are the Iewes Ignorance and Arrogance the on detracting from the other adding to the truth can bee knowne without the meane which is their measure in reference whereunto we iudge of them the truth of Abrahams fatherhood must first be opened and we must see what grace God vouchsafed him that thereby we may conceiue the vprightnesse of the Baptists censure I will not fall into the common place of Abrahams praise the large Texts which the Scripture doth yeeld thereof hath found most eloquent most aboundant commentaries there is scarse a Iew or Christian Greeke or Latine Father that doth not write of him and make a Panegyricke of his worth I will cull out of them so much as will illighten my text And the first thing that I obserue is that there were Patriarkes before him and Patriarkes that came after him yet none left behind them so honourable a name
euen so doth the Church consist of Saints that alwayes are the same and like themselues Secondly Ad preseruationem warre is more expedient for the Church then peace for peace maketh vs effeminate and cowardly but warres put strength and courage into vs This the Author of the Tripartite storie obserueth well speaking of the persecution of the Church And indeed Lib. 11 cap 33. Bernard In pace amaritudo amarissima we are neuer worse to God-ward then when we are most at ease in the world free from Tyrants and free from Heretickes Neither haue we only the benefit of Gods patience others haue it also facit ad propagationem it maketh for the increase of the Word Lactantius handleth this point very elegantly Lib 5 tom Instant cap. 23. Amongst those that are spectators of the Martyrs sufferings saith hee some wondring at their patience aske What that good thing is for the obtayning whereof they indure such losses and paines and so come to bee informed of the Gospel Othersome inquire What euill that is the forbearing whereof maketh them to be handled so oruelly and they come thereby to learne the vanitie of Idols Both wayes Sanguis Martyrum fit semen Euangelij by Martyrdome the Gospel getteth ground and Idolatrie doth lose it Neither only doth this patience propagate the Gospel it confirmes also the Professors thereof Phil. 1. Many of the Brethren in the Lord waxing confident by my bonds are much more bold to speake the word without feare wauering consciences are setled when they see Confessours and Martyrs indure so much for Gods Truth and seale it with their bloud Finally Christ will haue that appeare in the members which hath beene alreadie approued in the Head that they can breake the Serpents head and that they are built vpon the Rocke so that the gates of Hell cannot preuaile against them no winds or waues though they beate and blow can beat or beare downe their house because it is built vpon a Rocke Sic deferre inagnae est clementiae Chrâ—sostome Christ doth his Church a fauour in so delaying These are important Reasons of Gods suffering long And yet God stayeth not so long as to come too late for Gods permissiue Prouidence is alwayes followed with an effectiue he suffereth not the enemies of the Church to passe their bounds hee alwayes holdeth the bridle that is fastened vpon their nostrils 1 Cor. 10. Psal â—8 No temptation befalleth vs which is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sufferable by man and with the Lord are alwayes the issues of death when the wicked haue filled vp the measure of their sinne when the number of the Elect is fulfilled then is it seasonable for God to auenge Gen. 15. then behold he commeth quickly That is no speed that preuenteth this season and wee must hold that quicke enough which God holdeth quicke with whom a thousand yeares are but as one day And this the rather we must thinke because the time which we suffer is nothing to the time wherein we shall raigne for our light afflictions which are but for a moment are rewarded with an exceeding eternall waight of glorie The time in which the wicked reuell and riot is as nothing in comparison of the time wherein they shall suffer for they shall be bound in euerlasting chaines of darknesse fed vpon by a Worme which neuer dieth and burning in a fire which neuer goeth out Adde hereunto that when God beginneth hee will quickly make an end he hath laneos pedes but ferreas manus tarditatem vindictae grauitate compensat though God come slowly to it yet hee payeth home and the wicked goe downe in a moment into Hell And yet see our weaknesse Eccles 8. Because sentence against an euill worke is not executed speedily therefore the hearts of the sonnes of men is fully set in them to doe euill yea Psal 116. Dauid himselfe said in his haste that All men are liars so languishing was his deuotion and so much did his impatienâ—i prâ—uâ—nt Gods season But we must learne to possesse our soules in patience If God tarrie wait for him Habacuck 2. for he will surely come and will not tarrie behold his soule which is lifted vp is not vpright in him For the iust must liue by his faith which is a vertue not very lasting as you must now heare in the next point Neuerthelesse c. Though religious deuotion be very powerfull yet it is strange to see how short liued it is had we a friend vpon whom our welfare depended how diligently would wee attend him How often would we remember him of our case How earnestly would wee importune him for his helpe And yet the best men are not alwayes alike kindly affected neither are they alwayes alike able to steed vs. God is alwayes like himselfe Almightie Al-mercifull and yet who plyeth him for his eternall defence so much as we vsually plie men for their temporall But marke here how the word is changed for before it was Crying here it is Faith The reason of the change is very good for our Crying must be endited by and vttered from our faith And indeed how shall they call on him in whom they haue not belieued Hâ—e that asketh any thing of God saith Saint Iames must aske in faith nothing wauering and Let not a wauering man thinke that he shall receiue any thing from the Lord. But Faith is here vnderstood not as it is Scientiall but as it is Conscientiall not as it entertaineth Gods Truth but as it putteth it in practice and turneth a Sermon into a Prayer such faith doth Christ meane often in the Gospel when being sued vnto to worke a miracle hee answereth one Marke 10. Goe in peace thy faith hath made thee whole saith vnto another Matth 15. Mttah 8 O woman great is thy faith and of another I haue not found such faith no not in Israel Of this faith the rule is true Si deficiâ— fides deficit oratio our deuotion and this faith will liue and die together And the point which my Text teacheth is that this Faith and so Deuoion is not long-liued But here obserue two things first That it faileth secondly When it sayleth First That it saileth We should all hold out but few doe being vnder Gods permissiue Prouidence we should expect his effectiue but Aduersitie maketh wisemen mad and in time of aduersitie many fall away men doe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shrinke in the conflict like Cowards both in soule and bodie There is not a more sensible decay in the Great then in the Little World in our bodies then in our soules there are periods of Pietie aswell as of Policie and Conuersions of Churches aswell as of States witnesse Arrianisme Mahumetisme Papisme yea and Atheisme too which haue brought practicke Faith and religious Deuotion vnto an irrecouerable consumption The Papists will needs bee an exception to this decay of faith but whether you
from the eternity that was before the world beganne for it looketh as farre backe as his eternall Generation vnto the eternity that shall be after this world shall cease to be for it looketh as farre forward as his Glorification Yea whereas Christus is either Naturalis or Mysticus considered alone in himselfe or ioyntly with his Church lo here are both both are clearely reuealed vnto vs. So that what is there that you would desire to see in Christ that you may not see in this Text See it no doubt you doe but yet not so fully as I wish Wherefore let me point more distinctly at the meaning of my Text and follow mee I beseech you with a religious eye and a diligent view thereof The whole Text doth breake it selfe into two parts a Doctrine and a Warrant thereof The Doctrine openeth the Person and the State of Christ and of both these it deliuereth the substance and the eminencie I begin at the substance of the Person Wherein first wee are to see the Natures wherein this Person subsisteth The nature of Man noted by the Childe The nature of God noted by the Sonne Though the later Iewes in hatred of Christ whom they will not haue to bee their Messias mis-apply these words to Ezechias who was indeed a Type of Christ Esay 32. yet not the Truth it selfe notwithstanding the ancienter Iewes not only the Christian Fathers refer them to the Messias as may bee gathered out of the Septuagint and Caldee Paraphrase The Child then and the Sonne are plaine but they are solemne words The holy Ghost is not curious in paraphrasing them or setting limitations to them such as happely might make his meaning more apparant and let vs know what Child what Sonne he meaneth because these words were more frequent in the mouthes of the Iewes by them did they ordinarily note their Messias from the fall of Adam were they vsed to these Phrases In Paradise Christ was called The seed of the Woman which is but the Periphrasis of a Child Iacob speakes of Shilo which should come from Iuda and come when the Scepter and Law-giuer were both gone Acts 15. This appeares to be meant of Christ who as St. Iames obserues out of Amos came to repaire the Tabernacle of Dauid which was quite fallen downe Touching the Sonne most liuely is the Prophecie made to King Dauid 2 Sam. 7. concerning this seed of whom God said He shall be my Sonne and I will be his Father St. Paul Heb. 1. applies this vnto Christ it must bee vnderstood of him as likewise that place Psal 2. Thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee St. Luke Chap. 3. fetcheth his Pedigree from Adam from God The Gospell calleth him The Sonne of Dauid and the Sonne of the Highest I need adde no more places This you must obserue that by the Child by the Sonne the Old Testament the New Testament warrant vs to vnderstand Christ who was vsually called The Child The Sonne These are solemne words As they are solemne so are they necessary also the Child was not enough neyther was the Sonne enough in our case Supposing Gods decree wee must haue a Person apt and able The Child was apt but hee was not able the Sonne able but not apt Put them both together and then you haue ability and aptnesse to worke the Redemption of man There is aptnesse in the Child to obey to suffer to vndergoe whatsoeuer cannot beseeme the Sonne But that he may do and suffer meritoriously acceptably the Child must be inabled by the Sonne from the Sonne must the Child receiue both strength and worth Therefore wee haue both a Child and a Sonne and if not both none no Sauiour for neyther could alone suffice As the words are solemne and necessary so are they strange It is strange the Sonne of such infinitencsse the Child of such finitenesse the Sonne of such glory the Child of such meanenesse the Sonne of such power the Child of such weakenesse should come so neere together as to make one Person a deified Man And because strange therefore many haue stumbled at them some at the Sonne some at the Child seuerally considered some at them both considered ioyntly The Arrians they set vpon the Sonne the Godhead of Christ and would haue him a creatitious God or at the best but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Against them the first Councell of Nice was assembled and defined that Christ was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 truly God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the same substance with his Father God of God as it is in the Creed light of light very God of very God begotten of his Father before all worlds When they were quelled the Apollinarists set vpon the Child and pared away the best part of the Manhood of Christ They granted Christs Godhead and so much of his Manhood as concerned a Body but a reasonable soule they would not grant him they thought that his Godhead supplyed that The Vnderstanding and the Will of Man is not requisite say they seeing both are found in God Against them was assembled the Councell of Constantinople which defined that Christ was not only perfect God but perfect Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of a reasonable soule and humane flesh subsisting as it is in Athanasius Creed And miserable were our case if their definition were not true Damascene his Rule might strike a terrour into vs Quod non est assumptum non est curatum And what shall become of man if the better part of man nay that which onely maketh a man for Forma dat nomen esse be not saued by Christ When these Heresies were stopped which set vpon the parts of Christs Person seuerally then began those which set vpon them ioyntly Nestorius hee acknowledged the truth of the Godhead and fulnesse of the Manhood but he brooked not that Vnion of these two in one person without which Christ could be no Redeemer A friendly and louing association and cohabitation he would haue of two Persons The Child of Marie and The Sonne of God but hee would not endure that both should be accounted but one Person or that the Virgin Marie should bee called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Mother of God expresly crossing the saying of the Angel That holy thing that shall be borne of thee shall be called the Sonne of God Yea razing the comfort of many passages of Scripture which by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Fathers call it not reall but verball whereof there is no other foundation but this personall Vnion doe attribute to the Child in Concreto that which springeth from the Sonne and to the Son in Concreto that which springeth from the Child As for example No man saith Christ ascendeth into Heauen but hee which descendeth from Heauen euen the Sonne of Man which is in Heauen Take away the personall Vnion this speech cannot be true For the sonne of Man was not in Heauen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
Father The name of Child is sweet then sweet in regard of the nature of man and yet more sweet in respect of the first beginning as it were and infancie of mans nature The name of Sonne also hath in it a sweetnesse and why The Sonne is in nature nearest and dearest in affection to his Parents especially if he be vnigenitus then is he vnicè dilectus the only begotten is the only beloued This word then shewes that Christ can bring vs most neare and make vs most deare vnto God Most neare for the Sonne is of the same nature most deare for hee would bee one with vs that hee might make vs one with God This word then lookes most cheerfully vpon the case of Man Wee had been Sonnes but by reason of the fall we were not and bee againe that which once we were we could not but by the Sonne The Recouery then of our state our former state but in a more excellent manner is promised in this word The Sonne by nature comes to make vs Sons by adoption this title of the Person putteth vs in hope of that recouerie When we heare this can we but exclaime Lord what is man that thou art so mindefull of him and the Sonne of man that thou so regardest him we cannot we must not No we must roote our Faith in this substantiall Mediation as the Diuines call it and comfort our selues therewith if euer we meane to haue comfort of the actuall Mediation Therefore was the Sacrament prouided as a looking glasse wherein wee might see and partake that Spirituall Manna that Bread of God that came down from Heauen to giue life vnto the world Theodoret in one of his Dialogues hath an excellent parallel betweene the Incarnation of Christ and the Condition of the Sacrament which withall shewes how vnsound the Doctrine of the Church of Rome is concerning Transubstantiation Neither indeed can there be a more liuely representation of the one than by the other As in Christ there are two Natures of God and Man so in the Sacrament are there two Substances the Heauenly and the Earthly As in Christ these two Natures are truly and intirely so are those substances in the Sacrament As after the Vnion the two Natures make but one Person so after the Consecration the two Substances make but one Sacrament Finally as the two Natures are vnited without Confusion or Abolition of eyther in Christ so in the Sacrament are the Substances heauenly and earthly knit so that each continueth what it was and worketh answerably on vs. These things we should obserue when wee come to the Sacrament and so shall wee reape the greater benefit thereby the rather if wee not only behold the one mysterie in the other but possesse our selues also of the one by the other as indeed we ought For if we feed vpon the Sacrament aright wee become thereby what Christ is Bone of his bone and flesh of hu flesh yea wee are made partakers of the diuine nature as St. Peter speaketh And what more can be wished of a mortall man But I must conclude LOrd cherish in vs this Faith Lord let vs as wee ought acknowledge the Child acknowledge the Sonne our own Nature in thy Sonne and thy Sonne in our Nature Let vs neuer seuer that which thou hast conioâ—ned Let vs neuer confound that which thou hast distinguished Let vs beleeue without disputing So shall our Faith bee free from errour and our soules be full of comfort comfort in hearing of comfort in receiuing that Child that Sonne which hath so made vs Children that wee are the beloued Sonnes of God Amen THE SECOND SERMON For vnto vs a Child is borne vnto vs a Sonne is giuen c. IN handling the Substance of Christs person we were to consider the Natures wherein it subsists and the People to whom it belongs I beganne the vnfolding of the Natures and shewed you that they are two and that betweene these two there is some odds The two Natures are the Nature of Man and the Nature of God noted by the Childe and the Sonne Solemne necessary strange sweet words Solemne because receiued amongst the Iewes to signifie their Messias Necessary because they import the aptnesse and ability which is requisite in a Sauiour Strange if they be throughly considered the foure Mysteries obseruable in Christs Incarnation appeare in them 1. The truth of his Godhead 2. The fulnesse of his Manhood 3. The vnion of two Natures in one person 4. and yet the distinction of these Natures in the Person Sweet because they giue contentment vnto God and Man That these things are so it is plaine by the Text. How it is so Faith must not enquire it must onely entertaine the Vnion as a great honour done to the meannesse of Man which is assumed by the Maiestie of God for which we must giue glory vnto him Thus far I came and farther the time would not suffer me to goe Let vs now see the People to whom hee is vouchsafed Hee belongeth to Vs saith the Prophet But who are Wee whom meaneth the Prophet by Vs of what Nation of what condition were We By Nation Iewes for it is Esay that speaketh and Esay was a Iew. When hee saith He is borne to Vs he is giuen to Vs it is as if he should say He was borne to the Iewes giuen to the Iewes And indeed so it is God conditioned to be their God and that they should be his people he entred into a Couenant with them and placed the seales of his Couenant in them they had the Tabernacle and the visible presence of God with them all the types of Christ personall reall were amongst them yea from them was Christ to take his Nature St. Paul Rom. 2.9 sheweth what Prerogatiues God vouchsafed them yea and in the 14. Chapter goeth so far as to call Christ The Minister of Circumcision Christ himselfe in the Gospell seemeth to appropriate himselfe to the Iewes when he saith to the Woman of Canaan I was not seâ—t but to the lost sheepe of Israel But this notwithstanding the Prophesies must hold true whereof a briefe is deliuered by old Simeon Christ was to be the light of the Gentiles not only the glory of Israel Christ was borne and giuen not only to the Iew but also to the Gentile The 87. Psalme is excellent to this purpose shewing vs the Christ was borne not only amongst the Iewes but among the Gentiles also But we must marke that the Gentiles haue no other interest in Christ than if they become Iewes The Law is to goe out from Sion Esay 2. and so to come to them the forecited Psalme imports as much Esay sheweth Cap. 49. 60. 44. Rom. 11. that they must become Sonnes and Daughters of Ierusalem that they must submit themselues to her they must all speake the language of Canaan as it is Esay 19. But St. Paul is most plaine who to the Romanes sheweth that the
was stung by the Serpent so in Paradise was hee cured by the seed of the Woman The Patriarchs in their order Heb. 11. not onely knew but felt the vertue of this Childe this Sonne St. Paul comprehends it in a short Rule Iesus Christ yesterday and to day and the same for euer Hee was a Lambe slaine not onely borne from the beginning of world Neither onely did the efficacie of his person worke but in a sort his presence also was vouchsafed vnto the world It is an ancient opinion of many of the Fathers and not a few of the worthiest late Diuines approue it that all apparitions of God in the Old Testament were of the second Person In the eighth of the Prouerbs himselfe saith that his delight was to be amongst the Sonnes of men Yea and to say nothing of other shapes how often did hee appeare in the shape of a man which apparition the Fathers call Praeludium incarnationis It was a faire intimation of that which in time hee should bee for euer after hee had once taken vpon him the nature of man which death it selfe should neuer seuer from him O Lord that wouldest not only become Man but also bee Gods gift to Man thou which wert before all time wouldest be bestowed in time bestowed vpon Iewes bestowed vpon Gentiles and make them both one Israel of God Notwithstanding there was nothing in them to demerit thee much in them to prouoke thee yet hast thou out of thine own goodnesse so tendered Man as to satisfie thy Iustice that it might bee no hinderance vnto thy Mercy but that thy Mercy might remedy both our Woe and Sinne We beseech thee that wee may all be new borne by vertue of thy Sonnes birth and giue our selues to Thee as he is giuen to Vs that so we may be in the number of those which with the Prophet may say Tovs a Childe is borne to vs a Sonne is giuen Which grace he vouchsafe vs that is giuen vnto vs To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be giuen all honour and glory now and for euer Amen THE THIRD SERMON The Gouernment shall be vpon his shoulders THe Doctrine of this Scripture containes the Truth and Excellencie of Christs Person and State Of the truth of Christs Person I haue already spoken and shewed you both the Natures wherein it subsisteth and the People to which it belongs The Natures wherein it subsists are two The Nature of God and of Man which haue a most streight vnion in one Person and yet without the least diminution of eyther nature This Person belongs vnto the Iewes not according to the flesh but according to the spirit euen to the whole Israel of God which consists of beleeuing naturall both Iewes and Gentiles To this People doth Christ belong But of what degree is hee amongst them For euery companie that consists of many persons if they bee incorporate hath men of sundry degrees by the Ordinance of God and the common rules of discretion there are superiours there are inferiours some which command some which are commanded Of which ranke is our Sauiour Christ Of the highest it appeares in his State The Gouernment shall be vpon his shoulders Although then the Scripture affirm that Christ appeared in the forme of a seruant and himself said That he came not to be ministred vnto but to minister et must we not mistake his Ministery was not of the foote but of the head it was not an obeying but a commanding Ministeric The Head ministers and so doth the Foote in our body naturall but they minister not both alike The head ministreth to the foote by way of commanding the foote ministreth to the head by way of obeying Christs Ministery was of the former not of the later kinde his Foes and his Friends in the Gospell both salute him by the name of Rabbi or Rabboni which is by interpretation Master And our Sauiour Christ telleth his Disciples in St. Iohn You call me Master and Lord and you say well for so I am And elsewhere he calleth himselfe The Heire of the Vineyard The Lord of the Sabaoth The Name of Christ or Messias is a most cleare proofe hereof for none were anointed but to be superiours and the Acts which Christ did exercise beare witnesse hereunto which were all of them eyther Propheticall when hee taught or Priestly when hee sacrificed or Kingly when hee wrought Miracles These bee the things which were done by him and the Gospell relates no other kinde of acts or at least none in comparison And all these are commanding acts they are acts of a Superiour exercised in the dayes of his flesh in the dayes of his greatest humiliation So that the forme of a Seruant and the ministring of Christ shew that he had not the attendance for worldly respect that was due to such a Superiour hee had not so much as a house to hide his head in much lesse had hee any Princely pompe But they deny him not to haue been a Superiour they deny him not that which was giuen him in my Text and my Text giueth him the State of a Superiour To come then vnto it There are two things to bee obserued in the words 1. Of what sort the Gouernment was 2. and Wherewith Christ did sustaine it The Gouernment was of the best sort it was Regall it appeares in the next Verse where Christ is said To sit vpon the Throne of Dauid And this Gouernment he sustaines by his owne carefull Power for it is layd vpon his shoulders These two Points we must at this time looke into briefly and in their order I beginne with the Gouernment If wee looke backe to the Story of Genesis we shall finde that when God promised Isaac which was a Type of Christ he changed both his Fathers and his Mothers name shee was called Sarai but God new named her Sarah which is a Princesse and Abram was new named Abraham a Father of many Nations And me thinks when I reade these words here in the Prophet and those that follow wherein Christ is described I see the application of those names to this Person I see the Principality I see the Posterity I see in Christ the truth of Sarah and of Abrahams name And surely the word which here signifieth Gouernment hath great affinity with the name of Sarah But of Gouernments some are subordinate some are absolute Some so command as the Centurion in the Gospell I am a man set vnder authority though I haue diuers vnder mee and I say to one come and hee commeth and to another go and he goeth But some so command as Salomon speaketh of a King against whom there is no rising vp whose Lawes must not bee disputed on earth and his Commandements bee obeyed by all that are his Subiects Christs Gouernment is not of the subordinate but the absolute sort it appeares by the Throne by the Kingdome vpon which he sitteth places of absolute power especially if
for euer Amen THE FOVRTH SERMON And his Name shall be called The wonderfull Counsellour The mighty God THe Nature and Excellencie of Christs Person are those two Points of Doctrine which haue beene obserued in this Text The first I haue ended you haue beene taught what Christs Person is what is his State I come now to the excellencie of both Each hath an excellency there is an excellencie of the Person and an excellencie of the State The excellencte of Christs Person is to be seen in the endowments thereof which are contained in his stile but the excellencie of his state appeares in his managing thereof I beginne at the excellencie of the Person which consists in the endowments and the endowments are exprest in the style As mortall Kings so this immortall hath his style proclaimed And his name shall be called his style expresseth indowments which are Regall but Spirituall Regall they are Two vertues are peculiar vnto Kings ouer and aboue those which they must haue in common with their Subiects they are Wisdome and Power Wisedome to prouide for and Power to sustaine their estate This King hath both he hath Wisedome for hee is The wonderfull Counsellour and he hath Power for he is The mighty God But as his indowments are Regall so are they Spirituall for they must be proportionable to the Kingdome His kingdome is not of this world for he is the Father of eternity Neyther is the condition of his people worldly it is Peace it is an heauenly not an earthly portion Hee is Prince of this Peace These be the endowments of his Person and of these we are to speake distinctly and in their order And first they are giuen him in his style Herein hee answereth mortall Kings in that he proclaimeth his style lest his people should faile in their respect For the greatnesse of respect ariseth with the greatnesse of the style we vse to looke vpon them with a more awfull eye in whom there are more grounds of awe This hath made Monarches in all ages to straine their Titles to the vttermost as hee that reades the Story of the Assyrian the Persian the Romane Monarches of old and the moderne histories both of barbarous and Christian Kings may easily perceiue But here is the odds that their styles doe commonly shew rather what they should be than what they are They are giuen them propter spem in hope they will proue as their Titles import or else they shew what they would seeme to haue done rather than what they haue done indeed And here flattery amplifieth beyond truth and maketh mountaines of mole-hils yea substituteth fables in stead of verities as might easily be proued if we would insist vpon their particular styles You may reade the title of Augustus giuen vnto such Emperours as did not enlarge but diminish the Empire of Pater patriae to those that were so far from being Fathers that they were plaine Tyrants of Pontifex Maximus giuen to them which were so farre from seruing the gods that they did sacrilegiously canonize themselues for gods and yet propter spem the Senate gaue them these titles and by flattery they did amplifie in the rest He that had but a small conquest encreased his style as if he had conquered a whole Kingdome as appeares in the styles of Germanicus Illiricus Brytannicus c. To omit the fabulous styles of the easterne Monarches he that will may read them in their stories and see how ridiculous they are in claiming kindred of the gods of the starres and of what not which might amplifie their Maiestie In a word Hope and Flattery are the best ground wherupon all mens worldly titles are built especially great mens and Kings most of all But it is not so with our King the truth in him is answerable to the titles that are giuen him They are not giuen him propter spem but propter rem Hee is that which he is called neyther is there in them any flattery yea his titles do come short of they do not exceed those perfections that are in him So that we may not measure the style of Christ as we doe the styles of mortall Kings but conceiue rather more than lesse when we heare his style Marke also another difference between the style of Christ and the style of mortall Princes Mortall Princes amongst other amplifications of their style are spoken vnto in abstracto you seldome heare of any salutations giuen to them but they are so conceiued Maiestie Dominion Celsitude Grace and the like as if they were framed of Plato's Idea vpon which Diogenes played wittily Scyathum video Scythietatem non video and another applying it to Princes obserues That before this style began vertues were in concreto the Persons and the Vertues met in one subiect but since they haue been separated and as we heare the vertue abstracted from the subiect so doe we commonly see the subiect voyd of the vertue But it is not so with Christ but whereas he may iustly and doth sometimes not only to note the eminency of his vertue but also to note his Godhead call himselfe by abstract names Wisedome Truth Righteousnesse Life c. yet doth hee vsually receiue his style in concreto to note that his Manhood is endowed with these qualities from his Godhead and that the subiect and the vertues goe in him both together Lastly wee must not beginne Christs being this which he is called at the time when he is first called and so with Seruetus question the Godhead of Christ as if it were no more ancient than this solemne proclamation of his style For though then his endowments began to be manifested and communicated to his Manhood yet as God hee had them from euerlasting from euerlasting was he the wonderfull Counsellour the mighty God the father of eternity But to leaue the preface and come to the indowments to the Regall indowments The first imports his Wisedome hee is called The wonderfull Counsellour Some seuer these words and make two titles of that which I reade but as one one title of Wonderfull and another of Counsellour and so it may bee Wonderfull may well bee a title of Christ nay a transcendent title which goeth through all his titles for not one of them is there in which we must not conceiue him to be wonderfull and wee cannot haue a better preparation to those meditations which we haue on the eminencie of Christ than if we begin at wonderfull Admiration is but broken knowledge but it is the seed of perfect knowledge so perfect as we are capable of It maketh vs when we study vpon the nature of God and of Christ and the excellencies of both to conceiue a good rule which is That though God speakes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet we must vnderstand him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and euer rise higher in our thoughts than we are led by the signification of the words We must adde a degree of eminencie wherin they
liue amongst Beasts and vpon his acknowledgement of the Lord of Heauen and Earth was restored againe maketh this cleare Canutus a King of this Land when flatterers magnified his power and did almost deifie him to confute them caused his chaire to bee set by the Sea shore at the time of the floud and sitting in his Maiestie commanded the waues that they should not approach his Throne but when the tyde kept his course and wet his garments Lo saith hee what a mighty King I am by Sea and Land whose command euery waue dareth resist Though then they are mighty yet there is much weakenesse ioyned with their might Not so Christ It appeares in the Epithite that is added vnto El which is Gibbor importing that he is a God of preuailing might In Daniel he is called El Elim The Mighty of mighties whereupon Moses magnifying his might saith Who is like vnto thee Exod. 15. O Lord amongst the gods Which words abbreuiated the Maccabees in their wars against their enemies did bear in their standard and therehence as the learned obserue did take their name of Maccabees Certainely this Epithite is a lust ground of that which King Dauid perswades Psalme 29. Ascribe vnto the Lord O yee mighty ascribe vnto the Lord glory and strength But there are two Eminences in Christs might by which hee is aduanced aboue all Creatures The first is that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mighty of himselfe The second is that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 almighty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 other Creatures haue their power from him and therefore their power depends vpon him so that he can at his pleasure intend or remit theirs but his owne continueth euer the same Secondly they can doe but euery one so much as is permitted him and neuer was there any creature to whom God imparted all his power I speake not of the degree but the parts thereof some things he committeth to Angels which Men cannot doe and some things to Men which Angels cannot doe the earth hath not the power of the heauens nor the heauens of the earth but God is the fountaine of all power there is nothing done by any of these which without these he cannot doe Ier. 23. Nothing is hard vnto him and the Angel Luke 1. Nothing is impossible vnto God therefore hee hath wrought the same effects without these creatures What he doth by his Angels ordinarily he extraordinarily hath done by himselfe and what doth hee by Man which without Man hee hath not done And as for the Sunne and the Starres he hath illightned the ayre without them and without the earth hath he prouided both bread and flesh yea at his pleasure he hath stript all those of their power in an instant in a word He doth whatsoeuer he will both in heauen and earth he cannot will that which he cannot doe nothing resisteth his will but all things readily do serue him If this title be carried through the Gospell euery point of the Gospel will witnesse the truth thereof in Christ it will witnesse that hee hath a preuailing power and that he is therefore worthily called a mighty God When God promised him hee promised him in these words I haue layd helpe vpon one that is mighty Psalme 89. When God exhibits him Luke 1. Zacharie proclaimes him thus God hath raised vp a mighty saluation vnto vs in the house of his seruant Dauid Christ himselfe Mat. 28. All power is giuen to mee both in heauen earth to say nothing of like titles that are remembred in the Reuelation But I chuse rather to obserue vnto you out of both Christs Regall titles how well they fit vs what comfort they doe yeeld vnto vs. Our enemie the Diuell is compared to a Serpent to a roaring Lion hee is full of craft and of great strength and so are his instruments the wicked subtill and violent but wee are silly and we are feeble If we compare our selues to them how can we but feare to be deceiued to bee opprest See how God hath prouided for vs see how hee hath furnished Christ whom hee sendeth vnto vs Hee is a Counsellour and it was a Counsellour that wee needed that â—ight discouer vnto vs the Serpents policie in his end and Sophistrie in his meanes wherewith he setteth vpon vs He pretends that we shall be like vnto Gods when he meaneth to make vs Diuels and by setting an edge on our desire of the Tree of the knowledge of good and euill he would depriue vs of the Tree of life but Christ is at hand to discouer his purposes and to giue vs timely caueats that we bee not abused by them Secondly he still compasseth the world seeking Whom he may deuour and is mighty to destroy And certainely none should escape him were it not that we haue on our side a mighty God the seed of the Woman that shewed himselfe so much mightier than the seed of the Serpent by how much breaking of the head is more than bruising of the heele Wee haue a Dauid for that Goliah and a stronger man that hath entred that strong mans house bound him rifled him and diuided his spoyle So that if now it be doubtingly asked Shall the prey be taken from the mighty or the lawfull captiue bee deliuered we may answer with the Prophet Esay 49. Thus saith the Lord Euen the Captiues of the mighty shall be taken away and the prey of the terrible shall bee deliuered for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee and will faue thy children and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Sauiour and thy Redeemer the mighty One of Iacob Wherefore seeing Christ is become our Counsellour let vs not leane vnto our owne wisedome but be counselled by him It is the second degree of wisedome when wee cannot aduise our selues to bee aduised by others if we faile herein the Philosopher himselfe will censure vs for fooles And remember withall that of the Sonne of Syracke Bee in peace with many neuerthelesse haue but one Counsellour of a thousand cap. 6. hee giues the reason at large cap. 37. And well may we rely vpon the iudgement of this Counsellour who much better than Elizeus can detect vnto vs the plots of the King of Aram of all our Enemies that we may prouide against them yea he can take them all in their owne wilinesse and infatuate their Counsels as he did Achitophels Reade Esay 19. 8. So did Christ deale with the old Serpent and with the broode of the Serpent in all ages our age our country hath had proofe thereof As this must encourage vs to rely vpon his Counsell so must the other title encourage vs to rely vpon his power his preuailing power We walk in the middest of our enemies and they vse the vttermost of their strength to ruine vs yet though we are in the middest of the valley of the shadow of death let vs feare none euill
nothing is still prone to returne to nothing especially being wrought vpon by the Diuell and the World you will not so much wonder that the children of Israels garments did not cleane weare out in their forty yeares passage through the Wildernesse as that the garment of Regeneration which we receiue in Baptisme weareth not out all the daies of our pilgrimage in this world But we must not mistake stability doth not exempt vs from stormes yea stormes that may shake our house and peraduenture vntile some part thereof and breake some boughes off from our tree but the foundation the roote are immoueable the house the tree shall neuer fall And this is the vttermost of that stability which we must expect in this world The gates of hell shall not preuaile Valere poterunt non poterunt praeualere We shall experience that they had might but not might enough to ruine vs they may giue vs wounds but none that are vncurable they may bruise our heele but shall not be able to breake our head we are so farre established in this world and in the world to come wee shall be established farther euen so farre as to be free from all stormes and all wounds we shall not be at all moued You heare how Christ doth stablish how he doth order But these things may bee done eyther well or ill Many make orders which are not good and support their people in doing euill it is not so with this King in doing both hee followeth a good rule Iudgement and Iustice I will not trouble you with the diuers significations of much lesse with the manifold commentaries vpon these words I suppose the fairest to bee that which points out the two especiall acts of a King which are the calling of his people to an account of their liues that is Iudgement and to proceede in their trials by an euen rule that is Iustice Euery man is required to haue a care of his life and to be respectiue of the society wherein hee liues A Romane Emperour in the Preface of his Institutions makes this abridgement of ciuill conuersation A man must honestè viuere not doe ought disgracefull to his owne person that is not enough hee must bee carefull of others also alterum non laedere that he worst not another mans state while he would better his own yea he must suum cuique tribuere so liue that euery man be the better for him This is the duty of a Subiect and the King looks that he shall performe it to this end he keepes an Assizes and executeth Iudgement It fareth with the body politicke as it doth with the body naturall in the body naturall if the humours keepe their proportion wee shall haue our health no sooner doe they swarue from it but they begin a disease which maketh way to putrefaction and so to dissolution wherefore we apply physicke to reduce them againe into a due temper euen so while good Lawes sway our carriage towards our selues towards our neighbours each man doth well the Common-weale doth prosper but no sooner doth the subiect breake these bands but a ciuill putrefaction entreth which maketh way to the ruine of a State wherein euery particular mans wel-fare is hazzarded with the whole the remedy whereof is the worke of Iudgement Iudgement then is a fit remedy but it must bee attended with iustice also not the Kings affections but his lawes must moderate his iudgement and the medicine must bee fitted to the disease otherwise if the Scales of iustice doe not first weigh the merits of the cause the iudgement will as much disquiet the State as discontent the parties iudged If you put these words together to order and to stablish with iudgement and iustice each requires both ordering is not perfect without iudgment and iustice nor stablishing perfect except both concurre for stablishing is nothing but a perpetuating of good order Therefore to set the subiects right the King must vse iudgement guided by iustice and that he may keepe them in that state he must perseuere in so doing These words as you see haue an euident truth in a Common-weale and from thence are they borrowed but to note a higher truth which concernes the Church whereof Christ is King And here we must obserue an improuement of the vertues vpon which Christ will passe his iudgement Honestè viuere is not only to liue as beseemes ciuill men but as beseemeth Saints children of God expressing his image members of Christ leading his life and temples of the holy Ghost bearing in our foreheads Holinesse to the Lord. And as for alterum non laedere it is not enough for vs not to defraud others we must loue our very enemies blesse them that curse vs doe good to them that hate and persecute vs. Finally our suum cuique tribuere must be to deny our selues our friends our life when we will testifie our duty to God yea to lay down our liues also for the Brethren after the example of Christ So dear must their welfare be vnto vs. As that which comes into iudgement is so improued so is the iudgement it selfe also for Christs iudgement is without preiudice without partiality nothing can be concealed no person can be exempted he will bring all both persons and things secret and open before his iudgement seate all bookes shall then bee opened and the secrets of all hearts reuealed he will iudge them all But his iudgement is ordered by iustice and this iustice is of a higher straine than ciuill iustice can be for the iustice is Euangelicall wherein God through Christ doth so question vs as that he tenders withall a pardon vnto vs and is as ready to forgiue as to discouer our faults Not only to forgiue them but also to amend vs it sufficeth not Christ graciously to clense vs from the guilt of sinne hee also giueth vs a new heart and createth an ingenuous spirit within vs by which wee may bee held in from sinning With such iudgement and with such iustice doth Christ order and stablish his Church And here must wee marke a notable difference betweene this King of heauen and Kings on earth earthly Kings neyther giue minds vnto their subiects to obserue their Lawes neyther is it lawfull for them in all cases to exempt their subiects from the stroke of iustice when they haue offended But our King can doe both hee can rectifie our conuersation and when we haue sinned he can comfort our distressed consciences Last of all in vsing this rule whereby he directs and supports his State this King is constant he doth it incessantly from henceforth and for euer As the growth hath an eternity so must the cause thereof which is the Kings policie haue an eternity also For there could be no eternity in the effect were there not an eternity in the cause especially in effects which are alwaies in fieri and not in facto such as is this It is in the mystical body as it is in
According to these Principles the points which wee are to consider in this description are the Soueraignity and Community of that good which we must seek and shall find in Christ in Christ as he was incarnate or first came into the world But before I come to these particulars I must cleare my Text from some ouer-shallow interpretations that haue fastned thereon For whereas in Christs first comming two things are to be obserued 1. the principall and 2. the accessories his person and those things that did attend him many passe ouer the principal and apply these words only to the accessories The Prophets doe speake of two remarkeable Accessories The one is the Munificencie of the Gentiles the other is the Obedience of their Persons both were to be of the best sort The Psalme touching the Munificencie Psalme 72. saith that the Kings of Tharsis and of the Iles should bring presents the Kings of Seba and Sheba should giue gifts The Prophet Esay cap. 49. 60. doth particularize the Gold the Siluer the Iewels the Plants the Beasts all kindes of choyce things that were to bee tendred vnto Christ And the Story of the Church shewes that this was accomplished not only mystically but euen literally We commemorate on this * Epiphanie Mat. 2. Day the oblation of Gold of Myrrhe of Frankincense which was made by the wise men vnto Christ In the Acts cap. 4. verse 37. we reade that those Christians which had possessions sold them brought the price and layd it at the Apostles feete The first Christian Emperours how open handed were they in erecting and prouiding for Places and Persons dedicated vnto Christs seruice And as of other Countries so the Christian Kings and People of this Iland haue left honourable memorials of this kinde in their magnificent Foundations and munificent Endowments thereof All these followed the rule of Gods Law whatsoeuer they offered vnto him it was euer of the best But by the way let me obserue vnto you That the floud of our Ancestours liberality rose not so high but their Posterities sacriledge hath taken it downe to as low an ebbe and the saying of a great but no good King of this Iland pleaseth too many that liue on the spoyles of the Church William Rufus Christs bread is sweete They are farre from offering 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Septaugint doe render my Text the choyce Treasure of the Nations the first of those Accessories which was to attend the comming of Christ A second Accessorie foretold by the Prophet are the Persons that should honour him euen the choysest of persons For although Saint Paules rule be Brethren you see your calling not many wise not many noble not many mighty c. yet that negatiue doth containe an affirmatiue and implyes that some euen of the best ranke should submit themselues and be homagers vnto Christ bee nursing Fathers Esay 48. and nursing Mothers of his Church Where the Prophets speake of the wealth they speake also of Persons reade the fore-cited places and take notice withall of a difference in this kinde that God was pleased should be before the comming of Christ and after Before the comming of Christ many of the Persian Kings as likewise of the Grecians gaue their goods but not themselues vnto God they prouided sacrifices for the Temple at Ierusalem but themselues went on in their Idolatry After the comming of Christ it was otherwise great personages gaue themselues first and then their goods vnto Christ the Wise men vpon this day first prostrated their bodies and worshipped then they opened their Treasures and offered vnto Christ Nicodemus and Ioseph of Arimathea great and rich men first beleeued then bestowed a funerall vpon Christ the like may we say of all Christian Emperours Kings Potentates And indeed Christ seeketh not ours but vs and careth not for our goods 2 Cor. 8. if wee dedicate not our selues vnto him both will doe well and wee shall doe well if wee deserue the Macedonians commendation of whom St. Paul saith that they gaue themselues first and then were bountifull to the Saints These were Accessories where with God was pleased Christs first comming should be honoured But these doe not containe the true at least the full meaning of my Text for surely these were not the cause of shaking the great and little World neither were these either persons or goods improuements of the glory of Zorobabels Temple for little of this Prophecie was accomplished while that Temple stood Malachie cap. 3. therefore giues vs a better interpretation and more agreeable to the words of my Text The Lord whom you seeke shall suddenly come to his Temple the Angell of the Couenant whom yee delight in or desire behold he shall come saith the Lord of Hosts And indeed Christs Person was the true attractiue of all other persons of their goods also they had neuer come except hee had come first Therefore the Iewish Rabbins Galatinus though they doe not beleeue that Iesus is the Christ yet doe they vnderstand this Text of the Messias And St. Hierome renders the phrase Desideratus Omnium Gentium The Person that is desired of all Nations purposing in those words to point out our Sauiour Christ Finally St. Paul Heb. 12. if you marke well his drift fauours this interpretation Wherefore I take it for a plaine truth that if not solely yet principally Christs person is meant by this phrase The desire of all Nations Let vs come then at length to the Points which I obserued in it The first is the soueraignity of good that cannot be lesse which is the desire of all Nations And marke that the word is abstract not concrete the Text calleth him not the person desired but the desire Now these abstract titles when they are giuen to God or Christ import two things The first is That all his nature or whatsoeuer is in him is that which he is called and secondly That all whatsoeuer is comprehended vnder that title is in him and cannot be had but by participation of him In this sense is God and Christ called truth righteousnesse holinesse c. these attributes are his nature and are not imparted to any but those that haue communion with him To our present purpose Christ is called desire it followeth by vertue of the word that he is totus desiderabilis altogether and in euery part desirable and totum desiderabile whatsoeuer the heart of a man can desire And if he be these two then certainely hee is the soueraigne good Take them asunder And first see how he is totus desiderabilis I might send you to the Song of Salomon where the spouse limmeth out his amiablenesse from top to toe or to the marriage Psalme which in few words tels vs Psal 45. That he is fairer than the sonnes of men or to those words of Saint Iohn 1 Epist c. 3. The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst vs and wee
may be to Gods image before he can deserue to be glorious The last thing required vnto glory is that the solid and eminent Good be also resplendent A worthy man must be as a well-drawn Picture set in bono lâ—mine neyther will bee regarded except they bee placed there where their worth may be discerned For in regard of glorie Idem est non esse non apparere A hidden treasure and wisedoine concealed are both alike saith Salomon Ecclus 41.14 they lose their praise and glory the Kinsmen of Christ out of this principle set vpon him There is no man that doth any thing in secret and himselfe seeketh to be knowne openly The Greekes call honestie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it calleth all men to it The Hebrewes call it tab because it is beautifull and pleasant and maketh all in loue with it most languages call worthy personages Lights because the lustre of their vertue is the pleasing obiect of euery mans eye Wherefore our Sauiour biddeth vs Matth. 5. Let our light so shine before men that they may see our good workes and glorifie our Father which is in heauen I haue hitherto opened vnto you the nature of Glorie I haue shewed you what and how many things are requisite thereunto But where shall we finde it what is the first or rather proper subiect of it Surely God cap. 33. wee learne it in Exodus Moses desired to see Gods glory God made his goodnesse to passe before him as if his goodnesse and glory were synonyma's certainely they are inseparable His goodnesse is solid it is his very nature who is called Iohoua and is that which he is Secondly his goodnesse is eminent for whatsoeuer is good is predicated of him in abstracto wisedome truth righteousnesse holinesse Iames 1 Psal 8.19.104.45 c. and abstract names note absolute perfections Finally his goodnesse is most resplendent therefore St. Iames calleth him the father of lights Dauid hath made many Psalmes in acknowledgement hereof For this cause doth the Scripture often times vse the name of Glory when it meaneth God The Iewes in the Old Testament are blamed by the Prophets for neglecting for forsaking their glory that is God And St. Peter in the New Testament 2 Pet. 1.17 speaking of the testimonie which God the Father gaue vnto our Sauiour Christ in the Mount saith Hee heard a voyce from the magnificent Glory Glory then is originally in God but by deriuation it is communicated from him vnto others Angels Princes Luke 2. 2 Pet. 2. both are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Scripture But to none doth this title so truely belong as vnto Christ St. Paul Heb. 1. cals him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The brightnesse of his fathers glory When he was to come into the world Esay saith cap. 40. The glory of the Lord should be reuealed and biddeth Ierusalem bee bright because her glory is risen and in the person of Eliakim speaking of Christ cap. 60. he shall bee a glorious Throne saith he vnto them and they shall hang vpon him all the glory of his fathers house Cap. 6. Behold saith Zacharie the man whose name is the Branch 1 Tim. 3.16 he shall come out of his place he shall build a temple and he shall beare the glory Finally seeing our Sauiour is God manifest in the flesh hee deserues well that praise which is giuen him in the Churches hymne Thou art the King of glory O Christ But whereas Gods glory doth shine vnto vs in the face of Christ we must enquire what manner of glory it is for in God there is a two-fold glory as you may gather out of the fore-cited place of Exod. cap. 33. compared with cap. 34. a glory of his iustice and a glory of his mercy the solemne and publicke manifesting of eyther of them I meane his iustice or his mercie is manifesting of his glory Touching his iustice we haue an excellent place in Esay in a vision God shewed himselfe in the Temple Esay 6.3 enuironed with the Saraphims who cryed Holy holy holy Lord God of hosts heauen and earth are full of thy glory this was the glory of his iustice for verse 9. he denounceth the sentence of induration against the Iewes the like manifestation wee finde in Moses Numb 14. As I liue saith the Lord all the earth shall bee filled with the glory of the Lord but it is the glory of his iustice for immediately hee doth doome all those Israelites that had not hearkned to his voyce saying Surely they shall not see that Land which I sware vnto their fathers to giue them There is another branch of Gods glory I called it the glory of his mercie it was figured partly by the Cloud and partly by the Arke The Cloud was a type of Gods milde appearance for it was seated not betweene Seraphims fiery Angels messengers and instruments of wrath but betweene the Cherubims which had the shape of men louely and meeke men Adde hereunto that it rested vpon the Arke the couering whereof was called the mercie seate Eyther of these was called the glory of the Lord The Cloud often in Moses the Arke in that known storie of the destruction of Elie's sonnes at what time the Arke being taken by the Philistines 1 Sam. 3. Heb. 9. Psal 27. Ier. 14. 17. Elie's daughter called her childe Ichabod the glory is gone For attending vpon these two were the Cherubims called Cherubims of glorie and for containing them the Temple was called the habitation and throne of Gods glory But all these were types the truth of them was Christ Hee was the truth of the Cloud in his flesh did God so appeare that he might be endured by the sight of men and he appeared for those vses whereunto the Cloud was designed for direction and protection you may gather it out of Esay cap. 4. and St. Paul speaketh plainely 1 Cer. 1.24 that Christ came into the world as the wisedome and the power of God As Christ was the truth of the Cloud so was hee of the Mercie-seate St. Paul Rom. 3.25 cals him by the very name of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God accepteth vs in him By him we come with boldnesse to the throne of grace and finde mercy in the time of neede Heb. 4.16 The Angels that attended him were not Seraphims but Cherubims they appeared in the shape of men and whensoeuer they appeared they came to bring comfort Christ then did in his person manifest Gods mercifull glory which is the glorie meant in this Text. Wherefore I will conclude this point with the words of the Euangelist Iohn 1. The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst vs and we saw his glory as the glory of the only begotten Son of God full of grace and â—â—ll of truth I haue sufficiently opened vnto you that which is conferred wee must now see whereon The text saith it was the house the Prophet meaneth the
me Christ in the Gospell Feare not little flocke it is your fathers pleasure to giue you a Kingdome Luke 12.32 As the Text doth amplifie the place from the meanenesse 1 Reg. 8. so doth it the gift from the greatnesse thereof I will fill fill this house with that glory The phrase is allusiue to Gods typicall presence in the former Temple for therein rested the Cloud and it filled all the house all that part of the house which was called the holy place When the second Temple was built there was no such thing God was pleased to reserue it for the truth that he that is the fulnesse of all should fill that Temple And indeede God was neuer more there than when hee was there in Christ if euer hee was then an Oracle to his Church I adde out of Ezechiel cap. 43.12 that by his presence omnis circuitus Templi was made sanctum sanctorum For ought we reade Christ neuer came into that place of the Temple which was called sanctum or sanctum sanctorum the holy place or holiest of holies but this he did being borne that holy thing Luke 1. Dan. 9. and anointed the most holy he made all places of the Temple where he came holy yea and most holy he filled them with the glory of his person and the glory of his function The truth I say filled euen the worst part of the Temple which the type did not But I shall meete with this point in the next Sermon wherefore I will dwell no longer now vpon it This historicall sense which I haue hitherto opened doth present vnto vs a mysticall which I may not neglect God doth not delight in materiall houses built with timber and stone the Temple was but a type of the Church Christs house are you saith St. Paul to the Hebrewes cap. 3. and to the Ephesians cap. 2. he tels vs of the foundation the corner stone Saint Peter 1 Epist 2. sheweth vs that we as liuing stones comming vnto the precious stone Christ make vp a house vnto God So that whatsoeuer blessing is contained in this text belongeth vnto vs and vnto the Temple but in reference vnto vs. A thing to be obserued because the world hath alwaies beene shallow-witted in looking into these intentions of God they haue rested on the types without due reflection vpon themselues whereas God therein would only helpe our memorie and condescend to our infirmitie and that vpon a Principle which preuaileth much with vs which is this Sense is the best informer of our reason and solliciter of our will And did wee make as good vse of it in things belonging to God and our soule as wee doe in things pertaining to the world and concerning our naturall life Christ should not haue beene occasioned to vtter that sentence The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light Well then let vs gather some few such morals as this text will yeelde The first is That where Christ commeth hee bringeth a blessing Iacob did so to Laban Ioseph to Pharaoh Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar There is not a good man that maketh not the place whither he commeth the better for him How much more the chiefe of Saints our Sauiour Christ the very type of him 1 Chro. 13. I meane the Arke made Obed Edoms house to prosper If the shadow wrought so much what good may we expect from the substance it selfe The second morall is That God in Christ taketh vpon him to bee the glorie of the house so that where Christ is there the glorie is The Church of Rome is plentifull in earthly ornaments of their Church and wee are carefull that the Word of God should dwell richly in ours it were well if both were ioyned together I wish we had more of their ornaments and they had more of Christs truth But if they must bee kept asunder through the malice of the Diuell our case is better that haue fewer ornaments and more truth than theirs that haue lesse truth and more ornament For CHRIST is properly the glory of a Church where hee is though it bee in the wildernesse there is glory and there is no glory where he is not though the temple be as goodly as Salomons The third is the particle this this house containes the comfort of poor soules For though in the sense of our meanenesse we haue all reason to say Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest come vnder the roofe of my house yet saith the Lord Esay 66. Heauen is my throne and the Earth is my footestoole where is the house that yee build vnto me and where is the place of my rest hath not my hand made all these things saith the Lord But to this man will I looke euen to him that is poore and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my Word And it was the very life of Kings Dauids penitentiall prayer Psal 51. A broken and contrite heart O Lord wilt not thou despise Wherefore I conclude this point with the exhortation of St. Iames Let the brother of low degree reioyce in that he is exalted bee hee neuer so meane a house Christ will not disdaine euen in his glory to come vnto him he will come and bring his glory with him The fourth is That hee will not only bring his glory but fill that house But it is as the soule filleth the body euery part according to his proportion some part is filled as the head some as the hand some as the feete so that euery house may bee full and yet one house containe more than another As it is most behoofefull for vs so doth Christ dispence his grace vnto vs. But this filling may be vnderstood eyther inhaerenter or immanenter in Christ or transeunter and redundanter to vs that is eyther that he which commeth into the house is full of glory or else that the house whereinto hee commeth is by him transformed into glory Take a simile from the Sunne the beames of the Sunne doe fill the ayre and the firmament but you easily perceiue that they doe it in a different fashion they fill the ayre but so that the ayre altereth not in nature but continueth the same onely it is the place wherein the beames of the Sun do appeare But as for the firmament the Sunne sendeth his beames into that so that it maketh many a light body of it many a starre and St. Paul telleth vs 1 Cor. 15.41 that they differ each from the other in glory Christ doth fill our house both waies if you looke to our Iustification he brings glory to vs as the Sunne doth the light vnto the aire the brightnesse whereof doth grace the ayre yet it remaines inherently still in the beames and is not transfused into the substance of the ayre Euen so Christs righteousnesse passeth not out of his person and yet it is the ornament of our person it is inherent in him it is imputed to vs
word doth encourage them to dye for who would be troubled when he is called to lay his wearied bones at rest But as the word hath that encouragement so hath it a better also and which doth comfort more For notwithstanding the rest expected yet the parting of soule and bodie is irkesome the rather because we see that this sweet companion our body must vndergoe so different a condition from the soule The soule goeth to Abrahams bosome there to be feasted with the foode of Angels but the body must turne to dust and become the foode of wormes And who can endure this surely he that remembers that it is but for a moment the body doth but sleepe it shall awake againe and awake to be of the same condition with the soule for so much we are taught in the next word which is Primitiae first fruits aequiualent to the Resurrection a phrase well befitting the season To vnderstand it we must obserue that in the Law there were two kinds of first fruits One generall consisting of the first of all the Holy Lands increase Leuit. 23. Verse 10. 17. and those might bee offered at any time of the yeare another speciall that was restraind to certaine seasons Easter and Whitsontide The first season was Easter day for the Passouer was slain vpon Good friday the day whereon Christ dyed the next was to bee a holy Conuocation wherein Christ continued in the Graue and the day following was the sheaff of first Fruits to be presented to the Lord and that was the first day of the weake the very day wherein Christ rose from the dead So that this word Primitiae is vere significant and shewes how the Truth did answer the Type Christs Resurrection was meant by that first fruits Hauing found the originall of the phrase let vs now rip it vp and inquire into the meaning of it and then we shall finde that it intimates two things Christs Prerogatiue and our Communion First of Christs prerogatiue Though the Resurrection belong to Christ and them that slept yet first to Christ first dignitate causatione some adde tempore also but I leaue it to bee disputed by the learned that may passe inter piè credibilia but these two are articles of faith for doubtlesse Christ had it in a greater measure and the measure that we haue we haue it from him First of the digintie Vnumquodque recipitur ad modum recipientis as was Christs capacitie so was his participation his capacitie was infinitely beyond ours his participation must be answerable The capacitie may bee conceiued by his Vnction and his Vnion Our Mysticall vnion comes farre short of his Hypostaticall and the vnction of him the Head farre exceeds the droppes that distill therefrom into euery one of vs that is but a Member when he rose his glorie was without all comparison The best of men is but a Starre of what magnitude soeuer hee bee but Christ is as the Sunne at the presence whereof the glory of all starres vanisheth Therefore is hee Reshith Biccure the first fruite of first fruits as the Law speakes eyther word notes an eminencie the first alluding to his title The Head the other to his title of First borne how much more eminent then is he when both are ioyned together This is his first Prerogatiue intimated by his being The first fruits But as he is Primus dignitate so is he causatione also Scrm. 10. de Pasâ—h for he caused his owne and is the cause of our Resurrection His owne St. Bernard so differenceth him from others Reliqui suscitantur solus Christus resurrexit Well may others be raised Christ only rose hee only by himselfe could conquer death Therfore though the word be passiue yet must it be vnderstood actiuely Christ was so raised that he raised himselfe and that not onely merito but efficacia also as the Godhead graced the manhood to merit it so was the manhood inabled by the Godhead to atchieue it But Christ rose though in se yet pro alijs in his owne person for our good that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his purchase by death 1 Pet. 2.9 This is meant in the Law of First fruits when God telleth the Israelites they shall be presented to make you accepted and therefore as hee was the cause of his owne so is he the cause of ours also Primum in vnoquoquegenere est causa reliquorum God hath giuen eternall life but this life is in the Sonne He that hath the Sonne hath this life and he that hath not the Sonne hath not this life Ioh. 1.5 for he only is the quickning Spirit and hath the keyes of death and hell But Causa is eyther aequiuoca or vniuoca Christ is Causa Resurrectionis in both senses he is Causa aequiuoca euen to the wicked for he is iudge and therefore shall summon all in the Graue his Angels shall gather as well tares as wheate and the goats as well as the sheep shall he call before him Yea hee shall not only cause their rising but their incorruptibilitie also for it is by his Almighty power that they shall bee supported to endure their torment This causation only is not here meant but causatio vniuoca also for he is Primitiae faciens primitias what himselfe hath he makes others to enioy and therefore Theophylact obserues well Primitiae ad sequentes respectum habent these first fruits haue respect to others as if one of many should beginne to doe that wherein he is afterward to be followed by others And this appeares in our Communion Communion in name and in the condition answerable to the name In name For as Christ so wee are called Primitiae so speakes Ieremy cap. 2. v. 3 Israel was holinesse to the Lord and the first fruits of his encrease and S. Iames cap. 1. v. 18. Of his owne will begot hee vs that we should bee a kinde of first fruits of his Creatures and Reuel 14. These are redeemed from among men being the first fruits of God and the Lambe Hee is not so then the first fruits as if we were left to prophane vses for though in comparison of vs Christ is the First fruits yet in comparison of the world we also are so esteemed Leuit. 23. and therefore there is a second First fruites mentioned in the Law which was offered at Whitsontide and represented the Church to whom the Law was giuen and vpon whom was poured the Holy Ghost But as we communicate in name 1 Cor. 15. so doe wee also in the condition answerable to the name for Christus est Typus Christianorum As wee haue borne the image of the earthly Adam so shall we of the heauenly also To open this Point a little farther Christus is Typus victoriae vitae There bee two things wherein the first fruits doe warrant vs communion with him Victorie and Life Victorie ouer all ouer enemies they shall all be subdued no
the Lord and wee must with him answer for our selues I will take the cup of saluation and praise the name of the Lord vnto this end is this Sacrament called the Eucharist Thus Christ conscerateth the Elements But why what good came to the elements by consecration surely much good for they are made the body and the bloud of Christ so saith Iesus This is my body this is my blood The interpretation of these words is much controuerted and it is much disputed What change of the Elements the wordes of Christ did make for that Christ changed the bread when he consecrated it wee make no doubt Whereas then there are three things in bread and wine 1. the name 2. the vse and 3. the substance wee confesse a change in the two first but deny it in the third First wee confesse a change in the name directed by St. Austines rule Ad Bonisaâ— ep 23. Because of a similitude Sacraments commonly beare the names of the things themselues the Sacrament of Christs body is after a sort the body of Christ and the Sacrament of Christ blood is after a sort the blood of Christ Of St. Aducrsus Iudaeos Austins opinion in our case was Tertullian Christ saith hee calleth bread his body And Cyprian the signifying elements and the thing signified De â—nctione Chrismatis are caded by the same name Our Sauiour saith Theodoret changed the names and called the signe by the name of his body Ambrose Chrysostome Ambros de Sacraments l. 5. c. 4. Chrysost ad 〈◊〉 sarios â—â—â—nachos and others might bee alledged to this purpose Secondly wee acknowledge a change in the vse of the Elements for there must be some ground for which the signes may beare the names of the things themselues and that is The vertue the power the operation of the flesh and bloud of Christ beeing mystically vnited to the signes doe in a wonderfull sort manifest these things by the signes through the operation of the Holy Ghost This we learne of St. Cyprian De â—nctione Chrismatis to the Element once sanctified not now their own nature giueth the effect but the diuine vertue worketh in them more mightily the truth is present with the signe and the spirit with the Sacrament De Sacramentis l. 4. c. 4. so that the worthinesse of the grace appeareth by the efficiency of the thing Ambrose also If there be so great strength in the word of the Lord Iesus that all things beganne to be when they were not how much more shall it bee of force that the mysticall Elements should bee the same they were before and yet be changed into another thing Theodoret. The signes which are seene Christ hath honoured with the names of his body and blood not changing the nature but adding grace vnto nature Thus farre wee goe in acknowledging a change of the Elements by consecration farther we goe not wee acknowledge no change in the substance of the nature of the Elements De Sacramentis l. 4. c. 3. and herein we are guided by the Fathers also Ambrose Thou camst to the Altar and sawest the Sacraments thereon and wondredst at the very ereature De Coena Domini and yet it is a solemne and a knowne creature Cyprian After consecration the Element is deliuered from the name of bread and reputed worthy to bee called the body of the Lord notwithstanding the nature of the bread still remaines Ad Coesarios Monacbos Chrysostome The substantiall bread and cup sanctified with a solemne blessing is profitable for the life and safegard of the whole man To proue this the Fathers vse to parallel the Sacrament and the Person of Christ De ieiunio 7. mensis in their disputes against Eutyches Gelasius As the bread and wine after consecration are changed and altered into the body and blood of Christ Dialogo secundo so is the humane nature of Christ changed into his diuine Theodoret hath the same parallel and so hath St. Austine as hee is cited de Consecratione distinctione secunda Hoc est quod dico Now a generall Councell not onely particular Fathers haue resolued that both natures continue in Christs person vnaltered so doe their properties so doe their actions only this honour the diuine doth to the humane nature that as it hath associated it into one person so doth it manifest her properties by it and performe her actions Euen so is it in the Sacrament the heauenly the earthly thing are both vnited to make one Sacrament but each keepeth vnaltered its owne nature properties and actions onely the heauenly doth worke by the earthly and doth not ordinarily without it manifest its operation If in the person of Christ there was no alteration of the diuine nature though the Scripture say the word was made flesh much lesse may we dreame of any alteration in the earthly part of the Sacrament though it be said the bread is the body and the wine is the blood of Christ Out of this distinction of changing of the Elements you may perceiue that Christs consecration was effectuall though not effectuall to Transubstantiation For in a sacramentall argument both substances must remaine and by reason of the mysticall vnion Disparats may be affirmed the one of the other without absurditie Whether the sacramentall vnion doe require moreouer a Consubstantiation may also here be disputed for some vrge it out of these words But their answer is briefly this The earthly and the heauenly thing may bee conioyned really though not locally And as they may be conioyned so they may bee receiued seeing the proper Exhibiter of the heauenly is the Holy Spirit and the Receiuer is our faith Our faith may ascend to Christ in heauen and the Spirit beeing infinite may vnite vs vnto Christ though we be as low as the earth Whereas then the words may haue their truth without any recourse to a miracle or contradicting any other Article of faith or forcing strange senses vpon other passages of Scripture we content our selues with this mysticall relatiue vnion and forbeare all other vnnecessary speculations Although we must needs confesse that the words make more for Consubstantiation than they make for Transubstantiation We confesse then that in the Sacrament there is the body and blood of Christ and that three manner of waies though we admit neyther of the two false waies Transubstantiation and Consubstantiation First in regard of the signe for it was not chosen for it selfe but with reference to Christ Secondly in regard of the resemblance it doth most fitly set forth the efficacy that is in Christ the strengthning the cheering efficacie you heard before out of the 104th Psalme that those properties are in bread and wine Strength is eyther increased or recouered and cheerefulnesse followeth eyther vpon the recouered or increased strength wee are Babes and must grow in Christ we are Souldiers and lose blood in his quarrell we must finde that which
haue not been carefull to bring them that sit in darknesse and in the shadow of death to the knowledge of Christ and participation of the Gospel Much trauelling to the Indies East and West but wherefore some go to possesse themselues of the Lands of the Infidels but most by commerce if by commerce to grow richer by their goods But where is the Prince or State that pitieth their soules and without any worldly respect endeauours the gaining of them vnto God some shew we make but it is but a poore one for it is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an accessorie to our worldly desire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is not it is not our primarie intention wheras Christs method is Mat. 6.33 first seeke ye the kingdome of God and then all other things shall be added vnto you you shall fare the better for it in your worldly estate If the Apostles and Apostolicke men had affected our saluation no more we might haue continued till this day such as somtimes we were barbarous subiects of the Prince of darknesse Those of the Church of Rome boast of their better zeale for the Kingdome of Christ but their owne Histories shew that Ambition and Couetousnesse haue beene the most predominant Affections that haue swayed their endeauours and they haue with detestable cruelty made their way to those worldly ends in stead of sauing soules haue destroyed millions of persons We should take another course for their conuersion yea the same that was taken for ours and if wee doe it is to be hoped God will continue vs his people and adde daily to his Church such as shal be saued For Popish Recusants let me speake a word their case is mixt consisting partly in ignorance of the truth and partly in the seed of disloyaltie Wee haue made many good Lawes if not to roote out at least to keepe downe so much of their corruption as is dangerous to the State it were to bee wisht that greater care were taken for informing their consciences and indeed there should our Lawes beginne with them vnder a reasonable paine to vrge them to conference for why should we doubt but that God would blesse the honest endeauours of the Ministers of the truth who permits the Seducers to steale away so many hearts from God and the King Of this we may be sure that eyther God will worke that which we wish the recouery of those which are seduced or at least their obstinacie will bee without all excuse and the punishment thereof by sharpe Lawes will be no more than is iust in the sight both of God and man The neglect of this care of infidels and recusants is no small cause of that great distresse which at this day is fallen vpon the reformed Churches and God thereby calleth vpon vs to amend these defects Let vs vse our punishment well and let Gods chastisement prouoke vs to a better life though it seeme grieuous to vnderlie Gods heauy hand yet it is much more grieuous to be neuer a whit the better for the plagues for it is a second refusing of grace the same God that doth at first recommend vnto vs pietie by sweetning it with temporall blessings when that course speedeth not tryeth whether wee will bethinke our selues if we smart for our vntowardlinesse and certainly his case is desperate who is the worse for his stripes as you may reade in Gods complaint passionately exprest by Esay Cap. 1. Cap. 5. Cap. 4. by Amos and Ieremie hath illustrated it by an excellent simile of reprobate siluer which is molten in vaine because the drosse cannot bee separated from it Amend then wee must That is not enough we must be constant in our amendment we must feare God all the dayes of our life that is true Repentance when a man so turneth to God that he doth not returne againe like a dogge to his vomit or a sow to wallow in the myre Relapses are dangerous as Saint Peter teacheth 2 Pet. 2.21 and our Sauiour Christ tels the recouered lame man in the Gospel Iohn 5. Behold thou art made whole goe thy way sinne no more lest a worse thing happen vnto thee I will hearken saith the Psalmist Psal 85. what the Lord will say vnto me for he will speake peace vnto his people and to his Saints that they returne not again vnto their folly We should all remember Lots wife who for looking backe was turned into a pillar of salt Animae in vitia relabentis accusatricem a visible inditement of relapsing soules Most men are to God-ward like Planets sometimes in coniunction with him sometimes in a more or lesse aspect too often in plaine opposition but let vs take heed we be not in the number of those wandring stars of whom St. Iude speaketh to whom is reserued the blacknesse of darknesse for euer To begin well and not to go on is as if a man should put a soueraigne plaister to a dangerous wound and after a while teare it off againe thinke you that man would bee the better for his salue or the worse rather you heard before our sinnes are wounds and although repentance be a soueraigne salue yet proueth it not such vnto vs except it be lasting There is a good reason giuen by St. Bernard Cecidimus in lutum lapides our sias are like vnto fals into the myre wherein there are stones the mud doth soile vs and the stones bruise vs we may soone wash away the myre but we cannot so soone recouer our bruise euen so the guilt of our sin is sooner remitted than the corruption can be purged Therefore Repentance taketh time to restore our spirituall health and doth not compasse it but with much fasting watching praying almesdeeds c. and is watchfull ouer vs that second wounds make not the first more dangerous in a word being deliuered from our enemies and the hands of all that hate vs we endeauour to serue God in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life Here are added two motiues vnto this constant amendment taken from the place wherein they liue It is true that wheresoeuer they liued they were to feare God all the dayes of their life because God is euery where a knower of the the heart a rewarder of men according to their workes But the place of their aboad put no small obligation vpon them first because it was an eminent place eminent corporally a good Land a Land flowing with milke and honey eminent mystically for it was the seate of the Church and a type of heauen and who should bee fruitfull in good workes rather than they that dwell in a fruitfull Land and holinesse beseemeth Gods house for euer But to sin in the Land of Immanuel in the Land of vprightnesse is no small improuement of sin and hee that is barren of good works in a fruitfull Land shall haue the earth that brings forth her increase rise vp in iudgement against him Our Countrey hath both
Adoption he was not carelesse of a holy life of the common Endowment not the grace of Edification the proper Endowment hee was no vnprofitable seruant neyther stood he in the market place idle when hee should labour in his Lords Vineyard Secondly vnto his vse of these gifts there concurred more workers than one Hee tels vs Who they were and What was eyther of their preheminence They were two Himselfe I laboured and Gods grace that laboured also with him Either of these workers had their preheminence St. Paul had He laboured more than all and that in either grace He striued to exceed all in holinesse of Life and in the painefulnesse of his Ministrie As St. Paul had a preheminence in working so had grace also it had a preheminence aboue St. Paules preheminence yea St. Paul doth confesse that hee doth owe all his preheminence in working to the preheminent working of Gods grace I laboured more than all yet not I but Gods grace that was in me When we haue thus considered the particular branches we shall point at two good obseruations that arise out of the whole bodie of the text they are St. Paules Sinceritie and his Modestie Sinceritie in giuing God his due glorie he ascribeth vnto God the originall the gifts the vse of whatsoeuer was good in him or was done well by him And there can be no greater Modestie vsed by a man in speaking of himselfe than St. Paul expressed here in his extenuating and correcting speeches He was a member of Christ a Minister of the Church he mentioneth neither he contenteth himselfe with this commendations I am that I am And for his vse of Gods gifts hee attributeth no more vnto himselfe than that which was next vnto nothing Gods grace bestowed on me was not in vaine so he extenuateth his worth And because hee was to say something more of himselfe to stoppe the mouthes of his maligners I laboured more than all he presently correcteth himselfe as if he had ouer-reached hee drownes all the conceit of his owne eminencie in the contemplation of the much greater preheminence of the grace of God I haue opened the contents of this Scripture which God willing I shall now farther vnfold and haue an eye in vnfolding of them vnto this present occasion And because they will concerne both Pastors and People I shall desire both to follow me with their religious attention First then wee are to see whence the Alteration of St. Paul did spring I might in a generalitie tell you it sprang from Heauen so we find in the Acts of the Apostles De grat 〈◊〉 arbitr cap. 5. and St. Austine hath obserued it And indeede it is no fruit that springeth from the earth the earth may make men of better become worse by reason of mans mutabilitie and the kingdome of darknesse but if of worse men become better the cause thereof must bee sought in heauen Especially if as St. Paul of wolues they become sheep of blasphemers beleeuers of persecuters preachers of the Faith But I told you this heauenly cause is powerfull and mercifull powerfull God is the Cause And the cause cannot be lesse than God for the Alteration is a Creation so it is called by St. Paul 2 Cor. 5. Euery one that is in Christ is a new Creature Now Creation as wee reade in the entrance of our Creede is a worke of an Almighty power And indeed it must bee so for it produceth things either ex non ente simpliciter out of nothing at all or else ex ente non disposito out of that which in nature hath no possibilitie to become that which it is made yea St. Paul meaning to shadow our new Creation by the old chooseth the branch wherein the subiect was so farre from being disposed that it was directly opposite to that which it was made God which commanded light to shine out of darkenesse is he which hath shined into our hearts to giue vs the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Iesus Christ 2 Cor. 4. St. Paul Rom. 11. vseth another similitude of graffing a branch of the wilde Oliue into the true but contrary to nature For nature aduiseth to set sweet graffs into sowre stocks and though it be naturall for the stocke to be vehiculum alimenti to conuey the nourishment to the graffe yet naturally virtus temperamenti the qualitie of the iuice is from the graffe not from the stocke But in our supernaturall graffing it is farre otherwise the branch of a wilde Oliue is made partaker not only of the roote but of the fatnesse also of the true Oliue Being then a worke so contrary to nature it must needs be a work of the God of nature And indeed we learne in St. Iohn cap. 1. that the Sonnes of God are borne not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God Hee of his owne will begetteth vs by the word of truth that we should be the first fruits of his Creatures Iames 1. As the Cause is most powerfull so is it also most mercifull for the Attribute that preuaileth with God in this worke is grace All good gifts before the fall vouchsafed Angels and men proceeded from his goodnes but after the fall his fauours are ascribed to his mercie which mercie the Scripture vsually vnderstandeth in the name of grace for mercie is nothing else but sauing grace Now grace then importeth free loue Tit. 2. for it excludeth all merit for Quis prior dedit Who euer preuented God in well doing that God should make him amends Grace giueth not merenti to one that deserueth rather it giueth immerenti to an vnworthy person to man polluted with his owne blood grace saith Thou shalt line Ezek. 16. Yea dat contraria merenti grace is indulgent euen before a man is penitent God setteth forth his loue in that when we were enemies Christ dyed for vs Rom. 5. And such was the grace that altered St. Paul as St. Austin obserues vt tam magna efficacissima vocatione conuerteretur Paulus gratia Dei erat sola quia eius merita erant magna sed mala St. Paul doth very iustly ascribe the change that was made in him to this powerfull and this mercifull Cause And seeing we are all by nature children of wrath we must all ascribe our Regeneration to the same Cause Tit. 3. It is worse deceipt than that of Alchemie for a creature to assume vnto himselfe the transforming of a sinner God only can change as earthly mettals so earthly men of vessels of dishonour make vessels of honour of vessels of wood make vessels of gold and of vessels of wrath make vessels of mercie Who is found of them that seek him not and manifested to them that enquire not after him Esay 65. This destroyes the errour of the Pelagians And let them that are receiued into grace remember to whom they are indebted for it it will make
and being Father of his Countrey doth heare like a Father that is most tenderly you must see with none but the kings eyes and you know that My Lord the King is as â—n Angell of God discerning good and euill 2. Sam. 14. you must speake with none but the kings mouth and the wisest of kings hath obserued that There is a diuine sentence in the mouth of the king Pâ—ou 16. his lips shall not transgresse in iudgement Nay whereas euen the kings eares and eies and mouth are not his owne as he is a king but Gods you must looke for your quality yet higher euen to that which is obserued in God Gods eare as the Wise man hath well abridged that which the Scripture sets downe but in many words is an eare of iealousie Wisd 1. and iealousie is the best whetstone of feeling attention The eye of the Lord as Habakuk speaketh chap. 1. is a pure eye it can behold no iniquity Finally of the mouth of God wisedome it selfe hath obserued All his words are truth and wickednesse is an abomination to his lips Prou. 8. I conclude this point with the words of the Apostle wrested I confesse to our purpose yet the wrest is not much amisse You are not your owne you sustaine anothers person wherefore glorifie shall I say the king if I said no more it were enough to moue you but I must say more glorifie God with your eares with your eies with your mouth glorifie the king glorifie God they are the kings yea they are Gods But wherefore are you trusted with them the worke will shew the kings worke and yours vnder the king is to Iudge And to Iudge what is it but to Measure the Originall Shaphat hath that for his first signification as appeares in Mishpot which signifieth a rule and the Holy Ghost author of that mother-tongue doth significantly expresse that the principall worke of a Iudge is to measure yea this very word Measure which is by vse English is by birth Hebrew the plaine Hebrew Mesurah whose originall is from Sur which is Principem esse as if to measure were the proper worke of a Prince and the Imperiall definition of iustice Iustitia est constans perpetua volunt as ius suum cuique tribusndi what is it but a reall definition of this measure which Solon the renowned Lawgiuer of Athens aymed at also in the wittie analogie by him obserued betweene coine and lawes making both measures but the one in the hands of priuate men the other of the Magistrate A Prince then and so a Iudge is a measurer and what wonder seeing he is the lieutenant of God euen in that respect wherein God himselfe is termed a Measurer The Heathen Philosopher could say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whose words you may expound by those of the Wiseman wisd 16. God doth all things in number weight and measure Nay God himselfe hath witnessed it vnder his owne hand the hand that wrote Baltassars doome vpon the wall Mene Mene tekel Thou art numbred thou art weighed and how often in the Prophets doe we reade of the line and the plummet in the narration of the works of Gods prouidence God then is a Measurer and vnder God the King and vnder the King the Iudge their iudgement is a measuring And the worke is most behoouefull for euerie man is partiall in his own case out of selfe loue apt to stretch or shrinke a case as it shall make for or against him and out of malice moued eyther without cause or aboue measure so that it would goe ill with a state were there not a measure whereby to try how farre men ouerlash or come short in those quarrels that artise There was no King in Israel and euery man did that which was right in his owne eyes but that right was in the eye of the Law plaine wrong it was idolatrie adulterie robberie murder as it appeares in the booke of Iudges God therefore dealeth mercifully with vs that commands there should be a publicke Standard as in the market that we bee not deceiued in our prouisions so on the Tribunall that we be not wronged in our eases It is the expresse letter of the Law Deut. 25. If a controuersie arise betweene man and man they shall both come to the Iudge he is to measure their case The vse of this point for you Honourable and Beloued is that the saying which Plato caused to bee engrauen at the entrie of his Schoole is worthy to be set on the front of your Tribunals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is pitie any should sit vpon that seat that hath not I say not skill the prouidence of the King is not so carelesse in the choyce of your persons but a care to discharge that wherewith he is put in trust and to bee indeed the measure of all cases a partie not interested in either side but carrying himselfe indifferently between them both That is your vse And ours is we must not be sonnes of Belial We may not vsurpe the sword to right our selues we may not displace the indifferencie of the Law to giue soueraigntie to our intemperate affections I conclude this sentence with the wordes of the Apostle Brethren auenge not your selues but giue place vnto wrath for vengeance is mine and I will repay saith the Lord. He will repay one day by himself but vntill then he will haue his payment made by Iudges vpon which warrant the King spake these wordes I will iudge But When At the Assizes when I shall receiue the Congregation Some reade when I shall take a set time both Translations are ancient the later as ancient as the Septuagint and Caldee Paraphrase you may reade it in them the former as ancient as Aquila and Symachus St. Basil reports it out of them the later Translators incline some to the one side and some to the other if you ioyne them both together you haue no more than the full sense of the word for Mogned is not only an Assembly but an assembly made at a solemne time But to leaue the words and come to the matter Men haue houses of their owne and domesticall employments according to their meanes but the instinct of nature and their manifold wants incline them to be sociable and to entertaine commerce with others hence sprang Societies But societie cannot bee maintained without a rule of fellowship which commands to giue euerie man his due and bends priuate endeauours towards the common good To frame this rule Kings call one kinde of Assembly which is a Parliament and to see whether this rule bee obserued they call another which is the Assizes An Assizes is nothing but an assembling of the People to enquire whether euerie man so temper the loue of himselfe as not to wrong his neighbour whether hee take no other course to thriue than such as may further the Common wealth And indeed in vaine were Parliaments were it not for Assizes you may see it
generunt or genera singulorum it cannot bee vnderstood of singula generum God neuer suffered sinne so farre to preuaile but hee euer had a Church in the world and some true children the world could not continue if it were so bad as to haue none Though the times when Dauid came to the Crowne were verie bad yet not so bad there liued Nathan and Gad and Sadoc and manie thousands too no doubt were there in the dayes of Saul as in the dayes of Ahab which liued in the feare of God and as orderly members of the State but denominatio sequitur maiorem partem the greater part was the worser part and therefore the complaint is bent against the whole A complaint which may well fit our dayes wherein though GOD hath preserued manie as liuing members of CHRIST and profitable inhabitants of this Land yet can it not bee denyed that all sorts of sinnes doe raigne in all sorts of persons Wee may renew Esayes complaint Chapt. 1. From the sole of the foote vnto the head there is nothing whole therein And Chapt. 3. The people are oppressed one of another euery man by his neighbour the children presume against the ancient the vile against the Honourable what State is there that is not dissolued Honourable and Beloued I will not wrong your wisedomes so farre as to particularize onely this I obserue that when you giue your charge you doe nothing but relate the liues of the people they yeeld instances of all those sinnes which you so profitably disswade and I would the Grand-Iurie that haue their eares open to heare your charge would haue their eyes open also to behold the peoples liues and make a conscience to present what if they winke not they cannot choose but see and if they present there remaines nothing but that you Honourable and Beloued doe your part as carefully as they performe theirs faithfully And your part is set downe in the next point of the text in these wordes of King Dauid I beare vp the Pillars thereof This is the second reason the reason why you must iudge vprightly because when things are amisse the redresse of them lieth in you you beare vp the pillars thereof The Pillars of a State are good Lawes and good men good Lawes are the Pillars that beare vp men and men beeing so borne vp by good Lawes doe beare vp the whole state of the Land The reason why this title is giuen vnto Lawes is eyther historicall or morall The historicall is the ancient custome of ingrauing Lawes in brasse and fastening of them to pillars in publique places as wee vse now the Kings Proclamations it were not hard out of diuers Authors to confirme this custome I will alledge but two and they are two feeling authorities the one to bee heeded by a Iudge which is the saying of a Poet Fixit Leges pretio atque refixit the other is also the saying of a Poet but it lookes vnto the common people Hae he meaneth Lawes miserae ad parietem sunt fixae clauis ferreis vbi malos mores affigi nimio fuerat aequius Saint Paul seemeth to allude to this custome when hee calleth the Church The pillar and ground of truth 1 Tim. 3. But to leaue the historicall reason there is a morall reason of it also Our wits and our wills doe both stay themselues vpon the Lawes while wee reade Philosophers writings de aeque bono what is meete to bee done and what is not meete our iudgements doe wauer through vnresolued discourse so soone as a Law hath defined men cease to dispute wee captiuate our iudgment to the wisedome of the State and hold their resolution not to bee excepted against As a Law fixeth our iudgement so doth it settle our will also though good bee louely yet the loue of good is but weake in vs and were there not a Law that threatens the transgressors how little wee loue good it would too soone appeare When our affections would melt with sinne they are held together and held vnto their duetie by the bridle of the law the law stayes the law holds and therefore Saint Basil doth well vnderstand by these Pillars 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those Lawes which with power and authoritie settle euerie man in his orderly course of life Lycinius the Emperour spake barbarously when as Eusebius reports hee said that Iuris cognitio was virus pestis Reipublicae and the Iewes who as Ambrose obserues said that Leges were Crimina spake but as Iewes that is as a rebellious people And the Anabaptists that hold Lawes to bee contrarie to Christian libertie doe but by their doctrine giue vs to vnderstand the qualities of their liues which is Epicuricall licentiousnesse But Christians must giue Lawes their right and repute them as they are the Pillars of the State They are immediately the Pillars of the inhabitants and the inhabitants beeing qualified by them become Pillars of the State Therefore good men are a second kinde of Pillars and indeede so they are called St. Paul giues that name to Peter Iames and Iohn Galathians 2. Nazianzene saith of Athanasius that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and of Attalus Nicephorus saith that hee was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neither is this true onely of the Worthies of the Church but of the Common weale also Ioseph is called not onely Pastor but Petra Israelis as much is to bee vnderstood of Eliakim the sonne of Helchia of whom God saith in Esay cap. 22. I will fasten him as a naile in a sure place and he shall bee for a glorious throne to his fathers house and they shall hang vpon him all the glorie of his fathers house c. the meaning is they shall all rest vpon him And indeede there is no good man vpon whom the Land doth not rest for as the world was made for them so they beare it vp and when GOD remooues them the world groweth so much the weaker yea the wicked themselues doe grow the weaker for that they doe enioye their states they are beholding to the good they thinke when they breake Lawes and persecute good men themselues fare the better and their posteritie is the greater but fooles they are and therein proue their owne foes for they ouerturne the Pillars whereupon both themselues and the whole State doe leane There is that care in vnreasonable Creatures of the preseruation of the whole that euerie part will hazzard it selfe to preuent the common ruine onely men forgetting that themselues must perish when the Common weale goeth to wracke to satisfie their own lusts continually push at and would ouerturne both kind of Pillars and Sampson-like though not with so good a minde as Sampson nor in so good a cause for themselues are more like Philistines endeauour the ruine both of others and themselues What is the remedie surely the remedie lyeth in you in you that are the Pillars of the Pillars In vos domus omnis inclinata recumbit
reade either Bellarmine or Suarez or which is more authenticall Bulla Coenae Domini and he shall see in what state they hold all that come within the compasse of their Censure To trie the vprightnesse of this Censure I haue chosen this Storie wherein you shall haue Christ himselfe sit Iudge and guiding our Conscience in conceiuing of this case aright In the Reuenge you may see the Traytors Passion but with remarkable difference But in the Censure the Sophistrie of their Ghostly Fathers which resolue them of the lawfulnesse of such reuenge And although the storie may seeme lesse pertinent because herein they which afflict are good and they euill that are afflicted yet indeed the argument holds more strongly for if it be not lawfull for the good in this case to persecute the bad much lesse it is lawfull for the bad to persecute the good If Iames and Iohn that were Pillers of the Church no lesse then Saint Peter are disliked for desiring such vengeance against the Samaritans that were otherwise execrable people much lesse may Samaritans desire it against Iames and Iohn Let vs then suppose that these Traytors were as Catholike as Christ and his Apostles and wee as Hereticall as the Samaritans you see Christs carriage in this case Whereby you may apprehend his Iudgement of this Treason Hee would not allow a Prayer for fire would he then allow the consumption it selfe He would not allow Fire from Heauen and would he allow fire from Hell He would not allow Oculum charitatis perturbatum passionate Reuenge or reuenge in hot blood and would hee allow Oculum charitatis extinctum aduised hatred and reuenge in cold blood Hee would not allow it in Iames and Iohn whom he dearely loued and would he allow it in Iesuits in Rebels persons hatefull to God and men He would not allow it against Samaritans and would he allow it against Professors of his Truth It cannot be doubted he would not allow it And now I must briefly let you see that Papists are most like vnto Samaritans though they would fasten that infamy vpon vs. Two things I obserued in the Samaritans First that their Temple was but of a later Edition much yonger then that of Ierusalem and built without any lawfull warrant and yet notwithstanding they did countenance it with the Names of greatest Antiquity and what doe Papists offer to the Church but new deuices many hundred yeares yonger then the Truth and yet would they out face the World that they haue their Originall from Christ and the Apostles Their Pedigree is as true as was the Samaritans As for our Church this is our comfort that though we are not matches for Christ and his Apostles yet wee professe our selues their followers and for the truth thereof refetre our selues vnto their writings by which onely we desire to be tried And yet these Samaritans deadly hate vs that are Orthodoxe but blame our Doctrine as they that haue weake eyes or deafe eares accuse the Sun-shine of darknesse Naâ—â—â—â— or Musicke of vntunablenes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And if they could be contented to call for Fire from Heauen we are contented to indure it God we desire may be Iudge betweene vs and if in dislike of our Doctrine he will send a fire we refuse it not though it consume vs. But they dare not trust God they will trust themselues and not expecting helpe from aboue they will seeke it from beneath And yet it is markeable that whereas they boast of Miracles and the Wonders of their Saints that make the blinde to see the deafe to heare the lame to goe and dead to reuiue as their Legends tell vs yet of all their Saints not one euer would worke a Miracle to destroy vs Heretickes heere they leaue their Idolaters to doe what they can forge and performe by their hellish heads and hearts whereof wee haue had many woefull experiments Nazian Orat. 3. the Gun-powder Traitors as Iulian comparable to Aetna But let them take heed the same God that hath here reprooued Iames and Iohn will not spare for to censure them hee hath done it in our eyes by bringing to light and that strangely what they thought hidden only in the depth of their owne hearts and hath turned their mischiefe vpon their owne pates And that the rather because their Guides abuse his name and calling themselues Iesuites are plainly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They are a snare on Mizpah c. Hosea 5. and Build Syon with blood Micha 6. and would haue made Westminster a Mare mortuum I cannot tell â—o whom to paralell them except to the Zeloti remembred by Iosephus who gaue themselues that Name euen as the Iesuites haue giuen themselues theirs and both vpon the like pretence of maintayning their Country their Liberty Learning Discipline and what not that was good whereas notwithstanding the same Author obserues that neuer were there worse Miscreants in a City and that did more contrary to that which they profest He obserues also their end that by Gods iust iudgement they were brought to as great extremity and tortured with as manifold misery as may befall wicked men I will not prognosticate only I wish them grace that tread their steps to take heede of their Ends which is rather to be wished them to be hoped for so little remorse appeared in them vpon the detection of so foule a fact King Dauid when he had rashly vowed the vtter destruction of Nabal and his family and that in a case to this For denying entertainment when he was pacified by Abigail and his Passion ouerpast thus recalled himself Blessed be the Lord God of Israel that hath sent thee vnto me blessed be thou that hast stayd me from shedding innocent blood and reuenging my selfe with mine owne hands And these Apostles when Christ she wed his dislike werequiet went vnto another Towne sparkles of grace which shew that the eye of their Charity was not extinct though it were troubled and that though they were mooued beyond measure yet they could come vnto themselues againe And indeede it is a Rule that the longer a good man pauseth vpon his sin the greater it seemes vnto him because the mist of Concupiscence that blinded his eyes is more and more dispelled and the more he seeth the more he sorroweth for his sorrow for sin is proportionable to his sight thereof But in the wicked it is cleane contrary an vnexpected calamity ouer-taking them in their sinne may haply open their eyes and they may haue a glimmering sight thereof and make Pharaoh's or Simon Magus his confession Confesse the sinne but no sooner is the calamity ouer-blowne but their Lethargy casts them into a dead sleepe againe Some of these Traytors were so dead in their sinne that they awakened not at all and of those that did the sense was quickly gone Certainely their Aduocates that now Apologize for them extenuating the sinne of the Actors and excusing by the seale of
Confession the Aduisers shew how little grace there is in that Sect how vnlikely they are vnto King Dauid and vnto Iames and Iohn Howsoeuer they did let vs be of the old Patriarke Iacobs minde and say of them as he sayd of his sonnes Simeon and Leui they were Brethren in iniquity My glory enter not into their secret and my honour be thou not vnited to their Assembly Let vs not auenge our selues but giue place vnto wrath knowing that vengeance belongeth vnto God and hee will repay But if wee haue bitter zeale let vs not boast Wee lie against the truth as Saint Iames speaketh Hoc nomine ijs à quibus iniurias accepimus sublimiores simus ostendamus quid illos daemones doceant quid Christus nos erudiat In a word Nazianâ—â—â— Let euery man be slow to wrath seeing the wrath of man doth not accomplish the righteousnes of God And thus much of the Case of Conscience A second vse that we should all make of this Storie thus applied is to be stirred vp hereby vnto heartie thankfulnesse for our Deliuerance If wee did congratulate our first restitution to the Gospel by Queene Elizabeth how must we also our continuation thereof and preseruation therein in the dayes of King Iames that hee hath not suffered the Destroyer to haue his will against vs he hath saued our soules and saued our bodies the Destroyer aimed at the ruine of both Their first intent was to make vs drinke of their golden cup of poyson to make vs fall downe and worship their Idoll But not speeding of that because it pleased God to continue our Soueraigne a constant Defender of the Truth they attemped a second ruine the ruine of our bodies But Iesus hath Saued vs from both he hath saued vs from being corrupted with their Heresies he hath saued vs from being Destroyed by their malice So that wee may say Blessed be the Lord which hath not giuiug vs as a prey vnto their teeth Wee can neuer more feelingly receiue the Eucharist then vpon this occasion there is present our Iesus he inuiteth vs to partake of him And wee that haue Seene let vs also taste how good the Lord is and praise him because wee finde that all are so blest that put their trust in him I end The summe of all is The Church is subiect to the Crosse and Christians must looke to suffer and must not be ashamed to suffer for Christ But in suffering they must remember not to recompence euill for euill but to ouercome euill with good So did Christ so must Christians both in Word and Deed. O Lord that by thy Words and by thy Deeds hast taught vs to spend the heate of our zeale in the constant profession of thy Truth not in the bloody persecution of our foes giue vs grace to possesse our soules in patience and let the bloud of our deadliest enemies be precious in our sight So shall we beare the character not of the Destroyer but of the Deliuerer and hauing happily escaped all plots of our destruction in thy House with songs of prayse blesse thee O Iesu the only constant Author no lesse of our temporall then of our eternall Saluation A SERMON PREACHED AT St ANDREWES IN WELLES ONE DOING PENANCE FOR JNCEST PSALME 50. VERSE 21. These things hast thou done and J kept silence thou thoughtest that J was altogether such a one as thy selfe but J will reproue thee and set them in order before thine eyes THE Argument of this Psalme is an heauenly Assises whereof we haue here the Apparance and the Indictment the apparance made at it and the indictment read in it The Apparance is great whether we respect the Iudge or the iudged the Iudge GOD the iudged the Church of the Iewes both are set forth GOD in Maiesty whether you respect his owne Person or Attendants the Church with her prerogatiues as she is consecrated to GOD and hath couenanted with him And the conclusion is that this Church notwithstanding yea the rather for her prerogatiues shall be arraigned before that Iudge But what is her Arraignment Surely the transgression of the Law so much of the Law as containeth GODS seruice for this she shall be arraigned and receiue iudgement also as we are taught in my Text. In my Text then we are to obserue two things First how farre the Iewes are guiltie Secondly how GOD proceedeth against them How farre they are guilty appeares in the first words These things c. which are relatiue and repeat the enormous sinnes that are distinctly specified in the words that goe before For these sinnes GOD proceeds against them after much Patience which the Iewes abused vnto such Vengance as against which they shall haue nothing to except GODS Patience is gathered out of his silence I held my tongue the Iewes abuse hereof GOD testifieth to their face thou thoughtest that I am altogether such a one as thou art This abuse is insufferable therefore GOD threatneth Vengance I will reproue thee such Vengance as against which they shall not be able to except I will set thy sinnes in order before thine eyes You haue heard the substance of these words which I must now enlarge and apply as this present occasion doth require The first point then is the Indictment which sheweth how farre the Iewes were guiltie it is expressed in the first words These things hast thou done whereof euerie one is remarkable These things are relative words and repeat the Challenge that is made vnto the Iewes in sundry former verses the summe whereof is That they were guiltie of transgressing the Law The Law so farre as we haue to doe with it is partly Ceremoniall and partly Morall within these two is concluded the seruice of GOD. The Ceremoniall cherisheth the Morall and the Morall quickneth the Ceremoniall yea the Ceremoniall is a sensible description of the Morall and the Morall is a discreet limitation of the Ceremoniall when they goe together they worke both a sincere and a sober seruice of GOD sober in regard of the Ceremonie sincere in regard of the Moralitie But we must marke that the Ceremoniall and the Morall Law differ as the Soule and Body of man the body is of small vse if it be seuered from the Soule so is the Ceremoniall Law if it be seuered from the Morall Secondly the body is inferiour to the Soule euen so is the Ceremoniall Law inferiour to the Morall so that if it be a fault to neglect the Ceremoniall it is a much greater to breake the Morall Law Lo then the Indictment stands vpon two Branches a Seperation and a Transgression a Seperation of the Ceremoniall Law from the Morall and which is worse a manifold Transgression of the Morall with these two sinnes GOD chargeth the Iewes Both are great sinnes The Seperation is for GOD in his seruice commanded that our Soules should concurre with our bodies that our Affections should speake vnto him as well as our tongue
rule we shall see what it is and who prescribes it The rule is a precept which first doth range and then doth qualifie women answerable to their ranke In the Schoole of CHRIST there are Masters and Schollers women are placed amongst Schollers they must learne yea so are they placed amongst Schollers that they may neuer hope to be Masters for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they can haue no licence to teach The ground whereof is a generall maxime they may not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vsurpe vpon men if absolutely women may not be superior to men then may they not be in Ecclesiasticall things for teaching imports a superioritie Women being thus ranged must be qualified answerable to their ranke being Schollers they must haue the qualities of Schollers those are two filence and obedience silence they must vse their eares and not their tongues about sacred things they must be more forward to heare then to speake they must learne with silence And vnto their silence they must adde obedience they must not giue but take instructions and put in practise what they are taught they must learne with all subiection This is the Rule But who prescribes it So harsh a rule had need of a verie good Author women will otherwise be hard of beliefe And surely this hath a good one it is St PAVL his stile in the Preface of this Epistle shews his warrant he is an Apostle of IESVS CHRIST he deliuers it not in his owne name but in his Masters as his Steward so much is intimated in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whence comes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth a Steward so that we cannot dis-belieue him but we question CHRISTS truth The authoritie of this Rule then descends from Heauen and if it doe the bare promulgating of it requires that we credit it But as God doth all things not onely according to his Will but the Counsell of his Will euen so his words are Decrees not onely of his Will but also of his Counsell they haue a reason and for strengthening of our Faith the Holy Ghost though he be not bound yet is he often pleased to expresse the same He doth it in this place And the reason of this rule is taken first from the Creation then from the Fall From the Creation thus doth the Apostle argue woman must be subiect vnto man for Adam was first framed and then Eue the precedencie in being giues a prerogatiue of commanding But this was a reall ordinance and woman it should seeme tooke no notice of it for EVE began quickly to be a teacher of ADAM She did so but with verie ill successe for she was seduced she discouered the weaknesse of her iudgement and that not in a matter of speculation but of practise for she was in the transgression she brake GODS bonds and cast his cords from her by her and not by ADAM or rather by her taking vpon her to teach ADAM came sinne into the world Hereupon the Apostle concludes that because woman hath giuen so wofull a proofe of her vntowardlynesse in teaching of man she must forbeare for euer to meddle with that function and man must maintaine that authoritie which GOD hath giuen him ouer a woman These are the contents of this second Canon whereof suitable vnto this occasion I will now speake briefly and in their order I begin with the Rule I told you it is a Precept wherein we must see first how women are ranged The name of man and woman which in the Originall are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 haue a double signification they are vnderstood ratione either Sexus or Coniugij they note in generall male and female or in speciall such of either sexe as are ioyned in wedlocke The Apostle in this place makes vse of the generall signification but so that his doctrine may be applyed also to the speciall for if in generall women be so subiected vnto men wedlocke makes no alteration in this case but doth much more subiect a wife vnto her husband and in their measure must all the particulars of this text hold in the Oeconomicks though here they be handled as they are to be vnderstood in the Ecclesiasticks To come then nearer my Text. The CHVRCH is a societie and therefore consists of different parts there must be in it superiours and inferiours This is taught vs by the resemblance that is made between it and a Kingdome wherein there is a Soueraigne and Subiects betweene it and a Citie wherein there are Magistrates and Commons betweene it and an Army with Banners wherein there are Captaines and Souldiers betweene it and an House wherein there is a Master and his Family finally betweene it and our naturall Body wherein there are directing and obeying parts St PAVL handling this last resemblance 1 Cor. 12. shewes the ground of this subordination of persons as in all societies so in the CHVRCH to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the comlinesse and commoditie of the Societie This being a generall course which GOD hath set down in Societies it must be enquired first what be the different parts of a CHVRCH and then who are assigned to either part The parts are exprest in my Text and so also are the parties that are assigned to beare those parts The parts are Teachers and Learners all members of the CHVRCH come vnder this diuision for they are either Pastors or people ghostly Fathers or ghostly Children Stewards or the Houshold of GOD such as guid or are guided vnto Heauen This being plaine that there are but these two parts The second enquirie is What parties are assigned to beare them And here we find that GOD imposeth the person of a Learner vpon the woman and of a Teacher vpon the man Though the knowledge and the feare of GOD are common to men and women for women also are in the Couenant and must not be ignorant of the Articles thereof especially seeing GOD hath vouchsafed them to be spirituall both Kings and Priests yet the administration of sacred things is the peculiar of men In the beginning of the world GOD layed this Function vpon the first borne that was male after the deliuerance out of the Aegyptian captiuitie GOD in steed of the first-borne chose the Tribe of Leuie vnto this seruice to be performed onely by the males thereof after CHRIST was inaugurated to the Office of a Mediator he chose twelue men to be his Apostles and to them gaue order for the continuance of the Ministerie in that Sexe It is true that GOD extraordinarily in both Testaments raysed vp Prophetesses according to that of Ioel cap. 2. and while the Foundation of the CHVRCH was laying by women he enformed men of his Truth yea by a silly woman gaue entrance vnto Christianitie in a whole Kingdome but the instances are rare and they are workes wherein GOD shewed himselfe to haue power to dispense with his owne Ordinance and dispose at his
mine eyes forcibly layd open to see mine eares to heare and so the rest of my body may be constrayned to produce some worke but the powers of my reasonable soule can neuer be constrayned I cannot be constrayned to iudge otherwise then my vnderstanding leads me nor to chuse that which my will refuseth therefore our vnderstanding and our will must be actors principall actors in this deceipt And so St Iames telleth vs Cap. 1. 1 Iohn â— that He that is tempted is bayted and led aside by his owne concupiscence St Iohn insinuates as much when he telleth vs that All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life as if there were no deceipt in the world were it not that we did fasten our concupiscence vpon it Rom. 7. Finally St Paul telleth vs in his owne case Peccatum decepit me that which deceiued me was mine owne sinne And indeed he that first instilled sinne into vs gaue vs the seed of his owne sinne The Diuels sinne was selfe-deceipt for when he fell there was nothing besides himselfe that might deceiue him and that cunning Huntsman is not contented to make vs a prey except he take vs in the cords of our owne sinne except we follow the counsels of our owne hearts and doe that which is right in our owne eyes to disobey GOD and leaue the path of life It were easie to illustrate this in all sorts of sinnes but I will keepe my selfe to this present occasion to the sinne of Schisme The Diuel attempts two things against the truth of Religion the first is Priuation the second Deprauation a declining vnto the left-hand or to the right to the left-hand by making men Atheists to the right-hand by making them Separatists he would that all should be fooles and say in their hearts that there is no GOD or that GOD is without Prouidence that GOD knoweth not or eareth not for the things of this world And if he cannot so stifle Religion he endeauoureth for to leauen it whom he cannot draw to the left hand he will endeauour to draw to the right he will by corrupting of good principles maketh them fall vpon many vngodly conclusions and vse zeale for GOD to estrange themselues from GOD. Wofull experience hath the Church had of such Paralogismes in the Iewes who vpon this ground opposed CHRIST in the Gentiles that tooke this for a ground to quarrell with the Iewes and the Separatists of this latter age wherof we haue had more then a good many in this Countrey haue stumbled at this stone lest they should serue GOD amisse they haue refused to serue GOD at all Nazianzen in his time though in another case yet sauouring of this sinne cryed out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orat. 40. O vnwarie warinesse ô imposture of the wicked-one that turneth Pietie into Impietie and ouercommeth reason by reason Who can consider this and not acknowledge the weaknesse of our nature This weakenesse may be resolued into our ouer-easie beleeuing and rash dis-beleeuing ouer-easie beleeuing of seducing Imposters that labour to instill their fancies into vs and rash dis-beleeuing of those whom GOD hath lawfully placed to rule ouer vs both which a man shall easily obserue in all Schismatiques But to acknowledge our naturall weakenesse is not sufficient the Apostle aduiseth vs to beware of it and indeed therefore is our naturall weaknesse remembred that it might stirre vs vp vnto spirituall carefulnesse not to doe that which we are prone to doe Let no man deceiue himselfe We must take heed of the occasions that from without offer to deceiue vs of Wolues in Sheepes clothing of an Angel of darkenesse turning himselfe into an Angel of light Try the spirits at St Iohn yea Try all things as St Paul willeth vs. 1 Iohn 4 1 Thes 5. â—1 In Iob we haue a prettie resemblance of the eare to the tast as the one doth try the meates which we are to take into our bodyes so should the other the words which we are to receiue into our soules But in vaine shall we try them if we doe not try our selues first for we must try them by our iudgement by our will Verum est index sui obliqui a peruerse iudgement cannot discerne truth from falsehood neither can an vntoward will make a right choyse when Good and Euill are presented vnto it he cannot choose but be deceiued by others that is first deceiued in himselfe wherefore seeing our iudgement and our will must be the rule by which we must try others our first care must be to set them straight our vnderstanding must be a good Logician our will a good Moralist if either be defectiue we deceiue our selues and we are verie apt to be deceiued by others It is a miserable thing for a man to be deceiued by others Platâ— in Crâ—tilâ— but to be deceiued by himselfe is most miserable cum Impostor â—e minimum quidem decedat we shall euer carrie about vs the Deceiuer in our bosoms and he shall haue that credit with vs as that we shall neuer so much as suspect his deceipt yea Sathan and the World shall euer haue their Agent with vs and make vs assacinates to destroy our selues Adde hereunto that this kind of deceipt makes vs vncapable of wholesome counsell for if our ignorance be onely priuatiue seldome doe we obstinate our selues against good instructions but if our reasonable powers be depraued and possest with qualities opposite vnto those which we should receiue there is much lesse hope of our amendment Intus apparens excludit alienum Nazianz. orat 1. selfe-deceipt is most refractorie and most hardly will he be brought backe into the way that being deceiued of himselfe wittingly and willingly went out of the way whereof this Penitent may be a liuely example vnto vs. And let this suffice concerning the Preseruatiue I come vnto the Restoratiue remedy wherein we are first to see the distemper of a Schismatique I told you it was a carnall selfe-conceipt First a selfe-conceipt the Schismatique thinkes himselfe wise GOD that indowed vs with the faculties of sense and reason gaue these faculties a double abilitie a direct and a reflected The direct is that whereby they receiue their obiect the reflect is that whereby they iudge of that receipt I will make it plaine to you by an example first of sense and then of reason Mine eye seeth a colour for example Greene hauing seene it it passeth a iudgement vpon the sight and knowes that is greene which it doth see the like may be obserued in hearing smelling tasting and the rest of the senses In like manner is it in our soule The vnderstanding apprehends some truth and hauing apprehended it it passeth a iudgement vpon it and knoweth that that is truth which it hath apprehended The like may be said of Good But we must marke here a difference betweene sense and reason as
much of the distemper and the attribute thereof I come now to the cure And indeed the Holy Ghost doth therefore set downe the distemper that we might see the need of the cure and seeing it might be the more disirous of it The cure is an exalting humilitie First humilitie He that is selfe conceited and thinkes himselfe wise must humble himselfe He must become a foole A foole saith Primatius Non natura sed voluntate let him not be a naturall but a voluntarie foole In Reg. Breu. A voluntarie foole in two respects First in his own eyes then in the eyes of the world St Basil obserues the first Si formidauerit iudicium domini c. if he stand in awe of that doome which GOD pronounceth by the Prophet Woe be to you that are wise in your owne eyes Isay 5. And confesse with the Psalmist I was euen as a beast before thee Then saith St Basil a man becomes a foole that is he doth acknowledge his owne folly his folly in that he mistooke seeming wisedome insteed of the true and did esteeme his owne iudgement better then the iudgement of the Church which he was bound to obey I did before shew you that all Schimatiques are subiect vnto a double deceit ouer-easie beleeuing and rash dis-beleeuing and what are these but branches of folly Hastie beleefe what is it but plaine foolishnesse and the greatest aduantage of Impostors For the Auditors ignorance giues a large scope vnto a Seducers craft if he be apt to follow and to be perswaded before he is instructed and that is the true method of Impostors they gaine an interest in our affections before they offer to informe our iudgement and a pliable will maketh a flexible vnderstanding and nothing is so easily beleeued as that which such a man knoweth least and when a man commeth to the sight of this imperfection what can he doe lesse then condemne it for simple folly Neither may we iudge better of our rash dis-beleefe when we in our mutinous and ambitious deliberation not seeing the ground of our Gouernours ordinances whether in Church or Common-wealth presently brand them for Superstitious Antichristian Tyrannous and thinke them the best men that disgrace them most and our selues neuer more religious then when we are most rebellious It is no lesse then proud folly so to reduce the credibilitie of Lawes to the measure of our capacitie Cap. 38 The sonne of Syrach hath made a great peece of a Chapter in checking this folly The wisedome of a learned man commeth by opportunitie of leasure he that hath little busines shall become wise c. But of Husbandmen and Craftesmen he addes this They shall not be sought for in publique Counsell nor sit high in the Congregation they shall not sit on the Iudges seat nor vnderstand the sentence of iudgement c. When a man comes to see this imperfection the imperfection of Husbandmen and Craftesmen taking vpon them to iudge Scriptures and Synods what can it be lesse in his eyes then vnexcusable folly Neither onely must we thinke so but professe it to be so for therein properly standeth his becomming a foole when he doth not refuse publicationem sui as Tertullian calleth it a publike recognition of his imperfection 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 making an open shew thereof and insulting thereupon as if he were not able to disgrace it enough Such a religious foole doth King Dauid shew himselfe in his Penitentiaâ—s St Paul in his Epistles St Ausline in his Confessions It was not strange nor rare in the Primitiue Church for publique offendors to become such publique sooles You that are the Penitent hauing so good examples may well digest your humiliation and this religious folly needs not be grieuous vnto you Another sense there is of these words which is that as we must be contented to be fooles in our owne eyes in that we mistooke seeming wisdome for true so when we doe imbrace truth insteed of seeming wisdome we must be contented to goe for fooles in the eyes of the world for as that which is high in the eyes of the world is base in the eyes of GOD so that which is high in the eyes of GOD is base in the eyes of the world The patience the obedience the charitie the humilitie of a penitent Christian they are no better then plaine folly in the iudgement of worldly men they hold them senslesse that may liue at ease and with Moses will thinke the reproch of CHRIST better then the treasures of Aegypt they thinke him senslesse that with Abraham will forsake his Countrey sacrifice his Sonne they thinke him senslesse that with St Stephen will not onely forgiue but pray for them that treacherously and tyrannously doe spill inuocent blood finally they hold them senselesse who when they might cunningly excuse or boldly outface they will with King Dauid and St Paul penitently and humbly acknowledge their sinnes the beleeuing the practizing of the Gospel passeth with the world for no better then folly A man therefore that will submit himselfe thereto must be contented to beare the reproach of CHRIST and goe for a foole Another point that we must marke is that as bladders are emptied of wind before they can be filled with good liquor so must a man emptie himselfe of his windy wisdome before he is capable of solid Or as a Scholler that hath beene mis-taught must vnlearne before he learne and his soule must be made tanquam abrasa Tabula a paire of writing Tables clearely spunged from vngrounded knowledge before grounded can be imprinted in it euen so we must endeauour for to purge out all our leauened wisdome before we can be informed with that which is sincere and not seeming but sound Lastly 1 Cor. 13.10 seeming wisedome it that which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St Paul speaketh it is not lasting will we nill we it shall be done away seeing we cannot keepe it it is good that we rid our selues of it and willingly part with that which we cannot keepe but dangerously The rather because the ridding of that is but the making way for that which is much better and we doe become such fooles onely that we may be wise GOD will not haue vs rest in folly but passe by that vnto true wisedome he will not haue vs depriue our selues of humane prudence which is of it selfe a good guift of GOD but subordinate it vnto diuine GOD can well endure that wisedome that springs from reason so reason goe right and keepe her ranke but that which offends GOD is Si vel secum vel cum Deo pugnet if it be not consonant with it selfe or be disobedient vnto him This is indeed folly which we must put off to the end that we may become wise both men and Christians Looke then how we are willed to hunger and thirst to mortifie to crucifie so are we willed to become fooles we are willed to dye that
therefore hath in the Liturgie restored it to its natiue puritie Onely it were to be wished that so farre as the Church allowes it we would practise it for I am perswaded that many liue and dye in enormous sinnes that neuer made any vse of it nor receiued any comfort from the power of the Keyes The confessing to the Lord doth not exclude confessing vnto man so the due limitation be obserued But enough of the Confession There is one point more to be obserued before we come to the Successe and that is that this confession of King Dauid was onely in purpose he was come no farther then dixi a sense he had of his sinne but he was not yet come so farre as to vtter it though he was disposing himselfe thereunto But dixit was not onely verbum oris but cordis also promptitudinem alacritatem hoc verbo notat saith St Bernard he was willing and ready to make his confession he adds Saul dixit peccaui sed quia non dixit antequam diceret corde priusquam ore as King Dauid did non audiuit Deus transtulit pecâ—atum tuum he heard not so good newes from Samuel as King Dauid did from Nathan The Lord hath put away thy sinne The lesson rising hence is pij non trahuntur ad Tribunal Dei sed sponte accedunt knowing that there is no shelter against GOD but onely in GOD we must preuent our summons and resolue vpon a voluntarie apparance Finally putting the Purpose to the Confession we see that the children of GOD vse not to continue in their sinnes but so soone as they are roused the principles of grace doe worke and they humbly shreeue themselues to GOD. And so haue you the first maine point in this Text which openeth vnto vs King Dauids Practise I come now to the Successe thereof which is the forgiuenesse of the sinne Where we may first see the difference betweene Triâ—unals on Earth and the Tribunall of Heauen On Earth Non est confessi causa tuenda rei Confession is the cause of condemnation it is not so at the Tribunall of GOD there though it be not the cause as Papists straine it yet it is the meanes of absolution Whereby you may perceiue that the word here vsed is a phrase of the Gospell and not of the Law For iudgements of men tread the steps of the Law of GOD 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is no reliefe for a poore sinner to be found in the Law he that will haue it must seeke iâ— in the Gospel And yet the word here vsed is borrowed out of the Law but it is the Ceremoniall Law and the Ceremoniall Law is if not wholly yet for the most part Gospel But more distinctly to handle this point We must obserue the Matter forgiuen and the Manner of forgiuing The matter forgiuen is the Iniquitie of his sinne It is disputed what is meant here by â—â—â—quitie whether culpa or poena Some vnderstand poenam and thinke that an allusion is made in this word vnto the message of Nathan wherein GOD doth remit the heauiest stroke of his wrath but yet retaines some part in punishing the child and permitting Absolon to rebell and abuse king Dauids concubines so Theodoret Deus non condigna poena Dauideni puniuit Some vnderstand culpam and will haue this phrase to be an amplification of that as if Superbia defendens or Taciturnitas celans or Impietas contra Deum assurgens or some such great guilt were meant by this phrase But as I doe not censure these opinions which may well stand So I thinke the phrase lookes backe vnto that word which was in the Confession The sinne confessed was Peshang and this is but an analysis of this word for Gnaon Catai what is it word for word but the peruersenesse of my aberration Catah is an aberration from the Scope or Marke whereat we ayme all men ayme at felicitie but most men stray from it because they are not led by that Law that guides vnto it the violating whereof is called Catah But some doe stray out of meere ignorance and they onely breake the Law some out of stubbornnesse which will not submit themselues to the Law-giuer these mens sinne is called peruersenesse which GOD is said here to forgiue So that Dauid did not confesse more against himselfe then GOD includes in his pardon well may GOD exceed our desire he neuer doth come short thereof if it doe concerne our spirituall our eternall good as he doth exclude no sinner that doth confesse so doth he except against no sinne that is confessed You haue heard the Matter of the pardon now heare the Manner And the manner makes the Remission answerable to the Confession The Confession had an inward sense and an outward euidence so hath the Remission For GOD spake the word by Nathan to resolue king Dauids faith but he also gaue a tast of his truth by working ease in King Dauids heart Both are included in the word but specially the latter for Nasa signifieth to vnburden as if the soule were burdened with sinne And indeed sinne is a burden a burden as King Dauid else-where speakes too heauie for him to beare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heauier saith Chrysostome then any lead And no wonder For if euerie euill doe make a heauie heart much more spirituall euill cloggeth the Spirits makes a man sincke inwardly and bow outwardly you can haue no better character of such a deiected soule then that which we find in the penitentiall Psalmes It is verie true that many walke lightly and skip frolickly as if they bare no weight though they be fraught with sinne but the answer is plaine Nihil ponderat in loco suo while sinne resides in that part which commits the sinne it giues such content to the concupiscence that dwels therein as being the desired obiect thereof that it presseth not at all neither is it euer burdenous till it be brought vnto the conscience which onely hath an eye to discerne it a scale to weigh it and a sense wherewith to iudge of that weight and when GOD inhibendo with-holding those vanities which hinder the conscience from weighing and exhibendo putting the whole measure of sinne into the scales doth rouse vs then the most carelesse and the most senslesse shall be driuen to acknowledge that indeed it is a great burden But the penitents comfort is this that as he feeles it so he hath one by whom he may be eased of it the putting on the hands vpon the Sacrifice did ceremonially testifie as much but the morall thereof is in St Iohn Behold the Lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world Qui tollit a plaine translation of Nasa But CHRIST speakes it more plainly Mat. 11. Come to me all ye that labour and are heauie loaden and I will ease you Where also we find that it is the Lord onely that forgiueth sinnes They spake truly in the Gospel that excluded all
LVKE 22. VERSE 60 61 62. 60 And immediately while he yet spake the cocke crew 61 And the Lord turned and looked vpon Peter and Peter remembred the word of the Lord how he said vnto him Before 〈◊〉 cocke crow thou shalt deny me thrice 62 And Peter went out and wept bitterly THESE words were read this day in the Church â—ent and they are verie agreeable to the Season an Argument of Repentance to the dayes of Humiliation Now Repentance is here deliuered not in a Rule but in an Example but such an example as deserues our best regard because the person is of principall note no meaner a man then St Peter is here presented vnto vs in the forme of a Penitent Let vs then looke vpon him And if we doe we shall see him here downe and vp taking a fall and â—ysing againe And indeed Repentance is nothing but a rysing from a â—all Therefore we may well resolue St Peters Case and my Text into his Fall and into his Rising His fall Peter denyed Christ a sore fall because from a high Rocke and that Rocke was CHRIST That Fall was sore but it is made sorer in that it was taken so soone and so often Soone before the cocke crew not many houres after he was fore-warned and fore-armed Often before the cocke crew Peter denied CHRIST thrice being ouer shooes he would ouer eares and the â—arther he went the worse he was So Peter came downe But he got vp againe and the Text will teach vs of his Rising first What were the Meanes and secondly What were their Effects The meanes were two one outward another inward The outward was a timely signe The signe was the crowing of a cocke an ordinarie thing but here seruing to an extraordinarie vse And that signe was timely immediately euen while he was speaking did the cocke crowe no sooner was Peter downe but he was put in mind of his Fall Neither was he onely put in mind by the outward meanes but he was also by an inward made sensible thereof euen by the helpe of CHRIST CHRIST turned and looked the Workes seeme corporall but indeed they are spirituall for he that turned he that looked was the Lord and he turned and looked as a Lord both Workes were spiritually operatiue Witnesse the Effects The Effects are as the Meanes were in number two each Meanes produced his Effect The Cocke did crowe and what came of it presently Peter remembred the words that the Lord saio vnto him he acknowledged CHRIST to be a true Prophet and gaue glorie to his truth This is the Effect of the outward meanes The inward meanes wanted not his Effect also CHRIST turned he looked and loe Peter is presently changed He was ouer-bold he now findeth his weaknesse for he went out he durst no longer abide by the Temptation Peter was senslesse he now groweth tender hearted for he wept bitterly the floods of sorrow that ouer-whelmed his soule gusht out in streames of teares that trickled downe his eyes There is one thing more in the Text which I may not omit and that is the correspondencie of the rising to the fall Peter was quickly downe before the crowing of the cocke and he was as quickly vp euen as soone as the cocke did crowe Secondly Peter had meanes to rise the cocke did crowe CHRIST turned CHRIST looked and Peter did vse the meanes which he had for he remembred he went out he wept Finally Peter endeauoured to make his Repentance as afflictiue as his Sinne had been offensiue for as he denied shamefully so did he weepe bitterly You haue seene our Penitent but not so throughly but we may all desire to see him againe And verily if with a reflecting eye we doe deliberately reuiew him in him we may profitably behold our selues behold what we are behold what we should be are in his fall should be in his rising GOD giue vs all such single eyes I resume the Fall Peter denied CHRIST Rom. 10 It is a rule of the Apostles That with the heart a man belieueth vnto righteousnesse and with the mouth he confesseth to saluation whereby we learne that it is not enough for vs to stand in good tearmes with GOD except we also let the world know what good he hath done for our soules we may forfeit the former if we be not resolute in performing the latter CHRIST doth assure it in the Gospel saying that if any deny him before men he will deny them before his Father which is in Heauen This ground must guid vs in iudging aright of St Peters fall by it you shall find that it was a sinfull fact which that you may the better see I will distinctly obserue the Fact and the Sinne. The Fact was a deniall but it was negatio duplex a double deniall First Negatio notitiae and secondly Negatio consortij by former verses we are directed so to vnderstand it First he denyed that he had any acquaintance with CHRIST and secondly he denyed also that he had any dependencie on him This was his Fact And this Fact was sinfull for it contained a plaine contradiction to his Calling and his Conscience To his Calling Peter was CHRISTS Apostle could he be one of CHRISTS Apostles and not know him A chiefe Apostle and haue nothing to doe with him A flat contradiction to his Calling Neither to his Calling onely but to his Conscience also For was not Peter the man that Matthew Cap. 16 confessed Thou art CHRIST the Sonne of the liuing God and was well rewarded for that confession And had he not acquaintance with him A flat contradiction to his Conscience Was not Peter the man that Matthew cap. 19. said Behold we haue forsaken all and followed thee and was warranted an exceeding gaine for a trifling losse and had he no dependencie on him So that the denyall containeth two notable vntruths wherewith St Peter is iustly charged and charging him therewith we keepe our selues within the reasonable bounds which St Bernard hath set Peccauit Petrus De Gratia libero Arbit it is out of question that St Peter did sinne in denying but yet he did sinne Non odiendo Christum sed se nimis amando he bare no malitious mind against CHRIST but was willing to sleepe in a whole skin And that he might so doe he suppressed the truth in his heart and his tongue vttered these vntruths Wherefore his faith was still vnfained and his loue vndoubted but Constantia turbata est his constancie was shaken Loue of CHRIST and feare of danger had so shrewd a conflict that the feare of danger got the vpper-hand of the loue of CHRIST So that though he continued inwardly a good man yet durst he not out of the good treasurie of his heart bring forth his good things These are reasonable bounds but they are diuersly transgrest for some doe racke and some doe shrinke the sinne They racke it that in their Tracts De Apostasia Sanctorum put
saw his glory as the glory of the only begotten Sonne of God full of grace and truth But beyond all is the testimonie of God the Father whether deliuered by the Prophet Psay Cap. 42. Behold my seruant whom I vphold mine elect in whom my soule delighteth or vttered by a voyce from heauen This is my welbeloued Son in whom I am well pleased Mat. 3.17 For can he be lesse than altogether desirable that is Gods delight But passing by all these I will insist vpon three Titles of his which haue speciall reference to our good The first is Immanuel the name of his Person for it signifieth God with vs and how desireable is hee that hath knit that knot hypostatically in himselfe which is the ground of that mysticall knot which is to bee betweene God and vs wherein stands our eaerlasting blisse Certainely in regard of this name hee is most desirable the name that so linketh together heauen and earth a mortall wretch with the immortall God especially if you obserue that he is vnited totus toti the whole person of God to the whole nature of Man that we may be wholly ioyned and so doth he become wholly desireable of vs. His second name is Iesus that maketh him as desireable St. Bernard hath sumâ—ned vp the pleasurablenesse thereof in few but very sweet words Nomen Iesuest mel in ore melos in aure iubilum in corde all our reasonable acts are diuided into speaking hearing and thinking and loe we cannot speake of him but he is as honey in our mouthes and if wee heare of him the talke doth make the best melody in our eares finally the greatest ioy of our heart and the truest also springeth from our meditation vpon him The reason of all which is this Name soundeth nothing but Saluation and Saluation is the most wished most welcome thing to a childe of wrath to him whose sinnes can promise no better than a neuer-dying worme and an euer burning fire Well may we terme thee sweet Iesu that deliuerest vs from these plagues especially seeing there is no part of thee that hath not borne a part in sauing vs. His third name is Christ a most desireable name and why it signifieth a person anointed with no other than that which the Psalmist calleth the oyle of gladnesse This precious oyle poured vpon his head Psal 4â— 143. 45. ranne downe to vs the skirts of his garments insomuch as we now smell of Myrrhe Aloes and Cassia and are now through him become a sweete sauour to God who in the corruption of our nature were loathsome vnto him Hee that was Christ that is anointed that hee might so perfume vs with the sweetnesse of his graces must needes bee to vs as hee beares that title wholly desireable But for your further insight into the louelinesse of this name resolue it into those three offices whereunto he was anointed and being anointed or consecrated vnto them was called Christ First hee was Christ a Prophet such a Prophet as wee cannot desire a better hee was the very wisedome the word of God grace was poured into his lips and they that heard him wondred at the gracious words that came from him and well they might for that which he vttered was Euangelium glad tidings of good things His Priesthood was more desirable than his Prophecie for hee offered the sacrifice of sweet sauour vnto God which expiated all our sinnes and propitiated all his wrath and vpon his crosse he prepared that delicate feast that Esay speakes of cap. 25. Fat meate full of marrow and pleasant wines throughly refined from the Lees His flesh and his bloud were made such a feast for vs though in dressing of them he endured much paine Finally hee was a King and in regard thereof hee is most desireable for his Kingdome is righteousnesse peace Rom. 14.17 and ioy in the boly Ghost Hee is such a King as maketh all his subiects kings and that of the same Kingdome which he himselfe hath euen the Kingdome of Heauen I need say no more to proue that hee is totus desiderabilis altogether desireable But he is more for he is also totum desiderabile all that can be desired which is not granted to any Creature The Scripture labours to make vs vnderstand that all that we seeke out of him is to be found only in him Happy saith Salomon is the man that findeth wisedome and the man that getteth vnderstanding Pro. 3. for the merchandise thereof is better than the merchandise of siluer and her gaine than fine gold hee goeth on and parallels it with all that worldly men desire In Esay cap. 55. you haue the same parallel Ho yee that thirst come vnto the waters Christ himselfe to the Church of Laodicea presseth the same point Reuel 3. Thou thinkest that thou art rich and wantest nothing whereas thou art poore blinde miserable come to me and buy c. When St. Paul Phil. 3. had reckoned vp all his prerogatiues he concludes vers 8. I accompt all these but dung and losse in comparison of the excellent knowledge that is in Christ Iesus But most full is that place of St. Paul 1 Cor. 1. Christ of God is made vnto vs wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption Where obserue how he fitteth vs with supply from Christ as well for the Church Militant as Triumphant In the Church Triumphant we must haue vnderstanding heads and pure hearts that we may see God and enioy him and Christ giueth vs such heads such hearts for hee is made vnto vs wisedome and sanctification As for the Church Militant we neede therein discharge from our sinnes and deliuerance from woe and Christ is made vnto vs righteousnesse that wee may come with boldnesse before the iudgement seate of God and redemption from the curse which is due to the transgressors of the Law Wisd 16.21 So that what the wise man saith of Manna is certainely true of Christ he is vnto euery man what he can reasonably desire hee serues to the appetite of euery eater and is tempered to euery mans liking The Septuagint as if they had intended to teach vs that all things desireable are in him haue vsed the plurall number 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wherefore we conclude that Christ is totum desiderabile and wee may all say with King Dauid What haue I in heauen but thee and what is there in earth that I desire with thee To end this point two things we must learne from this soueraignty of good which are concluded in this one rule Primum in vnoquoque genere est mensura reliquorum seeing Christ is the soueraigne good he must season and stint all our desires Fire is the originall of heate and the Sunne of light and we see that other things haue neyther heat nor light but as they doe partake of fire or the sunne and their measure of both is answerable to the participation of those originals So