Ahaz who said Because the Gods of the Kings of Syria help them 2 Chr. 28. 23. therefore will I sacrifice to them that they may help me by setting-up other Gods other helps and saying These be our Gods And this last is of so malignant an aspect that it makes the heavens of brass and that God to turn away his ears who is alwayes ready to hear and that which we call a prayer to be registred for a sin For by this we violate that Majesty before which we fall down we mock God and beseech him to do that which we are not perswaded he can do Which is to make him no better than an Idol which hath ears but hears not eyes but sees not hands but can do nothing And this is not to pray to God but to libel him to make him like unto our selves that there can be no trusting in him So that that of the Historian is here true Plura peccamus dum demoremur quà m dum offendimus Our Prayers are turned into sin and we never wrong God more then when we thus worship him Majestas injurias graviùs intelligit Kings are never more angry then when their Majesty is toucht then their wrath is as the roaring of a Lion Nor do we offend God so much when we doubt of his Will as when we distrust his Providence and his Power which are the parts of his Royalty And in this respect it is most true Magna est praesumptio de Deo quam non presumere It is a great presumption not to presume upon his Power non putare illum posse quod non putamus and not to think he can do what we cannot think And therefore that our prayers may ascend to that pitch we level them to even to the Throne of God We must consider him seated there as a King and as Omnipotent Which consists not in a bare apprehension or sense of the mind that there is a Divine Power greater and mightier than all nor in those common senses and notions as Tertullian calleth them which even the Heathen had They could say Deus videt omnia Deo me commendo God seeth all things and I commend my self to his protection Nay the Devils believe saith St. James and tremble They have a kind of belief and therefore have knowledge But here is requisite a full consent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Clemens Alexandrinus speaketh a settled and full perswasion of heart touching the Providence and Power of God Upon this foundation we may build and settle our Devotion and raise it as high as heaven This makes our Prayer a Sacrifice this sets it on fire that the flame goes upward from off the altar of our hearts nay the Angel of the Lord ascends up with this flame and commonly returns back and descends with a message of comfort And although there may come upon us a fit of trembling when we look upon our selves yet if our prayer be formed according to Gods will we may draw near unto the throne of Grace in full assurance of faith that he will hear our prayers even then when he granteth not our requests and that he can do more for us than we can know how to desire Amongst other properties of Place the Philosopher requires Immobility If it be a Place it must be immoveable For if the body on which you place your self flit and glide away from under you you can never well rest and move upon it And certainly to go about to rest or settle our confidence on any other grounds but these is as if we should attempt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to walk on the air or tread the waters or build without foundation Put not your trust in Princes nor in the son of man for their breath goeth from them There the ground glideth away from under us Trust not on your own Wisdom and Power Your turning of devices shall be as the potters clay and shall break and crumble between your fingers There it flits away How can he help who hath no power how can he save who hath no arm or strength Nay we can find no stability in the Angels They are ministring spirits and their Elogium is They do Gods will But if he command not they have no sword to strike no buckler to defend And in Men we find less Vain is the help of Man Stas non stas cum in teipso stas For one man to put confidence in another is as if one begger should ask an alms of another or one cripple should carry another or the blind lead the blind It is very incident unto men in want not only to desire help but to doubt of the means which should help them A disease rising from their very want For it is natural to Desire to beget Fear and Doubting whilst the Phansie sets up morinos to fright us In us there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a flitting and unsatiable humor We cannot endure the deferring of our hopes But when God answereth us not neither by Urim nor by Prophets brings not in that aid we beg of him we presently droop and let go our confidence And if we speed not according to our desires we set-up some golden Calf straight Nor can we settle our Devotion till we have built and establisht our Confidence upon these two the Kingdom and the Power of God These are munimenta humanae imbecillitatis inexpugnabilia as Tertullian speaks impregnable fortresses of our humane weakness to keep us from that which we cannot withstand If God be with us who can be against us What is it we can desire which we may not find in the Fountain of Goodness What is there to be done which God cannot do There is no word no thing which shall be impossible unto him What thing soever we would have is but his Word If he speak the word it is done Art thou in darkness If he say Let there be light there shall be light Art thou in poverty If he say thy poverty shall be riches it shall be wealth Are thy sins more than the hairs of thy head If he say Thy sins are forgiven thee they are forgiven Here is the Power of God no sooner to speak but it is done His Power flows from his very Essence and whatsoever is done in heaven or in earth is done by his voice The voice of the Lord is upon the waters The voice of the Lord is powerful The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars yea the Lord breaketh the cedars Psal 29. of Lebanon I will not now speak any thing in particular of Gods Providence and Power by which he reigneth as King and governeth the world and every thing therein and doth whatsoever he will in heaven and in earth for of these I have spoken heretofore at large We will only at this time to remove our diffidence and distrust dig at the very root and cause of it and that is no less than a vile branch of
binding then a debt surely you would think that due from them to him who had begotten them nay who was sacrificed for them and saved them for these glorious terms the Apostle gives himself saved them I say not their Bodies from the Grave but their Souls from Death O my Brethren there was a time when men sold all they had and laid it down at the Apostles feet there was a time even in our memory when Sacriledg was thought a sin and men conceived the maintenance of a lawful Clergy as sacred as their own Revenues in the time when axes and hammers were lifted up to build not to break down the carved works of the Sanctuary yet something is due still at least to give a cup of cold water in the name of a Prophet to hold up their weak hands and to support their feeble knees with your staff of Bread For though St. Paul would have worked with his hands now had they not been lock't up with manicles rather then prove burdensome to them for then was not a time to receive Gifts in the infancy of the Church yet he always says he might claim it as a recompence that he had power to challenge it and proves it by all kind of Arguments 1 Cor. 9. from Custom Reason and Scripture and least you should pretend the abrogation of this Law by Christ the Apostle adds v. 14. That the Lord hath ordained that they who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel he hath ordained it enacted it and made it a Law for ever he hath tied and bound you up to it for ever it is not left to your choice and discretion And our Saviour when he sends out his Apostles calls their maintenance their Hire Mat. 10. 10. as if there did pass a tacite contract and bargain between the Preacher and the Audience that if he feeds their souls they should feed his body if he gives them the water of life he may claim a draught from out of their well as due and that he who deals the bread of life about should have in return the bread that perishes a fair exchange you 'l say on your parts Carnal for Spiritual things and a Birth-right that gives you title to become the heirs of God for a small mess of porridge The second advantage we have by Charity is the Exercise of our Patience before the day of Tryal come upon us Who pray among you would leave at this very instant his whole Estate to preserve his Conscience if violence should offer to take it from him or who would go immediately from this very place to the stake if God should call him thither but Charity leads us to this perfection for whosoever gives away of his own willingly may come in time to endure quietly if it be forced from him and who can chearfully part with some to relieve his Brethren will at last arrive so far as contentedly to loose all so he may preserve his Conscience My Brethren 't is all the business of our Time Diligence and Experience to be a Christian for though God did sometimes extraordinarily pour forth as much of his Spirit into some Vessels of Mercy as enabled them at once to become Christians and Martyrs both together ready to lay down their lives for the Faith as soon as ever they did believe Yet 't is said of Christ that notwithstanding he was a Son yet learnt he obedience by the things which he suffered Heb. 5. 8. He learnt it Let others learn to measure the Earth do you learn to despise it and let Philosophers dispute the causes of lightnings storms and thunder but do you Christians learn the way to Mount Sion where you may stand above them all The last and highest benefit we receive by our Charity is that as God will most severely punish the neglect of this duty so if we do perform it he will account himself in debt to us for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God will 1 Pet. 3. thank you for this for this God will in a manner acknowledge himself beholding to you You lend to the Lord lend to him who possesses all already as if God would willingly part with his whole right and title to this world so we in compassion to our poor Brethren would give him the least return of it again God owes you a blessing which you shall be sure to have not only hereafter but here also if we can believe God for whom it is impossible to lye For as God did certainly punish some with temporal punishments for offending against the Gospel as he did the Corinthians with diseases and sudden death for their prophaning the Lords Supper So 1 Cor 11. 30. likewise may not we doubt but God under the Gospel also rewards those who obey even with temporal blessings and if you observe it nothing prospers here better then this vertue of Charity For the very Politian himself advises us to help our very enemies if we mistrust they can get out of themselves because thus we shall make them our friends Beasts have so much reason and civility to return a courtesie Nature is still calling upon us for this duty so earnestly as some have wished their very friends to whom they stand most obliged in misery for no other reason but that they might relieve them and be quit of this debt On the contrary 't is remarkable what great advantages some have missed meerly because they knew not how to give in season For there is he saith Solomon that withholds what is meet but it tends to poverty Prov. 11. 24. But suppose men do turn inhumane and ungrateful yet still he that gives to the poor shall not lack Prov. 28. 27. For God in your extremities will either afford you an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a place to slip out of or else give you strength to suffer which in effect is all one No great matter whether the three Children be in the Furnace or out of it so the flame does not so much as singe them and then you will without all question receive an ample reward in the world to come For if Heaven do stand open to such as have their sins forgiven then you for your Charity shall be sure to enter in for Charity shall cover the multitude of sins If your luxury did make your Saviour faste the feeding of his afflicted members that will feed him again and if your wantonness in apparel stript him in covering their nakedness you shall cloath him again in short if your sins crucified him in relieving them you revive him and make him alive again upon the earth This Sacrifice will expiate all Give to the poor what thou hast and all shall be clean unto you says our Saviour Luke 11. 41. Again do you think such as do all the whole will of God shall inherit eternal life then your Charity must of necessity let you in for Charity is the fulfilling both of the Law and the Prophets
soon discover and though interest omnium rectè facere it concerns every man though there were no cord of Love to draw him to do that which is right and just yet if the Sword be not as ready to protect the innocent as to devoure the wicked if there be not Praise for the one as well as Punishment for the other the best will soon fail in their duty and sink and fall in the performance wanting that Spirit which should cheer them up and keep them in life and action The King and his Governours as they scatter and fan away evil with their eyes so do Prov. 20. 8. they derive a kind of influence on Goodness to make it grow and flourish Authority is both a Sword and a Buckler a Buckler for the innocent and a Sword to cut off the wicked from the earth And in this respect Synesius in his 12. Epistle tells us that this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this publick Sword of Justice is as necessary for the purging of a City for the scouring of all mischief out of it as the great Basons which were wont to be set at the entrance of Temples were for the cleansing of their hands who were to enter And therefore it is an axiome in Policy subscribed to long since That it is better to live sub durâ lege quà m sub nullâ under the hardest Law then under none at all to live in a State where the least apparency of offence is punisht with rigour than under such an one where every man may do what is pleasing in his own eyes without restraint For Severity or Tyranny as one observeth is but like a Tempest or Whirle-wind that throweth down here and there a fruitfull tree and here and there peradventure a tall Cedar but Confusion and Anarchie like a Deluge sweepeth away all before it all the fatness of the earth all the increase of Cattel beats down Towns and Countrys and makes of walled Cities a Wilderness Whilst Justice and Authority prevails He that soweth soweth in hope and he that Joh. 4. thresheth thresheth in hope that he may be partaker of his hope as the Apostle speaks but in Confusion the proverb is fulfilled One soweth another reapeth and as it is said of that community of the first Christians No man can say that that which he possesseth is his own Now the proper work of the Magistrate is not onely to cut off the wicked from the earth but to divide to every man his own possessions to break the jaw of the ungodly and to take the prey out of his mouth to be a wall of brass to the innocent and terror to the wicked And this will usher in a myriad of blessings and make up that Hymne that Angelical Antheme Peace on earth good will towards men and glory to God in the highest heaven For to punish evil persons is to do a cure upon those who have broke the Laws and upon others also that they may not break them And the Magistrate like God himself doth de perverso sanare govern us by that which is adverse to us and in the way of the transgressour he placeth contrarium aliquid impedicus sets up something to stop his course to check his violence to curb him in his full carreere to wit the execution of penal Laws which is the execution of the very anger of God Nor doth he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 simply will the affliction and torture of the offendor nor rests in the evil of Punishment but he looks forward to the good of Amendment For this is the very end of Punishment To destroy that proclivity and proneness which is in evil men to break their bounds To take off the illecebrae the inticement and allurement of Sin To wash off its paint To pull the hony-comb from the lips of the Harlot To wipe the oyle from off her mouth To sowre the sweetness of stoln waters and by the sharpness of external terror to take away the savour and complacency of some habitual delightfull Sin that so every man may sit under his own vine and under his own fig-tree and drink waters out of his own cistern that Peace may shadow the Common-wealth and Plenty crown it that Oppression grind not the face of the poor nor Lust climb up to an unlawfull bed nor Deceit remove the landmark nor Sacriledge destroy the Temple ut peccare non liceat that evil-minded men may not be so miserable as to carry a Licence about with them to commit sin nor a Protection in their bosom from the stroke of punishment Thus doth not onely the Hand but the Eye the Counsel and Wisdom of the King who is supreme and of the Governours which he sends scatter away all evil fight against corruption in Religion in Manners in Doctrine that Truth and Peace may kiss each other Thus are they sent out to watch over us for our good This they do for us And we cannot do less than submit unto them if not for the Lords sake yet for our own whose affairs they manage whose estates they secure whose sleep they make sweet and labour fruitfull by whose means we enjoy much peace Parce tibi si non Carthagini if we will not submit unto them for the Common-wealths sake yet let us do it for our own if not submit unto them yet at least to our own Good to that which is our Wealth our Safety our Happiness And let us not only submit unto them but bow the knee and fall down before that God by whom Kings reign and Governours decree justice and offer up strong cries supplications to him that he would preserve our most pious and religious King Charles and bind up his Soul in the bundle of life that he would give his judgments to the King and his righteousness to those Governours which are sent by him that so the Lord may speak peace unto us and and to our Land that we be not led into captivity and that the enemy be never able to shoot an arrow amongst us that whatsoever the King doth may please the people and whatsoever the people do may be for the safety of the King that God would bless and protect both King and Nobles and the Governours which are sent and the People for evermore The Fourteenth SERMON Psalm LXVIII 1 2. Let God arise let his enemies be scattered let them also that hate him flee before him As smoke is driven away so drive them away as wax melteth before the fire so let the wicked perish at the presence of God I Will not stand to reconcile opinions which may arise concerning the title and occasion of this Psalm whither it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Psalm of Davids composing or A Psalm made for him and delivered per manum David by the hand of David to him that excelleth or the Master of Musick Whosoever composed it at the first hearing of the words you cannot
you up to the Councels Mat. 24. 9. and scourge you in their Synagogue And they shall put you out of their Mark 13. 23. Synagogue Behold I have soretold you all things In the former Chapter where he sends his twelve Apostles and in this where he appoints other seventy also as he indued them with power to do miracles and autority over all Devils so doth he also arm them with the foreknowledg and praemeditation of those evils which would affront them in the way and might slacken and retard them in the performance of their Duty ut eò minùs perturbent venientia quo magis fuerint praescita saith Gregorie In that being Darts foreseen they might lightly pass by and being shown before they came they might come wit less pomp and terror that by foreknowledg of them they might have power also over them to cast them out as they did the Devils And good reason there was that our Saviour who knew their he 〈…〉 and what was in man should prepossess them with the thought of what was likely to ensue For the Disciples having received Legative autority from Christ and being armed with the power of working miracles and casting out devils might well have fed themselves with Hope of fair weather and of welcome whithersoever they enterd and with a high conceit that all men must needs vail and submit to them who had power to subdue even the devils themselves For can Flesh and Bloud stand out against that name through which Hell it self is made subject A conceit than which nothing could have been more pernitious it being incident to most men to bury all Thought of their Duty in the remembrance of their power and dignity to dream of kingdoms when they should be up and awake to do their office and so at last they strip themselves of all succour and ly naked and open to those injuries and calamities which must needs take off their courage and slug their obedience because they come unlookt for and so surprize them in a pleasant dream What Christs embassadours to be sent without purse or script to speak and wish Peace to that House which will not give them welcome to tell men of a Kingdom and be shut out of doors to cast out Devils and find men as malitious as those Devils they cast out to cure diseases and for a reward to receive a wound this is Durus sermo a hard saying to men in autority to men who go about doing good who carry health and blessings along with them whithersoever they go I say a hard saying who can bear it a saying not well digested but wondred at to this day We pray but thou hearest not We fast but thou regardest it not We give our Bread and receive a Stone We pipe and no man danceth We mourn and no man lamenteth Our Patience is derided our meekness is trod under foot our humility is scorn'd Do we not many times say in our hearts with those Mal. 3. 14. It is in vain to serve the Lord There is no profit in keeping his ordinances But this is to forget the Things which our eyes have seen This is to forget God and what he hath told us For he hath told Deut. 4. 9. us before that Prayer and Fasting and Alms have their End when they have not their end Prayer may be heard and accepted and not Granted for to obtain is not the only end of Prayer Fasting may appease God and yet not remove the plague Thy Alms may be abused and trod under foot and yet come up before God God hath presented his Gifts and Graces as glorious as the Sun and Lights but he hath prognosticated and foretold us of cloudy dayes and tempestuous weather which shall darken and obscure them He hath promised to hear our prayers but that he grants them not alwaies is for our sakes He hath promised to crown every good deed but not in this life Therefore let us comfort our selves when our expectation is frustrate seeing nothing befalls us which was not foretold Let us consider upon what condition and terms we gave up our names unto Christ to do what he commands though we see no fruit at all to paint though there be no increase There hath no Temptation taken you but such as is common to man saith St. Paul There hath nothing befallen us which was not 1 Cor. 10. 13. foretold Why do we slug and fail in our Duties Why do we bow under the very shadow of terrors and are crest-faln at the sight of that evil which comes towards us when we are working of wonders curing diseases and preaching of Peace Beloved Distrust and Impatience will never tread upon Serpents and Scorpions nor pass through the power of the enemy to the end of the Duty Hearken not to the found of many waters but to the voice of the Prophet Look not on the grim visage of that evil that haunts you in the performance of your Duty but remember the word that Christ hath said unto you He told you of Contempt but which should make you Honourable of Persecution which should make you blessed of Serpents â—ut such as should not hurt you of Wolves but such as you should overcome with the meekness of a Lamb. Remember what he hath told you and then into whatsoever House you enter whether it be the Habitation of Peace or House of the wicked whether it be a House at unity within it self or a House divided whatsoever it be deliver you your message Into whatsoever house you come say Peace unto it Which is the Form prescribed or the Salutation Peace be to this House And Paece be to this House is a fit Salutation for them to use who were Disciples and Embassadours to the Prince of Peace For as Tully spake of a certain Embassadour That he did senatûs faciem secum afferre autoritatem reipublicae that he brought with him the countenance and presence of the whole Senate and the autority of the Commonwealth from whence he was sent so the Disciples of Christ were to speak in the stead and person 2 Cor. 5. 12 of Christ and carried about with them his autority and therefore they were to use his language that form of words which they had heard from him and that Salutation which he had put into their mouths For 1 This was most proper for him that sent them Decet largitorem pacis haec Salutatio sayth Cyril from him who gives peace who is our Peace who is the Joh. 14. 27. Ephes 2. 4. Isa 9. 6. Prince of Peace no fitter Salutation than Peace 2 It is most proper for the Gospel which they were to preach which is a Gospel of Peace This was Christs first gift when he was born Peace on Earth and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his last gift when he was to dy Peace I leave with you My peace I give Joh. 1â— 2â— unto you For this he was layd in
nothing profits evil men more than the company of the good How many Saints may the holy conversation of one man beget How many Martyrs hath the patience and silence of one man brought to the stake How many Evil men have lost themselves and their evil in the company of the Good We must not therefore make the separation before the time For we may be in Societate impiorum in the company of evil men but in solitudine vitiorum in respect of their evil be alone We may be with them in participatione sacramentorum sayth Augustine in the participation of the same sacraments but not in consensione factorum in our consent to their evil deeds We may be like the Ark of Noah in the deluge yet not drown'd like Mose's Bush in the fire yet not burnt We may carry about with us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Plato calls it a kind of charm and spell which may slumber our turbulent affections and those motions which are so ready to subvert our Reason that we may be near enough to them to help them but yet at such a distance that no poyson which is breathed from them shall hurt us I Please all men in all things sayth St. Paul all men even evil men not by fashioning himself to them 1 Cor. 10. 33. but by reforming them to the copie of his own innocency For what saith Tertullian Numquid Saturnalia celebrans hominibus placebat did he please men by celebrating the same heathenish idolatrous Feasts with them No but by gravity and patience by modesty and integrity Again I was made all things to all men Numquid idololatris idololatres What was he 1 Cor. 9. 22. made an idolater to idolaters a heathen to heathens and a carnal man to carnal men No there was no such friendship between St. Paul and evil men He was not drawn by them but made it his industry to draw them unto him He made not himself like unto them but made them like unto himself He pleased evil men but it was to make them good And in this manner licet convivere commori non licet We may live with evil men but we may not die with them We may possess the world with them but not their error And this is it by which we of the reformed Churches justify our separation from the Church of Rome We do it not as the Donatists did of old and our Separatists now a dayes only to avoid the communion of bad men but to free our selves from a necessity of joyning with bad men in their impieties We go not from them but from their dangerous errors We divide not our selves from them for our hearts desire is that they may repent and be saved but from their superstition And thus to divide our selves is no Schism but Christian animosity And in this case we say with Cyprian Pereant sibi solis qui perire volunt If they will perish let them perish to themselves alone III. God suffers this mixture of Good and Evil men not only for the reformation of the Evil but also for the benefit of the Good For mali bonis prosunt saith the Father Evil men may prove advantageons to the good They may awake many glorious virtues in them which otherwise would be but as the seed in the ground not yet in the ear and blossome Plutarch hath written a Book How togather profit from an enemy How to make our selves better by them who would make us worse But Christ in the Book of his Gospel hath taught us yet a more excellent way How to improve our Virtue by other mens sin How to increase more and more in good by the very sight of evil How to make those sins which press others down to Hell as a Scale and Ladder to lift us up to Heaven so that we may make friends not only of the unrighteous Mammon but even of unrighteous men to lift us up unto those everlasting habitations Some men there are who for want of skill in this book and through ignorance of this art put upon themselves a strange behaviour and at the very thought of wicked men are so troubled and transported that they forget they are men and subject to the same infirmities that they forget they are Christians who should work a cure upon them and not murder them You may behold them angry and fierce cruel and bloudy breathing forth nothing but curses and exsecrations As with a Sword in my bones my enemies reproach me whilst they daily say unto me Where is thy God saith David Objurgant Psal 41. 10. quasi oderint their very reprehensions are Swords and their exhortations the expressions of their hatred With James and John those Sons of Thunder they are ready with their Domine vis dicamus ut ignis descendat If it were in their power they would call down fire from heaven to destroy them Luk. 9. 54. as Elias did To put off all bowels of compassion with them is to put off the Old man So that if we rightly consider it they are greater Sinners than those they condemn and it may be said to them as the one Thief said to the other Do you not fear God seeing you are in the same condemnation Thus it is with evil men They grow worse and worse by that which should better them and their ungrounded Zeal consumes not them but their Charity But he who is a Son of Peace hath learnt that thriving art to be richer for other mens poverty to rayse himself higher and higher at the sight of his brothers fall to make others sin the occasion of many virtues in himself to say unto himself There they are fallen that I may look to my steps And here his Circumspection shews it self He had broke the Law and my eyes shall gush out with rivers of water In those tears his Piety is resplendent He is sore wounded but I will powr oyl into his wounds Here his Charity stretcheth forth her hand even that Charity which shall hide a multitude of sins Thus by the Wisdom and providence of God Sin which bringeth forth Death may bring forth life and the wicked many times are turned from the error of their way at the sight of those virtues which shine in glory at the sight of their Sin In a word the Good are made manifest by the Evil and the Evil may be converted by the Good Still this difference there will be in the Church and the Salutation here is directed to both both to the Sons of peace and to those who will not receive it Into whatsoever house they goe the Disciples must say peace be unto this House And so much be spoken concerning the Difference of the Persons We come now in the second place to the Nature and Property of the Salutation That it will rest on none but those who are prepared to receive it Peace will rest on none but on a Son of Peace on him who is worthy
not shine Son of man saith God to his Prophet if thou warn the wicked and he turn not from his wicked Ezek. 3. 19. way he shall die in his iniquity but thou hast delivered thine own Soul There is the Return of his Prophecy Whether the Salutation rest or not it doth not vanish Numquid consecrata perdimus For can we think that lost which we consecrate to God Still the Apostles incense smells even when it is out We are unto God saith St. Paul a sweet 2 Cor. 2. 15. savour in them that are saved That we doubt not of But it follows and in them that perish For neither Death nor Hell can take away the sweet and fragrant smell of this incense Though many that heard St. Paul did wax wanton against Christ though many had their consciences 1 Tim. 5. 11. seared with an hot Iron though many made shipwrack of their Faith 1 Tim. 4. 2. yet St. Paul is bold to proclaim it to the whole world I have fought 1 Tim. 1. 19. a good fight I have finisht my course All that is required at our hands is that we speak the Word though we be not heard For though we speak and be not heard yet no other thing befalls us than what befalls our Lord and Master who knows and sees that his Sunshine and Rain is every day abused and yet the Sun becomes not as a Sack nor the earth as brass Who calls and calls aloud and again and again to those deaf Adders which will not hear Whose providence many times watcheth over those who deny his Providence and in a manner cast him out of the World And therefore as he saith Demus etiamsi multa in irritum demus Let us give though we give many things in vain so let us speak the word let us preach the doctrine of Peace though the event prove not answerable to our hopes For in the third and last place in vain it cannot be though it be in vain and lost it cannot be though it be buried Though it find not the effect to which it was principally ordeined yet an effect it will have Aut fiet in illis aut de illis It shall be accomplisht either in those to whom it is spoken or upon them For it is not the Disciples word but the Masters and when it is gone forth out of his mouth it shall not return unto him voyd it shall not fall to Isa 55. 11. 1 Sam. â— 4. 1â— the ground Quicquid condidit virtus coelum est sayth the Poet Whatsoever is done by the hand of Virtue is as lasting as the Heavens But that which we do at the command of our Master in the name and person of Christ is more lasting than the Heavens Heaven and Earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away Luk. 21. â—â— The Heavens shall be gathered together as a scrowle but one iota or title shall in no wise pass from Gods word That Word which we contemn and tread under our feet shall rise up again and rise up against us That Word which we laught at is still in being and shall appear again to make us cry and howl That Word for which we stoned the Prophets and killed those that brought it shall be quick and active and vocal to condemn us That Word for which Micah was smitten on the face shall make that face as the face of an Angel That Word which brought St. Paul unto the block shall return and bring him into Heaven and put a crown upon his head Whether it meet with honour or dishonour with stripes with imprisonment with persecution with death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it will certainly return again Cast thy Eccl. 11. 1. bread upon the waters sayth Solomon for thou shalt find it after many dayes even find it there where it might be thought to perish and be lost The wiseman seems to allude to the nature and property of some Rivers which when they have run on sweetly and watered some few Provinces hide themselves under the earth and at last break forth again and rise and appear in other coasts Cast thy bread venture all thy dutys upon these waters which though they seem to run out of thy sight and to bury themselves in the bowels of the earth though they be covered over with calumnies and disgraces with misery and affliction yet will break forth and have their course again and bear thee before the Sun and the People to the land of the living To shut up all in a word Publish Peace and whether thy Salutation meet with a son of Peace or an enemy of Peace whether it be entertained with reverence or rejected with scorn whether it meet with a prepared heart or a heart of stone whatsoever the event be thy labour is not in vain in the Lord. For though it seem to be lost yet it will return again It will return to thee in this life with an olive-branch with peace of Conscience and joy in the holy Ghost Nor will it leave thee so but when thou art dead it will follow thee to those new heavens and that new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness and peace and joy unspeakable for evermore The Eighteenth SERMON Rom. XI 20. Well because of unbelief they were broken off and thou standest by faith Be not high minded but fear MAN being a reasonable Creature one would think he should need no other conduct to lead him in his way to bliss than the light of those precepts which are most reasonable Be not high-minded Why should we but fear Why should we not the one posting us one till we bulg on the rocks the other warily steering our course till we are brought unto the Haven What need there any more incitements to the fulfilling of a Law then Knowledg of it that it is just and faculty and ability to perform it Indeed good reason it is that our Reason and Will should incline to that which is reasonable but Man as he is endued with Reason so is he also with Passion by which he becoms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 various and manifold and mutable in his wayes Nullum morosius animal nullum majori arte tractandum could the Philosopher say No creature more froward and headstrong none more intractable than Man And therefore God also condescends in mercy and is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 various and manifold in his instruction teaching us to avoid those evils which bring desolation on our Souls not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by his written word but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the examples of other men so visible that we may run and read them He hath painted out every Sin with the very bloud of the offendor He hath beat out the teeth of oppression in one whipt Idleness in another Stricken Pride in a third So that Sins are not better known than the Punishment of Sins nor Gods Precepts more remarkable than his Judgments Now