of Heaven and all the Stars thereof Moreover Vna Sabbati litterally rendred is not the first but one day of the Week because one is the first ground to begin numbring and Theophilact says the Lords day is called the one day of the Week either because it is the only day from whence the blessing is procured for all the rest or besides it is a figure of the life to come Quando una tantum dies est nequaquam nocte interpolata when there shall be but one day for ever and no night of darkness to interrupt it Thus much of the words The matter of the Point is of a more profitable use And hence I begin that as God the Father upon the first day did begin to make this visible world of Creatures so Christ rose the same day from the dead to signifie that a new Age was then begun Resurrectio est alterius mundi spiritualis creatio says Justin Martyr The Resurrection is well called a creation of a new spiritual world On the first day of the Week God said Let there be light and he divided between the light and the darkness Verily on that wise on the first day of the Week God brought the light of the world out of the darkness of the Grave and the life says St. John was the light of men Now this infinite work to tread death under feet and to bring all flesh out of corruption into the state of immortality being more eximious than to make man in a possibility at first to die and perish therefore all Christian Churches have desisted to meet together at holy exercises upon the Sabbath of the Jews and the first day of the Week is the day appointed to sanctifie out selves unto the Lord for what reason I will now unfold and it is a case of no small perplexity And let me auspicate from the Text and Authority of Holy Scripture and these places following do conspire to verifie the Truth Acts xx 7. Paul abode seven days at Troas the seventh day of his abode was the first day of the Week then and not before it seems upon the first day of the Week when the Disciples came together to break Bread that is to partake of the Lords Supper Paul preacht unto them This seems to approve that in the Apostles time it was no more in use for their Disciples to meet upon the Sabbath but as well to honor the Resurrection as to separate from the Rites and Customs of the Jews in the Spirit of God they did convene together on the first day of the Week From Preaching and Administring the Holy Communion let us come to Collection of Alms. 1 Cor. xvi 2. Vpon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gatherings when I come How can this be expounded but that distributions were made to the poor upon the first day of the Week in their most solemn Assemblies For if the meaning were that every man should set apart a share of his own gains upon that day in his private Coffers and not in the publick Treasury when their Congregations were together then Collections had been to be made from house to house when Paul was to come who desires it might be laid up in readiness as it were in one stock before 'T is pity we are faln from that good order but in the most antient Church I find that they never miss'd to carry the Poors Box about every Lords Day witness this place of St. Cyprian Locuples es dives Dominicam celebrare te credis quae Corbanam omnino non respicis Thou that art rich and wealthy dost thou imagin thou keepest the Lords Day as thou oughtest and dost cast nothing into the Treasury Thirdly as the last day of the Week when God rested from his works was called the Sabbath of the Lord so it is of much moment to the point that the first day of the Week is called the Day of the Lord or the Lords Day Rev. i. 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lords Day as it appears Rev. i. 13. John was walking on the Sea shore meditating upon holy things in the Isle of Patmos Very probable that there was no solemn meeting to praise God as it ought to have been among those Pagan Islanders otherwise John had not betaken himself to solitary Meditations but see how he was recompensed Nactus est Doctorem ipsum Deum quando fortasse deessent quos ipse doceret when he was disconsolate because he wanted Auditors to teach God preached unto him the Mysteries of the Age to come But to enforce the Text forenamed for an Argument we have but two things in the New Testament called the Lords the Sacrament is called the Supper of the Lord 1 Cor. xi 20. and this day of Christian Assemblies is called the Lords Day the Lords Prayer and the Lords House are good Phrases but our own not the Scriptures but as we keep the Feast of Passeover no more but instead thereof eat the Lords Supper so neither do we observe the Jews Sabbath any more but instead thereof we keep the Lords Day Thus far I have prest the Authorities of Sacred Scripture The Authority of the Primitive Church and so downward to this Age will convince it clearly against any that is obstinate Ignatius was St. John's Scholar and as if he had learnt of his Teacher he writes thus Let every lover of Christ celebrate the Lords Day which is dedicated to the honor of his Resurrection the Queen and Princess of all days Justin Martyr commands the same day to be kept holy to the Lord every Week in his 2. Apolog. So doth Tertullian more than once and I cited St. Cyprian before The Council of Laodicea speaks thus resolutely Anathema to all those that rest upon the Sabbath let them keep the Lords Day when they observe a vacancy of labor and do as becometh Christians The great Council of Nice doth not command the first day of the Week to be kept holy but supposeth in the 20. Canon all good Christians would admit that without scruple and then appoints other significant Ceremonies to be kept upon the Lords Day from Easter to Whitsontide I need not reckon downward after the Nicen Council because in one word I have not heard or read that it was opposed by any of the Fathers They knew that an appointed time must be allotted for every necessary Duty and certainly upon the abrogation of the Old Sabbath not Man but God did appoint a time for so necessary a thing as the religious Service of his Name Christ made an end of all Sabbaths by his own Sabbath lying all that day and night in the Grave and to hold that the Sabbath which is but a Shadow is to continue is to hold that Christ the Body is not yet come yet that being laid apart let us
volume of thy book it is written of me that I should fulfill thy Law then said I loe I come 2. He fulfilled the Moral Law not only by giving it the right interpretation but by exact obedience whereupon he said Which of you can accuse me of sin 3. He gave life to the Ceremonies pointing to their true meaning as instead of the Circumcision of the flesh exhorting to the Circumcision of the heart 4. Whereas the judicial Law of the Jews did mention temporary and corporeal rewards and punishments Christ changed that stile of speech into spiritual and eternal No doubt but Christ did fulfil all righteousness for he came not to do his own will but the will of his Father his justice was multiformous in all the actions of his life from his Cratch to his Cross yet my Text says that he did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thus by receiving Baptism by that one act fulfil all righteousness I know not one bad interpretation upon that Point which is rare among Expositors to be so divers in their judgments and yet all allowable One says it is meant quoad inchoationem justitiae that so it behoved him to begin the course of righteousness That was but one act of his humility but the first wherein he did manifest obedience So Baptism is the first step that we make into the Church of Christ therefore because light was the first thing that God made among his visible Creatures and Baptism is the first of his spiritual graces it hath ever been called in the Greek Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the illumination of a Christian it is the day of inauguration when we first claim right unto our title of the Kingdom because we are adopted the Sons of God Surely the ordinary gloss conceits the words otherwise but very profitably Righteousness is either Legal which consists in an exact obedience to all the Commandments of God Or else Evangelical which knows Salvation is not attained unto by the works of the Law but thus Repent and believe and thou shalt obtain remission of sins therefore Christ speaking in the person of us who are his members says to John 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus must we fulfil all righteousness by calling upon men to repent and be baptized in the true faith and their sins shall be covered and blessed is that man or righteous is that man to whom the Lord imputeth no sin This was the Doctrine taught in the Church every where three hundred years past and more Omnis justitia impletur ex gratiâ All our righteousness is fulfilled through grace and not through works Ut nullus ex operibus neque ex arbitrio glorietur they are the words of the gloss to the end that none may boast of works or in the power of his own free will but acknowledge himself guilty of damnation and obnoxious to the dreadful justice of God let us fly to that grace which freely washeth away our sins Thus it behoveth us to fulfil all righteousness Chemnitius makes this apprehension of the Text. Christ did omit no means to reconcile us to his Father that we might be justified before him and this he brought to pass two principal ways 1. When he gave himself an Oblation upon the Cross to take away our sins 2. When he did institute the means and instruments to apply that meritorious satisfaction unto us on this wise therefore he did fulfil righteousness by sanctifying the Sacrament unto us which is the especial medium to apply the righteousness of faith to every one that shall be saved Another and the last sense of this word that likes me also consists in these terms By receiving this Sacrament of Baptism we are tied as far as we are able to fulfil all righteousness It behoveth them that profess the true Faith to keep themselves undefiled from the world and to be holy unto the Lord. As Rachel cried out to Jacob Give me children or else I die so a sincere faith cries out unto the conscience Let me bring forth good works or else I shall be a dying faith and altogether unprofitable Do we make void the Law through faith Says St. Paul God forbid yea we establish the Law Rom. iii. 31. So it appears how righteousness buds forth from Baptism our conscience being watred with the heavenly dew of that Sacrament it makes us fruitful with good works Sed in istôc nequaquam sunt omnia will some man say Will that serve instead of all righteousness For our Saviour saith Thus it behoveth us to fulfil all righteousness God gave the word great was the company of Interpreters and his Spirit is in them all You shall hear the several consolations which they pick out from hence 1. To be a perfect teacher and a perfect doer of Gods will these are Tabor and Hermon the two fruitful hills upon which the blessing of the Lord descends To be a Teacher and not to do well is very bad like Hophni and Phinehas those dissolute Priests who polluted the holy Sacrifice To do well and not to teach is laudable and good but it is not excellent for to be an instructer and a doer is a degree of perfection beyond it Omne tulit punctum it is more blessed to give instruction than to receive therefore our Saviour was abundant in both Praeivit in exemplo quod verbo docuit He did lead the way of obedience by example and afterward did preach it to the people Blessed is he therefore that is not only a teacher but a doer of the word this is to fulfil all righteousness 2. Suum cuique there are but three heads from whence all justice is distributed and they may be drawn out of this Baptism for by receiving Baptism we are obedient to the institution of God we provide a salutiferous medicine for our own soul and by letting our light shine before men we do edifie our brother But to render that which is due to God to our own soul to our brother is to be perfect in every line of justice therefore in the universality Christ might say thus he did fulfil all righteousness 3. Says St. Austin Quid est impleatur omnis justitia Impleatur omnis humilitas The Son of God had this meaning how he fulfilled all righteousness because he condescended to the lowest step of humility for there are these three fallings as I may say one lower than another To be subject to a Superiour and not to prefer himself before an equal is justitia sufficiens sufficient humility and no want To be subject to an equal and not to prefer himself before an inferiour is justitia abundans that is not only justice enough but large and abundant humility but to be subject to an inferiour yea the most mighty God to be subject in Baptism to his Creature this is justitia perfectissima most perfect lowliness none can submit it self more and thus indeed to make the pride of base man to blush who
most proper time to have setled it had been when the people told him the Disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast often but thine do not But then he utters no more but this in general When tbe Bridegroom is taken from them they shall fast Here is no direction for time or manner all that is left free to the sound discretion and occasions of the Church They do but dally with Scripture that collect from the forenamed words when the Bridegroom is taken from them they shall fast therefore the sixth day of the week in every week must be a day of fasting and abstinence because on the sixth day of the week the Bridegroom was taken from them and died upon the Cross What more insolid than this For by collections from Irenaeus and others it is evident that even the Roman Churches did ceremoniously keep the fast of Satterday long before they observed a portional abstinence upon the sixth day of the week But let me not make you lose the head of my argument by this Parenthesis that Christ being demanded why his Disciples did not fast he leaves an indefinite answer with them The days will come when the Bridegroom is taken from them that they shall fast but for allotting any particular time not a tittle of Commandment Let this be added that when the ancient Fathers call their quadragesimal Constitution an imitation of our Lords fast there is no hurt in the Word if it mean not that his example was a necessary pattern to be followed I say they alledge also for the convenient observing of that institution how Moses and Elias fasted forty days in the old Law and indeed they might lay hold upon one as well as upon another for Christ made his Fast even with theirs to shew that the Gospel which he brought did not dissent from the Law and Prophets But the illation is good in this wise as the Jews were held to no necessary imitation of Moses and Elias no more is there any necessary obligation to hold the Christians that they should punctually observe a portional abstinence according to the time of forty days that our Saviour fasted So I have put off the first conclusion with good confirmation I think on our part Now I have to do with another sort that hold our Lenten temperance to be an Apostolical tradition hereby they burden the consciences of men that a partial fast of forty days is not merely derived unto us by Humane Laws but by Apostolical Authority a Sanction which came from men immediately inspired from God and therefore to be strictly held as any other Dictate of the holy Gospel And they that break Lent are condemned as Prevaricators of the divine Law But these opinionists are of two sorts the one Sect far more severe and unreasonable than the other who not only defend that a convenient abstinence is to be kept for forty days by Apostolical Authority but that even the abstinence from the flesh of beasts for that time and changing our diet into Fish and other Viands is by Apostolick command But their reasons are far worse than their opinion making a distinction as if one meat were more sanctified than another whereas all things are alike unpolluted to him that eats Gods Creatures with thanksgiving and a resolved conscience and with temperance But thus the Friers flash out that the Seas were never cursed for the sin of man the earth was cursed for his sin therefore the food of the Sea is better allotted for times of sorrow and repentance than what Than the flesh of the Cattel yea by this reason than the herbs of the Garden yet the feeding upon herbs and roots was ever accounted the clearer abstinence Such another imagination is this that Christ fed upon Fish after his Resurrection so he did upon an honey Comb and yet the Bees gather the fruits of their labours from the flowers of the field and not from the weeds of the water Such another rotten Argument is this that all Flesh was destroyed in Gods anger in the Deluge but Fishes were saved alive in the water You need require from me no better confutation of this cause than the naming of these reasons for who will not resolutely say that such frippery as this never came from Apostolical judgment The Decretals of the Pope a work wherein I am sure the Church of Rome can have no wrong done it but those Decretals attribute unto Telesphorus that he was the first that commanded the Clergie for seven weeks before Easter to refrain from the food of flesh this is but barely said and not proved but if it were proved all the Apostles were dead before Telesphorus was born therefore no way probable to be an Apostolick direction And indeed I find certain glances in the Fathers that the Clergy did admit of this institution before the rest of the people did which makes it more firm that it was Abstinentia cibi secundum Ecclesiae regulam an abstinence from some kind of food by a meer Ecclesiastical imposition to try their obedience Surely they may name ten places out of antiquity before they alledge one to the purpose that is for the commutation of their ordinary diet from flesh into fish Some quote Serapion in Socrates that entertained a Guest hard before Easter and being destituted of all provision except a piece of dried salted flesh he set that before the stranger who scrupulously refused it and said he would not break Lent because he was a Christian Serapion answers To the clean all things are clean eat it because you are a Christian From hence I collect 1. That Lent was kept by a Canonical Ordinance two hundred years after Christ in Serapions days 2. That to abstain from flesh was the Civil Law of the time as it is with us but so easily dispensable that you may conclude it was no Apostolical Ordinance I will adjoyn one place of St. Austin most falsely quoted by Salmeron the Jesuite 1 Tim. iv St. Paul says it was the Doctrine of Devils to forbid meats Faustus the Manichean infers then Moses in the Old Law wrote the Doctrine of Devils No says St. Austin Quadragesima â vobis sine vino carnibus non superstitiose sed divinâ lege servatur 1. You Manichaeans abstain both from wine and flesh in Lent 2. You observe it as from a Divine Law that was the error of the Manicheans to receive it as from divine Law it was not the Tenet of the Orthodox Christians the Church of Rome it self will stand for me in this quotation because no man is restrained from drinking of wine during that fast no not by their Injunctions So I have enough discovered their groundless opinion who take upon them to defend that abstinence from flesh in Lent is an Apostolical Constitution Therefore some state the matter in these words that although the prohibition of some meats for forty days be corroberated by Ecclesiastical Law and
death was contrived and his accusation laid before Pilate he that maketh himself a King is not Cesars friend I have often both read it and seen it that Pride Vain-glory Faction and I know not what have been laid to the charge of the Innocent by some uncharitable mouths who have spread it so far that for all their innocency they could never wipe off the stain Many times the more they decline those crimes the more occasion is taken to accuse them Every thing that Paul could say or do to purge himself wrought him envy and misreport that he was turbulent and a mover of sedition He could never shake it off with all his meekness and modesty Well if mischief and defamation must have their course the remedy is easie though it be desperate commend your innocency to God The Lord of life himself was haunted with a wrong opinion from the time that Satan made this motion to his death that he had a purpose to be a Monarch and to display his Banner against Cesar in the quarrel of the Jews for their ancient liberty The people would have made him a King Joh. vi and he hid himself out of the way yet that would not acquit him his very Disciples not seldom but even till after his Resurrection till they saw him taken away to heaven lookt for honourable command and superiority under him It cost the sweet Babes of Bethlem their lives that the Wisemen of the East called him a King It lost him his own life as I toucht upon it before that the children of Jerusalem entertained him with that acclamation Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord Luk. xix 38. That question was and is scandalous to the Jews was and is a stumbling-block to some Gentiles what manner of Kingdom belonged to Christ as he was man Before ever the Magi of the East said Where is he that is born King of the Jews The Angel upon the first tidings of his Incarnation told the blessed Virgin his Mother The Lord shall give unto him the Throne of his Father David And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever and of his Kingdom there shall be no end Luk. i. 32. From hence some Papalins whom I formerly refuted stile him a Temporal King who bequeathed all his Dominions to his chief Apostle St. Peter and he to one that is his Successor if it please God in all but his Sanctity Then the perfidious Jews object since the Prophets say that the Messias shall be a King and sit upon the Throne of David the Messias is not yet come because Christ did not triumph and exercise Lordly authority upon the Throne of David To draw out truth against both these at once like a two edged Sword I lay down these three things 1. That neither the Prophets nor St. Luke do teach that Christ had a Temporal Kingdom 2. That he had Dominion given to him by his Father over all earthly things but not by way of ruling all things like a King in his Kingdom 3. In most proper and safe construction we must say his was a spiritual Kingdom I will be brief in all these especially in the former To make much ado that Christ had no temporal Kingdom were to light a Candle at Noon-day The case is clear for I hope we will believe him rather than his enemies These are his words Joh. xviii 36. My Kingdom is not of this world if it were my servants would fight for me that I should not be delivered to the Jews but my Kingdom is not from hence He meant say some Papalins that the world gave him no Kingdom neither chose him a King yet he doth not deny but he received an earthly Kingdom from God A most empty Objection For Pilate sate his Judge to examine if he made himself a King to injure Cesar The same Pilate liked his answer so well that he told the Jews he found no fault with him But would Pilate have put it up if he had answered no better That he claimed a Kingdom indeed by a right and title derived from heaven frivolous and the Cavil of the Jews comes to nothing that God would set the Messias upon the Seat of his Father David Stretch not the Phrase too far and the meaning is 1. The Messias should come out of Davids Loins 2. And be a King as David was 3. Not after that way an earthly Potentate but after a more noble glorious perfect way than ever David governed And I pray you how could it be that he should be a King over Judah and Israel as David was when that Kingdom was taken away from Davids house before Christ was born and a Prophesie denounced it should never return to that house again So it was foretold to Jeconiah Jer. xxii 30. Write this man barren there shall be no man of his Seed to sit upon the Throne of David and to have power any more in Judah In a word Scripture elsewhere shews that to sit upon Davids Seat was to have the Jews subject unto him not after a carnal way but to be worshipped of them in spirit and to enjoyn them to keep his Laws and Commandments for their salvation So it is Hos iii. 5. They shall seek the Lord their God and David their King and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days Secondly I said Christ had Dominion given to him by his Father over all earthly things but not by way of ruling all things like a King in his Kingdom for by uniting the Humane Nature to the Godhead through the admirable influence of that Hypostatical Union So the very Manhood was made Lord over all things according to those places Mat. xi All things are delivered unto me of my Father And in these last days he spake unto us by his Son whom he made Heir of all things Heb. i. 2. And that you doubt not how he had power over all things as being man united with God he whose name was called the Word of God had a name written on his thigh King of Kings and Lord of Lords Rev. xix 16. Super femur mark that Vpon his thigh that is upon his Humane Nature Now this in him was of a more eminent and sublimed condition than all Regal Authority on the earth It came to him the most glorious way that ever was by the Hypostatical Union not by Conquest Inheritance Election Donation or any earthly sort 2. His power reacheth not only to command the outward actions but the very thoughts and conscience 3. He is over things sensible and insensible Men and Angels quick and dead heaven and earth and the very Regions of darkness 4. When men die their glory perisheth with them but of this mans Kingdom it is often testified there is no end Yea after his death he rose again and then began his Dominion to be most absolute by many exteriour works It was his pleasure oftentimes to exercise
Pollinctores quia pollutos ungerent But among divine Writers all do embrace this as a strong conjecture and indeed not to be denied that the Servants of God embalmed and anointed the dead both in the Old and New Testament in honour of the Resurrection So Joseph commanded the Physicians to embalm his Father So certain devout Widows washed the body of Tabitha and laid her forth in an upper Chamber Acts ix 37. Let me not omit how Christ himself did approve of that Ceremony while he was living A woman broke a box of Oyntment of Spikenard very precious upon his head and when some had indignation at it he forbad his Disciples to trouble her saying She is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying Mar. xiv 8. That woman spent her cost upon him when he was alive to give her thanks Mary came to pour her Spices upon his Grave when she thought he was dead true Love is munificent to them who are dear unto it when they live but more abundantly when they are deceased Now carry your attention with you to the third part of the Text that no season was so fit to be watch'd as this which the women laid hold of The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalen This coming was upon the third day after Christ had been laid in the Grave and it was upon the same day which from thenceforth was called the Lords day wherein our holy Assemblies every week do meet together these two things are fit to be examined before I leave the Treatise of this Point From the beginning of the world was there never any thing of so great expectation as the success of this day whether that which Christ had so often foretold should come to pass that he should die and the third day he would rise again How busie were the women to come abroad and try what they could learn And I verily think the waves of the Sea rowl not about so fast in a Tempest as the thoughts of the Disciples beat within their heart and earned within them between fear and hope whether the day were like to prove glorious or uncomfortable well God did rather go beyond his own word than come a whit behind it He made this third day the most memorable Feast that ever the Sun shined upon It was a third day when Joseph released his brethren out of Prison Gen. xlii 18. On the third day in the morning after the people had come to Mount Sinai the Law of God was delivered Exod. xix 16. On the third day Esther put on her Royal Apparel and stood before Ahasuerus and desired him to be good to her Nation Esther v. 1. On the third day Abraham came to the place where his faith was tried and Isaac was restored back again alive when the sacrificing knife had been at his throat Gen. xxii 4. To come near to the mark the third day Jonas was cast safe upon the Land out of the belly of the Whale and that was the sign which Christ gave to the Jews able to convince all infidelity as Jonas was three days and three nights in the belly of the Whale and then came forth alive so Christ burst open the Monument the third day and appeared unto many Reason may be busie to enquire why the Son of God prefix'd such a space of time for his Resurrection before he would quicken his flesh rather than any other Certainly there is but one modest conjecture which is this he would lie no longer than some hours of a third day in the grave lest he should keep the weak faith of his Disciples too long in suspense yet sooner he would not open his monument lest his enemies the Jews should pretend he was but cast into a swoon by the sharpness of pain and not truly dead These following I will allow for ingenuous allusions and no more that our Redeemers body was bereaft of life unto the third day to appease the offended justice of every Person in Trinity God the Father Son and Holy Ghost to signifie that we were dead in sin by thought word and deed To bring unto eternal life them that believed either under the Law of nature under the Law of Moses or under the new Covenant of grace To restore the three parts of spiritual life unto us Faith hope and charity Tria sunt omnia says another three days are the sum of mans life both here and for ever A day of labour in this World a day of rest in the Grave a day of reward in the Resurrection If there be any Son of Adam that would have a fourth day Dies otii in hâc vitâ A day of ease and pleasure in this life such a one is Lazarus quatriduanus putet It may be said of him as the two Sisters said of Lazarus their Brother He hath lain four days in the ground and begins to smell Three days are all labour rest and reward these are allusions I said to the Resurrection of Christ upon the third day One thing is very observable to match this circumstance of the New Testament and an accident which fell out in the Old Even this very day wherein Christ arose and gate dominion over death the same day which was the third day after the eating of the Passeover Moses brought the Children of Israel through the Red Sea unto dry Land certainly intimating that they went through death to life and so did Christ St. Peter hath a Text 1 Epist 1.10 which doth authorize me yet to search further and more diligently about the time of this Resurrection Saies he The Prophets have enquired and searched diligently what manner of time the Spirit of Christ did signifie when it testified before hand the sufferings of Christ and the glory which should follow And surely there is a great mystery coucht in the circumstance of time that the Evangelists have differently set down other observations that concurred upon the Resurrection but all of them in one phrase do agree in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that this wonder was wrought upon the first day of the week 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vna Sabbati The Jews gave such honour to their Sabbath that every day following had the denomination from it the first second and the third day after the Sabbath and so unto the sixth The Latine Church in their Liturgies hath given the same honour to Easter Day for Easter day by principallity being called Feria the Holy Day The Latines from it call the days of the week primam secundam tertiam Feriam and so unto the sixth Our vulgar English calls the first day of the week Sunday and all other days following are denominated from some of the Planets we received such Language in this Island from our Forefathers who were Paynims and knew not God but we differ from them in the intention they did it out of Idolatry to the Sun and Moon c. we to signifie that God made the Host
Day of Salvation says Isaiah and that day reacheth from the time that Remission of sins is preached in the bloud of Christ unto the end of the world Now as the Text is common to all Evangelical Days so there is one Day that lifts up its head above them all the most memorable Day of our Saviour's Resurrection then it was verily fulfilled as Peter urg'd it that the Stone which the Builders refused became the head of the corner St. Chrysostom Nyssen and almost who not pitch upon Easter-day for the particular application of this Text that was the Day wherein God did bring forth a more eminent work than in other common days and upon every Sunday in the year for that Day 's sake the Church hath appointed sacred Assemblies that we may rejoyce and be glad Well then of Davids Day first and from thence how particular Holidays may be ordeined to magnifie Gods extraordinary benefits next of the blessed Age of the Gospel wherein we have great cause to rejoyce and be comforted for Christ hath wiped away all tears from our eyes And last of all I shall take the right opportunity to speak of the glorious Feast of the Resurrection and how the Church doth keep the weekly Feast of the Lords day to rejoyce and be glad in it And first the Holy Ghost hath left it written for the honor of the Lords Anointed This is the Day which the Lord hath made There is one thing in that form of speech which jarrs a little against the ear how can it be said that God did make one day more than another for he hath framed all Times and Seasons alike the Sun knoweth his going down and he maketh it return again every morning to give light unto the World In the Hymns of the Heathen he is called Diespiter the Father of all days indifferently it is he that sets the Heavens in perpetual motion and makes the hours run on and when he calls back his word the Plumbets shall go down and time shall be no more It is granted therefore that he giveth continuance and being to all days after one sort and for the Phrase of my Text a new Writer hath well exprest himself Non includitur mensura temporis sed conditiones tempori incidentes it is not meant of the Day which the Sun makes with his diurnal motion but of the great Work which was wrought in that Day that is not that God made that Day more than others but that He made more in that Day than in others It is vulgar to impute the condition of things which fall out in some certain dayes to the days themselves per metonymiam adjuncti although a day as it is meerly a space of time cannot possibly be capable of such Attributes We take liberty to call this a cold or a moist day not for its own sake but because coldness and moisture happen in the day so for the contingency of glorious things we call the day it self glorious and to renown the memorable acts of the Lord we have got a use to speak thus This is the day which the Lord hath made In 1 Sam. 12.6 according to the Original and that 's pointed at in our Margent it is said that the Lord made Moses and Aaron why are not all that are born of a woman the works of his hands as well as Moses and Aaron therefore our Translation hath rendred the sense rather than the word that the Lord advanced Moses and Aaron In like manner we may read my Text thus This is the Day which the Lord advanced for he made it remarkable with an extraordinary favour and thereby gave it a Dignity and Exaltation above its fellows The going out and the return of every year are from the Almighty with the store and abundance that it brings forth but when the clouds drop fatness with unusual plenty then the Prophet says that he crowns that year with his goodness Psal lxv 11. So some principal Days are crowned above the rest as this Day wherein through the sun shine of his mercy he set a Crown of pure Gold upon the head of David his Servant Piety forbid that we should not thankfully receive the most vulgar benefits I know that common things are commonly neglected but learn to see God in small things or you shall never see him in greater If I had learnt it of no other yet I find enough in Seneca for that use Communia negligenda non sunt c. neglect not to give thanks for common and quotidian favours for life and health and suppeditation of food that the Sun doth shine upon us that we have the air to breath in that the Sea doth ebb and flow for navigation There are days of small things as Zachary calls them chap. iv 10. but those small things are to be consider'd of us with a grateful heart who are less than the least of all his mercies but how much more requisite is it then to observe those days wherein some eminent blessings are confer'd upon us what a behooveful thing it is every man for his own part to keep a Calender of the famous Acts of the Lord for our Birth for our Baptism for great Preservations and to represent them before us at the return of every year with grateful acknowledgment from the bottom of our heart and when God doth see that we are so mindful of a prosperous Day he will grant us many prosperous Years and for the period of joy a most prosperous Eternity that shall never have a period This is made as plane then as you can wish upon what special Prerogative the Lord is said to make a particular day because he doth appoint some special favour to fall out upon it and the Wise-mans Question is answered Ecclus. xxxiii 7. Why doth one day excel another when as all the light of every day of the year is of the Sun It is not the material light which distinguisheth the nobleness of Dayes but he that made the Sun more excellent than the other Stars of the Firmament hath made Princes glorious as the Sun in the Orb of the Common-wealth and a Day of a Princes Exaltation is like a Prince among Days and in that capacity to be magnified Such a day is said to be made by God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because God himself and none else is the Author of the Power of Kings He and none but He took David from following the Ews great with young and set him over the Princes of his People In a word since the Day is taken for the Work of the Day the real meaning of the first words of my Text is this is the King which the Lord hath made Samuel anointed him the People shouted and cried God save him but the Lord did constitute him the Ruler of the Twelve Tribes and gave him his Sovereign Authority the Crowns of Glory in Heaven and the Crowns of Dignity upon Earth are both held by
of the Creation This doth unavoidably suggest unto us that no day of the seven is fitter for our celebration than Sunday or the first day of the Week when Christ rose from the dead he having dispatcht all the works of exinanition and given us manifest assurance and joy for our eternal redemption And so I fall into the next member propounded what ground we have for keeping this day weekly to the service of God in the Resurrection of Christ Some what have been heedless in their assertions have confidently delivered that the Lords day is clearly instituted in the work of Christs Resurrection nay that the Resurrection did apply and determine the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment to the Lords day These go so far that all proof and reason forsakes them It is true that our Saviours victorious rising from the dead was a good occasion which the Church took to celebrate this day but that act of his rising from the dead was not instead of a Law to appoint the day They are not the works of God but his words that institute Laws and where there is no Imperative act of the Law-giver there can be no Law to bind In six days the Lord made heaven and earth and all things therein and rested the seventh day yet that Cessation of God from his works had not made that seventh day in every week holy to the Jews without his pleasure signified to keep it So the Resurrection of the Lord doth not make the Lords day a solemn day for Divine Service in all our Generations by a compulsory Statute unless it were said in the Gospel and so it was never said you shall keep the first day of the Week holy in honour of the Resurrection Without some imperative word or sentence to declare Gods pleasure we cannot deduce a Law And if the Resurrection of itself without a Precept annexed had exalted it to be an holy day St. Paul would never have agreed with them that esteemed all days alike Rom. xiv Out of this perverse zeal to make a rule out of Christs works without a Precept some would not be baptized till the age of thirty years because Christ was baptized no sooner Others stood nicely upon it that Orders of Priesthood were to be given to none before that age and for no other cause but because he preach'd no sooner Infinite fancies would be multiplied if these ways were allowed for good Divinity It is safe and true to say that the day is kept congruously but not necessarily for the Resurrection sake And surely the Primitive Church could have made choice of no day of the Week more proper and convenient for the Religious Worship of God in honour of that principal Article of our belief and the corner stone of all the rest Ignatius calls every Sunday 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Resurrection day St. Austin says Dominicus dies Christi resurrectione declaratus est ex illo coepit habere festivitatem suam Words which will bear no other construction howsoever some do torture them but thus that the Lords day is published by Christs Resurrection and from thenceforth began to be a Festival And again Domini resuscitatio consecravit nobis Dominicum diem promisit nobis aeternum diem The resuscitation of Christ hath consecrated for us the Lords day and doth promise us an eternal day yet there is no Imperative Edict from heaven to make it so but the light of holy discretion did guide the Church to appoint it so St. Austin hath clustered together many other admirable works of God done upon the first day of the Week in which God did make his first Creature of Light In which the Israelites went through the Red-Sea upon dry Land In which Manna did first fall from heaven In it was the first miracle of water turned into Wine Of the five loaves and two fishes In it Christ was baptized rose from the dead appeared often to his Disciples sent down the Holy Ghost and wherein we expect that at the last day he will come to judgment But the Resurrection is pre-eminent above all things else that hapned in it and that blessing though it do not ratifie a Law yet it is the occasion why this day is Weekly celebrated But I must tell you that one Analogy is ill prosecuted by some though it be vulgar in mens Writings That the Lords rest must be sanctified on what day soever it falleth that is not true unless there be a Law to enforce it therefore as the Sabbath was held holy when God rested from the works of the Creation so Sunday must be kept holy wherein the Son of God after his rising from the Grave rested gloriously from the work of our Redemption That last clause is falsly presumed for he made perfect our Redemption at his death and the price was paid for our sins not by his Resurrection but by his Sacrifice on the Cross and then he gave up the Ghost and said It is finished The day of the Passion therefore if you respect it as a resting from satisfying for our sins deserved to be made a continual Holy day but it was not meet to be kept with joy And mark it I pray you that we honour the day of his rising every Week rather than that of his suffering not because it is a better day or the day of his rest for he rested in the Grave and did spend his Resurrection day in much action but because it is the first day unto the Church of joy and gladness And a chief ingredient in an holy day dedicated to God is to rejoyce and be glad I proceed to the third thing to be inquired into what ground we have to keep the Lords day from any Precept mentioned in the Gospel either delivered by Christ himself or by his Apostles Certainly it never proceeded out of our Saviours mouth to appropriate this designed day to his honour and we must take heed to thrust Laws upon him of our own invention which he never imposed If such a thing had come from him no time had been fitter to express it than when the Pharisees cavilled at his Disciples for plucking the Ears of Corn on the Sabbath day Mat. xii Then he might have retorted that the observation of the Sabbath was expiring but he would constitute the first day of the Week to be the heir of the Sabbath Yet our Lord was so far from such a motion that whereas he reproved the Pharisees with much indignation Mat. v. and vi Chapters for their lax and dissolute interpretations of many moral Laws he corrects them often in the Gospel for being so strict in the rigid performance of the Sabbath which he would never have done if it had totally consisted of moral duties But about the definite appointment of a day Christ is silent for his Precepts in the New Testament are altogether touching spiritual worship And says St. Paul Carnal ordinances were imposed
upon the Jews until times of reformation Heb. ix 10. Nay whereas the Jewish Sacraments were nicely tied to days as the Child must be circumcised on the Eighth day and the Paschal Lamb must be eaten on the Fourteenth day of the First Month these Ceremonies being expired and Christ giving new Sacraments in their place Baptism and the Lords Supper no days are punctually prescribed for the use of them but in all Ages it hath been left to the liberty of the Church and that liberty hath been used piously and prudently without all manner of Scandal For there are no particular Laws for Circumstantial observations of what time and place with what Garments with what Liturgie of Prayers The reason is Christ hath called us to liberty and we are not hedged in such streights as the Jews were Yet if the right of the day be founded in any Apostolical Precept it is all one as if it were the immediate voice of God for they had the Spirit of Christ and they had his Commission Mat. xxviii 20. Go and baptize all Nations teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you If they have taught us any thing this way it is commanded by Christ Now in all the Epistles Apostolical there is but one place that hath any seeming to speak Imperatively 1 Cor. xvi 1. Concerning the collection for the Saints as I have given order to the Churches of Galatia even so do ye Vpon the first day of the Week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him c. Here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Constitution from St. Paul but about what Not for Church Assemblies to meet together on the first day of the week He doth not say when you are together give to the poor but let every one lay somewhat by him And that imports that they were to deduct somewhat from their gains in their private Family Apud te repone domum tuam fac Ecclesiam lay by your Alms at home and make your own house the Church says St. Chrysostome But admit that this were a solemn day as I will not stand in it but it was as well for religious Assemblies as for charitable Contributions yet St. Pauls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the order he took was for Alms and not for appointment of the Lords day that must come in by way of Practice of which I shall speak by and by and not by way of Precept Shall I conclude then that no Commandment can be found in the New Testament which will reach to the imposition of this day Not so neither It is enough if we have general warranty for it though not particular The Church hath ratified it to be kept holy in all Ages And Christ hath confirmed their act to be most obligatory He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me None can appoint a day but God by way of excellency or original authority but the Fathers of the Church being appointed Rulers by Christ may do this by delegate and derivative authority and by vertue of their Commission It is as slender as a rush to object that the Lord is the immediate founder of that holy time because it is called the Lords day If it be Gods own immediate assignation point it out Neither is there any impediment but that the Church may give the name Lords day to any holy day as well as a Bishops Consecration of some fair structure may cause it to be called the Lords house or as the laying on of his hands may make one that is a Lay-man be called a Minister of our Lord Jesus Christ But you will say it were a faster tye to hold that the Injunction is immediately from God then mediately from the Church Beloved Saul was appointed a King immediately from God and Hezekiah came not so to the Crown as Saul did but by succession of bloud Yet were not the People as much subject in conscience to Hezekiah as to Saul I trow they were So Aaron was called by God to be the High Priest Zadok was put into the place by Solomon he reigning under God And was not Zadok to be obeyed in his Priesthood as well as Aaron It is a common but a dangerous error to think that pious Ordinations are but weak and impotent if they be conveyed by the mediation of the voice of the Church Whereas if they be convenient means to the better fulfilling of the Commandment of God they are subordinate to the Divine Law nay they are incorporate into it and become sacred and venerable And remember that the Composers of them are sacred Persons and authorized to that Office by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and the Commission of Christ The last Member of our enquiry is what ground we have for sanctifying this day in the name of the Lord from the practice of the Apostles and from the practice of the Church in all Ages And this tenure as I conceive will prove so strong that it will make it not only a firm Ecclesiastical Sanction but also a Divine Institution There are manifest footsteps that the Apostles were occupied in Sacred Offices upon this day that is uncontroulable The first day of the Week the Disciples came together to break bread that is to celebrate the Supper of the Lord and Paul preached unto them Acts xx 7. I know that Paul taught every day of the Week sometimes Acts xix 9. But this preaching joyned with the breaking of bread and that eye which the Church in all Ages hath cast upon this place as a pattern fit to be followed it makes it eminent and remarkable Again the first day of the Week being signed out in the Churches of Corinth and Galatia for relieving the poor it may well be inferred that it was the practice of the Apostle and Apostolical men to exercise Religious duties upon that day then the day was graced with this name of dignity to be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords day Rev. x. 10. For though it may be put off that the recurrent day wherein Christ rose is called by St. John the Lords day yet that evasion is taken off because Apostolical men who no doubt did keep the sound form of words did use the very same word while the Apostles were living and immediatly after Ignatius whose felicity it was to be St. Johns Scholar says he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let every one that loves Christ keep the Lords day holy And as he speaks so did all others that were near his age The practice of the Apostles is so pregnant for it in Scripture that all the Fathers of the nearest times unto them call it their Institution and Tradition So doth Irenaeus St. Basil and a multitude of the same rank To put this Point home because it especially concerns the Doctrine which I have in hand it may be truly opposed that the practice of the Apostles doth not always make a
find whose ambition is pained like a woman in travel till it bring forth a bigger fortune who covet forty that it may beget an hundred and drive on an hundred till it make a thousand and so forth you may say that these have lickt of the Devils hony and if they might have their own will they would burst their belly Now to conclude all To say that this Wilderness-ful of people had as much as they could eat out of two or three Omers of corn out of a little that a poor Lad perhaps had gleaned it is marvelous in our ears Yet take all and it goes much beyond this for the Fragments which remained did fill twelve Baskets Yea says the common Gloss there are Speculations of Divinity with secret Traditions which the rude unlearned people cannot digest these the Apostles and their Successors keep close in their own baskets it may be this note is of that kind therefore I pass it over and let them reserve it to themselves The plain truth is that was done 1. Ad miraculi evidentiam it could not have been evident that all were filled unless somewhat had been left 2. It was done ad miraculi claritatem to make it exceed above any thing that could be compared It was beyond Manna that would not keep if any of it were laid up this did It was beyond the meat which the Ravens brought to Elias he had but a morsel at once to serve necessity It was beyond the Widows meal and her oil they increased no more after the rain fell but here was an increase after an universal satuâ—ity 3. When this miraculous Feast was done a great deal superabounded to admonish them they must not think to live always upon Miracles 4. As the beginning of this noble work was a lesson against covetousness and thrust us on to distribute so the end of it is a lesson against Prodigality and bids us lay up that which remains 5. Let them to whom it belongs do the due work of Evangelists and though they earn but little here the remainder will be great which comes hereafter God will give to each Apostle a Basket full nay a Barnful in the Kingdom of Heaven Both Cedrenus and Nicephorus take them as they be relate what precious Monuments these baskets were in after Ages it is thus Constantine intending the splendor of his own City brought from Rome the largest Pillar of Porphyrite stone Upon the top he set an Image of Brass praised for the best Piece in the world it was the Statue of Apollo in old Troy In a Vault under the Base he laid up as his choicest Reliques an Axe with which Noah made the Ark and these twelve Baskets in which the Fragments were carried away of the Loaves and Fishes Why these more than any other Reliques Nicephorus says nothing to it you shall have my conjecture He chose the Relique belonging to the Ark rather than any other to preserve the City standing upon the Sea from Inundation He chose these twelve Baskets as a deprecation against Famine I will dispatch Other mysteries I could enumerate upon this which was over and above all that was eaten One thing I must not omit which hath busied divers to no great purpose that when five thousand eat of five Loaves and two Fishes twelve Baskets remained when four thousand eat of seven Loaves and a few Fishes but seven Baskets remained What is this to us if Christ would shew the riches of his Liberality unequally where he pleased But what if it cannot be decided for all this at which Feast most was remaining The twelve Baskets are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were such as you might dandle in your hand the Jews carried them under their arm in the days of Juvenal the Poet. The seven Baskets are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as big as Paniers There is a large difference between Amos his little basket of Summer fruit and the basket wherein St. Paul escaped out of a Window at Damascus that is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Acts. Now you see that seven Dossars may come to more than twelve Hand-baskets But I determine nothing mighty was the power of our Lord Jesus in both and his Liberality never to be forgotten Nay the increase which he gives us year by year is so plentiful as our latest harvest can testifie that no memory so short but will remember it no heart so ingrate but accepts it with all thankfulness no tongue so slow but will praise him AMEN A SERMON Preached at WHITE-HALL UPON S t LUKE'S DAY ACTS xi 26. And the Disciples were called Christians first in Antioch SAint Luke the Pen-man of this Book of Scripture hath a threefold interest in this Text in every principal word of it an interest He was a Disciple by calling whether one of the 70 is a disputable question an Antiochian by birth and a Christian by his Title Then who could better put these three together than himself that the Disciples were called Christians first in Antioch It is not expedient doubtless to glory but if we should glory we should speak the truth that the Congregation of the Church hath reaped more honor by this Record than all the Grandees of the Earth can shew for themselves in their best Charters and Monuments Civil Histories will confess that earthly things of what pomp and splendor soever they receive little grace from their first original for either the evidences of their beginning are obscure consisting upon such weak proofs as cannot command us to believe them The Inscription of an old piece of money coined who knows why And the Characters of a broken Stone digged up who knows where These are the Models that Cities and Kingdoms do greedily embrace and thrust upon you for your best Memorials If the Evidences be more authentical then ten to one but their novelty will disparage them for what is it to reckon upon one or two Ages past a thing may be quickly famous but it must ask longer time to be venerable Finally if Antiquity and clear Evidence do both concur quando haec rara avis est which lights but seldom what mean and contemptible beginnings shall you find of those Nations and Republiques upon whose glory the Heavens have shined with most propitious influence The Persian Dynastie once so rich and puissant look back to the Founder and it was a Child exposed in the Woods taken up by the charity of a Shepherd and fostered a while by his poverty They that laid the foundation of Romes greatness and had the heart afterward to think how to conquer the whole Earth were at first but a Crue of Thieves I will not displease to call to mind upon what slight and almost ridiculous occasions Titles of brave estimation did first grow into credit it holds in them all that Almighty God willing to advance Religious honor above Secular hath blurr'd the Secular honor with one of these three diminutions vel
novitate vel obscuritate vel parvitate either it hath no glorious beginning for it is new or it cannot shew it for it is obscure or it dare not shew it for it is course and mean Now the glory which we have by Christ is amplified through these Comparisons For first Our Society began not obscurely but at Antioch the Metropolis of Syria one of the most populous and fairest Seats of the World in those days 2. The Records of it are without all exception in this indubitable sacred History 3. Neither is it a Mushrome of the field lately sprung up but it began in that Age when the Apostles of our Lord were living 4. Neither did we purchase our appellation from base and unworthy offices as by adoring the fortunes of men or by worshipping vain Gods but from the unanimity and accord which both Gentiles and Jews that believed did profess in serving the true only God and his Son by whom he made the World Jesus Christ No more then can be said then to these three Points Here are our Progenitors of worthy memory the Disciples their Title of honor and distinction they were called Christians and the place where they received it Antioch to make more of that which is so full in three parts were to make it less But of these in their order To begin with the Disciples and a little searching into them and their condition will make them known to be a noble and a numerous Society I must premise that two things had gone before which filled the Church with infinite increase of Believers First the Martyrdom of St. Stephen whereupon all that addicted themselves that way fled from Jerusalem and were strangely scattered abroad in most remoted places St. James from thenceforth calls them the twelve Tribes of the Dispersion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 St. Peter comes to some particularities and greets them by the name of Strangers scattered throughout Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia Bythinia yet these were but a few of them in one Walk as I may say for such as write of the Conversion of Nations give a probable demonstrance that some of those dispersed Jews had crept into evety Kingdom that was habitable under the Sun And I instance in one thing especially because Baronius quotes an old English Manuscript contained in the Vatican Library for his Author that the chief adherents to Christ namely Joseph of Arimathaea Lazarus with his Sisters Mary and Martha were despitefully committed to the Seas in a Barque which had neither Oar nor Sail but Gods providence and the winds brought it safe to Marseils in France where they all landed and Joseph the Apostle of this Kingdom made a further journey into our Island And do not marvel that there should be enow to replenish all the World upon this dispersion for before our Saviour's Ascension he was seen of five hundred Brethren St. Peter's first Sermon after the coming of the Holy Ghost gained three thousand souls more The number of five thousand more were added to them by the power of his next Sermon preached in Solomons Porch Acts iv And after this St. Luke never counts how many were converted they were past his reckoning he relates the Blessing thus in the gross The number of the Disciples multiplied greatly and a great company of the Priests were obedient to the Truth Acts vi 7. You see what store of laborers here were which were all cast out of Jerusalem upon the Persecution which was raised at the death of Stephen Non dispersi sed seminati non imbecillitate disjecti sed fidei gratiâ divisi says St. Athanasius they were not turned abroad at random but sown like seed in every quarter of the earth it was not fear and infirmity but the Grace of God which divided them Well the next thing that made the Spirit of God blow like the wind in all places where it listeth was the Conversion and Baptizing of Cornelius the Italian Captain about the seventh year after the Ascension of our Saviour The baptizing of the Eunuch by Philip though he were a more honourable person than Cornelius the great Treasurer to Queen Candace yet it made no noise at all for the Eunuch though an Aethiopian and so a Gentile yet he was a Proselyte of the Jewish Religion and so no Gentile Cornelius and his Houshold were the first of meer Gentiles that received the Holy Ghost and were baptized in the Name of the Lord. The tidings hereof did quickly arrive among the Brethren in all places and the Disciples knew by that token that they might spend their labours not upon the Jews only but upon the Gentiles also You see the means by which the Evangelical Truth was advanced so did Antioch grow to be a famous Church partly by their labours who fled from Jerusalem when St. Stephen was stoned ver 19. partly by attracting great numbers of Graecians to the faith of the Lord Jesus ver 20. and these now compounded together in one Body the faithful of the Circumcision and the faithful of the Uncircumcision these are Disciples recorded in my Text. This will put it likewise from your conceit that the twelve Apostles are not meant here by the attribute of Disciples they come far short of that exceeding number of Saints that were so entitled nor yet those seventy sent by two and two to preach and to cure diseases Luk. x. for distinction sake they began to be called old Disciples in these days as Mnason of Cyprus is called an old Disciple Act. xxi 16. But according to the largest courtesie of the word those that embraced the Doctrin of eternal life and this is done with our Saviour's good leave as it is Joh. viii 31. If you continue in my word then are you my Disciples indeed Sectaries and prophane Hereticks spread their errors abroad wo unto those that give ear unto them The great Dictators of natural Sciences ground their conclusions upon Principles of reason and would attain felicity not by faith but by arguments Miserable were all those that affected to be so wise that they could not be saved they are not these Disciples But leaving these pudled fountains blessed were the true Scholars of Grace that drew their waters from the Cisterns of Christ Truth went before them as a light and Sanctity did guide them by the hand these are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taught of God as the word is in St. Paul And this is consolation enough to sweeten all other misery so the Prophet cherisheth the distressed Church that it was her glory that her Children should be the Disciples of that Truth which came down from Heaven O thou afflicted tossed with tempest and not comforted I will lay thy foundations with Saphires c. and all thy children shall be taught of the Lord Isa liv 13. How much did the Pharisees honour the poor man that was born blind when they meant to spit defiance in his face saying Thou art his Disciple Was
that the worst they could say slander us so and spare not says St. Austin upon it maledictio sit super nos super nostros liberos let that reproach fall upon us and our Children for ever But if any Age were more in jeopardy than another to wrest the word Disciple to an ill sense I am perswaded 't is ours For if a Disciple be a learner of the Divine Testimonies there are many that affect to be Discipulissimi by their good will there is no day of the week but they would sit at the feet of their own Gamaliels the pretence of learning is so great in these our days that I am sure all former times come short of this double diligence And were they such Disciples that were first called Christians Certainly the word of God was very precious unto them and as St. James bids it be so they were swift to hear Seek the Lord while he may be found seek his face evermore quaeramus inveniendum quaeramus inventum seek him for He is glorious seek him evermore for He is infinite And that Heathen saying was to good purpose when we have one foot in the Grave be still willing to learn But these Disciples gathered their heavenly Manna by moderate measure in a fit proportion to digest it not like our open-ear'd people in a numberless quantity to make them loath it Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth says the great Doctor 1 Thes iv always walking and never going home not desiring to have instruction fall down in sweet drops to make the seed of the Word fructifie but with an Inundation to make it putrifie and continually gaping for somewhat that tends to the curiosity of knowledg rarher than the conscience of practice And where have they got this use but from outlandish fashions where there is no decent face of a Church no air of Devotion no solemn Liturgie to employ the time in whereby they must needs make up that which is wanting with continual preaching But you will say if this ravening after Sermons as I may call it be a fault it flows from the zeal of them that mean well and charity may construe it to the best There 's more in it than so as I conceive First it is too manifest to conceal it or deny it that superfluity of hearing is a cloak of dissimulation and hath bred a consumption of practising and scire est propter ire say the old Friers we know the way that we may go the way 2. Let any one descend skilfully into the nature of man and he shall see that it is our humour to grow too familiar with that which is told too often a decent distance and intermission would breed more reverence and attention 3. Whom doth it not afflict that hath a right sense of piety to see so much havock and loss of that which is so precious A Carpenter may hew off large chips from a Block but a Lapidary will make no waste of a Diamond when he pares it It was not the itching ear then which thinks it can never hear enough that made a Disciple in the Primitive Church they did not heap to themselves vain Teachers that every one of the common sort might prove a Doctor rather than a Learner and controul the best as if they were Masters rather than Disciples yet their heart was bent with meekness to receive the Word as St. James says they discharged their duty in good sort to hear and learn for hearing is the Key of knowledge but they did not turn the Key continually in the Lock and never open the door they were wise builders that heard the truth and did if and their desire was set to incarnate the written Word in their Souls by doing it as the blessed Virgin gave flesh to the Eternal Word by bearing it In a word they were such Disciples as gave the tongue of praise just occasion to call them Christians I will recite but a little of that which antiquity hath witnessed for their sakes Their Vessel was kept so chaste and clean that every day if persecutions dispersed them not they partaked of the body and bloud of their Saviour their temperance so great their fasting so constant that one says The Constitution of Lent began not till such time as their perpetual sobriety began to be unimitated Their Charity drew this admiration out of their forest enemies See how they love one another Even their Tormentors while their bodies lay bleeding under their hands were converted to believe and suffer with them by their Patience and Fortitude Finally Their contempt of the world was testified in this That no man said that ought which he had was his own but they had all their possessions in common Angelica respublica nihil dicere proprium says St. Chrysostom That made it no less than a Society of Angels to renounce their part in any proper possession It was not therefore hearing upon hearing that denominated them Disciples these were the Elements of which their Piety consisted and then they proceeded to be called Christians Yet before I come to the birth of this new title which is the chief corner-stone of my Text it will suit well to speak a little of the privation or cessation of their old names by which in former times they were known And they are of two sorts Such as the Church claimed to her self and delighted in or such wherewith flanderous tongues did think to wound her And they may be equally divided into three of the one sort and of the other First you meet it every where in the Epistles of the New Testament that such as professed to obey the Gospel were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the brethren One is the Mother of us all in our natural being the earth One Mother of our spiritual Connexion the Church one common Father of our flesh the first man Adam one Father of our Regeneration the Holy Ghost But certainly Charity was the special scope in this appellation for no relation of love is so complete in all points as between Brother and Brother The love between Husband and Wife is not born with them The love between Father and Son is not level and reciprocal because it is not between persons that are equal the love between Friend and Friend is of our own choice nor of necessary duty only the love of Brothers is from the Womb from instinct of nature stands upon equal conditions and is underpropt with all circumstances that ingender affection And to give Charity the pre-eminence this was the first precious oyntment that was poured upon our head we were called brethren And secondly Saints to the Saints that are at Ephesus to the Saints at Colossi And many of the Saints did I shut up in prison says St. Paul before King Agrippa Acts xxvi 10. And this Attribute was given to our famous Predecessors from the Sacramental Seal of Baptism as
respect which is to be had to the young branches of the whole Kingdom and the weight will be very ponderous All men are not born Elder-brothers and all Elder-brothers are not born to be Inheritors of Lands Divers of low degree have generous spirits in them and would be glad to make themselves a fortune as the phrase is What hopes have they to atchieve this in a more ready way than to propose unto themselves to lead a virtuous and industrious life that they may attain to a share of the endowment of Collegiate and Cathedral Churches they only are the common possession of the Realm lying open to all that will qualifie themselves to get a part in them They are not inclosed in private mens Estates but they are the Commons of the Kingdom With all humble leave Mr. Speaker now let us proceed to speak a little for our selves in behalf of the Clergy We hear it by such as are travel'd in parts beyond the Seas most of this Honourable House know it to be true that I shall alledg in their own experience that this Kingdom of England God be praised affords better livelihood to most degrees and ranks than the neighbour Kingdoms do The Knights and Esquires live more plentifully than theirs our Yeomanry far more fashionably than their Peasants Then we trust it will not be thought unreasonable that the Clergy may in some sort have a better maintenance than in the neighbour Reformed Churches Otherwise we shall become the most vile and contemptible part of the State because of our poverty and we shall degenerate into such Priests as Jeroboam appointed the refuse and most base of the people from whom nothing can be expected but Ignorance Superstition and Idolatry Neither is our estate better than all other Reformed Churches in this case for I have heard it from them that have diligently travel'd over all the Reformed Churches in Germany that the Clergy among the Swedes have such Collegiate Chapters with means endowed to the use of the Government of the Church as we have And the Reformed in France and the Low-Countries do sufficiently testify how much they desire that they were Partners of the like prosperity because many of their rarest Scholars have found great relief and comfort by being installed Prebendaries in our Cathedral and Collegiate Churches I will speak but of a few whom my self hath known In the Reign of Blessed Queen Elizabeth Dr. Saravia was maintained in these Foundations in the Reign of the most learned King James Casaubon Father and Son O the renowned Casaubon the Father what a miracle of learning add unto these Dr. Primrose Mr. Vossius and the great honour of the Reformed Churches the most learned Dr. Peter Moulin Concerning whom let me add with your leave Mr. Speaker what he wrote lately to an Honourable person out of France that by reason of great preparations of war in France he feared it would be dangerous for him to live any longer in Sedan if troubles increased he would come for England but if the Entrates of his Prebend and what else he enjoyed in this Church were cut off the whole livelyhood of himself his Wife and Children should be taken from him A pittiful moaning and to be regarded But the testimony of an Adversary is that which may most lawfully be used to advantage The greatest enemy and foul-tongued reviler of the Reformed Church of England was Sanders in his Book of the English Schism as he terms it Consult him in the 163. page as it is in my Edition how he envies us and snarles at us for our prosperity of those forenamed Churches he says that the Royal Queen did judg it fit for the glory of her Praelacy for the splendor of her Kingdom for the firmness of her Sect so he calls our Religion that in Cathedral and Collegiate Churches she would have Provosts Deans Prebendaries Canons This was it that troubled him that he saw these Foundations conduced to the stability of Religion So that I judg by his words a fatter Sacrifice could not be offered up to such as himself than the extirpation of them I go forward now to that benefit which the King and Commonwealth taking them in uno aggregato do reap by them They that think themselves cunning in the Kings Revenue do inform us that we do pay greater summs to the Exchequer by First-fruits Tents and Subsidies according to the proportions which we enjoy by them than any other Estates or Corporations in the Kingdom Beside Horse and Arms which we find for the defence of the Realm against all Enemies and Invasions And this we issue forth with most free and contented hearts Neither would we stop here We are not ignorant with what continual diligence and study this Honourable House doth forecast to provide great summs of money for two Armies and sundry other great occasions God forbid but we should have publick spirits as well as other men And if we be call'd upon to contribute in an extraordinary manner to this great charge of the Kingdom which now lies upon it we shall be ready to do it to the utmost of our ability yea and beyond our ability and if we fail in it let us be branded with your anger and censures for our sordid covetousness Now we shall come to an high pitch imploring the ancient and most Honourable Justice of this House and for the sake of that famous and ever renowned Justice we hope to find grace in your eyes We are now by the admittance of Your Honours favour under that roof where your worthy Progenitors gave unto the Clergy many Charters Privileges Immunities and enacted those Statutes by which we have the free right and liberty in all that we have We read it in Records that in the beginnings of many Parliaments in the first place divers favours were confer'd upon us and we believe the subsequent consultations fared the better for it Indeed we meet with stories likewise that the Prior aliens are vanished out of England that the Orders of St. John of Jerusalem and the Knight Templars were dissolved It is true Mr. Speaker and they deserv'd it their crimes proved manifestly against them were most flagitious and some of them no less than High Treason God be praised we are not charged much less convicted of any scandalous faults And therefore we trust we shall not suffer the like fate who have not committed the like offences And after our casting our selves upon your Honourable Justice I will lead you to the highest degree of all considerations to the Honour of God The Fabricks that I speak of were erected to his glory the lands bequeathed to them were dedicated to his Worship and Service And to that end I beseech you to let them continue for ever and to the maintenance of such persons whom their liberality did expresly destine to be relieved by them and withall I must inform you and I dare not conceal it from you it is tremenda
the bones of them that have been or shall be interred here rest in peace untill a joyful resurrection Let heavenly goodness be on all those that shall here be wedded in lawful Matrimony remembring it is the mystery of Christ and his Church made one with him O let the most Divine Sacrament of Christs Body broken and his Bloud shed for us be the savour of life unto all that receive it Sanctify to holy Calling such as shall be ordained Priests and Deacons by Imposition of hands And we heartily pray that thy Word preached within these walls may be delivered with that truth sincerity zeal and efficacy that it may reclaim the ungodly confirm the righteous and draw many to salvation through Jesus Christ c. BLessed and immortal Lord who stirrest up the hearts of thy faithful people to do unto thee true and laudable service we magnifie thy Grace and the inward working of thy holy Spirit upon the heart of our gracious Soveraign Lord King CHARLES his Highness James Duke of York and his most Religious Dutchess and all Dukes Dutchesses Nobles and Peers of this Realm with our most gracious Metropolitan and all Bishops and others of the holy Orders of the Clergy all Baronets Knights and Gentry Ladies and devout persons of that Sex and for all the Gentry and godly Commonalty for all Cities Burrows Towns and Villages who have bountifully contributed to re-edify and repair this ancient and beautiful Cathedral which was almost demolished by Sons of Belial But these thy large-hearted and bountiful servants have raised up this Holy Place to its former beauty and comliness again Lord recompence them all sevenfold into their bosom As they have bestowed their temporal things willingly and largely upon this holy place so recompence them with eternal things and with increase of earthly abundance as thou knowest to be most expedient for them Let the Generation of the faithful be blessed and let their memories be precious to all posterity O Lord this is thy Tabernacle it is thy House and not mans perfect it we beseech thee in that which is wanting to accomplish it And for all those thy choice servants whose charitable hands have given their oblation to raise up again this sacred Habitation which was pulled down by impious hands give them all thine eternal Kingdom for their Habitation Amen O Thou Holy One who dwellest in the highest Heavens and lookest down upon all thy servants and considerest the condition of all men now we have begun to speak to our Lord God who are but dust and ashes permit us to continue our prayers for the souls health and external prosperity of all those that are concerned in this place Be favourable and merciful to the most reverend Father in God Gilbert Lord Archbishop of Canterbury our most munificent Benefactor under whose Government we reap much peace good order and happiness O Lord be merciful to me thy Servant the most unworthy of them that wear a linnen Ephod yet by thy providence and his Majesties favour the Bishop of this Church and of the Diocess to which it belongs Be a loving God to the Dean Archdeacons Canon Residentiaries Prebendaries Vicars Coral and to all that belong to this Christian Foundation Bless them that live and are encompassed in the Close and Ground of this Cathedral Pour down the plentiful showers of thy bounteous goodness upon this neighbour City of Litchfield the Bailiffs Sheriff Aldermen all the Magistrates and all the Inhabitants thereof Lord we extend our petitions further that thou wilt please to bless all that pertain to this large Diocess for all the Clergy of it that they may be godly examples to their Flock that they may attend to Prayer to Preaching and to administer thy holy Sacraments and diligently to do all duties to those under their charge that are in health or sickness O Lord multiply thy blessings upon all Christian people in the several Shires and Districts belonging to the Government of this Bishoprick and keep us all O Lord in faith and obedience to thee in loyalty to our Soveraign in charity one toward another in submission to the good and orderly Discipline of the Church And save us from Heresies Schisms Fanatical separations and all scandals against the Gospel And guide us all to live as becometh us in the true Communion of Saints Grant all this O Lord for Jesus Christ his sake To whom with Thee and thy Holy Spirit be ascribed and given c. PRevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious favour and further us with thy continual help that in all our works begun continued and ended in thee we may glorifie thy holy Name and finally by thy mercy obtain everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Then the Bishop pronounced a solemn Blessing upon the whole Administration performed and upon all that were present Then followed the Service of Morning Prayer for that day two especial Anthems in extraordinary being added Provision was made instantly for Alms to the Poor And in a very stately Gallery which the Bishop erected in the House where he lived his Lordship annexed to the precedent Solemnity a Feast for three days First to feast all that belonged to the Choir and the Church together with the Proctors and other Officers of the Ecclesiastical Courts On a second day to remember God's great goodness in the restauration and reconciliation of the Church He feasted the Bailiffs Sheriff and all the Aldermen of the City of Lichfield On a third day to the same purpose in the same place He feasted all the Gentry Male and Female of the Close and City He would often afterwards give God thanks who had accepted him as an unworthy Instrument to build him an House that what he could not accomplish at Holbourn in his younger years when he was more able to take pains yet He had now enabled him to do in his old age and far worse times when he found by experience the Wars had exhausted not only the Wealth but Piety of the Nation and that it was far easier under Charles the First his Reign to raise an hundred pound to Pious Vses than now ten pounds So some observe that in the Primitive Church Charity ebb'd lower and lower till the stream quite dried up the first examples thereof were most bountiful to provoke the liberality of following Ages Barnabas gave all his Possessions and so did many others Ananias divided half or thereabouts but the next Age minced it to a considerable Legacy and then it fell to Charity in small money afterwards to good words only as St. James sayes and I pray be comforted sed ecquid tinnit Dolabella seldom one cross or coyn dropt from them the like he observ'd in our own Church in the Ages past and present when Christianity was first planted among us our glorious Founders built Colledges and Cathedral Churches the next rank of Benefactors endowed Schools and Parishes after Ages gave
yet upon the birth no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 would serve the turn the joy was too big for the Language of man to deliver How shall we then express our selves for the honour of the day Preaching is our present business but words were too little and therefore the Angels turn'd Musicians and sung it Musick was not enough and therefore Wise men brought Gifts unto the Cradle Neither were Gifts the way for you may see by the cratch and the swadling clouts that He affected Poverty The Tongues of men that is Preaching and Prayer the Tongues of Angels that is Musick and Singing the courteous Gifts of the Eastern men Gold Myrrh and Frankincense all are fit for the solemnity of these twelve days but not all sufficient This happy day made an end of the woful Captivity of the Sons of men under sin and Satan See how far David went when none but the Tribe of Judah came back from the Captivity of Babylon When the Lord turned the Captivity of Sion then were we like to them that dream This is the greatest strain of joy as we may interpret it I do not mean that we should doubt whether we were verily preserved from the captivity of Sin by the birth of Christ whether it were so indeed or but a dream like the Poets amorous fancy Credimus an qui amant ipsi sibi somnia fingunt or as Livy said of the Grecians when the Romans sent them unexpected liberty after their hard thraldom Mirabundi velut somni speciem arbitrabantur they were amazed as if they were not awake but sleeping but I would have your Soul transported as it were with an Extasie of devotion as if Zeal and the Love of Jesus Christ put you in a dream imagine strongly that this day is not the Anniversary to be celebrated after many years but the very day it self of Christs Nativity Cannot you think that this Church is the Cratch that received the Babe O cui cuncta possunt invidere marmora Cannot you think your selves to be those Shepherds whom the Angels sent of the good Errand to look out a Saviour Who had not rather be one of them Shepherds than any King in the world Then strongly possess your souls that you see the Son of God that you stand over him and behold him as he is wrapped in swadling clouts lying in a Manger O that we could so deeply perswade our Soul that this Text is no report but a vision before our eyes So we must do or else it is not full Christmas joy it is no true Angelical devotion And then you shall see in this verse Mary laid of her Child O the passing exaltation for flesh and bloud to be such a Mother and the Child laid in a Manger O the wonderful humiliation of the eternal God to be such a Son But that every part of the Text may be handled apart by it self in his own order I will insist upon these five things 1. Here is the strange condition of the Mother Et illa peperit and she brought forth a Son who by nature was no bearer for she was a Virgin 2. The strange condition of the Babe ejus primogenitus the first begotten of God was the first born Son of flesh and bloud 3. The strange condition of the Birth that it was without the curse of woman without the pangs of travail the Fathers collect it from hence that as soon as the Babe was born she could wrap him in swadling clouts a manifest sign that there was no debility or weakness in her 4. The strange condition of the place of the Nativity She laid him in a Manger Lastly the strange condition of men that there was no room in the Inn for Jesus and Mary these are the parts of my Text With great reverence be it spoken I may call them the swadling clouts wherewith I must wrap my Saviour First Let us consider the strange condition of a maiden Mother Et illa peperit and she brought forth a Son who by nature was no bearer for she was a Virgin A Doctrine which the Heathen and Pagan men will not admit and which the Incredulous Jew to this day after his manner derides The Heathen were so confident that a Virgin could not bring forth that as Orosius reports when Augustus Caesar had rest round about from all his enemies He shut up the Gates of Janus his Temple and called it the Temple of peace and enquiring from their Oracles of Sorcery how long it should stand shut it was answered Quousque Virgo pariet untill the time that a Virgin brings forth a Son The Messengers thought this answer to be as if he had said it should stand shut for ever and so they wrote upon the Gates Templum pacis aeternum The Temple of peace was eternal Let me dispute the case with a meer natural man How doth the harvest of the field enrich the Husbandman It is answered By the Seed which was sown in the ground Say again How came Seed into the world to sow the ground Surely you must confess that the first Seed had a Maker who did not derive it from the Ears of Wheat but made it of nothing by the power of his own hand Qui sine seminibus operatur semina c. says St. Austin then God could make a man without the Seed of man in the Virgins womb who made Seed for the corn before ever there was earing or harvest Nay there is an instance for it in the little Bees as the Poet doth Philosophize they do not bring forth their young ones as other Creatures do by the help of Male and Female together but they gather the seed which begets the young ones from the dew of leaves and herbs and flowers and so they bring them forth Nec concubitu indulgent nec corpora segnes in Venerem solvunt and therefore the Bee by some is called the Emblem of Virginity And as for the unbelieving Jew the darkness and blindness of his heart cannot put out the light of Isaiahs Prophesie Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son for what though the word in the Original signifie not only a Virgin but any woman of a young and tender age Yet in that place as St. Hierom says very well it must be nomen integritatis non aetatis a name of Virginal integrity and not of young age or else you drown the astonishment which the Prophet doth so much exaggerate and amplifie I will give you a Sign why what sign is it for a young woman to bear a Child No extraordinary one I am sure Nay says he Ecce Virgo behold and wonder at it Behold a Miracle which shall never be wrought but once in the world This was Virga Aaron florida nec humectata Aarons Rod which was not watered and yet being a dry stick which had the help of no sap to make it fruitful it flourisht and put out and brought
of whom it is said in my Text She brought forth c. It is a sign of very bad times when we lose pity and humanity to men and reverence to God THE SECOND SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION LUKE ii 8. And there were in the same Country Shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their Flock by night A Year is past since I began to handle this part of St. Lukes Gospel containing the most full and exact History of the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Me thinks I am privy to your memory that you call to mind summarily what then was said upon the former Verse 1. The strange condition of the Mother that she brought forth a Son who by nature was no bearer for she was a Virgin 2. The strange condition of the Babe the first begotten Son of God was the first-born Son of flesh and bloud 3. The strange condition of the place that she laid him in a Manger Lastly The strange condition of men that there was no room in the Inn for Jesus and Mary In his name who hath given us leave and life to meet this year also in his holy Temple and for his honour and to glorifie his Son we are come again to the same place and to the same portion of Scripture to celebrate this blessed and most auspicious day of our Saviours Incarnation They that consult with the wisdom of flesh and bloud may marvel that no room of state was made ready for his birth no place taken up to receive such an Infant and his Mother or whatsoever the dwelling were any place rather than a Cratch and a Manger but there is little amends made in my Text for this humiliation and poverty For see what Stage the Angel hath chosen to declare and annunciate him unto the world the City was too rich the Temple too stately the Synagogues had too much of the Pharisees in them Kings Courts were too voluptuous therefore he assembles those together whom he found in the fields and desolate places But as mean as their condition was since an Angel from Heaven entertained conference with them we may justly imploy the exercise of this hour upon them according as they are mentioned in my Text There were in the same Country Shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flocks by night and as it followeth In which Text I see no less than seven goodly eares of corn growing upon one Stalk according to the prosperous part of Pharaohs dream For the place in which the Angel chose to publish the Incarnation here are two circumstances 1. It was in the same Country 2. It was in the Field For the time which is the third circumstance it was in the night For the persons two more They were Shepherds that 's the fourth part They were many so many as made a Plural number that 's the fifth Then there are two circumstances of their Office and diligence they watched that 's not all they watched over their Flocks and so we are ascended to the number which I propounded the Text is distributed into seven branches Pastores in eadem regione Shepherds in the same Country at the circumstance we begin There is no place upon earth to which God descended or to which his Angels approached in holy Scripture but it is significative and mystical wherefore names were given to such places by the Patriarchs and Prophets as when the voice for Heaven with held Abraham from sacrificing Isaac it was called Jehovah jireth the Lord shall be seen in the Mount From whence I deduce how these words cannot be empty of some pithy observation in eâdem Regione that the Angel appeared unto the Shepherds in the same Country It was a place between Bethlem and Hierusalem the same parcel of Ground as most agree when Jacob slept and in his sleep saw Angels ascending and descending upon the Ladder and when he awoke he built an Altar and called it Bethel the house of God Now where could the first news of Christs Nativity arive more properly than in the same place where it was first seen in a Vision Where could it be published more aptly than where it was promised to the Patriarchs There Jacob poured oyl upon the top of the stone the first anointing with oyl that we read of in holy Scripture Upon that parcel of Ground not by chance but out of providence he was proclaimed who is called Christus Domini the Christ or the anointed of the Lord. There stood the Altar which was called Bethel the first Altar that ever was called the Church of God and from whence should the news of a Saviour issue but from the holy place which is consecrated and blest to be called the house of God It was long indeed for so the yearning and the desire of the world might think before our Saviour took flesh of the Virgin Mary yet it was not unmindfulness in the Almighty He remembred the oath which he swore to Abraham nay He remembred the desolate place when he appeared to Jacob in eâdem Regione in the same Country The further I look into this apparition Brethren I see more wonder and mystery in it for the whole Country of the Jews was in the same distress and misery at this time into which poor wandring Jacob was cast when he slept by the way-side upon the hard stones for his pillow Esau hated Jacob and compelled him to abandon his Fathers house and to retire into desart places so the overflowing Romans had made themselves Lords of the Land of Jury and brought all Israel under the thraldom of their Dominion But behold as in the pinch of Jacobs extremity his soul saw the Vision of a Saviour so after the same proportion of mercy in the pinch of Israels extremity when the Romans were Lords over them their eyes saw and their ears heard the Annunciation of a Saviour each parcel of comfort landed jump as God would have it in the same model of Ground in the same Country that the Shepherds kept watch over their flocks by night Yet methinks I see another mystery Beloved for the Incarnation of our Lord stands as thick with wonders as the Heaven with Stars and it is this Was not this glorious Babe born at Bethlem Why are not the first news of his birth carried to the same City where he was born It is our discretion to suspect that news and very justly which comes not from the place where the thing was done For answer This is the secret of providence I guess which is hidden under it You know that Christ was conceived at Nazareth and born at Bethlem Lived much at Capernaum but died at Hierusalem These Towns of Nazareth and Capernaum were vulgarly at this day called Galilee of the Gentiles The truth is they were given to the Gentiles to dwell in and by them inhabited in former times they were destined to the Tribes of Israel for upon the Captivity of ten
two observations 1. It appears in St. Matthew that the Angel called him Jesus before he was born yea before he was conceived Luke i. 31. it was Gabriels message to Mary Thou shalt conceive in thy Womb and bring forth a Son and shalt call his name Jesus Men called him so after he was born and circumcised Idem quippe Angeli salvator hominis hominis ab incarnatione Angeli ab initio creaturae for the same Lord is the Saviour both of Angels and Men of Angels before he was born from the beginning of the world of Men in the fulness of time after he was born That is the second person in Trinity being the eternal Son of the Father did confirm the good Angels in grace that they should never fall and the same person incarnate being the Mediator of God and Man did redeem the Elect that they should rise again from their sins and reign with him in glory 2. The complete imposition of the name was at his circumcision when he first shed his Blood as if his Death had been foretold as soon as he was born it would cost him blood not a few drops of the foreskin but the very blood of the heart to be called Jesus In Circumcision he was called a Saviour at his Passion the word Jesus was wrote upon the Cross then his enemies confest he was a Saviour In circumcisione non fuit actu perfecto sed destinatione salvator in Circumcision it was told by destination what he should be and incompleatly and by inchoation what he was It was a sign of servitude and of taking the guilt of sin to be Circumcised it was a sign of ignominy and reproach to be Crucified but this name exalted him and defended him against the bad opinion of the world when he was called at the one time in the Temple and entitled on the Cross at the other Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews To drive this point no longer about the honour of the imposition of the name this is the sum Angels and Men had their several shares in the dignity to give this attribute to our Lord but the name was grounded in his own nature of exceeding mercy and in his office of reconciliation therefore God alone could give him this name Innatum est ei nomen hoc non inditum ab humana aut Angelica natura says Bernard the name was bred with him and not imposed by men or Angels A name so royally impos'd must include a great deal of excellency that 's the next point Gallio the Deputy of Achaia was a great scorner of Religion and because Paul magnified Christ and the Jews blasphemed him Gallio said it was a controversie of words and names and he would not meddle with it it was not worth the while The name of Christ was beyond Gallio's reach to judge upon it David makes a great account of that which he did villifie Thou hast magnified thy name and thy word above all things Psal cxxxvii The names of God Jehovah are his names as a Creator and yet to be magnified above all things but the name of Jesus adds above his power of creation his goodness of saving and redemption Nihil nasci profuit nisi redimi profuisset it had been unbeneficial to be created unless we had been happily redeemed His Words his Actions his Miracles his Prayers his Sacraments his Sufferings all did smell of the Saviour Take him from his Infancy to his Death among his Disciples and among the Publicans among the Jews or among the Gentiles he was all Saviour The Jews were under the condition of thraldom at this time when Christ was born under the thraldom of their enemies and the tidings of a Saviour was sweet news at such a season yet the Shepherds could not so mistake that an Infant born but that day could go out with their hosts to subdue their enemies No person upon earth hath such need of a Saviour as a sinner whether it be peace or war Pandora's box of mischiefs all the miseries that can be named are the just reward of a sinner therefore the Angel doth not specifie to the Shepherds from what calamities he should redeem them and be called a Saviour indefinitely and absolutely from all A few particulars would but derogate from the honour of his salvation he sweeps away all evil at once like a Spiders web ab omni malo he saves us from the whole mass of evil a Saviour which is Christ the Lord Jer. xxiii 7. It shall no more be said the Lord Liveth which brought up the children of Israel out of the Land of Egypt but the Lord liveth which brought the house of Israel from the North Country the land of Chaldaea Alas both these are easie redemptions to that which calls him Jesus in the New Testament the Lord liveth who saveth his people from their sins there begins his mercy at that point to break the heavy yoke of sin from our necks to repress the dominion of the flesh rebelling against the spirit to take away earthly desires from our will and affections in a word to clear us in Gods Court that our iniquities may no more be imputed to us Who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood Revel i. 5. 2. He is a Saviour that delivers us from the sting and punishment of sin which is death He destroyed our death by dying on the Cross and repaired our life again by his own Resurrection 3. He is a Saviour that delivereth us from the power of Satan that although the enemy tempt and oppose vehemently yet he should not overcome his Saints Now is the judgment of this world now shall the Prince of this world be cast forth John xii 32. and so cast forth that he shall never renew his tyranny again For through death Chrst did destroy him that had the power of death the Devil Heb. ii 14. 4. He is a Saviour that frees us from the wrath of God and when we were enemies we were reconciled unto God by the death of his Son Rom. v. From sin from death from Satan from the wrath of God These are the four heads of our Redemption and these are the excellencies included in the name of Saviour After these things thus declared methinks the third point should fall in directly without any contradiction Methinks of our selves without bidding men should strive to do abundant reverence at the hearing of this word a Jesus a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. We have not that feeling of our sins which we ought to have nor of the wrath of God for if we had we would hear this name with greater joyfulness but the destruction is not near enough to affect us Hell and damnation are not represented before our face if those things were so nigh that we did feel their horror we would not captiously gainsay that Ceremony of the Church to vail the head and bend the knee and to
laid in such a Village The Roman Historian made a marvail that so noble an Emperour as Alexander Severus was could come out of Syria Syrus Archisynagogus as they call'd him in scorn Behold that Emperour's Lord comes not only out of Syria but out of the homeliest corner in Syria out of the despicable tributary City of David And as it is in the next verse not so well born as in the City but natus in praesepi born in a dunghil-stable in Civitate born in a City what a Citizen of this world no the words following correct it he had no room given him among men but among beasts a pilgrim and a foreiner on earth his Kingdom lay not here In a word for all Joseph and Mary were a poor couple Bethlehem a little City the stable a place of the meanest account in all that City Shepherds of the lowest condition that were sent to visit him all things were little and humble about Christ at his Birth that nothing might be proud and insolent and vain-glorious about us if we would be born the Sons of God but alas how unconformable are we to this lowly fashion of our Saviour the Feasts of many rich men are for pomp to let as rich as themselves see their munificence and not for charity to the poor who stand in need of refreshment Apparel superlatively costly most vain and most effeminate how generally it is to be seen upon all peoples shoulders to what excessive bravery is the pride of the whole Kingdom rais'd in less than the revolution of thirty years not only in this luxurious City but in little Bethlehem in every village of the field But I am sure the costly pride of the LandLords apparel shall make the poor Tenant humble Bethlehem the house of bread the poor Farmers grange shall be made small enough with these new invented expences And where men are become lovers of themselves altogether not lovers of God not lovers of the publick weal not lovers of the poor members of Christ in these there is no fruit to be seen of true humility What a revenue it would be to help the needy if the tenth of Christmas gaming and dicing were bestowed upon them yet they that will not give a shilling to the hungry are free enough to dice a pound Perdere norunt donare nesciunt Men know how to be loosely wasteful but not wisely liberal Among lawful and good pastimes of this Festival time it is strange that dicing is crept in among them The miscreant Souldiers that crucified Christ cast lots which some interpret to be throwing the Dice for his garments generally it is so painted more likely therefore to be a sport for them that keep a Feast for joy that Christ was crucified than for joy that Christ was born Beloved let the greatest part of your Christmas joy be according to the Angels pattern first ascribing glory to God then some friendly pastimes may resemble peace and joy on earth but put off all strife debate and envy so you shall observe good will towards men but at every turn remember the little City of David remember humility Bethlehem honora parvam quae te inducit in paradisum says Nazianzen Make honourable esteem of little Bethlehem of lowliness and humility and that will bring you into Paradise into the Kingdom of Heaven where the Lamb of God this day born in the flesh sits upon the Throne for evermore Amen THE SEVENTH SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION LUKE ii 13 14. And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly Hoste praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will towards men GOod Christians have ever observed to keep this feast of the Birth of Christ with some decency in Apparel more than ordinary with bounty of Fare with Carols of joy and many other circumstances of chearfulness I am sure the decorum of a fit Text for the day is as much and more requisite than any thing that I have named A word spoken in season ought to taste better upon the palate of our understanding than meat in season I have gone that way hitherto and still continue in it to teach you some remarkable passage which fell out when our Saviour was born upon this blessed Day and Season wherein he was born This portion of St. Lukes Gospel which by appointment is the second Lesson for our Morning Prayer hath been the Theme of my Doctrine sundry times it afforded me to speak of the Nativity it self next of the Humility afterwards of the Sermon which the Angel preacht upon it fourthly of the poor Shepherds to whom these glad Tidings were first published Now for a conclusion here is an Host of Angels to confirm all for truth which one of their Order had said before and to make the Tidings sweeter and joyfuller by their congratulation Indeed all that goes before is made so compleat and full by that which they have added that our Church hath made a stop there and bids us read no further The Message which one Angel brought made it known that a Saviour was born in the City of David had it not been for him the birth was so obscure and private and indeed so unlikely to be the same which it was we cannot guess how it should ever have come to light and been published But those Tidings which that Angel brought were so strong so far above reason so far beyond the deservings of miserable sinners that unless a multitude of Angels had seconded all that was said before we cannot guess how it should ever have been believed The shepherds never said one to another let us go unto Bethlem and see this thing which is come to pass for that which one Angel told them they stirred not out of the field to go see the wonder until an Army of those heavenly Watchmen concorded to it and chanted it out with a merry noise Glory to God c. This convinceth the truth of the Incarnation of Jesus far more than that Text which I handled the last year though that as I shewed was a very powerful evidence For Wisemen to come from the East to Hierusalem and to have a strange Star for their Leader rais'd a mighty fame of the Nativity both in that City and perhaps in a great part of the world But if all the Stars of heaven had gone before them and all the wise Gymnosophists had made a journey it were but a mean Demonstrance to this that all the Angels of heaven I conceive no less of this multitude than of all should make an Apparition in the air and Carol the coming of Christ into the earth The Stars of the Firmament are sometimes figuratively called the Host of heaven these Apparitors in my Text are not called but are so litterally and properly The Wisemen were but Questionists and raw Disciples where is he that is born These say the word when and where with all other
best harmony with our best chearfulness from the example of Angels especially at this time for the Birth of our blessed Lord and Saviour c. THE EIGHTH SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION LUKE ii 14. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will towards men O Sing unto the Lord a new Song for he hath done marvelous things I will begin the New year from that portion of Davids Canticle Marvelous things they were you will all confess that the powerful God should be made a feeble Infant that a woman should bear him in her womb who supports the world and all the Creatures that are contained in it that the Eternal should be born who had no beginning never was the like heard or seen before therefore whatsoever was said of old will not agree to set it forth it must be a new Song of praise and thanksgiving to our God So is the Text which I have read before you It cometh to pass by the providence of God that St. Lukes Gospel is more chearful than all the rest and full of Musick So that he is well called by one not only the Evangelist but the Psalmist of the New Testament The Song of Zachary the Song of Maries Magnificat the Song of Simeon this Song of the Angels the Church is beholding to him for reciting them and to no other Penman of the holy Word St. Paul calls him Luke the Physician some of the Roman Church to serve their own Imagery delights out of some Histories unallowed call him Luke the Painter there is no conjecture for that out of the book of Scripture which cannot lye But I have more conjecture for my own opinion that he was Luke the Musician a man of divers gifts and qualities for the Prophets and Evangelists wrote the Scriptures by divine revelation yet always with a sweet tincture of their own abilities The stately eloquence of Isaiah shews his breeding St. Pauls Logical Arguments shew his Scholarship St. Peters facile Exhortations shew his zeal and plain Education Finally if I be not deceiv'd the repeating of so many celestial Hymns in St. Luke shew his musical art and affection Now the Spirit of the Church hath been ever so directed by God to take in all the Songs of the New Testament into its publick Service and Liturgie the Magnificat the Benedictus the Nunc Dimittis Thus it is not only with us but was so most anciently in all flourishing and well established Churches Neither is this Versicle of the Angels I mean my Text left out but it is referred to the chief part of our serving of God in the celebration of the holy Communion before we part from the Table of the Lord our Rubrique commands us to sing or say Glory be to God on high Indeed that Prayer as we have it is enlarged with many other pithy strains of devotion We praise thee we bless thee we worship thee we glorifie thee c. And such as have wrote of ancient Ceremonies say that Pope Telesphorus made up that excellent prayer of Laud and Thanksgiving beginning with my Text. Very ancient it is I am sure because I meet with it for the most part in those pieces which are called the Constitutions of Clemens and St. James his Liturgy But for the words which I handle I have great cause to judge that they were the most acceptable Prayer of the Primitive Church for St. Paul begins his Epistles with grace and peace be multiplied as much as to say peace on earth and good will towards men and the end of many clauses in his Epistles is that Doxology to God To whom be glory for evermore Amen I wonder that the words themselves are bended in and out with such curious divisions by many Divines for the Angel hath parted them into three several rests and I will not go about to mend his work and whereas Points are raised out of Grammatical constructions of the Verb whether they should be the Indicative or the Optative Mood it shall be all one to that way in which I will handle the parts for I will handle every of the three members three ways First As a Congratulation or thanksgiving Secondly By way of Prayer or Petition Thirdly By way of Doctrine and Instruction Thanksgiving unto God that his glory on high appeareth that peace doth flourish on earth and that he is pleased with men or make it a Prayer or Postulation that all glory may be given to God all safety to the earth and that an happy reconciliation may be begun with men Otherwise if it be a Sermon or Exhortation the sum is that God be magnified peace preserved a friendship with God endeavoured thus nothing shall be lost of this divine musical Embassage Glory be to God in the highest c. Now we cannot be to seek what is the sum of the first member Glory to God in the highest it must be thus the Angels glorifie God for sending Christ in the flesh to redeem mankind and they wish and pray that men may glorifie God in Christ and they teach us that Gods glory is to be sought before all things and so I proceed to explicate it before you If the Disciples be silent at what time it is fit to praise God the stones shall speak says our Saviour that 's ultimum refugium the last shift and refuge that the very dross of the earth if need were should not want a tongue to magnifie its Creator But it stirs up emulation and provokes us more when those that are far above us discharge the duty which we ought to execute rather than when those things which are much beneath us should give us example So my Text lets you see that if men be silent and set not forth the praise of the Lord the Angels will speak and give him glory It were a great shame for the Commons to be rude and irrespectful towards their King when the Nobles and Princes of the people are most dutiful and obsequious so when the Cherubins devote their Songs to extol the most High it were a beastly neglect in man a worm in respect of a Cherubin not to bear a part in that humble piety But to speak after the method of reason had it not been more proper for the Angels at this time to have proclaimed Christs Poverty than his Power his Infancy than his Majesty his Humility in the lowest rather than his glory in the highest If there wereany glory coming out of this work of the Incarnation it may seem we had it rather than our Saviour and he lost it But the piercing eye of those celestial Spirits could see abundant honour compassing Christ about where ignorant man could espy nothing but vileness and misery For first they celebrate the glory of Gods justice in sending his Son made of a woman and made under the Law to suffer for us that had sinned against the Law because that Justice would not receive man into favour
gestemus he doth bear us up always in his hands let us bear him and enclasp him in our Faith and say as Israel did I will not let thee go till thou hast blessed me says Origen Was it so beneficial to a poor woman to touch the hem of Christs garment in the Gospel then how profitable will it be to hold him close in our embraces as this Father did And as Maldonat says very truly Non credentis est modo sed amantis complectimur quos amamus This doth not only betoken Faith but exceeding love we hug them in our arms whom we have in dear estimation we catch them in our arms as if we would grow together so if we love the Lord sincerely we are one with him and he with us we dwell in him and he in us This amplexus arctissimus and he that loves not our Lord Jesus let him be accursed Chiefly at this time in the holy Sacrament we see him upon the Lords Table we take him in our hands we incorporate him in our souls by a lively faith and at his mystical presence in these Elements let us say as it is reported of a Religious Votary called Maria Aegyptiaca when Zozimus the Abbat gave her the Bread of Life upon her sick bed she beheld the Sacrament wishly which is the seal of all Christs mercies towards us and brake out into this song of Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation Amen THE ELEVENTH SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION LUKE i. 68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people AMong all portions of Scripture that afford matter for Christmass day I have for the most part hitherto chosen those Texts to speak of before you which are extracted out of the Songs of the New Testament Our Proverb goes It is good to be merry and wise Every Section of the Gospel disposeth us to be wise unto eternal life but the Canticles which sing the birth of Christ they teach us to be merry and wise unto Salvation Nothing doth better agree with this day than a godly Song Sing we merrily unto God our strength make a chearful noise unto the God of Jacob. You have heard me divers times preach unto you out of the Angels Carol Luke ii The last year I made my Sermon out of the Song of Simeon Nunc dimittis and I am sure I could not furnish my self better this year than out of the Song of Zachary so appositely doth it serve our turn both for our spiritual benefit procured in our Saviours Nativity and for our temporal benefit God having repossessed us after a lingring and destructive contagion in health and safety to break out into this Thanksgiving Blessed be the Lord c. The Lord turn us unto him and bring us out of our evil ways for therefore he visited us The Lord make us his own peculiar people zealous of good works for therefore he hath redeemed us When you hear of a Visitation and Redemption I know your thoughts will carry you presently to your late sufferance under a bitter scourge and to Gods merciful deliverance This is not amiss and I wish it may be long in your mind to bring forth the fruit of righteousness But this Visitation whereof my Text speaks it invites you to look above you not about you it invites you to think of that heavenly Infant that was born unto us not of those Sucklings and Infants that were swept away with the late mortality and by all means let us prefer the rejoycing that we have in Christ at this time before that other gladness for our bodily prosperity intend that chiefly and the condition of our own particular welfare let that come behind in a latter regard so did Zachary the Priest from whose mouth my Text proceeded God did give him a Son for the comfort of his own Family and such a Son as a greater than he was not born of a woman John the Baptist God also gave him to understand by Prophetical illumination that the Messias the Redeemer of the World was in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mark now the Piety of this good old man first he praiseth God for the Incarnation of Jesus that he raised up an horn of salvation for them out of the house of David and in the last close of the Song he magnifies that blessing that such a Son should be born to him in his old age and thou Child shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest This is a fair direction for our use that this should be the first thing in our thoughts and in our thankfulness to say Blessed be the Lord that the Word was made Flesh and hath dwelt among us Having told you how well this Song doth become the day and that the chief note of the Song is in the word Visitavit the Son of God did visit his people in an humane body I will yet give you more content out of the Text by informing you that it is a most remarkable Prophesie from Malachy for the space of four hundred years there had been no Prophet in all the Land of Judaea and therefore we count all that Apocryphal Scripture which is thrust upon us from the days of Malachi to Christ because there was no Prophetical inspiration among the Jews Behold now when a Prophet was grown such a rare thing among them the Lord opens the mouth of Zachary the Priest and he begins to Prophesie It is well noted of Origen that after the blessed Virgin conceived our Saviour men and women wheresoever she came were all inspired with Prophesie Elizabeth the wife of Zachary breaks out into admiration and how is it that the Mother of my Lord doth come unto me And she Prophesies the Child sprang in the mothers womb for exultation that the Messias was under that Roofe that was a mighty Prophesie not in word but in deed When Mary came to the Temple and brought Jesus with her to be purified after the Law Simeon and Anna in their several turns gave thanks unto the Lord and Prophesied but Zachary though last named he is the first and most memorable of the rest that spake mighty things in the Spirit the reviver of Prophesie after a long time it had lain asleep and to set an Emphasis upon my Text the words of it are the first that came from him after he had been dumb and the first that he uttered after he became a Prophet In a word mark it that he is the first-born of the Sons of the Prophets in the New Testament and this Text is the first fruits of his Prophesie Christ was yet but an Embrio his mother but three months gone since she conceived and yet Zachary speaks with a most Prophetical confidence of things to come as if they were past already as if the sweet Babe were born who had not yet opened the womb He hath visited and he
commanded to be made unless he had dominion over them that is unless he were Lord over them before they were made Rom. iv he calleth things that are not as things that are therefore he hath authority as a Lord over things that are not as much as over things that are The fair conclusion of it is the actual relation of the Creatures to his dominion began in time but their subjection to his will and power is for ever therefore God is the Lord from all eternity Whatsoever distinction may be put between these names yet when we praise God let us do as Zachary doth joyn them both together when we confess him let us do so likewise as Jonas did I am an Hebrew who worship the Lord God that made heaven and earth When we say our Belief let us do the same even as the Nicene Fathers did before us I believe in one God and in one Lord Jesus Christ And if you please your selves to distinguish accurately upon such Titles because St. Paul hath said that there be Gods many and Lords many let us distinguish between them and this supreme one the Lord God of Israel who is blessed for ever more Christ says the Scripture calleth them Gods to whom the word of God came Joh. x. 34. That Scripture is Psal lxxxii 6. I have said ye are Gods and ye are all the children of the most high From thence and from my Text you may state a profitable difference 1. Dixi I have said ye are Gods he hath said it and that made them so unless he had Godded them they had had no such pre-eminence What they have it is by entitling and nuncupation 2. Dixi Dii estis there are many of those Gods not only every Prince and Ruler chalengeth it by his Crown but every Christian hath his interest in it by adoption of filiation So I cited it from the mouth of our Saviour before the Scripture hath said they are Gods to whom the Word of God came 3. Estis ye are for a while ye are and after a while ye shall go from hence and be no more seen ye shall die like men but the true God abideth for ever 4. These heathen Semi-gods these that carry that badge upon earth shall not only die like men but like sinful men for it follows in the Psalm that when they fall God shall arise to judge the earth after they have judged they shall be judged upon it hereafter how they have judged But O man thou must not reply against the God of heaven his judgments are indisputable 5. The ever blessed God is praised in every thing that pertains unto him he is praised in all places of his dominion he is praised in all his works He hath done all things well say the people of Christ but among the actions of the best men Sunt bona sunt quaedam mediocria sunt mala plura Among some good there is much evil among some flourishing sprigs of praise there are divers dead boughs of frailty 6. These Nuncupative Gods preside over Civil Governments each of them is a golden head over his own Political body but Christ only is head of the whole Church from whence the whole body increaseth with the increase of God he alone is the Lord. And it is likewise upon some remarkable appropriation that the Psalmist says the Lord is his name he bears it certainly with many notorious marks of difference from all the Lordlings in the world First The dominion of man is joyned with some servitude in the Master for he that stands in need is a servant to his own necessities and the Master stands in need of the drudgery of the labouring man as much or more perhaps than that drudge stands in need of the wages of the Master But all our service is of no use or benefit to the King of heaven I said unto the Lord thou art my God my goods are nothing unto thee Psal xvi and therefore says St. Austin God did not make the world from all eternity to shew that he did not want the help of his Creature Secondly All things serve the Lord above nothing is hidden from the Scepter of his dominion but man in the highest Office upon earth is confined to a small scantling of authority he can command the body of his Vassal but not his soul He cannot command his Grass to grow or his Trees to bear or his Cattel to encrease or the weather to be seasonable But as the people said in admiration of the Miracles of the Son of God Who is this that commandeth the Winds and Seas and they obey him Thirdly All the Lordship upon earth is subalternate and dependant from a greater command Masters do that which is just unto your Servants knowing that you also have a Master in heaven Col. iv There is but one Lord and none but he that is responsive to no other the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Our Saviour though an unscrutable Abyssus of humility assumed that unto himself Ye call me Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am Joh. xiii 13. Such a Lord to whom all the Sons of men do bow and obey Such a Lord that though he were Davids Son yet David in spirit calleth him Lord The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstoole Lord of all things by the Essence of his Godhead Lord of all things in his Manhood by the Hypostatical Union but by special interest Lord of all those whom he redeemed with his most precious bloud Lord God of Israel in which numbers as soon as ever he believed Thomas concluded himself saying My Lord and my God As we have the Humanity of Christ expressed in the two subsequent actions so we have as surely his Divinity set forth in these Titles the Lord God of Israel But that God that filleth the heaven of heavens and that Lord who hath stretcht out the line of his power over the whole earth he is Canton'd in this Text to a little Region of the earth but a Molehill in respect of the extent of his Majestie the Lord God of Israel It was not with Zachary the Priest in this elegant Canto as it useth to be with other Poets who out of affectation do strain their Poetry to make honourable mention of their own Country where there was neither cause nor merit But this holy Prophet had sufficient warrant from the Spirit which cannot err to nominate him the Patron of this people rather than of any other the God of Israel and that for two reasons Propter notitiam verbi propter promissiones seminis benedicti First The Oracles of the Scriptures were committed to them and God was not truly worshipped any where but in the Synagogues of the Hebrews and therefore says the Psalmist Notus Deus in Israele God is well known in Israel there they knew him that he was to be adored that he
was to be feared that he was to be admired for his excellency that he was increate immortal eternal and not like the Idols of the Heathen there was Grace and Religion other Nations knew not him therefore he puts them by as if he knew not them he is the God of Israel Secondly This whole World is made for no other end but that Christ may exalt his Dominion in it and therefore the Nation of whom he was to come according to the Flesh that is spoken of as if it belonged to God alone and all other People were quite forgotten Well therefore might Zachary say O thou God of Israel for upon the Nativity of Christ now it was fulfilled why long since he was called the God of Israel His Incarnation as old Simeon said it was the glory of his people Israel his conversation among them was their temporal protection that their enemies should not devour them while he was with them upon earth his word confirmed it that the children of the Bride-chamber should not mourn while the Bridegroom was with them Finally His appearance among them in the Flesh was their spiritual exaltation for he preacht to none other but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel But Israel doth now no longer stand for those that according to the Flesh descended out of the Loyns of Abraham as St. Paul says he is a Jew that is one inwardly Rom. ii 29. So he is an Israelite that is a true man like Nathanael that hath no guile in him he that believeth in Christ that visited and redeemed Israel And that you may know the term stands now for the Church of the Faithful and Elect St. Paul calls them that walk according to the rule of Jesus Christ the Israel of God Gal. vi 16. You know that Jacob wrestled with an Angel of God at Peniel and thereupon the Angel changed his name and called him Israel because as a Prince he had power with God and men and had prevailed Gen. xxxii 28. he prevailed over men that is over his Persecutors Esau and Laban He prevailed with God by tears and supplications and this is the exact description of all those that belong to the Church of Christ that is of the Israel of God Their outward foes shall be subdued unto them when God shall think it time to put an end to their sufferings they must overcome their spiritual Foes that is get the victory over the passions and lusts of their own flesh vanquish the Devil overcome the attractive delights of the world and then they shall be no more Jacob but Israel they shall prevail with God It is well noted by one that when the Church in holy Scripture speaks of her infirmity she is called Jacob when she speaks of her happiness she is called Israel Isa xli 14. Fear not thou worm Jacob and Amos vii 2. by whom shall Jacob arise for he is small but in a thousand places ye shall find thus saith the Lord God the King of Israel and never was the Church in more prosperity then when Christ came among us in the likeness of man then it was not Jacob the worm but it grew mighty indeed it prevailed with him that sits on high then it was fit the Song should run in the best title Blessed be the Lord God of Israel You have received the first part of the Text entirely in every particle the solemn praise of the Divine goodness now follows the reason in two most glorious acts why the God of Israel deserveth this praise For he hath visited and redeemed his people Blessed be his name for he hath visited blessed be the Lord for he hath done marvellous things We want not many of these fo rs when we ascribe excellency to the King of Heaven Fame is a good companion for Virtue I love to see them fast together let there want no praise if there be a quia visitavit a good reason for it a deserving action to advance it but to spend our good word upon them that have no merit to speak good of the covetous as David saith whom God abhorreth to cry up Absalom among the people for a little out-side formality such praise is most fulsom that 's broacht either by flattery or ignorance When renown is so ill bestowed upon the wicked it makes the righteous that they do not regard it But the object of Zachary's benediction is so gracious so full of perfection that when we say all we can in the honour thereof we shall say too little for he hath visited for he hath redeemed his people The first of these is that which makes this the double double Holy day above all the Feasts of the year visitavit he visited and it is once again repeated in this Hymn of Zachary's the day-spring from on high hath visited us ver 78. Some there be that collect the three capital works of Christs dispensation out of my Text and the verse that follows for that he visited us say they it denotes his Incarnation that he redeemed us it betokens his Death and Passion that the horn of salvation was raised up in the house of his servant David it implies his Resurrection I think these things are minc'd asunder that should not be divided but all agree that to visit is a word so proper to Christmas-day as none more namely to take flesh and to dwell among us Doth the same fountain says S. James send forth sweet waters and bitter why that 's no such marvail for this very word to visit is so diverse in holy Scripture that sometimes it relisheth as sweet as mercy can make it sometimes it is as bitter as the very gall of his anger can temper it Visitat quando flagellat quando miseretur says S. Austin God visiteth when he punisheth and he visits when he pittieth In the first acception nothing is better known than that of the Decalogue Visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me And again I will visit their offences with the rod and their sins with scourges and in the Latin Translation Jer. xxvii 8. That Nation will I visit with sword with famine and with pestilence And Psal lix 5. Thou Lord of Hosts awake and visit the Heathen and be not merciful to any wicked transgressors From hence we have drawn it into our common phrase that we call the infliction of the contagious Pestilence the visitation of the Lord. God is ever present with us but when he shews himself to be present by some exterior and notable work bringing his Judgment or his Mercy in a conspicuous manner to our City or even to the doors of our own house then he is said to visit us And if it be a visitation of vengeance yet refrain not to say Blessed be the Lord God of Israel whether he send his Angel with a Sword to smite us or with a Song as at Christs Nativity
sidepieces of the tree do resemble horns he might as well have said that the Metaphor was taken from the Altar in the Old Law upon which the Sacrifices were presented because the Psalmist says bind the Sacrifice with cords unto the horns or extremities of the Altar Into the number of these that are more elegant than litteral in their allusions let me cast in Lombard thus he an horn is an altitude above the flesh and because it grows higher than the flesh therefore Christ is called an horn rather than a buckler of salvation because our hope in him is not carnal but spiritual and it is he that gives us grace and power to overcome the flesh These and such like subtilties I think it fit rather to name than to prosecute But Theophylact hath collected the solid reasons of this Appellation into few words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it betokens either the mighty power or the Kingdom of salvation An horn is the weapon and strength of that Creature out of which it brancheth and therefore it is usual almost in every book of Scripture to borrow a Metaphor from it as the Lord shall give strength to his King and exalt the horn that is the power of his Anointed 1 Sam. ii 10 and Psal lxxxviii In my name shall his horn that is his strength and fortitude be exalted and to break the horns of sinners is to pull down their pride and dominion Psal lxxiv. I spare to recite innumerous quotations which are extant every where in Scripture but in this phrase the Holy Ghost intends that according to the translation which is in our Morning Service God hath raised up a mighty salvation in the house of his servant David O puissant Lord and Saviour who is able to comprehend what infinite power did concur to this effect that the everlasting God should be incarnate and become man This birth may seem to the outward man to be nothing but a spectacle of weakness and misery Look upon an Infant laid in a Manger wrapt in swadling clouts the Son of a poor Maid espoused to a Carpenter and from these circumstances the question might be askt Where is this horn Where is this strength which Zachary hath laboured to express so emphatically I answer That the Nativity of Jesus was the greatest demonstration of the power of God that ever the world received The Virgin Mary hath commended it to be very true in her Song verse 49 of this Chapter He that is mighty hath done unto me great things And St. Basil says that the Incarnation was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the evidence of the Divine Omnipotency It is a strange efficacy of nature to conjoyn repugnant Elements in the composition of our flesh as fire and water It is yet more strange to put an Elementary body and an immaterial soul into one composition but to joyn an increated and eternal God in one union of person with these things it exceeds all other marvels Neque Adami de limo terrae formatio neque Evae de viri carne plasmatio Iesu Christi potest ortui comparari says Leo the creation of Adam from the dust of the earth the efformation of Eve from the rib of Adam both are things to astonish our weak understanding but neither of these are comparable to his Nativity that was the Son of God and the Son of Mary this is the very firmitude of the horn whereof I am to speak there are other rights and branches of it For as Gods power doth astonish us that the Word should be made Flesh so it brings our admiration to more excess that he should become a Saviour he did overcome his own justice in that act and an Orator would say he grew mightier than himself if it were possible by sparing us Certainly there is good reason in that Axiom of the School that it was more to save a sinner than to create a world The heathen had their Saviours from wasteful diseases and pestilentious contagions as Pandion and Esculapius the Israelites had their Saviours from thraldom and the peril of the Sword as Moses and Joshuah But he that delivers us from the wrath of God and from the pit of hell he is the strong deliverer he is the horn of salvation Finally The Salvation which he hath brought us hath not only set us free but it hath put vigour and animosity in us to subdue our Adversaries that held us in thraldom What the Heathen spake of another thing I may fitly apply to Christ Tu spem reducis mentibus anxiis viresque addis cornua pauperi such as were poor and in misery being fast bound in the fetters of their sins thou hast refresht them with joy and given them horns to push down their enemies The dominion of sin is abated the edge of infernal tentations is rebated Death is swallowed up in victory the Devil cries out in the Gospel that he is tormented the gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church this is salvation obtained for us not by compounding with our Foes and asking their leave but by strong force and puissant victory Cornu salutare nobis sed impiis terrificum It is a soveraign horn to us but an instrument of offence against the wicked His horns are the horns of an Vnicorn with them shall he smite the heathen even the ends of the world Deut. xxxiii 17. the false flattering Prophet Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah put on horns to sooth up Ahab Antichrist is described with ten horns and seven heads Revel xvii 3. to denote that he is armed to bring destruction upon those that cleave in sincerity of truth unto the Lord. The Goat and the Ram which Daniel saw in his Vision chap. viii had terrible horns rising up between their eyes These were outragious tyrants whom God permitted to goar the innocent like mad Oxen but here 's an horn in my Text to break their malice as if it were but a slender reed The Judge that trieth the cause of the helpless against oppressors and casts them down for ever but our horn of salvation Indeed that 's his proper work to save and help his chosen it is by accident that for their sakes he wounds and offends their enemies he came not to destroy but to seek and to save that which is lost he would not the death of a sinner but that he should repent and be saved therefore it is due to be called not an horn of mischief but an horn of salvation Nor doth this word betoken his power only but his kingdom likewise as if Zachary had said God hath raised up a King of salvation to us in the house of his servant David So said St. Peter before the Council of the Scribes Acts v. 31. Him hath God lift up with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour The Chaldee Paraphrast who is very ancient agrees greatly with this for what the Psalm hath I will make the horn of David to flourish
it renders thus I will make the kingdom of Davids glory to sprout forth Euthymius pleaseth me who gives the analogy thus the oil was poured out of an horn with which Kings were anointed you can instruct your selves that it was so both in David and Solomon and from thence an horn though an evacuation of nature and a mean thing became an ensign of Kingly Majesty Neither was this known only to the Jews but to the Heathen also so that their Kings did wear it among the honours and ornaments of their head as ours are painted with a mund and a Scepter in their hand Pyrrhus in Plutarch was known in the battail from all his subjects by wearing a Goats horn in his Helm and Villalpandus reports of an ancient piece of coin which had the image of Tryphon the Egyptian Monarch on the face and on the reverse it had his Crest with a Goats horn rising up before it Nay the same Author says that it was the fashion of David to wear the like thing in his head-piece And all this I have alledged because I would not want proofs that an horn was the representation of Kingly Sovereignty The meaning then of Zachary is this that Christ hath abased himself to be incarnate and to become our salvation yet he hath reserved this glory to himself in his humiliation that he will be a Saviour unto none but unto them that accept of him for their King and obey him in all things In almost all books of Scripture he is called a King I will not take so wide a scope to expatiate in but strictly I will touch at a little In Genesis he is resembled in Melchisedech the High Priest but he was also King of Salem In the Psalms yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Sion In one of the Lessons for the day he shall sit upon the Throne of David and upon his Kingdom Isa ix 7 At his Birth the wise men did inaugurate him in that honour Where is he that is born King of the Jews At his triumph when he rode into Jerusalem Blessed is the Kingdom that cometh in the name of the Lord of our Father David Mark xi 10. At his arraignment when Pilate askt him if he were a King he left him in suspence with this answer thou sayest it Finally upon his Cross he would not let the title be altered but there it stood Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews The right of this Kingdom was given him in his Incarnation promulged by the preaching of the Apostles perfected after his Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven and shall be consummated in the end of the world He is so fully constituted a King by being called the Christ that ever since it is the Dignity of all Kings to be called the Lords Christs Him hath the Lord anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power Acts x. 38. in which words St. Peter hath exprest both his Sacred and his Kingly Sovereignty and to match him for the Texts sake with David in this point you must call to mind that David was thrice anointed first at his Fathers house by Samuel the next time at Hebron after the death of Saul and finally anointed at Jerusalem a King over all Israel So Christ was anointed by shedding of blood in Circumcision by blood again at his Agony in the Garden and thirdly by the great effusion of his dearest blood upon the Cross Or will you lay it thus He was anointed by his Father from heaven anointed by Mary with her box of Spikenard upon earth and lastly his dead body was anointed by the women when it was laid in the Sepulchre So in proportion there is a three-fold Unction to make us Kings and Priests for ever the first of Regeneration in Baptism the second with the blood of Jesus in the participation of the holy Communion and the third of glorification in the Kingdom of heaven but nihil dat quod non habet he that crowns us in glory had title to a crown himself he that makes us Kings was the horn or prince of our Salvation This is the stone of offence against which the Jews stumble that the Kingdom promised so expresly and literally to the Messias was not verified in the person of Christ our Saviour had he sate upon the throne of David with Power and Majesty reason would that they should believe but this is it as they plead which enervates their faith that he who is set forth so often in the name of a King should be born so meanly die so ignominiously and be acquainted in all his life with nothing but weakness and poverty 1. Remember this for the ground of my answer that Jesus Christ was God's only Son and our Lord that is our King is an Article of our Belief and therefore his Kingdom appears only to the eye of Faith and is not to be discerned after an earthly manner in outward pomp and visible glory for then it were no Article of the Creed 2. No humane Kingdom came to him by descent for ought we know he was of the house and lineage of David but it appears not that he was the true and lawful successor in the right line to the Crown of David Armacanus makes much ado to no purpose to derive his pedigree so that the Kingdom of David might truly be hereditary in him I say to no purpose for since the right should come to him by his Mother and she out-lived him that temporal Kingdom had been in her and never descended upon him unless he had survived her 3. Note it that the Prophets who prophesied of the Kingdom of the Messias must not be understood literally that 's not the fashion of Prophesies How then why with Evangelical qualifications and they are clear that his Kingdom is not of this world that he was no King to the prejudice of Caesar his laws pertained to the spirit and conscience he rules over his Church and yet was obedient to Rulers but he had not the temporal seat of David even as David had not the spiritual seat of Christ In a regal Throne he did not sit for he came not to be ministred unto but to minister although he was made heir of all things by virtue of the Hypostatical Vnion Just as David after he was anointed by Samuel was debased a while as the meanest servant But Christ being of the line of David and having an heavenly Dominion given him which had influence into the soul and conscience commanding things in heaven and earth making all things in the world stoop to the word of his truth converting sinners to salvation drawing all the Gentiles to take up his Cross ruling thus for ever and to the worlds end I hope you will say O that the Jews would heed it that this is a more excellent Sovereignty than ever David had therefore God hath made good his promise and transcended it that God had given him the Kingdom of his
First the toil of their body and then the zeal of their mind nothing can be more complete than St. Austins judgment upon both Ambulabant Per fidem desiderant speciem As it is the stage of a Christian to walk in this life by faith and that race is run so constantly to win that heavenly prize that we may see what we have believed face to face So these Eastern Travellers went on their way by faith till they came to Jerusalem and then like those that had finished their course Desiderant speciem they wish that their eyes may be blessed with the hope of their faith Where is he that is born King of the Jews We have wearied our selves but he is our rest we have seen his Star but where is he that commands the course of all the Stars We have seen a wonder in the heavens but where is he whom the Prophet calls wonderful upon earth We have seen the Ensign but where is the Captain under whose Colours we would be led We have seen his Star in the East and are come to worship him Ambulabant per speciem upon that subject with Gods leave contained in the first verse I will speak at this time and hereafter how they required that faith might be changed into vision Upon their doings or upon their journey therefore I consider 1. Who were the Pilgrims Magi or Wisemen 2. Their Pilgrimage Venerunt they came 3. The length of that Pilgrimage from the East to Jerusalem 4. The occasion of that journey when Jesus was born 5. The place of that birth Bethlem of Judea 6. The time of that birth in the days of Herod the King O most true delights and joys of a feastival Christmas 1. To learn what wisdom it is to seek out a Saviour Wise-men came unto him 2. What rest we shall find in our soul when we desire no rest till we have found him 3. How mighty his Kingdom is that all Nations shall come from far to worship him Many shall come from the East and from the West and sit down with Abraham and Isaac in the Kingdom of God O blessed birth not only the greatest and most holy places partake of it as that great and holy City Jerusalem but little Bethlem and the most prophane Regions of the East which abounded with Idolaters O joyful birth which came not only to pass in the times of good Prophets Old Simeon and Anna the widow but in evil days in times of sorrow and captivity in the days of Herod the King For he alone that was born in the days of Herod can turn our sorrow into gladness Let these be the meditations let these be the frolicks and triumphs of our Christmass these shall make it holy day to our soul to be informed in all particulars how Jesus was born in Bethlem in the days of Herod the King and behold there came c. First Constet de personis let the condition of these persons be examined for every word in the Text must partake of that knowledge for though they are but obscurely described here yet all holy Writers have accounted it zeal and not curiosity to labour in the search what they were says St. Chrysostom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 much watching and many prayers are needful to find it out The original Text calls them Magi out of which word many have suspected that they were of a scandalous profession we call them Wise-men in our translation which is a very safe and sure opinion of them some have entitled them for Kings but very corruptly all confess them to be Gentiles and very truly and I think I shall satisfie you to the full by considering the persons in this fourfold capacity First They that thought the name of Magi to be full of offence and suspicion had much to say for themselves Simon the Sorcerer and Elymas the Sorcerer who could be worse than they Yet Magus is their title For howsoever it was meant for a good Appellation at first yet as the names of Tyrant and Sophister became very foul and contemptuous by the abuse so although a Magus was an innocent Artist at first yet some of the tribe were so far corrupted in their knowledge that Magick was accounted no better than raking hell and charming infernal spirits for satisfaction The least fault in the Profession and yet that a great one was judicial Astrology to make Schemes and calculate Nativities from certain houses which they framed to themselves in heaven and to attribute a fatal necessity to all mens actions from some aspect of the Stars which reigned at their Geniture As Pauls antecedent life most adverse to Christ did no way dishonour him to have it remembred after his conversion so the Fathers thought it no soil to these holy Travellers to impute the worst unto them what they had been Tertullian magnifies God for the great alteration Primitias gentium ex inferis excitavit the Lord raised up these that were the first fruits of the Gentiles even from the Jawes of Hell St. Hillary thinks they were called to mighty Faith from mighty Impiety Homines professionis à scientiâ divinae cognitionis longè aversae they were men of a profession most different from the sweetness and simplicity of divine wisdom But Theophilact lays load upon them to make their conversion shine the brighter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were men envassalled to devils and the enemies of God And St. Austin whose meekness would not revile them but to make Gods mercies appear the greater in them Sicut praevalet imperitia in rusticitate pastorum ita praevalet impietas in sacrilegiis magorum Rudeness and ignorance was predominant in the Shepherds that were sent by the Angels to Bethlem so wickedness was notorious in these blasphemous Magi who were led by the Star to Jerusalem and yet both became the children of God You hear how good and judicious Authors thought that the conversation of these Magi had sometimes been Diabolical And if St. Matthew wrote first in Hebrew and in that Hebrew which Munster took pains to publish they have more to say for themselves for Magi is rendred by no better word there but grand Impostors or Necromancers And this opinion of their person whether right or wrong is very comfortable for the most holy man that ever lived let him judge himself as he ought and he shall find how much it will refresh his heavy laden conscience that such grand-tortoes as these sinners of the highest pitch were called to the hopes of eternal life Nemo desperet salutem sibi credenti qui Magis conspicit donatam If Magi and workers with familiar spirits are invited to Christs Nativity Quid non speramus They that are enemies may be reconciled to the Prince of peace as our first Lesson for this day doth call him they that are Publicans may become Apostles they that have defiled themselves like Mary Magdalen may wash in
David That little nest had hatcht many famous rulers Ibzan that ruled all Israel most righteously and prudently a true Ephrathite as fruitful in his loins as the Country was of all store He had thirty sons and thirty daughters Judg. xii 8. beside him Elimelech and Obed and Isai and David and all his valiant brethren Bethlehem had been an happy Seminary of renowned persons nunc aliquid supra heroas after all the former progeny it brought forth at last one of more heroical virtue even Christ the Lord. And see how many businesses are secretly and unawares administred for divine purposes Caesar Augustus taxeth all the world for acknowledgement of homage and to fill his Exchequer but God did drive it to a greater end that Mary might come with Joseph to the City of David and not be delivered of her Babe out of his own Country Coegit Deus imperatoris edictum prophetiae veritati servire God caused the Emperours Laws and Edicts to make way to the fulfilling of sacred Prophesies Pharaoh allotted the Children of Israel to the land of Goshen to attend his heards and flocks God had another more principal intention to advance his own glory by their abode in Egypt Pilate transmitted our Saviour to Herod and Herod to Pilate again Ad captandam benevolentiam to make themselves as good friends as great men use to be but the judge that sits above all made them both serve for this end that neither this nor that nor any other unrighteous ruler should be able to find any thing but innocency in him who was a â—aâ—b without blemish Gods ends are the magisterial and great ends that set even heathen Princes awork to bring them to pass so the commands of the Roman Caesar did instrumentally serve for this that Christ was born in Bethlehem I proceed to the next circumstance of this Nativity the time set down according to the Kings Reign wherein it fell out in the days of Herod the King To reckon mens Nativities from the years of Consuls or from the Reigns of Kings is a most usual computation their lives are marks of remembrance upon many casualties past to all succeeding ages So certain it is that the worst of Princes as well as the best shall never be forgotten Therefore it is a good advice which the Historian gives that Kings and Rulers have all things at their pleasure and live not in want of any thing while their breath lasts Sed unum insatiabiliter parandum prospera sui memoria but one thing must be studied with all providence that they leave a prosperous memory behind them The two and twenty years of Jeroboams reign the days of Herods reign were dismal times and happier for them to have been buried in silence But as a sulphurous light that smells ill will be seen as well as the sweetest because it is a light so the age of a wicked Prince is a perpetual mark of remembrance as well as better times The mention of Herod will come about though he have no fame but infamy though death gnaweth upon him yet he lives in this Text that Christ was born in the days of Herod the King But I pray you is this all no more but the time simply set down in such a reign when the Nativity fell out Majus opus moveo there goes much more to it than so and if one reason be not enough you shall have two to explicate it First To denote what calamities were in that wretched state of the Jews when Christ came into the world for Herod is remembred at his Birth as Pilate is brought into the Creed to fill up the Article of his Passion He could never have been born under a worse Tyrant than Herod nor likely have suffered under a more unjust Magistrate than Pilate The days of Herod the King those were evil days days of affliction days of taxes days of captivity their children were slain their glory was departed Juda's Scepter clean broken When their case was so pittiful then cometh the Redeemer when it was so dark then riseth the Star As his Birth fell out in the sharpest time of the year in the depth of Winter so it was every where thereabout the very depth of discontent and misery and this had lasted very long Hard affliction and long continuance what can be more intollerable Some Postillers shew their wit upon these words that they are called the days of Herod the King Obbrevitatem temporis in quo reges dominantur for the period of their reign comes quickly about and after a few days are over their glory departs with them and then dust to dust 'T is only God that reigns without computation of days for ever and ever This is a specious conceit but no comfort to Judah for Herod had crusht them under thraldom and slavery almost 30 years before Christ came to comfort them and yet they are called the days of Herod To make you a brief of a long story thus stood the case The Jews had rather have died than be driven from the letter of their Law especially in Ceremonies or judicious statutes Now one of their republick Laws and the very chief was this Deut. xvii 15. That their King must be chosen from among their brethren thou mayst not set a stranger over thee which is not thy Brother And they were so happy that their rulers were of their own stock from Moses to this man that then usurpt upon them But how was it then alter'd certain rulers called Hasamonei were Princes of that Commonwealth a hundred years together after the captivity Of that race one Hircanus at last a sluggish man being their Prince Antipater the Father of this Herod dispatcht many businesses for him and was employed in several Embassies from Jerusalem to Rome In a word Antipater and his Sons did all Hircanus dying Herod was constituted King of the whole land which belonged to all the tribes of Israel first by the gift of M. Antonie then by the power of Augustus and lastly by the confirmation of the whole Senate but the Jews strugled against Herods yoke almost 30 years to shake it off Much effusion of blood it caused and when it could not be remedied they endured it without hope ever to have it helpt So in the height of this sadness and desperation loe Christ was born in the days of Herod the King When all assistance of this world fails then God is nearest When the Seas work tempestuously then Christ is walking upon the waves When the Apostles labour'd hard and could get nothing to sustain them then God fills their nets with store that they are ready to break and when calamities are very bitter and the enemies of the Church in the heighth of their pride then what remains but to say nay to sing it with David The time is come that thou have mercy upon Sion yea O Lord the time is come One of our own Prelates lighted upon a most pithy observation that
Heir to the house of Austria but the dominion is still Spanish So the power was devolved upon the Levites but the dominion was still Judah's until Shiloh came So I have done with the occasion of these Wise mens coming because Christ was born which birth I have examined from the place and the time from the place Bethlehem and the time in the days of Herod the King I do not profess to deal with the sayings of the Wise men at this time the consideration of that verse will be an hours work at the least but I will borrow a little with your patience for the use of the day out of their question which is most natural to be spoken of on this high Feast of Christmas where is he that is born the King of the Jews God that told them by a Star that his Son was born could have told them where he was born and have saved them that labour to ask it but the Lord thought it more expedient to let them be ignorant for a while to prove their diligence how they would search it out When they came to Judea they found not out Christ straight no more shall we be perfect men in Christ upon the first gust and illumination of heavenly things Yet we think commonly when we have gone a little way we are at our journeys end we have found out all that can be found and for the rest let nature work and grace too if it will It is not good laying hold of that place of the Prophet Isa lxv 1. I was found of them that sought me not Some are so happy but all have not that favour from God Seek and ye shall find is the Text we must trust to Those are the righteous indeed of whom David speaks This is the generation of them that seek thee even of them that seek thy face O Jacob. I proceed they sought and askt for this blessed Infant but at the wrong place for they took in at Jerusalem and sought him there It seems the position of the Star guided them to the Land of Judea and then their own apprehension made choice of Jerusalem before any other City A King was born Jerusalem the imperial habitation they concluded like men certainly he is housheld there This was the mistake a humane error but as St. Austin speaks to it Ratione duce non invenitur qui de Caelo revelatus est Reason was no good Harbinger to appoint him his lodging whose birth was revealed from heaven My ways are not your ways nor my thoughts your thoughts says the Lord Isa lv His birth was private but his passion publick At Bethlehem you shall hear of his Nativity and at Jerusalem of his Passion All the while they were lodg'd in Jerusalem the Star which guided them obscur'd it self because they were out of the way While they followed humane conjectures they were disappointed of their heavenly direction Yet it cannot be withstood but that God had some secret hand in it that they askt this question in Jerusalem before they fell upon the right place The Fathers meditation is more plausible than solid that it was an expostulation with the Princes of Judah why they had not lodg'd their King that was born in the chief City and in their chief Palace Cur in praesepi jacet non decumbit in templo cur non fulget in purpura sed squalet in pannis why should he lie in a manger and not in the most holy place of the Temple why is he wrapt in poor habiliments and not in Purple and Gold but this expostulation need not for he came not to challenge the world that they did not attend him with pomp and honour but because they would not believe in him that was sent to save them These following are more substantial answers First to Jerusalem they came and so to the Priests because howsoever God may call some by revelations and visions yet he sends them afterwards to be confirmed by the Doctrine of his Priests and Prophets So Paul saw a light from heaven at first as these men saw a Star but Paul was sent to the Ministry of the word to Annanias to preach unto him So Cornelius began with the vision of an Angel but he was made a complete Christian and Baptized by the Ministry of Peter Beloved though God give extraordinary helps to call us to salvation yet wise men will go to the Scribes to ask of them where Christ is The Priests lips shall preserve knowledge But as one says now every artisan thinks he is a whole convocation of Scribes in his brain and can tell as well as they Secondly By going to Jerusalem the Scribes did tell them where Christ should be born but went not to see him or seek him themselves Divinas literas portabant non adjutorium salutis suae sed ad testimonium nostrae they cited Scripture to save the Gentiles but not to save themselves they direct others and themselves are cast-awayes like way-stones that shew others their journey but themselves are immovable and stir not Thirdly They were not sent to the Shepherds that could tell them but they came to others that their question might stir up others to search him that were yet in ignorance And the questions of the ignorant are profitable oftentimes not only to the ignorant but also to their teachers The question about the inheritance of the Daughters of Zelophahad made Moses study to resolve it and gave him more understanding in the Law Fourthly The Magi askt very boldly at Jerusalem Where is he that is born King of the Jews They speak as of a thing supposed to be known thinking the Jews must know all Prophesies about their own King better than the Gentiles for unto them were committed the Oracles of God But quite otherwise God sent the Gentiles to be Preachers of these things unto the Jews and so they are unto this day and that of David is verified on our part Thou hast made us wiser than our teachers To end for this time Ubi est where is Christ then avant ubiquitie he is not every where and it is against the simplicity of the Gospel to put plain capacities to find out an ubiquity by the Lutheran subtilties of their communion of properties that the divine nature gives the humane nature all that it hath But for a plain use to you if it be askt where is Christ I will answer it four ways First The heavens have received his bodily presence send up your Prayers unto him there Secondly Where two or three are gathered together in his name he is in the midst of them So that if you be a sound orthodox part united to the body of the Church he will give you of his Spirit that you shall find him there Thirdly He gives us to know that every poor afflicted member stands for his own person Ecce illic Christus If you will distribute plentiful alms to your poor neighbours against
East to Judea these have many more reasons to eâ—ince that it was no natural Star As first that all other Stars appear unto the world by night this had a most bright complexion as well by day as by night Ignatius says or some in his name that it exceeded the Sun and Moon in splendor And Prudentius says as much for Poets will speak loftily Quâ—e solis rotam vincit splendore ac lumine it went beyond the body of the Sun in light and lustre Secondly It had not the motion of other Stars sometimes rising sometimes setting but guided the Magi in a straight line from Persia or Mesopotamia to Jerusalem Thirdly Other Stars finish their course that is whirle about the Orb in twenty four hours this pass'd but few degrees in many days from the East unto Judea Fourthly This Star disappeared at a moment as soon as ever they were received into Jerusalem and so long as they staid there I believe two or three days till they were just upon departing it shined not again Hoc non agit motus sideris sed virtus plena rationis It must not be the motion of a natural Creature but the vertue of a supernatural finger that was so punctual Yet Gregory Nyssen doth so maintain it to be an usual Star of the highest Orb that he prevents all these objections namely that it came out of the Sphere for a time and hung in the air to do homage to Christ and he that caused the Sun to stand still or go backward for Joshua's or Hezekiah's sake could make a Star to go what motion he pleased for his Sons sake Perhaps such as stick fast to the Peripatetick Philosophy would have the body of the heavens suffer no such violence as a Star to be missing in it for a time And therefore Aquinas against all exceptions concludes it to be a flame of light newly created for this purpose Fuit corpus densum multùm habens de lumine specialiter ad hoc opus ordinatum A solid body fit to receive much light ordained on purpose for this Ministry Whether it was made of some pure celestial matter or earthly concretion that they profess not to know but leave it to him that framed it Nor do they presume to deliver any certainty touching the Figure of it as whether it stream'd like a blazing Star or no yet of all things else they will not permit it to be called a blazing Star for those Meteors so they were wont to call them appear against the Death of Princes not against their Nativities But one Frier among others fell out with his wits that gives us his own fancy for an undeniable truth that this Star was cast out into the Figure of a child bearing a Cross and that it portended his blessed Mother should be called the Star of the Sea Thus he scarce modestly considering the heathen called their Venus the Star of the Sea but I am sure ridiculously What kind of created body it was fitly that 's certain formed for this purpose either we shall know hereafter in the Kingdom of heaven or at least have no curiosity to desire to know it that 's the best resolution Others stray further from the words of the Text and say that the Scripture speaks according to the opinion of the Wise-men who considering the Figure of it and the light it gave call it a Star but indeed it was no Star What then Why the Holy Ghost now appearing in the shape of a Star to manifest to Christ as once in the shape of a Dove when he revealed him at his baptism by Jordan As if nothing were worthy to make this Infant known unto the Gentiles but the Holy Ghost What share the holy Spirit had in this manifestation shall be toucht upon anon Others observing that an Angel told the Shepherds in the field the tidings of the Incarnation do most approve that this light which shew'd as if it were a Star was a very Angel of glory going before the Magi from the East to Jerusalem in a resplendent visible form For Angels are called Stars Rev. i. 20. And again Who maketh his Angels Spirits and his Ministers a flaming fire Psal civ This opinion hath St. Chrysostom to favour it that it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an invisible heavenly vertue taking this shape and figure upon it And Theophylact more clearly in the same key 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a divine and Angelical vertue appearing in the fashion of a Star And one of our late Writers is more punctual how it should come to pass to be an Angel that when an Angel spake words about the Incarnation of Christ to the Shepherds the glory of the Lord shone round about him and these Wise-men of the East seeing that heavenly and Angelical glory shining afar off apprehended it to be some new Star and withal either by tradition or illumination at the present were taught that it call'd upon them to go and seek the Messias in Judea Yet this last opinion will hardly be made good for when they went out of Jerusalem that light appeared again very near unto them at that time and yet they call it a Star and not an Angel In one word had it been an Angel why should the Evangelist have concealed it that an heavenly Minister conducted the Gentiles to Christ whereas the Scripture tells it without all circumlocution that a multitude of the heavenly Host appeared unto the Shepherds watching over their Flocks by night I incline therefore to the letter that it was a Star or luminous body created for this purpose And marvel not if the Point be so ful of doubts and uncertainties for every circumstance about the calling of the Gentiles is the mighty mystery of God And so much for that Point In the next place we are left as much uncertain about the appearance of the Star as about the substance For the Question is propounded whether it made but one Apparition only to the Wise-men and being seen but once gave them sufficient notice to go into Judea or whether it guided them day by day night by night step by step till they came to Jerusalem The former opinion is not empty of reason the latter likewise stands upon reason and is much more countenanced by Antiquity The Scripture hath left it undecided and so both parts may enjoy their liberty and are fit to be heard They that incline to the first way that the Star at one shining taught the Magi to go into Judea are moved for these causes First because they say we have seen his Star in the East they do not add that it hath conducted us to you in the West and in all likelihood the Evangelist would have spoke of it if the Jews had seen it as well as they And in as great likelihood if such a flaming Meteor had appeared upon that Horizon all the way they went from Persia to Jerusalem the wonder would have been
is but dust and ashes Christ did empty himself of his glory and fulfilled all the righteousness of humility The fifth word of consideration is the plurality of persons spoken of in the Proposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus it behoveth us to fulfil all righteousness It was fit indeed for our Lord Jesus to perform all obedience to the Law in every tittle and minim that is commanded because it lay upon his person to undo the curse of the Law Surely Johns name must stand for a cipher in that work for Christ alone trod the Wine-press of his Fathers wrath neither John nor any of the Saints were made co-partner with him in our redemption By his one Oblation of himself once offered he made a full perfect sufficient Sacrifice and Oblation for the sins of the world What means this saying therefore in the Plural Thus it behoveth us Take again what the Spirit hath supplied for exposition of this word in divers manners One way it is satisfied that Christ according to that excellent power which is in him speaks of himself regally as of many Joh. iii. 11. We speak that we know and we testifie what we have seen and yet Christ only spake to Nicodemus Again it is a sweet consolation that after the taking of any Sacrament we are no more one and one and so to be reckoned single by our selves but Baptism and the Lords Supper are the very bonds of perfection and make us all members of one mystical body the Scripture is admirably accurate in this particular as 1 Cor. xii 13. By one Spirit we are all baptized into one body and have been all made to drink into one spirit Here it appears that we are become one spirit by drinking one cup of the Lord and one holy lump because we are sprinkled with one spirit in the water in the name of the Lord so our Saviour phraseth the sentence of my Text according to this mystical union Thus it behoveth us to fulfil all righteousness One other Paraphrase is very plain and literal and perhaps therefore the more natural John was loth to put his hand unto the water to cast it upon the head of Christ his Master rectifies his error and tells him it must be done it is expedient for both Obedience is required in the Servant humility in the Lord thus it behoveth us on both sides to fulfil all righteousness Take the last conjecture of the word with you and as I approve it the most useful Christ was made righteousness and sanctification for us by shedding his innocent bloud which is testified in the water of this Sacrament He alone is the meritorious cause of our Salvation But the application of this justice is not to be expected to fall upon our heads without ordinary means and such instruments as God hath appointed Ye are Gods Husbandry says St. Paul to them of Corinth but we are labourers together with God 1 Cor. iii. 9. He regenerates by his word which is committed to the lips of sinful men he cleanseth and sanctifieth his Church by the washing of water whereof we are made dispensers therefore our Saviour hath joyned this Prophet to himself not by way of merit God forbid but by way of instrument and ministry in the work of our redemption thus it behoveth us to fulfil all righteousness Now I shall end this Text in a word that Christ did fulfil all righteousness at this time not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a strict necessary rigour but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for decency sake because it did become him Thus it becometh us c. Many abasements our Saviour did endure and became obedient in many parts of humility which could not be exacted at his hands in strict justice as he took our nature upon him but they were certain voluntary strains of lowliness which were full measure pressed down and running over As for his dolourous Passion of the Cross that could not be escaped it was the cup which he must drink to satisfie for the sins of the world therefore he preacht to his Disciples in this unavoidable expression Nonne oportuit c. Ought not Christ to have suffered and thus to enter into his glory But to stoop like one of the multitude to the Baptism of John was not of absolute necessity but a decency which did well befit his humiliation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thus it becometh us c. A comliness in every one is to be observed according to his Christian calling and decency though necessity were set apart will prevail much with tractable and honest dispositions Some will bend to nothing but to that which is clearly exprest in so many words out of the sacred Text. But what if decorum require it to be done though it be not in specialty contained in Scripture but in general Maxims why surely then it cannot be neglected if we will offer up to God a perfect Sacrifice Whatsoever is fitting for an outward sanctification of a sincere heart you cannot omit it without maiming that ingenuous comliness which is required at our hands This is not my own fancy for I observe it frequently in St. Paul that he argues from that which becometh a Christian 1 Cor. xi 13. Judge in your selves is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered 1 Tim. ii 10. Let the women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefastness and sobriety not with broidered hair But as becometh women professing godliness Eph. v. 3. Fornication uncleanness let it not once be named among you as becometh Saints Where is that wrangling excuse now for all your pride and bravery Will you be stiff in your opinion that you may paint and powder and crisp and clip hair and use all those Island dog tricks about your head because the Bible doth in no place by name condemn these things Beloved if the Spirit of God had penn'd a thousand Bibles more they could not have contain'd the Catalogue of all those Peacock fashions into which you transform your selves from time to time therefore one rule stands for all that you must do as becometh women professing godliness and remember that there is a decency to be attended in Christianity I will not say to you as St. Paul did to the women of Corinth Judge in your selves if this be comly We should have wise reformation for all faults if you were made the judges who are quite addicted to vanities Who shall tell you then what is decent for Christians Will you rather believe the handmaid that attires you Or the Waiting-woman that hath wages to flatter you Or those Gallants that call themselves your servants and would have you proud that they may idolize you Will you believe these rather than the Priest of God whose soul must answer for every word he teacheth you Learn from him what it is that becometh you to fulfil righteousness Much might be enforced from hence likewise to commend unto you all the Ceremonies so exactly
in domo charitatis in a charitable Hospital family every man hastened to a good work as if he had flown like a Dove Was not Paul a brave wing'd Apostle that traversed much of Asia and preacht the Gospel in every place from Jerusalem to Illyricum Seventhly The Doves eyes are fixt upon the Rivers of waters Cant. v. 12. some say out of vigilancy to espy therein the gliding of the Kite that flies above and to save it self So the spiritual man looks backward to the first waters wherein he was dipt to the Vow which he made in Baptism There he remembers his Garment was made white and he must not stain it for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not only to wash away filth but to give tincture or colour to that which is died So in Baptism the foul spots of iniquity are taken forth and by sanctification a clear gloss is set upon our soul It was the exhortation of old at Baptism Accipe vestem candidam immaculatam c. Take this white garment pure and undefiled it was their Ceremony to put on such and keep it undefiled against the day of the Lord. Et grege de niveo gaudia pastor habet says Lactantius The Shepherd rejoyceth to see the fleeces of his Lambs fair and unspotted These are pennae deargentatae as the Psalmist says the Doves wings are silver wings and if they be bright Silver here it will be changed into a better Metal hereafter a Crown of Gold whose wings are silver wings and the feathers of Gold Lastly As it was toucht before in the days of Noah the Dove was a presager of a better world to come and in this Text likewise it is Nuncia futuri seculi the happy annuntiate that there is a better world to come when these evil days of sin and misery are ended So we are sealed with the holy Spirit of Promise which is the earnest of our inheritance the Spirit is a pledge of that possession which is purchased for us in the Kingdom of heaven whither he bring us c. THE SIXTH SERMON UPON THE Baptism of our Saviour MAT. iii. 17. And loe a voice from heaven saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased SPeak O Heaven and hearken O Earth unto the word of the Lord. The Earth must keep silence and give ear when God is his own Orator himself and utters his pleasure with his own voice As it is usual when some great Palace is raising fron the Foundation that the Master of the Possession will lay the first stone with his own hands So the Church being to be built up again in the New Testament not upon the foundation of Works but upon Faith not upon Moses but upon Jesus Christ Loe the mighty God publisheth the first tidings of reconciliation from his own mouth and himself in the Prophet Isaiahs Phrase doth lay in Sion a chief corner stone elect and precious for the Foundation which sustains the whole body of the Saints is no other but such as is contained in that brief Proclamation which I have read unto you This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Some of the Fathers very aptly call the Text Gods ample testimonial given to his Son that the world might receive him gladly being about to preach the glad tidings of salvation Moses you know would not offer himself to the Children of Israel to be the means that should release them from Pharaohs bondage before he had a token of Credence who did send him to the People and the Lord said unto him Thou shalt say I am hath sent me unto you So our High Priest and anointed Saviour would keep that form to have a clear testificate to commend him to the World Now a Dove was but a dumb shew and might be interpreted many ways wherefore an articulate and a majestical voice was heard from heaven which would pierce the ears of all that were gathered together and could not be mistaken In that nature therefore as a Testimonial given to him that was now about to be the great Preacher of righteousness I will divide the Text 1. The Person that did bear witness it is the Father 2. The manner how he testified to the honour of his Son by a voice Loe a voice 3. The authority of that voice which was every way to be accepted because it was from heaven 4. The Person to whom the witness is born to a Son This is my Son 5. What is witnessed of him in respect of himself that he was beloved This is my beloved 6. What is witnessed of him in respect of our consolation that he is filius complacentiae in whom and through whom the Father is well pleased That is to say not only beloved in himself but procures us to be beloved likewise for his sake for all that by Baptism have put on Christ are unto God as Christ himself is Filii dilecti complacentes Sons beloved well pleasing So the Text is our Saviours Testimonial and our own Consolation And loe a voice c. The Father is become a witness to glorifie his Son that is the first consideration to be made upon my Text. The Spirit hath done his part before now the voice the Father is come to perfect this great solemnity and so the justice of God agrees with his own Law Ex ore duorum aut trium testium Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established was ever any truth so strongly confirmed so undeniably maintained that the Father which made all things should ratifie it sensibly in the audience of men Never was it heard of but only in this case which is the top of all truth that Jesus was the Son of God Other truths we are well perswaded of which come from the light of reason or from the testimony of man yet reason may be blind and man may err but it is impossible that God should lie Heb. vi And admit it to be good for who can controul it that the Prophets and Apostles were inspired from God so that the contents which they have written are certain and infallible then his divine wisdom which gave them that instinct whatsoever he utters immediately from himself it may well stand upon comparisons that it is much more infallible So St. Hierom distinguisheth between that truth which is increate and which is infused and participate that the truth of the Saints is called a lie in respect of that verity which abideth in the Father Yea let God be true and every man a liar in which words says he it is implied that God alone is true even as he alone is said to have immortality for although he hath communicated immortality to Angels and to the souls of men yet it is not their own immortality but his love and favour to give it to them So the Prophets and holy men were inspired with true knowledge yet it was not their own truth
licet sometimes Go and do harm upon the earth I will permit thee that thou be a lying Spirit in the mouth of Ahabs Prophets Non merito malitiae ejus sed transgressionis humana data est ei hujusmodi potestas says a Schoolman Not for the good that he hath done but for the much evil that we have done He is made a Prince of the world therefore turn unto the Lord and he will quickly cancel Satans Commission A Tragedian upon the Roman Theater repeating this verse Nostrâ miseriâ magnus factus es the Auditors did all apply it immediately to Pompey surnamed the Great thou art grown to the name of great by our baseness and servile flattery So we have made our arch enemy a great tyrant by our rebellion and iniquity Therefore do you but cry out De profundo clamavi out of the deep have I called unto thee O Lord and the Lord will bind him that hath bound us in our sins in the bottomless pit I have expatiated thus far upon the condition malice number and efficacy of these spiritual wickednesses in high places Now I restrain my self to meditate how at this time Satan chose out Christ for his object Our Saviour was not touch'd upon by the Tentations of the World or of the Flesh but he was tempted of the Devil And St. Cyprian gives a sweet reason for it Honestiùs cum spiritu quà m cum carne luctamur nemo libidinum morsus evasit illaesus A man may preserve his holiness and integrity and yet encounter the Devil No man is troubled with the concupiscence of the World or of the Flesh but he comes off with some detriment You shall know what all these three tentations are severally and then mark if it be not true First For the tentation of the World that is when some unlawful desire is stirred up in a man to wish inordinately some things in the world The world therefore is said to tempt by casting objects in our way which are occasions to make us stumble and fall as the shadow in the water made the Dog let go his piece of flesh says he in the Fable Secondly For the tentation of the flesh that is sometimes taken for all manner of wrong desire that opposeth reason or faith so Idolatry Witchcrafts Heresies Seditions are called the works of the flesh Gal. v. 20. but properly it is our affection towards some sensual things against reason or the Word of God either in the avoidance of some evils of punishment which should be sustained or in coveting some pleasures which should be avoided According to St. Pauls stimulus in carne whereof I spake before Both these you see leave some mark and impression of evil behind them for sin is sin in the first suggestion and could in no wise be competible to Christ who was a Lamb without blemish in all respects And whereas Satan propounded stones to be made bread and all the glory of the kingdoms of the World Divines do rightly distinguish Christ was not tempted of the world or of the flesh Ad ea tamen quae carnis mundi sunt but he was sollicited by Satan to enjoy the pomp of the world and to embrace those pleasures wherein the flesh lusteth against the Spirit Thirdly It remains alone since he would be an High Priest tempted with like infirmities unto us that he should be tempted of the Devil for that assault might happen with all the might and main that Satan could direct it and yet Christ be blameless and undefiled according to that Text The Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me Joh. xiv 30. That sin doth not follow as a necessary effect from such a tentation of the Devil I prove it two ways 1. From that common rule Peccatum in actu proprio consistit That which is the act of another cannot be called my sin my sin must be my own proper act Therefore if the suggestion of Satan had no success with me it was his envy but the resistance shall be imputed to me for innocency 2. I prove it from another rule speaking only of actual sins Nemo peccat propter id quod vitare non potest No man is put into such a plunge that sin is inevitable that he could not choose but sin Who can hinder it that Satan shall not so much as offer to seduce me I cannot avoid the attempts of the evil Spirit but through Christ I may avoid to consent unto him It is impossible but scandals and tentations should come but woe unto him by whom they come The difference between us and our High Priest is this Satan creeps into us by invisible insinuations he slides into the inward closet of our breast and there begets polluted imaginations libidinous delights wicked designs and intentions There he gets in says Biel though we perceive not any such guest in the inward room Sicut lumen penetrat in profundum aeris ibidem manet As the light is transfused through the air though the air feel it not A fit similitude for the Angel of darkness But the tempter came to Christ not by an inward induction but in an outward visible appearance And his presence or his speech were no more contagious to Christ than when the Sons of God stood before the Lord Satan also was among them and had leave to speak his mind against that holy patient man Job i. 7. I will conclude this Point and begin that which shall end all Jam. i. 13. Let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any man He cannot be tempted with evil therefore that exteriour pulsation of the Devil was no ensnarement to Christ and Chrysologus makes this use of my Text take heed ye repine not at God for the author of evil and tentation they are the works of Lucifer and his Angels When you hear those Fiends make it their office to tempt an office not imposed by their Maker but assumed by their own malice In Deum hoc non imputent homines astris non imputent naturam non criminentur Revile not God throw not the mischief upon nature pick no quarrels with the Stars You see whose work it is heaven and earth are Gods and sin is the Devils God hath made his good Angels to be our custody and appoints them their Provinces how and whom they shall protect Evil instigations impugnations are from the Spirits of darkness only God appoints the order as he shall see fit for the punishment of rebellious ones that have forsaken him Deus ordinatè novit uti malo Evil tentations are the Devils God whose Providence guideth all things doth sometimes restrain and limit them always methodize and direct them Whom in the end of all we call upon by hearty and zealous Prayer to assoil and defend us from our ghostly enemies AMEN THE SECOND SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv
first took upon him the Kingdom Prohibition upon prohibition against Nehemiah when he laid the first stone to re-edifie the Temple When the first foundations of heaven were laid the proud Angels themselves fell upon the first plantation of Paradise Adam fell upon the first promulgation of the Law the Israelites worshipt a Calf in Horeb. Because the first fruits are the Lords therefore this rebellious monster would corrupt them Be not troubled therefore so St. Chrysostom comforts if you be infested with perilous tentations after Baptism after receiving the Lords Supper after your Prayers after your being at Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This follows of course it will often be so If you seek to quench the Devil he is nothing but fire and flame But especially a Jew or Pagan being of ripe years renouncing Infidelity and receiving the waters of Baptism for the remission of sins in the bloud of Christ they are the persons at whom the Adversary will strike with all his force after the similitude of this tentation There is a Text somewhat obscure Luk. xi 24. That an unclean Spirit walkes through dry places seeking rest and finds none St. Hierom doth thus interpret those dry places Loca inaquosa sunt gentes aridae nondum aquâ baptismi irrigatae Towns and Villages are scited by springs and rivers for the most part dry places where no waters are want the frequency of men and thither the unclean Spirit resorts these dry places says he are those barbarous heathen upon whom the dew of heaven did never fall I mean the sprinkling of Baptism But among these the malicious one finds no rest Non invenit requiem quia non habet cui noceat these alas for them are quite lost already he finds no rest among these for he wants matter to work upon therefore he returns to the house from whence he came to the house newly swept to them who were lately baptized and had put on Christ Secondly Just before the Spirit of God came down upon Christ in the shape of a Dove and although that Spirit was upon him in all fulness and abundance ever since he was made man yet that apparition did manifest him to have received the rich talents of grace in most plentiful measure Hereupon was the envy of the Devil enflamed In majorigratiâ major tentatio Where there is the most sanctification it falls out very often that there is the most tentation The Devil is like a thief who will venter for the greatest booty they that beset an house to rob it says St. Chrysostom look for cash and where tentations beat hard against a man it is to be granted that there are good gifts in the soul of which the envious man would bereave us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is evident that there is a great treasure committed unto thee because Satan would break in and steal If you ask who are most empestered with the assaults of the wicked one the question says Aquinas is to be divided with this distinction Potentia Diaboli est respectu infirmorum fervor respectu perfectorum the weakest and worst of men are most obnoxious to his power and domination the strongest and best of men are most obnoxious to his assault and fury Among all the twelve Disciples he can easiest possess the heart of Judas but among all the Twelve he did most desire to winnow Peter Where God gives a man a large measure of grace withall he gives the Devil the larger Patent Do not say I am cast out of the sight of the Lord and faith is much weakned within me for the provocations of ungodliness vex me sore It is quite otherwise Christ will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able to bear but a stiff knot can endure a more massie wedge and a strong defendant shall have a strong Antagonist Faith is called a Shield the Word of God a Sword Righteousness a Brest-plate is not such Artillery as this fit for an hot skirmish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that hath the weapons of the Spirit let him gird them about him to fight And this is it that I say why Christ was now tempted upon the manifestation of the Holy Ghost for the more grace the more tentation Thirdly There is no bait at which the old Serpent will bite sooner than the lofty commendations of the Saints At the Baptism of our Saviour and the descension of the Holy Ghost there came a voice from heaven that did resound his glory far and wide This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil The heathen were wont to say be moderate in the commendation of any man whatsoever was over-praised was obnoxious to the envy of the Gods Indeed as for the Gods of the Heathen they were but Spirits of damnation And whatsoever is highly praised an hellish envy dogs and follows it to take away the Garland from it Breves infausti populi Romani amores says the Historian Those whom the people of Rome did much prosecute with their love and applause they were never long prosperous What was the begining of Jobs affliction But those words wherewith God did so graciously testifie to his integrity Hast thou considered my servant Job that there is none like him in the earth Job i. 8. Some that are bold to conjecture say as much for David the envie of the Devil was stirred up against him because he was called a man after Gods own heart They carry the same conceit upon the first time that Peter was smartly rebuked Get thee behind me Satan immediately in a few verses before that Encomium was given him Thou art Peter and upon this rock well I build my Church Nectens ipsis ex vincula sertis As the Poet says the waggish Boys took Silenus his Garland and made fetters therewith to bind him So Satan contrives mischief out of the Garlands out of the praise of the Saints And certainly too much elevation of praise is a dangerous precipice to be tumbled into temptation or if it do not work to the ruine of the living this wolvish projector can bring his ends about to the injury of the dead For certainly the large Panegyricks and Commemorations made yearly upon the Festival of the Saints and Martyrs whereof I spake in the beginning stirred up the envy of the Devil to sow Tares among the Wheat to beget invocations of Saints prostration before their Images adoration of Reliques and the whole spawn of Idolatry If God lend his own voice to the praise of Christ this infamous Lucifer attends close to blot it out and to make God a liar like himself for if he could have entred the tentation of any sin into Christ he had not been the Son in whom the Father was well pleased Fourthly Christ had spent thirty years of his life in Judaea and it is most probable to
wherein so many run upon this Point I will give you my judgment in that method wherein I have always directed my self a method to give God the glory of all that which is good to make sinners humble because they have no good in themselves as of themselves and to make us all diligent in good works that we may not neglect the gift which is given us in Christ through sluggishness and security The grounds upon which I will insist are these 1. We must be led by the Spirit before we can work any thing which is good 2. I will unfold how we are led by initiating or preventing grace when we are first made partakers to taste of the hopes of a better life 3. I will shew how we are led by preparatory grace which goes before the complete act of our regeneration 4. With what great and mighty power the Spirit doth lead us in converting grace 5. How we are led by subsequent grace and sanctification which co-operates and assists us after our conversion To these heads I will briefly and peaceably reduce a volume of litigious disputation 1. I enter into all by this door before the Spirit come down upon us and lead us with his sweet motions our heart can produce nothing which is good The heathen are no competent witnesses in this cause how far nature is weakened in all vertue and how much it is prone to all evil they know no supernatural strength above nature and therefore could not acknowledge the efficacy of it In a word we must not believe man how far he is corrupted but God for man must not be judge in his own cause The Pharisees likewise shall not be heard to speak in this Point whose arrogancy made them enemies to grace You remember with what contempt they ask'd Christ are we blind Joh. ix 40. Alass of our selves we are all under that woe Vae vobis duces caeci Woe be to you blind guids Mat. xxiii 16. Whither will a blind mans feet carry him but into a pit or into a snare unless he have a leader By nature this dark blindness is upon us for else why have we a Leader Omne id naturae deesse intelligitur quod spiritus sancti operâ communicatur says St. Austin Whatsoever is put into us by the Holy Ghost manifests how much was wanting by nature The good Spirit may say of his direction as Job did of his charity I was eyes unto the blind and feet unto the lame Job xxix 15. The heathen erred from the truth through ignorance the Pharisees through arrogancy among Christians none offended more foully than the Pelagians partly through subtilty of wit partly through arrogance What shifts did they not invent rather than confess the truth Sometimes calling the endowments of mans nature even under this great blemish of depravation by the name of grace When that would not serve yet they would allow no grace to support mans free will but the external preaching of the Word and dispensation of the Sacraments 3. When this would not satisfie the Church they went thus far they did not hold there was grace of sanctification to prevent us from sin but grace of mercy to remit our sins Yet they stood under condemnation and at last this was all that could be wrung from them supernatural grace was necessary not simply to strengthen us to do good but only to do good with greater facility Whereas it behoved them to have accused nature in this present state of malignity so far that now it is become that accursed ground which of it self brings forth nothing but thorns and thistles There is not only a possibility in our will to sin as there was in Adam before the Fall but a violent and a precipitious inclination to transgress the Law The Saints and the heaven are not clean in Gods sight says Job How much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water Job xv 16. The will of man is of that nature it cannot rest naked devested of all desires unfurnisht of an object and since in its own rebellion it hath forsaken God there is no relief but it will betake it self to the unlawful concupiscence of the Creature Mark how peremptorily St. Paul concludes against man as he is left to the will of his own flesh Rom. viii 7. The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be In the state of this miserable captivity under sin for we are servants to that which we obey the will of man is partaker of its own freedom which grows with it and cannot be parted that it is not held under necessity to commit this or that sin naming any particular act what you will but under sin it is held so that the evil which we would not we shall do and the good which we would we shall not do But Christ is our Advocate and he will speak for us more than we could or durst say for our selves hear his testimony Joh. xv 4. The branch cannot bear fruit except it abide in the vine no more can ye except ye abide in me Because these words are parabolical he speaks roundly in the next verse Without me ye can do nothing It is not meant of natural or animal works as eating drinking walking indeed we can do none of these things unless his omnipresency and omnipotency support us but here it is meant of such things as are praise worthy before God without me that is without the divine assistance and help which I have merited by my obedience ye cannot bring forth the fruits of righteousness to eternal life Yet I pray you mark one thing to qualifie some mens severe opinions Christ did not say whatsoever ye do without me even with the best moral rectitude and justice shall plunge you further into damnation Every thing which comes from a meer natural man is so bad and defective that it shall do him no good toward the attaining of everlasting life but some things have a moral honesty according to the law of nature which do not deserve Hell fire but rather they are such things as shall make their damnation more tolerable The branch can bring forth no fruit unless it be in the tree Frugiferum opus est quod ad vitam aeternam refertur That is a frugiferous work which God rewards in his Kingdom No such fruits can grow from nature which wants the conduction of the Spirit St. Paul very cautiously 1 Cor. xiii mustering up the works of an unregenerate man which want Charity says he If I do all these things and want charity they profit me nothing not simply that the continence of Socrates the temperance of Scipio should hurt them but they profit me nothing a natural man brings forth nothing which can profit him to eternal life St. Austin doth so diligently ponder every word of the Text now cited that I must impart his sweet labours unto
you Without me you can do nothing so our Saviour Had he said without me you can do little or without me you can do no excellent thing or without me it will be hard and difficult for you or without me you can perfect no good work then there had been some evasion for a man to trust in his own abilities but to say without me you can do neither much nor little greater things nor inferiour things with ease or with difficulty neither finish nor begin this chops off all boasting in the powers and industries of the natural man Without me ye can do nothing The Eunuch plainly felt this impotency and when Philip askt him Vnderstandest thou what thou readest Says he How can I unless some man should guide me As the sick person complained at the Pool of Bethesda he wanted some man to put him in when the water was troubled Verè homo fuit illi necessarius sed homo ille qui Deus est Says St. Austin He wanted a man indeed to cure him but no other than he that is God and man Jesus Christ So the Eunuch wanted no other man to guide him but he that was made the Son of man that we might be made the Sons of God And upon those words of the Eunuch thus St. Hierom. We come not to walk in the paths of life Sine praevio monstrante semitam Without celestial aid to prepare the way and go before us Let me strike these two strokes more upon this point and I have done with it first when I say nature is so unfit to produce any good so indisposable to attain the Kingdom of heaven let no man say Why should I strive then against the stream of my inbred corruptions I will give my self over to work all filthiness with greediness This is a devillish resolution But rather say I will be very instant in prayer with my God that he will take away this heart of stone and give me an heart of flesh For in the like case the Tongue can no man tame it is an unruly evil full of deadly poyson Jam. iii. 8. So St. James It is not his meaning that we should suffer this unruly evil to do what it list and permit it without any manner of reformation but with all contention of heart to implore the divine assistance that this member of unrighteousness may become an instrument to serve the Lord. Secondly Those Nations whom we perceive to be led by the viciousness of their own nature and not to be led by the spirit we cannot say without great error and obstinacy that these are appointed to everlasting life if the heathen had sufficient means of salvation what priviledge had we in the Church who have the Word and Sacraments and the infusions of sanctification to make them profitable Thou knowst Lord why these do sit in darkness and in the shadow of death Bonus es in beneficio certorum justus in supplicio ceterorum says St. Austin Thou art very good to those to whom thou art gracious thou art very just to those that are punished This is St. Pauls doctrine up and down Eph. ii 12. It cannot be controuled He describes the wretched estate of the Gentiles before salvation appeared unto them We were aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the Covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world How can it be affirmed that they want not help to bring them out of this captivity of sin When St. Paul says Spem non habentes they have no hope This is the condition of nature which is not aided by the Spirit 2. Now I will unfold how we are led by initiating or preventing grace when we are first made partakers to taste of the hope of a better life In this Point I will annex the explication of two things First That there is such an initial preparatory grace in them that are not yet justified and converted 2. That in the first entrance of it the Spirit doth produce it in us solely and entirely the will of man conferring no strength at all Concerning the former of these two conclusions I say there are many good internal effects wrought by the power of the Word and the illumination of the Holy Ghost which enter into the hearts of them that are not yet converted as some knowledge of the divine will sense of sin fear of punishment grudgings of sorrow some earnings to be delivered some hope of favour This is a middle state between natural corruption which is altogether enmity with God and between perfect regeneration when we are called to adoption of Sons I marvel this should not be easily admitted for these reasons The Philippians had fellowship in the Gospel St. Paul calls this the beginning of a good work in them and he trusts God would perform and finish it Phil. i. 6. Yet more clearly Heb. vi 4. he shews there are antecedent portions of grace in many before they are converted and made heirs with Christ yea in such as never were ingrafted lively in Christ he calls it thereby the name of illumination tasting of the heavenly gift tasting of the power of God tastings of the Word of God and in some wise being made partakers of the Holy Ghost Yet these having but these first preparations of grace may backslide crucifie the Lord of life and put him to an open shame The similitudes which are used to shew how grace doth possess the soul do plainly shew as much 1. As in natural generation there are many previous dispositions which go before the introduction of the soul into the matter So there must be many antecedent preparations of the divine blessing before our spiritual regeneration that we be born again and become the Sons of God 2. Gratia se habet ad animum sicut sanitas ad corpus Grace doth raise up the soul from sin as health doth affect the body and bring it out of sickness but there is a middle state of recovery before health be perfectly regained so there is a previous illumination and good direction in the mind and will which go before our conversion that we be actually made the living members of Christ Some are afraid to call this grace and yet they cannot avoid it for they are compelled to call it auxilium Dei a special help of God flowing from his providence Sometimes they abhor not the name but say it is gratia reprimens an assistance of God whereby such as are not converted may repress the occasions or commissions of some heinous sins Either they allow it to be as much as true grace or no better than nature for many evils may be avoided and repress'd by nature no good thing can be done without grace It is therefore that internal calling wherewith God doth seriously invite those to repentance and belief in Christ who have the tidings of salvation brought unto their ears I say I speak of those only who are
called to hear the word of faith and of none other God might have left them in their bloud as the Prophet Ezekiel speaks and given them over to the reprobate sense of their own mind but because he requires a new Covenant from all those to whom Christ is preached therefore he gives them new abilities lest he should seem to invite them in vain but being supplied with these internal excitations of supernatural help they are unexcusable This is the way to give God the glory and to make all the hearers of the Word know what talent they have received But the force of exhortations and expostulations were taken away if a sinner were converted by Enthusiasms and sudden inspirations If God would immediately bring a man to himself without feeling of his sin without hating it without desiring pardon it were superfluous to say We beseech you that ye receive not the grace of God in vain I marvel you are so soon removed from him that called you to the grace of Christ Gal. i. 6. They that heard St. Peters Sermon Acts ii 37. at the beginning of it were unbelieving and rebellious Jews before he had ended they were terrified felt the guiltiness of innocent bloud upon themselves desired freedom submitted themselves to direction Men brethren what shall we do All these were good internal effects but as yet they were not converted and regenerate as yet unbelievers for had they believed they had never made that question What shall we do They come to that in the next verse says Peter Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins Well they followed this counsel and then at the soonest and not before they were justified in Christ for thereupon it is said There were added unto the Church above three thousand souls So I have made that conclusion undeniable I think that Christ doth produce some effects of initial grace before conversion The next conclusion is that since the natural man hath no powers in the freedom of his will to do good therefore the first effects of grace that are brought forth in us the Holy Ghost doth produce them solely and intirely the will of man conferring no strength at all As the ground receives the seed which is cast into it so a natural man takes the good seed from God which he casts into him passivè receptivè only passively and by way of reception Even they that will not be beaten off from their tenet but that the will of man hath some cooperancy with Gods grace in the act of conversion yet they give their suffrage to this doctrine that this preventing grace or grace of preparation is res infusa not comparata a thing infused from above not gotten by our diligence or acquired even as the air doth not dispose it self to admit the light of the Sun but is illuminated by the presence of the Sun They are best known by the name of Semi-pelagians who would not admit this truth for it was taught in their School that the beginning of faith was from man and the increase from the power of the Holy Ghost But why did they teach that the beginning of faith was from man Because they imagined that the talent of grace was promised to them that used the talent of nature well Habenti dabitur to him that hath it shall be given But I would have them find me any such Covenant in all the Scripture which God made with man that such as negotiated the talent of nature well should have an increase of grace for their reward It is a trespass and a foul one to bely a man and to father Covenants upon him which he never made the offence is greater to alledge Covenants from God and yet no tittle leaning that way in all his Testament The powers of nature are blindness of understanding obdurateness of will perverseness of affections what reward can be due to these but eternal death When thou wert in thy bloud Ezek. xvi that is when thou wert under the loathsom filthiness of sin and under the condemnation of death I said unto thee live that is I began to extend my mercy of vivification upon thee The beginning and introduction of all Christian vertue is to think of God From whence comes this From any good parts wherewith we were born Go to the fountain of wisdom and ask there We are not sufficient of our selves to think any thing of our selves but our sufficiency is of God 2 Cor. iii. 5. The next a b c and first rudiment of goodness is to pray to God Is nature a sufficient Mistris to teach you that Is it not the Spirit which the Lord sends into us crying Abba Father I will pour upon the house of David the Spirit of grace and supplications and upon the Inhabitants of Jerusalem Zach. xii 10. Thus St. Austin proves that the very firstlings and proems of all our Christian dispensations are from God because St. Paul said I obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful 1 Cor. vii 25. Misericordiam consecutus sum ut fidelis essem non ut fidelior essem That I was made faithful or had any faith it was the benefit of God and not only by way of increase or augmentation that I was made more faithful otherwise we should lead the Spirit to take his aim from us and not be led by the Spirit a Passive Verb and fit to express that we are merely passive in the first preparations of faith I shall speak anon touching that efficacy of the Spirit upon the heart of man But touching the work of preparatory grace in the first onset it brings illumination with it it dispels darkness from our understanding it makes us perceive we are gone astray in our sins like sheep that are lost it makes us know God is to be feared it makes us discern that we are in a wretched estate this illumination cannot be resisted Mens nostra ipsum scire effugere non potest Philosophy doth dictate that we cannot repel the knowledge of a thing palpably demonstrated before us though we would it pierceth as easily into the mind as a needle through a thin cloath Yet I do not say this grace which first possesseth the soul and makes it willing to good motions which was most averse before doth compel a man or force him compulsion is a word of hostility rather than of favour It comes with that sweetness and authority together that it will not be said nay Thus we are led by the Spirit in the first introduction of preparatory grace The third thing to be considered is how the Spirit doth lead us all the while we use this preparatory grace before conversion St. Austin comprehended all in this short rule Primùm gratia Dei operatur bonam voluntatem deinde per eam First Gods grace doth effect a good will in us and then by that will so illuminated and excited it produceth
nature Non agunt sed aguntur So in the act of renovation we are not fellow-workers but are led and carried whither the Spirit will And as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God Rom. viii 14. 4. We know divine mysteries best by negative expressions and therefore I go on fourthly that this immission of efficacious grace is no violent compulsion upon the will Compulsion I said was a word of hostility and not of favour When God doth his work in us throughly energetically that it shall not fail by a Catachresis it is called a coaction So it is said in the Parable to them that were sent to bring in the blind and the lame Cogite intrare compel them to come in I say this is a Catachresis so Prosper the great director of this way that I take Hanc abundantiorem gratiam ita credimus potentem ut negemus violentam We believe this eminent abundant grace worketh with great power but not with violent compulsion For because of those previous preparations I spake of which make us know and have some desire of heavenly things God saves no man against his will therefore it is no violent attraction for no man is ordinarily saved that hath positive repugnancy though in the momentary act of conversion he doth add no auxiliary co-operancy Nay so far is this most abundant benediction of the Spirit from offering coaction and force to the will that the will of a regenerate man doth instantly shew its complacency and turn it self to God This efficacious motion is infused from God and in the same moment exercised and put into act by man for to that end it was inspired by God that man should produce the act of believing and adhering to Christ This is an Altitude for faith to look upon Voluntas est subjectum istius volitionis causa suae volitionis in eodem instanti I think verily the not marking of this hath caused much debate that the will of man in the act of conversion is the subject upon which God works faith and it self the cause which doth produce the act of faith in the same instant They have my suffrage that say how these two cannot well be divided in time one from another Gods operation converting a sinner to be his Son and the act of believing in that man converting himself to God no object can be for a moment in the will but it must affect it one way or other but in order of nature Gods inspiration is first to be conceived and then mans embracing and assent Thus it appears the agitation of this divine motion is not by force and compulsion but with a sweet and fatherly attraction and the effect is no way rough and against nature but above it For to limit and determine the indifferency of the will is not the destruction of free will but the perfection witness the Saints and Angels who are confirmed in grace that they cannot sin If the Son make you free then are ye free indeed which is thus expounded by the Apostle Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty 2 Cor. iii. 17. Fifthly I annex that the powerfulness of this converting grace is not well expressed when it is entitled but a moral perswasion The hearts of Kings and surely of all other men whose power is less free are in the hand of God and he inclineth them which way he will perswasions may labour upon the affections it is the scope of an Orator but the most flexanimous Rhetorician that ever spake cannot be said to have the hearts of his Auditors in his hands that is a phrase out of humane capacity What moral perswasion was there in this Christ called Peter and Andrew James and John and Mathew from the receit of custom and they left all and followed him Shew me any ground here for moral perswasion that is probable allegation of reason Not a word more spoken than follow me or perhaps I will make you fishers of men few words God knows But a mighty efficacious impression was secretly instilled into the heart there it was it must needs be that celestial irradiation which made them leave all to follow Christ whose outward appearance was most contemptible and his society according to the wisdom of the world most dangerous Perswasion can but propound an end and as every man is affected so he likes the end which is offered We that disperse the Word have the Office to perswade you to the Kingdom of heaven but God forbid he should bring us no further The Devil can suggest and perswade likewise and prevail above his Makers perswasions as it appears Gen. iii. therefore ascribe the honour due unto the Lord that his Spirit is more efficacious to produce good than Satan to produce evil therefore his work consists not in perswading but in governing and inclining the heart Finally To dispatch this Point I said this potent and infallible assistance of converting grace doth well consist with the Promises and Threatnings and Exhortations of holy Scripture There are other matters objected against this but at the last you will find all sticks at this knot For after some wrangling in the end it is confest God can restrain the liberty and indifferency of the will and make it bring forth what act he please and it must be allowed that the taking away that liberty to work either good or evil is not the destruction but the perfection of the will The angry question is Whether the removing away that liberty and indifferency from the will in the act of conversion can consist with this order that a man shall be commanded to convert himself to God upon the condition of eternal life and upon the commination of Hell fire Now I must tell you this was the very thing that Pelagius quarrelled St. Austin for saying Da Domine quod jubes jube quod vis Give me to do what thou commandest O Lord and then command what thou pleasest But take all my answers like grapes upon a cluster 1. They that make this objection know we are commanded to have the first grace of illumination and they acknowledge it is freely and merely wrought by God Why then do they stumble at converting grace that conversion should be commanded us and God altogether cause it and yet allow it in preparatory grace 2. Doth not the Scripture frame our tongue to speak thus Make you a new heart and a new spirit Ezek. xviii 31. there is a command I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you Ezek. xxxvi 26. there he doth execute in us what himself commanded It is to be magnified and admired not to be disputed of when God will work that good by his Spirit within us which he might in rigour without that extraordinary help exact of us 3. Whither will Divinity be tost about if this be not certain That our just and omnipotent Lord commands
first observed it how Satan did clamber higher and higher in every Tentation and still changed his outward appearance to do the feat the better First as a man he did commiserate humane wants and necessities and insinuates the sin of Infidelity Secondly He transformed himself into an Angel of light and urgeth him to presumption and vain-glory In the last bout having now deceived himself that Christ was not the eternal Son of God he did truly manifest the Luciferian audaciousness and impudency and in his own shape he provokes the most holy one of God to most horrid Idolatry The Thief comes not but to steal says our Gospel and the Impostor of the world comes not but to deceive Totus quantus est mendacium est Every thing in him was lying and fiction and delusion The promises which he made were lying promises the pity which he pretended was lying pity the Scripture which he quoted as he quoted it was lying Scripture and the shape in which he came was a lying shape Alas that man who was made an excellent Creature after the Image of God should degenerate so much in all goodness that his shape should grow a fit coverture to cloak the couzenage of the Devil Might not this be the art of this our capital enemy That since God cursed the Serpent because the Devil came in his shape to tempt our first Parents so the Lord might be exasperated to curse mankind because his only Son was tempted to wickedness in the shape of man Beloved this inference from hence may be our instruction We know not in what form or transmutation Satan will come to seduce our souls therefore be wise as Serpents And since our own shape is not free from his Impostures as it follows in the next verse Mat. x. 17. Beware of men Take heed that beauty tempt you not to wantonness it is but dirt well tempered with bloud Let not pleasing words steal away your heart from the truth that is but to dance when the Devil Pipes Every man that speaks contrary to faith and holiness his mouth is become the instrument wherein Satan speaks his Oracles And so much for that circumstance how he disguised himself in the shape of man After this I will lay hold of one of the main parts of the Text. The Tempter had two ends in casting forth these words before our Saviour Vt cognosceret incognitum ut corrumperet cognitum First to learn more perfectly that which he terribly mistrusted whether Christ were the Son of God and upon this do depend some remarkable observations And to make this Point profitable I begin from hence that Satan had not yet perfectly discovered who our Saviour was and therefore he wrought in this Mine in the first Tentation to find it out Many of the Fathers do acknowledge that this was part of his business and St. Hillary doth well express it Erat Diabolo de metu suspicio non de suspicione cognitio The Devil being rather suspicious than clearly resolved took this course to find it out whether this were the Seed of the woman that should bruise the Serpents head And mark how his words lie to this purpose He did not say since you are hungry bid this stone be made bread that were to entice him to bare gluttony Nor thus you are the Son of God bid this stone be made bread but in a doubting irony If thou be the Son of God It is strange that a Spirit so subtil by nature so intellectual so vigilant to espy Christ in all his ways so able to understand Jacobs Prophesie that the Scepter was departed from Judah and therefore Shiloh should come should hold off so long and doubt of that which was clearly manifest There were some Divines in St. Hieroms time that took a middle way for their opinion how the Inferiour Furies of Hell did long before believe and tremble and had cast it up for certain that this was the Son of God but Beelzebub the Prince of Devils was so much blinded with malice more than all the rest that he continued a time after all the rest in ignorance and Infidelity But this is meerly their own fancy without the suffrage of the holy Scripture The darkness of unbelief was upon all the Angels of disobedience for Satan who is the accuser of the brethren and no doubt complaineth to God that many of his Elect are slow of belief hath this malicious slander retorted upon himself that after many evident tokens better known to him than to weak men he faltred and doubted shamefully as my Text says If thou be the Son of God This was like for like repayed unto him he blinds our hearts with sundry fallacies that we should not know good from evil and God blinded his understanding that he should not discern truth from falshood And that you may not marvel that the Tempter should be dubitative in so manifest a case and knew not which way to incline recollect one thing that did infatuate him he being the Angel of pride and judging all events according to the pitch of his own ambition how could it come into his mind that the Son of God would debase himself with so much humility And so it hath fared ever since those days nothing hath so much hardned their hearts who are slow of belief as pride and insolency For it is the arrogant conceit we have of our own wit which hinders sometimes that we do not subject reason to the knowledge of God I must be careful in this Point that one place of Scripture may not make another obscure especially to leave no shadow of contradiction between one Text and another In this business Jesus fasting forty days in the Wilderness the Devil seems not to understand perfectly that he was Christ the Lord. In the Synagogue of Capernaum Luk. iv 34. the unclean Spirit calls him by his name and title and Country Jesus of Nazareth I know thee who thou art the holy one of God So intelligent above any of the Jews that he is the first that ever called him a Nazarite Nor do I reckon upon these words so much that the evil Spirit said I know thee who thou art for Satan is a liar and must not be credited when he speaks truth But the Evangelist St. Luke says in his own person from the inspiration of God he suffered not the Devils to speak for they knew that he was Christ in the same Chapter verse 41. Beloved distinguish the times and the matter is reconciled Before the encounter of this Tentation the enemy knew him not Christs humility and extreme exinanition did shadow him that he was not discerned After the infamous repulse that Satan suffered in these Tentations and upon the admiration of some other subsequent miracles he was compelled to confess thou art he that art come to torment me and to destroy my Kingdom the holy one of God So Nazianzen exprobrates to the Arians how they resisted that
For if we say we feel our selves translated from death to life by the fruits of mortification and vivification for the time past and by a firm resolution to produce better fruits for the time to come how will this agree with continuing in the works of the Devil and yet to collect we are the Sons of God There is no coherence in these two nay there is a flat contradiction in the terms For the practice of sin especially of any great crime cannot possibly stand with the assurance of special faith You cannot say I do verily believe I shall persist without interruption in the grace of God unless you add I do firmly purpose to walk in all the ways of God Eternal life is given conditionally believe that is believe effectually and thou shalt be saved Now it were extreme folly to make God a liar to think we should attain everlasting life without keeping the condition or giving all diligence to keep it As for the rejoynder to this it is altogether as weak as the objection that many live debauchedly and yet presume and crack of special assurance I know that the most wholsom truth that ever was taught may be distorted to ill use and so this Doctrine taken with the left hand may prove hurtful to some evil men will distort the Scripture to their own perdition Yet it is against reason and against the grounds of special faith if any man will look upon them but with half an eye For whosoever live like Libertines regardless to please God so far ought they to be from being certain of life eternal that according to that present state of bitterness wherein they are unless they mend they are certain of eternal damnation The Grashopper feedeth only on the dew and Ephraim feedeth on the wind Hos xii 1. A man that is in a dream may be deceived and think he sees what he doth not shall he that is awake therefore and knows what he sees misdoubt that he is deceived I do defend it and maintain it and that upon good consideration that there is no motive in Divinity of greater force and efficacy to encourage a man to do well or to preserve him from hainous sins than to fix in his heart that Christ died for the sins of the whole world and for his sins in particular and albeit he is laden with iniquity and hath abused the bloud of the Covenant yet by repentance and newness of life he is perswaded that bloud shall not be in vain to him but that God hath remitted his sin and is this a stumbling-block to make a man a hypocrite Will any but a most riotous unreclamable Son run on in leudness because he knows he hath an indulgent Father Or waste and consume his means because his Father hath entailed his Land upon him The Prodigal in the Gospel came to himself and turn'd a new leaf because he knew he had a Father would receive and forgive him Shall we abide in sin because grace abounds Rom. vi 1. St. Paul cries out upon it as the greatest Solecism in Divinity The more a man is assured of Gods love towards him in Christ in pardoning his sins in redeeming him in glorifying him hereafter the more will his heart be enflamed with love towards God and towards his neighbour yea towards his enemy for Gods sake the more studious he will be of his glory the more desirous to please the more careful to obey the more ready to return and repent when he hath offended I say it will be so not barely it ought to be so Paul and Peter and divers in the Gospel were assured upon Christs words of their Salvation do you ever read they were less faithful in their ways or any whit the more presumptuous If words can be clear and legible these are in St. John 1 Ep. iii. 2 3. We know when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is and every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure As if he had said A man cannot stedfastly hope for glorification but it will make him purifie his heart I must gather up my meditations briefer in the three following Conclusions And the third is in part already opened that this special assurance is not the formal act of justifying faith but an effect which follows it Faith is called special faith two ways 1. Because our Lord Jesus and his merits is the object of it and so it is called faith in his bloud Rom. iii. 5. For although by that faith which doth justifie we believe all the Articles of faith and the whole Word of God as well threatnings as promises yet the object of it as it justifies is Christ and in regard of the general compass of belief it is called special faith 2. It is called special faith in regard of the effect by which particularly and specially we apply Christ unto our selves Some have most inconsiderately taught That this special faith in the latter sense or particular application is the very essence of justifying faith Which opinion hath drawn upon it self a world of scandal and absurdity By faith we obtain remission of sins that is the Covenant of the Gospel But by what faith It cannot be by this special assurance For certainly a mans sins must be forgiven before he can be assured they be forgiven what more idle than to be assured by special affiance that we were reconciled to God before we were reconciled therefore in order of nature there is another degree of faith which goeth before by which we are justified before God and that is a lively and effectual assent that this is most true that Christ came into the World to seek and to save that which is lost This is eternal life that we might know thee the only God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent Joh. xvii 3. And as that is a plain speculative Text so we have the exercise and practise of it Mat. xvi 16. Our Saviour ask'd his Disciples Whom say ye that I am Peter answered Thou art Christ the Son of the living God This was his intellectual asset to the truth of salvation and thereby he was justified Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona blessed for that confession Therefore special assurance is not the formal act of justifying faith In a word our confidence is begotten by Gods mercy our confidence doth not beget Gods mercy We live in our Mothers womb as soon as ever the soul possesseth the body yet we feel not when life was first given So we live by faith and we are justified by acknowledging the mystery of salvation as it is Rom. x. 9. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved Yet we do not feel or perceive we are justified till the actions and fruits of faith put themselves forth abundantly in us Infants are
sancti factum est ut quae obscura sunt in Scripturis per apertiora possunt illustrari says St. Austin God hath compounded easie places with difficile that you may have some fruit ready to reap and some to be gathered and expected hereafter unto the ends of the world As we read of Manna that it was saporous to all Palates and every man might taste in Manna whatsoever he loved to taste so the Scripture hath all good relishes in it taste and try and it wants nothing which is delightful for the soul unto salvation No Book in the world hath so many rewards for vertue no Edicts set forrh by all the Princes of the world so many punishments for iniquity no store-house among all the Papers in the world so full of consolation such lofty wisdom delivered in all simplicity such fortitude commanded with so much sufferance and patience such strict justice observed with so much equity and forgiveness is not to be found elsewhere beneath the Sun save in those Volumes of the Holy Ghost Let your eyes love to gaze upon this Fountain as the Doves in the Canticles are said to gaze upon the waters and if you will gaze upon them with a Dove-like innocency you will read them for these five ends First You see in my Text that Christ quotes them to repel the Devil He fought against the Flesh by fasting against the wicked World by retiring into the solitary Wilderness but against the Devil with the authority of the Word of God You shall seldom meet with an Apollos that is mighty in the Scripture with such a one as Antonius of Padua who was called Arca Testamenti by them that admired his cunning in the Scripture his memory was like the Ark wherein the Law of God was laid up seldom shall you find such a man but he will over-master at least the very criminal and notorious suggestions of the Devil Secondly Read them to learn Christ and his glory in them for this end our Saviour directed the Pharisees to Moses and the Prophets and the Beraeans are stiled more noble than those of Thessalonica because when Paul preached Jesus they searched the Scriptures whether those things were so Acts xvii 11. Thirdly Read them for the consolation of that glory which is laid up for you These things were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope Rom. xv 4. All the Traditions in the world beside leave the mind fluctuating and miserably uncertain into what state hereafter the soul shall be received Fourthly Read them to be instructed in the study of Piety and good Works to the glory of God Thou hast known the Scriptures from a child to make thee wise unto Salvation says Paul to his Timothy in that 2 Epist iii. 15. In all the exhortatives and Pandects of Laws which the Heathen made there was not only the omission of some excellent vertues but the permission the very institution of some notorious vices Fifthly Read the Scriptures not to engender questions as very many do but to produce Peace and to be the end of all Controversies To keep up Discords when the Law and Gospel is in our hand to decide them nay to enflame the more because we have waters from the Well of life to quench them is Satans imperial device he is now grown so cunning to wring what he list out of the sacred Text that he presumes Scriptum est shall little hurt him And to the end the Scripture may be more unapt to cut off Controversies the sharpest Controversies in the Church are raised upon the very Scripture As 1. upon the incorruption of the sacred Text. 2. Upon the validity of Translations 3. By augmenting them with Apocryphal Books that are not inspired by the Holy Ghost 4. By interposing they are an incomplete rule without unwritten traditions 5. That they prove nothing indubitably without the unanimous consent of pure antiquity 6. That all the Lay part or at least the unlearned are to be interdicted the reading and possessing them as well because of their obscure sense as because the ignorant may suck out of them the venom of Heresie 7. They jossle the Church and Scripture together which should be superiour 8. They have wrangled themselves almost into Atheism that they know no way but by an historical faith or mans testimony that this is the Writ of God Thus because the Scriptures are given to overthrow the Kingdom of Satan Satan hath done his endeavour by these bad instruments to overthrow the Scriptures But I say again Beloved let us read them not to increase the rent of the Church but to moderate contentions and to stop the gap Thus St. Austin in a sweet strain of concord to please both God and man Fratres sumus quare litigamus Non intestatus mortuus est pater c. We are brethren and therefore should not strive especially since the Will and Testament of our Father is before us to end all branglings Men fall out sometimes about the goods and inheritance of the dead but if a Will be found the quarrel is quickly taken up read how your Father hath bequeathed all things and you can ask no more Brethren we have the first and later Testament of our Father open them peruse them How do you read there Will you not stand to his Will and Ordination Why the Law will compel you As for a Father upon earth Jacet in monumento valent verba ipsius sedet Christus in coelo contradicitur testamento ejus He is rotten in his grave and yet his will given under the testimony of man quiets all suits Christ sits in heaven for ever and shall not his Testament confirmed by the Testimony of the Holy Ghost be an end of all Controversie So far I have pointed at the utility in reading and well using the holy Scripture because the Scripture is the seat of Christs Argument as I called it And more particularly he doth honour the Law so far as thrice together to quote none other but the words of Moses Moses whom above all the men in the world Satan hated as appears by his striving with the Angel about the body of Moses to advance the Text of Moses against Satan was lapides loqui not to turn stones into bread but to turn his words into stones and to cast them at him Moses is truly called Oceanus Theologiae the Ocean from whence all the Prophets since his time did borrow their divinity Aquo seu fonte perenni vatum divinis ora rigantur aquis Moses his Pen was the first that ever drew History For when Alexander the Great took Babylon his Preceptor Aristotle was most diligent to preserve and examine the most ancient Histories in the Babylonian Libraries and their Computations come short of Moses above two thousand years Moses his subject so admirable as none to be compared The Creation of the world the first foundations of
the Church The first institution of Marriage the Fall of man and the Promise of Christ And God chose him above all men to receive his Commandments out of the dark Cloud for which his excellency hath been renowned above all men in all Generations But as the chief Lesson in all the Prophets is the coming of Christ in the flesh so none more express for that than Moses If you believed Moses you would believe in me says our Saviour In every of his Five Books he hath left some notable instance for this a Beacon upon an hill The Seed of the woman shall bruise the Serpents head Gen. iii. Christ our Passeover is sacrificed for us in the Paschal Lamb Exod. xii The Serpent lifted up in the Wilderness even so the Son of man was lifted up Num. xxi In Leviticus all the Ceremonial Sacrifices were Types of him especially the Scape-goat But above all Deut. xviii A Prophet will the Lord your God raise up unto you like unto me hear him This is that Prophet who is the chosen quiver out of which Christ takes his shafts Mallens doctrinâ Moses quà m miraculis pugnare Our Saviour had rather convince the Devil with Moses than with Miracles And above all the Scripture or above all other works of Moses Christ hath refuted the Devil only out of the Book of Deuteronomy at every turn that he spake unto him Whether Moses were anciently divided into a Pentateuch or five several Books whereof this is the last I concur with them that doubt it This is certain the seventy Interpreters were the first that called it Deuteronomy for the Jews gave the Five Books no other names but the first words of the Book A singular and most select piece of Scripture it is containing the whole body of godly practice and true Religion for the King for all Magistrates for the Priests and for the People It is Moses his Cygnaea cantio the last exhortation which he made before he took his leave of the world And it is supposed there is more Divination in the Spirit in the nearest enlightnings before death than at other times as if the soul were almost out of the earth and a little in heaven The great Prophet took such abundant care to preserve it and to put it into the hands of all men that it was wrote in stone for an eternal memorial Deut. xxvii 3. Every seventh year it was to be read to all the people at the solemn Feast of Tabernacles Deut. xxxi 10. The King was enjoyn'd to keep a Copy of it and read it all his days Deut. xvii 18. And after he had spoke it he wrote it and delivered it to the Priests Ruminate upon this that you shall not find such instances for the memorial of any other sacred Book and that Christ drew only out of this fountain to quench the fiery darts of the Devil and although comparisons I know are odious between one book of Gods Word and another yet some excellency will redound out of the premises to this Scripture in every mans imagination It took the name of Deuteronomy because when the Law had been delivered before this is a repetition of the Law again Nunquam nimis dicitur quod nunquam satis dicitur Moses was not ashamed to preach the same things over again no more was Paul To me says he it will not be irksome to you it will be profitable The Law had need to be repeated often for our rebellion and depravation and perhaps because the oldest men of Israel were all dead in the Wilderness for the sin of murmuring who had first heard the Law it was fit to propound it again to the new Generations That I may not be too tedious in this I will only add what St. Hierom says Deuteronomy or the second Law is a prefiguration of the Gospel or Evangelical Law Sic habet quae priora sunt tamen novae sunt omnia de veteribus So the Gospel doth antiquate no moral thing which is old and yet old things in the Law become new in Christ by the faith of the Gospel Heaps of Expositors follow this hint that Christ retorted Texts of Deuteronomy upon Satan for this reason because it affords a kind of shadow of the Gospel A weak reason for so many to be in love with since it was not God that imposed the name of Deuteronomy on that Book but men that did interpret it Why that Book was only in Christs mouth upon this occasion let no man take upon him to determine but it will teach us to search diligently for some excellent Treasure in those Lines which were thought worthy to be applied and them only by the wisdom of the Son of God And thus much for the seat of the Argument and for these words It is written Before I come to the words themselves we must pass over the second Point that the application of them is drawn to Christ The place originally is to be read thus Deut. viii 3. He humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with Manna which thou knewest not neither did thy Fathers know that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live It was Christs pleasure to have himself comprehended in this rule our case is his case he will fare as we fare he trusts in Gods blessing as we ought to trust in it in a word he answers altogether as man and not as God As the Israelites had no Corn or Harvest in the Wilderness to make bread yet they had sustenance equivalent or better which fell from above round about their Tents so Christ intimates the same providence could help him though he wanted bread which supplied the Iraelites of whose stock he was descended He could have confounded Satan with his Majesty and power but it was more tormentuous to the Adversary to be thrown off as with the weakness of mere man and his humility This is not it which Satan look'd for to hear Christ answer him by the title of man and far less did he look for it that he should get the upper hand of him in that title a triumph which is most molestious to his pride above all other punishments Here it began that he should be subject to mans nature yet it was that nature co-united in one person with God but hereafter all the band of Hell shall be turned over to the children of men who have been the children of God that they may insult over them Do ye not know that the Saints shall judge the world says St. Paul 1 Cor. vi 2. Nay know ye not that we shall judge Angels Not only comparatively because our works are better than theirs as the Ninivites and the Queen of the South shall rise up in judgment against the unbelieving Jews Mat. xii But directly our suffrage shall go to their eternal condemnation
up an whole loaf every day when Anthony the Eremite came to keep him company If this were alledged as some stick not to do it to illustrate the Verse which Christ quoated I think Satan would rejoyn Where had you this tale This is a Legend of mine own fiction There are other examples which I rank'd in order before like a file of Souldiers to conquer the Devil and the richest and newest which was at our Saviours hand was that of John the Baptist who found a good diet in the Wilderness to make him temperate and serve God out of Locusts and wild honey The motion which the Tempter made being thus examined in the true Explication of Christs answer proves to be as unreasonably sensual as Esaus urging for Jacobs Pottage he would seek no further for any meat that he must have though it cost him dear like Philoxenus in Aelian that could not pass by the steam of a Cooks shop but he must take a bait where his sent did lead him So Satan to our Lord go not into the Towns or Villages near at hand satiate your appetite just at this present and without delay even where you stand Command that these stones be made bread And should not man wait Gods leisure and time when he wants bread since the beasts of the Forrest when hunger rouzeth them out of their Dens know not readily where to get their meat and yet are content to seek it of God the Fowls of the air have no barns to lay up store not a grain of Corn before hand yet they flutter out and pick up and down and at last return home contented Not unusefully therefore doth one change the words of this first Proposition into this Paraphrase Man lives not by bread alone Non cibo parato vivit homo sed qui sponte se offert Man shall not live alone by that which is artificially cook'd and provided but even by that which nature suppeditates as John Baptist lived by Locusts and wild honey and so the Patriarchs before the floud lived altogether upon fruits and herbage and upon the voluntary offrings of the Springs and Mountains Si ad naturam vivitur tam superfluus est coquus quà m miles says Seneca If Nation would not rise up against Nation what use were there of Souldiers and if men would give their body but just as much as would content nature there were no use of Cookery Yet God doth suffer our nature to exceed in the use of his blessings that we may abound with thankfulness but if the Patriarchs did praise and bless Gods name more for a few Sallets than we do for all the luxuriant store that the Fields and the Sea afford then their Temperance should judge our Gluttony and their Thanksgiving shall condemn our Unthankfulness But so far of the first Proposition Man shall not live by bread alone that is man is not necessarily bound to ordinary sustenance The second follows in this sense and interpretation God can nourish man by every word that proceedeth out of his mouth every way that it liketh and pleaseth him Whatsoever the Constitution and Decree of the Lord is that is called his Word Verbum appellat quia verbo omnia creavit dixit facta sunt He that spake the word and all things were made a word and a deed to him is all one And therefore the Shepherds in the Eclogue which they had together about going to Bethlem to find Christ use this speech Let us go see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This thing which is come to pass is very right sense but in the Greek it is this word which is come to pass Gods words are not faithless nor full of vain ostentation as mens are his words were as those were which Daniel says were written with a hand upon the wall for his hand doth hold his word to execute and bring it to pass To make you a little further acquainted with the Phrase of Scripture Egressus est sermo ex ore is an Hebraism to signifie the resolute pleasure both of God and man The thing proceedeth from the Lord says Laban We cannot speak unto thee bad or good Gen. xxiv 50. A Domino egressus est sermo the word proceedeth from the Lord that is he hath decreed it and we cannot withstand it In like manner the Idolaters contest with Jeremy Chap. xliv 17. We will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth to burn Incense to the Queen of heaven that is after the swing of desperate sinners they would do what they list The insisting upon this Phrase is not in vain but the very key to open the plain effect of Christs answer which very profitably leaves us to make use of it in a double construction First says Tolet Verbum quod procedit ex ore Dei est res quam Deus in victum hominis destinavit Man shall live by every word that goes out of the mouth of the Lord that is by every thing that he will bless and appoint for the use of sustenance unto him And so Abulensis doth instance and exaggerate it the Lord is not that Father who if his Child should ask him bread would give him a stone but if he would infuse the vertue of nourishment into boards into stones yea into the flesh of Serpents we should prosper with them better than with all the Cullesses and Electuaries in the world How unsearchable are the ways of the Almighty how the Infant from the first conception is nourisht in the Mothers Womb When Philosophy hath spoken what it can the chief part must be left to Divinity to say it is fed by the word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God such things as would poyson one Creature are delicate dainties to fatten another It is as God hath allowed every thing for man and beast in their own kind that we might allow him his glory Secondly Man shall live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord that is by all his Promises and by every Vocation which he hath sanctified to relieve us And this agrees most aptly with Christ himself in the dispensation of his Mediatorship and with the instance of the Children of Israel who were fed with Manna in the Wilderness This is the prime rule which leads every man into some hope of prosperity that manageth an honest Calling That every one shall live and thrive who holds him to that way which God hath appointed him The Israelites journeyed from Egypt into the Wilderness not of their own head and will but by Gods Ordinance why it was impossible they should famish doing as he commanded them So Christ went not rashly into the Desart but he was led by the Spirit he did as the Lord would have him do this was his Vocation therefore though he could not make stones become bread God would find him sustenance some other way No conscionable man will set his servants to
labour and not provide them honest fare to strengthen them when they follow their Masters negotiations Says Christ to the Seventy Disciples When I sent you forth without Scrip or Shooes or Money did you want any thing They answered not any thing for they went upon their Masters Message and they liv'd upon that word which proceeded out of the mouth of God The Priests indeed that serve at the Altar are to live by the Altar in their case it will be granted that they shall live by that word which proceedeth out of the mouth of Christ but it sorts as well to those that supply any other honest Vocation which God hath allotted if they will bound their desires to moderate sufficiency and not to supersluity Socrates an Heathen could cry out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he suffered extreme poverty for defending the Worship of God as well as he could against the Idolatry of the Heathen so much more the true Champions of Christs honour may take up the same complaint yet the Lord is innocent of the bloud of those just men he never failed to afford them a sufficient vital proportion if their enemies would let them enjoy it The Heathen Morals are like the base Court by which we have the next entrance to the glorious Courts of God and those Heathen conject their shot to the use of this Point in a Story or a Fable which you will Comates a young Shepherd tended the Flocks of a hard Master but the Stock increased exceedingly under his hand for Comates sacrificed one Ram every month to his God to preserve the Cattel which damage being known to the Owner the churlish man imprisoned him in a hollow tree with intention to starve him But his God provided for him that the weeping of the tree should quench his thirst and that Bees should swarm in the hollow trunk with the help of the Honey-Combs Comates kept life which being perceived the anger of his Master relented Godliness hath the promise of this life and of a better says St. Paul And this tradition of the Jews to which I am credulous doth confirm it You know in 2 King iv there is a Widow much in debt whose Sons should have been sold for bondmen but Elisha multiplied her Pot of Oyl into many Vessels which yielded sufficient moneys to satisfie her Creditors This woman says the Text ver 1. was a Wife to one of the Prophets and she tells Elisha he knew that her husband feared the Lord. The Jews say this woman was the Wife of Obadiah who at his own cost and peril kept the Prophets of the Lord in Caves and fed them at his own charge so long that all his means were wasted This may be for Obadiah could not choose but be at great expence and was not only a keeper of the Prophets but a Prophet himself and see how the Lord did ransom his Sons from slavery by a mighty Miracle it was Gods pleasure Obadiah should cherish his Servants and he would not suffer him or his Posterity to be losers by their Piety There are such that do not set themselves on work according to the word which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord and as for them need and wretchedness shall vex their souls There are runnagates says David that shall continue in scarceness Let me put you in mind of a runnagate bred in our Kingdom one upon whom God did let his anger fall for a thousand Lies Forgeries Rebellions Calumnies it was the Romish Priest Sanders whose brains beat at nothing but to dishonour a Royal Queen a true Religion and to set the whole Realm of Ireland in combustion This Cative says the most learned Historiographer of this Kingdom being disapointed and forsaken ran mad and wild into the fastnesses of the woods and there ended his life in most miserable famine So says he that Divine Justice closed up that mouth with Famine which was ever open to slanders and rebellions for Letters and Orations were found about him being dead to stir up treasons and seditions God can nourish by every word that proceedeth out of his mouth and they that walk not after his word but would root it out shall perish in their scarcity The hour passing away calls for the third Proposition which is Nothing can nourish unless God bless it for man liveth not by the bread only which he cheweth in his mouth but by that word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God to bless it and give it the vertue of sustenance As if Christ had said Though these stones miraculously be made bread yet hunger would continue if God were displeased at it All the sustenance in the world shall not nourish if he curse it When a fruitful Land becomes barren and a fat soyl well tilled and sowed doth not yield increase every man will be ready to take up Davids Psalm It is for the wickedness of them that dwell therein Like Sodom and Gomorrah like Abnah and Zeboim where not any grass groweth but the whole Land is Brimstone and Salt and Burning Deut. xxix 23. And why will you not mark as well how God chastiseth some for their secret sins so that their food gives them no strength but they pine away in the midst of plenty God gave bread to the Israelites but sent leanness withal into their soul So Haggai upbraided the people Ye eat but ye have not enough ye drink but ye are not filled It is the grace of God which gives meat in due season so that health and comfort go together with it And heretofore I have used this similitude to give it light Sometimes when we apply Physick for any disease we are bid to seeth such and such herbs in running water and then to drink the water If this help us we all know it was not the water which did the sick man good but the decoction of the infusion So it is not bread or drink considered barely in it self which doth nourish the body but the blessing of God infused into it Daniel and the three Children of the Captivity that were with him prospered better with Pulse and water than any of the Babylonians with the continual portion of the Kings meat What was Adam the better for eating the forbidden fruit Or were the Jews one whit the worse in health and good plight because many sorts of meats were interdicted them As the Land of Canaan was made double fruitful every sixth year and brought forth a double proportion by the blessing of heaven because in the seventh year it lay fallow So where Gods benediction is upon you though the poor have but a little yet every morsel shall have a double benediction The hungry shall be filled with good things and the rich shall be sent empty away Therefore look up to heaven and give thanks as the little birds do when they sip a drop of water If thou obeyest the Lord thou shalt be blessed in the City and blessed
and Political Priviledges made Satan desire to contaminate it with the greatest sins as with the Martyrdom of the Saints with the hypocrisie of the Pharisees with sundry other crimes and with this presumptuous precipitation if he could have drawn Christ unto it In Psalm cxxii there are three things which made very much to the praise of it 1. It was a City compact together the strongest Tower of defence in all the Kingdom 2. There sate the Thrones of Judgment even the Thrones of the house of David And 3. Thither went the Tribes up to give thanks to the name of the Lord so that for Fortitude for Civil Justice and for the use of Religion for being an holy City it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very eye of the Land of Canaan But especially the name of Jerusalem in holy Scripture is rather the name of Gods Church than of a place which contained material building and therefore very aptly called the holy City Nay there is not one word beside in all the Book of God which contains the whole threefold estate of the Church that I can remember namely both the Synagogue under the Law and the Gospel under Grace and the blessed Communion of the Saints in heaven For Jerusalem as the Grammarians note is a Noun of the dual number to signifie both the Militant part on earth and the Triumphant part in heaven of them that are sanctified and joyned to Christ the head No place so pregnant as Gal. iv 25. where St. Paul shews a double Jerusalem upon Earth the Synagogue and the Gospel Jerusalem which now is says the Apostle which desired to be under the Law under the rudiments of Moses was in bondage with her Children but Jerusalem which is above not meaning the Choirs of Angels in heaven but the Church Apostolical which is watered with the dew of heaven from above That is free which is the mother of us all Here are two Jerusalems one above another the Antitype above the Type the Substance above the Shadow the Son of God exhibited in the flesh above the Figures and Sacrifices of the Levitical Priesthood But in both respects it was called the holy City For as concerning the Law of Ceremonies there was no other place but it where they were purely exhibited to God and as concerning the New Testament or Faith in Christ there it began Repentance and Salvation were preached unto all Nations beginning at Jerusalem And for this relative holiness which that City had by being the chief and most ancient Seat of the Oracles of God even Heaven did borrow a name from Earth and hath not despised to be called the upper Jerusalem St. John says when the old Elements of the world did pass away there was a new Heaven and a new Earth and he saw the New Jerusalem coming down from God prepared as a Bride for her Husband Rev. xxi 1. For these causes it had Nomen super omne nomen A name above all names among all the dwellings upon earth even as Christ had a name above all names among the Sons of men But as the Serpent did find a way to come into Paradise so he resorted to this holy City It is his joy to make that a Cage of unclean birds which was the Sanctuary of God It is his industry to sow Tares in the midst of Wheat it is his envy to make an evil Leprosie rise up in those Walls where Christs name is praised it is his pastime to pollute the holy City that the Lord may abhor it And this was easily brought about by the Devil Jerusalem hath run his own fortune Gods honour did abide in it for a while and after a while it became an hissing to all the Earth Once there was no other place in all the world that was holy there was no other Metropolis no other Sanctuary all the habitations of the earth beside were Idolatrous therefore from that ancient purity wherein it excelled alone it is called Sancta an holy City The former renown did so remain upon it then when it had been guilty of the bloud of all the Prophets and had crucified Christ himself yet after all this the Spirit of God lets it retain a name fitter for its ancient Sanctity than for its present Iniquity Many dead bodies of the Saints arose and came into the holy City and appeared unto many Alas now it is neither holy nor yet a City but first a Theater upon which all wickedness was acted and then an heap of ruines Although after the change of many names which it hath suffered Adrichomius says that the Turks in their Language call it the holy City to this day How well doth this parallel the state of the Roman Pontificat at this day We are often told and the oftner the less reason here did the Apostles Peter and Paul preach and suffer Martyrdom here have thirty faithful Bishops successively suffered for the name of Christ here have the Arrian the Nestorian the Pelagian Heresies been refuted this is the holy City Yes as Jerusalem is so entitled for the pure Worship of God which was once professed there not for the present faith and sincerity all places have admitted impurity and corruption for it was denounced to man that the whole Earth and every part of it should bring forth thorns and thistles unto him All Kingdoms and Cities have their periods and shall have them to shew that Gods Kingdom only is perpetual All Nurseries and Seminaries of Faith have had their full Tides and their Ebbings their times of Grace and their aversions from it to shew that truth is only established in the heavens And I doubt not but after the revolution of those years and days which God hath prefixed in his secret knowledge it will be more easie for our Posterity than it is for us upon great alterations that happen in all places to prove that where the Papacy now reigns it suffers the same fate with Jerusalem was but is not the holy City Well to seek further into this Point the Tempter did devise rather to pollute Christ than the City of God to which he brought him yet certainly thither he brought him because that place did serve his turn better than the solitary Desart Our Saviours own Kindred were ambitious to have him manifested Shew thy self unto the world and this was the very Pin which Satan did drive at that Christ would affect to be gaz'd upon and admiâ—ed Digito monstrari dicier hic est to be pointed at for the mighty Prophet upon whom the Spirit descended at Jordan in the sight of all the people What went you out into the wilderness to see There is nothing to be seen in the Wilderness that is no place for pride to do its work in But come to Jerusalem and there are thousands of spectators to take notice of a Prophet This is the nature of vain-glory to mingle it self in a populous throng where it may be observed Ut
such the Lord doth ever provide for the building up of his Church who are able to convince the gain-sayers and the weaker brethren must be satisfied by them whose lips the most wise hath appointed to preserve knowledge Secondly Beware to trample upon Pearls as Swines do beware to touch the Scripture with defiled hands He that dispenseth this portion of meat to his fellow-servants should not only be a wise Steward but ought to have a clean heart and a sincere conscience I dare say it prospers much the better with a good man Let Paul deliver any thing out of prophane Authors and he makes it profitable Let Satan deliver any thing out of the Prophets or the Gospel and he makes it abominable Origen compared it so before me Paulus assumpsit verba de his quae foris sunt ut sanctificet ea Paul did sanctifie Poetry and Philosophy with his gifts the Devil did pollute Divinity with his distorsions What more pithy than this of Solomon Prov. xxvi 7. The legs of the lame are not equal so is a Parable in the mouth of fools For as the legs of the lame will not reach one another so the Scripture never fits his purpose that doth not use it to the glory of God When Plato said that certain Daemones I know not what aerial Spirits offered the Prayers of mortal men to the Gods Says St. Austin what Prayers do they offer Incantations Or holy Petitions Si magicas nolunt tales Dii si licitas nolunt per tales If they be Charms God will reject that they bring if they be good Prayers he would not have them to bring them So I may say Why do the Devil and his Angels or why do the Sons of Belial usurp those words which the Prophets and Apostles have written Unto the ungodly said God why dost thou take my Covenant into thy mouth If it be true and entire Scripture God will not hear it from them if it be ill applied Scripture God will not hear it at all Aquinas puts forth a question Whether a man may expound Scripture who hath committed any mortal sin whereof he hath not repented He answers it if it be a sin secretly committed he may do it for God will make Reprobates Instruments of his glory but if the sin be publickly known it is better for such a one to hold his peace because of the scandal I see no reason but rather to say whether the sin be secret or publick such a one should not dare to take Gods Laws into his mouth until he have made attonement for his iniquities by newness of life and repentance Obmutescit facundia si aegra sit conscientia The tongue will lose its cunning to perswade where the conscience is defiled I doubt not therefore but Satans woe and torments shall be encreased for mixing Scripture with his most presumptuous tentations They are not worthy here to be answered that baul at the Reformed Churches because they alledge Scripture for their Reformation but none of their Doctors wrought Miraracles to commend their Doctrine Nec Diabolus à Scripturis abstinuit says one of them no Sir Nec à miraculis The Devil says he did fly to the Scriptures but once Sir in these three Tentations to the Scriptures but twice here and often after and before to miracles It is for a faith newly planted to advance it upon miracles not for the most ancient faith emerging out of darkness where it was much obscured In that case our Doctors quote the Scriptures not like the Devil as these Rabshekahs say but like Christ in the verse following when he confuted the Devil And so much for the third general Point upon what authority he moves Christ to tumble headlong Scriptum est It is written In the last part of all Satan would be our Saviours remembrancer what assistance he may promise unto himself both Supreme and Instrumental The Supreme is God the Instrumental are the Angels Ille mandabit He shall give charge It was some modesty in the Devil that he would not name God with his blasphemous throat but understands him by the Pronoun of excellency and none other can be meant because he calls them his Angels that is his Domestiques and his Family There is nothing strange in these words how the very Devil knew that God is tender to preserve his Children Every living thing nay every inanimate thing hath some instinct that he supports all things with the word of his power When the Sea wrought tempestuously Jonas i. Every Mariner called upon his God An Atheist that in his jollity will know no God put him suddenly in fear of death then he will find a God to call upon O testimonium animae naturaliter Christianae When malicious wit is surprized unawares that it cannot corrupt Nature Nature being left to it self will fly to the Almighty for defence Quench not this spark of Nature I beseech you but call upon the Lord in time of trouble and he will hear you Take the Devil at his word that our heavenly Father will give his Angels charge concerning you Do not distrust that for shame which Lucifer durst not deny But first take this Weapon by the handle and turn the point against the Devil St. Hierom shews you how If God will keep me in all my ways as you confess certainly he will preserve me from you He will not give you over to him above all enemies in the world that he should oppress you He was not so busie about Peter but God was more vigilant Peter Satan hath desired to winnow thee but I have prayed that thy faith should not fail Secondly This tender charge unto which we are committed bids us by all means regard our safety and avoid our enemies Non tam magna pro nobis in coelo sollicitudo gereretur si non magna nobis necessitas incumberet All the powers of heaven would not be so sollicitous for us but that we are thrust upon great necessity God hath placed us in the midst of so many and so great dangers that we may keep our selves within the Walls of a good Conscience and within the Fortress of Prayer and supplication He that understands what hard adventures he must undergo will provide accordingly and he that is sollicitous to be saved did never want Salvation Thirdly Let not an innocent man be afraid of those enemies whom the Devil in all likelihood doth raise up against him be not out of hope because your foes are visible and your help is invisible If you were stedfast in faith an intellectual comfort is far greater than a sensible yet all things are knit together in such a link of Charity that if men be not Recreants and forget that heavenly order which puts the weaker under the protection of the stronger all people may feel and handle the succour which is appointed for them Not to draw your attention so high yet as the custody of Angels observe in
of darkness Invidiâ coelum tundimus non solùm voluit orari verùm etiam pulsari says Tertullian God would not only be called upon but bids us beat at door knock and cease not till we overcome him with importunity Make this Collection moreover from the Point none so good but by continual assault Satan thinks he may pervert them so none so bad but by continual instruction we may reclaim them The Conversion of the very Mahumetans is to be hoped for for if your Doctrine fall drop by drop upon their stony hearts why may not those Flints be worn in pieces Even the Calling of the Jews is to be laboured for though they be dry sticks cut off from the tree from the natural Olive yet being perpetually watered with instruction they may live again Preach the Word be instant in season out of season so Paul wrote to his Timothy Which Text is an Hyperbole for as Gregory says the Word would hurt it self Si habere importunitas opportunitatem nescit If that which is preached out of season were not fitted to be seasonable if importunity did not watch an opportunity But the Greek Fathers do generally follow St. Chrysostomes qualification Opportunum est libenter audienti importunum invito The Word is ever in season to him that is willing to learn but always out of season to him that hateth to be reformed Yet he that thinks Reformation an untunable Song may be brought about with continual instancing and inculcation Shall the good Shepherds be weary to seek that which is lost and gone astray When the Devil will have no nay but tumbles out tentation upon tentation to destroy souls And so far upon his importunity again he taketh him up c. His variety of shifts is the next thing considerable that he removed from a Pinacle of the Temple to an exceeding high Mountain Hereupon some have taken needless pains to commit a great errour I mean those that have search'd out Geographically for the highest hill upon earth as if the Devil had taken up Christ to that Altitude from whence he might behold the furthest prospect Some conceiting the Mountains of Ararat to be the nearest to the Firmament because the Ark rested upon them when the waters were asswaged Some contending for the Mountains of Teneriffa to exceed them for they are higher says Aristotle than all that part of the air which hath either clouds or winds or vapours or any disturbance in it Others pleading for the Riphaean hills whose Promontory to the Basis casts a shadow of thirty miles and more which exceeds all other parts of the earth in height by that measure and proportion But if these were ten times higher than they are they should no whit necessarily concern my Text for they are all of a vast distance from Jerusalem and are quite out of the Land of Canaan but we have no warrant to say that Christ in his bodily presence did remove farther upon earth than the Land of Judea but when his mother fled with him into Egypt Neither was it the advantage of the hill altogether whereby Satan shewed all the Kingdoms of the world unto our Saviour as I will explain by and by Not to insist much upon Topography but thus in brief Jerusalem it self was environ'd with many delicate hills Her foundations are upon the holy hills says David some of those excelled in bigness some of a lower scantling Sion and Hermon were but little Libanus did over-peer these two and so did Basan Even an high hill as the hill of Basan Psal lxviii 15. It is not evident which of those higher Satan made his choice but without contradiction it was an high hill as the hill of Basan A spire or Pinacle of the Temple was a lofty eminence what did drive him to leave it for the top of a Mountain Why is it not so with all Projectors to shift inventions and try new conclusions as fast as the old couzenages are detected and there is a superstition in some weakly grounded God knows to change the place which hath not been lucky unto them Balaac the King of Moab was a great practiser in this kind when Balaam had rather blessed Israel than cursed them upon the high places of Baal says Balaac Num. xxiii 13. Come I pray thee with me unto another place and curse me them from thence and when Balaam had no power to speak evil against Israel there but said there was no inchantment against Jacob nor divination against Israel Balaac chang'd again ver 27. I will bring thee to another place to the top of Peor peradventure it will please God that thou mayst curse me them from thence But it is not the shifting to this place or that place that breeds contrary affections in a good man Coelum non Animum mutant Where there is an inward principle of goodness firm and sure under every cope of heaven the mind is unalterable Such as are like Ruben unstable as water and therefore should not excel as his dying Father told him such let them but cross the Seas and change air and they change their Religion For such ungrounded resolutions the best counsel is to keep quiet at home where they may serve God with an upright heart and not be carried away with Satan from the true Temple of Christ to those high Mountains or cities of seaven hills where they shall be tempted to Idolatry Now what if this mountain which Satan took up like the throne whereon he would reign what if it had been devoted to most gross Idolatry before Would it not be thought the fitter place for such wicked service now For that black hellish motion which follows All these will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me Nay further what if the wisest and one of the most illuminate Servants of God did miscarry upon that Mountain Had not Satan some hopes then to pervert Christ Whom he took to be a Son of God not the eternal and only begotten Son I dare propound my conjecture I call it no more that Solomon did commit Idolatry upon this very Mountain 1 Kings xi 7. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab in the hill that is before Jerusalem and for Molech the abomination of the Children of Ammon assent unto this as you like it I will only add to this Point that the place was chosen to raise a great expectation upon that which should be propounded Parturiunt montes if it were divine doctrine a Mountain was thought a fit place to deliver it to call up the attention of the Auditors So that excellent Sermon was delivered to the Apostles on the Mount Mat. v. Docturus Apostolos culmen perfectionis montem conscendit says St. Austin Christ taught them from on high because he exhorted them to the top of perfection Or if they were Prophetical Visions so God did use one of the Angels carried John in the
drawn by the copy of the Devils Charters impoverishing the right owner to give a stranger not robbing Peter as we say to pay Paul but robbing knowledge to pay ignorance robbing the Pulpit to feed lazie Lubbers in a word it was to pluck the fleece from the Sheeps back to keep the Wolf warm Antonius de Rosellis a Canonist of Naples defends this Position that the Pope as he is Christs Vicar on earth hath a right to all things in this world and may take from one whatsoever he will and give it to another without fraud or injurie This Book is licensed in Italy and never found fault with by the Inquisition I shall meet with this business more aptly when I come to open the next point where Satan boasts that he would give the Son of God all the Kingdoms of the World yet in the mean time is it not worth an objection that this power and privilege to give all things cannot belong to the Devil since another hath claimed it in print and Antonius de Rosellis proves it for his Client out of this Text Henceforth will I make you Fishers of men The scurvy luck of it is that those words were not spoken to Peter only for then it seems to be a Fisher of men had receiv'd this gloss to sweep all into his Net that the whole Generation of mankind doth enjoy upon the face of the earth But this is apparent here are two that lay claim they can give all these things to any man who shall carry it but perhaps there is no jealousie between them and they will agree among themselves Some man would imagin so from this Text the Dragon hath given to the Beast with seven heads all his power his seat and authority Revel xiii 2. And so much for that observation Somewhat else must be in it that Satan unaskt and unsought to is so ready to part with all that he can give God is very liberal and opens his hand and fills all things living with plenteousness but sayes the Apostle dives est in omnes qui invocant eum he is rich unto all that call upon him We must ask and seek and pray unto him good reason for it and then he will give us a blessing And is this greater dealer of riches in my Text the Devil more forward in liberality than God for he past his word voluntarily unpetitioned all these things will I give thee There is some guile in this you may be sure it cannot be otherwise Beloved the Lord God defers not to be gracious he stakes down and puts us in possession of his benefits and no good thing doth he withhold from them that lead a godly life But the Devil makes his adherents stay and look for reversions when they fall he dodges and deludes men with vain hopes of the time to come he will give all things let such as Ephraim take his word that fill their belly with the East wind for he doth give nothing He called Christ the Son of God in the two former Tentations do you think if he had riches or honors to dispose the Sons of God should be the better for his liberality ne're a whit A poor Philosopher that could get nothing among hard-hearted rich men said they were like trees hanging over the side of a rock which had fruit in great abundance but Vultures and unclean birds eat it up no man could come at it to gather it So whosoever fares the better for Nabols wealth David shall be sure to go without if he ask him any thing but it may be they shall have a fair promise if they can keep life with that like this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this future tense in my Text he is not furnisht for the present but dabo I will give thee Why are his Charriot wheels so long a-coming sayes the Mother of Sisera when she lookt for her Son that was slain and dead So with much vexation to be deluded shall the wicked say where is my hire which the Tempter promised when shall I receive my wages Oh it will come anon says this delayer stay for it and you shall speed at last Doth God deal so deceitfully with those that trust in him no says David I have been young and now am old yet I never saw the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging their bread For although the plentiful reward of the faithful is not on earth but in heaven yet they have a testimony of his liberality in this life that he doth deposit somewhat in earnest and lets us not build onely upon promises carnalis populus si parva non acciperet magna non crederet We are flesh and frailty and must have a little in hand that we may the better believe we shall receive an hundred fold hereafter Mark now the unequal wayes of the wicked who grumble at God as the Apostle sayes for delaying his second coming and that the glorification of the resurrection is not revealed whereas all things else which the Prophets have foretold in Scripture are exactly fulfilled and nothing but Christs second appearance remains to be revealed and yet these worldlings will believe the Devil without repining and yet among all his promises from nequaquam moriemini downward he hath performed nothing The first time that ever he pawn'd his word to mankind in three particulars he broke it every title 1. Ye shall not dye yet we are all become tenants to the grave and no man can escape death 2. Ye shall be as Gods far otherwise we are become as beasts 3. Ye shall know good and evil but alas we are blind and ignorant that refuse the good and take the evil And are not these promises as faithless all things will I give thee yes undoubtedly he would take away all that we have and all that we hope for and gives that satisfaction which Cesar Borgia did when he drew many of the noble family of the Vrsin together upon pretense of good will and then slew them sayes this arch-Hypocrite it was their fault that believed me St. Chrysostom had no faith in the Devils asseveration but speaks thus upon my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he makes shew that he will give much to man his intent is to rob him of all Will you reap this fruit from the observation before I leave it be faithful of your word and huddle not out promises you care not what which you never purpose to perform that 's the Devil's dealing If you separate your word from your meaning you separate your honesty from your conscience It is the common sin that follows buying and selling God be merciful to you your â—ords fall from you like leaves in Autumn the owner cares not which way the wind blows them The first thing that you break is your word and many times the whole estate breaks after it David asks who shall dwell in the holy tabernacle of the most High and he answers three times in
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 get thee behind me Satan which confutes those Expositors that consulted no further than St. Matthew and have made quiddetts upon it that Christ did not reprehend St. Peter Mat. xvi with the same chiding that the Devil hath here Yes even the very same because Peter suggested most carnal counsel from the evil one he suffred this reprehension Get thee behind me Satan But I leave to touch that any further it is not in the Verge of my Text. This is the first time throughout all the three Tentations that Christ calls him by name Satan And surely Cajetan says well upon it Quia manifestavit se esse principem mundi Christus non ei amplius respondit ut homini Because he manifested himself to be the Prince of this world Christ communes not with him now in the former key as if he were a man And unless he had revealed himself perhaps our Saviour would have forborn to detect him that himself might have remained undiscovered to be the Son of God Well though the Tempter borrowed shapes before to hide himself notice is taken now what he was and with much passion our Lord shook him up Get thee hence Satan Our Saviour passed over the two former Tentations mildly but purposes of Idolatry deserve no meek answer The irreverent usage of Gods House when it was defiled with money-changers and the most irreverent abuse of Gods glory in this Text stirred up fire in Christ more than in all other cases and made him hot and vehement Moses the meekest man on earth that would resent no injuries against himself when God was dishonoured in the Calf which the Children of Israel worshipped his anger was so kindled that he threw stones at the Idolaters and broke the Tables which he had in his hand as who should say the Law is broken Let not Gods quarrel want a Patron in you and you shall not want an Advocate with the Father in Christ But what did Satan suffer upon this rebuke What was he the worse for it You can scarce imagin how to conceive more punishment out of so few words than some contemplative men have collected from these First If the High Priests servants were terrified and fell backward when no more was said unto them but Ego sum I am he then what amazement must this reproof strike Get thee hence get thee far from me thou presumptuous Spirit This did not only cast him to the ground but even bruize him under our Saviours feet Rom. xvi 20. The least check from the Lord is able to make the stoutest stomach look pale as death When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin thou makest his beauty to consume away O if that dreadful Judge speak one word of anger who is able to abide it Secondly To be commanded away by one that appeared a man of weakness and infirmity what a great fall was this from that high opinion which even now the Devil had of himself He went away says Chrysologus and was fain to give glory to him of whom he askt adoration He boasted of giving a Kingdom to Christ and Christ gives Law to him and he must obey it Before he would be Christs Leader he lead him to the Mountain he took him nay carried him to the Pinacle of the Temple now he is compelled to change places and come after Get thee behind me Satan Yet I do not say he hath the dignity to come immediately next after Christ Solo Deo minor that is the title of anointed Kings upon earth Nay this reproachful word Get thee behind me deposeth him under all the servants of God Non retro Christum solùm sed post omnes qui spiritum Christi habent ire cogitur He is not only set beneath the Son of God but is an underling far after all those in the Church that have the spirit of Adoption Thirdly You know that this word Get thee behind me was a word of hostility in Jehu's mouth What hast thou to do with peace Get thee behind me So this rebuke proclaims the Devil an enemy whom God drives away and puts him out of his view and sight like an antipathy to the Godhead Ejicitur à facie Dei as one says he was cast behind God hid his face from him he should never more see the beams of that comfort Fourthly It is not expressed whither Christ did banish him when he charged him with his Vade Get thee hence to some woful banishment that is certain but to what degree of woe is most uncertain The Devils not long after this story in spight of their infidelity acknowledged him and trembled for fear which way he would send them Therefore they besought him that he would not send them into the depth In abyssum into that inestimable depth of woe in the nethermost Hell Luk. viii 31. And some do so interpret Get thee hence as if Satan before these Tentations were cast out of heaven into the earth but from this time that Christ rebuked him and bid him avant further he was cast from the earth into the lowest darkness They are questions not to be heeded which some move whether the Prince of the air were bound fast by these words that he should hurt the earth no more by his own person but by his instruments Or rather whether not until anon before our Saviours Passion at those words Now shall the Prince of this world be cast forth Or whether the binding is to be accounted from some other time Apoc. xx Tyrannis vivit tyrannus occidit Whether the great dragon so called be chained up or not God knows his tyranny and mischief lives in the power of other instruments all the Church of God knows that by experience Fifthly These words Get thee behind me Satan are our Saviours epinicium or Song of triumph that he hath conquered the Adversary both for his own peace and kingdoms sake and for the members of his body So many gross sins were reformed throughout all the world from this time forward especially in the redress of Idolatry that some say the malicious weapons of Satan are rebated and their edge taken off Indeed if it be meant with this distinction that follows the doctrine is acceptable the Devil hath less power since Christ came unto us in the flesh then he had before Non quod demonum sit imminuta virtus sed quod fidelibus per Christum abundantior concessa est gratia The Devils are as malicious as instant as operative as cunning as ever they were but since the holy Ghost hath put upon us the Armour of light since grace hath abounded through Christ we are better able to resist our Ghostly Enemies To conclude all whosoever is tempted of his own evil concupiscence let him spend no time to please himself with the first motions of sin but let him rebuke his own heart instantly in these words Apage Satana get thee hence away depart from me Satan Conjure
distinction in Aquinas so well accepted by some that there are so many forms of adoration as there are kinds of excellencie for honour and worship are done to the person for the excellency which is in it Now excellency is either divine and infinite in God which deserves that adoration call'd by him latria or humane excellency which is grounded or in mens honours or in their virtues and so deserves civil and political reverence or it is an excellency less than divine yet more then humane which is in the Angels and souls of holy men departed and that claims the worship of dulia unto it self Put this into plain meaning he that can and shew me how these three are distinguisht in outward or bodily adoration I will agree that in those things we worship we do apprehend excellency three manner of wayes First there is cultus sacrosanctae religionis the religious and pious worship which we give to God for his omnipotent and most glorious excellency Secondly there is cultus civilis subjectionis the worship which we give to our superiors in authority as we live in political subjection because they are set over us for our good Thirdly there is cultus moralis reverentiae the worship of moral respect and reverence which we give to some for their good gifts and qualities although we are not under them in any political ordination All these worships are performed upon several excellencies apprehended in the persons worshipped but the act of worship it self as concerning that which the head the knee the hand or any part of the body doth execute may be the same for the distinguishing of one and another must be in the heart and mind as I proceed now to shew at large unto you The definition of divine worship must be thus framed adoratio est talis veneratio exterior quae ex corde pio religioso procedit that 's the adoration due to God and to him alone which with the exterior veneration of the body proceeds out of the pious and religious intentions of the heart If you yield any token of outward obeysance and mean it to honour him who hath made you redeem'd you sanctified you and conferred all other benefits upon you then it is raised up from civil homage and duty and is become divine worship a distinction will help the memory of them that can conceive it a little further There are three things which concur to that virtue which we call the worship of God First the act of the understanding must put forth it self to apprehend and know the glorious excellency of God that he made the whole world out of nothing and susteins all things by the word of his power Then secondly the act of the will comes in wherein we assent and apply our selves to adore his excellency to magnifie him and devote our hearts unto him Thirdly these two joyned together do urge and command the exterior act of worship which is performed by the body tanti est adorare all these must be in it if it be true adoration S. Paul speaks of some that have the forms of godliness but deny the power thereof The formal cringing and bending are but like a part play'd upon a Stage if they be sever'd from the power of godliness from the knowledg of the understanding what glory belongs to God and from the will and purpose of the heart to exalt his holy name both privately and in his holy Temple Well I can but call upon you to prepare your hearts and you will every one say I am sure my heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed The Lord knows but we that are your instructors do not whether that internal part of worship be well discharg'd by you therefore I come to that quarter of the virtue whereof men may be witnesses if it be carefully executed unto outward adoration it was upon the quarrel of outward worship that Christ here disputed with Satan God had respect to Abel and to his offering Gen. iv 4. to Abel that is to his internal piety to his offering that is to his external worship Abel had been unrespected at that time if he had not been good at both And as a plaister of cordial ingredients laid to the stomach or an unction well slickt upon the skin comforts the spirits within and makes them execute their vital functions chearfully so outward reverence helps us greatly against our dulness and drowzie infirmities The lifting up the hands and eyes make a man crave more passionately the knocking of the breast whets our repentance with indignation against our selves bowing down the head and knee imprints into us the great distance which is between God and us the uncovering the head makes that needful thought sink into our heart in whose presence we stand Glorifie God with your body 1 Cor. vi 20. Tertullian and S. Cyprian read it Portate Deum in corpore vestro Carry God in your body in every joynt and member of it It may be they met with some Greek Copy that read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our Religion is compared to a Marriage there is a contract between God and our soul and this is gain'd from the similitude that the Wife is the Husbands as well in bodie as in affection and so are we the Lords As Man and Wife are but one flesh so Christ the Bridegroom of the Church did assume the whole man bodie and soul into the unity of his person He hath conjoyn'd them both unto God and let us conjoyn them both to the worship of God A Sermon cannot be spent upon a subject which doth more deserve our exhortation The Lord created a Star on purpose only to bring the Magi of the East to worship Christ and they did so even when He lay in most despicable manner before them in the Manger of a Stable and shall we be slacker to kneel before his footstool when he reigns triumphantly in the highest Heavens the Heaven and Earth the Stars and Prophets all lead us to the worship of God Scriptura mundus ad hoc sunt ut colatur qui creavit adoretur qui inspiravit so St. Cyprian The Scripture and the world are to this end that He that created the one and inspir'd the other might be worshipped It is no mean duty which made those wise men of the East take so tedious and long a journey to post in twelve days from the mountains of the East to Bethlem and that other Traveller Acts viii the Treasure of the Queen Candace came from the uttermost parts of Ethiopia to Jerusalem and all for no other end but this to worship The Scripture saies so expresly and when they had done that they went home again We had need carry a very true heart to God in these daies for many of us put him off all together with the zeal of our heart and think it will excuse us if we neither honor him with our
wrong opinions that offend against it For whatsoever things they are to which men do offer religious worship and service beside the Lord let them distinguish that they do it improperly with a less religious worship with reference to Almighty God let them slick it over with what gloss of wit they please I am on the Lords side and in his behalf I plead that they run into some kind of Idolatry But first plainly and affirmatively without rubbing against the adversary's errors that God only is to be worshipped and served In the first place I must not conceal from you this word upon which we stand so much and good reason for it but this word Only is not to be found in that verse which is quoted by our Saviour Deut. vi 13. the margent of your own Bible and indeed all Expositors ancient and modern hold that to be the very Scripture which Christ doth here apply and thus you find thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him and shalt swear by his name I but 't is not written there thou shalt serve him only Hath He added to the word put case He should add to the word as in this instance He did not but put case He should it were free for him but for none else to do it He may do what He will with his own After Moses had finished the Law and the Lord had said thereupon cursed is he that addeth unto it yet the book of the Psalms and the Prophets were put to it and after all these the Gospel and the whole New Testament was added yet none of those were the patches of mans wit but the increase and supply which God himself gave to his own eternal Oracles Yet I give not this answer as if Christ had thrust one syllable into the Law to give it more sense and authority than it had before He came to fulfil the Law but not to overfil it For first Christ said nothing but that which is written if not here yet in another Prophet and one spirit is in all the Prophets consult with Samuel 1 lib. chap. 2. v. 3. Prepare your hearts unto the Lord and serve him only that 's down right as my Text hath it I need not give it a grain to make up weight Then there 's for Satan he cannot say but he was refuted with very Scripture Secondly let us keep unto those words of Deuteron for surely those were intended and the word only is there in effect the next verse makes it good that it could not be excepted Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him Well but will God admit any partner otherwise we must serve him alone just so for it follows ye shall not go after other Gods of the Gods of the people that are round about served him and no other God whatsoever Why then it is a clear aequipollencie in Logick thou shalt serve him only The Devil is most perverse and litigious yet he never denied it Thirdly be satisfied yet further that the 72 Translators so called having the right understanding of the Text that God commandeth all glory and worship and divine service to himself without comperes or sharers they render the Hebrew in those Greek words which our Saviour quoted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 him only shalt thou serve Now all do yield that the five books of Moses were translated by those 72 Jews of great learning whom Eleazar the High-Priest sent to Ptolemy Philadelphus for that purpse So much both Philo and Josephus acknowledge though they speak of no more Occasion is taken from hence by some to cry up that Greek Translation of the Old Testament because our Saviour alledgeth these words as those Septuagint have made them up and not as they are in the pure original Hebrew I will not stand upon this Theme any long time but say much in brief First that St. Paul layes a firm ground how the Jews had the Oracles of God committed to them it was one of their National Privileges therefore their tongue is the matrix and fountain from whence we are to expound what the Holy Ghost hath delivered in the Old Testament I deny not but the Jews themselves might use the Copies of the Greek Language for there were many of them and some conjecture that where we read of certain Hellenistae Greeks that came to our Saviour in the Gospel they were those Jews that rather used the Greek Translation than the Hebrew perhaps being more easie to their capacities for their common speech in those daies was Syrian and Hebrew was taught in Sholes as we teach Latin therefore some suppose there was a Faction of Hellenists among them they and the Scribes who damned all Scripture which was not in their own Hebrew tongue being upon all occasions at hot variance So you find there was a murmuring of the Graecians against the Hebrews Acts vi 1. To return to my conclusion some Jews did not abhor to read their own Law in the Greek tongue yet these were but a Faction for when St. Paul saies the Oracles of God were committed to them and by way of high privilege he must mean it of that idiom which their Fathers spake wherein it was first wrote and whereof their learned men for the present were the Doctors Secondly though the Hebrew was and is the authentique language for that part of Scripture yet there was a most venerable Translation of it into Greek which our Saviour the Evangelists and Apostles used it kept the sense yea the words of the Hebrew for the most part so exactly that our Saviour who taught the Law according to it did say one jot or title of the Law should not perish St. Hierom says if that Translation had been purely extant he would have spared his own pains and not have undergone so laborious a task to turn the whole Old Testament out of Hebrew into Latin Thirdly that pure Greek Translation was used by our Saviour though not in Greek words but in Syriac not as preferring it or matching it with the original authentique Hebrew but partly because it was most frequent and most known for they all spake the Greek tongue in all the hither parts of Asia after Alexander the great had exalted the Graecian Monarchy partly to import that a door of faith was now opened to the Gentiles and that they should reap those heavenly things since the Jews thought themselves unworthy of them Fourthly this Greek Translation which at this day goes under the name of the 72 is of far less value and authority than that which was so honour'd with our Saviours mouth for I will believe St. Hierom in this case being a most exact Linguist rather than those Fathers that took languages upon trust but thus He. Germana illa antiqua translatio corrupta est violata ac pro varietate regionum diversa feruntur exempla That old genuine Translation was corrupted and violated and several Copies of it
boni nostri An infinite perfection of excellency on which all things do depend for their first being and for their last happiness So St. Austin Haec est religio Christiana ut non colatur nisi unus Deus quia non fecit animam beatam nisi unus Deus Religious prostration seeks out no object but such as can make the soul blessed for ever and that is the only Lord. St. Hilary In maledicto est religio creaturae All Religion done to a Creature is accursed That Weather-cock Spalatensis after much search in antiquity confesseth that Nazianzen in the Greek Church Gregory the Great in the Latine Church knew of no other Religious Worship but that which is called Latria the veneration of God Nay their great Schoolman Aquinas I will make him the Judge against himself Religio est virtus exhibens famulatum Deo in iis quae specialiter pertinent ad Deum Religion is a vertue which doth perform all Ministry to God in those duties which peculiarly belong to God Go now and say against all these reasons and testimonies there is some kind of Religious Worship pertaining to a Creature I have heard some interpret it thus it is not denied but we are to give honour to the blessed Angels and Saints yes verily God forbid else Then they encroach that we are taught by our Religion to give them that honour therefore that honour which we do give them is Religious A most unlearned Assumption Religion teacheth the Children to honour the Parents yet it is not Religious honour but Civil that is given to our Parents Religion teacheth a Mariner or Plowman to follow his Calling diligently yet those are not religious but worldly businesses Religious Worship is the actus elicitus the immediate act which flows from Religion but all other honest civil Offices are actus imperati à latria Actions wherein Religion governs us and teacheth us but they are not properly called religious In a word no such excellency can be apprehended in a Creature to have religious honour done unto it for Religion binds the soul for ever to that it worships and that is only to God Therefore I conclude the first Dogmatical part of my Text that Christ included all kind of religious honours exempted none when he said Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve And when the Pontificians profess to ascribe a Religious Dulia but no Latria to a Creature their Practice and their Doctrine cannot agree if they yield Religious Worship of what kind soever to any thing save unto the Lord our God if it be not Idolatry it is gross Superstition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The glory of a pious heart be given to God alone and not to God and the ever blessed Virgin joyned together as the Jesuites generally conclude all their Books with that Blasphemy There is more of my task behind though but little of it can be spent in this hour to demolish the errors of them that have offended against this Imperial Law Thou shalt worship c. Sundry false opinions have beaten upon these words as upon an Anvil open enemies and deceitful friends have risen up against it Some are totally some in half some are quarter Idolaters but the least corn of that sin is as heavy as a Milstone to plunge them without repentance into damnation In many of the Errors to be refuted I will be at a word and dispatch in some I will insist the longer where I find them worth my labour Those transgressors that worship not God alone are of three sorts The first are such as make another God than the Lord of heaven and earth in their own heart and worship that invention The second are they that kneel unto the true God and yet reserve some part of Religious Worship for his glorified Creatures as the Blessed Virgin the Angels the Saints both living and departed both themselves and their very Reliques shall have some part of their Adoration Thirdly Beside the honour which they give to the invisible God they find out a way to worship him in visible works of their own hands in Images in the figure of the Cross in the Elements of the Lords Supper All these are Aberrations for there is but one truth against them all Thou shalt worship the Lord c. First God loseth all his honour at their hands that frame a new God in their own heart and do all their service to it like the Ephesians that hallowed no other power in heaven and earth but a Goddess of their own acceptation Great is Diana of the Ephesians This is the most gross Idolatry of all other which professeth not the true God one whit and professeth that to be a God which hath no subsistence but the Metal of Gold or Silver or any other stuff upon which the Artist exercised his invention This is the foul and apparent transgression of the first Commandment but to worship the true God in a manner contrary to that he hath commanded in a piece of bread or in an Image is Idolatry by reduction and against the Second Commandment But the transgression of the Heathen was most vicious that knew no God but the works of their own hands The Scripture says they sinned more grievously that worshipped Baalim than they that worshipped the true God in Jeroboams Calves For Jehu called the Israelites that worshipped God in those Calves the worshippers of the Lord. But when Ahab was not content with that sin but was seduced by his Wife Jezabel who came of the Idolatrous Zidonians says the Lord as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the Son of Nebat he went and served Baal and worshipped him 1 Kings xvi 23. It is more pestilentious you see to worship a stark Idol than to worship the true God in an Idol though both are abominable But I will not speak of that stupid Idolatry of the Heathen whose own folly hath laught it out of the world if the workman could have put life into his work the Statue would have worshipped him for making it All those puppit Gods are faln down like Dagon of the Philistins and the Jewish Writers observe well that Dagons feet and hands were broken off from his body Partes adorationis abscissae sunt The Philistins worshipped that stock with their bended knee and their hands lifted up therefore the Idol lost his hands and knees Furthermore Dagon fell down upon his face Non tantum jacens sed super os jacens ut videretur adorare arcam Domini He was laid in a posture as if prostrate before the Ark of God as if the Heathen and all their vain inventions should be turned into the praise of the true God Worship him all ye Gods I will close this Point with a Paradox They which most abhor all Pictures and Images at this day they which hate them more than they should do even in
relation to civil use commit great Idolatry in this first conclusion for Jews and Turks those I mean worship not the true God but a Figment of their own mind I avouch it what they adore is a mere Figment of their own it is not a Creature that they deny and very truly neither is it the Creator and Lord of all things for they do not worship Three Persons in Trinity and one God in Vnity This is the most subtil and pernicious kind of Idolatry of all others the more pernicious because so hardly discerned But thus I have made good by Paradox They that hate all Images are the greatest Idolaters I proceed to the second Tribe of them whom I endited of Idolatry even those that know the true God and serve him but yet allow a modification of Religious Worship to some of his Creatures In the censure of this Crime I will begin with that sin which is most to be detested Satan had an eye upon Idolaters that some worshipped the Elements and built Temples to the Fire to the Water and Earth and made themselves Priests for those abuses Some kneeled unto the Sun and Moon the Children gathered sticks the Fathers made the fire and the Women made Cakes to the Queen of heaven that is to the Sun which was a Feminine Idol and is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in St. Paul Nay Satan had traced out that Angels were adored by some superstitious therefore being puft that he was a most excellent Creature in his Essence and none of the least Angels he demands worship of our Saviour All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me This Idolatry which he would have is so rank above all other that it smels of the very fire and brimstone of Hell Because St. Paul says what the Gentiles sacrifice to Idols they sacrifice to Devils some of the Fathers expound it that the Devils lurkt invisibly in Idols that were worshipped so they themselves at the second hand were worshipped in Idols He may lurch homage by those slights but I do almost doubt whether it be possible for any man to be so intoxicated and seduced as directly to honour the Devil For my part I give no credit to such stories as are written of the Indians in Calicut They that write Cosmography or Navigations leaze up such reports from Seamen and Mariners and may be fit to be read in a sleepy day but never to be believed Those Indians they write of are a most ingenuous witty people in all Manufacture that comes from them and I cannot think them of such a dark capacity in Religion to worship that odious Fiend of Hell Mary if there be such among them as are Witches and Sorcerers though Satan croucheth to such and is commanded by them yet they be Idolaters in a most high delinquency because they compact with the Devil yea and are sealed to him by certain Characters For the Children of God are received into Covenant with God first by Circumcision then by Baptism therefore obliquely they take the Devil for a God who enter Covenant with him by marks in the flesh or any other sign as it were in imitation of a Sacrament And it makes it worship according to the true properties of Worship when they take his promises for some benefits to be received and reciprocally return him promises of obedience This is to attribute verity to Satan that he will do what he says and power that he can bring extraordinary effects to pass and so they worship him both by faith and confederation These are they against whom Moses speaks so often in the Law that they must not be suffred to live if they be detected he had been brought up in all the learning of the Egyptians and knew the ways of their most accursed Sorcerers And because every one baptized unto Christ doth detest this sin from the bottom of his heart to give honour to the Devil therefore look to it that you do not touch the skirts of it before you are aware by Ignorance Perversness or Curiosity It is idolizing of the Devil to consult with those for any satisfaction whom we suspect to have confederacy with the Devil whether they have or no. There shall not be found among you a Consulter with familiar Spirits or with a Wizard or a Necromancer Deut. xviii 11. It is Idolizing of him to use divinations by dreams by calling on the dead by the tunes of birds by Lots and generally by all such means as are not directly natural or appointed by God to find out the truth Many things are Diabolical where there hath not passed any Diabolical communication And in such things where you offer no service to Satan yet you busie your self before you take heed with the Art and Spirit of Satan You would think it were rigid Divinity to say that it was in some wise an Idolizing of the Devil to expel Aches and Diseases by Charms and strange words which you understood not What do you know but that Satan may be secretly called upon in those words when you think you do nothing less than call upon him That great Divine Zanchius confesseth of himself that he rid himself of the Tooth-ach by muttering certain strange Lines which he was taught in Italy But he repented him for the fact because for ought he knew it was the Devils receipt for God and Nature never appointed such remedies to cure diseases And so much be spoken against the idolizing the worst of all Gods Creatures the Devil Nor are the best of his Creatures to be honoured with Religious Worship no not good Angels nor Saints living or departed I must not spare any that wander from my Text for God himself is the complete and entire Object of all Religious Worship Him only shalt thou serve Shew me where the Church is bidden to adore Angels with divine Adoration What so much writing and zeal to maintain that so much fury to bid Anathema to them that dislike it and yet no exhortation in all the Bible to commend it Was ever any punish'd by God for default that way Any one so much as check'd or quarrel'd for it The Letter of the Scripture presseth upon all things else to the least scruple if they be forgotten If Gods House be not honoured if his Tithes be not paid if his Prophets be evil intreated yet for the religious reverencing of Angels not one word of expostulation to advance it in the Law or Gospel Nay St. Paul says they that teach the worshipping of Angels do but beguile you with voluntary humility Col. ii 18. O say the Rhemists if any should attribute such pious culture to the Angels as Simon Magus did making them equal with God then he is within the reprehension of that Text. A frothy evasion for who regards what Simon Magus did The Apostle gives us a general caution That we be not beguiled by worshipping of Angels Is there no trespass
great things for them Why because they obeyed not his word They knew it was not their Idol but the Lord who had deliver'd them yet they are said to have forgot the Lord because they worshipped him after their own inventions and did not obey him Next to this weigh but the actions of Micah of Mount Ephraim Jud. xvii he that can but spel words and put them together shall find his Mother dedicated her silver to the Lord for her Son to make a graven Image Micah had these Images for the honour of God and having those abominations still profest himself a Priest of the Lord therefore this must be his crime that he worshipped God in his Images Cajetan and Abulensis are of that judgment that where the Idol hath a peculiar name as Baal Ashteroth the people seduced served the very Idol but where the Idol had no peculiar name as in my instance of Micah's Images and the Calf that Aaron made there they served the true God in the Idol If this be not directly the Popish Doctrine the Sun hath no light in it To be even with their evasion every way the very Heathen as well as they could apprehend the eternal God by the light of nature worshipt him in their Idols and Penates few or none of them thought the matter of an Idol to be a God Seneca says says that by Jupiter standing in the Capitol with lightning in his hand they understood the Preserver and Governor of all things the Maker of the world Mark now nether the Jewish nor Heathenish Idolaters did any more than worship the true God in or before or with their Images Give them audience by the way how they profess both moral and natural Philosophy for their defence Moral first how he that honoureth the Image of the King honoreth the King himself this is called St. Athanasius and St. Basil's morality and so it is but Lord how little to the case The Arrians contended that glory was to be given to one eternal God but if one were the person of the Father another of the Son there were two Eternals to be glorified those Fathers answer the Son is the Image of the Father the express image of his person and the brightness of his glory and he that honour'd that Image of the King honour'd the King himself Is there not main difference between the carved Image which stands for Christ's manhood and between his personal filiation wherein He is the Image of his Father The outward Image stands for Christ by humane imagination it hath no eminent undeniable right to present him but Religious Adoration is founded upon that Union which is personal substantial relative by divine ordination And for the moral rule he that honours the King will honour his Image it holds only in negative honour a good Subject will not deface the Kings Picture in a despiteful spleen against the exemplar no more do we dishonour the Images of Christ and the Saints unless where flagrant Idolatry is committed to them then with good zeal they may be burnt or defaced to do God honour against the Creature Is their natural Philosophy any sounder 't is Aristotle's Idem est motus in imaginem exemplar his meaning is the abstractive understanding considers the abstracted notion of a material thing and the thing it self at once the verbum intellectus as it is called the intellective word and the real thing understood at once This is all he says but they have made a matter of it that when I see Christ's Image and rememorate Christ upon it and then worship him I must worship the Image together with him To deliver you quickly out of these thorny passages I say there cannot be the same motion of the mind towards this Image and the Exemplar for the mind is fixt upon the Image as upon a Sign and upon an Object much inferiour to the Exemplar The Image is a thing create Christ uncreate they confess a respective difference that Christ is adored simply and for himself the Image in regard of similitude and reference to the principal The Image is not the terminus of worship for it self but for Christs sake therefore the motion of mans heart toward Christ and the Image cannot be one but divers When I desire the means because of the end here are two distinct actions and motions of the will to wit election of means intention for the end But with them the worship of Christ and his Image is one and the same physical act of the body at once they talk that it is virtually twofold but if they hold there is the same motion of the mind too to both at once that will make it complete idolatry No marvail you see if you have quite lost the second Commandment out of some Portresses and Breviaries when they have found it again in their larger Missals they will not keep it When men have rampar'd witty shifts against truth it is in vain to tell them from S. John Babes beware of idols or from St. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What agreement hath the Temple of the Lord with idols they will tush at it and say they mean the Idols of Pagans St. Pet. 1. Ep. c. iv v. 3. speaks against lusts excess of wines revellings abominable Idolatries Speaks he not against the lust and drunkenness and riot of Christians verily and as manifesty against Christian Idolatries But if they toy with the Scripture that is against them let them point to that Scripture that doth license their religious honour done to Images for faith comes by hearing hearing by the word of God What not one Text to suit for them then belike it holds of Tradition nay Suarez says neither Scripture nor Tradition hath commended it but invaluit ex praxi consuetudine ecclesiae practise and custom hath allowed it How easily if time did not shorten me could I shew that for the first 500 years neither the Image of Christ or his Saints were set up in any Church so little was the practise of worshipping them on foot A little of antiquity will spend but a little time says Origen Who having his right wits after the Commandment of God will look upon Images to pray to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Or by the sight thereof offer prayers thereby to him that is resembled St. Austin upon the 113. Psalm hath a full Sermon of it these few words are the pith quis adorat vel orat intuens simulacrum who is he that doth either pray or worship looking on an Image who is he marry an Idolater Procopius hath a memorable passage that from twenty Generations after Adam the Son did ever survive the Father which is most natural but Thare buried his Son Haran who was the first that made Images and God made him an example for doing a work so hateful to him I will confine my self to one instance more Serenus Bishop of Marseilles offended that some
the second branch his associates are Peter John and James 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he took them to see his glory it was his association St. Mark adds by way of emphasis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he took three only and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 privatim he sequestred them apart from this world that they might see his glory Thirdly he prepar'd himself for this illustrious accident in great humility inter precandum he had prostrated himself before his Father in prayer And then fourthly this majestical glory came upon him two waies quoad vultum quoad vestitum in his person in his apparel in his flesh an astonishing radiancy the fashion of his countenance was altered in his cloaths an admirable purity his raiment was white and glistering I cannot be copious upon so many particulars of some more largely of the most succinctly In the first circumstance of all the Spirit of God hath noted out the Time and therefore I must not balk it no not in any of the three respects post dicta post dies post itâ—r First after those sayings says my Text inquiry shall be made what words those be and with whom he had that communication which went before the demonstrance of his glory in two preceding verses in this chapter Christ exhorted his Disciples and many others to the assurance of his Cross and that they might know he was able to recompence their sorrows who endured affliction for his name sake yea and would recompence it he speaks thus The Son of man shall come in his own glory and in his Fathers and of the holy Angels and I tell you of a truth there he some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Kingdom of God He refers the multitude to look for the last day of judgment when he would come in infinite Majesty to call the World before him but he refers certain nameless persons to expect after a while a pregustation of some heavenly apparition wherein they should see how he would be cloathed with power and excellencie when he came to sit upon his Throne and to call the Nations before him they should not taste of death till they saw a spectacle of the Kingdom of God in his transfiguration This was the occasion which made him exhibit his body with that glorious lustre in the Mount and yet some have ignorantly distorted those words to another purpose There be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Kingdom of God what doth it mean say they but that John the Disciple whom Jesus loved should live till the last day of judgment as the report went among the Brethren how that disciple should not die Thus Theophylact and the counterfeit Hypolitus that error which hath run through so many Pens grew from hence that when Peter being told with what death he should glorifie God asked What should become of his fellow Disciple John Christ gave him no clear satisfaction because his question deserved it not but only thus If I will that he stay till I come what is that to thee follow thâ—â— me Let it be but probably discovered what coming Christ speaks of and there is no great perplexity in the saying Attend therefore this coming is nothing less than that great coming in personal Majesty at the last day but his coming in wrath and judgment against the Nation of the Jews to punish them and quite to extirpate their seed from Jerusalem Touching this coming by the fury of the Romans to execute his vengeance St. James speaketh to the faithful converted from Judaism and then sore afflicted by the Synagogue Be ye patient and stablish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh Jam. v. 8. Whereas therefore antient stories have delivered unto us that all the other Apostles were swept away by Martyrdom before the final destruction of Jerusalem onely John outlived that time even till the reign of Trajan This then is a plain meaning of our Saviour's answer if I will that he live till that dismal day when I come to destroy this people which hath crucified me what is that to thee Peter thou shalt never see that day but prepare thy self before for a speedier Martyrdom And to what use should the Apostle live a mortal life upon earth unto the end of the world and yet never appear to any man he lived to see the coming of Gods judgments against the holy City and he together with Peter and James lived to see a mirror of celestial glory in the Transfiguration that 's the meaning of our Saviour's promise going before my Text There be some standing here who shall not taste of death until they see the Kingdom of God It follows to be noted in the observation of the Time that after these sayings he fulfilled his word neither at the instant nor after a long distance but about an eight days after these sayings It was neither so quickly dispatcht before they had meditated upon it nor so long put off that they could forget it be it about an eight days or about eight thousand ages it is but a little while to God who measures all things by Eternity Now in these words which are the very front of the story there are two days odds in the relations of the Evangelists St. Luke you hear sayes about an eight days after St. Matthew and St. Mark after six days Doth not this account differ no not a whit six days complete did go between his sayings and his mighty work St. Matthew and the other speak of that time only but in a part of one day he had said there be some standing here who shall not taste of death until they see the Kingdom of God in part of another day He took those three up into the mountain and so St. Luke computes exactly 't was about an eight dayes after those sayings So hath the Divine wisdom disposed that the same thing should be repeated in several Gospels with some alteration of phrase but with no difference or contradiction and that for two causes When outwardly there seems to be some disagreement between the Text of one Evangelist and another these difficulties do whet our industry to study the book of God there must be knots and mysteries hard to be understood ut homo semper discat Deus semper doceat that man may alwayes learn and God may always teach unto the end of the world 2. Says another si per omnia consentirent nemo putarent eos seorsim scripsisse if they had all jumpt in the same words quite throughout as some say of the 72 Interpreters in the Old Testament it might have been imagined that the Gospels were not writ at distinct times and in distinct places now the dissonancy of their phrase doth warrant us to say that the Evangelists did not cast their heads together when they committed the Scriptures to writing but wrote apart and yet the same spirit
as is derived from a Soul that is perfectly beatified Moses his face did shine like a God when he came down from the Mount yet it was ab externo colloquio because he had been a Companion with God Christs face did shine ab innatâ gratiâ potentiâ not because he was the Companion of God but because he was very God and was the fountain of all grace and beauty to communicate it to others Neither was St. Stephens irradiation any more than a preparative of the Resurrection and a declaration of his innocency to make the Council afraid of wrong judgment all that lookt upon him saw his face as it had been the face of an Angel But that which hapned to our Saviour was not from an external gift as Stephen saw Christ standing at the right hand of God but from an internal influence and emanation of the Deity Moses and Stephen were but Passengers and not to be compared in any sort of excellency with their Lord who was God and Man Yet by the dispensation of the Divine Power it was not such a total illumination in Christ as results from the Soul unto the Flesh when both shall come to appear before the living God The reasons are very full and home for the proof 1. The Soul in the state of eternal happiness shall derive amiable splendour to all the outward parts of the Body but no further In this present case the very garments were changed into such an outward gloss as the like was never seen Therefore this must be some brightness created for this instant by the Deity 2. Splendour is but one of the Ornaments of a glorified Body when the Soul doth transfuse the benefits of beatification into it it shall be a Spiritual Body it shall be nimble to pass from place to place like an Angel or like a thought likewise it shall not be obnoxious to death or dolour where were these Because therefore this was but a partial not a total glorification it flowed not from the Soul 3. It was not so large not so complete a claritude and beauty as will adorn the Lamb of God hereafter but a pittance and measure attemper'd for their weak reception that should see it His face did shine like the Sun What but like the Sun so much is promised to the faithful that they shall shine like the Sun in the Kingdom of his Father And think you that the Lord is not greater than the Servant and shall much excel that proportion of glory which we expect Therefore Lyra sayes this was an Ornament of the same true glory which we shall have hereafter quantum ad essentiam sed non quantum ad modum it had the very essence and truth of such illuminated brightness as the righteous shall have in Paradise but it had not such an ample measure and proportion 4. To make it sure and uncontradicted that this was not like to that glory which shall be derived from the Soul in eternal joy that is dos connaturalis this is passio transitoria Then it shall be a natural endowment never to be separated away Now it was but a transient passion soon on and as soon off again even as soon as ever the voice from Heaven had spoken Permanency unchangeableness never altering Eternity are so proper to future blessedness that without them it is not to be imagined St. Paul was elevated by the Divine grace to see and hear things unutterable in this rapture that is as I believe he saw the very Divine Essence in a short prospect and away yet Paul by this exceeding favour was none of the Beati till after his dissolution none of the Classis in St. Matthew Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God quia beatitudo denotat permanentiam Beatitude is not the participation of the best thing in the World for a little time but for ever and ever THE SECOND SERMON UPON The Transfiguration LUKE ix 29 30 31. The fashion of his Countenance was altered and his Raiment was white and glistering And behold there talked with him two wen which were Moses and Elias IN a well laid description an Artist represents things that are absent so verily so lively as if they were before us As Scaliger says of Virgil he did not read it in his verses but did even see the Mountain Aetna belching out fire and impestred with smoke and vapour But no Art so powerful in mans Writings to call back things that are done and past and to cloath them with such significant words as if they were before us like to the Pen of the Holy Ghost Do but observe for our present instance how St. Matthew began to delineate the beauty of Christ transfigured how St. Mark added fresh colours to make it appear more excellent and then how St. Lukes Pencil cometh after all and finisheth the Picture and you will say upon attentive heed these are not words which we read but even Christ himself in his Majestique glory St. Mathew begins thus His face did shine as the Sun and his raiment was white as the light Doth not this call the Idaea of your Lord into your mind as if your eye beheld him He said much for the face St. Mark speaks loftier for the Garment His raiment became shining exceeding white as snow so that no Fuller on earth can white them Then St. Luke neither compares him to the Sun above nor to the Snow beneath but says enough to make us conceive that positively it was a greater splendor than could be likened to any created thing The fashion of his countenance was altered and his raiment was white and glistering A vegetous faith is able to say unto a Mountain be removed into the Sea and it shall be removed much more is it able to carry the soul into the highest heaven into the presence of God by such a stedfast apprehension as it cannot judge it self whether it be in the body or out of the body Thus let every mans faith say at this time unto his Soul be thou removed into Mount Tabor thrust in with Peter and James and John perswade thine heart thou seest as much by relation as ever they saw by apparition there is thy Saviour having laid down the austere front of a Judge and looking like a specious Bridegroom The fashion of his countenance was altered c. Now that you may hear things laid down in order for a stay to your memory you will grant unto me that there are two things which make a spectacle to be wishly look'd upon Res mirae personae miâ—ae strange and uncouth things strange and unexpected persons Come therefore and see most rare things in the first part of my Text Christ even now an object in which you could discern nothing but poverty and humility Momento turbinis and as quick as a flash of lightning He hath put on such a countenance and such apparel as the clearest day light and the driven
Septuagint Translation marrs all when it renders it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was taken up as it were into Heaven There is no such diminution of as it were in the sacred Text He went up to heaven sayes the Original That could not be the Element of Air which is sometimes called Heaven for the Air is rather the Seat of Satan who is called the Prince of the Air than of the Blessed from thence come turbulencies and winds and tempests but they are at rest from all labour and unquietness Nor can it be meant of that Heaven of the lower Orbs for then they should be hurried about every day with the swift motion of the Spheres from East to Occident Where then could Elias be reposed but in the Heaven of happiness in the tranquillity of Abraham's bosom as Dathan and Abiram were swallowed alive into Hell so Enoch and Elias were lifted up alive into Heaven Heaven is taken two wayes both for the place and for the state and condition of it and both wayes I have good ground to say that Elias was in body among the spirits of the Kings and Patriarchs and Prophets and just men who are dead in the love of God and all they went to Heaven locally as to their place and to Heaven figuratively that is to joy and happiness Which I oppose to the adverse and very erroneous opinion maintained by the Schoolmen among the Pontificians that the spirits of just men which departed before Christs ascension into Heaven were reclused into a receptacle call'd Limbus Patrum which was the verge or fringe of Hell where they suffered no pain but sustained a temporal loss having not as yet admittance into the Courts of the House of our God How unconsonant is this to our Saviour's words Many shall come from the East and from the West and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac in the Kingdom of God How unlike to that Phrase of David Lord who shall ascend into thy holy hill how unagreeing to the title of Abrahams bosom wherein Lazarus was in a long distance from the gulf of sorrow But to go one step further and no more at this time did not Christ by his ascension open a passage to the Souls of the blessed to draw nearer to God in the highest heavens than ever before yes verily I believe it and I am compelled to maintain it by St. Pauls Doctrine Heb. ix 8. The way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while as the first Tabernacle was yet standing that is while the Law of Moses did endure Their Souls departing were at rest in Heaven in the hand of God no way obtruded near the confines of Hell as the Schoolmen taught who either could not or would not discern a medium between the Limbus of Hell and the highest Heaven They lived by the same faith that we do though not with the same evidence and fulness that we have therefore their Souls departing had a dimension of happiness allotted for them yet not with that fulness of joy which now they have nor perhaps with that measure and proportion which they and we shall have hereafter Beloved remember and consider Heaven is so large and spacious that it is fit to admit divers Quarterings and Mansions in it the Arch-angels Throne the Angels Palace the blessed seats of the faithful since Christs ascension the Refrigerium of the faithful before his ascension a Tabernacle allotted for Enock and Elias all these might be several yet Heaven big enough to make room for all In my Fathers house there are many mansions says Christ that went before us to prepare a place And To thee O blessed Saviour c. THE THIRD SERMON UPON The Transfiguration LUKE ix 31 32. Who appeared in glory and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Hierusalem But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep and when they were awake they saw his glory and the two men that stood with him WHen I compare many parcels of Sacred Scripture and many fictions of the Heathen together which are of great similitude I perceive that Satan intended to discredit the holy Writ by devising Fables so like to the sacred truth I do verily think their Deucalion and his floud was taken from the story of our Noah and his Deluge Their Hippolytus refusing the tentations of Phedra and yet accused by her for a Rape is our Joseph after the same manner impeached by his lustful Mistress Their Hercules is our Joshuah Their Bellerophon carrying Letters to cut his own throat is our Vrias so betrayed by David Their Nisus of Megara and his fatal purple hair cut off by Scylla is our Sampson and his locks cut off by Dalilah So their infamous transmutations of their Gods into Bulls and Swans and a thousand lying shapes were publisht by the Devil to make the Transfiguration of our Saviour suspected Shame upon such gross Figments which can no way darken the manifold light of the Gospel so palpably counterfeit that they need no refutation As Irenaeus passed his censure upon them Victoria est sententiae vestrae manifestatio it was victory enough to the Christian cause to tell and relate their absurd opinions But in reference to the Metamorphoses of those Idol Gods St. Peter justifies the truth of our Saviours Transfiguration thus We have not cunningly devised Fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were eye witnesses of his Majesty 2. Pet. i. 16. The Heathen write how their Gods were changed upon earth but to their shame and ignominy The Son of God was changed miraculously upon earth but into a body of resplendent glory When God was come down to men upon earth the Heaven did seem to come down upon earth to God When the Greek Emperour John Palaeologus was drawn into Italy by Pope Eugenius the forth to be present in the Florentine Council the City of Venice entertained him so magnificently with their Streets all guilded and their Boats and Galleys as rich as their Streets that the Greeks in astonishment at the bravery cried out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Earth was become a Heaven for that day I have met with no parcel of a Story in my reading more fit to be applied to this occasion When Mount Thabor did harbour our Lord and our Lord did glister with beatifical brightness and the Saints above did come thither in their Princely array and the very clouds did look more white than Lillies and the voice of the Father spake more pleasing than the sweetest Musick This is my well beloved Son I may justly cry out the Earth was become an Heaven for that day All things else in the Gospel are intermixed with much humility this one Treatise lifts up my stile and makes me say Paulò majora canamus This piece which I spred before you is nothing but Triumph and Majesty and Glory Unto these words which
to place safe enough in their own Country Once indeed they were scared with a great tempest upon the Lake of Genezaret which might have faln out upon any other occasion and then they cry out desperately Lord save us we perish But upon their haughty demand Christ askt them Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of It was a cup of wormwood and tribulation such as Moses and Elias drank of to the very lees and those are they that appear with him in glory those are they that sit in his Kingdom the one at his right hand the other at his left Their countenances have been sad now they smile for ever they have worn sackcloath and ashes and mingled their drink with weeping now they appear bedeck'd with Majesty For if none might enter into King Ahasuerus Gate cloathed with sackcloath Esth iv 2. Then much more all that are deigned the presence of the King of heaven shall shine triumphantly in glory Thirdly The objects of Moses and Elias standing conspicuously before the face of these three men would instill into them the imitation of their holy life and impectorate to them those good examples whereby they themselves should become mirrours and examples to after Ages Their Justice their Prayers their Temperance their Constancy to true Religion their hatred of Idolatry all these were texted in their face all their noble acts were remembred by seeing them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Chrysostome The history of the Saints warms out hearts within us to read it Historiae sacrae inspectio est quasi compendium resurrectionis ante oculos habere says one To entertain our time in reading the Sacred History is to cast our eyes upon a model of the Resurrection But to be brought in place where there was an ocular Apparition of Moses and Elias was to gain both a model of their Resurrection and a Chronicle of their History It is a good thing to call the dead into consultation with the living where God promiseth to send the former and the latter rain to the earth many apply it mystically to this purpose The Examples of the Patriarchs and Prophets well digested into our use are the first showers of rain or the dew of the morning The Examples of Christ and his Apostles and such as have shined like burning lights since their days are the latter rain or the dew of the Evening but these drop down one after another and fill the Church with spiritual encrease No observation more appertinent than this which I find attributed to St. Hierom. Moses was first inspired to write the Book of Genesis which contains the acts of the old World before he published Exodus which contains the Law A fair method which came from heaven First instructed to write the History of Antiquity before he Penn'd a Pandect of Laws for the use of Posterity lest he should rashly proceed to teach the Children before he had wisely learnt the Examples of the Fathers I will set my rest upon this Text of Scripture that there is not a pithier Precept in all the Sacred Volume Deut. xxxii 7. Remember the days of old consider the years of many generations ask thy Father and he will shew thee thy Elders and they will tell thee It is a very satisfying thing when a truth comes to us by a good descent as the Poet bragg'd of his stories Quae Phoebo pater omnipotens mihi Phoebus Apollo God did inspire Moses and Elias to know what sufferings his Son should undergo at Jerusalem they preach'd it before the Disciples the Disciples to their Scholars they to the next and so from Generation to Generation it is an Heir-loom to the latest Posterity Alta mysteria per majores ad alios debent devenire Let great mysteries be devolved from the mouths of famous forerunners such as Moses and Elias The Devil himself was ashamed of upstarts when they came to be broachers of their own fancies Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are ye Sometime it is as hard to know who were the broachers of new Doctrine as to understand the Doctrine it self As Tiberius scoft at a conceited Roman proud enough but of no good Parentage Curtius Rufus videtur mihi ex se natus Curtius Rufus did beget himself he had no Progenitors So ignominious it is to press any thing for current which is a brat of yesterdays invention and doth not bear a pass from the example of our fore-fathers Beware of novel Doctrines and observe it when you will if they do not beget new Vices as a Mill-stone new-peck'd fills the meal it grinds with more gravel than one that is smooth with use Therefore gather such Manna as fell very early in the Morning Enquire for the old I mean for the oldest way but habete salem be sure it be salted with Apostolical Doctrine and then it will not be tainted with corruption That we might not only fetch our Examples so far as the Apostles but a reach beyond them likewise here were two old Sires of great authority and veneration that came to Mount Thabor Moses and Elias Fourthly I had occasion the last day to make a difference between these two Saints thus far that the body of the one was always living the body of the other that is of Moses came from the dead which is an improvement to the truth of that Article of our Creed that Christ shall bring all to judgment both the quick and dead before him The dead in Christ shall rise first Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds How many applications may be deduced from thence likewise that the dead and the living came to teach that Christ should die upon the Cross and live again unto the glory of the Father Or thus to teach us Mortification and Vivification that we should die unto sin and live unto God But referring your memories back to that which is past I stay my self upon this Notion that Moses and Elias come from the other world unto this to let us see and that it is undeniably true that there is a life remaining after this is ended and of a much happier condition a life of glory It is the complaint of them who dispute stifly for their own infidelity Nullus de mortuis resurgit None come from the dead to teach us that are living but since we mean the Apparitions of them that should come from the other world they should say none come from the living to us who in comparison to them may be called the dead But to answer to the meaning of the objection words may be reformed with ease Have none been sent with tidings to us from the habitation of the other world Yes twice apparently to go no farther At the first bout Moses and Elias from Mount Thabor at the second bout a witness without all exception our blessed Saviour who rose the the third day from
which came to pass in after ages did as well cure the faithful in the former as in the latter world 't is never too soon to believe and seek after Christ never too late to believe and repent Moses and Elias are Proxies for all those who died before the coming of Christ that it was beneficial and pleasant to them to have this communication that He should die at Jerusalem Libenter exules de reditu in patriam loquuntur by our own just demerits and by the sin contracted in our first Parents Moses and Elias and all the Sons of Adam were justly exiled from the joys of Paradise but do thou suffer O Lamb of God and thou wilt open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers Tell me if it were not joyful to banished men to speak of those means which should restore them to a Kingdom This was the last thing that their Soul did meditate upon earth upon the meditation of his passion they as we also ought to do did shut up their last breath and this is the first thing which they have to say when God did grant them tongues to speak in the Resurrection Discamus ea in terris quorum scientia nobis perseveret in coelis says St. Hierom Let us learn such good lessons here upon earth whose knowledg may remain with us hereafter in the Kingdom of Heaven Here it is remorseful fit it should be so to think of his agony and passion because our sins are before us those very Judasses which betrayed him in the society of Angels the case is altered there it is no sad discourse to speak of it for the guiltiness of our sins doth no more infest our memory every thing that the Lord willeth is pleasant and acceptable to us therefore in my fourth Notation Moses and Elias speak of Christs sufferings in no disconsolatory phrase but much to our comfort that it was a decease and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem Fourthly A mitigating word to lenify a harsh sound of a most dreadful thing The Heathen men did love to do and to speak couragiously and yet they who know no worse by death than that it was the cessation of our being or the dissolution of Soul and Body did describe it by the most judicious Pen that ever wrote among them to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of terrors the most terrible what if they had known the Scriptures that God spake in his anger that it is the wages of sin and unless mercy prevent judgment that it is a departure into endless misery But get up courage again O frail mortality the Son of God through death hath overcome death the Serpent hath lost his sting As willingly as a Passenger deceaseth or departeth from a strange place to his own home with such quietness and composed satisfaction of mind we go from hence for ever where we shall have an abiding City Be not unfurnisht for a sudden journey if God call but say with Simeon Lord I am ready to depart in peace Tully said that a worthy man in a good old age made no more than an exit or a decease out of a Theater with a plaudite The Scripture varies the name of death in good words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a tranquil rest Blessed are they that die in the Lord they rest from their labours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sound sleep our brother Lazarus sleepeth Jo. xi Sometimes it hath the title of an exaltation As Moses lifted up the brazen Serpent in the wilderness so shall the Son of man be lifted up And my Text names it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a decease as the Prophet hath called that Book which entreats of the Children of Israel's departure out of Egypt Exodus their decease out of that Country of captivity and slavery so if your soul cleave not too much to the dust of the earth death is no Bugbear no quivering meditation but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as joyful a decease to us as that was to them a departure out of bondage and misery O what death can be dreaded since Moses and Elias spake so mildly of the death of Christ Had his daies been cut off without all pain sorrow or ignominy take the Proposition thus barely without amplification of his wounds and sufferings mortuus est pro peccatoribus he died for sinners the just for the unjust who could sufficiently estimate the dear price of his payment or the miserable contract of our debt Mortiferum fuit quod non nisi morte Christi sanari potuit the wound of sin in our Soul was very mortal which made the Immortal die to cure it Lord it is not one Soul in every man nor ten thousand understandings and cogitations in that Soul which can cast up the estimation of that matchless benefit How much more when Christs death is dispread into a full description of all circumstances the longest Gospels by seven parts in all the Church Service are read upon the Passion and yet more must be conceiv'd than can be wrote of it in the largest Folio Yet I will print that Breviary of St. Paul in my memory to read it day and night Galat. iii. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us for it is written cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree But that eternal life which he purchased to us thereby hath candied over the bitterness of death and it is called by a soft gentle word a decease and spake of his decease which he should accomplish c. Fifthly If as I intend to speak in the fifth place all the circumstances of his death were opened Peter and the rest did hear what manner of decease it was There were many Pikes to be passed through a complete order of afflictions to be undergon and accomplisht Fat Bulls of Basan have compassed me on every side His miseries stood round about him and Gods predeterminate counsel was the circle there was no moving out till every enemy had spent his spight upon him so many stripes and wounds foretold in several Psalms so many sharp pangs and doleances commemorated in several Chapters and he could not give up the ghost till all these things were come about and every jot of the Scripture fulfilled St. John hath set this down with the accurate wisdom of the Holy Ghost to be admired Joh. xx 28. Christ hanging upon the Cross had power to lay down his life at any minute at the first twitch of pain and though weariness and the agony of sweat and the torments he sustained made him very dry yet he could have died in that thirst and never call'd for drink But after all things in the Scripture were fulfilled one verse of David was unsatisfied They gave me vinegar to drink Psal lxix 2. therefore He cries out I thirst and having received no better than vinegar he bears testimony that then all Prophecies about his Passion were
follow which I propound by way of question and thus first An bonum sit Christum non crucifigi If it could be good for them that Christ should entrench himself in Mount Thabor and never go to Jerusalem to be crucified Lord grant us not our own wishes when we desire evil unto our selves for this Apostle unwittingly desired as much mischief to fall upon his own head as the Devil could wish Peter was well strucken in years his person of grave authority his affections full of well-meaning love to Christ therefore this was but one of three times that he made bold to resist his Masters passion and disswade it Mat. xvi 22. Be propitious unto thy self Lord thou shalt not be killed by the Scribes and High Priests At another time he cut off Malchus ear in the Garden to save his Saviour And though he durst not openly dehort him now for he was check'd before and called Satan for that fault yet the same meaning is closely conveyed in these words Master it is good for us to be here What should I say It was not his opinion alone but it seems all his brethren were of the same mind they knew not the Scriptures and thought the Church might do well enough though Christ did never die upon the Cross for when Peter alone did speak in this cause St. Mark says Christ turned about and looked upon all his Disciples Mar. viii 33. And then rebuked Peter Get thee behind me Satan Peter gives him the title of Master if he would stay there and not die but St. Paul shews that even by death he won himself the Mastership Col. 2.18 He is the first-born from the dead that in all things he might have the pre-eminence His deceived Servants thought that it was inglorious for him to die whereas it was an honour to the Lamb of God to be brought unto that Altar So it behaved Christ to suffer and to enter into his glory I have met with one who delivered his opinion very eloquently how fit it was for our Saviour to remove from this place where his Disciple would have fixed him Says He this is not the Mount where our Lord must end his days but the fatal Calvary His face shall not shine with light but be disgraced with Spittle and smeared with bloud His Garments shall not be white to honour him but in scorn and derision He shall not stand between Moses and Elias but hang between two Thieves Thou Peter shalt not think it good to be with him but run away and deny him The Father shall not call unto him from heaven Thou art my well-beloved Son but the Son shall cry out that he is forsaken of the Father There shall not be a bright cloud over the place but darkness over the face of the earth Finally no other Tabernacle shall be built for him but a Cross of malediction 2. And might not Peter counsel him without offence against this ignominious death No my Beloved For it is not to be excused how he knew not the Scriptures that this was the course appointed for the redemption of the world the hungry could not eat their bread until it was broken We could not quench our thirst with the water of life till it was poured out of his wounds We could not be healed of the sting of death till the brazen Serpent was lifted up Jonas must be cast out of the belly of the Whale before he preach to the Ninivites Christ must die and rise again before the Disciples be sent to preach to all Nations The lxx Psalm hath this title A remembrance to the chief Musician and the first words of the Psalm are these Haste thee O Lord to deliver me make haste to help me O Lord. As who should say Thou that art the chief Musician unto whom all the Angels of heaven sing their Alelujah haste thee to redeem us by thy precious bloud Go up to thy Cross and suffer for it is time that thou have mercy upon us yea the time is come But you will say Had it not been most barbarous in Peter according to the tenure of that Psalm in the Exposition which I have given to wish the death of Christ First it might become his own Apostle that did tenderly love him neither to urge him nor disswade him but to say The will of the Lord be done Next I must tell you it is no such horrid thing as a weak Christian may imagine to have pray'd unto the Father that his Son might die upon the Cross for our Redemption Even so Father because thou wilt have it Yet this distinction must mollifie it Intuitu nostrae redemptionis non ipsius cruciatus says Lombard Rejoycing for the benefit of our Salvation but sorrowing for the bitterness of his Passion grieving for his sorrows but giving thanks with gladness for our own deliverance Therefore in no wise did Peter give right counsel when to decline the issue of that dismal Passion he said Master it is good c. But Ne quicquam sapit qui sibi non sapit How should he be a good Counsellor for his Master that was not wise for himself For I ask in the next place An bonum non videre mortem If it could be good for Peter and the two Disciples not to see death No surely there is a gain and advantage to be made by death Phil. i. 21. Then when we languish as we think of our last sickness then we begin to call our sins to remembrance then we look over the Covenant of the Law which we have so often broken then we breath out our soul in Prayer and fill our eyes and our heart with repentance the sense of imminent death takes away the sting of death by contrition and a most consciencious examination of the days that are past one hour well imployed about that time is better than a year in diebus illis when we were remiss and careless Even Balaam the Sorcerer did perceive what Soveraign Physick of Salvation God did administer to his Saints upon their sick bed and therefore he cries out O let me die the death of the righteous A righteous mans death is like the Cherubin standing before the Garden of Eden that with one blow lets him into Paradise and would Peter stay in the Mountain and want the best Schoolmaster of Repentance and Mortification Besides it is a good thing to be weary of every thing even of life it self till we come to heaven I know a man may desire to die out of frowardness I praise not that As Elias and Jonas were fretful because they were cross'd and in that vexation of mind they desired to die This is rudeness and impatiency to desire to die because they would not live as God would have them But there is earning to get above the desires of frail nature and to desire to put off the body that we may put on Christ So Nazianzen begins an Epistle to Nyssen out of
But her tentation would not take he preferred to refuse this offer and return home to his own Country Pleasure is not a Goddess but a Sorceress which would offer us the like Bonum est esse hic this is a fair inheritance were it not a gay thing if this were heaven and you imparadised in this pleasant seat for ever O no says celestial love go out my soul go out take the wings of the morning fly away to thy Country above the heavenly Jerusalem and then rest for ever Philip that mighty Macedonian feasted many Wits at a Banquet and he propounded a question to be argued before him What was the greatest thing in Nature After many Opinions one collected all that had been said and concluded Neither was Philip himself the greatest of all things nor the Hill Olympus nor the Sea of waters nor the Sun in the Firmament Sed cor quod res maximas despiceret the greatest of all things was an heart that despised the greatest things which are in this world beneath Unclog your affections from all contents of this miserable life if Tabor it self transport you the best part of the Militant Church where Christs glory shines which by Gods mercy I am confident we enjoy yet forget that and yearn for the Church Triumphant Be willing to bequeath the earth to the succession that follows you and your body to the ground and your soul to God 5. I am ready to move the fifth question alas when I consider it how unfit is the natural man for spiritual things An bonum sit quod paucis solummodò est bonum Whether we should call that good which is appropriated to our selves and not communicated to many This is it for which Origen thinks that Satan stirred up Peter to utter these words to entreat him to bless that little company upon Mount Taber with his presence and to leave all mankind without redemption O too forgetful Nimiumque oblite tuorum both of the other nine Disciples and of all that people that sate in darkness and in the shadow of death It was the most Jewish maliciousness that the Jews had to challenge God that his mercies and blessings belonged to their Nation and to no other Kingdom but this contraction is far more unreasonable to beseech Christ to smother his glory in a private corner with Moses and Elias and three Apostles as if these were the five wise Virgins enough to enter into the Marriage Chamber of the Bridegroom If one member be honoured all the members shall rejoyce with it but when all the members of the body are honoured every member shall rejoyce much more Tolle invidiam tuum est quod habeo tolle invidiam meum est quod habes says St. Austin Be not you envious and that which I have is yours Let not me be envious and that which you have is mine A carnal man you see wisheth his own happiness with the consequent infelicity of all the world beside let me oppose unto this the stupendious example of a regenerate man that wished his own damnation for the salvation of a great people I could wish that my self were accursed from Christ for my brethren my kinsmen according to the flesh Rom. ix 3. Some have commented upon it that Paul was unadvised in those words and offended God Nay Beloved the Holy Ghost cannot be unadvised by whose instinct he wrote and he doth Preface in the beginning I say the truth in Christ I lie not St. Chrysostom cannot speak better than he did upon that verse Quia nos longè sumus ab hâc dilectione Pauli ideo intelligere ejus verba non possumus We want so much of that love to our brethren which Paul had to his that we are not able to make a good construction of his meaning Yet I will direct you in a few words Paul did not desire to be separated for his brethrens sake from the charity and friendship of Christ for then he should love man better than God but from the felicity and sweet fruit of that friendship He would perish for ever not as Christs enemy but as an offering for his Nation He doth not desire to be out of the love of Christ but out of the Vision of Christ The conversion of an whole people he thought was more for Gods glory than the salvation of one man therefore although Gods Election must stand and that was impossible which he desired yet so long as he loved his brethren in God and not against God it was no excessive love And that is the judgment of Calvin But to draw to the use of the Point you see that perfect charity squints not at its own benefit with the great detriment of others Bonum est nobis is bad divinity and bad civility it spoils Church and Commonwealth that which is good to one or to a few will never thrive if it be not good for many It is true he is one of the fools of the world that is not wise for himself but he is one of Gods Reprobates that is wise for none but for himself Nequicquam sapit qui non omnibus sapit When every man is his own end all things will come to a bad end Blessed were those days when every man thought himself rich and fortunate by the good success of the publick wealth and glory We want publick souls we want them I speak it with compassion there is no sin or abuse in the world that afflicts my thought so much Every man thinks that he is a whole Commonwealth in his private Family Omnes quae sua sunt quaerunt All seek their own Did St. Paul write it against us or against the Philippians Chap. ii 21. Can the Publick be neglected and any mans Private be secure It is all one whether the mischief light upon him or his Posterity There are some says Tully that think their own Gardens and Fish-ponds shall be safe when the Commonwealth is lost Doth he not call them fools by craft Away with this bonum nobis to intend our own good rather than the general it was the greatest error that St. Peter committed 6. To the last question briefly in a word An bonum consistit in aspectu humanitatis Christi Could it be the supreme good of man to behold the Humane Nature of Christ only beatified Surely the Humane Nature shining as light as the Sun was a rare object that Peter could have been contented with that and no more for his part for ever yet the resolution of the School holds certain that blessedness consists essentially in beholding the Divine Nature which is the fountain of all goodness and power and in the fruition thereof accidentally it consists in beholding Christs Humane Nature glorified and in the consequent delectation These things must not be enlarged now because I am prevented by the time To God the Father c. THE FIFTH SERMON UPON The Transfiguration LUKE ix
Worship not one for Christ c. Herein as Peter knew not what he said so he said somewhat which Expositors wonder how he should know namely he calls these men Moses and Elias but how was it revealed to him The Text intimates how they spake to Christ but no where that Christ spake to them and used their names to make them familiar and well known And certainly he had never seen so much as their Pictures to make himself acquainted with the fashion of their countenance The Jews did hold themselves so strictly to the Letter of the Second Commandment that they made no Picture or Graven Image without Gods especial Commandment To resolve this doubt almost every Writer hath laboured to make his own ingenuous conjecture most probable Says Theophylact Moses might say Thou art the Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the World whose Passion I prefigured in the institution of the Paschal Lamb And might Elias say Thou art the Christ whom we believe shall rise again from the dead and that thy power over death might be believed I raised up the Widows Son to life Another way says Christianus Druthmarus Elias might say ascend on high and lead Captivity Captive even as I mounted up to heaven before Elisha Then Moses might vie with him Do thou deliver thy Saints from Hell even as I brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt Did both express that they two had fasted forty days and that they alone above all others had that symbolical mark with Christ Might not the one bring the two Tables of the Law in his hand as if they were his Escutchion by which he would be known And the other perhaps came in his Chariot of fire that bore him up to heaven that is a fourth way So wise an Author as Tolet might have taken any of these conjectures rather than his own forsooth that Elias came as he is described 2 Kings i. 8. An hairy man with a girdle of leather about his Loins and Moses came as their vulgar Latine most ridiculously sets him forth Cum cornutâ facie with Horns for where we read his face shined according to the Hebrew they read his face had horns Indeed this would well become some of their late Canonized Worthies who do rather deserve horns to be fixed to their heads for Monsters than the irradiation of beams for glorified men Zachary Chrysopolitanus hath a Scholastique way by himself Nec probo nec improbo That Peter and the other two Apostles were partakers of some heavenly glory when they saw the Transfiguration and therefore had that spark of happiness to know all persons whom they saw intuitivè as if they had been glorified So he discerned these to be Moses and Elias whom he had never seen before by that gift of grace whereby every Saint shall know all the Society of Saints by name after the Resurrection I will not enter upon that Theme to enlarge this opinion whether we shall know one another perfectly in the life to come Luther very judiciously held the affirmative part the very same night that he gave up his Spirit to the Lord. But to Zacharies opinion I give this dash that Peter was no partaker of glorified qualities at this time especially by way of knowledge and the gift of discerning For he knew not what he said There are reasons to be glanced at before I leave this Point why Peter would impale Moses and Elias in Mount Thabor in his Tabernacles to keep his Master company First he thought says one that none were more gracious with God to be fed miraculously with corporal sustenance so that for their sakes they should all have food enough Moses obtained Manna to fall from heaven about the Tents of the Israelites for forty years at his desire he brought Quails and opened the hard Rock so that waters flowed out And the very Ravens that use to devour all they can get they did spread a Table for Elias and brought him bread and flesh Secondly Fain would Peter defend his Master that he might not be delivered up to the high Priests to be crucified Now he bethought how near Moses was to drowning and his life was preserved how near to be stoned by the people and yet protected Num. xiv How violent was Jezebel against Elias and yet he escaped These had been very fortunate in their preservation therefore he would make Tabernacles for these to dwell with Christ Thirdly If Mount Thabor should happen to be environed with enemies that came to hale them to judgment why Peter may surmise let Moses have a Tabernacle here and he can bring Plagues upon Plagues against them that will meddle with Christ as he did upon Pharaoh and all his Host Let Elias have a Tabernacle here and he will call for fire from heaven to devour their Captains These are the glosses of ancient Writers but I would not confidently say it that the Apostle had all or any of these weak policies in his head when he spake these words Surely he had not time to confer with John and James no nor upon the sudden starting of fear any leisure to roule things in his own reason much less to apply reason to Divine Faith It was an extemporary Ejaculation and a very infirm one not knowing what he said All the first part of my Text was zeal to Christs glory the next part shews it was Zeal not according to knowledge not knowing what he said Upon these words some have quite mistaken the fault some have aggravated it too much some have excused it too far some have delivered their mind as I conceive with reason and moderation The Historiographers of Magdeburg in the first place conceived the case amiss who thought that Peter would have three Tabernacles built upon that flore in memory of the Transfiguration whereas he would have made his Fabrick not for the remembrance of the work that was past but for their cohabitation for the time present and to come In the next place Origen lays so great a crime to the Apostles charge that he says a Diabolical Spirit seduced him to say these words to impedite his Masters Passion for in the sixteenth Chapter of St. Matthew when he disswaded Christ from his sufferings Christ said unto him Get thee behind me Satan therefore all such seducements as this was must be Satanical St. Mark knew the reason of Peters transgression better than Origen this is all that he says Mar. vi 9. He wist not what to say for they were sore afraid It was not the evil Spirit of darkness but the spirit of fear that misguided him And as for the Passion of our Lord who more ready than Satan to hasten it Did he not put it into the heart of Judas that he might procure the death of Christ Did not Christ say to the Jews You are of your father the Devil and you would fulfil his desires when they sought to kill him Joh. viii It was too
much therefore in Origen to amplifie an Error so far There may be Perversus error in excusando perversa delectatio in accusando A dangerous partiality in excusing a fault and a dangerous delight in accusing Pascasius Ratbertus doth very well to impute all to his amazement yet he also conceives him more amazed than I can imagine namely that waking out of sleep Putabat quod resurrectionis speciem solutus carne per extasin jam videret He thought he was out of the body and that in an Extatical phancy he beheld the Resurrection I apprehend him not so much deluded Bellarmine is so dim sighted when he list that he can find nothing in all St. Peters words to be called a sin no not when he would have enjoyed Heaven upon Earth and said Master it is good for us to be here Licet in tali excessu mentis errate potuerit Petrus certe peccare nullo modo potuit Though Peter might err in this extasie yet he could not sin for he knew not what he said Indeed Paul had been a blasphemer and a persecuter Yet he obtained mercy because he did it ignorantly in unbelief 1 Tim. i. 14. Though he did those things through ignorance yet those things were sins for why did he obtain mercy but because he had been a sinner So it betokens a sin that Peter said he knew not what Our Saviour told James and John they askt they knew not what Mar. x. 38. Was there not a trespass for all their ignorance They that crucified our Saviour knew not what they did Luke xxiii 34. Was it not a bloudy sin for all their Ignorance St. Paul says of false Teachers they understood not what they said nor whereof they affirmed 1 Tim. i. 7. God will pardon slips of ignorance that they shall not be judged with Hell fire but we must not excuse them so far that they shall not be judged for sins Therefore of all Opinions their moderation sounds to my ear most judicious that make this error of Peters a small sin because it proceeded from vehement love but yet a sin because it proceeded from precipitated ignorance Excellently Optatus against Parmenian touching some other slips of this Apostle Ipsius Sancti Petri beatitudo veniam tribuat si illud commemorare videar quod factum constat legitur Let not blessed Peter think amiss if I shew him offending where the fact is manifest and recorded in holy Scripture The Gloss took the right estimation of Peters words upon this hint that Christ gave him no answer again it was frivolous and inordinate he spake and Christ gave him no reply to approve it yet it was no impious speech therefore he gave him no sharp rebuke to condemn it St. Ambrose descants upon it many ways and gives this close Proximum indulgentiae est quod de excessu venit pli amoris That which comes from the excess of love is pardonable and will obtain indulgence As Poets and Orators make men speak strangely strong lines as some odd brain'd men call them so fear admiration joy rapture drew these words not well weighed from the Apostle And though we shall give account of every idle word yet the word of God hath taught us that not only where sins are of small growth but even where sin abounds grace will abound much more through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN THE SIXTH SERMON UPON The Transfiguration LUKE ix 34. While he thus spake there came a Cloud and overshadowed them and they feared as they entred into the Cloud UNruly passions can yield no cause why they are stirred up but our own natural impotency they surprize us of a sudden before we can meditate why we did admit them and therefore are obnoxious to many questions why they should be so but it is not easie to afford a reasonable answer Says David Psal xxvii 1. The Lord is my light and my salvation whom then shall I fear The Lord is the strength or protector of my life of whom then shall I be afraid He could pose himself to ask why he should be fearful yet he could not be rid of fear It is apparent in his Psalm that there were two arms of comfort to embrace him Light and Protection and the Gloss doth branch them thus illuminatio spectat ad animi consilia salus ad removenda corporis pericula that Light is to direct the counsels of the mind that Protection is to remove away all hurt and offence from the body Had not Peter all this before him that David speaks of and after the most ample manner that ever was seen upon earth and yet he was so weak in heart that his fear was exceeding strong Peter might truly say the Lord was his light for here was a Cloud to illuminate him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a bright Cloud says St. Matthew it was Gods Cloud above any other and God was in the Cloud as it is manifest in the next verse then he might truly say the Lord was the protection of his life for the Cloud overshadowed him and so he was safe as a Bird under the feathers of the Almighty but if you ask him with the Psalmist Of whom then shall I be afraid he is not able to reply In the compass of this accident of the Transfiguration I find him thrice exceeding fearful every time upon a new object and occasion but you must find out this by looking narrowly into the History as all the three Evangelists have related it Observe St. Mark and he implies that Moses and Elias appeared who preacht of our Saviours Sufferings as I have told you before Peter and the other two Disciples heard it and trembled at it so much that he spake distractedly says St. Mark He wist not what to say for they were sore afraid Then St. Luke as I have read it before you in my Text notes that they were perplext at another bout when the Cloud appeared and that Christ and Moses and Elias entred into the Cloud St. Matthew reveals another thing that troubled them how a voice from Heaven was heard This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear him When the Disciples heard it they fell on their face and were sore afraid I have met with no Expositor who hath observ'd these three distinct occasions and eruptions of their fear yet they are all apparent to him that will examine it And I mark it how every new passage of admiration in this Miracle took them with a quivering till at the third time Christ encouraged them therein St. Matthew hath helpt us with a passage which the others have omitted Matth. xvii 7. Jesus came and touched them and said arise be not afraid Therefore piecing that addition in St. Matthew to this Text in St. Luke which I must do to handle all occurrences in this Transfiguration faithfully the parts will arise to these two the Fear of the Disciples and their Succour In the first part I will
Altar you see the strength and mightiness of his power in the Goats that he bore the similitude of sinful flesh in the Ram his Principality that he governed the Flock in the Lamb his meekness and innocency but before the Law this in my Text is the first by name which the Fathers took notice of as a type of the Sacrifice upon the Cross Quis in ariete figuratus nisi Christus spinis Judaicis coronatus of this Type St. Austin is bold to say this Ram in the Thicket was but a rellish and pregustation of him that was compelled to weare a Crown of thorns It is the first praise that Pliny gives to this harmless Creature Magna huic pecori gratia in placamentis Deorum among other attonements it was very gracious to please and pacifie the divine powers how could Idolaters confess so much unless with Caiaphas they prophesied and knew not what they said Indeed we can say omnis huic pecori gratia in placamentis Domini All our attonement all our reconciliation all our pardon it rests upon the head of this Oblation the principal of the Flock Who can think upon the innocence of the Sheep and not remember this spotless Sacrifice without sin Who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth 1 Pet. ii 22. Non Petrus erat qui haec dixit adulatus Magistro sed Esaias praedixit says Cyril Peter did not say this of himself to flatter his Master he had it from an Evangelical Prophet Isaiah foretold it under the name of an innocent sheep led unto the slaughter The Pharisees called him Carpenter in disgrace but they could not call him Sinner Clamant habet damonium non Clamant habet peccatum they cry out he had a Devil and yet their tongue would not let them say there was a fault in him Our Saviour proclaimes it Quis vestrum Which amongst you doth accuse me of sin Again who can think upon the meekness of the sheep and not remember this Sacrifice that was led dumb before the Shearer Moses was meek yet he commanded that the Adulteress should be put to death Christ was meeker his sentence was clemency every jot Joh. viii Go and sin no more Moses was meek yet he brought Mandatum lapideum a stony Law to the People Christ was meeker and turned those stones into bread at his last Supper he set before them Mandatum triticeum Take and eat in remembrance of me At his Baptism a Dove sat upon his head Columba super agnum a Dove upon a Lamb meekness upon meekness What heart could be more intenerated and mollified than that which prayed for his Persecutors Yet once more let me speak who can think upon the profitableness of the Sheep and not remember this Sacrifice that did yield commodity both in life and death He liv'd in innocency of life for our imitation he suffered in the bitterness of death for our redemption ut afferret remedium in passione mortis ut praeberet exemplum in innoecntiâ vitae says Leo Innoceny Meekness Utility all do correspond that the Angel should take one of the Flock rather than any other Beast to prefigure the Sufferings of Christ And we must not omit that among all the Flock the Ram was cull'd out to be substituted for Isaac propter masculam virtutem never was there more need of a masculine courage and a spirit heroick than to tolerate and endure so much as our Saviour did this day stripes and strokes blasphemies and buffetings thorns and nails to drink up all the bitterness of the Cup to fight with God himself and his wrath in that Agony in the Garden every vein of the body vented bloud quia de toto corpore id est de Ecclesiâ emanaturae sunt passiones martyrum says Prosper because the Martyrs should suffer in every part of his Body which is the Church Such a Samson we had need of that could break the green wit hs and snap the cords in sunder Such a Lion we had need of sprung from the Tribe of Judah and it falls out I know not whether by art or by arbitrary imposition that the Latin word Aries for a Ram comes from the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a Lion come to his growth and vigour I am sure he that is the Ram in my Text is likewise the strong Lion of the Tribe of Judah Very appertinent is that which I find related in Ortelius concerning the Christian King of the Abyssens that he gives for his Crest a Lion holding a Cross in his paw notifying that Christ stuck to his Passion and his Cross with that power and fortitude like a Lion that no tentation nor Devil nor infirmity could pluck him from it An Angel came to strengthen him says St. Luke I pray you did the Ram give back then was the Lion frighted did weakness creep upon him not so but because in the very gall of affliction he had strength and courage therefore he did merit to be strengthened by the ministery of Angels For example in this Militant state of the Church they that couragiously endure their trial at length shall not want Divine consolation This Exposition likes me best which ascribes all masculine courage to the Ram which was caught in the Thicket Ecce aries behold a Ram why John Baptist makes him younger above a thousand years after Ecce Agnus Dei behold the Lamb of God Nay in one mystical verse Gen. xlix 9. Judah is called a Lions Whelp and a strong Lion and an old Lion great diversity of age in so few words I must say of these places as St. Austin did reconciling the Prophesies of Esay and Jeremiah To us a Child is born says Esay Mulier circumdabit virum says Jeremiah A woman shall compass a man and both speak of Christ Why time says the Father doth not make him older than he was before the beginning of the world sed insinuant ei nunquam defuisse virtutem but if the Child be call'd a man it is to insinuate that full strength and perfection was alwayes in him Now you have seen the thing which was bestowed upon Abraham The Wife of Manoah could say if the Lord were pleased to kill them he would not accept a Burnt-offering at their hands neither would he have told them of a Son to be born much more may I say if the Lord were not pleased with Abraham and his Seed he would not have given us a Burnt-offering nor told us of him that was to come in the ends of the World as it is in the first mark which is upon this Ram He is Aries post eum Abraham saw a Ram behind him For long it was indeed long after Abrahams days that the manifestation of this Shadow was revealed in the death of Christ My father says Isaac in the 7. verse of this Chapter behold the Fire and the Wood but where is the Lamb Isaac spake of no more than the present
them all therefore God ordained him to be the dungeon of misery in these words Behold I have made thee this day as an iron Pillar and a brazen Wall Jer. i. 18. So Christ endured the merciless wrath of his persecutors as if he had been scourged and crucified not in flesh and bloud but in brass or iron What a raging heat there is in a furnace of brass So Christ complains in his Agony as if he had been a molten furnace Lam. iii. 13. From above hath he sent fire into my bones and it prevaileth against them Therefore God appointed Moses to make a fiery Serpent Num. xxi 8. It seems the Serpent was like a Censor of brass and the fire of Incense was put into it that it might be a sweet savour unto the Lord ascending up with the prayers of the Congregation Or what is fitter to express the two natures of God and Man in one person than brass when it gloes with fire The Humane body without and the fire of the Divinity within these are the Ingredients of that Mediatour who bruised the head of the old Serpent took away our reproach and abolished our Iniquities Therefore the fire was as necessary for our use as the Brass the Brass that is the Manhood to suffer but the Fire that is the Godhead to make the sufferings of infinite price and inestimable value But that which we translate as the seventy two have guided us a fiery Serpent is Saraph in the Original which if it signifie fire it is Coelestial fire for from thence comes the word Seraphim the highest order of Angels who are inflamed with the zeal of charity O how much of that fire was in the Serpent that healed us What a Grove of love was in his heart which no eye nor thought can penetrate Who could have passed through so many thorns and nails so many scoffs and derisions but that his love was like fire that could not be quenched Lord if thou hadst not loved me thou hadst not been born for me But if thou hadst not loved me more than thy self thou hadst not died for me thy humility bore all thy patience overcame all but love sate at the Helm of the Ship and that commands all O thou sweet Tyrant says Nazianzen how strong are thy fetters with which thou tiest the Son of God And so I have done with the Serpent for his own frame and composition for the present use of it and for the Mystery I come to the Posture it was exaltation for Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness For else how could six hundred thousand men and more have recurrence unto it in their necessity to look upon it if it had not been lifted up Justin Martyr who had reason to be skilful in these things being a Samaritan by birth says that Moses having fastned the Serpent to along Pole erected it upon the top of the Tabernacle and then the remotest person might easily glance upon it for every Tribe keeping the distance of two thousand Cubits that is an English mile from the Tabernacle Josh iii. 4. and the doors of all their Tents opening inwards towards the Tabernacle their eye-lids could not open but they must see that object which was the Mast of the Ship or the Spire of the Steeple upon the Church of the Tabernacle Others consider it as an Ensign or Banner as if God had prepared to fight for Israel against the spiritual wickednesses in high places But if we fall into the slumber of Metaphors we shall meet with nothing but dreams It was disposed by the most High that the remedy to which the people were bidden to look should be exalted that the interiour thoughts of the heart might fly to God for succour after the president of the exteriour contemplation Israel might stoop to the earth to gather Manna for the sustentation of their body but they must look towards heaven for their preservation and to be delivered from death and hell I see nothing but corruption under me salvation and immortality are on high above me Translate our meditations from the sign to the thing signified and a Serpent elevated upon a Pole was Christ hanging upon the Cross It is his own exposition Joh. xii 32. And I if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me This he said signifying what death he should die He calls not that most ruful death his ignominy or his confusion or his humiliation but a lifting up a promotion an exaltation Can you devise a more chearful word for so sad a business Three ways he was lifted up Vt victima ut victor ut mediator In the manner of his death as a Sacrifice in the triumph over death as a Conquerour in his glorification to sit at the right hand of God as a Mediator First The manner of his death was ordained that he should hang upon a tree wherein pain and reproach and malediction might fall together like so many bitter waters in one torrent The magnitude of the pain refers unto numberless considerations Begin from hence that his body was weak and enfeebled with Agonies with watchings with scourgings with bearing his Cross then this torn and bruised body was stript naked so that his raw wounds took air and their smart was much augmented After this began the execution his feet and hands were pierced with nails where the quickest sense of the body doth most resent offence his Nerves and Arteries were crackt and distended his body hanging upon its own weight his arms were pluckt out to his little ease and great vexation further than their natural longitude But the further they were stretcht the greater Emblem it was that he was ready to embrace us His feet were pluckt down and fastened to a Pedestal to let us know he will not go from us till we depart from him The concurrence of so much torment parch'd the roof of his mouth and made him thirst and that thirst of his cannot be quenched but by our faith and repentance which is liquidated with tears All these concurring forced his life from him that he gave up the Ghost But tantò mirabilior resurrectio quantò mors certior Since his death was so certain that none could choose but know his Resurrection is more triumphant that none can choose but admire it And as the pain was excessive so the ignominy of that death was superlative Pone crucem servo To hang on a Cross was a death for servants not for Freemen and Citizens Paul a Citizen of Rome was beheaded Peter one reputed a vile person was crucified It was the destiny of none but slaves till Constantine in honour to our Saviour did utterly forbid it to all Malefactors Yet he whose service is perfect freedom endured it that he might abrogate the thraldom of sin by the chastisement of bondage and lead captivity captive Add unto all this the malediction of that death for cursed is every one that hangeth on
Cause which was a Cause before all time and then with that Cause which was a Cause in time Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledg of God What is this determinate counsel what is this foreknowledg how was Christ delivered through those means these are the first Doctrins to be opened Counsel or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Aristotle is to canvass and to consider doubts discreetly and providently before some action is to be effected and to conclude out of those doubts well weighed what is best to be done that is it which is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or understanding 't is very true this is the way and progress of mans wit to run through uncertain objections and at last to come to clear determinations and counsel among us is a rational remedy against rash and precipitate proceedings beware to think that these rules do conclude Almighty God there is counsel in God not by way of deliberation and discourse but because his infinite wisdom hath decreed all things both which way they shall tend and the bounds which they shall not pass and that 's the event of counsel Concilium dicitur non propter inquisitionem sed propter certitudinem cognitionis says Aquinas that is counsel is attributed to God not because He doth advise and demur much less because He doth require the suffrages and opinions of others but forasmuch as He hath established all things how they should be effected in the fulness of time therefore that Order and Decree which is the upshot of counsel among men is called to help the infirmness of our capacity counsel in the Most High Damascen was so scrupulous in this that he chose words on purpose to destinguish between God and Man In Deo est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a resolution as you would say not a consultation for all things are manifest to him at once both of things that are and things that shall be nay of things that are only possible in themselves and never shall be But St. Paul prevented Damascen and avoids that distinction by putting those words together to make up one sense Ephes 1.11 Being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Will and Counsel are united in the operations of God when you hear of his counsel conceive the wonderful and mysterious wisdom of God when you hear his will is joyned unto it observe his free power and authority it was of old the description of a Tyrant that his will was law sic volo sic jubeo he managed all things according to the decree of his will but if you lookt for counsel you should find nothing but rashness and for the most part injustice but in all the Statutes and Ordinances of God there is counsel in his will summa ratio verity and judgment in all things that he hath appointed yet summa libertas nothing impels God to any Decree but his own free will and election tempering all things with wisdom and justice God doth decree both the means and the end of all things and hath set them a Law as David says that they shall not pass In the next place some light must be given to this other term in the Text the Foreknowledg of God to foresee a thing before it be actually effected comes to pass in a threefold manner either by the insight of natural causes So Artists can foretel at what day and hour Eclipses of the Sun and Moon will happen or by rational sagacity as a prudent man can espy how affairs will succeed when a good foundation is laid or by Divine inspiration when the Lord from above doth give a spirit to his Prophets to behold things to come as if they were present before their eyes These three are thus laid down after the measure of our own understanding but when we speak of Gods foreknowledg it is of another fadom for first all things that were that are that shall be are present to him at one instant those successions of time past present and to come which are differences to us are none at all to God his knowledg which is eternal reacheth with one simple act even to the producing of effects in time without all variation and therefore is called Prescience very improperly and with much dissimilitude from humane ways of prescience 2. Our foresight is bare foreknowledg not able to put forward a good event and as unable to prevent a calamity Abraham could truly presage that Israel should come out of Egyptian bondage but he could not hasten the time of their return Isaiah could foretel that Judah should be led away into captivity but he could not mitigate their bondage but Gods foreknowledg hath his hand and power always annexed unto it for whereas my Text says Christ was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledg of God St. Peter says Acts iv 28. that Herod and Pilate and the Gentils were gathered together against Christ to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done He doth not only foresee good how like it is unto himself and evil per dissimilitudinem sui how unlike it is unto himself but his providence intervenes and manageth that evil which he foresees will arise out of the corrupt and depraved will of the creature to his own glory It were an Epicuraean dream to imagin there is such a dull barren knowledg of things to come in God as should not interpose but leave all things to their own course and swing therefore Stapleton had no such just cause to declaim against Beza for rendring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this place not Praescience but Providence God did not provide that is decree it antecedently that Judas should sin and betray Christ but since the Creature will decline from good consequently the Lord decrees the evil man shall not be restrained but shall be suffered to heap vengeance upon his own head Let Stapleton chafe at Estius a great Doctor of their own that says Prescience in this place stands for Predestination him being delivered by the determinate counsel and praedestination of God Now Providence is the ordaining of all things to a good end but Predestination is the ordaining of Gods chosen Portion to a blessed end I am sure Tremelius for Foreknowledg doth translate it Providence out of the Syrian Paraphrast and do but mark the scope of this place and you will find that Prescience here is annext with Providence For whereas the Jews thought that Christ had faln into their hands through unability of defending himself from his Enemies St. Peter beats down that error that Gods determinate Counsel and Providence was in the fact but that had been a very weak Apology to say that God foresaw it long before And so much concerning these simple terms to wit the determinate counsel and
the people owe in the audience of the King and again they will preach how the King is tied to justice and equity far from Court in the audience of the People Inveigh against ingrossers of Grain in the City and against false Merchandise in the Country This is a most preposterous course and no way intended to edifie their Auditors So St. Peter might have tax'd the Idolatry of the Gentiles in the hearing of the Jews and the sin of the Jews that they killed Christ in the hearing of the Gentiles but that partition had been very ill divided For it were like that Paradox in Chirurgery called Vnguentum armarium to cure a man without application of the remedy at an hundred miles distance No St. Peter had no such Quacksalver tricks in Divinity but directs his reprehension to them that were before him Ye have taken c. And all the Jews were rightly thus accused except those few of men and women that were his Disciples and followed him for if they were not such as accused him falsely yet they were such as suborned Catives to betray him If they were not in the plot of betraying they were in the sin of delivering up to Pilate if not among those that delivered him up to judgment yet among those that cried out Crucifie him in the time of judgment Nay though they did not cry out nor so much as in their hearts consent to his unjust trial yet they held their peace they suffered wrong to prevail and did not resist it They did not put off the Roman Souldiers and stay their fatal hands in one respect or other they were all as guilty as St. Peter chargeth them By wicked hands ye have crucified and slain him Some of the Jewish Rabines slout at these words of St. Peters to this day saying the Christians are quite mistaken to impute unto them the crucifying of Christ for they had no such kind of death in their Law and they did all things à punto according to their Law they crucified no man They had but four capital punishments for Malefactors says Maimonides after the tradition of Moses killing with the Sword stoning to death hanging on a tree by the neck and burning But the infliction of crucifying was unheard of to their Nation Thus they And whereas Cardinal Baronius Cardinal Sigonius Justus Lipsius and some other learned men contradict the Rabbines in this I think they did amiss not to believe their great Doctors in their own Laws and Customs wherein they were most expert The true retortion is that in the days of Christ the power of life and death was taken out of the hands of the Jews by their Lords the Romans that reigned over them therefore they implore the Roman Magistrate that he would condemn and execute their Prisoner after the Roman Laws and the Romans did deal with him after the rigour of their Laws which sentenced all those that were convicted of sedition and raising tumults to the bitter death of the Cross So Christ foretold to his Disciples anon before he entred into Jerusalem That the Son of man should be betrayed unto the chief Priests and Scribes and they shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucifie him Mat. xx 19. It was not the custom in Israel to strike nails through the feet or hands of any that were hanged up says Maimonides Nay the most accurate Casaubon says that there is not one word in all the Hebrew tongue for being nailed to the Cross so little were they acquainted with the punishment This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in my Text affigentes which the Vulgar Latine most ignorantly reads affligentes is heathen Language and unknown to the Jews The Rabbines in contempt of our Saviour call him in their Tongue sometimes as you would say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that was hanged but their Tongue could not furnish them with a word to say he that was fastned to a tree There may be divers ways of hanging on a tree beside crucifying and the Old Testament useth ever the general phrase Cursed is every one that hangeth on a Tree The only place in the Old Law which hath respect particularly to the death of the Cross is Psal xxi 17. They pierced my hands and my feet Therefore the Rabbines have endeavoured to corrupt that place more than any other in all the Bible But the Psalmist alludes to that which the Jews should procure and the Romans execute One only place selected out of Sozomen by Casaubon avails much to prove that crucifying was not a Jewish but a Roman fashion For Constantine thought that no Malefactor was worthy to die on a Cross because our Lord had so suffered the just for the unjust therefore he took away that penalty of crucifying used before by the Romans says Sozomen Therefore the vulgar Latine Translation mistakes the words of my Text but hits the sense very well for it hath not Per manus impias by wicked hands but Per manus impiorum by the hands of the wicked as if it were in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with an Article which would make it personal But then the meaning is ye Jews have taken him and by the hands of the wicked that is of the Gentiles have crucified him and slain him So Christ foretold The Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of sinners that is into the hands of the Gentiles We that are by nature Jews and not sinners of the Gentiles says St. Paul Gal. ii St. Chrysostome understands it two ways either by the hands of Judas or by the hands of the Souldiers It is all one for consider it well and it is rather the worse on their side than the better They suborned Judas they importuned Pilate they stirred up the Souldiers St. Peter passeth over these instrumental accidental coadjutors and directs his invectives against them that had the chief finger in the murder that set all the wheels a going Ye have taken him and crucified him If David could discern the hand of Joab in the woman of Tekoahs Parable then be sure the Lord doth espy the chief Actors and Complotters of all mischief and rebellion though others appear in the fact whom they have exposed to censure and dangers Statists love to bring about odious projects by the hands of underlings as the Ape in the Fable would take the Chesnut out of the hot Embers with the Cats foot But God will send his Angels to gather up the Tares in bundles all that were Complices in the same sin shall make one bundle both Jew and Gentile For there is no connivence in Gods justice no ignorance in his wisdom no partiality in his sentence To him therefore be glory for ever AMEN NINE SERMONS UPON THE RESURRECTION OF OUR SAVIOUR THE FIRST SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION ACTS ii 24. Whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be
of a Trumpet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Paul meaning no doubt some shrill clamour because the Son of God would have his Resurrection an Article of the Creed and Faith is of things not seen Yea because he did meditate nothing but to abase and obscure himself and to do us honour O glorious voice which summoned Fishermen from their Ships Publicans from their trade Matthew from the Custom-house Paul from the bloudy City of Damascus and Lazarus from the Tomb. To hear him pray there was Rhetorick in that to incline every heart unto Piety To see Lazarus reviv'd there was Logick in that a demonstration of his Divinity To hear him cry aloud there was Musick in that no note was ever so sweet no tune of such a relish as the voice of our Saviour In Demosthenis scriptis magna abest pars Demosthenis It is said that much of Demosthenes is lost in his Writings because the matter was set forth with such a graceful utterance And surely unless we supply it with faith much of our Saviours Miracles is lost to us for want of living in that Age when we might hear that loud voice which commanded the Miracle It is not a superfluous phrase when we read it often that Jesus opened his mouth and saith Aperuit os suum qui in veteri lege aperire solebat ora Prophetarum God did open the Prophets mouths in the old world but he opened his own mouth and told his own tale in the Gospel O what contention of spirit What earnestness our Saviour did use when he did watch a good turn for any of his poor Members He would venter to break his own sides rather than not to break the gates of death which did lock up Lazarus whom he loved as Antigonus rent his Lungs and so died with incouraging his Souldiers Duritia vincenda est non suadenda says Tertullian you must not use fair means and perswasions to them who are in a Lethargy of sin Like old Eli to Hophni and Phinehas What my Sons I hear an evil report Qui timidè rogat negare docet he that asketh any thing faintly teacheth you how to deny him Qui timidè redarguit peccare docet and he that chides faintly teacheth you to despise him and puts on audacity to sin the more Where is the courage of Elias Where is the tongue of St. Chrysostome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 His life was like a flash of lightning and his doctrine like a clap of thunder As fast as the Pharisees could throw stones at St. Stephen he threw darts of rebuke at them Stiff-necked uncircumcised in heart despisers of the Law this was to speak against sin like a Commander and a Magistrate not like a Petitioner This was to cry with a loud voice to speak as it were under correction against Sacriledge usury corruption and the like to touch them as if you were loath to be understood God will say it is not Preaching but Libelling What labour What contention was this The softest whisper had it not been enough to command Satan and Hell and the Grave As Pompey said of his own power in Italy Si tellurem pede pulsavero copiae militum prodibunt So soon as he did but tread upon the earth it would serve him with a puissant army So Christ if He had but trod upon the Serpents head upon the Grave stone would it not have sufficed to have ransomed Lazarus and all the bodies that were buried Yes it had sufficed But this is dignum proclamatione fit for a loud voice to proclaim it Prayer like a good Angel went before it Publication like the Trumpet of Fame comes behind it You know it well says Paul to Agrippa speaking of the Resurrection it was not done in a corner Two Angels appeared in the Tomb where Christ rose from the dead Angelus nuncius Dei resurrectio erat annuncianda Angels are the Messengers of heaven and this is the prime and principal message Go tell Peter go tell my brethren How sollicitous was Christ to have it told Every one he met was sent to publish it And they that nestle in their Cells and forget this office summon them like dead men to come out of their Monuments Lazarus come forth This was matter for a loud voice then and business for the Pulpit now the suscitation of Lazarus but do you not disgrace the dignity of a Preacher when every petty vain occasion doth challenge the honour of a Sermon before it If ever there were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a good work marr'd for being done unseasonably Now it is when grace before meat will not serve the turn but every luxurious feast must have the Benediction of a Preachers pains before it Quis te ferat caenantem ut Lucullus concionantem ut Cato Much less is it to be endured that some body must make a Sermon because Lucullus hath made a Supper It is such a flout upon our Calling me thinks as the Chaldeans put upon the Jews in their Captivity they in the height of their jollity must have one of the Songs of Sion I have done with the Dignity of this work I proceed now to the Divinity thereof which is brancht out into these three powerful circumstances Mortuus excitatur a dead man is raised 2. Lazarus four days dead is raised 3. Lazarus who was bound is raised and comes forth Mortuus excitatur behold that principally a dead man is raised It is noted in Hierusalem that she was implacable against the Prophets of the Lord for twice our Saviour called upon her O Hierusalem Hierusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee and yet her anger would not cease no not for a double Admonition It is noted of St. Paul that his mind was most bitter against the Saints for Christ was fain to toll on both sides once and a second time to summon him by his name Saul Saul why persecutest thou me The persecuting Rage of Hierusalem was invincible the Malice of Saul was hardly bridled both more headstrong than Death it self Non sustinuit mors secundas voces Domini says St. Austin Death was obedient at the first Command our Saviour called but once and no more Lazarus come forth Could you blame St. Peter whose heart earned and was sorrowful that Christ said the third time Peter lovest thou me One word is enough to make Hell it self fly open O Lord are our Hearts more hard than Hell that thou hast so often spoken and still they are shut up Lewis the 11 th of France was wont to say that he passed away his time in making or marring of men an honest confession for whether they be Kings or meaner persons their power is prone as well to root up as to plant as well to pluck down as to set up a Building But Christ hath not only passed away time but meditated from all eternity how to make the World
man Therefore this opinion doth thus distinguish ante devolutum lapidem prodiit non ante concussum he passed forth out of the mouth of the Cave not before the Stone was shaken off with the Earthquake but before it was rolled away The fourth opinion I have read in no Author but I find it cited by one or two once in the Remish Testament and again in Estius potuit prodire per rimam ostii vi subtilitatis as he came into his Disciples when the doors were shut so he came out of the Sepulchre when the door was shut by some chink or crany where the passage was not stopt close This I know that they who speak to this purpose upon other occasions do quote St. Paul 1 Cor. xv 44. It is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body because a body raised from the dead is called a spiritual body many do assume that it hath no grosseness as our bodies have but can attenuate it self as a thick piece of gold is malleated and made ductile into a thin leaf and so to pass through a narrow crevis Beloved this opinion is not so simple as some would make for the learnedst Clerk in the world cannot define what manner of spirituality a glorified body should have neither shall we understand it till we come to know in Heaven even as we are known Yet I confess I am puzzled when I think that by this cobweb subtilty Christ must needs lose the figure and lineaments of a manly body beside Theodoret Tertullian and all that wrote against the Marcionites do stiffly maintain the truth of Christs Body to be no aereal phantastical thing Beside I will frame an argument as well against these who hold our Saviour slipt in by a chink of the door when the doors were shut as against the Pontificians who define he came through the wood of the door and so violated nature both these Tenents are contrary to that which himself said to Thomas the Apostle to remove the suspicion that he was no spirit says he Handle and see me for a spirit hath not flesh and bone as you see me have this had not been enough to prove the truth of his bodily presence and resurrection in the body if they had been perswaded he came in as an aereal spiritual substance or by penetration of the door contrary to nature In the fifth place Zwinglius and Sadael and some others of the Reformed Churches conceived there was so much difficulty in all the four opinions which I have run over and finding no compulsive reason to be driven out of the plain way deliver'd their sentence that the Angel tumbled the stone from the door of the Monument and then the passage being clear Christ came forth without a miracle Certainly as well as I could peruse the Scriptures though I see nothing in them to favour this opinion so I see nothing in the Sacred Text to contradict it I would the Fathers had countenanced it Leo the Great did howsoever some would shuffle it but he proving against the Marcionites that Christ had no phantastical body breaks out Can his substance be phantastical which was nailed to the Cross lay in the Sepulchre and the Stone being rolled away rose again the third day therefore the scruple is that the general consent of all the Fathers beside bend that way how the Grave was not unclosed when he rose Non indigebat ut amoto lapide surgeret sicut Lazarus says St. Austin he needed not like Lazarus to have the stone rolled away that he might come forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 St. Chrysost the Grave was open after he was risen ftom the dead nay in plain terms he says the Seal and stone were still untoucht Set aside that reverence which we bear to these glorious lights of the Ancient Church I see no absurdity which follows if we said he rose to life when the Stone was rolled from the Sepulchre But in all these opinions nothing is grosly repugnant to Faith or Nature only I had rather addict my self to the first opinion which considers not how or which way he came out of the Grave but says the manner was miraculous and inexplicable But I can in no wise digest the sixth and seventh opinions I must couple the Pontificians and Lutherans together though the one side be Transubstantiators the other side Consubstantiators The Lutherans say boldly and blindly that his body passed through the stone so the substance of bread and the substance of Christs body are both together in one place in the Sacraments The Faction of Rome say he went through the stone but what 's that to them who hold not that the substance of Bread and his Body remain together after Consecration in the Host but the substance of bread is abolished and his body remains under the quantitative dimensions of bread but they infer if two bodies may be together in one place by Divine power then one and the same body may be in divers places at once by the same power without a contradiction For these are equivalent and of the same capacity There want not those who deny that the possibility of the one is so probable as the other but to make haste I will speak of this Pontifician opinion as they refer us for the like to other instances in Scripture and then as they refer it to the Eucharist their Allegations are that Mary remain'd a Virgin after Christs birth quem clausa virginitas ad presentem tulerat vitam clausum sepulchrum ad vitam reddidit sempiternam Marics virginity was not enclosed when he was born nor the stone rolled away when he rose 'T is strange that this was ever urg'd when the Holy Ghost applieth that Scripture to our Saviour Luke ii 23. Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. And her virginity consisted in this which she spoke to the Angel virum non cognosco I know not a man and truly such a Nativity as they speak of cannot properly be called a Birth The second instance is very witless when the Jews would have thrown our Saviour down an hill he passed through the midst of them and went his way A most blind inference to say out of those words his body passed through the midst of their bodies and as much to the purpose as to have cited that he sat in the midst of Doctors at twelve years of age It avails as little in the third plate to cite St. Paul Heb. iv 14. We have a great High-priest that is passed into the heavens Is this objection of any strength unless they think the Heavens could not be opened to receive him of whose opening we read so many times in the Holy Testament therefore their strength lies onely upon one place Joh. xx 19. when the doors were shut where the Disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews came Jesus and stood in the midst Inde clausus
Child of wrath and those laudable actions were but sins or imperfections with a good gloss Will you say they desire and pray for the holy Spirit and therefore this illumination comes not suddenly but with invitation O but says the Arausican Council which handled this Point of the grace of God more copiously and Orthodoxly than ever any Council did the utterance nay the very thought of every good Prayer it is instilled by the divine irradiation of Gods help and the Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of Prayer and if any man say that the grace of God is bestowed upon our Prayer and Invocation and that grace did not first enable us to make that Prayer he contradicts the Prophet Isaiah and the Apostle Paul who both have these same words I am sought of them that asked not for me I am found of them that sought me not Thus that Council whereby you hear that we whose nature is rank corruption do not prepare and dispose the way to attract the blessing of heaven upon us by little and little upon congruity of Gods favour it comes suddenly and unawares when we least deserve it It must not be let alone without this addition to it which is S. Ambrose his descant on it Nescit tarda molimina spiritus sancti gratia the spirit of purity and renovation is quick and sudden in the work of conversion he doth not linger and mature his good effects by soft leisure he doth not creep like a snail or as a Father of our own Church says like a Serpent Serpentis est repere Commonly motions that come from the old Serpent the Devil creep upon us and men grow bold in iniquity by degrees Nemo repentè fit pessimus was the old Proverb but where the Lord loveth the man whom he chooseth he doth in an instant take away his stony heart and give him an heart of flesh And as the Resurrection of the dead shall be in an instant so in an instant he translates him from death to life It is done with such dispatch and celerity that the gift of Prophesie nay of Sanctification is called but the touch of the lips Says the Angel to Isaiah upon the living coal which he brought from the Altar This hath touched thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged Isa vi 7. The loyal Israelites that feared God and the King are called a band of men whose hearts God had touched 1 Sam. x. 26. O admirable workman says Gregory Mox ut tetigeret mentem docet solùmque tetigisse est docuisse He doth but touch and teach and the mind is reformed in a moment as soon as ever the finger of his Spirit is laid upon it An Apostolical Spirit came suddenly upon St. Matthew penitent restitution upon Zaccheus confession and grace upon the Thief on the Cross The Eunuch made haste to believe and as soon as he believed he would be baptized of Philip at the next water he came to and go no further Men must not neglect present motions of grace though suddenly rising in them Now the Lord moves my heart and now at the first touch I will obey the Spirit This is a brave and a pious resolution But if you let the grace of God knock at door once and twice and do not open it is to be feared that you will grow deaf after a while and never hear it Modo modò non habebant modum Anon and to morrow and hereafter at more leisure and as Festus said to Paul Go thy way for this time when I have a convenient season I will call for thee these are not words of good manners to so great a King as the King of heaven Can Impenitancy or continuance in evil be good at any time Then break it off at the first pang and throw that the Conscience suffers for it The Spirit is a sudden wind he deceives his own soul that continues in a long consumption of any sin and thinks to be helpt out of it by a lingring remedy The description of the suddenness hath not been unuseful you see and we shall collect as much from that which follows that it was Flatus veniens vehemens a rushing mighty wind Methinks I see the Spirit of God set out here in his manifold strength and efficacy Is there any thing in it self so thin and poor as a puff of Air It is neither Iron nor Brass nor Bones and yet what strange effects it works Turns up Oaks and Cedars by the roots breaks the Ships of the Sea in pieces casts down Bulwarks and Fortresses so Epiphanius received it from some good hand that God overthrew the Tower of Babel with a violent wind So the principles of the Spirit seem to be very mean and foolishness to flesh and bloud the Instruments in which it wrought homely illiterate Fishermen yet the learning of five Synagogues putting their wits together was not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which Stephen spake Acts vi 10. It brings down strong Holds and high Imaginations it brings into Captivity every exalting thought to the obedience of Christ Wisdom Learning Might Majesty all have stoopt before it As the Scripture says often that the Spirit came mightily upon Samson and then his Foes were sure to fall before him so it rusheth upon some holy men with a gallant heroick zeal and then all the subtilties of Satan are not able to make a part against it No Fear can dismay them no Persecution can make them hide their head no Favour or Reward make them swerve from a good conscience no Discipline so strict that they will not undertake for the love of Christ The Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force Mat. xi 12. The Kingdom of heaven was among the Jews but Rapuit regnum coelorum Centurio The Centurion did as it were invade it and take it from them for upon his confession our Saviour said I have not found so great faith no not in Israel Neither is it only expedient to make it manifest that the Spirit is strong and mighty like a stiff vehement wind in actu exercito in the power of it which the Saints of God have to exercise to others but also in actu primo informante when it enters into the heart of them whom God converts it comes with a mighty force and will not be gainsaid with the opposition of our rebellious nature Neque resistere ultra potest cui velle resistere sublatum est says a Reverend Father of our own Church that is neither shall our vicious nature resist the mighty working of Gods converting grace since the first thing that such grace works is to conquer our perverseness in resisting I do not say but our will hath always a liberty and indifferency in it to do or not do To chuse or refuse but the act to resist is suspended for that time by the grace of God and though
very Apostles were enough to prove the Majesty of God 't is strange to work good upon any of us all our will is knotty timber our heart hollow and unsound what can the Workman make of such stuff but to commit the Talents of the Holy Ghost to such as these and to make them the Bankers from whom we should borrow the stock of the Church this is his exploit alone who can make a graine of mustard seed dispread into a tree that the Fouls of the air may build their nests in it Lord what are we that thou hast given such power unto men But Lord what art thou that hast given such power to most homely and simple men O Lord how excellent is thy name in all the world Thou that out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast ordained praise and put the Eloquence of the earth to silence by such unlookt-for Instruments These were no men of spirit active and stirring in the world such busie heads would never be fortunate to propagate the Gospel of peace Again they were of no honourable Order the Spirit had more use of humility than of dignity Inspirat non inflat as one said very well it inspired them it did not puff them up To be short they were not of the Scribes and Doctors that were Proficients in Arts and Learning that the work of God might disperse the greater amazement through such who were noted for ignorance and infirmity Yet they were not sent forth like Ideots and Fishermen that knew nothing but their Mechanical trade but were endued with power from on high to teach the Mystery of Godliness in all the Tongues that could be spoken Which is the next provocation to transport them with wonder as we read it ver 9. How hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born It will ask travel and pains through the whole life of a man to be cunning in two or three Tongues good Linguists know what study it costs them to come to a Grammatical excellency in a few Languages much more to a voluble pronunciation of them But to preach Christ Jesus in all the borders of the earth required more dispatch than to begin to get the elements of learning therefore by a shorter cut God gives them an inspiration to speak all Tongues in a moment and to preach the true sense of the Scripture in all those Tongues Sentire quae velint loqui quae sentiant they had words to cloath their matter as they pleased and they had matter to utter as well as words Quid voveat dulci nutricula maejus alumno quà m sapere fari quae sentiat They needed no more abilities than wisdom to know the mind of God and a tongue to declare their wisdom As in the beginning when God created the Heaven and the Earth he spake what he pleased and it was done Let there be light and there was light Let there be a Sea and there was a Sea So in the first foundations of the Church it was no more but let there be a revelation of the mysteries of the Gospel and there was a Revelation Let there be Tongues and there were Tongues Let there be a fountain opened in Jerusalem whose several spouts may water all the quarters of the world and it was so in the twinkling of an eye If God himself had come from heaven in his own Majesty his Almighty Word could not have been clearer than in this miracle Such as have an incredulous grudge in their minds an Ague that will never leave some carnal hearts they are troubled with a longing when they hear of this O that we had lived in those days when the arm of power from on high was made so manifest We take things up as the long revolutions of time have committed them to us but we live not in the days of wonder we see nothing for us by this strange omnipotency Beloved if there were a new Gospel to be preached we should have new Tongues as the Apostles had to publish it but the truth hath been preached round about the world to all Nations the continuance is old therefore why should new Wine of new Miracles be put into old bottles Then it was meet I mean on the first Whitsunday that the Gentiles should understand that way was made to call them to Salvation which could not be confirmed better than to hear the Cross of Jesus Christ published in so many forein Dialects and that the Prediction of the Psalm is fulfilled His sound is gone forth into all the earth and his Word unto the ends of the world there is neither Speech nor Language but their voice is heard among them Now it is confessed that it is accomplished and were not a miracle a most unnecessary and supernumerary thing to confirm it Hold you content that the Spirit is yet upon your tongues the seal is printed upon them to pray to God to bless one another to comfort one another If any thing will amaze a man in these days it is the bitterness the murmuring the swearing the lying the slandering of the tongue that we should do God more dishonour with one tongue than the Apostles did him honour with twenty So much for that Passion which took away the reason of them that were present for a time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were in an extasie they were amazed Now follows that which troubled their reason and exercised their reason I will put them both in one they hang so close together They were in doubt saying one to another What meaneth this Doubting is the unquietness of the mind which proceeds from ignorance It flutters about like Noahs Dove and knows not where to set its foot they wanted the Anchor of faith to fasten them to some certain resolution for as yet they knew not the Scriptures of the Prophet Joel to which St. Peter directed them Ver. 17. It shall come to pass in the last days saith God I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh Doubtfulness is the fruit of carnal wisdom it holds to nothing stedfastly it hath more faces than Janus looking every way and on every side and hath as many thoughts as there be minutes in the hour and it is impossible it should be fix'd until it pitch upon some clear Text of Scripture and say this is the truth I build upon it for so it is written in the Word of God The benefit of the holy Spirit descending as this day upon the Church was to bring us out of the windings and crooked Lanes of doubting and reduce all opinions to one setled conclusion that there was no salvation to be found but in the meritorious Passion of Jesus Christ The Academicks of Greece were so far from any certainty of knowledge that it was the perfection of their learning to doubt of every thing Whereupon an Egyptian Priest reproved them for that puerility 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you that call your selves
their nearest Relations if they be a bar to the Kingdom of Heaven And who cares if revilers call it a drunkenness of the Spirit Thirdly Much Wine gives a great edge to valour and courage In praelia trudit inermes it runs into any danger because it knows not what is danger but there is nothing of such animosity nothing so undaunted as the Spirit of God The righteous is bold as a Lion says Solomon It must needs be that strength is doubled in him because he hath two lives in his heart this life and the life to come What could the world say but that some illapse from heaven was in the breast of the Apostles that those miselli those neglected worms should overtop the terrors of Councils of Prisons of Death of Devils Let such as Rabshekah call it drunkenness it was the boldness of the Spirit Fourthly Wine is a rejoycer of the heart Ecclus xl 20. But what joy is comparable to that which is begotten by the infusion of the Holy Ghost Let the righteous rejoyce and be glad let them also be merry and joyful A good conscience recreated by the Promises of God and assurance of forgiveness of sins is like a volary of sweet singing birds chirping and carolling within the Soul nothing but the pleasant notes of heaven and immortal blessedness When we sing Psalms of chearfulness let Scorners censure it for vanity but it is the new Wine of the Spirit which makes the heart glad Lastly As the airy vapours of wine make a man to broach his secrets and reveal them Arcana recludit so the Holy Ghost coming down this day did open the fountain which was sealed up before the Mysteries of Gods eternal counsel brought to pass in time by the Incarnation of his Son were made manifest to all the world This was it which confounded the Jews that were present to hear those abstruse things of Godliness divulged and they did not understand them The Spirit made the Apostles pour them out and they could not hold they were transported above natural to supernatural reason and they were carried above themselves as men even drunken with great Revelations Upon those words of St. Paul 2 Cor. v. 13. Whether we be beside our selves it is to God or whether we be sober it is for your cause says Bernard Audi sanctam insaniam Festus told Paul he was mad here he professeth little less for the Gospel sake he neither says that he was sober and he doth not contend whether he were beside himself or no. Such as he was he was for the Church sake possessed of the Spirit and full of that new Wine which gave him a tongue of utterance to preach Jesus Christ to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness These uses rise out of an holy and mystical sense of the words and that is no thanks to these taunting Jews who being full of malice a sin that is worse than drunkenness burden the Apostles that they were full of Wine or as the Syrian Paraphrast reads it without mincing these men are drunken The just upright man is laughed to scorn Job xii 4. Isaac the Son of Promise was scoffed at by Ismael the Profane Gen. xxi 9. The Septuagint calls it Ismaels play or sport Illa lusio erat illusio says St. Austin it was his pastime to mock the righteous Be prepared therefore against evil words and reproaches you must have your share of them if your conversation be Christian First you have a Paracletus which is a spirit of comfort to bear them off with patience Then you have a Paracletus for that is the word an Advocate to answer against the Accuser of the Brethren who shall discover your innocence Apoc. xii 10. There is no good action but the Devils claw of scornfulness is upon it At our Saviours Resurrection the Jews made the Apostles Thieves they forsooth had stoln away their Master by night and at the coming of the Holy Ghost they make them Drunkards But this was a baptizing with the Holy Ghost not a sousing with Wine it was somewhat poured on them no strong drink poured in them it was no drunken thing but rivers of living waters springing up to everlasting life and this he spake of the Spirit which they that believed on him should receive Joh. vii it is the fountain of the water of life issuing from the Throne of God and of the Lamb Rev. xxii So Moses likened the inspiration of Prophesie to the dew falling on the herbs or to the rain poured on the grass Deut. xxxii It is no distempering heady liquour but the Cordial of joy and the Balm of Gilead If then the effusion of the Spirit was tax'd with drunkenness what do you that think profane persons have devised concerning the Cup of the Sacrament Horrendum dictu because it is our Saviours Doctrine by a figurative speech that the Cup is the New Testament in his bloud the heathen traduced the Christians soon after the Apostles days that they killed a Child in their private Feasts and Sacrifices and drank his bloud And a long time it was before the heathen Magistrates would be perswaded that such as partaked the holy Communion were not murderers Indeed it is true though they understood it not that such as partake unworthily are murderers of their own souls But again if Gods mighty miracle was scoft at when he gave grace to his Apostles to preach so divinely what will profane persons say to our weak Doctrine so much inferiour to theirs Quoties dicimus toties judicamur nothing is more snatcht at to be made matter of idle talk and frumping discourse than that which is delivered in the Pulpit Take heed and remember that Michol was barren who scorned ac David that no Scorner might be begotten of her says St. Ambrose But the Devil hath got a new way to bring both Preaching and Praying into contempt For Preaching let every one practice it that will and then it will come to pass I am sure if not Musto pleni spumâ pleni if they be not full of new wine they will be full of froth Says the Apostle 1 Cor. xii 29. Are all Prophets Are all Teachers Are all workers of miracles It can no more agree that all should be Teachers than that all should be workers of Miracles As for publick Prayer the deriders of sanctity call it not new wine but they call it worse by the name of that homely broth for which Esau sold his birth-right But as the Prophet said to the calumnious Jews against whom do you sport yourselves Against whom do you make a wide mouth and draw out the tongue Against whom do you shoot out Arrows even bitter words Are ye not children of transgression a seed of falshood Isa lvii 4. But this is the derision which Satan would put upon Religion in this unsanctified unpeaceable Age. First take away directly the publick Liturgie of Prayers that the people may have
called did extol the unanimity and most concordious proceedings of it with these words This is the day c. I read that one Cyriacus a just and a learned man was made a Bishop and the people so well pleased with his Election cried out Hic est dies Domini But Gregory the Great told the people that no Creature ought to be magnified with that solemn note which belongs to the Creator But he adds Cur ista reprehendo Qui quantùm gaudia mentem rapiunt scio Why do I chide you for it It was your gladness that did transport you It was your charity that made you so exult and your meaning was not to give the honour to man but unto God And so I have laid the corner stone of my Text that Christ is the subject of this Prophetical and triumphant acclamation And because there are two opinions how he is the subject of it that variety shall divide my Text. Briefly and plainly either this day which the Lord is said to have made is meant of the whole time of the Gospel so St. Hierom and St. Austin with a fair Troop of learned Writers beside or else it is understood of that day wherein Christ arose from the dead which is the Epitome of the whole Gospel Now these two opinions are so equally embraced that I find that the Church in her solemn Service hath favoured them both First some that have taken pains in Liturgical Antiquities tell me that this Psalm was of old appointed to be recited by the Priest every Sunday in the year that is an evident argument that the day which the Lord hath made belongs equally to all the days which shine upon us since Christ was incarnate that is to the whole duration of the Gospel Again it hath long continued and is used to this day in the Church of Rome that my Text is set in the front of the gradual for Easter-day and is repeated in the same manner constantly for six days after that high Feast which demonstrates that it hath principally been applied to the glorious mystery of the Resurrection Give me leave therefore to bring them both into my Treatise one after another And upon each to speak of two things De beneficio divino de officio humano the one half of the verse is Gods benignity This is the day which the Lord hath made the other half is mans acceptance and duty We will rejoyce c. You know I have already answered to the Interrogation Cujus Whose day this is Whose but Christs And for certain it cannot be his day as he is God from everlasting His goings out are from all eternity Micah v. iii. Again this is dies factus a day that is made and such an adjunct cannot sute with him that was never made but is the everlasting one before the world began It is that day therefore which was made with him when he was made flesh It is a curtesie among men for a Creditor to give a day to him that is behind hand to pay his debts Have patience with me says the servant that was arrested to the cruel Exactor and I will pay thee all But the Lord knew that it would not help us one whit to have the favour of the longest day that could be set to make payment for what we owe unto him nay the longer we live the longer is the Tally of our sins the reckoning will be the more enflamed by giving us time to discharge it Therefore God made a day for his Son and appointed him a season to offer up a price in our stead and through his satisfaction the hand-writing is discharged which was against us Yea but S. Luke remembers us that there are many days belonging to the Son Luk. xvii 22. The days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man What day of all those is this Why not one but all those days since the world received him and received him with the glad tidings of Salvation all Evangelical days at large every day that we hear his voice and harden not our hearts is this day It may very well be opposed to that dismal day wherein our first Parents transgressed and fell that was a day which the Devil made and he took his pastime in it because the League of friendship was broken between God and man but the Lord made a new day to repair us again by the mediation of Jesus Christ Non est dies miseriae quam ipsi nobis fecimus sed dies redemptionis quam fecit Dominus I think it is St. Austins this is not the day of misery which we brought upon our selves but it is the good day of pacification and redemption which God created It is not to be thought that the whole current of the Gospel is called a day but that the nature of it will endure that name in some fit and excellent proportion For First There was no day until a day was set that Christ should come into the world darkness did cover the earth and gross Doctrin the People as the Prophet says no night that troubles melancholy people with strange and horrible Apparitions could be more dismal than the time was before some Evangelical Promises were preached to the drooping conscience Take a sinner or malefactor that knows not how God hath sealed his pardon and what is this earth better than a prison or a Dungeon unto him where he lies fettered with the bands of a long night and is exiled from the eternal providence as it is Wisd xvii 2. O what a Sun-shine there is in the salvation of Christs name which bringeth the Prisoners out of Captivity it is a day which is an introduction to an eternal day where there is light for evermore So says Arnobius Dies cui non succedit nox quam horae non dividunt quem umbra non impedit It is a day which is not divided by the short space of moments and hours no Eclipses can obscure it no night can succeed it Day began with Christ and it shall continue with him for ever Secondly The Gospel is a most brightsom day compared to that Age wherein the Jews walked under the Ordinances of Moses For what was that Law but an Evening with many shadows All things in their Religion were Types and Figures unrevealed which caused an ignorant Priesthood and a People of a gross capacity Wherefore St. Austin observes that our Saviour was brought forth into the world at midnight but the glory of the Lord which shone round about the Angel that brought the tidings made the night as clear as the day But the Law was delivered on Mount Sinah at Noontide but with so many mists and dark pillars of smoke that it made the day as obscure as the night Do but put your self to one Task to examine by the Contents of the Law how you will come to the knowledg of the Resurrection of Christ you
Gospel we must always rejoyce for the Kingdom of Christ Upon the establishment of this Kingdom all the Creatures are adjured to express their gladness Psal xcvi I quote that place for there is none like it to this purpose thus the Psalmist ver 10. Say among the Heathen that the Lord reigneth let the Heavens rejoyce and let the Earth be glad let the Sea roar and the fulness thereof let the field be joyful and all that is therein then shall all the trees of the Wood rejoyce before the Lord for he cometh for he cometh to judge the earth Tenerae militiae delicatus conflictus as Gregory says We call our Pilgrimage upon earth a Christian warfare a wrestling with Powers and Principalities an affliction of the flesh the sufferance of the Cross c. And are all those affrighting words converted into this Lesson Rejoyce and be glad He that will stick with God for the duty Jubeas miserum esse libenter let him eat the bread of sorrow let him live in misery and mourning when he need not Can the Children of the Bride-chamber mourn while the Bridegroom is with them Says our Saviour to the Pharisees when they grudg'd that his Disciples did not humble and macerate themselves with fasting But the days will come that the Bridegroom shall be taken from them and then they shall mourn Two things I deduce from hence Out of the latter words it appears that dismal times will befal the Church Evangelical by bloody persecutions by the venemous tongues of Hereticks sharper than any two-edged Sword Yet those woful Calamities result not out of the Gospel it self but are extrinsecal mischiefs that force themselves upon it And though the Bridegroom be gone he hath sent the Comforter and in the midst of sorrows his enlightnings do enrich the soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we converse says St. Paul among sad events as if we were sorrowful but in good earnest we are alway rejoycing But secondly it appears from the exordium of our Saviours Sermon Can the Children of the Bride-chamber mourn while the Bridegroom is with them That the Gospel in its own nature is a Bride-chamber or solemnization of a great Marriage wherein there is nothing but joyfulness and festivity Says the Apostle Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us that was the constitution of the Gospel Well what follows Therefore let us keep the Feast 1 Cor. v. 8. St. Cyprian reads it Festa celebremus let us keep the Feasts let us all days festival for Christs sake St. Paul alludes to the Feast of unleavened bread among the Jews which was held seven days continually without ceasing In like sort let us celebrate such a feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and Numerus septenarius est symbolum universitatis to keep it for seven days is from the mystical number of eternity to keep it for ever and ever Clemens says Vniversa vita justi est quidam celebris ac sanctus dies All the life of a good Christian is holy day Pope Sylvester meant it so when he changed the common names of the week days and called them all Ferias Feria prima secunda and so forth Nay our own Church intends it so likewise therefore in our Cathedral Churches solemn praise are sung to the Organ all the year long with the voice of melody and in Parochial Churches every day of the year when Morning Prayer is read after the Confession and Absolution of our sins the Introitus or Introduction appointed is an Hymn and thus it begins Come let us sing unto the Lord let us heartily rejoyce in the strength of our salvation If I descend to some particulars wherein our Evangelical gladness consists I know it will be more satisfactory to the Auditory First It brings with it a spiritual delight Secondly An external gladness which opens it self in signs and tokens The spiritual delight which we treasure up within the soul looking stedfastly upon Jesus that died for our sins and rose again for our justification is heavenly and unutterable it is a superlative joy that cries down all other petty delights It is risus ex serenitate conscientiae as the Fathers call it not Sarahs gigling but Abrahams laughter when he believed that Isaac should be born and involved in the same belief that Christ the Redeemer should be born out of the stock of Isaac The external utterances of a pious joy are these 1. Days of rest from bodily labour for the meaner labour must give way when a better and a worthier is to be undertaken And while the mind hath just occasion to make its abode in the house of gladness the weed of ordinary toil and travel doth not become us therefore it is fit that ordinary labour should sometimes surrender it self up to the service of God 2. To laud the name of the Lord and to give thanks unto him are the only language of our thankfulness Says David I went with the multitude unto the house of the Lord in the voice of praise and thanksgiving among such as keep holy day Psal xlii 5.3 God doth not deny it but he that offereth him praise doth honour him but will you know how that honour is best exalted Make a chearful noise to the God of Jacob singing and making melody to the Lord with Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs If the Jews might justly say how can we sing the Lords song while we are in a strange Land while we are in Captivity Then we must acknowledge on the contrary how can we choose but sing the Lords Song being delivered out of captivity Singing of Psalms is a most proper exercise of our reasonable service Curious Musick upon costly Instruments is an admirable alarm for devotion in Cathedral and Collegiate places where such as are wise and skilful do come together to enjoy it Yet still the people have their Vulgar Psalms to solace their hearts and they that mock at such innocent harmony have great want of charity that they will not descend to the weakness of their poor brethren St. Hierom tells it of his days that as the people walk'd about the Market as they sailed in Ships as they wrought with their Needle they sung these holy Ditties Says St. Basil this is irksome to none but to the Devil let scoffers mark that for the evil Spirit went out of Saul when David played upon the Harp and David was no profane Minstril but an holy Singer 4. Another effect of Christian joy is to give because it abounds A joy that will not distribute to the needy is a shrunken withered joy nay a joy that will carry the curse of God with it because it wants fruits And a joy that will carry the curse of the poor with it because they are suffered to pine and languish in our publick gladness 5. And lastly all sorts of mirth and innocent recreation wherein our Substance is not exhausted nor our time trifled away are agreeable
can we spend our time more profitably than to speak of time as it is to be referred and allotted to the glory of him that made all time But that I may leave no part of my Treatise naked but cover that which I shall run through with some portion of my Text I must put you to call to mind what I delivered in general in two Sermons that these words excel both in the Letter and in the Spirit In the Letter they are part of a Psalm which was sung for Davids sake and for that Festival which the People kept to God for his Inauguration when he was made King over Israel In the Spirit they reach to Christ as David in most of his Psalms had more regard to Christ than to himself and that with two interpretations By some the whole Age of the Gospel is entituled the day of Christ for through the Gospel the terrours of Sin and Death and Hell are broken and we are comforted on every side to rejoyce and be glad By others among all Evangelical days the Feast of the Resurrection is pickt out by way of eminency for never did the Sun shine upon any day wherein we had more cause to triumph and be joyful than when the Son of God having been crucified for our sins did rise from death the third day to conquer mortality and corruption that we might live forever These Points being dispatcht in their proper season what is left to be handled Two things of great moment Beloved First the Resurrection of Christ did not only sanctifie that one day wherein he rose but occasion was taken from thence to sanctifie the first day of every Week to the Lord because Christ rose on the first day Hence I am your debtor to shew how this and every Sunday is the day which the Lord hath made and we must rejoyce and be glad in it Secondly Forasmuch as an holy day was appointed that all Israel might worship Jehovah for that precious benefit that so good a King as David was reigned over them therefore the Ordination of Festival days to profess thanksgiving for the high and excellent works of God becometh the Church for so good a sanction and becometh the righteous to be joyful in them Then of the Lords day for our ordinary Assemblies in Gods House and of holy Festivals for our extraordinary Assemblies these are the matter of my ensuing Discourse which I will follow upon the touchstone of truth and for the benefit of your edification Concerning the day which we keep weekly in the name of the Lord I must speak of it two ways in reference to Gods making and our rejoycing in reference to the Divine Sanction and out Sanctification The Divine Sanction of the day must be traversed in four Points 1. What ground we have for keeping the Lords day in the fourth Commandment 2. What ground we have for it from the Resurrection of Christ 3. What ground we have for it in the Gospel from the Precept of Christ or his Apostles And 4. What ground we have for it from the practise of the Apostles and from the practise of the Church in all ages In this piece of a Sermon I will deliver you my mind upon this Controversie which now adays makes voluminous disputes First It is manifest that the Fourth Commandment hath another air and Constitution in it than the other Nine Those Nine being consonant to the light of natural reason so that they bind the Conscience without a Law-giver this is neither principle or necessary conclusion of natural reason in such a clear manner as that a judicious man shall be forced upon understanding the terms to yield assent unto it And I wonder that any one should stumble so grosly to say that it is natural Law to keep every seventh day that is the last day or the first day of the Week holy when the distribution of time into Weeks is arbitrary and not natural This Commandment therefore having a composition in it diverse from the rest it hath somewhat in it particular to the state of the Jewish Synagogue and somewhat that binds the Christian Church For it doth not stand for a Cypher in the two Tables at this time as if the force of it were expired but there is somewhat in it which is Moral and obligeth mankind unto the end of the world The enforcement of the seventh day in strict and Sabbatical rest is out of date as well as the rest of the Pedagogical Ordinances of Moses But there is this Kernel within the shell that holy Assemblies are for ever to be called together at fit and convenient times to praise the Lord nay further reason and gratitude cannot imagine a more fit and convenient time than the constant solemnizing of a Seventh day nay than the constant observation of this Seventh day the first day of the Week Therefore I determine that we ground the keeping of the Lords day upon the fourth Commandment not upon the Letter of it for that were Jewish but upon the natural equity or moral contents of it We recede from the Letter as much as can be for they rested and we work on their Sabbath but to rest on the seventh day and to work on the seventh day cannot flow out of the same Statute For the moral equity we give all diligence to obey it and he that rejects the Lords Day or violates it transgresseth the Fourth Commandment because though neither that day there mentioned nor the determination of a Seventh day is absolutely commanded yet it is deduced out of it by consequence It is enough to have general and common Rules for Ecclesiastical Orders of time and place under the liberty of the Gospel And God gives us the light of discretion to draw out special rules at what time in what place with what Decorum and Order to meet together and if the governance of this discretion be not observed the Spirit of the Lord is disobeyed The Lord hath not given over his interest in our time but that we must allot some days and hours to his Service as it were for the redemption of all our time which is due unto him Neither hath he given us a vagrant liberty to serve him when we will but the out-goings of the Morning and Evening must praise him and we must often throng together at solemn times to worship him To go further though the Commandment hath not prefixt us a day for it prefixt no definite day but the Sabbath to the Jews yet it hath given us light what ought to be done by way of prudent Constitution viz. that we of the Evangelical Kingdom should grievously sin if we did not voluntarily devote as much time to the honour of God as the Jews were bound to do And then since the Lord did enforce why that day was enjoyned to them it was the day wherein the Lord did rest from his work and it was most pious that they should remember the benefit
world and therefore Dulia a petty Worship will serve for them to cross this absurdity I confess that God is honourable alike as in one Appellation so in another but our eternal happiness is granted unto us by this Appellation more than any other But when as Samuel came to anoint one of the Sons of Jessai for a King Eliab was beautiful in his eyes and so was Abinadab and so was Shammah but God would have the Horn of Oyl poured only upon the head of David So let every tongue confess that the names of Jehovah Elohim Immanuel and Christ are reverend and glorious and worthy that our knees should stoop unto them as low as Earth and our lips carry them as high as Heaven But Peter hath wrought Miracles by the Name of Jesus and Paul hath preach'd glorious things of the Name of Jesus therefore my Soul and Body shall be prostrate to that Name especially which is wonderful and holy The neglect of this is an undutiful omission yet I reckon it not in the place of the greatest sins But the greatest reproach and dishonour which the Name of God doth suffer is in the mouth of the Swearer and Blasphemer that is the Tongue whereof St. James speaks that is set on fire from Hell Yea and Nay the trial of all truth is accounted in this dissolute Age precise and simple communication What God is he that you swear by so often Is it not he that gave you breath and can stop your breath at a moment Whose Bloud is that you swear by Even that Bloud which should wash away your sins is unto you an occasion of more pollution Whose Wounds are these you swear by Even those Wounds wherein you should bury your sins make them live unto condemnation as St. Hierom said Ipse aer constupratur scelestis vocibus that ribald obscene talk did adulterate the air So I may say of Oaths that are vomited up from the superfluity of sin Ipse aer profanatur scelestis vocibus the Air is prophaned and unhallowed by abusing the Name of God Lord to what an excess this windy airy sin of Swearing is come to I think for one reason the Devil may be called the Prince of the Air because he is the Prince of such blasphemous language And so much for the Honour due to the Name of God But secondly to Honour his Name and to disobey his Word is to imitate those disloyal Subjects of the Emperour Maximilian they called Maximilian scornfully Regem Regum a King of Kings it was because the Nobles that were under him lived like Kings without subjection or obedience Or it is to make such a God to our selves as the Church of Rome makes Bishops in the East the one is called Bishop of Antioch another called Bishop of Jerusalem and Title enough they have if that would maintain them but nothing else Keep your Masters Commandments and love his Ordinances to do them and then God is Honoured Concerning Obedience read and observe the life and death of Saul he would sacrifice to God and that of the fattest Cattel among all the Flocks of the Amalekites Why this was Honour one would think No it was not juxta Verbum Domini according to the word which was brought unto him by the mouth of Samuel and God prefers Obedience before Sacrifice This is the reason says Aquine in Sacrifice we offer up the flesh of a beast but in Obedience we offer up our own will unto God The Jews did so much esteem the killing Letter of the Law that they wore it as the chief ornament of their Vesture in the Fringe of their Garments as Frontlets before their eyes and about the wrists of their hands mark but that before their eyes for meditation about their arms for practise and execution There is a rule in Physick says a learned Bishop Per brachium fit judicium de corde The Veins come from the heart to the hand and there Physicians take their Crisis by their Pulse and motion So it is in Divinity you must make conscience of your knowledge by your practice and obey the word David held the word of God super mille pondo auri argenti above thousands of Gold and Silver Solomon esteemed the Law to be as bright as the Sun in the Firmament Praeceptum Domini lucidum illuminans oculos You have heard of Idolaters that have worshipped the Sun and Moon Much more let true Believers reverence the Law of God which is brighter than the Sun in the Firmament for so Elias thought and he covered his face with a Mantle as soon as ever the Lord spake as if the voice of the Lord were eyes sufficient to see by and he needed not the eyes of this body But far above Kings and Prophets and all the Sons of men the holy Angels are so ready to do Gods will that you shall scarce once read in Scripture that they were bid to go of Gods Errand but before you could say Do this they were gone to dispatch the Lords Employment Surely as it was a great abasement for the Word which was God to be united to the flesh of man so it is a great Honour for man who is but flesh to be united in obedience to the Word of God To contract my self in this Point Remember what manner of Law it is that we should obey St. Paul says it is sancta justa bona holy in respect of God that gave it just toward all men in civil commerce good for our selves to live in peace and safety What yoke then is more easie than the yoke of that Law which is holy and just and good Now in the third place as the Air which we hear sounding in our ears by concretion says Philosophy becomes clear water and may be seen so the Word of God which we hear preached unto the Ear in the holy Sacraments of Baptism and the Lords Supper becomes verbum visibile a visible word in wine and water Honour one and honour the other for though they be twain in the administration yet in effect they are but one and the same one in application of our Saviours merits and the mercies of God one in fruit and efficacy to wash away our sins and to cleanse our Soul For as the bright Constellation which we call the Morning and Evening Star is one and the same So Christ in Baptism is the Morning light which illuminates Infants anon after they peep into the world and Christ in his Last Supper is the Evening Star Vltimum viaticum a light to shew every man the right way out of the world that is going to Heaven As one said of Prayer that it was due unto God when we rise and when we go to bed as a Morning and an Evening Sacrifice and therefore it might be called Clavis diei sera noctis the Key to open the day and the Bolt to lock in the night So I may say of the two Sacraments that they
relate but that he finished this life I cannot say it His years are numbred before my Text like other mens three hundred sixty five just as many years as there be days in an usual year after the motion of the Sun not that this reckoning is the term of his life but the term of that time that he conversed with men As Tertullian glosseth upon St. Pauls words I am crucified with Christ How crucified and yet live Per emendationem vitae non per interitum substantia by the reformation of his life not by the loss of his life So Enoch had a period when he left to be with men Per emendationem vitae non per interitum substantia By an exaltation to a better life not by the corruption of his body As the men of Israel would not let Jonathan suffer death though Saul had given Sentence against him What say they shall Jonathan die that hath wrought such great salvation in Israel So when the Spirit of the Lord had testified what a Prophet Enoch was a perfect obedient that abhorred Will-worship a stiff maintainer of Gods part against the Devil and all his Instruments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a friend a familiar acquaintance a walker with God Upon this testimony Mercy opposeth Justice and though the Lord had said to Adam and to all that were in his loyns Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return What says Mercy shall Enoch die an example of repentance to all Generations So the stroke of death was diverted that he saw not the Grave and Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him The partition which I framed upon the whole Verse was on this wise first how uncorrupt Enoch was in his ways he walked with God and secondly that he did not see corruption And this second Point which is reserved for this hours labour is to be handled in two several heads the former I will call Enoch's passage out of this world He was not The latter his reposure in another world For God took him His place was left empty among the Patriarchs below and he filled a room among the Thrones and Angels above Upon these two I shall handle many particular Doctrines before you And he was not a concise phrase you see and brevity will breed obscurity especially put this unto it that it is a form of speech which is not used again in this sense to my remembrance in all the Scripture But the sense is made plain by St. Paul Heb. xi 5. By Faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death He had a passage out of this world without any dissolution of the soul from the body In the same body that he pleased God says Irenaeus he was translated being never uncloathed of the flesh that he might put on immortality That this truth may be carried the clearer I will debate it a little with them that oppose it and with them that qualifie it Some of the Hebrew Rabbines as I find them quoted because they consult not with the authority of the New Testament think they are not convicted by the Old Testament but that they may conclude how Enoch died and was taken away in an early Age as those times went much sooner than his Forefathers As if this Verse did rather bemoan him for his untimely departure than renown him for some glorious favour which did befal him The phrase indeed if we look no farther will bear it both in sacred and in heathen Writings to say of one departed fuit he was but is not this was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fair way of language to avoid an unpleasing word Yet the phrase doth not always stand in that sense but hath a double acception and both in one verse that you may the better carry it away Gen. xlii 36. Jacob there bemoans himself for the waat of two Children Joseph is not and Simeon is not the one he took to be dead indeed the other to be in fast hold and taken from his eyes removed where he could not come at him as Enoch was but no more So the Chaldee Paraphrase explains the meaning of Jacob Joseph non superest Simeon non est hic Joseph is quite lost and Simeon is not here The phrase then accords very well with that place of the Hebrews by faith Enoch was translanted that he saw not death And my Text must incline to that exposition for two reasons First that the Lord took him stands for a consequent that he was pleased in him it is the reward as you would say that he walked with God not that there is a necessary and perpetual coherency in it that whosoever walks with God should be exalted into Paradise and not see corruption but Enochs righteousness by a priviledge of favour was so requited a favour then being understood in those words it cannot be the sentence of death upon him it is impossible Secondly in this Chapter the last word that the Holy Ghost gives of Adam is Et mortuus est and he died so of Seth so of Enos so of Cainan so of all the Antecessors of Enoch wherefore unless Enoch had some other issue out of this world diverse from the rest which was by translation without death why should it be said of him so differently from all others he was not for the Lord took him So I have corrected the great error of those Hebrew Doctors who would lay Enochs honour in the dust But I suppose the general Exposition of the Jews was right and according to St. Pauls doctrine For Paul wrote to the Hebrews that he saw not death knowing the tradition was commonly so received among them and the Chaldee Paraphrast who lived straight after Christ was of the same judgment beside one of great note among them says he was disarrayed of the foundation corporal and cloathed with the foundation spiritual which words I conceive do jump with those who oppose not the Scripture that he saw not death far be it from them but they have a qualification for the meaning of it that death is taken two ways most properly for the separation of one essential part of man from the other the body from the soul a loath to depart it is a most unwelcom dissolution a punishment upon the sin of our first Father which was remitted to Enoch improperly it is no more but the separation or extinction of corruptible qualities from the soul and body one whom I named even now called it the disarraying of a man from the foundation corporal and so Enoch was purified altered made quite another man in the very moment that he was wrapt up to heaven This evacuation of corruptible qualities from the flesh is called death by some very good Authors in our own Church and so Procopius much more ancient than they Mirabili modo mortis defunctus est ad vitam coelestem translatus it was a rare and admirable kind of death he suffered
Lord and took of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl and offered burnt offerings on the Altar And the Lord smelled a sweet savour IT is impossible to choose a better method than Elihu did to find out wisdom Repetam scientiam meam à principio Job xxxvi 3. I will fetch my knowledge from far or from the very beginning But why do I call it Elihu's method When behold a greater than Elihu impugning the frivolous divorcements of marriages among the Jews which then had common passage doth thus overthrow them Ab initio non fuit sic It was not so from the beginning From which words I am bold to pronounce that this must be the leading rule of Divine Learning that all Religion must be tried and allowed from the first and most ancient Ordinations Now we have four Ages to run through upon that examination First for the Age before the Floud whereof Almighty God hath left us a very short and confused memorial I will not say as some do that the Church began when Enos was born to Seth although we find it written Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord Gen. iv ult Nor from the Sacrifices of Cain and Abel for the tradition of the Hebrews hath reason in it that Adam himself had often sacrificed before but the first hint of Religion in that Age is at this mark where the Lord made woman and brought her unto man which was a mystery of Christ and his Church Eph. v. 12. Secondly if you will know how the fear of God was first professed after the Floud it is written in my Text. Thirdly If you will be acquainted with the first institution of the Mosaical Law enquire for it at that time when God appeared in glory at Mount Sinai And fourthly If you will search to the bottom when the Law was quite abrogated and the Gospel was purely in force reckon from the coming down of the Holy Ghost at the Feast of Whitsontide Among these four I have wittingly light upon the second that I may entreat before you how Religion was first managed presently after the Deluge under the Law ot Nature For this seems to me to borrow somewhat of all the rest so that speaking of this one they will all be remembred The Mystery of Christ and his Church knit together is not here forgotten where the clean Beasts and the clean Fowls are laid upon the Altar The Sacrifices of Moses Law certainly were patterned by this example and the inspiration of the holy Spirit must needs be in the Sacrifices work from whence the Lord smelt a sweet savour If your attention be now ready to receive the distribution of these words into their several parts they may thus be divided into two principal branches here is the material part and the formal part the body and the soul of that Divine Worship which Noah performed unto the Lord. He builded an Altar unto the Lord and took of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl and offered burnt offerings on the Altar that is the matter the visible body of his good work And the Lord smelled a sweet savour there is the invisible part or the Soul The material outward work contains these three things 1. That he offered burnt offerings 2. Of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl 3. Vpon an Altar which he built And Noah builded an Altar unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings on the Altar In the formal part there are two things to be spoken of sensibile and sensus The sensibile that this Sacrifice had a sweet savour 2. There was a quick sense that took it and that is the Lords the Lord smelled a sweet savour And Noah builded an Altar c. I take the material part first in hand and this is the principal composition in the matter that Noah offered burnt-offerings to the Lord. This was it I perceive why Noah thought it long till the Floud were asswaged and sent one bird after another to learn if the waters were faln that he might come forth and worship him with an holy Worship that made both the Flouds and the dry Land As a conscionable man recovering from a perilous sickness which brought him even to deaths door thinks every hour seven till he present himself in the Church before the Lord that he may praise his name in the Congregation So the heart of this Patriarch had been so long full of meditations all those days that he was shut up in the Ark how he and his Posterity alone were preserved from the common Deluge that his desires grew restless and he sent forth the Dove three several times and no less to bring him better news if he might come forth and do his homage for the possession of the Earth upon an Altar of earth and that the Incense of his devotion might smoke up to heaven in Sacrifice Now I lift up this example before you to let you behold why we are born and for what use we have our Station in this Globe of Creatures The Lord hath opened our Mothers Womb to bring us forth into the light as he opened the door of the Ark to set Noahs feet in a large room We were shut up in a place which God had appointed for us till our passage was made into the world almost as long as he now we have our egress and the liberty of the Earth and Air. To what end all this What is appointed for man Which way should his business tend To enjoy the pleasures of the Age To extend our appetite over the abundance of all things which the earth affords To build and plant To be renowned and leave a Posterity behind us No that account is ill cast up for you may see in this condition of Noah that he and all that were with him were let forth of the Ark as a people then born again into a new world and the end was to offer up spiritual Sacrifices with a clean heart and while we have any being to praise the Lord. When the Angel had delivered the Apostles out of the common-Prison into which they were cast says he Go stand and speak to the people in the Temple all the words of this life So we are set at liberty from our Mothers Womb from that Ark to which we were committed for a time that we may go to the Courts of the house of our God even as Noah came abroad and took seisin of the earth immediately to make an Altar thereof and thereon to offer Sacrifice to the strength of his deliverance The question will be what direction the holy man had to worship the Lord with this kind of Service Lay it down for that which must be granted He that makes his own brain the model of his Religion shall have little thanks for his forwardness Ascribe unto the Lord the honour due unto his name honour of Duty and Precept is best that which is redundant and of
the time of the Gospel lumen super montem nay super coelum more than a candle upon a hill even as the Sun it self in the firmament Christus fuit in spicâ in fide patrum in similâ in doctrinâ legis post humanitatem assumptum panis formatus Christ was in the faith of the Patriarchs like corn in the ear in the faith of the Law like corn ground into flower but since the word took flesh and dwelt among us He is in our faith completely as when corn is made into bread The Patriarchs in their Burnt-offerings did hope for him the Levites in their Sacrifices did look for him more near at hand but we have him really exhibited in our Sacrifice and if we have a Sacrifice left unto us likewise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to St. Chrysostom we do commemorate the Sacrifice of the Cross where we do not profess that then Christs Body is slain or then his Bloud is shed but we remember all his sufferings past we look for his grace at that present and we hope for his coming hereafter in glory And so much upon those three reasons why God did institute Religion of old to be discharged in sacrifice Noah had all these things in his heart as I will shew when I come to speak of the sweet savour Now although the value of a gift consists not in the plenitude of the thing given but in the good affection of the giver yet the Sacrifice of Noah wanted not fulness and weight it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Septuagint expressed all that he brought to the Altar was burnt and nothing reserved as God bad Abraham offer up Isaac for an whole burnt-offering Under the Law of Moses those kind of Sacrifices were the principal in three regards 1. It was an Offering completely burnt and nothing must remain of it 2. It burnt all night upon the Altar until the morning Levit. vi 8. 3. As St. Austin truly adds holocaustum est totum incensum sed igne divino at first of all that Sacrifice was lighted from heaven with fire that did consume them there came a fire out from before the Lord and consumed upon the Altar the Burnt-offering Levit. ix 24. and when Nadab and Abihu brought other fire in their Censers to add it unto the fire of that Altar which came from heaven a fire went out from the Lord and devoured them Literally you see what an whole Burnt-offering was mystically it imported such an exact yielding up of the Soul and Body to the Lord wherein we dedicate all our faculties unto his service from the bottom of our heart reserving nothing unto our selves with Ananias and Saphira but with the commendable Widow casting our two mites even all we have into the Corban and whatsoever we do to please the Lord it must be kindled in our breast by celestial motions as it were with fire from heaven A man may give all he hath unto the poor is that an whole Burnt-offering simply by it self no a man may give his body to be burnt is not that enough is not that all he can do no St. Paul says neither this nor that shall profit you if you have not charity Be perfect in the study of all good vertues but have the fire of divine love with them do all to the honor of God The whole Burnt-offering which is first mentioned in Noah's piety is then acceptable when God doth inflame it with the fire of his holy Spirit from heaven I will hold you no longer upon the first point the second consists herein of what kind and species Noah did offer unto the Lord of every clean Beast and of every clean Foul. God saw every thing that he had made and behold it was very good it is no variation of sense to say God saw every thing that He had made and behold it was very clean All creatures are clean to him Peter learnt it in a trance that we might not doubt it waking What God hath cleansed let no man call it common Nothing is properly impure in his eyes but sin and the works of the Devil How comes this distinction then of clean and unclean Beasts in the Holy Scripture two ways ex Traditione ex Lege by Tradition before Moses and then more amply and particularly by the Law of Moses I will begin a notioribus from the information of the Law which will direct us far better than the dark steps of Tradition Twelve chapters and no less are spent in the Book of Leviticus to discriminate clean things from unclean wherein some things are called unclean for two uses quoad esum quoad sacrificium some things were impure and not to be eaten some things impure and not to be sacrificed the 11. chapter of Leviticus doth enumerate both fouls and Fishes and creeping things which were unhallowed meat and for the Beasts which are permitted for food they are summ'd up in two rules if they divided the hoof and chewed the cud they might be eaten and all the rest to be forborn But God was far more strict in appointing himself sacrifice than in appointing of us food for first many sort of Fishes were clean food yet none of them were clean Sacrifice they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they have no bloud or at least abound not with bloud and so not fit for the Altar 2. Many sort of Fouls might be serv'd up to the Table yet none but Turtles and Pigeons were fit to be offered in the Temple and Sparrows in the expiation of leprosie 3. Among all Beasts that divided the hoof and chewed the cud none but Beeves and Sheep and Goats were to be slain in that religious service unto the Lord the Hart and the Roe-buck might be eaten Levit. iv so you see here is a great difference between clean meat in the Law and clean sacrifice As the wits of men will expatiate upon all things so from hence they take leave to ask why the Lord did call one thing clean and another unclean But first I shall tell you all Gods words are undisputable and to argue why He did it is rather to dishonour than to understand his commandment Humility will sit down contented with this answer but I will go further to satisfie the itching inquisitions of our heart And first I will joyn another question to elucidate this Why was Adam restrain'd eating of the Tree of knowledg of good and evil for the same reason some living things were made unclean and unlawful unto the Jews to make them know the Earth is the Lords and the store thereof and He gave Man Dominion over the Creatures but with exception that man was subject to Authority of touch not taste not where he laid his prohibition 2. As Images are called by some Laymens Books so the mark of cleanness and uncleanness set upon some Creatures made them visible Sermons what cleanness did become the Saints a clean hand that hath
Land give me also springs of water Let me not lie concealed lest I be out of remembrance and thou forget me Let me do good and communicate lest I prove but an imaginary Notion Let me offer some dutiful Sacrifice lest I lose my Saviour Noahs internal Sanctity was not honoured with this praise that it exhaled sweetness before it proved it self by a most religious action For ought we know Hell may be full of them who had many good purposes but did never execute them Yet again put a bare Sacrifice into the Balance and it weighs as little I think none will conceive my Text in a literal sense that the flesh of a Beast burnt upon the coales did send a sweet savour but an offensive smell Some are at a wonder when many Cattel were burnt together how the nostrils of the Priests and People could endure it And yet there was no miracle in it as Abulensis supposeth as if God did always by omnipotent power draw a sweet steame from the Altar and the flesh that was burnt upon it What every day Miracles and yet this never revealed to us by any Prophet in all the Scriptures The resolution is easie The Altar of Burnt-offerings was in the open Court the air carried away the stench that would offend under a covered Seiling Some excellent Perfumes were cast into the fire at the same time I have Plutarchs testimony touching the noisom vapour of heathen Sacrifices that all manner of sweet Gums were thrown together into the flame to overcome the strong Odour especially the Priest was clad in perfumed Robes which made the worst smell tolerable to him But none can be deceived with the bare Letter of the Text as if God did smell any savour It is a Figure translating the affections of a man to the divine Essence And a second Figure upon that calling delight and complacency by the name of smelling a sweet Odour And the words lying so naked to be understood I say the Lord took no pleasure in a bare Sacrifice For what is it to him to have the beasts slain and their substance consumed Or how is a wicked man made more innocent by executing vengeance upon an harmless Sheep Gifts and Sacrifices could not make him that did the Service perfect as pertaining to the Conscience Heb. ix 9. When the Magi came to Bethlem and found the Babe whom they had sought they fell down and offered up their body they worshiped and offered up their Soul they were liberal of their Substance and presented their gifts But what Not Sheep and Oxen not work to imploy the Levites the Sons of Aaron Loe says St. Chrysostome in the beginning of the Gospel we find the turn of those ancient Rites whose place was supplied with Gold Mirrh and Frankincense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were not fat and fulsom like the Jewish Ordinances but pure and Intellectual Adoration Faith Obedience Charity We learn out of it that the vertue of the mind consecrates the Gift There is not any thing which St. Paul hath omitted 1 Cor. xiii but says that without the love of God all will come to nothing The opus operatum the material substance of any good work no more considered with it is a vapour that vanisheth Prayers Preaching the Sacraments in the more transitory work issuing not out of our Spirit are Consonants without Vowels it is past all skill to utter them And who would compare the best Statue with a living man Works of beneficence must be done and liberally He that hath much owes much he that hath but little ought not altogether to shut his hand Yet the richest endowment that ever was made in a pious way is a Sacrifice but of a dull smoak unless it be spiced with those good Odours of which I will now speak in the Affirmative how the Lord smelled a sweet savour First His devotion was very fragrant I begin with it because I would revive it I say revive it For it is much laid aside and takes as little with some as Jewish Sacrifice You shall not be much edified in it by our Sister Churches beyond Seas and their imitators and little will you learn of it without a Liturgy of Prayer comprized in a solemn order The Seraphical acclamations of such a pious model may carry up an Elias in its Chariot far above the clouds Humility is a great ingredient in it A devout soul the more it presseth to come near to God it keeps the greater distance from the glory of his Majesty Like a flame of a great Candle it mounts with heat but the more it ascends the more it trembles Holy Vows are inseparable from it a Vow is in the name of Devotion to bind us the faster to God Therefore it is a Bow that is strongly bent when the string is slack it is an useless Instrument Also without any force this is in the Word that a Devotee devoves his life and all he hath to maintain the honour of God after that excess of St. Pauls courage Acts xxi 13. I am ready not to be bound only but to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus This is devotion which counts not its life dear but doth devove it self for the Gospel of Christ St. Austin describes it with much plainness Devotio est pius humilis affectus ad Deum It is a compound of the best internal Piety and the most lowly and prostrate humility of the body More loftily in another place Carbo ignitus flammâ divini amoris accensus A firy coal wasting away all earthy dull affections with the flame of divine love I cannot mend it In brief it is the excess of a religious fear in the heart which doth all things outwardly with most becoming reverence Apply this to the example of Noah As soon as ever he came out of the Ark he made ready some solemn Worship and none so solemn in those days as Sacrifice and none could be more bountiful at that time than one of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl Seven of all clean Creatures were taken into the Ark three Couples to multiply and the odd one to be offered up it was Caelebs animal it lived single not coupled with any Female to be the purer Oblation And these were not offered on the ground but to shew the elevation of his heart he built an Altar for it which you never read of before Lastly It was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an whole burnt offering Holocausta sunt perfecta studia virtutum Origen began the Allegory and all have followed him they are whole Burnt-offerings that consume the old man and all the members of their concupiscence as much as they are able I score not out this Line to move you to the like in fleshly Sacrifices which are long since superannuated I will put the issue for your instruction upon that which the brevity of the Book of Genesis hath omitted but is necessarily understood that
man were frustrate then God riseth up in his greatness goodness and Majesty expels the wonder of a vengeance by a wonder of healing removes the punishment of the body by a blessing of salvation and drives away the Serpents by Christ I have now spoken enough to the Sin of Israel which was Murmuring and to the Punishment of their Sin by Serpents That was their grief and not ours Now by way of application I must tell you of those Serpents which we must pray unto the Lord to take away from our selves And those are three the Serpent Satan the Serpent Sin and the Serpent Man when he changeth himself from manhood into such a beast The first that may justly be called a Serpent is Satan For it is all one to say the Serpent beguiled Eve and Satan beguiled her 'T is frequent to involve the principal cause in the name of the instrument The Devil indeed is not so much as named Gen. iii. but necessarily to be understood Though his name lie in silence his effects bewray him for none else is left to father the wickedness God can tempt none to sin the good Angels wish us good and no harm there were none of humane generation on earth but Adam and Eve themselves bruitish creatures could not contrive it None is left to own it but the Serpent called the Devil and Satan who deceiveth the World Revel xii 9. Therefore God did not say to the creeping worm why hast thou done this as he charged our first Parents for that Creature did not do it As the words which a man says that is possest are not his own but the spirits that is entred into him so the evil that is attributed to the Snake was not his doing but the Devil 's that managed it Take warning therefore of the malice of that evil Fiend who never forgave himself that injury but seeks continually whom he may devour Be watchful of him for we wrestle not against flesh and bloud but against the Rulers of the darkness of this World Eph. vi 11. He makes out matter of tentation by the words that often fall from our mouth notes our usances searcheth into all our inclinations there is no passion nor frailty wherein we lie open to assault but he knows it As David was more afraid of the counsel of Ahitophel than of all the Host of Rebels that followed Absolom so all that the wicked world can muster together is not so dangerous as the methods of Satan Fast as you are able pray that God would bruise him under your feet So did Paul three times when the Messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him Paul had much grace grace that was sufficient for prayer Holiness becometh the House of Prayer and holiness becometh the mouth of Prayer What have they to do with Prayer that have no fellowship with holy Practice To come before God with a lapful of sins and a mouthful of prayers is a motley Sacrifice And in Fasting and Prayer watch your wandring heart that the Devil steal it not away with idle fancies when you pray against him which will flutter in your mind like motes in the Sun But challenge him of Sacriledg that he hath rob'd you of your devotion follow him with hue and cry and he will fly away from you Let there be any thing that we are more eagerly set upon to obtain than all the rest we will never start aside never run out of the circle when we come to that Petition And this Petition is as useful as any That the Lord would take away the old Serpent from us If Satan be a Serpent so is sin Partus sequitur ventrem such as the Dam is such is the Issue Then secondly pray unto God against Serpent sin The mortifying of it is called crushing a Cockatrice in the egg and Solomon says of drunkenness it bites like a Serpent and stings like an Adder Prov. xxiii 32. To begin with original sin 't is fitly called by Tertullian Plaga antiqui serpentis the biting of the old Serpent And many good Authors delight themselves for good cause to note it on the accident that I preach of that the people in the Wilderness did pray that the Lord would take away the Serpents from them yet he did not and for all that their Prayer sped well For God gave means to as many as were stung to be healed by looking on a Serpent that was lifted up So we are all wounded with a loathsom disease from our Mothers womb and remain wounded Baptism and Prayer make the wound less howsoever still it is a wound but God hath provided how to cure the guilt of it by intuition of faith looking on Christ who bare our sins upon his Cross And as the living Serpents were charm'd by the dead one that they had no power to kill so sin that lives in us is weakned that it shall not condemn by the Son of God that died to save us And as this sin is one by likeness in us all so one Saviour crucified for the sins of the World is sufficient to help us all The Israelites had not distinct Serpents erected after the number of their Tribes much less many more according to the number of their Families but one Serpent lifted up and but one Mediator between God and Man Aim by that level and you hit the mark The hope of remedy is founded in unity Our Gods are not plural our Redeemers are not many they that have divers Saviours have never a Saviour They that have tutelary Saints for every day for every disease Patron Martyrs for every Kingdom almost for every Parish have a serpentine swarm of superstition But as our wound is one in all so one Jesus is rich in mercy unto all Likewise a serpentine corruption is notorious in all our actual and wilful sins For the biting of a poisonous worm is not only perillous to that part of the flesh in which it fixeth its tooth but every drop of bloud draws in the malignity of that which was next unto it till there be no sound part remaining So one member of the body being tainted with the venom of sin traduceth corruption to another If the ear be tickled with filthy talk the loins will be unchast if the eye be wanton it will run into the heart Observe it by another propagation when you commit one sin you are at the brink of another the second offence makes the way smooth and slippery for a third Any transgression not presently physicked with the antidote of repentance will fetch in so many that they will sink you into the bottomless pit Yet there is another serpentine dispreading in the works of the flesh One sinner is an hundred sinners in the catching infection of his leprosie one Absolom is an Host of Rebels one Ringleader a shole of Schismaticks one Jeroboam a Kingdom full of Idolaters one incestuous Corinthian a leaven that will leaven the whole lump Therefore
stand far off as you can from prophanness it hath a multiplying mischief in it there 's an infectious exhalation transpassant from man to man because sin is the biting of a Serpent O look up often to Christ and pray unto him to take away these Serpents from us our sins of daily incursion When your spirit is heavy and cast down with dispair prayer will make it rebound from earth to heaven It is the energetical expression of faith the Ambassador which hope sends up to God the fellowship of love the comfort of the Holy Ghost This may soon be done if we have a mind to it It is as easie to say Our Father which art in heaven as to see heaven which is alwayes in our sight If your Place and Calling take up much of your time let your Prayer be compendious well fill'd with matter an holy breathing speak home and be strong in sense But beware of high looks and high words Lord thou dost hear the desire of the humble and dost prepare their heart And beware of stiff joints Put your self back in great distance from the Lord that you may the better behold him in his excellent greatness Then the Serpent sin shall be taken from us The last point to be dispatched is about Serpent men There are such for our Saviour says of the Pharisees Ye Serpents ye generation of Vipers how can ye escape the damnation of Hell Matth. xxiii 33. The Heathen are meer men men of this World says the Psalm Good Christians are more than men Saints of God Bad Christians are not so good as men and have no wrong done them to be compared to beasts Of such as I shall speak of in reference to the feeling of our own condition I will tell you of their number that they are many of their continuance for length of time and of their qualities that they are crooked hissing subtle and venemous vermin Of these in as many strictures Take away the Serpents a multitude a plurality of them so my Text imports And so are ours though more to be endured yet not so many I hope as to be feared since great wisdom watcheth them I need not tell you you know it that they contrived themselves into seven interests If we were as confident Revelationers as they we should find the Beast with seven heads among them Revel xiii But those heads grew all upon one neck so do not these For not one of them hath an interest in the same Principles of Religion with the other The grave President of sedition that would not be seen among the rest can concur for mischiefs sake with those Fanaticks that will never be subject to his Classical Consistories O when shall we see a Bed of Roses grow so close together as Briars and Brambles black and white Thorn will twine into one Hedg The Spawn of seven Serpents all of different species can coagulate into one Roe Satan can melt his Heterogeneal Mettals and make them all run into one Furnace Every language that understands not the rest can help to build an internal Babel But our help is in him who sends us health from the seven Spirits that are before the Throne of the Lamb. Secondly a Serpent is slender but long And a long Council of Serpents held us many years in oppression Many fetches the old Dragon had to keep it together When it was cut in pieces some of the pieces according to the vulgar error came together again and brought the Servants of God and the King to scrape for Pearls of patience out of so great a Dunghil of misery Perhaps I had passed by this note of the length but that Pliny speaks of a great Serpent taken at the River Bagrada near to Old Carthage of 120 foot long whose body being consumed the skin was sent to Rome and what became of it there why it was hung up in the Capitol in their House of Parliament and hung up there so long as stuff could endure Note here a Serpent the longest that ever was heard of the skin remaining when the body was mortified and hung up in the Senate-house Any body may expound this Riddle without an application Thirdly we speak of a crooked creature Leviathan the crooked Serpent Isa xxvii 1. So are they that are devillish crooked and perverse Phil. ii 15. How hard is it to find their tract when they wriggle this way and that way in no direct line A right line is the shortest passage from point to point there you shall find sound Doctrin oblique deflections whether it be in Confession of Faith Form of Prayers or Discipline have as many shapes as the Moon One while a few Ceremonies shall be allowed and anon none at all sometimes they are stuck at but for inconvenient the next news that comes they are unlawful with the next tide we hear they are only unexpedient for the scandal sake of weak people At one hearing the Old Liturgy castigated will give content shortly nothing will serve but a new lump of Prayer which hath no congruity with any that ever was before in a while they will brook no set Form at all How many degrees hath the shadow run back upon their Dial 'T is like a motion in the Ches-board sometimes into a black chequer sometimes into a white but it is all one so they may check the King or move the Bishop How crooked are these Serpents and untraceable in their paths they can take any figure upon them be as square as a tile of the Pavement be as round as a hoop play at all weapons after the variety of the times As the Friar abused that of the Psalm Thy truth most mighty God is on every side This is able to pose the most prudent to make a clear observation upon it It was beyond Solomons wisdom Prov. xxx 19. four things are too hard for me to know the one is the way of a Serpent upon a rock for it is his own rule that which is crooked cannot be made right or after the Proverb a crooked Cucumer will never become strait It is only Prayer that can bring such things to be even and perpendicular But Lord take away the crooked Serpents from us And fourthly the hissing also the Rattle-snakes of one of our new Plantations their railings and invectives under the tone of whinings and lamentations This kind are Pulpit Serpents O impious for none but the Brasen Serpent should be set up in that place the Prince of peace and healing The Doctrine of the whole Clan is for anger and commotion Peragunt civilia bella cerastae as I may fitly say with Cato in the Poet When the Civil Wars were done the Asps and Adders begun a new Battel The hissing and the consequence are as pernicious as that of the false Prophets Mich. iii. 5. They make my people to err and bite with their teeth But it is a people bred in dark informations else such palpably
Heathen described justice in their Idol Jupiter it was Aquila cum fulmine an Eagles eye to discern a fault a Thunderbolt to strike a Malefactor and the way thereof is as the way of an Eagle in the air when at the highest pitch we cannot see him Wherefore address we attentions to hear the cause how that man perished c. I have seen malum sub sole says Solomon evil under the Sun He might well tell it for a wonder that such a difference should light together The Sun builds up nature like a Giant Psal xix and evil pulls it down as fast like a Monster It was the vision of Moses at Mount Horeb Exod. iii. a flame of fire in a bramble bush and he that will look like a Prophet shall see there is nothing among us but Flamma splendoris divini or spina peccati I renounce the Manichees I make not two main causes good and evil but I say every thing shews the brightness of Gods glory shining in his works or the thorns and briars of sin in the defacing thereof such thorns were the sinful Jebusites I would the world were as free from it as the Song of Solomon wherein the name is not once to be read lest it should breed a discord in the tunes of love There must be sin there must be heresies but sin what art thou Alas that every man can sooner sin than tell what it is When we talk of it then it grows upon us when we forget it it encreaseth more when we hate it then we sin because we do not hate it as we ought but call it in one word as St. John doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the breach of Gods Law and you have said enough Me thinks Moses made the definition when spying the trespass the Calf they worshipped in Horeb He cast the Tables from him as who should say the Law is broken Only here is the difference the Tables were crackt in few pieces perhaps but the Law hath been ground like the Idol into powder so that a remnant is not kept whole in man St. Paul Rom. iii. reduceth sin into every part of us both soul and body as unto certain common places or you may call it the Geography of wickedness There is none that understandeth thus our reason is ignorant none that seeketh after God our will is disobedient If the Leaven be so bad what hope remains in the lump Our tongues have used deceit and the kisses of our lips envenom like the Asp Our feet are not lazy but swift to shed bloud Our eyes not dim but wanting before them the vail of reverence There is no fear of God before our eyes Our throat not cramm'd up or strangled but wide as an open Sepulchre Was Goliah more furnisht to do evil with that tomb of brass upon his body Was Esau more rough and hairy from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot Or that Hermogenes whom the Wits of Greece plaid upon that the Rasor knew not where to begin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for all his body was but one lock As we bring bloudy bodies into the world Tabe polluti occisis magis quà m natis similes says Plutarch so we bring a most wretched soul That as Marius could shew no honourable Pedigree for a Consulship to the Senate but thirty six wounds in his Breast so we cannot shew the glory of our immortal and heavenly created soul her Pedigree from God by reason of the wounds which stick fast upon it Aristotle said our soul was like a fair skin of Parchment wherein nothing was written O that it had been so they are rather like Ezekiels book within and without written with woes and lamentations or as Plato speaks of Dionysius his soul that it was scribled all over with evil Characters What an enditement may be made of this cause then when iniquity is a blemish all over as the whole bird was dipt in bloud Lev. xiv which was an Emblem of our pollution No words can sufficiently describe it but as one speaks of the Spanish Tyranny over the Indies the best Rhetorick was to besmear a bloudy leaf to express it Sin in its Essence is confederate with death and punishment It is the obedience of dumb creatures to chastise it The Earth waxed evil in bringing forth Plants and fruits when the choicest mold of it did fail in Adam it would not be so fruitful for a Sinner as for an Innocent The Prophetess Deborah knew so much Astrology that the Stars in their course fought against the Tyrant Sifera Et navicula Petri in quâ erat Judas turbabatur says St. Ambrose the Sea stormed at Peters Ship when Judas was in it but these are senseless scourges and God applies them What need I speak of Phinehas his righteous passion that killed the Princely Adulterer If the Angels might have their will no Tares should stand in the field they would root up every thing that had not the blade of Wheat But these are all heavenly Souldiers and holiness provokes them Well let the Devil be the judge and he delights both to accuse and punish Put it to evil men and they think Naboth should die for cursing God and the King The vilest persons for the most part are the Satyrs of the time and tax all the world like Angustus Nay put it to the sinner himself put it to Cain and Judas they find no favour no mitigation I dare say in the Court of their own conscience Prima est haec ultio quod se Judice nemo nocens absolvitur Let me lead you on with this distinction betwixt in and propter to perish in iniquity and for iniquity Sin is not always the propter the moving cause of Gods chastisements but sometimes the triall of an heroick faith so it was in Job Sometimes the confirmation of grace so it was in St. Paul the Messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him that Gods grace might be sufficient for him But in iniquitate is certain truth the wrath of God lights not but where transgressions have gone before Thus the Disciples were at a loss Joh. ix Did this man sin that he was born blind How was that possible in his Mothers Womb But was the sin of his Father or the guilt of his Mother imputed to him The imperfect fruit of the Womb could do no evil the offence of his Parents must not be thought his evil Rabbi quis peccavit Nec ille nec parentes says our Saviour neither for his nor his Parents sins was he born blind but that the works of God might be made manifest in him That was the cause and yet a mote had not troubled the eye of this blind man but that a beam of sin had possessed it before in his Mothers Womb I mean by original corruption Alas that we should be grown big enough for punishment before we are born to nature Sabores being but a breeding at the death of his
blessing as the High Priests did Aceldema to bury the accursed treasure this is scandalous to the weak consciences which are without What will the Heathen say Are these the peculiar Nation whom the Lord hath chosen And woe unto the World because of scandals Mark how many Ages how much ground our Saviour compasseth in vaè mundo one Age is but an hour-glass of time these will lie in our memory for ever like the pain in the Shunamites head caput dolet it may be our death Vae mundo the pale horse wounded but the fourth part of the earth Apoc. iv but scandals may cover all the four Quarters like the flies of Egypt O you that live in Canaan upon holy ground on Faery Land as we call it whose vices the weakness of some would be proud to imitate why will the Lord reckon not only with the Goats on his left hand but with the Sheep of his right hand in one mighty day since in particular the last minute of every mans life is the first minute of his trial Why is there one day of judgment since there have been a thousand long ago both for glory and condemnation Because though corruption have seized upon thee in the Grave and so much of thy dust remain not as may offend a tender eye yet thy sins may live and he that looks upon them may conceive spots like the Flocks of Jacob. I do not excuse those tender ones that turn a sore eye more carefully from the Sun which would make it smart than from an ill example that will cast a dark shadow upon the soul The man in the Comedy that made Jupiter his leader to commit Fornication says St. Austin Nullo modo peccasset si Catonem imitari maluisset quà m Jovem But yet it was a fault in you that removed not the stone as the Angel did but cast it in the way against which he stumbled It is a good Meditation that the soul of that man let it consult with it self will never attain to a perfect peace that made another sin I am reconciled unto God in Jesus Christ Could I wish any more Yes I shall ever be unresolved whether he be reconciled unto God by repentance whom I entangled by my occasion David in his one sin polluted Bathsheba with his bed Vriah with drunkenness Joab with cruelty David asked forgiveness I find it in his Penitential Psalms I never read that Vriah did so or that Bathsheba did the like I hope the best I never find it where Joab did repent I fear the worst And could David be at peace if Joab perished The Tyrants of Thrace think themselves never secure in their Thrones but by the destruction of their kindred and brethren but unhappy are the Saints of God if they rob his Kingdom of any that should reign for company And how is that done Never worse than by that scandal which christens sin with a name as the Sodomites Simon Magus the Nicolaitans all Masters of Heresies woe unto such as are the Parents of transgressions Like Achan that perished not alone in his iniquity The second part of his iniquity is disobedience the Canker-worm that eats into the heart of Soveraignty Thine eyes shall not spare the City all shall be accursed put not your hand unto the spoils lest you trouble Israel this was a Proclamation From Joshuah their Prince but Laws could not be heard in the noise of the Battel Should I ask these unnecessary burdens of a Commonwealth whether the most riotous Malefactor expects not the protection of the Law to belong unto him I know he would claim it And why not the obedience of the Laws The Earth and Water of our Country do no longer pertain unto us than our duty and allegeance doth deserve them And to say truth obedience is no less necessary for the happiness of the Subject than for the prosperity of the Prince It is true that Epaminondas said when the Thebans praised his Government and said they were happy that he ruled so well Not so says Epaminondas the Commonwealth is happy because you obey so well And as fit to this purpose is that pretty Emblem of a Graft flourishing when it was bound about to the stock Per vincula cresco as if the bonds of Government made the Kingdom flourish The World was never so unruly and therefore never more unlucky than under the Emperour Maximilian whom his Subjects called by a nick-name Rex Regum a King of Kings because the People lived Lawless rather like Emperours than Subjects Nazianzen says that the two sins of Julian did you ever hear of worse were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apostacy of faith against God and a mutiny of Rebellion against Constance the Emperour I do not wonder at it if He that fell out first with God then transgressed against the King the Lieutenant of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God and the King are knit together by an invisible copulation Plutarch called the Discipline of Sparta a most flourishing Commonwealth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Exercitation of obedience And our Saviour who was made obedient unto death prefers factus obediens before factus ad mortem his word was Obedience is better than Sacrifice that is more honourable than death Because says Aquinas in Sacrifice we give up but the flesh of beasts but in Obedience we offer up our own will The love of the Centurion to his Servant was wonderful to make such means to Christ by all the Elders of the Jews for his recovery but he deserved it by that description of his Souldiers I say unto one go and he goeth to another come and he cometh and to my Servant do this and he doth it Yet you know not the rebellion of Achan until we examine it by the fifth Commandment of the Law There God blesseth the true Spartan Discipline which stands demurely before Government like the Sacrifice bound with cords to the horns of the Altar Honour thy Father and Mother c. Indeed it is a blessing most emphatical that thy days may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee Why Canaan was that Land and cursed Cham the worst thing that escaped the Floud the Father of Canaan this ungracious Son made himself sport with his Fathers nakedness which he should have covered Would he not do the duty of a Son He shall do the duty of a Servant nay of a Servants Servant a Servant of Servants shall he be Noah did speak it in Prophesie And indeed Israel won him and wearied him out of Canaan the fruitful habitation And could Achan think to enter upon this Inheritance fulfilling the same sin ipso facto which dispossessed the Canaanite Shall God and Heaven change for the worse Shall the Lord cast out the disobedient and plant in the rebellious No if Adam be turned away an Angel must come into Paradise I will not say the Oratour said wrong
heaven out of the fire than some out of their feather-bed The soul is in the body as the Lamps were in Gideons Pitchers break the Pitchers and the Lamps will shine and then begins the Victory What Seneca said of the state of Rome under Caesar the Dictator Respub sub eo stare non potuit sed cecidit in sinum boni principis the same is competent to the state of man We cannot hold out long we shall sink under the burden of sin Sed cecidit homo in sinum boni principis repent and we may fall into Abrahams bosom When Scipio led his Army against Carthage and his Scabberd fell off from his Sword his Souldiers were dismayed at it as a sign of ill fortune This is nothing says Scipio for I have my Sword still in my hand and that I must fight with So let the body fall into the dust or ashes keep the Soul clean make it white in the bloud of the Lamb by Faith and then all is safe It is the soul that first must taste of glory St. Austin asks why the Devil made so much of his darling Sylla that in all his life he was scarce perplexed with any misfortune The Father replies Timuit magis Diabolus nè corrigeretur Sylla quà m nè vinceretur The Devil cared not if he had burst his neck but he was afraid his vertue would be greater if his felicity were less Wherefore if Achan did give God the glory as Joshuah did instruct him all might go well with his soul though iste periit his body were consumed The Romans were wont to Deifie their Emperours on this sort Their bodies were placed in a pile of wood and at the top of the Hearse an Eagle was kept close untill the flame had taken hold of the body and then the Eagle was suffered to fly away to heaven So leave we the body of Achan in the Pile of wood yet in the mercies of Jesus Christ his Soul might take the wings of the Morning as David says and after all his tedious Pilgrimage live in rest for ever Nothing should make me mistrustful and doubt of his salvation but his too late repentance Is this a time to leave off sin when we must leave off life and can sin no more Poenitentiam dare possumus securitatem non possumus Do you then come to play the Huxters for mercy as if the Market were cheapest at the latter end of the day The Son of man will come to judgment suddenly as swift as the lightning The Resurrection shall be suddenly at one blast of the Archangels Trumpet Corruptio fit in momento the soul will not creep but fly out of the body suddenly Shall all things be sudden but mans repentance If you love your Country and wish it victory against all her enemies if you tender your Children and Allies and desire their safety nay if you love your Gold and Silver and cast about to leave a good inheritance beware to draw the anger of God Vnius ob noxam furias upon so many innocent souls have peace in Jesus Christ and let Achan perish alone in his aniquity AMEN A SERMON Preached before the KING at WHITE-HALL the 5. of April 1665. UPON THE SOLEMN FAST To crave a Blessing of GOD for his MAJESTIES NAVAL FORCES NEHEM i. 4. And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned certain dayes and fasted and prayed before the God of Heaven WE have many Solemn dayes in the year to remember the noble Works of our Saviour But the Church hath set forth no proper day to mind us how He will come to judgment in the end of the World Is not that an oversight will some say that there is no red letter in the Calender to bring the Object of that mighty Judgment before us that it may not be forgotten Hear the reason and I know you will excuse it All the beneficial Works of our Saviour came to pass upon certain days of the year whose revolution is known or easily guessed at and those days are exactly kept with holy diligence But for the Day of Judgment it is kept secret so that the Angels of Heaven are ignorant of it Therefore to keep one solemn day recurrent every year for an admonition that such a dreadful hour is to come were in a sort to prescribe God to an appointed time who must not be prescribed If any press it further and say Shall we then have no solemn opportunity to learn that capital Lesson that Christ will come in the clouds with power and great glory to call the Earth before him Far be that omission from us For to what end servs a publick Fast but to prepare us all to hear that voice Behold the Bridegroom cometh go ye forth to meet him This is the day wherein every tender conscience should feel the Ax laid to the root of the Tree Now the whole Kingdom stands as it were at the Bar to be arraigned before the Majesty of God We come to call our selvs to judgment before Christ calls us to prevent him Here we are met not to justify our selves O God forbid but to confess the evil we have done that we may not suffer the evil we have deserved They are mighty sins which we come to deplore not only the iniquities of this place though great and exemplary not the sins of the great City alone though it abound in people and wickedness but the innumerous contagious crying sins of this Nation of this England for which and whose pardon we come to make our mournful supplication Now to teach you to stear your course by a Godly instance I lay my matter among the Servants of God in the Land of Judah of whom I could have told you that when they were in fear of bad Neighbours round about them kept a general Humiliation for all the People Nehem. ix 1. The People fasted in sackcloth and cast ashes upon their heads But I know where I am and I will rather instruct you from the Pattern of Nehemiah called the Tirshata a mighty Prince among the People who was so zealous for the prosperity of his Country that you can scarce match him with all that went before him Moses was the Grandfather of Israel that brought them out of the Captivity of Egypt Nehemiah was their Co founder or Foster father who repaired the ruins of the Captivity of Babylon The Text shews what he did in the beginning of his zeal to appease the anger of the Lord. In two general parts I will discover his piety which I call the wound of his heart and the cure of that wound the occasion of his humiliation and the humiliation it self The wound of his heart was given by evil tydings It came to pass when I heard these words which afflicted him two wayes first for the ruins which the Land had suffered secondly for the impediments of its reparation The care of the
neither thrive abroad nor at home Pyrrho haec Samnitibus I can wish our Enemies no greater harm than such corrupted minds That Pyrrhus it is in Plutarch was a rambling Warriour and cared not whom he oppressed Says Cyneas to him his best Counsellor Shall we live thus always No says Pyrrhus when we have vanquished the Romans Compotabimus in otio vivemus We will drink stoutly and live merrily His Horse would have said as much if he could have spoken that when his service was done he would stand in the Stable and eat his Provender But the end of War is Peace and the end of Peace is to die unto Sin and to live unto Righteousness These are the last words I have to say now In the justness of our Cause confidence of Faith fervour of Prayer amendment of our Lives United Hearts and in our Religious and Noble ends we commend our most serene and excellent Admiral the whole Royal and gallant Expedition which he manageth to God In whom alone is our help For there is none that fights for us powerfully and irresistably but only thou O God To which God c. A SERMON UPON PROV iii. 3. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee THE Children of Israel were exhorted from their Prophet Moses to write the Law upon the Posts of their doors and to have Copies of it in the Fringes of their Garments as if the whole Land of Jury had been bound into one Sacred Volume to make a Bible for them This was Mandatum latissimum as David said a Commandment exceeding broad but a Proverb being by the very interpretation of the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Basil says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a quaint speech used in every street of the City and every high way of the field it is more vulgar and common than the Law it self that thou maist be unexcusable O man when his words are gone forth into the ends of the world Now in this brief essay which I have read unto you as the Heathen were wont to set up the Image of Mercury in the turnings of high-ways to direct Passengers their journey which was called Mercurialis acervus so King Solomon in these words hath reared up a Pillar in the broad way to instruct our ignorance which is ready to turn aside and wander like the lost sheep that whithersoever we set our face we keep this Via Regia the Kings high way Let not c. Mercy and truth so excellent a workmanship that I reverse what I said before it is not like a Pillar set up for an heathen Idol but rather Solomon hath made a new Cherubin for a new Temple a Cherubin with two wings stretched out upon our soul The wings are Mercy and Truth which either bear up the body to heaven as David says My soul flieth unto the Lord before the morning watch I say before the morning watch Or if it grow laden with sin that so great a burden cannot be supported these wings can fly away alone these vertues will be gone like Elias in his firy Chariot for a wounded Conscience who can bear it But if it be true that Tertullian says Omnis spiritus ales est Every Spirit is winged to fly much more let the Spirit of every regenerate man be this Avis Paradisi that our soul may say as David the Sparrow hath found her a nest and the Swallow a place to lay her young ones even thine Altar O Lord of Hosts and being thus fledg'd Mercy and Truth shall not forsake us Out of which words I collect these parts in order The first wing of a Christian soul is Mercy He shall protect me under his wings and I shall be safe under his feathers so God was merciful unto David and mercy is a Wing Secondly The next that answers unto it is Truth For the word of the Lord is that flying roul which Ezekiel saw and the Word of the Lord is the truth it self so that Truth is a wing Thirdly Note their conjunction Mercy and Truth they are coupled together Mercy and Truth are met together righteousness and peace have kissed each other they met long ago in Christ the head and we must not part them in his members Fourthly You must know that we may be so careless in our holy Profession that we may be stript of all the good endowments which we had Mercy and Truth may forsake us and then say we had them Lastly If we look to our part the gifts of God are without repentance ne deserant let them not depart there is a careful way whereby we may imp these wings from flying that they shall not forsake us else ne deserant were sounding brass and no true doctrine these are the five Lamps it remains I put oyl into them I begin at Mercy the fairest Omen that ever the World had in it The unmerciful brethren of Joseph consulted to put the blame of their cruelty upon the beasts we will say a cruel beast hath devoured him It is very well that they durst not profess themselves to be men who were so barbarous But neither is â—t in every beast of the field to be stony hearted The fouls of the air are gentle in their kind witness the Ravens that fed Elias and for the Cattel upon the hills the Ass forsook not his old Master the Prophet that was rent by the Lion The meanest of Creatures then have mercy by instinct of nature yea and the most glorious also dread not the Angels though they be called flaming spirits but rather consider what pity they have shewn in their Function towards the Sons of men To execute Gods wrath few do always come down as loath to be Ministers of indignation One destroying Angel appeared to punish Jerusalem one alone brought weeping news to Bochim Jud. ii Three appeared unto Abraham to bring him the joyful Message of a Son but their company grew less by one and but two of them brought tidings to Lot of the vengeance of Sodom But Elishas Servant saw Chariots and Horsemen and thousands in the Mountain to protect them To publish peace and joy heaven it self as I may so speak it was empty and there appeared a multitude of the heavenly Host to the Shepherds and sang praises unto God surely then one of their wings is Mercy But we must fetch our example further than the Angels let us go boldly to the throne of grace and fetch it from the third heavens Be you merciful with a sicut says our Saviour as your heavenly Father is merciful And if we cast our eye upon that pattern it blossoms like the rod of Aaron into these two buds condonationem and donationem First To forgive and remit sins Secondly To give liberally as God hath enabled us In the first I will thus proceed First that it is Gods nature and property to forgive secondly that man should rather forgive than God It did well deserve record
Gregory frames this clear Meditation upon it Persecutionis tempore ponenda est anima pacis tempore frangenda sunt desideria In the time of persecution lose your life that you may gain Christ that Lesson God be praised is out of date with us in the time of peace lose your vast concupiscence that you may gain content Here comes in our part who have leisure to gather great store and peaceable security to enjoy and increase it for that we may lay our desires level with a moderate fortune it is fit above all things to know that you shall never measure these earthly things to the bottom and you cannot measure the joys of heaven to the top so said our Saviour to the Samaritan as I have read it unto you c. Now to bring on the division of the Text I lay this ground Man is a most desiring and a wishing creature his heart doth reach it self forth so much to get and gain that it resembles nothing better than an house with a deep Mote round about it but for the most part the mote is full of puddle water if that were cast out which is the first part to be handled a water which makes us always thirst there is a sluce to let in better which is contained in the second For these two shall be the general heads to which I will refer all that I shall speak the lading out of bad waters from our soul and the letting in of better I will not venture beyond the former of these two at this time Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again And St. Austin preaching upon those words did thus divide them Et verum est secundum hanc aquam verum est secundum quod significat haec aqua It is true being spoken upon those waters drawn out of Jacobs well and upon any other water and it is true being spoken upon that unto which the Element of water did allude that is the riches and glory of this world according to the very waters which our Saviour lookt upon when he preacht I will speak to these three points 1. That all the refection of our body is commended in the phrase of drinking waters 2. Heat consumes our moisture and makes us thirst which is the punishment of our nature 3. We thirst and thirst again which is the punishment of our sensual appetite According to the water unto which our Saviour alluded I have three things more to observe 1. That all these worldly things are compared to waters which slide away 2. Here is the greediness of our heart to be filled with them we would pour them in and drink them down 3. Here 's their emptiness they will never fill us for drink both much and often yet whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again And first a few words litterally of that outward Element which the Woman of Samaria came to draw in her Pitcher upon which this is the former observation that all the refection of our body especially that which cools our thirst is delivered in the phrase of drinking waters Indeed before temperance was perverted this phrase was well understood of all men to drink waters From the Creation to the Floud above sixteen hundred years it is affirmed by divers scarce denied by any that the World knew not what belonged to Wine or to any artificial liquor the great Rivers of the Earth were all their Sellarage and they filled their Cup from thence without cost or labour Therefore in the first of Genesis God stinted our first Parents and their Posterity what they should eat namely the fruits of several Trees all but one and the Herbs of the Field but they were not stinted what they should drink because their nature was inclined to nothing but to the Fountain Element And Noah having never perceived the malignity and headiness of too much Wine neither in himself nor any other person surely not out of intemperance we may well excuse him that but out of ignorance he became drunken It is too much perhaps to look back so far as before the Deluge now we are sure that every Creature of God is sanctified by Prayer and Thanksgiving to them that use it well it is the Lord that makes the Vine to swell with comfortable juyce that men may take it for infirmity of health and upon occasions of chearfulness yet the good Patriarchs would never lay down the primitive sobriety of the World I will go no further to shew it than the verse before my Text. Says the Woman Art thou greater than our Father Jacob who drank himself of this Well and his Children and his Cattle The Flocks and Herds quenched their thirst with no worse than their Master did according to which simplicity of diet God in the beginning allotted the same food for the Beasts that he made for Man Gen. i. 30. I have given you says He to Adam every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth c. and to every beast of the earth and to every foul of the air and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is life I have given every green herb for meat and it was so We and the Cattle you see had once the same allowance or there was very little to choose between our Pasture and theirs I will wind about no longer the scope is to let you see the difference between the frugal institutions of nature and the monstrous inventions of that luxury which at this time prevails among us Why doth the Scripture express all manner of Beverage in forty places by the name of water but to insinuate sobriety Why doth Gods word in an hundred places call the whole repast of the belly by the name of bread but to insinuate frugality The Scripture makes but two words of that whereof affected gluttony hath made twenty thousand The Apostles did break bread from house to house and eat their meat with gladness Acts 2.46 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alimentum non delicias says St. Chrysostom plain necessary nourishment is meant which nature earns for and cannot want not piled dishes one upon another to the intolerable scorn of God Almighty's first Laws as if you did not set but build a Banquet Our Saviour will condemn you out of your own mouth if you pray his Prayer as you ought Give us this day our daily bread if the word be a Synechdoche one part of sustenance for all Gods gifts I know it is so yet it circumscribes our desires to ask a little and no excess and if you pray with Christs words and not with Christs meaning God will not bless but curse your supplications As the Fable goes of Dido that she asked no more Land than an Ox Hide would compass but she cut that Hide into small thongs and took in as much ground as to build a City so it is a cheat to ask God for bread and water and to mean all
she nor any Unbeliever can know till they have tasted the good gift of God Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst Go now and ask our Saviour Art thou greater than our Father Jacob that gave us this Well The Well was Jacobs perhaps but not the water he digged the Cystern but God gave the Spring that flowed into it this might have been alleged But what profit had come to the winning of a Soul if Christ had made comparisons between himself and his Servant It was his purpose at this time not to wrestle with Jacob but with the Woman of Samaria he came not to diminish the honour of his Saints but to magnifie the power of the Holy Ghost Petit potum ut det potum He met with one that was backward in courtesie and would not draw a Pitcher of water to cool his thirst yet he is forward in mercy and profers living water to quench the flame of her sins He drops by little and little upon her stony heart until he opened that hard rock that waters of salvation might flow out And first his Doctrin bred admiration in this Woman then a desire to learn then a sudden spark of faith which confessed that Jesus was the Messias then confusion for her sins then repentance and surely then godly sorrow and then tears and so she drew those waters before she was aware after which our Saviour thirsts above all others the tears of unfeigned repentance She denied him to take the pains to draw a draught out of Jacobs Well but he enforced her to draw out more precious liquors than those were from the bottom of her heart These are the words now read unto you which wrought that great effect and did pierce into her soul And let me say of that weak Instrument by whose tongue the Lord at this time doth make an offer unto you of that immortal Fountain as sometimes Gregory did when he exhorted many great persons to the contempt of the World and invited them to eat and drink with Christ in his Kingdom Etsi ego ad invitandum indignus appareo sed tamen magnae sunt deliciae quas promitto I am most unworthy to bid you come unto these waters and drink but the delicious Fountain which I promise to them that thirst after righteousness is worthy to invite you To handle it succinctly and to your edification there are four Branches of the Text to be propounded 1. The Subject to which all is to be referred is a water of a most different condition from that which is mentioned in the former verse 2. Who is able to draw it none but Christ it is a water that he gives and none beside him 3. How it is to be taken even as a soveraign and a delightful Receipt for the health of the Soul and the very soul of health it must be drunk 4. The exceeding benefit and virtue which amounts to that value that the whole World hath not riches enough to purchase it if it were to be bought for whosoever drinketh of it he shall never thirst To begin with these and the Touchstone upon which all other parts of the Text shall be tried is this What this mystical water is which our Saviour prefers so much before Jacobs Well Christ calls it living water at the tenth verse of this Chapter that 's a sweet Epithet indeed and yet it hath a more amiable description in the words that follow my Text a Well of water springing up unto everlasting life These are names of much elegancy and much obscurity but that we find a clear explanation of them in the seventh Chapter of this Gospel ver 38. He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water But this he spake of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive So the Scripture hath written upon this water what it is that you may know it from any other it is the gift of Grace that cometh from above that sanctifieth our hearts and cleanseth us from all our sins it is the working of the Spirit which knits us unto Jesus Christ and makes us Heirs of Salvation God the Holy Ghost doth abase himself to be resembled to many of these inferior things for our understanding No man can miss to remember how the Spirit did appear in cloven tongues as it were of fire Acts ii 2. In another place Jo. 3.8 he is likened to the air The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou knowest not whence it comes nor whither it goes so is every one that is born of the spirit And here his name passeth down a descension beneath that and is termed water only the earth is too base an Element whereunto the Holy Spirit should be compared leave that to man and to his corruptible constitution The Fire the Air and Water have some infinitude in them after a sort quod suis terminis non continentur says the Philosopher they are diffusive bodies which are not properly bounded or circumscribed in any Figure as the Earth is therefore all their names are borrowed to signify some disposition of the Divine Spirit toward us whose Vertue is most diffusive and whose Majesty incomprehensible But in each of the Testaments Old and New the first time that we read of the Holy Ghost he was joyned unto the Waters in the first day of the Creation the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters Gen. i. 2. and upon the first manifestation of Christ that he shewed himself abroad to be the Messias of the World the Spirit sat upon his head when he was baptized at Jordan in the shape of a Dove And it is not vain to consider that when the Holy Ghost came down in fire at the Feast of Whitsontide yet St. Peter applies the place of the Prophet Joel to that occasion which speaks as if it had been water effundam spiritum In the last dayes I will pour out of my spirit to all flesh By that which is said already I have brought it to this the Scripture doth very much aim at this Comparison to be considered why the vertues and operations of the Holy Ghost are called Water and the choice of the Comparison I think are these particulars First as waters poured upon Hills will not stay upon their tops but runs down to the lowest places and fills the Valleys beneath so the Graces of God descend to the lowly and humble in heart and abide not with the proud Nay David says it will be the better for it if it be but a little Valley a diminitive thou makest fruitful the little Valleys thereof with the drops of rain Centurio quantò humilior tantò capacior says Bernard the Centurion lay very flat and low at our Saviour's feet and where was there a man that had a larger portion of the heavenly benediction for Christ said of him I have not found so great faith
the top of the Rocks with the Eagle if you make your nest on the ground the foot of man and beast will tread on it If you contrive it within the reach of the arm it is easily plucked down If within the boughs of a large tree it will be pelted Build high enough as the Eagle doth and then you are safe from wracks and injuries In all the whirle and revolutions of fortune this is our magnetical reduction look up to heaven And give thanks together as it follows to be handled From hence we have all that belongs to the being and to the well-being of Nature Whatsoever we want whatsoever we dread and fear it comes from above Frost and Snow Rain and fruitful seasons food for the body grace for the soul heaven supplies us with all these with more than we can ask or think How properly therefore doth this holy Office as it were take up the train of the former and come after it First he looked up to heaven and then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he gave thanks In one of us I confess they piece well together in the person of a mortal man that lives by pension and allowance from the Lord in the person of David as it is Psal viii When I consider the heavens c. What is man that thou art mindful of him Or the Son of man that thou visitest him But it is a strange word in the mouth of Christ He give thanks Who hath obliged him by any favour Or to whose benignity is he beholding All his works praise him and his Saints give thanks unto him but he is engaged to none there must be one first cause that communicates it self to all things and receives of nothing and that is God of God very God of very God the King of glory Jesus Christ To take off this Objection with reason first Beneficium accepit in humanâ naturâ He took the form of a servant upon him and in that exinanition he was capable of a benefit to be done unto him Therefore he thank'd his Father that he would bring that to pass by his Omnipotency which he was purposed to effect by his Humane Nature Nay he did not divide himself from his Father in this giving of thanks But the Son of Mary that was flesh of our flesh gave thanks unto himself as he was God Eternal It is so through an ineffable Dispensation An Eternal Decree was ratified that Christ being made man should be glorified in working this Miracle for which Decree he gives thanks unto the Godhead for so it was decreed that Thanksgiving should precede before the Decree was executed And yet note it further because the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in the Manhood bodily Christ did not go about his work precario he did not pray that power might be given him to multiply the five Loaves into five thousand portions that was not to be craved now which was inherent in him from the beginning but being certain to effect that which he undertook he gave thanks before the effect was produced Secondly Beneficium accepit in membris It was a gracious Donative which was now about to be bestowed upon the People that were gathered together and out of a fellow-feeling to those that were his own our Saviour gave thanks for the kindness shewn to his Members And well I may say he made this grateful acknowledgment to his Father for their sakes that pertained to his body for there is not that tender-hearted man that comforts a poor Christian in his necessities but he will say as much to him In as much as ye have done it to one of the least of my brethren ye have done it unto me The Prophet David hath spoken of his love after the same manner whereby he united himself unto us Psal lxviii 18. Thou hast led captivity captive Dona accepisti in hominibus so the Vulgar Latine and it is so verbatim in the Original thou hast received gifts in men He gives all and he takes all for he takes that to himself which is distributed unto all As it was the foundation of the Spartan Commonwealth Ne scirent privatim vivere To live rather for the advancement of the publick than of the private Weale So it is a corner stone of Christian Brotherhood Ne scirent homines privatim gratias agere Not to pinch up their gratitude into that narrowness as to bless the name of God for no mercies but such as are conferred upon themselves Quomodo idiota dicet amen Let me apply that of St. Paul in a Parody he that is all for himself is that Idiot that when publick Thanksgiving is made knows not how to say Amen But as Christ gave thanks for the Members so must the Members one for another For in the Union of Faith and in the Bond of Charity all blessings diffused far and wide upon our brethren are our proper benefits Thirdly All Writers that handle my Text strike upon this Key that we are taught from hence to make some holy Preface to say Grace as we call it before we feed our body When we sit down to meat Quasi ad beneficentiae Dei concionem accedimus we are presented as it were with a Sermon of Gods benignity not in word but in deed and therefore it is Decorum that we should begin with a Prayer So did the Jews yery anciently the young Maidens whom Saul met told him so much that the People would not eat till Samuel came because he doth bless the Sacrifice and afterward they that be bidden eat We Christians have sufficient from St. Paul to make us diligent observers of this Ceremony Says he Every Creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving for it is sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer 1 Tim. iv 4 5. It is not sufficient says Theodoret upon it that the Creature of God is good but it must be sanctified also before we eat it That which was good by nature the name of God invoked upon it makes it wholsom and holy Either our body may fall into some distemper or our soul into some fearful sin unless we begin and end our refection in the name of the Lord. But the Apostle chargeth us ex abundanti that the Word of God and Prayer be conjoyned to it that is says Vatablus to attend to the reading of sacred Scripture beside the ordinary Benediction So it is in use to this day with them that lead a Regular and a Scholastical strictness and was not omitted of the very Heathen that had a grain of Philosophy in their disposition So Cornelius Nepos commends Pomponius Atticus Nunquam sine aliquâ lectione apud eum coenatum est He never supped but somewhat was read out of a learned Author before him His mind did ruminate upon Knowledge while his teeth did chew his bread lest like an horse his head should be only in the Manger And those
were more remaining in his hand than he had taken out of his Coffers Yes if the old man were not purblind and knew not what he took out I accept their good will that relate it somewhat they have imagined like to this success of eternal memory touching the five Loaves and two Fishes while the owners possessed it to themselves it was but a handful when they fed the hungry with it they found themselves Masters of Gods plenty Says Solomon There is that scattereth and that increaseth that 's consonant to my Text and there is that holdeth more than is meet and it tendeth to poverty Prov. xi 26. This is a riddle to Unbelievers that bounty should make them rich and yet an Heathen confessed it in that saying Haec habeo quaecunque dedi and that Parsimony should make them poor and yet a thousand examples confirm this where the blessing of the Lord hath subducted it self from the niggard One instance is as much as a Volume which Eusebius hath in the life of Constantine Ablaevius was a principal Officer both in the Palace and in the Army every where much esteemed by the Emperor his main fault was he had amassed up an infinite treasure craved perpetually and lived most sparingly upon a time as he pressed his Master the Emperor to obtein a suit that would bring in no small sum Constantine with a Spear in his hand drew the proportion of Ablavius his body upon the ground and says he When I have given thee all I can this is all that thou shalt have at last if thou gettest so much That if was a Prophetical word and there was a Divine sentence in the lips of the King as Solomon says for at last Ablavius was torn in pieces by the rude multitude and not an handful of his body was left to be buried in a Sepulcher The sum is the state of him that is gripple and cruel will be improsperous to himself much more to his Posterity But as alms and charity thrived extremely with the Disciples so it shall be with all those that remember the afflictions of Joseph and the Sun of comfort will shine upon those clouds above that drop their fatness upon the earth beneath And I am yet within the compass of the first part of my Text till I have delivered unto you not only what the Disciples did as good men but also as good Pastors they distributed unto them that were set down that is they fed the Flock which was committed unto them to feed the hungry to see that the fatherless and Widow have sustenance is an Ecclesiastical care I an Episcopal duty in no small degree The Apostles though they gave themselves wholly to prayer and to the Ministry of the Word yet they took order how the poor should be relieved Act. vi But it is a greater matter that this Miracle points unto not so much how the hunger of the body should be refreshed with charity as how the soul should be fed with the Word of Life So the ancient Doctors do commonly allude to those words which were the Introduction to this great work Give ye them to eat that our Saviour appointed the Twelve to sow the seeds of wholsom Doctrin among the people that there might not be a famine of the Word but to give them meat that endureth to everlasting life And in all likelihood this is the true cause why Christ when he had blessed the bread gave it over unto them to part it to the Assembly to shew that a Disciple is magnus animarum oeconomus as Nazianzen said of Athanasius his Lords Steward to provide for souls nay that one man should be as it were a God unto another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a terrestrial God to bring him salvation To the conveyance of divers benefits God hath called to himself divers Instruments and joyned them by a great condescension of his glory as Partners to himself as our Parents in the work of our bringing forth our Teachers in our training up Kings and Magistrates in the preservation of our lives and peace but the Ministers of his Word and Sacraments for the erudition of our souls The Omnipotent needs no such assistants as we are What is Man who could not keep the possession of a pleasant Garden upon earth that he should procure a celestial Paradise for the remnant that shall be saved And yet that we may be disciplined in the way of eternal life by such means as are familiar and connatural to our own infirmities we are labourers together with God 1 Cor. iii. 9. Reason is a strong adversary against this and will say that it is too excellent a function for one that consists both of clay and sin to preach the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven What! would you have the Lord to speak out of the clouds with his own voice O you know not what you ask you that shrink at the roaring of thunder would run into the dust for fear of his Majesty if he should speak The Cherubins and Seraphins can scarce endure it but they hide their faces when they hear the Trumpet of his glory An Army of five hundred thousand men interceded with Moses Speak thou with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we die Well if his Majesty make him too awful to be the Prolocutor of his Word and Testimonies yet would not the Angels be far better Ambassadors than Men to deliver the things pertaining to faith and godliness no nor they so fit For first Satan cannot now revile Gods justice that he is not repulsed upon equal terms as he overcame so is he vanquished again Us he tempted to disobedience and we are the mouth of the Lord to teach repentance and obedience Secondly better to have a Priest taken out among men than among Angels for men are compassed with infirmity and can have compassion of the ignorant and of them that are out of the way Thirdly since Christ took our flesh to make our Attonement with God in this nature this nature is the fittest to continue the working of that grace unto the end of the World This is ratified by an instance not to be controuled Act. x. An Angel comforts Cornelius that his Prayers and Alms were remembred before God medles no further but transmits him to the holy Priesthood of the Church Send to Joppa for one Simon he shall speak words whereby thou and thy houshold shall be saved The upshot is our Saviour could have finished this Miracle without Coadjutors and have given the portions of bread to the hungry with his own hands but to teach us that such as he delivers his Commission unto at no hand any others that they shall intercur in sacred Offices between him and his People The Disciples distributed to them that were set down And these were faithful Stewards that kept nothing back freely they received and freely they gave They were taught in this
it is 1 Cor. vi 11. But ye are washed but ye are sanctified In that sacred Laver we are sprinkled with the bloud of Christ and so made Saints Sancti quasi sanguine tincti it is a bloud which purifieth from uncleanness for of old they that desired to be purified did dip some part of their body in the bloud of the Sacrifice Baptism is Pactum vitae purioris cum Deo a Covenant with God to lead a pure and unspotted life a sequestration of that which is holy from all profane abuses it is jus gentium says Tully a national and received Law throughout all the world Vt ne mortales quod Deorum immortalium cultui consecratum est usu capere possint that no man usurp that for common uses which was consecrated to the service of the immortal Gods so that a Saint is as much as one that is washt and made clean in Christ and engaged unto holiness all the days of his life 3. For the confession of the true doctrines sake which flesh and bloud could not reveal unto us but our Father which is in heaven our reward was to be called the faithful the faithful of the circumcision Acts x. 45. and in many places beside This continued our note of distinction more than any other in ancient Liturgies and so remains in some of our own Collects as grant we beseech thee merciful Lord to thy faithful people pardon and peace And it stuck more close to the Church than any title in St. Cyprians days as appears by these words Quid Christiana plebs faceret cui de fide nomen est What should Christian people do in this case whose name is given them from the Faith So I have represented to you that in the earliest days of the Gospel the Disciples were called Brethen from their sincerity of love Saints from the purification of Baptism Faithful from that Orrhodox truth which they professed and hope in Christ which St. Paul hath put all together in one verse To the Saints and faithful Brethren in Christ which are at Colosse chap. i. ver 2. But as St. Paul says By honour and dishonour by evil report and by good report we approve our selves the Ministers of Chrisft And they that scoffed at the way of salvation did load us with contumelious taunts that they might soil our Profession The first bitter arrow that our Enemies shot forth was to call us Nazarens Tertullus the spruce Orator was aware of that and charged St. Paul that he was a ring leader of the Sect of the Nazarens Act. xxiv 5. Surely they delighted the more in this Nickname because of that opprobrious by word can there any good come out of Nazareth St. Hierom says that the spiteful Jews had no other term for the Christians in his days and how in that term they cursed us thrice every day in their Synagogues Now when they thought to gall us both with their curse and their venemous scorn Epiphanius says that the Apostles liked it well enough to be called Nazarens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their intention was to put the name of Nazareth upon him where the Angel Gabriel saluted the Blessed Virgin and where she conceived Christ and they were contented It seems so for because they held it no disgrace Julian the Emperor would not call them Nazarens but Galilaeans and proclaimed it says Nazianzen that they should plead or be empleaded by no other name throughout all his Dominions the name of Christian says the same Father it grated his ear some Divine Majesty was in the syllables that it put horror into his conscience but for his own quiet and their wrongs he thought it better to call them Galilaeans his slanderous intention was all that was ill in it for the appellation it self was not slanderous an Angel of God directed his Message to them in that form Ye men of Galilee why stand ye gazing up into heaven Act. i. 11. But here was the secret gibe one Judas of Galilee a Firebrand of sedition had lodged an ill opinion in many of the Jews who were born in that Region that such as paid Tithes to God were not to pay Tribute to Cesar neither ought they to call any one their Lord but him that created Heaven and Earth In plain meaning he and his Consorts of Galilee were errant Rebels and though none were so far from faction and disobedience as these modest Disciples yet to perswade the World that they had an Anti-monarchichal grudg in their bosom this Apostate called them Galilaeans Lastly because the Orthodox Champions of the Church confounded the obstinate Gentiles with certain verses cited out of the Books of the Sibyls therefore in despite they invented the name Sibyllistae and pointed at us for the Disciples of those Prophetesses the Sibyls whereas it was their own doing to make us urge them with those proofs since they would not believe the Old Testament and the Prophets of the Lord. I cannot forget how Albertus Pighius played such a wise part or rather a far worse being the first that called our Reformed Divines Scripturarios Scripture-men because they grounded all their Doctrin upon the written word of the holy Scriptures yet in my judgment Sibyllist was not so ill a scoff as Scripturarian Now you know from that which hath been spoken what good Titles adorned the Primitive Saints and how their Enemies drew their name with a black coal in terms of scurrillity the bad appellations vanished away by the brightness of their vertue the good ones were like a scanty Robe too short to cover all their excellency they bore the Cross of Christ gladly and triumphantly wherefore this eximious Inscription was given them which is here in my Text all other names were but as a trail of golden beams to beautify this which includes them all Christian 'T is very much that no Author is mentioned here who was so lucky to impose this name which will be glorious no doubt in all the World as long as the Sun and Moon endure Carthusian hath his opinion that Infidels were the Inventers in disdain at Christ whom that pious Generation worshipped Comestor imputes it to the converted Greeks and Gentiles to the end that they and the believing Jews might have one common cognizance There are more than enough that think it may proceed from St. Peter whose first Episcopal See was at Antioch and then they think they have engrossed all Christians to be under the Pastoral charge of him and his Successors his Successors at Rome they mean and not at Antioch Turrian the Jesuit is far more reasonable sayiâ—â— that the Nomenclator is not known but that the name was ratified by a Synod of Apostles for he mentions a Synod held at Antioch in which these three Canons passed 1. That none should be circumcised for Baptism was the true Circumcision made without hands 2. That all Nations that believed might be collected into the Catholick
with all Christian Churches throughout the World We write our selves Christians and nothing else The name of Protestant as it was ever harmless so properly it concerned but the pleading of some grievances upon one day when a Diet of the Princes was held at Spire and when Sects were sprung up among Christians to be a Protestant was no more than to be a good Christian If our ill-willers call us by any other by-word the sin is theirs we have not the tongues of wicked men in a string that they shall give us no attributes but such as are worthy of us Non sumus Pauliani non sumus Petriani sumus Christiani Pastors must beget Children to Christ and not unto themselves therefore we are neither of Paul or Cephas but the Off-spring of Christ say the Divines of Doway and I would their deeds were suitable to their Annotation More smartly St. Hierom if you take the name of Marcionite or Valentinian you cease to be a Christian Not so will some say I can take the name of some excellent man upon me as a subordinate Servant to Christ But Ignatius goes on if you do take the name of man upon you you do lose the name of the Lord. A whole hour is not enough for all that can be said upon this point but this is enough for them that will learn how the faithful of the Circumcision and the Uncircumcision were in danger to be divided therefore they were both enclosed in the identity of one blessed name And c. So I have shewn what my Text speaks of fell out in a ripe season and a profitable opportunity now all times are capable of that which follows what this name imports and what it imposeth Our dear Redeemer having wedded the Church unto himself and having given it an interest in his precious bloud here and a lively hope to possess his glory hereafter it was meet that his Spouse should be called by his name and then either from Jesus or from Christ Jesus He was called for his Divinity for He that is Man could not save us from our sins unless He were the offended Party as well as the Ransom God and Man Christ he was called from being Man for he was anointed to execute the Offices of his Mediatorship in his humane nature Now judg in your selves whether we that are partakers of flesh and blood should have our nomination from his Godhead or from his Manhood rather only the Jesuit some Divine creature I warrant you is not contented with the common name of Christian but after much opposition of Courts of Parliament in France or Consistories in Rome he calls himself by the dear remembrance of the Epithet in which our salvation is sealed unto us But save us good Lord from such Saviours What will suffice them whom the Roialty to be called a Christian will not suffice In quo omnium sublimium nominum communionem adipiscimur says Nyssen whereby we have our share in all Titles that have sublimity in them as he that holds the fastning links of a Chain in his finger draws on all the rest to use the same Fathers Similitude The Heathen that looked for the signification of the word in their own learning and not in the Scriptures surnamed us Chrestiani à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as you would say benign and gentle So Tertullian Cum perperam Chrestianus a vobis pronunciatur de suavitate vel benignitate compositum est when you miss our right name and pronounce us Chrestians it imports sweetness and benignity It seems there was a placidness and facility of nature in the Disciples which was far from giving just offence and won it self the affections of others And is not much better than a jarring harshness which is prone to discords and contentions The spirit of wisdom it courteous and humane Wisd vii 23. Yet this fell short of the true notation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who knows it not is unctus The Anointed not every Anointed but The Anointed as if it were written in capital letters whom the old Testament in the same sense calls the Messiah and the Hellenists 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but Caninius says that the wrathful Jews who will not own him for their Messias call him not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not unctum but delibutum as you would say not anointed but stained and besmeared To whom I rejoyn videbunt quem transfixerunt they shall see him whom they have pierced with their blasphemies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Anointed of the Lord He is our Chief from whom we derive our nomination He was a King as the Psalms stile him Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Sion and so anointed He was a Priest a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedech and so anointed He was a Prophet that Prophet whom God promised to raise up to Israel among their Brethren Deutr. xviii and so anointed Ter Christus a triple anointed a triple Christ that sacred one to whom God giveth not the Spirit by measure but he is anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows and so is an infinite Christ from his superabundant unction we are replenished of his fulness we have all received some drops have trickled down from the head to the skirts nay to the feet and ancles to the lowest parts of the body and by the power of his Christhood we are transformed to be Christian Aptly hath St. Bernard ratified all this from that of Solomon Cant. ii 3. Oleum effusum nomen tuum Thy name is as ointment poured forth therefore do the Virgins love thee Christianus then to put good Greek into bad Latin is all one with Vunctianus anointed with the sprinkling of water in Baptism for the remission of sins and therefore Crism or Oil hath been applied as a significant Ceremony to the Infant baptized not only abroad but in our own Church I mean since it was reformed After this of Baptism follows the Unction of true Doctrin Ye have an unction from the holy one and ye know all things 1 Joh. ii 20. To these is added the Unction of Grace that we may be a sweet savour of life unto life and above all these the bloud of Christ is anointed upon the posts of our doors that the Destroyer may pass by and spare us and all these Lines meet in this one Center to call us Christian Is it not a grievous case that this Name so musical to the ear so melodious to the heart should be almost obscur'd to bring in another Catholick a word to be very well approved of it finds more acceptance with some than Christian These words of St. Luke in my Text are not more authentick with them hardly so much as those of Pacianus Christianus mihi nomen est Catholicus cognomen illud me nuncupat istud ostendit Christian is my name Catholick my surname the indignity is
to distort this saying as if Christian were general to every Schismatick and Sectary and Catholick were appropriated to the Orthodox abiding in the bosom of the true Church Nay some are so senseless to make the Apostles the Authors of such childish counsel that because good and bad would invade the name of Christian therefore the Disciples should call themselves Catholicks for distinction sake Why list I pray you he that can falsly say Christian is my name can he not with as much impudency and falshood say that Catholick is my surname the word becomes the Creed most divinely the holy Catholick Church for what Church shall I adhere to That which is for Time universal from the preaching of Christ unto these dayes that which is for Place universal dispersed wheresoever the Faith of the Elect is received that which is for Truth universal believing all that the Prophets and Apostles have delivered and whatsoever the Church hath ratified by its continual interpretation But our fine Italian Wits have spun out another notion that particular Church is Catholick which hath reteined the pure Truth in all Ages since Christ and never failed from whence hath resulted that proud inclosure of Roman Catholick an error not to be argued me thinks but to be whooped at I am sure Catholick in their sense is neither name nor surname of them that seek for peace They pour it on as Vinegar to make the wounds of the Church smart The Name of Christian is the Sanctuary of Unity and Oil to heal the wound let that be our Badg then which was the good Disciples c. But if you wear this Livery of Christ what service will you do him do you consider it unto what holiness you are engaged if your Title be derived from so pure a Fountain Now I am at the top of the spire at that point of my Text which is nearer to Heaven than any other It is well that we were Infants when we were first inrolled to be Christians in those sucking days we did not feel the weight that was laid upon our shoulders if we came with ripe years to Baptism and with premeditated understanding it would make us sink down when we put our foot into the waters and tremble all over to bethink us what heavenly part a Christian is to act upon the Earth as if he were an Angel incarnate Alexander Severus the Emperor whose Mother Mammaea was a Christian was saluted in the name of Antoninus by the Romans a name which had been most auspicious in that Republick By no means says the Emperor do not engage me to the necessity of that expectation Nomina insignia onerosa sunt illustrious names are burdensom and I cannot satisfie that which is looked for from them Alas but a trifle was looked for from an Antoninus in comparison of that is looked for from a Christian A few sins were esteemed no blemish in one of them one sin and unrepented of shall be an everlasting woe to one of us The similitude of a few Vertues made up a gallant Heathen the defect of one Vertue degrades a Christian In whom there is not meekness and mercies there 's no print of Christ in whom there is not humility there 's no colour of Christ in whom there is not perfect charity there is no agreement with Christ non potest esse concors cum Christo qui est discors cum Christiano he that doth not abrenuntiate and deny himself he hath no part in Christ for he that thinks his good works are estimable with Heaven and looks to be saved by his own merits est latro insultans cruci Domini says St. Austin he is the wicked Thief that insults over the Cross of Christ He that hath Christ alwayes in his eye to follow him in his heart to love him in his faith to trust in him in his works to glorifie him he is co Christus he shall communicate of his name here and he shall be cohaeres Co-heir with him in his Fathers Kingdom hereafter St. Austin calls us Heirs in this World by the usurpation of this Name sicut sunt haeredes nominis ita sunt imitatores sanctitatis Christian thou art Heir of his Name thou shalt do well therefore to be Executor of his Sanctity There are three things as the same Father hath filed them together with which our Christendom holds a secret antipathy in his short book of true Religion Neque in confusione Paganorum neque in caecitate Judaeorum neque in purgamentis Haeâ—eticorum quaerenda est it is neither to be found in the confusion of Pagans nor in the blindness of the Jews nor in the filthiness of Hereticks Justin Martyr is well rejected by the great Annalist for condescending to call all the Heathen Christians qui 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vixerunt who from the beginning of the World had instituted themselves by well guided reason This can never be concocted with truth for Christianity in the very essence is an explicit knowledg of the Son of God that died for our sins and rose again for our justification Beside Gentilism doth incorporate in it the worshipping of vain Gods and how abhorrent is that to this Name When the Roman Deputy urged Polycarpus to swear by the Genius of Cesar his answer was no more but I am a Christian a Negative to all Idolatry in that Affirmative Secondly Where there is Judaism there is no Christianism He that hath relished the honey of the Gospel says St. Austin cannot endure the bitter waters of the Law Circumcision hath a bitter acrimony in it to offend his taste nec hostiarum ferre cruorem valet nec Sabbati observantiam custodire he will not offer the bloud of Sacrifices he will not keep the observation of the Sabbath Let them note that who strive to have the entire fourth Commandment to be moral and perpetual A strange refractariness in some men that cannot endure to be Christians in Ceremonies and yet are content to fall back to those beggarly Elements of Moses and to be Jews in Ceremonies Thirdly The filthiness of Hereticks either in Doctrin or Life it draws a dash through the Name of Christian and blots it out No lie is of the truth and he that denies that Jesus is the Christ he is a liar and an Antichrist Jesus is the name of the Person of our Lord Christ is the name of his Office how every Heresie clasheth either against his Person or his Office and such a one doth so little merit to pass for a Christian that he is published for an Antichrist Or be it that you are undepraved in the truth but most depraved in manners there again you forfeit your interest in this spotless Name For why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say Luk. vi 46. Cum impiis homines sumus sed non cum impiis Christiani sumuâ—â— I do not yield clearly to that but
is the portion which comes unto us and for which our Covenant is called the Gospel of glory For tribulations which did not accord with the Jewish Oeconomy if they be not above our strength we must not only expect them but rather invite them then avoid them Vre seca hic ne parcas Domine ut in aeternum parcas Prove me chastise me bruize me like sweet Gum till thou beest pleased with my savour pitty me not in these momentary afflictions that thou mayest spare me for ever As the soul is free from the prison of the body when it is dissolved in death so it is most free from the faeces and earthiness of the body when it is not wedded to the desire of transitory things Mushrooms that have no savour when we have enjoyed them but a day Briefly Jewish servility is an unbeliever like St. Thomas Nisi mittam digitum Let me touch let me feel let me grasp my handful or it is in vain to obey the Lord Christian liberty is ingenuous and heroical it hath swum out of this dead Sea in whose mud the unregenerate do stick and if the Lord will give us himself let Ziba take all The greater is our freedom because we know we need not the aids of fortune I have heard that a Cardinal being elected to be Pope his former State is rifled because his new dignity will supply him in abundance Just so when the Spirit comforts us that we are called to a Crown of glory pardon the similitude it is no worse than as Christ hath compared himself to a Thief that comes in the night but our confidence of our new Election to that Inheritance makes us easie to part with that which others keep for a while and leave it in a moment And thus when freedom hath struck inward to our affections pardon us if we speak despicably of the Jews for our Jerusalem alone is free The whole Charter of Jerusalems freedom is dispatcht Though the hour were to begin again I would not stick at the next question how we came by it We all know the procurer and what he did to gain it for us it is a flower that grew out of the bloud of Christ We were not protected as Joshuahs Spies were by a common woman nor set at large as Samaria was by the tidings of Lepers our Deliverer is more honourable to us than our freedom the Son of God was made a Servant that we Servants might become Sons As God made nothing in nature but by his Son by him he made the Worlds so he did nothing for the restauration of the World without him He is all in all He hath freed us from the bondage of shadows by taking a body From the Covenant of Works by satisfying his Fathers Justice From the dread of fear by the sweetness of his Mercy From the sordid desire of earthly things by the operation of his holy Spirit The purchase of our Freedom was carried in this sort so that the Jesuit à Lapide borrowed a fit name to call it by you know from whom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the gift of a King of David our King Imagine by a Prosopopaea that you saw the Devil and Sin and death defying us in the same words that Goliah did the Camp of Israel If you be able to fight with us and to kill us we will be your Servants but if we prevail against you then you shall be our servants and serve us Then David our Champion slew these Giants of Gath in our quarrel and from thenceforth we are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his purchased people as St. Peter says St. Austin says that by nature we were Pharaohs bondmen that is Satans and when we forsook him and fled away to serve God in the Wilderness he followed after us but no further than the Red Sea Quid est mare rubrum Vsque ad fontem Christi cruce sanguine consecratum What is the Red Sea that divided us from him The Fountain of Baptism consecrated to save us by the Cross and Bloud of Christ Bernard alludes to the words of Jacob and says that the Church is that portion which Christ won from the Amorite with his Sword and with his Bow Gladio praedicationis arcu incarnationis With the Sword of his Doctrine with the Bow of his incarnation where the shaft and the string make but one Instrument as his Godhead and Manhood make but one Person Thus he hath snatcht us from our Enemies that were made Lords over us and from the hard bondage wherein we were made to serve Isa xiv 3. Having seen the Copy of our Freedom and knowing how we got it it is a Lesson fit to conclude with that every mans memory may carry that away at the least how we should use it No blessing hath been more abused than this Under colour hereof the Galileans would be free from Tribute the Nicolaitans from the bond of Marriage the Gnosticks from all Justice and Temperance the Clerks of the Roman Church from the Courts of the Civil Magistrate and the Anabaptists from all Moral Duties No says St. Peter to all these As free but not using your liberty as a cloak of maliciousness but as the servants of God It was St. Austins by-word Dilige Deum fac quod vis You are free therefore love God and do what you will If ye love him keep his Commandments We are not so soon loosed but we are tied again both freed and bound at once Liberando servos nos facit says the same Father in Joh. viii We must recompence his goodness with our imperfect obedience it is the Law of Gratitude it is the Bond of Nature As we commonly say that nothing is more dearly bought than that which comes by gift so we owe the greater service to him of whom we got our freedom Nay we are bound to endure all for his sake Neque hoc facit stupor sed amor nec deest dolor sed contemnitur says Bernard We feel the pain as much as they that curse and rage in their sufferings but our love unto Christ doth overcome it A Free-man that will thrive follows his Trade as close as any Apprentice though not by austere compulsion So our Freedom will not make our hands slack from working if we mean to lay up a treasure in heaven Every piece of Land they say holds of some Lord so every man retains to some Lord either we serve God or sin and Satan If we count it Freedom to take our swing in all voluptuousness pity their frensie that can stir no where but as their intemperate appetite commands them and yet mistake themselves to live without controul who are the Vassals of the Devil While they promise them liberty they themselves are the servants of corruption 2 Pet. i. 19. Tully objects to Clodius that he set up the Picture of Liberty in his house in the habit of a Strumpet Says that approved Senator
our left but God hath given the judgment of discretion to all Christians of mature age let them mark what the Scriptures say in clear and literal Positions Thirdly The judgment of direction is committed to Pastors and Teachers that are set over your souls And judge ye what we say says the Apostle and the Lord give you understanding Fourthly There is the judgment of Jurisdiction proper to them who are in places of pre-eminency and these may determine Controversies of Faith according to plain and evident Scripture but because they may exceed the bounds of truth it is pernicious to say that men are bound to obey those determinations with as great affections of Piety as the inerrable Word of God That place so much debated that the Church is the House of God the ground and Pillar of Truth will bear no more but that it is so by Office and Calling as every King is the Minister of Justice though some have failed in the execution of it And the Note of Cameron upon it is very witty and learned that the Jews were wont to prefix these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he proves it out of Maimonides before the grand Points of Religion and so may make a Preface to the succeeding Verse The pillar and ground of truth great is the mystery of Godliness c. It is an Interpretation to better Analogie of Faith than that which his Adversaries press out of the words The sum is our Faith is not built upon the Authority and Infallibility of the present Church if it controul an higher authority than it self the holy Scripture what remains but declines her judgment as our Saviour did his Parents Wist you not that I must go about my Fathers business And as Asa did depose his Mother Maacha though she were his Mother for erecting an Idol So we may reject the Mother which should command a relative adoration of Images of Stocks and Stones and appeal to our Grandmother which was free from such scandals Judicate matrem vestram says Hoseah to the Jews when the Synagogue was corrupt Plead against your Mother Yet so says Waldensis most prudently that the humble and obedient Children of the Church may not insolently insult upon them from whom they are forced to dissent but with a reverent child-like and respectful shamefac'dness Especially it is a naughty inference to argue the Church may err and doth trip in some errors therefore it is not to be obeyed You will not deal so I hope with your fleshly Parents avoid their errors but conserve the bond of obedience entire in all things the name of Mother charms us not to deride her nakedness and to conform to her prudent opinions with all submissive willingness I draw up the Point to this Brief Hearken to the Laws of the Church in things indifferent wherein she must not be burdensom Submit unto her Censures wherein she must not be tyrannous Hearken to her determinations of faith wherein she must not be peremptory Non dominantes fidei It hath no dominion over our faith This is the reciprocal League between the Mother and the Children between that Jerusalem and us which is the Mother of us all And as this obedience may challenge a blessing as confidently as Nazianzen is said to claim it of his Father Habes obedientem benedictionem repende I have been obedient I claim a benediction from you so the next thing to be considered our unity shall bring us blessing upon blessing Our Mother is one and though we are many yet in a spiritual Connexion we all make but one All the faithful in the world are drawn up into one Pronoun the Mother of Vs As Jacob did divide his company and substance when he came from Padan Aram into Canaan One Band of men and one Flock of Cattel was with Leah another with the Handmaids a third with Rachel but all were Jacobs So God hath scattered his Churches some in Europe some in Asia some in Affrica c. but all are Christs And these are all united to him in his Spirit in his Word and in his Sacraments as Wax that is melted incorporates it self with Wax My Dove my undefiled is but one Cant. vi 9. Therefore let us preserve one bond of Peace and one Charity even as hereafter we look for one glory and one felicity Says St. Chrysostom The Ceremony of old was to eat the Paschal Lamb in one house and to carry nothing out Significans unam esse domum quae in Christo salutem consequitur Portending that they shall have no part in the Sacrifice of Christ who are divided by contentious separation from that one Family of Christ wherein only the Lamb of Salvation is made ready to be eaten There is nothing that our Saviour did sooner suppress than the least emergent division that did arise among the Apostles The Apostles themselves did condescend in many things which might bear an harsh construction with a rash Judge to prevent a rupture as if when they were put to that Dilemma better that Truth should suffer a little than Unity O it is the ground of all other mysteries the Son of God who is one with his Father is made one with us that we might be one as he is one both with him and among our selves As Christ hath but one truth so he can have but one Society one Communion of Saints to profess it as there is but one Shepherd so there can be but one Sheepfold Joh. x. 16. Nay to straiten it yet more in the phrase of the Holy Ghost the whole body of the Faithful is as it were no more than one man So we read Ephes ii 15. He abolished in himself the enmity meaning that which was between the Jews and Gentiles for to make in himself of twain one new man so making peace As who should say They of the old Leaven make a great number in their discords and diversities but they that spring from one root of Faith from Hope from one Baptism in Christ Jesus they make but one new man But what if Hereticks and Schismaticks will not suffer this unity entire and unviolated The issue is quickly cast up the unity of Jerusalem is the greater for their departure The scandal I confess is contagious to those that are without but the sounder part is the more sound for the evacuation of those bad humours Avolet quantùm volet palea levis fidei eò purior massa frumenti in horreum Domini reponetur Yet let her that calls her self the Mother take heed that she put not her Children from her for every jar and error nay nor for a Capital error unless it be joyned with an irrecoverable pertinacy Who were worse than the Galatians at the time when St. Paul wrote this Epistle What a venomous corruption was in their Churches mingling the Ceremonies of the Old Law and faith in Christ Jesus together which could never be compounded and yet the Apostle accounts
through him might be saved And indeed the best that we can say of the Figure is That it was harmless and no very Serpent But it were dotage to suppose that the material thing had any secret vertue of restauration no more than the Figure of the Cross upon the post-fact is operative a superstition which our Church hath justly disclaimed He sent forth his word and he healed them says David it was Gods Word and Promise that cured them and not the brazen Element But Christ conteined remedy in himself and in his all-sufficient Sacrifice For the Son of righteousness did arise with healing in his wings Mal. iv 2. What hath he not healed if we will lay the plaisters of his Passion to our sins By his Poverty he hath condemned Covetousness by his charitable Prayers for his enemies implacable malice by the price for which the holy One was bought and sold Sacriledge by his Crown of thorns Ambition by the humility of his Cross Pride by his Gall and Vinegar Luxury by his Patience Impatience by his infinite Love Envy all his torments were preservatives against poison every part of him is sanity And that not only because this Figure was unvenomed but chiefly because it was a dead lump and not a living Serpent Mortuus serpens vivos superabat says Macarius The living Serpents were charmed by the dead one that they had no power to kill The bloud of Christ purgeth us from our sins and his death was our victory against death that we might live for ever It was well done of Nicodemus to spare no cost to imbalm his body It was piously done of Mary Magdalen to pour her precious Ointment upon his head against the day of his burial for therein we became the savour of life unto life and his Funeral was our immortality As Samson found his honey comb in the Carkass of the Lion so the Church finds sweetness in the bitterness of his Passion Caiaphas did not feel the vigour of his own Prophesie it slipt from his tongue and not from his heart That it was expedient that one man should die for the sins of the people His Successors contradict it obstinately to this day and controul it thus How can he save us that is crucified I return them an answer from my Text How could a dead lump of Brass expel their poison that were wounded If they depended upon a thing inanimate for the life of their body wherefore do they not attend the mystery that they must depend upon a Saviour put to death for the life of their Soul Attenditur serpens ut nihil valeat serpens attenditur mors ut nihil valeat mors says St. Austin The Jews look'd upon a Serpent to be freed from Serpents and Christians look upon death to be delivered from death There is one analogy more to be collected out of the unity of the Figure One Serpent was lifted up for the general preservation of all the Camp of Israel Not twelve distinct ones according to the number of their Tribes and much less no uncertain multiplication according to the number of their Families Nulla salus sine unitate The hope of health and remedy is founded in unity Our Gods are not Plural our Redeemers are not many they that have divers Saviours have never a Saviour They that have tutelary Martyrs for almost every Church and Patron Saints distinctly for every Kingdom they have so many Serpents lifted up and they look so many ways that their wounds stink and are corrupt through their foolishness and they prosper no way We have one head to which the body is knit one Shepherd to guide the Flock one corner stone in the building one Serpent in the Wilderness One Mediator between God and man the man Jesus Christ An infinite vertue can admit of no co-partnership I tremble at their infidelity that frame Scholastical Cases out of their own brain how others are subservient to the Son of God in the work of our Redemption But he says I have trod the wine-press alone and of the people there was none with me Isa lxiii 3. Whether an Israelite chanced to be stung in the head or in the face whether upon the breast or in the lower parts of the body one Serpent upon the Pole was enough to heal all So we have sins original and actual of commission and omission of ignorance infirmity and presumption of thought word and deed Vndique morsus we are stung from the crown of the head to the soul of the foot But as all are dead so one died for all that they which live should not live unto themselves but unto him that died for us and rose again Now for the material part out of which this Figure was carved it was not wrought in stone The Law was written in Tables of stone but grace and mercy are of another complexion It was not Silver or Gold though they in some sort are most correspondent in nature with Serpents for they are the bane of godliness and justice but we were not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious bloud of Christ as of a Lamb undefiled It was erected in the strong and durable substance of Brass For one Generation passeth away and another cometh but the vertue of Christs Cross is perpetual and endures for ever It is not my excogitation but Isidors In serpente mortuus in aere aeternus Dead as the Serpent upon the Pole but durable as the Brass because the benefit of his death continues always Therefore his bloud is called The bloud of the everlasting Covenant Heb. xiii 20. Sooner shall all the brazen Pillars and Monuments upon earth be resolved into dust than one jot of this Covenant should be violated the merit of his Passion makes intercession for us continually before his Father and never ceaseth Behold our Pardon is engraven in Brass never to be blotted out it is too strong to be dissolved I look not upon that which is fluxive and changeable but upon a propitiation in Brass Yet not upon the Altar of Brass lest the Israelites should think that their own Sacrifices of Sheep and Oxen did help them but upon the Serpent of Brass to let them perceive that it was the Sacrifice of Christ that healed them Beside could a Statue of Brass endure more injuries than were laid upon the tender body of our Saviour Could an Anvile sustain more stripes and blows When Job began to sink under the pressure of his afflictions says he Is my strength the strength of stones Or is my flesh of brass He was a man that had the courage to suffer much yet he had not a brazen body infirmity made him sink and wish for death but Christ endured for our sakes as a man of brass I pray God we have not hearts of steel that do not consider it Above all the Prophets Isidore doth well to call Jeremy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most passive of
Persecutors to be a Counsel and not a Precept Some would have all going to Law to be a repining against the will of God and impatiency against his scourge when he takes any thing from us by the same tenure a sickness being a scourge from God we must not seek to the Physician to cure it Finally The Anabaptists think that the Gospel hath so quite cut the Nerves of revenge that they abhor the Magistrate who is the conservator of peace and justice and repute him to be Gods instrument no otherwise than as Nebuchadonozor or the Devil This is a large field of Tares to be cut down and all with one Sickle revenge may be prosecuted for the correction of sin for the peace of the Church for the demonstration of Gods justice So doth our Church in the Collect used in the time of War Asswage the malice of our Enemies abate their pride confound their devices So do the Souls of the Martyrs in heaven Avenge our bloud c. I confess it is an hard matter to hit of this way which I speak of and among those that pray for revenge not one among a thousand I am perswaded but tread awry Howsoever the pure love to Justice may stir us up to those devotions yet our frailty can scarcely perform it without some vindicative passions It is a common error to miscall our Spleen by the name of Zeal and to take that hot affection to be a Coal from the Altar which is a firebrand from the infernal Pit But it is a second Conclusion that the Spirits of good men departed may cry out to have judgment pass upon Tyrants for the effusion of their bloud because they can ask nothing inordinately they that are confirmed in grace and cannot sin they cannot make a Petition that is over-ballanced with the least grain of rancor or partiality Beside as Rabshekah said to the men of Judah how untruly let him answer it Am I now come up without the Lord against this Land to destroy it Yea the Lord said unto me Go up against this Land and destroy it So may the Saints say without prevarication Do we pray for vengeance against our Persecutors without the Lord Yea the Lord hath said unto us Pray unto me for vengeance against your Enemies their Will moves by his inspiration and they can wish for nothing without it Ab ipso bibunt quodcunque sitiunt St. Austin speaks it upon my Text when they thirst for any thing they drink it first from the Fountain of his pleasure Wherefore there is this disparity in our case and theirs We are ignorant what may become of our Persecutors Stubborn sinners are often called to repentance Paul was converted in that minute when he imagined most mischief against the Faith O then let us overcome evil with good praying that they may turn unto the Lord and be saved This is a fair Christian revenge indeed to pray against their sins Hoc ipsum in illis vindicatur quod periit iniquitas Now the Saints in glory as many of the best Divines hold are not at such uncertainty as we are but it is revealed unto them that their Persecutors are in a lost condition that they will die in their impenitency therefore in conformity to that judgment which God hath reserved for them they pour out their Imprecations that destruction may take them unawares They that know how unalterable the Decrees of the Lord are and by special impartment are acquainted with the execution of his Decrees it is impossible that the Saints in Heaven should solicite him for the salvation of Reprobates they pray for nothing but for that which they obtain they pray for none but for whom they may be heard Some of us ask and have not St. James tells us why Because we ask amiss The drift of this Conclusion is we ask good things of God for our Enemies because for ought we know they may become his friends The Martyrs cry aloud against their Enemies because they know they shall be Fiends of Hell We are restrained from cursing our ill-willers because malice will inject it self into such Prayers the Citizens which dwell above are liable to no such prohibition because there can be no defect in their charity The third Conclusion is so cautious to give no scandal so circumspect not to open the least window to malice and hatred that it resents the word Revenge in this place to be of an improper signification and that which the Souls departed sue for is not revenge but deliverance Deliverance Of what Not of themselves who are out of harms-way in Abrahams bosom But of their Brethren afflicted and tormented here beneath As who should say How long O Lord wilt thou not deliver the bloud of our Brethren the poor Members of the Militant Church from them that rage upon the Earth They that are dead in the Lord have not only an existence after this life but a memory to call to mind what garboyls were in this world when they breathed in it as the Parabolical History of the Rich man and Lazarus may confirm it This being presupposed as the opinion of others I press it not as irrefragable it must go along with it that they have a most compassionate desire that the poor Sheep whom they left in the midst of Wolves may have an end of their misery And no marvel if their Communion which they had and shall have again make them clamour as if they petition for themselves How long O Lord c. For as young Scholars talk Proverbially of the breaking of Priscians head when a Solacism is committed though he be rotten in his grave so unmerciful proceedings against them that suffer under the Cross of Christ seem to fetch bloud from the Saints in Heaven You will think I suppose that this Interpretation sticks at a knot To deliver is a softer and a more innocent word than to revenge how will that stubborn word to revenge bear so mild a signification The Criticks will readily help us in that David pleading his integrity before Saul yet mistrusting that his displeasure was unreasonable and implacable says he Vlciscatur me de te Jehova The Lord avenge me of thee As the Letter sounds this had been most disloyal and most dangerous to have cursed Saul to his face therefore the Phrase must be understood in this manner The Lord deliver me from thy vengeance Again 1 Mach. xiii 6. I will avenge my Nation and the Sanctuary and our Wives and Children for the heathen are gathered to destroy us What is meant then by avenging the Sanctuary but delivering it from profanation To uphold it with another Authority the Widow invokes the unjust Judge to avenge her of her adversary Luk. xviii 3. Camerarius says it is jus exequere do me right against him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Juris consulti vocant defensores that is they that defend and maintain the cause of the poor are called
their avengers It cannot utterly be gainsaid therefore but that the Grammatical words will bear this sense that the Souls under the Altar pray for deliverance rather than revenge For the deliverance of their Brethren that suffer not for the confusion of those Malefactors that spill their bloud I confess if you take Revenge in the usual way for a cankered desire to see the hurt of another this construction were the safer And for Analogy of Faith it agrees well with that that the holy Ones in the sight of God pray that their Brethren may be pluckt out of the jaws of their Tormentors and fill up their Society in Heaven So St. Cyprian Illic copiosa turba nos desiderat de suâ immortalitate secura adhuc de nostra solicita An innumerous company of holy ones in Heaven desire our coming resting secure in their own peace and glory but solicitous for ours And Bernard very vehemently Vnde tibi hoc ô caro foetida How comes this to pass O filthy and sinful flesh of man that they in whom Gods Image is repaired should long for thy fellowship in whom it is defaced That they who are made white with the bloud of the Lamb should wish for thee that art polluted So I leave this Point with a probable assent but no more that the Saints desire not the vengeance of the ungodly but the deliverance of the righteous It is drawn up more solidly in the fourth Conclusion That vengeance indeed is no part of their Petition in Heaven it was their love and forgiveness of their Enemies which God accepted when he exalted them thither and surely their Charity is increased and not diminished But how then will St. Johns Vision and their Charity hold together Well enough directly they pray for that which is fit for the voice of Saints but because no good thing is good to them that hate the Church obliquely it brings vengeance upon them Cajetan is the great abettor of this Interpretation I shall find another Author for it they are our Saviours words Luk. xviii 7. Shall not God avenge his own Elect that cry day and night unto him Says he The assiduous cry of the Elect tends formally to this that the Kingdom of God would come and that he would accomplish all things but forasmuch as when this Kingdom is come and the Elect are gathered together from the four Winds the wicked shall be turned into Hell and all the people that imagined evil against his Sanctuary therefore virtually and indirectly they invocate God that his Foes may be swept away with the Beesom of destruction Affectu orant pro persecutoribus effectu pro vindictâ Their affections are sweet and tender that all Infidels who defie the Gospel of Christ may be converted but the effect which follows their Prayers shall not be their Salvation but their Subversion for ever The Casuists express this after a pretty manner that the Will of any man is Mother to some effects and Grandmother to other some Such things as it wisheth for expresly it is the Mother of those desires when many things fall out consequently upon these desires and quite beside the intention of the wish they are not the Children of our own Will but our Daughters Daughters as it were and our Will is but Grandmother unto them I desire fair weather meerly for mine own delight my fancy covets nothing else but this may hinder the Seeds-man in the Field or burn up his Flowers that hath planted a Garden those effects are not begot by my Will their relation is that they came to pass out of that which I desired they are my Childrens Children and so remotely they are mine Or as a Ward wisheth that he were come to Age and had sued out his Livery his aim is to be seized of his own Inheritance yet that desire cannot be accomplished in some instances without wringing his Estate out of the hand of his Guardian and leaving him poor and succourless So says Gregory the Great to this case in my Text Sancti petunt mundi consummationem atque indui corporibus These blessed Souls call for the consummation of the World for a joyful Resurrection and to be cloathed with their bodies But woe unto violent men that have insulted upon the Righteous when that shall come to pass then shall their cruelty begin to be requited The Saints do praise God day and night and the Incense of their Prayers is lifted up unto him for a greater amplification of their triumph yet since their honour must be the ruine of many this must necessarily be derived out of their Petitions that the Lord would judge and avenge their bloud on them that dwell on the Earth But you will say I have not yet made it to appear that the primary and direct Petition of the Saints is that God will reveal his utmost glory in the end of all things and in the Resurrection of their bodies I refer you for that to the verse which follows my Text for why had each of them his white Robe given Or why is it said That they should rest for a little season and till all were fulfilled This is no answer to the words of my Text but an answer to their uncessant Prayer for the future Resurrection that the pittance of glory which they had must satisfie them and in due time when the whole body was gathered together there should be an accomplishment of their blessedness I do not say That the time deferred is irksom to them for their heart is so devoted to every thing that God pleaseth to have done that it is sweeter to them since the Lord will have it so to have the time adjourned when they shall be cloathed with their house which is from Heaven than if it were now at hand Yet the Spirit hath such a thirst to resume the Flesh again that it spends their affections in part upon the object which otherwise would freely and intirely without deducting any share be consecrated to the praise of the Eternal Majesty To dispatch this Conclusion now if I look right upon it it is sound and hath no flaw namely that the proper ingredients of the prayer of the Saints departed are for the hastening of Christs Kingdom and for a speedy Resurrection but to the terror of them that are destructive and unmerciful that heavenly supplication devoves them by consequent to the nethermost Hell There is but one Conclusion more behind the fifth and last which stands upon this firm Basis that if any man will be contentious that revenge is every way to be exploded out of the Prayers of holy Martyrs though his conscience receive scandal unjustly where none is given yet there is one interpretation left which is obnoxious to no exception namely that these words are not Oratio personae sed rei the Martyrs themselves do not utter such a Prayer in the ears of God but the wrongs and injuries which they sustained