Dr. Stewards Sermons TRIAS SACRA A Second Ternary OF SERMONS PREACHED Being the last and best Monuments that are likely to be made publique of that most learned pious and eminent Dr. Richard Stuart DEAN of St. Pauls afterwards Dean of Westminster and Clark of the Closet to his late Majesty King CHARLES Being Dead he yet speaketh LONDON Printed by T. L. for Hen. Brome at the Gun in Ivy lane 1659. TO THE READER Courteous Reader I Have almost protested against Printing in such a Time as this wherein a most ingenuous invention was never more abused and 't is doubtful whether this or that of Powder have hurted the modern world most I dare believe had the Founders of them had so much of Providence as Invention they had stifled their {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} in the birth and never bequeathed such dangerous VVeapons into the hands of such mad men as we are who abuse both the Powder and the Press as that cursed Assasine to kill body and soul too But since the soul must have her Mess without which she cannot live and that is best and soonest carved out to her from the shops of Intellectuall provisions And since too many sawcy and capricious Peasants have kickt down her dishes as they were serving in and most of her entertainment has contracted much dirt about it and is rendered unfit for her Table Reader take this as a part of the cleanest Divinity that is left us being I think disht out to thee before the sâ—…uffle began and is sent to thee by A Steward who when alive loved to serve those of the houshold with clean dyet and well drest and now dead is entred into the joy of his Lord It has no other plot upon thee but to save thee there be other Tables spread for thee in the world but 't is foul meat ill drest hard to digest will lie heavy on thy Stomack which thou must disgorge or die for it and a very hard reckoning at last Use the Steward God hath sent thee who brings thee this Angels food and bread from Heaven and taking what is carved thee go on eating till thou come where thou shalt read all in God A Table of the Texts PHILIP 4. 17. Not because I desire a gift but I desire Fruit that may abound to your account MARK 6. 20. For Herod feared Iohn knowing that he was a just man and an holy and observed him and when he heard him he did many things and heard him gladly HEBREWS 10. 1 2. For the Law having a shadow of good Things to come and not the very Image of the Things can never with those Sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the commers thereunto perfect For then would not they have ceas'd to be offered because the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of Sin The First SERMON PHILIPIANS 4. 17. Not because I desire a gift but I desire Fruit that may abound to your account GODS vineyard had for some certain years been now planted at Philippi and therefore no marvail if the labourers did both desire and expect fruit Indeed should those Disciples have believed onely it would have argued that the vines had taken root but yet except they also bring forth fruit with patience the Apostle who cultivated them might well conclude the ground of their hearts was but unprofitable The Philippians then must be working and their works must be fruits too answerable to those rootes of Faith which they had received by Saint Pauls plantation For if a Christian soul bring forth the works of darknesse being himself a child of light it is no lesse unnaturall than for a vine to beâ—…r Thorns or a Fig tree Thistles If it yeeld works in themselves good yet without the culture and help of faith it is but like some hollow stump which the bees have chosen to be their store house it may afford honey a gift perhaps and yet in it self be both dead and fruit That the Philippians were to abstain from works of impiety both nature and Saint Paul had taught them My Apostle here becomes more punctual and admits not of all those works which yet in mans judgment perhaps might seem approvable he is more curious in his choice and like those Fishermen in Saint Matthews Gospell Chap. 13. He accepts not of all that comes to hand but takes the good and refuseth the bad I desire fruit saith he thus with them he puts the good into vessels but I desire not a gift saith he again so he casts the bad away In the whole there are these things considerable First A distinction of works they are either gifts or fruits or to speak more properly to this text a division of paris within the same good work For either we consider the matter whereof it consists and so 't is a gift or else the root from whence it takes life and so 't is fruit Secondly A direction for our practice The Axe is laid to the root of the tree bring forth therefore fruits not gifts onely And this truth stands here Armed with a double weapon the first is the judgment of mine Apostle I desire not a gift but I desire fruit The Second is the nature of â—…he things themselves fruits abound to your account saith my Text and thereby intimates that what is but gift onely comes not into the reckoning My discourse then must consist of these three parts First I am to shew you the conditions requisite to the perfection of a good work it must not onely be the gift of the man but the fruit of his Faith Next I must inform you how to esteem of a good work you must not so much respect the gift it self as the Faith of him that gives it for so my Apostle is resolute I desire not a gift c. He was in want and penury at this time and yet takes more delight that his Philippians are good than that they are liberal joyes more to see their Faith than to feel their bounty In the last place I must acquaint you with the value and price of good works We have an account to make with the King of Heaven and at his great Audit such â—…oyn as this good works will be passable Strengthen me O Lord while I treat of these particulars in their order and you my beloved Here and 〈◊〉 likewise Not because I desire a gift but I desire fruit c. Gifts and fruits As the man is so is his strength was the Speech of those Midianitish Princes unto Gideon the revenger of Israel Iudg. 8. 21. And 't is no lesse true in the Acts of Religion than those of valour as is the man so are his works There are some you know who want as much Faith as they have Hypocrisie men that desire not so much to be as to be accounted Religious in whose mouths there is a God sometimes but their hearts are farre from him Such as
these may love our Nation perhaps they may build or endow Synagogues they may give gifts even beyond the lists of a free mind and become prodigal in their charity and yet when their goodly buildings fare now finished their large possessions firmly conveigh'd in stead o being the Servâ—…ants of God become no better than the Slaves of their own â—…ain Glory with those founders of Babel Come let us build and get a name say they I they respect their name more than God and desire more to live in the peoples applause than with Gods approbation But can such a mans works do good to others and yet in themselves be evill may a man erect Temples to the honour of God houses for the education of his Prophets may he give his bread to the hungry and clothes to them who are naked and yet all these goodly deeds be counted reprobate not so much as to be termed good works Can a man in the same Act be both a Benefactour and a Sinner My Text decides it so for it expects in our good works that they be as well fruits as gifts as well the fruits of faith as the gifts of fortune If a man give Almes to the poor not so much to expresse his duty to God as to winne applause from spectatours this Action may possibly be termed a good gift but it is no good fruit T is a good Gift because it gave ease perhaps to his poverty who received it 'T is no good Fruit because the tree was evill it grew not upon a right stock it proceeded not from his faith but his vain Glory 'T is an old rule and allowed by him who is Truth it self the tree is known by his fruit but I must now invert the Maxim and tell you the fruit is known by the tree For here it is so Would ye find the difference between Cains offering and that of Abels look not so much upon their Sacrifices as upon themselves The elder brought the encrease of his ground the younger of his Cattell both alike perhaps in worth and estimation had they been to have been sold in the market And yet there was as great a difference in their works as in their persons as great a disproportion in their Religious offices as there was between Abel a Saint and Cain a murtherer My Apostle hath penn'd the difference in the 11th to the Hebrewâ—… at the 4th verse And as the example is there related it seems as happily suitable to this point as to his conclusion By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent Sacrifice than Cain See here the exact perfection of a true good work He offered Sacrifice a Gift there 's the matter whereof it consisted but he offered it by faith saith the Text and therefore it was fruit too and that 's the root from whence it took life His Cattel made the work a gift but his faith made it fruit In Cains Sacrifice the case was otherwise He came to the Altar like him in the Gospell unto the Kings Table who came in as a man onely not as a guest for his marriage-robe was wanting he had not on a wedding garment so Cain brought of the fruit of the ground and probably his Sheaves might be as well grown in their kinds as Abels Lambs how be it his Sacrifice proved a gift onely it was no fruit why because he who wants the root of faith can never offer the fruit of good works Cain a reprobate may seem perhaps liberal before men he cannot be fruitfull before God That of David at first hearing may seem harsh and improbable Thou desirest no Sacrifice else would â—… give it thee thou delightest not in burnt-offerings 't is in the 51 Psalm at the 16. verse What is God himself now become mutable is his mind changed doth his law so strickly enjoyn Sacrifices and yet in Davids time doth he not desire them was the priesthood of Aaron at an end before that of Christ began The sequel answers and Satisfieth the doubt The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit For now me thinks he speaks there in the Kingly Prophet neither more nor lesse than what he hath here intimated by his great Apostle I desire no Sacrifice that is I desire not a bare gift onely what make your Cattel at the door of my Sarctuary while your hears run on whoring after strange Gods Indeed I have commanded that beasts should beslain but whiles their bodies are â—…orn your hearts should be rent too I desire not those naked Gifts but I desire Fruit a broken and contrite Spirit I desire repentance the fruit of faith Adde this Salt unto your Sacrifice and then come offer as much sacrifice as you will make my Altars grow fat with offerings weary my Levites let my Priests faint through the multitude of your oblations offer up the fruit of your ground the encrease of your Cattel Tythe mint and cumins 'T is acknowledged these gifts ought to be done but withall remember Iustice and Iudgment remember to break and rent your hearts these fruits must not be left undone Will you see the Gospell exemplifie this truth attend our Saviour into the Temple and with him behold the Jews casting into the Treasury you may there fix your eye upon some long-rob'd Pharisee whose Phylacteries are so Spacious that they scarse leave any room for goodnesse and suddenly perceive his pride so superâ—…uously bountifull as if he came not to adore but to purchase a deity you may then descry a poor yet pious widdow whose bounty and living are of the same extent they both make but a farthing And then hear Christs censure of the oblations {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} This poor widdow here hath cast in more than they all How more than the Pharisee Can the truth it self be found at such a fault Can a farthing be more than thousands yes very well in account though not in quantity That which she did was a perfect good work her farthing was but a gift but the good intent the good mind wherewith she gave it was fruit That namely her farthing was the body onely but this to wit her true devotion was the soul of her Action This crown'd her good work Each of the rest gave a gift indeed perhaps rich and goodly but that was onely the carcase of a good work one to winne an opinion of Holinesse another of Magnificence but for fruit you can there expect none where there 's no Integrity And now Beloved judge ye whether is better living David then dead Goliah David is little but yet a perfect man Goliah is large and vast of bulk but yet no more than a Trunk So a Pharisees works may be goodly indeed and great in outward shew but yet dead in themselves because their hearts are uncircumcised Those of the widdow are lively and full of faith little but good works Didiciate Deus meus inter datum fructum discernere sayes S. Austin
to what he doth not yet possesse and a man may wrongfully possess that to which he hath no just Title Nabouh had to his vineyard to wit Title of inheritance the Lord forbid saith he to Ahab that I should give the Inheritance of my Fathers unto thee 1. of Kings 21. Yet at length Ahab possest it without a Title for ought we find unlesse perhaps it were some new Law of Iezabels enacting that the Husband should succeed him whom the Wife had murthered We may get a right of Title by others for so Isaack had it to his Inheritance because he was the Son of Sarah the wife of Abraham and Mephibosheth to his possession because he was the Son of Ionathan the Friend of David But 't is the Act of their own Body usually whereby men take possession Possessio quasi pedis positio say the learned Lawyers 't is gotten by setting our foot and seeming to take up our rest upon the ground which we meant to possesse You may remember Ahab went down in person to take possession of Nabaoths vineyard in the Text before cited So then we may get a right of Title from the bounty of others but possession is the Fruit of our own endeavours I apply it the practice of this legal course is no lesse observable in the attainment of the Everlasting Kingdom for to have a Title to it is one thing the manner of possessing it another If we be Sons then are we also heirs Saith the Apostle there 's our Title 't is by a right of Inheritance Well done good and faithful Servant enter into thy masters joy there 's the manner of possessing it 't is per pedis positionem by setting our feet and putting our selves resolutely into that narrow way which leadeth unto life by bringing forth the Fruits of Faith which may abound and advance us unto this possession Calvin himself hath intimated what I now observed in his third Book of Institutions chap. 17. In his locis in these Texts saith he where Eternal life is called the reward of good works the Holy Ghost speaks not of life it self but of the form of enjoying it that is as I understand him he speaks not of our Title to the Kingdom but of the manner how we must possesse it Without Fruits then our Account will not be taken or to speak plainly and leave this Metaphor without good works there 's no Salvation They are not indeed the cause but they are the way to life They are not the Title whereby we lay claym to Heaven but yet they serve instead of that legal form whereby we must take possession of Heaven Nor is my Text any way injurious to Faith while it holds good works in so great esteem for if you observe the word here used by my Apostle when he mentions the one he implyes the other yea and chiefly extolls Faith though he doth not name it {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} he saith not I desire good works but I desire Fruit They are not esteem'd then for their own sakes but because they grew upon the Stemm of Faith He that loves an Israelite because he is the Son of Abraham loves Abraham more than he doth the Israelite and so he that desires good works because they are the Fruits of Faith honours Faith more than he doth good works For our affection looks chiefly at that which first moves it and therefore the cause why we respect any thing is still more in our account than the Thing it self Names of Relation alwayes busie our understanding and by a silent kind of Command make us to search farther than the Thing we hear If we call the Rechabites no more but good men our apprehension confines it self unto their persons only but when we Stile them obedient Sons we can hardly abstain from making some farther enquiry touching their Father Ionadab So had it been here said Good works abound we might perhaps have sought no further than into their desert but the name of Fruit which is given them makes us enquire for the Tree on which they grow and silently enformes our understanding that good works do therefore abound to our account because they are the Fruits of Faith that saves us So then 't is Faith that justifies both our selves and our works too it makes us of Sinfull men become the children of God and it makes our works of unprofitable Actions become Fruits abounding unto our Eternal Freedome Where 's now the forehead of that Romish strumpet who dares affirm that our Doctrine hinders good works and that without blushing too Indeed we must not say they merit that were as false as dangerous and the ready way to make us men become rather proud than honest yet we averr without good works there 's no Salvation and in mine Apostles phrase that without such Fruit we shall fail in our account our Master will be wroth with us and deliver us over to the Tormentor to lye in prison till we pay all that 's due to him which will be to eternity If this be not a sufficient inducement to good works what is who can move him that regards neither the losse of Heaven nor the gaining of hell nor do I well see how our adversaries themselves should present us with a greater motive unlesse perhaps they will have the confidence to tell us that the Fire of Hell is not so hot but burns more gently and softly than that of Purgatory 'T were to be wished indeed that in this point our lines were as well able to give Rome the lye as our Doctrine is she might then see as well as read that the reformed Church can be both good and humble too and knows both to be rich in the Fruits of Faith and yet to rely onely upon Christs satisfaction I conclude with that of Saint Austin in the 23th chapter of his Confession Germinet anima nostra opera misericordiae Let our souls Bud and Bring forth the works of mercy pitty the Fatherlesse have compassion on the poor relieve those that are in distresse lend a tender and favourable ear to the widdows groanes Be ye members one of another by compassion and a lively sense of your Brethrens sufferings and be ye members one to another by the free help of your Benevolence and Chatity Be Eyes to the blind be Feet to the lame be Hands to them that cannot through age or other impotency labour for themselves In a word give Almes every man according to his Estate liberally frequently constantly worship God humbly and devoutly do all kind of good works with Diligence Faithfullnesse and Sincerity So shall your Fruit abound not onely to your own but to the Churches account the Church shall have wherewith to answer her Adversaries in this world and your selves wherewith to satisfy that great Judge of account in the world to come which God of his mercy grant c. The Second SERMON MARK 6. 20. For Herod feared Iohn knowing
in his last book of Confessions at the twenty sixth chap. I have learned it of thee O my God to put a difference betwixt gifts and fruits What may the difference be good Father Datum est res ipsa quam dat qui impartitur haeâ—… necessaria Fructus recta voluntas Datoris est A gift is no more than the bare thing it self which is bestowed Fruit is the good intent oâ—… him that gives it To afford a Disciple a cup of cold water is a gift But to do it in the name of a Disoiple that argues a Religious inclination and then 't is fruit too To sustain a prophet that 's a gift and so the Ravens did feed Eliah But to give him entertainment in the name of a Prophet because he is a man of God This is fruit it self and so he was nourished onely by the good widdow of Zarephah Didici a te Deus meus saith the devout Father this have I learn'd of thee my God He thought it worth the registring that he had received so usefull a Doctrine from so great an Authour For throughout the various passages of our doubtfull life what more universally profitable what more applyable Each humane Action admits of this mixture there 's a gift and there should be fruit in it your very approach into these Assemblies what is it but a gift you give unto God your paines you give him your presence you afford him the knee the eye the hand with those other complements of Religious honour If these be done onely upon some false respects as either to purchase an opinion of Holinesse or to avoid the threats of the law if they be done either for fear of Superiours or to keep correspondency with those of your own Rank they make but a bare gift onely and are as farre from the nature of a good work as truth is from hypocrisie That these gestures may become fruits too make Religion the Mistresse of your outward Actions let her prompt your feet to go your eyes to look upward subject all your members unto the Scepter of her direction Be indeed what you would seem to be For 't is a shame that your bodies should be more Christian than your soules that your tongues should be more ready to praise than your hearts to conceive the Lord Your knees more officious to bow to him than your souls to adore him Let that Kingly votary be your guide and instruction Come says he let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker First worship that 's the Fruit of a Religious intent and then fall down and kneel those are the gifts of our outward Actions and therefore that the service of your knees eyes hands may be acceptable first take order that your Souls do worship My Text commands yet further and will needs sit in judgment even with this exercise at which we are present it claimes rule in the Pulpit too and requires that our Sermons be composed of its two ingredients that they have in them both gift and fruit They must be gifts to others and fruits to our selves If we preach rather to insnare mens â—…ares than to correct their affections if in stead of censuring mens sins we defame their persons if our intent be not so much to winne Souls as followers and that we preach ac si deus numeraret tantum non aestimaret as if God were able onely to number our Sermons but not to weigh and judge of them if thus we offer gifts only and those as displeasing in the eyes of the eternal God as they are oft times ridiculous unto the eares of a mortal Auditor But when with an upright and pure heart we intend and endeavour the health of Israel when our reprehensions do as much move our selves while we meditate them as we desire they should work upon our hearers when we deliver them if Iudah hear of her sins not from our passion but our conscience and the house of Iacob of their transgressions not to vilifie but to reform her people then our discourses and exhortations to you become Fruits too and then are they no lesse pledges of our own salvation than they are the means of yours Happy Preacher who endeavours this composition who affects that his Sermons may appear to be as well the Fruits of faith as the Gifts of learning for in so doing he shall both save himself and them that hear him The word {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} is yet more Doctrinal Good works are here called Fruits 't is to let us understand that as fruits keep a due proportion to the tree that beares them so should our works be still answerable to our ability In this way to heaven the blind mans fight as it is expressed in the Gospell must be our direction I see men as trees walking we must walk like trees you know 't were unnatural for a pomegranate to bear fruits no bigger than a grape and 't is no lesse unseemly for a man of large Revennew to give Almes like his meaner neighbour Neither must our charity exceed our Estate for when a man grows liberal beyond his means t is as if a vine in stead of its proper grape should bring forth a gourd We read Exod. 35. 20. at the building of the Tabernacle some brought Gold and precious Stones some Purple and Fine twined linnen others Badgers skins and Goats hair to the Sanctuary all these were Fruits Gold and precious Stones fit for the Nobles of Israel to bear Purple and Fine linnen for persons of middle rank Skins and Goates haire for the poorer sort Iael may give Milk to drink and bring forth butter in a Lordly dish 't is well if the poor widdow can give a little Cake and a draught of water to Eliah Thus let each tree bring forth its own Fruit let each mans wisdome proportion his contribution to his Estate Great men must do great works and God may as well expect that a rich man should build a Church where there is need as that another should adorn it Should Caithas have cast in those Two mites into the Treasury men might rather have scorn'd his basenesse than commended his charity mites did well become the widdow but the high Priest must bring a larger offering I know 't is not our substance but our Faith which commends the work but yet we may well suspect the Niggards faith when he gives too little of his substance and he 's to be counted a very weak Christian whose covetousnesse shuts his purse so close that his Faith cannot open it There are some that can speak great store of charity they can give good words to people in want Alas my brother Alas poor man I am sorry for you yea they can be content to pray sometimes that God would help them but it is with reservation so that they be not his instruments But such Trees as these bear not fruit but leaves and as you