and so doe King Dauids Penitentialls God commands wicked seruants to bee beaten Deut. 28. I will conclude thi◠point with two short admonitions one out of the Prophet Heare the rod and who sends it Micah 6. the other is out of the Psalme As the eye of a seruant looketh to the hand of his master and the eye of a mayden to the hand of her mistresse euen so our eyes looke vnto the Lord our God vntill he haue mercie vpon vs Psal 123. Other ceremonies were vsed by Penitents in the Old Testament and in the New especially who were wont to humble themselues vsque ad inuidiam coeli as ancient Writers doe Hyperbolize but with no ill meaning they did so farre afflict themselues for sinne that the very Saints in Heauen might enuie their deepe Humiliation But tantae seneritati non sumus pares those patternes are too austere for these dissolute times onely let mee obserue this vnto you that Repentance must be an Holocaust all our inward our outward senses should concurre to testifie our godly sorrow for sinne wee should suffer not one of them to take rest themselues or giue rest to God By this you may perceiue that Penitentiall Deuotion is an excellent Vertue but not so common as the world thinketh The last thing that I noted vpon this Deuotion is that it must be performed by euery one in particular and by the whole Congregation in generall for the same remedy serueth both the publike must take the same course which euery priuate man doth and euery priuate man must take the same course that the publicke doth The reason is because the Church is corpus Homogeneum and therfore eadem est ratio partis totius in the peformance of those religious dueties no man must thinke himselfe too good to humble himselfe neyther must any man thinke himselfe vnworthy to appeare before the Throne of grace In our priuate occasions wee must come by our selues and wee must ioyne with the publicke when the publicke wounds call vs thereunto as now we do and we haue comfortable Precedents for that which we doe in the Prophet Ioel and Ionas Behold how good and ioyfull a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in vnitie can neuer be more comfortably sung than at these religious meetings when as one man with one voyce and heart we present our deuotions before God I doubt not but as hopefully as humbly It is true that God in Ezechiel cap. 14. threatneth that if Noah Daniel and Iob were in Ierusalem as I liue saith the Lord God they shall deliuer neyther sonne nor daughter they shall but deliuer their owne soules by their righteousnesse when I send but a pestilence into the land how much more when I send my foure plagues The like is threatned in Ieremy cap. 15. But we must obserue that then God was risen from the Mercy Seat and in punishment of their many contempts had giuen the Iewes ouer to their owne hearts Iust But God be thanked this Assembly sheweth that we haue not so far forsaken God neyther hath God who hath put these things into the mind of the King and State so forsaken vs but wee may hope for Acceptance Which is the next part of my text What Israel performeth that will God accept for hee is as mercifull as iust Blessed are they that mourne saith Christ for they shall bee comforted Matth. 5. for Christ came to heale those that were broken in heart Luke 4. You aske saith St. Iames cap. 4. and haue not hee addeth a reason because yee aske amisse but if you aske aright then Christs rule is true Aske and ye shall haue seeke and ye shall find knocke and it shall be opened vnto you Mat. 7. He that shall confesse to Gods name and turne from his sins shall finde Acceptance with God for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the teares of repentance are not only not displeasing but pleasing to God as incense But Gods acceptance consisteth of two Acts the first is God will giue accesse vnto their Prayers Heare in heauen his dwelling place The prayers were to be made towards the Arke but God heareth in Heauen And what is the cause of this change why God should not heare there whither we direct our prayers Surely we must ascend from the Type to the Truth that is but a manduction to this It was a maine errour of the Iewes to diuorce them and haue in most esteeme the least part rest in the Type passing ouer the Truth Heauen is the place of Gods habitation only because the place of his manifestation The Septuagint render the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a place fitted for God to distinguish it from the Church below which is but a place a fitting The Chaldee rendreth it domum Maiestatis a maiesticall house And surely the place of Gods dwelling is locus amplus et angustus a large a stately Palace adorned with holines glory And when wee thinke vpon God wee must not conceiue of his state by things below but by things aboue the earth is but as a point vnto the visible heauens much more in comparison of the Heauen of Heauens and they though they are the goodliest place created yet are they not a worthy habitation for the infinite maiestie of God onely he vouchsafeth there most to manifest himselfe The Church that is resembled to heauen and called Gods dwelling place must be remembred hereby that God must not dwell therein or in any member thereof angustè or sordidè We must inlarge our hearts to receiue God and purifie them that they may somewhat beseeme the Residentiary therein which is God Finally it is no small fauour that God doth vouchsafe to heare that beeing in heauen hee doth vouchsafe to heare vs that are on earth for sometimes hee hideth himselfe as it were with a Cloud Lam. 3. so that our prayers cannot haue accesse vnto him and our sinnes separate between him and vs and he is as if he heard not not that the eare of iealousie heareth not all things but he is not pleased to giue a gracious signification that hee doth heare But the spirituall clamor of the contrite expressed from the secret closet of the inward man hath the power of a loud voyce and piercing which can enter the heauens and approach acceptably vnto God God will not onely heare and giue accesse to the Prayers of the penitent but redresse their sufferings also Quando non geniculationibus nostris jeiunationibus etiam siccitates sunt depulsae saith Tertullian what calamitie was there euer which wee haue not diuerted by our penitent deuotion The Prayer of a righteous man auaileth much if it be feruent Iames 5. But God doth redresse the sufferings of Israel orderly first he redresseth the cause which is sinne and then the effect which is woe He will forgiue and then He will doe and giue neyther may a sinner looke for peace except he first speede of mercie
are taken distinctly because though the first vnderstanding of them be true yet the second is more full and my desire is that you should vnderstand that most fully which you are bound chiefely to obserue Some then suppose that as in other places so in this many words are heaped together whereof the meaning is but one they yeeld a double reason One is because if you compare Moses and the other Euangelists in whom this Text is found with Saint Matthew you shall find that these words are either not reckoned by the same number or not digested in the same order Another reason is for that the Holy Ghost calling for the same dutie doth often mention but one or two of these parts as if they did import as much as all the rest And indeed it is true as the first reason affirmeth that propter Emphasin or Exegesin to shew the earnestnesse of the speaker or to helpe the vnderstanding of the hearer the Holy Ghost doth often multiplie words of the same signification I will giue you an example of either of the Emphasis Hearken O daughter and consider incline thine eare Psal 45. The Holy Ghost meaneth no more but this he would not haue the lesson passe vnregarded Of the Exegesis I will incline mine eare vnto a parable I will open a darke speech Psal 49. the Holy Ghost by these words darke speech doth but helpe the reader to vnderstand what he meaneth by a parable You may light vpon many such examples in reading the old or the new Testament And it may well bee that the Holy Ghost doth in this place intend by these many words to make a deeper impression of that which he speaketh in vs and that euerie of these words should giue light vnto the other As for the second Reason Wheresoeuer we find fewer of these words exprest the rest are implied which they cannot denie that alleage the reason because they conceiue and conceiue aright that the whole Soule is meant But I told you the words may also bee vnderstood distinctly Bernard thinkes that these three words Heart Soule and Mind were intimated in Christs question tripled to Peter Louest thou me Louestithou me affectuosè Prudenter Fortiter But I rather thinke they point out those other three remarkable things in the seate of Charitie which I haue named The first that it is virtus ordinata it taketh vp the parts wherein it is seated in a due order The second that it is virtus subordinate of the parts wherein it is seated the first is to guide and command the rest The third that it is virtus transcendens if it must be in all these parts then it takes vp the whole man First it takes vp the parts wherein it must be seated in due order and this order is two fold there is ordo ad intra and ordo ad extra an order in the spreading of it within vs and an order for the vsing of it without vs. Touching the order of the spreading of it within vs obserue that here the Holy Ghost setteth downe first the natiue seate of Loue which is the Heart and then the Deriuatiue seates which are the Soule the Mind whereunto you must adde the Strength I will touch briefly at them all First there is no question but the Natiue seate of Loue is the Heart the very definition sheweth it for Idem velle idem nolle vera est amicitia Loue is nothing else but a correspondence kept betweene persons in willing and nilling the same thing So that there cannot be any thing more voluntsrie then Loue therefore in the Canticles Christ speaking to his Church insteed of thou hast inflamed me with Loue saith Thou hast enheartned me so you shall find it in the originall and King Dauid doth defire that his Heart may bee knit vnto God so that there the fountaine must be opened and Charitie must begin there The reason is because Good is the proper obiect of the Will and what is Charitie but the embracing of good And therefore the Will must bee first seasoned therewith and it is the Will that is here vnderstood by the Heart But Charitie is like vnto a fountaine that ouerfloweth and though it beginneth at the Will yet doth it diffuse it selfe into other powers much like the vitall spirits that hauing their originall in the Heart are conueied from thence in the Arteries throughout the whole body Charitie then hath besides the natiue diuers Deriuatiue seates The first here mentioned is the Soule by which is vnderstood the concupiscible facultie by which wee long for that which we Loue which when we obtaine wee take our delight in it This power must receiue a streame of Charitie and whether we doe long for or delight in any thing we must doe both in Charitie Charitie must make these of sensuall to become rationall otherwise the longing and the liking of a man will bee no better then the longing and the liking of a beast And indeed they are too commonly so this distemper began in Eue and hath beene propagated in to all mankind not to be corrected but by a streame from this fountaine A second deriuatiue seate here mentioned is the Minde thither must Charitie send forth a streame for our wits are apt to be sorges of vanitie and to yeeld snares to entrap others That which must correct this ill disposition is Charitie it will so qualifie our wits that they shall neuer bee ill employed The word that the Euangelist vseth is worth the marking it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or discourse Charitie must not onely season our vnderstanding that it may bee capable of the apprehension of good but also that our Meditations may bee vpon that which is good In this life our soule hath no intuitiue knowledge that is reserued for the life to come a discursiue it hath and that must be seasoned with Charitie Besides these wee find elsewhere a third deriuatiue seate and that is the Strength the Hebrew word is Meodh by which is noted the irascible facultie or that courage wherewith we vndertake to pursue what wee loue and resist the opposite In doing whereof because we often make vse of our substance or goods the Caldee Paraphrase rendreth the word by substantia but the Enuangelist out of the Septuagint renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strength by which that courage is meant which before I specified enixe omnia moliaris viriliter Now this courage must not be without Charitie there must come a streame thereof euen into this power also Men must not be so valiant as to forget to bee in Charitie nor without Charitie bestow their substance If wee finde Charitie in the streames we may not doubt but it is in the fountaine and wee may conclude well it is not in the fountaine if it bee not in the streames Because it is not with this fountaine spirituall as it is with the corporall for a corporall may bee full and yet
in pursuit of their Loue De vera virgiaitate it is Saint Basils Similie And why not seeing for the most part they are the worse for their louing and wee are sure for ours to bee the better But I must leaue the enlarging of these things to your owne priuate Meditations You may remember I told you that though the Person onely is here exprest yet things are also included so farre as they haue reference to this person we must respect euerie Creature as it is Gods and grieue at the abuse of the meanest of them But our speciall regard must be vnto those things that worke or witnesse this spirituall Loue. Worke it as Gods word and his Sacraments these things wee must haue in a singular regard by reason of the heauenly power which they haue to worke Loue the more we vse them the more it will appeare wee desire to Loue. As these things worke Loue so there are other things that testifie it our praysing of God our praying vnto God our readinesse to please God though we suffer for it the more wee are exercised in these things the more it will appeare we are in Loue. But though God kindle Loue in vs by his Creatures yet must we not loue him for them for that were Amor Concupiscentiae but wee must by them be led to loue him and that is Amor amicitiae Mea tibi oblata non prosunt saith Saint Bernard sine me nec tua mihi sine te though we come to know God by his Creatures yet must our Loue immediately fixe on him As those things which haue reference are included so are those things excluded which haue no reference and whatsoeuer things which doe not lead to him draw from him of all which this must bee kept as a a rule Pereant qui quae inter deum nos dissidium volunt wee must haue nothing to do with whatsoeuer will separate betweene God and vs. You haue heard what the Person is Confess l. 8. and what it is to Loue him When Saint Austin put these two together hee fell into that humble admiration O Lord who am I That thou shouldest command me to Loue thee And verily a man may well wonder Hath not God Angels Archangels Cherubins Seraphins to loue him And what grace is it then for him to stoope so low as man Yea and whereas the best abilitie of man is too base to bee employed in his seruice hee doth this honour as to stoope to the meanest of our abilities hee commands our Dust and Ashes this wormes meate our vilde selues to Loue him that is to be as it were consorts with him for amor nescit inaequalitatem therefore God doth as it were deifie that which hee doth so farre honour â—sal 8.4 When Dauid looked vpon the interest which God hath giuen vs in his Creatures when he put all things in subiection vnder our feete the beasts of the field the fishes of the sea c. he breaketh out into Quid est homo Lord what is man that thou art mindfull of him Or the Sonne of man that thou so regardest him What an admiration then should arise in vs when we see what an interest God hath giuen vs in himselfe Especially seeing he hath no neede of vs and all the gaine is ours can wee forbeare with amazednesse and wonderment to vtter the same words O Lord what is man Nay out of the sense of euerie mans owne interest to say Lord what a man am I that thou shouldest be so mindfull of mee And what a Sonne of man am I that thou shouldest so regard me Dauid when he describeth the temporall blessednesse which he wisheth to Israel Psal 144. concludeth Happie is that people that is in such a case but he addeth to our purpose yea Happie are the people whose God is the Lord The prerogatiue that Man hath aboue other creatures yea that the Christian hath aboue all other Nations should make vs set it at a higher rate then commonly we doe A word of the day and so I end This is All Saints Day and it is Loue that doth characterize a Saint for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil in Psal 44 Nyssen de Anima Resurrect yea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we haue in Earth a Communion of Saints in Faith Hope and Charitie but in Heauen there is no Communion but only in Charitie Faith and Hope are done away Nay in Earth our Communion with God standeth properly in Charitie for there can bee no mutualnesse betweene God and Vs but only in that and to bee mutuall is a propertie of Charitie as I told you at the entrance of this Sermon Wee beleeue in God but God doth not beleeue in vs wee hope in God God doth not hope in vs but if Man loue God God loueth him againe and therefore Loue is the proper vertue of Saints it is that which both in Earth and Heauen doth knit vs vnto God Psâ—l 18. What shall we say then to these thing seeing Charitie beginneth a Saint on Earth and consummateth him in Heauen I will vow with King Dauid I will loue thee my Lord my strength c. And that I may performe this Vow I will pray with Saint Austin Lord so inspire my heart that I may seeke thee seeking may find thee and finding may loue thee ANd grant O Lord thy Grace vnto vs all so to exercise our selues in this Loue that we may haue the honour to bee thy friends both in Earth and Heauen AMEN The fifth Sermon MATT. 22. VERSE 39. Thou shalt loue thy Neighbour THere are two Persons exprest in my Text on whom wee must bestow our Loue. First The Lord our God and Secondly our Neighbour I spake last of the former of these persons It followeth that I now speake of the later so farre as I am occasioned by these words Thou shalt loue thy Neighbour Wherein it will appeare that Loue is not only due to God but also to his seruants as many as can returne Loue for Loue that is all Rationall Creatures so farre as God hath conioyned vs we must not seuer our selues for euerie creature loues his like Amitie is inseperable from societie at least it should be For my fuller vnfolding and your better vnderstanding of these wordes I will therein distinctly consider first â—o whom then what is due The Person is called a Neighbour that which is due to him is Loue. But farther in the person we must see first that in him there is found the ground of that Loue I will discouer it when I haue opened the Name Secondly that euery man hath his interest in this ground the text pointeth out this when in a reference to euery man it calleth the person Thy Neighbour As this must be obserued in the person so in the Dutie we must obserue that we that haue the interest must performe the Dutie this interest belongeth to euery man and so doth the
and our duetie toward our neighbour being an abridgement of the second Table it is therefore called the second Commandement Where by the way you may take notice that those Iewes erre who breaking the ten Commandements into two fiues thinke there were siue grauen vpon either Table whereupon it would follow that the first Commandement which commandeth our dutie towards our neighbor was ioyned with those Commandements which enioyne our duetie toward God which cannot stand with this first and second of my Text. Hauing found in regard of what Scripture these Commandements are called First and Second Let vs now see how well the matter contained in them doth deserue these names And here we shall find that this Order is very naturall for as in their being so in being the obiects of our Loue these persons are to goe the one before the other God before our Neighbour God hath the first right vnto our Loue and then our Neighbour But let vs looke into the Commandements a sunder The loue of God is termed the first Commandement and it is two wayes first Ordine naturae dignitatis whether you looke to the originall of the Louelinesse or to the worthynes that is therein You cannot denie the Lord our God to bee the originall of louelinesse if you remember what I obserued vnto you on the name of Lord God and our Lord God not a branch of these obseruations which doth not strongly proue this primacie of Loue but I chuse rather to represent it vnto you by two or three familiar Similes The first is of Consanguinitie Brethren loue each the other but their Loue is not immediate it passeth vnto them by their Parents in whome they both meete and there groweth the roote of their loue take away that dependencie which they haue thereon and brotherly affection will presently wither Euen so it is betweene vs and our neighbour Loue we must and why Because we are sonnes of the same Father Malachi pointeth out this ground Haue we not all one father Chap 2. 〈◊〉 10 Wherefore doth any man wrong his brother You see here is a faire ground of Primacie There is as faire in our body wherein our members haue a fellow feeling each of the others case and they bestirre themselues for their mutuall comfort but whence commeth this but from the Head where is the fountaine of sense and motion The members haue no vertue for which they are not beholding to the Head The Church is a body whose Head is Christ and Christ is the fountaine of fellow-feeling whereof if he doe not communicate an influence we shall be absurd if we seeke it in the body yea we shall seeke it in vaine Take a third Simily of an House or a Temple these buildings hane a foundation whereupon the whole pile is reard the parts support the one the other but it is the foundation the corner stone that knitteth them that holdeth them all together you ruine the house if you loose the foundation And the Temple of God which we are or the Communion of Saints wherein we liue where shall wee find the sinnewey bands of it but in the Spirit of Christ wherof we all drinke which foundeth vs all on him I might amplifie this point by the title of Creator which belongeth vnto God which cannot bee acknowledged but it will enforce his right to the first fruites of our loue from whom our being taketh beginning In order of nature then it is cleare that our first loue belongs to God Now I will make it as cleare that in Order of worthinesse it belongeth to him also Loue is an affection of our Will our Will naturally is carried vnto good where then wee find apparently the preeminencie of good thither must the precedencie of our loue deseruedly bend now the preeminencie of Good is out of all question in God he is so good that Christ telleth vs there is none good but he Matth. 19.17 When I opened the name of the Lord our God I fell vpon this point and I said enough to cleare it wherefore I will now be the more briefe I will onely point out three grounds the least of which doth argue God to be worthy of our first loue if that which we loue be good First God is good ase he hath no other originall of his goodnesse but himselfe and this no other can bee but God Others as they haue their being so haue they their goodnesse from him Enerie good and euerie perfect gift commeth from him 〈◊〉 1.17 which is himselfe the Father of lights As God is good ase so hee is perse good by nature yea Goodnesse is his Nature In all Creatures Nature and Goodnesse I speake of morall goodnesse are two distinct things so that Goodnesse may bee separated from the nature and be recouered by it againe Angels by Creation had and lost it it was Adams case but hee recouered it againe both of them were like the Moone betweene whose brightnesse and Bodie there is no such vnion but that they may admit a separation as appeares in the Eclipse but Goodnesse and God are as Light and the Sunne one so essentiall to the other that they cannot bee seuered except they cease to bee A seeming Eclipse there is of the Sunne but that seemeth to vs which indeed is not euen so though God neuer cease to bee good yet may flesh and blood conceiue worse of him but it is onely a carnall conceipt Iam 1.17 for in Gods goodnesse there is no variablenesse nor shadow of change Thirdly God is good propterse he hath no end of his goodnesse without himselfe other things haue their goodnesse giuen them for a farther end their goodnesse is not onely for their perfection but for their vnion to some other to this they tend and are restlesse till they attaine this but Gods goodnesse is absolute it is its owne end and beside it selfe it needeth nothing as appeard before the Creation while it enioyed it selfe and it is no necessary but an arbitrary Graciousnes out of which God vouchsafeth to entertaine communion with his Creatures If then the most worthy good doe iustly challenge our first loue then certainly our first loue is vndenyable due vnto God whose Goodnesse hath this threefold preheminence whereupon it will follow that we are bound first to loue the Lord our God and the commandement that enioyneth this is for good reason called the first But though the first yet not the onely Victor Antiochenus hath a good note Primum eò magis vocat vt secundum quoque quod a primo diuelli non debet commodiùs inferri queat The Pharisee moued his question concerning the Great Commandement Christ telleth him there are more Great Commandements then one and therefore beginneth with the first that hee might the more fitly teach him the second a second inseparable from the first This second it did concerne the Pharisee to know for whatsoeuer his loue was to wards God it is
we thinke to be euill euill vnto vs Rom 16. Iob. 14. that we abhorre and resist there is no indulgence that may pittie our infirmities no beneficencie that may supplie our wants which out of Loue of our selues we doe not naturally desire as also condoling and congratulating of our woe and weale Yea naturall reason if it haue not lost reason hath taught men to distinguish Bona animi Bona corporis and Bona fortunae and giue them their due precedencies and answerable estimates in our desires our soule is more precious vnto reason then our body and our body then our goods and we are in reason affected with the wel-fare or ill-fare of euery of these according to its price Neither doth nature teach vs onely to loue things which concerne vs it teacheth vs also the manner of our Loue Rom. 12. for it teacheth vs to Loue our selues in regard of these things First Sincerely there is no hypocrisie in natural Loue 1. Ioh. this loue is without dissimulation Secondly Really we loue not our selues only in words but in deeds also Thirdly Tenderly we are verie feeling of our owne weale and woe Fourthly Constantly no difficulties or crosses can make vs weary of louing our selues This being our inborne loue some thinke that it is supposed by Christ and according to this supposition made the Measure of that loue which wee owe to our neighbour So that the Commentarie vpon these words as thy selfe is made by Christ in another place Mat. 7. That which you would that men should doe vnto you doe you vnto them Cap 4. wherunto you may adde Tobies negatiue Doe not my sonne to another that which thou wouldest not indure by another should be done vnto thee Christs meaning is that before we resolue how to carie our selues towards our neighbour we must suppose him to be in our case and our selues in his and then thinke with what measure we would haue him to measure to vs and mete ou◠the same to him If the Iudge that sitteth vpon the ench the Land-lord that deales with his Tenant the Tradesman that venteth his commodities finally euerie man that dealeth with another did square his carriage by this rule there would be much lesse wrong in Societie and much more comfort in mens consciences for Pulcher liber cor tuum euerie man beareth in his owne bosome a faire Table engrauen legibly by the finger of Nature wherein if he would read hee might learne without any other helpe what vsage is fit for his neighbour And if men were as prompt Schollers in learning actiue Charitie that is the charitie which they must shew to others as they are acute Doctors and teachers of the Passiue of that charitie which they expect from others the Moralists and Casuists might saue much of their paines in discoursing and determining of our mutuall duties But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the corrupt loue of our selues which spends our affection inordinately and maketh it vnworthy to be accounted the naturall loue of a mans selfe because it is more brutish then reasonable doth make vs oftentimes to loue indeed our neighbour as our selues but such a loue of our selues is too base to be the measure wherewith we ought to loue our neighbour Yet is there too much of such mutuall loue in the World such is the loue of all those that fall in their desires and delights below the condition of men yea some so low that they may be consorts for the Deuill If Philautie or corrupt loue grow not so base yet may it grow insolent and men may appropriate themselues to themselues as if none were worthy of their loue and therefore they are all for themselues and not caring if all the World mourne so they reioyce or be in want so they haue their fill Forgetting that naturall Principle that Homo is animal politicum a sociable creature and though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in proprietie we are our owne and so are our goods yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in regard of the vse of our selues and our goods both are ours for the comfort of others and they should be as deare to vs as we would haue our selues deare vnto them were they in our case But this taketh not away the distinction that is betweene them Before you heard how many wayes a man might be a neighbour a neighbour only in place or in bloud or in the common nature whereof we all partake or in Societie either priuate of friendship wherein likenesse of disposition doth linke vs or publique either Ciuill or Ecclesiasticall We must clothe euery one of these with his due circumstances and as occasion offers vs to haue to doe with any of these we must personate them vnto our selues and looke what we may iustly challenge if we were in their case by the rules of Moralitie that must we offer to euery one of them be he only a Man or also a Kinsman an inward friend or fellow member of the Church or Common Weale finally bee hee a superiour or inferiour vnto vs. And this is indeed to loue our neighbour as our selues and for want of making this supposition the rule of our resolution what we would not willingly endure we offer with great eagernesse to others and withhold from them what we thinke cannot without iniurie be denied vnto vs Which is the more blameable in Christians because that rule Whatsoeuer you would that men should doe vnto you doe the same vnto them not only preached but practised made Christianitie venerable in the eyes of Alexander Seuerus an Heathen Emperour who acknowledged this Apothegme Quod tibi fieri non vis altori ne feceris learned from Christians and squared his iudgement by it This sense of the Limitation of the loue of our neighbours is a good sense and it were to bee wisht that at least so much were entertained by the World it would set much right that is awry But I hold there is much more meant in the Text then so for that supposition riseth no higher then the state of Nature My Text belongeth also to them that are in the state of Grace Wherefore obserue that though Christ seeme not to teach how we ought to loue our selues yet indeed he doth for the loue of our selues is inwrapt in our loue of God though God call for the dutie as respecting himselfe yet in doing what we are bid we benefit our selues it is the true loue of our selues For what loue doth a man owe vnto himselfe but the loue of his Perfection And what is his perfection but the loue of God Goe ouer the parts God will haue imployed in this worke The first is our Minde or our Vnderstanding what greater perfection can that haue then the knowledge of our soueraigne good This is life euerlasting saith Christ to know thee the only true God Iohn 17. and whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ The second is our Heart and what greater perfection
these good precedents they that are honoured to bee Gods messengers must learne that it beseemes Referendaries to keepe themselues to their instructions and deliuer so much as and no more then they haue receiued in charge But to speak a litle more distinctly to this point The message did consist of two branches First That which God required Secondly That which God offred Moses that did deliueral Gods Cōmandements deliuered both these branches he informed them of their dutie aswell as of Gods mercy and of Gods mercy no lesse then of their dutie And indeed both are requisite to be taught our dutie that wee doe not presume Gods mercie that we doe not despaire omit either and you may me the doctrine of Gods Couenant There is also committed vnto vs the Law and the Gospel the one to humble the other to comfort men we ought to conioyne both and you must be content to heare of your dutie aswell as of Gods mercie We preach them both to our people the Papists charge vs with taking from the doctrine of the Couenant but the bookes of our Confession the Articles and Catechismes and the booke of our Deuotion our publike Lyturgie and finally the Homilies which are appointed to be read vnto the people refute this slander But wee iustly charge them with adding to the doctrine of the Couenant the bookes Apochryphall and their vngrounded Traditions and wee remember them of that saying of Salomon Pro◠30 v. 6. adde not to Gods Word lest he reprooue thee and thou be found a liar And what wee haue censured in them are nothing else but the forgeries of mens braines which may not bee reputed the Oracles of God Therefore though we call vpon you dutifully to heare and receiue aswell what God requires as what hee promiseth yet as necessarily to saluation wee doe not wee should not call vpon you to heare more then he requires or to beleeue more then he promiseth But enough of Moses Fidelitie Let vs now see his Wisdome As hee dischargeth himselfe fully so doth hee discharge himselfe clearely also For he laid all that God commanded him before the faces of the Elders Nec incautis nec nescientibus ingeritur Lex Here first we meete with a strange phrase for can words bee laid before mens faces you would expect that the Text should haue said Moses spake that which God commanded in the eares of the people and here wee find their eares turned into eyes When the Holy Ghost meaneth euidence of speech it vseth to expresse it in such significant tearmes Saint Paul telling the Galathians of his perspicuous preaching the Gospell vnto them 〈◊〉 3. v 1. saith that Iesus Christ was described in their sight and crucified before them Although the Holy Ghost doe speake to some in Parables Mat 13. that in hearing they may heare and not vnderstand which he doth in punishment of their contempt of euident truth which hath beene laid before them Mat. 6. because as the Prouerbe is Pearles are not to bee cast vnto swine nor holy things vnto dogs yet to those that heare with a reuerent and an obedient eare Mat. 13. ◠11. Datum est nosse mysteria regnicoelorum the Parables are vnfolded the mysteries of the Kingdome of heauen are laid before their face To open this point a little better We must distinguish the Couenant of God from the Illustrations and Amplifications thereof The Couenant it selfe both Old and New is plainly deliuered whether you respect that which God requires or that which Godoffers aswel in this chapter as in other parts of the Bible But there are many Illustrations and Amplifications of either of these Typicall Mysticall darke and hard to be vnderstood which the people cannot vnderstand without an Interpreter ea which the Interpreter himselfe cannot vnderstand without manifold helpe helpe of Deuotion that Gods Spirit may inlighten him and helpe of Meditation painfully scanning and comparing the branches of the Text with other places finally helpe of Varietie of humane literature which giueth great light sometimes to the phrase sometimes to the matter in hand But aboue al in matters necessarie to saluation we follow Catholike Tradition This we say And yet the wrangling Romanists beare the World in hand that wee say there is no difficultie in the Scriptures and that for their guide wee referre the people only to their priuate Spirit which are grosse vntruths We encourage the people to read the Scripture and tell them that though there bee some depths therein wherein an Elephant may swimme yet there are some such shallowes wherein a Lambe may wade The simplest may meete there with all parts of their Catechisme the ten Commandements the Articles of their Creed the Lords Prayer the Sacraments These points containe the substance of the Couenant and they are plainly deliuered there And more then these are not necessarie to saluation Some may haue more some lesse vnderstanding of these according to their breeding yet all should vnderstand these And for this purpose did Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles and the Fathers of the Primitiue Church commend vnto the people the reading of the Scriptures But we aduise them to leaue vnto the learned at least to learne of them to vnderstand those things that are vailed and soberly to edifie their pietie with these things which they shall find there vnuailed or laid before their faces I haue done with the deliuerie of the Message I come now to the Answere that is made thereunto And here we are to take notice first Who maketh it the whole Congregation The people answered But doe not you remember that the Message was deliuered to the Elders why then doe the People answere Surely because the Elders receiued it to deliuer it to the people and therefore not only the Elders but the people also were to make an answere Some are of opinion that the Elders were the representatiue bodie of all the people and that their consent was the consent of all and that all were bound by that which they did as in Parliaments the chosen Knights and Burgesses in Synods the chosen Proctors of the Clergie haue such obliging voices Which conceit the Romanists wrest so farre as therupon to make the tenents of the Elders of the Church the ground of the peoples faith to which purpose they also abuse the maxime of Cyprian Ecclesia est in Episcopo The Church subsisteth in the Bishop vbi non sunt Sacerdotes Ecclesia non est The same premises serue aswell to conclude for the Lyturgie in an vnknowne tongue and for their priuate Masse For if the people may beleeue because their Bishops beleeue they may aswell as indeed they doe serue God in the Priest and in the Priest they may communicate without any their priuitie to what hee doth or any their cooperation with him from which they are necessarily excluded by priuate Masses and vnknowne Prayers But the reason why the people are said to
grant that we may so profit thereby that whensoeuer God giueth any signification of his accesse to vs we may bee affected with a religious feare toward him that so keeping this manner by the helpe of our Mediatour wee may giue him a blessed meeting Come we then to the first particular the circumstance of time It was the third day the third after their comming vnto mount Sinai but the fiftieth after their comming out of Aegypt Which you may gather if you adde hereunto the time specified in the first Verse of this Chapter there you read that they came to the Hill the first day of the third moneth Now the moneths of the Iewes being Lunarie and reckoned from one coniunction to another in vulgar computations are reckoned to consist of thirtie dayes one with another though in the exactnesse of Astronomie it bee somewhat otherwise this being knowne we must calculate thus The children of Israel came out of Aegypt the fourteenth Moone as they call it that is the fourteenth day of the Lunarie moneth so that of the first moneth they spent seuen teene dayes on their way for so many there are from foureteene to thirtie inclusiuely Adde hereunto the whole second moneth which consisteth of thirtie dayes and seuenteene and thirtie maketh fortie seuen whereunto if you adde the three dayes which they had beene now at the Mount your number will be iust fiftie So that the Law was deliuered the fiftieth day after the celebration of the Passeouer You may not thinke this note ouer-curious it is of speciall vse in comparing the new Testament with the old The truth did exactly answere vnto this Tipe and Whitsuntide keepeth the same distance from our Easter Christ the true Passeouer was offered for Vs to deliuer vs from the slauerie of sinne death and Hell at the season of the yeare wherein the Passeouer was offered for the Redemption of the Israelites out of the Aegyptian thraldome And at that time in which God deliuered the Law vnto the redeemed Israelites hee gaue the spirit which is the life of the Law vnto the redeemed Christians That spirit which is the finger of God to write the Law in the fleshly Tables of our hearts which the I sraclites long before receiued written indeede with the finger of God but in no better then the two Tables of stone So that that we enioy the truth whereof they had the Type Vnderstand me de 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the formall administration of this first Couenant Colos 2. v. 14. which did containe onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle calleth it mans Obligation what dutie hee owed what punishment he deserued These be the things that are principally represented in the forme of this first couenant And therefore doth the Apostle call it the ministrie of the letter and of death 2 Cor. 3.6 in opposition to the second Couenant which hee calleth the ministrie of the spirit and of life Otherwise wee may not denie that the Patriarches had the spirit of Grace also though not dispenced by the forme of the old Couenant yet whereunto the old Couenant led them as a Schoolemaster making them sensible of their miserie it made them seeke vnto Christ for remedie But I haue touched at this point once before therefore I will dwell no longer on it Onely take this note that as Whitsontide followeth Easter so doth Sanctification follow after Iustification whom God redeemeth to them hee giueth his Law and he doth sanctifie all those whom he instifieth He that keepeth one feast must keepe both because he that hath one hath both these gifts I need not speake of the Morning which shewed Gods exemplarie forwardnesse for this blessed meeting which we shall doe well to follow as Dauid did Psal 130 Enough of the time I come now to the signification of Gods readinesse to come I told you it was full of state the harbingers come before to prepare Gods place Mortall Princes come not to great assemblies to Parliament to the throne of Iudgement to the ratifying of Leagues Act. 25. ver 2â— but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a great deale of pompe If euer they then shew their royaltie they make it appeare that they are neither beggerly nor contemptible nor vnable to reuenge themselues they make shew of their glorie and their power There is reason for it for the vulgar that haue no iudgement of true Moralitie are held in from disrespects to their Gouernours by these ceremonies and the attention of their eares is kept waking by such amazing of their eyes and discreete Policie doth this way make them obedient beyond their vnderstanding God taketh the same course and sheweth not himselfe vnto his people but with much ceremonious Maiestie at this meeting which did partake of these three kinds of assemblies For it was a Parliament it had the Image of an Assises and therein was the coniugall league confirmed betweene God and Israel I shall touch at all three I might lead you to behold this in his appearing to Abraham Gene. 25. when he entred into Couenant with him where the thicke darknesse the smoaking furnace the fire goe before him 1. King c. 19. his apparition to Elids which was attended with an Earthquake a whirlewind and a fire too None so stately Cap. 4. so ample as that which is described by Ezechiel and Daniel except happily that in the Reuelation I omit many others it is enough in these to let you see that it was vsuall with God to shew himselfe in state to send his harbingers before him The reason whereof is to worke a due respect towards his sacred Maiestie you are taught it plainely in the Psalmes Giue vnto the Lord O yee mightie giue vnto the Lord glorie and strength giue vnto the Lord the glorie due vnto his name worship the Lord in the beautie of holinesse The reason followeth in the Psalme and it is taken from these harbingers of God the Thunder and the Lightning you may read it at your leasure I call these the harbingers of God because we may not grossely conceiue 〈…〉 lib 2. 〈◊〉 â—â— that God is like vnto any of these Saint Austin hath refuted that dreame and indeed it is the seed of Idolatrie They are but the attendants vpon God his guard you may call them or you may call them his hoast they are the instruments of his Power he was pleased to vse them to set forth his state both in Mount Sinai as we read here and in Mount Sion as wee read Act. 2. the place paralell to this But I will keepe my selfe to mount Sinai I told you then that the harbingers here specified were dreadfull dreadfull some to the eare some to the eye The eye and the eare are the best Intelligencers of the reasonable Soule the quickest of apprehension and truest in their information And therefore when God will worke our heart he worketh it by these and in these you shall first
good reason for there are many dangers which sense cannot apprehend as it is euident in this our present case Iudas came now to betray Christ and had many followers which were men but Sathan before had entred into Iudas saith St. Iohn and when he came Now commeth the Prince of this world saith Christ and in St. Luke he telleth St. Peter Cap. 22.32 that Sathan had desired to winnow not only him but all the Apostles euen as wheate Seeing then the obiect is bodily and ghostly the watch that wee keepe must be answerable thereto as the theefe is that will robbe our house as the enemies are that will besiege our city so must our care be lest scaping one we fall into the hands of another as vsually we doe our eies are busie enough to apprehend and decline our bodily danger but few intend their ghostly yea they receiue most wounds ghostly when they are most safe bodily wee watch as men but not as Christian men but it is the Christian mans watch that is required in this place Enough of watching But watching is not enough to procure our safety no though the whole man watch both body and soule what we see may dismay if wee see no more than may be discerned by the body how much more if we see what may be discerned by the soule such a sight will make vs but like Elizeus his man who when he saw the Armie of the Aramites cried Alas Master what shall wee doe to remedy his feare his Master fell to his praiers and vpon Elizeus his praiers his seruants eies were opened and he saw the Armie of God readie to assist them And indeed to the eyes of our care that is our Watching wee must adde the wings of our hope that is our Praying our eies must still bee fixt vpon the Lord who can plucke our feete out of the snares Psal 25. When we ioyne these eyes and wings together wee shall experience that in the Prouerbes true Prou. 19 In vaine is the net spread before the eyes of euery thing that hath a wing If Christ had said onely Watch hee might saith Prosper seeme to haue fauoured free-will but when hee addes Pray hee sheweth in whom our strength is placed euen in God the keeper of Israel which neither slumbereth nor sleepeth Psal 121. To pray then is to acknowledge that we must needs be swallowed vp of danger corporall and spirituall except the Lord support and defend vs we may not thinke our owne vigilancie sufficient but haue recourse to him for except the Lord keepe the Citie the watchman waketh but in vaine Psal 127.1 our owne vigilancie is commendable if we make of it a right vse and the vse is to make vs runne to God And indeed no men seeke lesse vnto God than they that lost thinke themselues in danger dreaming that they are secure they begge no helpe what wonder if then they become a prey let vs begin then with Watching and thence proceed to Praying This Method is most behoouefull because wee must fit our prayers to our need we must not pray at randome but as our wants are so must our praiers be wee discerne our wants by watching which by praying wee supply so did King Dauid so must wee wee reade it in his Psalmes and they must be our patternes cold is the deuotion that is not quickened by vigilancie and fruitlesse is the vigilancy that is not relieued by praier If euery one of vs would reflect our eies vpon our selues we shall find that we seldome looke about vs before we pray and therfore our prayers are so dull or if we faile not in that care we place our refuge in others rather than God whereupon it commeth to passe that our successe is accordingly In a word Praying and Watching both must be vsed but Praying is the casting off of our eies from our selues that we be not proud of our owne care whereby wee descry our enemies Yea it teacheth vs to cast our eies off from our enemies also vpon God that wee be not deiected with their power so that though we begin below considering our enemies and our selues yet must wee end aboue entreating Gods hand to entermeddle with both You haue heard Christs aduice He is not contented onely to giue it but hee sets downe also reasons that must perswade vs to entertaine it Watch we must lest we enter into temptation And indeed where there is danger there care is needfull specially if the danger be our owne Christs saying Lest yee enter into temptation giueth them to vnderstand whose danger it is willing them that though they were not moued with his case yet they should not neglect themselues But what is Temptation it is a tryall made of vs how firmely wee will stand to Christ how manfully wee will abide by his truth Now as the Tempter is such is his Temptation sometimes God tempts vs and sometimes the Diuell God tempteth vs onely by calling vpon vs to doe our duety though he is pleased sometimes to cloath that duetie with difficulties to see if we loue any thing in comparison of him that temptation is not here meant The Diuell he tempteth endeauouring to withdraw vs from doing our dueties and perswading vs not to hazzard our liues or our liuings by standing fast in the feare of God This is the Temptation that here is meant and this is Temptatio ad malum culpae per malum poenae sollicitation vnto sinne by the terrours of troubles Iudas came and Sathan in him Sathan aymed at Malum culpae at the Apostles reuolt from Christ and to worke his will hee vsed Iudas his malice to persecute them that tooke Christs part Now then when Christ bids them watch lest they should enter into temptation he biddeth them haue an eie as well to Sathan as to Iudas for now both were tempters and they might now enter into the temptation of both who would sleepe if he lay neare a corporall Lyon or Serpent shall wee sleepe that lye so neare the spirituall But the Fathers Greeke and Latine obserue precisely the phrase of entering into temptation it is not our care that can put off temptations the Diuell is a Hunter and will alwaies be following his chase he is a Fowler and will alwaies be setting his ginnes he will neuer neglect his care Our care must be not to put our selues into the Lions mouth not to throw our selues into his snares Daemoniacum est saith Theophylact it is a diuellish thing to be so desperate we may not so much as desire to be tempted In this very storie that wee haue in hand our Sauiour Christ prayeth more than once Father if it be possible let this Cup passe giuing a secret checke vnto the Apostles pride who so rashly offered themselues vnto death which Christ so earnestly did deprecate And how foolish is it for vs to affect it as if the Diuell and the World were not studious enough to ouercharge vs
shepheard and high steward of Gods house appoints all vnder officers He sent the Apostles and by the Apostles others And this his sending is called here a Gift and well it may be so called for God might haue left vs in the dregges of our corrupt nature or after we are called suffer vs to relapse but hee is pleased to appoint meanes of our new birth and to recouer vs when we fall which wee may well call a Gift Secondly it is such a gift as men desire In the fift of Deuteronemie it appeares that when the Israclites had once heard God they desired to heare him no more they desired a Moses and God was pleased to yeelde to their desire and hath euer since fedde them by men Thirdly this dedit is not restrained only to the Apostles time for they had semen in speciem the Church hath still the same commandement and the same promise and must propagate these functions and what wee doe Christ doth by vs. Fourthly no man must take it before it s giuen no man must take this office before he is called seeing it is a power no man must vsurpe it without his leaue to whom God hath giuen all power especially seeing the sinewes of it are the assisting Spirit of whose presence no man may presume without imposition of hands for he breathes where he will not where we will Christ though hee bee gone from the Church doth not destitute his Church if the Church will follow his Ordinance Finally holy Orders are a Gift therefore not to be bought Symony is opposite to the nature of them Precio res nulla Deiconstat Tertul. apolog This generall Rule is specially true of holy Orders and therefore I thinke the Schooles call grace of Edification gratis datam I am sure these things must be freely receiued giuen I conclude when wee looke vpon holy Orders we must obserue two duties that are required Reuerence which is called for by the Author and Obedience by the vse ANd God grant that we may both Pastor and People so be affected to these meanes and so be wrought by them as that God may haue his glory and we may reape our good Amen THE THIRD SERMON EPHES. 4. Vers 8 9 10. Wherefore he saith when he ascended vp on high heled captiuitie captiue and gaue gifts to men Now that he ascended what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth He that descended is the same also that ascended vp farre aboue all Heauens that he might fill all things THE Church is but one and therefore the members thereof should liue at one two speciall reasons mouing hereunto the Apostle in the second part of this Chapter alledgeth the first of which is drawne from the meanes whereby the second from the end wherefore the Church is indued with manifold graces Of the meanes I haue begun heretofore to speak and told you that the meanes is Christ and touching Christ the Text doth teach what he did and what right he had to doe it Of these two points I haue handled the former at seuerall times I haue shewed you what Christ did it followeth that I now goe on and shew what right he had to doe it And the Apostle will shew vs that Christ did no more than he might he gathereth it from Christs ascension for that ascension was a deserued Triumph In a triumph as they which are read in stories doe know there were two obserueable things the person of the Conquerour was carried in state and the monuments of the Conquest did attend his chariot and were disposable at his pleasure behold these things in the Ascension of Christ first Exaltation of his person Hee ascended on high farre aboue all Heauens secondly the Attendants vpon his exalted person Hee led captiuity captiue and gaue gifts to men such was his Triumph And this Triumph was deserued for he was not exalted before he was humbled that hee ascended what was it but that hee first descended yea he ascended not so high but hee first descended as lowe as hee ascended farre aboue all Heauens so hee descended into the lower parts of the Earth The same person is the subiect of both He that ascended is the very same that descended These are the particulars whereof I shall God willing now speake briefly and in their order and first of the Exaltation of his person And the Exaltation was the ascending thereof on high Ille triumphato Capitolia ad alta Corintho Victor agit currus On high saith St. Hierome that is to an high place and state First to a place Localis Homo c. saith Fulgentius ad Thrasimundum Christ being man wheresoeuer he is he is in a place and St. Austin Tolle spatia corporibus non erunt Christ could not haue a body and that body not contained in a place whatsoeuer deuices the Vbiquitaries haue to colour their conceits of the illocality of Christs body by that rule of St. Austin and St. Austins rule is grounded vpon the nature of bodies they cannot auoide a contradiction Into a place then Christ ascended and it is behoofefull for vs so to thinke for as Christs Ascension was so shall ours be Christ speaketh it expresly Where I am Iohn 17. 1. Cor. 5. there saith Christ in his prayer I will that all that beleeue in me be also and St. Paul doth distinguish betweene our presence and absence from the Lord which could not be if Christs body were euery where Where the place is whereinto Christ ascended we may gather out of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which doth often signifie Heauen God on high is as much as God in Heauen but St. Paul here puts it out of all doubt when hee saith he ascended farre aboue all Heauens meaning the visible Heauens and so pointing at the place which hee elsewhere calleth the third Heauen 2. Cor. 12. which is a place appointed to bee the receptacle of Saints What manner of place it is we need not curiously enquire wee should rather striue to come to the place of this wee may bee assured that being the place which God hath assigned wherein hee will haue Angels and men enioy blessednesse it must needes bee a blessed place it is resembled to Paradise wherein grow the trees and runne the waters of euerlasting life it was shadowed by the holy Land flowing with milke and honey it was represented to St. Iohn in that glorious heauenly Hierusalem that came downe from Heauen it is called Gods House Gods Sanctuary the City of God and the Kingdome of Heauen the pleasures thereof we finde touched in the 16. and in the 36. Psalmes This must be obserued concerning the place because it is the first steppe of felicitie this earth is the valley of teares and they that liue here are in condition answerable to the place mortall in a mortall place and Christ hauing put off his mortality was no longer to abide in a
ground with St Paul Phil. 4.19 I can doe all things through Christ that strengtheneth me we shall feele the truth of that which CHRIST spake to St Paul My grace is sufficient for thee 2 Cor. 12.9 my strength is made perfect in weaknesse Ep. lib. 2. Epist 6. Deus non est sic saith St Cyprian vt sâ—â—uos suos tantum spectet sed ipse luctatur in nobis ipse congreditur ipse in agone certaminis nostri coronat coronatur so that if any faile in temptation the reason must needs be not because he wanted strength which is present to all them that seeke it of GOD but because he wanted heart to put forth his strength according to that good rule in Tertullian Aliquando in lucta vincit quis non quia fortior sed quia cum timidiore congressus the enemie preuailes which could not preuaile if we did quit our selues like men for questionlesse the greater strength is on the Christians side he might if he were not a coward 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 endure the first part of the patient mans worth But it is not the best part that looketh to the burden that is layd vpon the outward man but it is little regarded except it be done out of the loue of GOD that looketh to the tryall that is made of the inward man it is not enough for a man to endure though he endure temptation vnto the end he must enquire what is that that moues him to endure he may be moued vnto it by feare and so be patient but that is patience perforce he must not be held in thereby the vertue that GOD calleth for is Loue. But the obiect of Loue may be either GOD or the Reward The obiect of our loue must primarily and principally be the loue of GOD for we must haue an eye to our dutie which requires that we loue GOD though there were no reward belonging thereunto and then secondarilie we may haue an eye to the reward whereby GOD is pleased to sweeten our dutie Yea rather we must expect the reward and haue our eye principally vpon that which should be the first mouer of our dutie the loue of GOD. The reason why this vertue is required is for the three-fold propertie thereof the extensiue intensiue and protensiue the Scripture obserues all three The extensiue it reaches all branches of vertue if we be moued by any other vertue our obedience will be partiall many are temperate that are not iust many iust that are not valiant many haue one vertue that want another but he that hath loue hath all in regard whereof the Apostle saith that loue is the fulfilling of the Law and St Paul 1 Cor. 13. maketh loue actiue in producing any vertue As loue is so extensiue so is it intensiue also for all vertue is contained in loue gradu eminentiae in the highest pitch as the reasonable soule doth containe virtually and eminently the faculties of vegetation and sense so that he that is either iust temperate or patient out of charitie ascends as high as euer he can in any of those vertues Last of all it is protensiue no vertue can hold out so long as Charitie Cant. 8. for loue is as strong as death the coles thereof are coles of fire which hath a most vehement flame many waters cannot quench loue neither can the floods drowne it if a man would giue all the substance of his house for loue it would vtterly be contemned We see then that the sinceritie as of pietie so of patience consists in Loue whereby we must shew that we suffer without all respect of our owne either profit â—ernard or pleasure Pulcherrimus coronae nexus quando puritas vita humilis pressurarum tolerantia sibi cohaerent This condemnes the Donatists of old and Papists of this day who haue callendred Martyrs whose impure liues and treacherous purposes if we rip vp we shall find that although in their sufferings they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet they did it not out of the loue of GOD but for satisfying of their owne of their great Masters hatefull lusts You haue heard the subiect and the obiect which must concurre vnto this vertue of Patience to make it true Patience I come now to the second maine part which is the Recompence the recompence which is prouided for Patience a recompence suitable vnto the patience a happy end of so worthy a vertue GOD is a most gratious Soueraigne though he might command the vttermost of our obedience actiue and passiue vpon that alleageance which we owe him yet doth he sweeten his precepts with sanctions propose a reward to such as do but their bounden dutie And no maruell for the Couenant between GOD and his Church stands in mutuall stipulation of loue and here we haue mutuall experiments answerable to that stipulation The experiment of mans loue to GOD you haue heard in the Patience now in the Recompence you shall heare an experiment of GODS loue to man for the end of Patience is Blessednesse Blessed is the man for he shall receiue he is said to be blessed in present but his reward is reserued for the time to come The Holy Ghost speaking of blessednesse must be construed according to the principles not of Philosophy but of Diuinitie Philosophy vnder that name comprehends onely mans last end but Diuinitie extends it moreouer to the meanes and that vpon a three-fold reason The first is opposition to the Curse Blessednesse stood in the fruition of that soueraigne good which in the Creation was proposed vnto man and for the attayning whereof sufficient abilitie was giuen vnto him sinne forfeited not onely the end but also the meanes and man became a curse no lesse in regard of that which he possessed then of that which he expected so that not onely to be excluded Heauen but also to be vncapable of heauenly things is the curse of sinne and a blessing is that which remedieth this curse no lesse repairing our power to compasse this end then restoring our right and title thereunto The second reason is the subordination of the meanes to the end which is a iust cause why the title of the end should be giuen to the meanes for GOD doth not appoint meanes but with assurance of the end therefore Mox futurum habetur pro facto the Scripture affirmes that to be already which shall be before long The third reason is a compassion which GOD takes vpon mans weaknesse the wit of man readily acknowledgeth and the will ardently affecteth the end but most men doubt of and dislike the meanes especially this meanes of patience The meanes therefore and especially this are often vrged and sweetned with this title blessed Blessednesse at the first ran in these tearmes Hoc fac viues it required onely an actiue and no passiue obedience but since the Fall we heare no lesse of the passiue then the actiue neither can we but
speaketh properly to them that are vnder the Law and so Thou an Israelite and teacheth vs which are the Israel of God In this word Christ taxeth the Pharisees glosse who straightened the extent of neighbourhood Matth. 5. as appeared by the Addition they made to the Law Thou shalt loue thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemies they confined neighbourhood to their owne sect at least to their owne Nation And wee see at this day the Iewes mention not Christians without reproch no more then Papists doe Protestants But a Christian must know that in Iesus Christ there is neither Iew nor Gentile Coloss 3.11 Grecian nor Barbarian male nor female bond nor free Saint Austin hath a conuicting reason De Doctrina Christiana c. 30. which is that otherwise there would bee some persons with whom we might commit adulterie whose goods wee might steale whose bodies we might murder without any sinne against them which is absurde The case of the Canaanite was extraordinarie Austin tract in Iohannis cap. 15. we may not match our affections with Gods precepts as if they were alike lawfull Wherefore let vs beare fruit answerable to the seed which God hath sowen in our hearts and though our nature bee prone to satanisme and hatred for this charitie is a straine aboue nature and knowne only to those of the Church yet let vs mortifie it and subdue it to the Law of God Let vs not define whom we must loue other wise then we are taught of God let vs not thinke we loue as many as we should if we exclude any from our loue for our loue must be the fulfilling of the Law therefore it is impossible for vs in regard of any man whatsoeuer to performe the Law which bindeth vs to him without Loue. NOw therefore the God of Loue season all our hearts so with Loue that Hatred being cleane rooted out we may all be of one minde of one heart and out of the sweet sense and comfort hereof we may all say and sing Ecce quam bonum Behold how good and ioyfull a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in vnitie The sixth Sermon MATT. 22. VERSE 37 38 39. Thou shalt Loue the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soule and with all thy Mind This is the first and great Commandement And the second is like vnto it Thou shalt Loue thy neighbour as thy selfe THe last point which I opened vpon this Text taught vs vpon whom we must bestow our Charitie we learned that we must bestow it vpon The Lord our God and our neighbour vpon these persons and vpon those things that haue reference vnto them must it bee bestowed Therefore though the Commandement seeme in nature to bee but one for it is onely Loue yet Christ breaketh it into two and these two vnequall As it must be bestowed on them so in bestowing it we must obserue an Order and a Measure both are plainely prescribed in the Text. The Order for here is a Frist and a Second commandement mencioned The Measure for here is mentioned the great commandement and a commandement that is onely like it We are willed to loue first The Lord our God secondly Our neighbour this is the Order And we are willed to loue the Lord our God with all our heart soule and mind c. and our neighbour as our selues this is the Measure Order then and Measue are to be obserued in the bestowing of our Charitie And indeed without Order and Measure no worke hath either Beautie or Perpetuitie looke vpon the frame of heauen and earth were not the parts thereof so well ordered had not each of them his limits it could neither be so goodly nor so lasting a Creature want of Order would blemish the goodlinesse and want of Measure would shorten the lastingnesse thereof Euen so is it in Charitie inuert the Order alter the Measure required therein by the Law wee doe foulely deforme it and all societie grounded thereon bee it heauenly or earthly will quickly bee disolued This time will not suffice for the opening of both wherefore I will now onely handle the Order and reserue the Measure for some other time Touching then the Order that is to be obserued in Charitie wee must know that it is twofold there is Ordo ad intra and ordo ad extra an order in the generation of it or the working of it into our soules and an order in the employment of it as we expresse it in our liues Of the first Order you heard when I opened vnto you the seate of Charitie and shewed you that it is either Primitiue or Deriuatiue it must begin at the Heart and from thence spread it selfe into the Soule the mind the strength With that Order we haue nothing to doe now my Text leadeth me to speake of the second Order the Order of employment the bestowing of it vpon others after we are seasoned with it our selues To come then to this Order to vnderstand it we must take this Rule Scire quid facere debeamus nescire ordinem faciendt perfecta scientia non est moralitie requireth that we not onely know what we ought to doe but also in what order otherwise the knowledge of our dutie is imperfect therefore imperfect because it will be indiscreete discretion being that which doth distinguish and digest the parts of De Cinit Dei lib 5 cap. 22. and points in our dutie So that take away Order vertue will presently degeâ—erate into vice especially if we admit that definition of Saint Austine short but true Vâ—rtus est ordo amoris vertue is nothing else but the well ordering of our Charitie Wherefore the Order of Gods precepts must not bee passed ouer vnregarded because therefore doth God keepe an order in commanding to intimate vnto vs what order we must keepe in our liuing Whatsoeuer is good may be beloued well or ill well if you obserue the order and if you neglect it then you loue it ill But let vs come closer to the Text. Here we find a first and a second Commandement It is doubted by some whether they are rightly so called seeing that which concerneth our Neighbour was first deliuered Leuit. 19. vers 18. and therefore deliuered on mount Sinai Leuit. 27.34 Comp. numb 10 ver 11 12 with Deâ—â—r 1 6 vide Deut. 2 1â— and that which concerneth the Lord our God was deliuered afterward Deutro 6. vers 50. and therefore deliuered in the land of Moab Deutr. 1.5 The distance of times wherein they were deliuered was thirtie eight yeeres But we must not insist vpon these words as referring to the times wherein Moses deliuered the Commandements but as expounding their sense as they are a Summe of the Decalogue and point out the principall duties prescribed therein Now because the Decalogue was engrauen in two Tables and the briefe of the first was our dutie toward God therefore is that called the first Commandement