how could he have expressed it more fully then in the termes which he hath used To the will I give the keyes of the kingdom of heaven whatsoever ye binde on earth it shall be bound in Heaven c. Whose sinnes soever ye retaine they shall be retained c. Thirdly the manner of our Saviours speech when he promised this Power which is with a serious and vehement attestation Verily I say unto you and the ceremonie used at the performance of it which was by breathing on them with these words receive the holy Ghost these circumstances I say do shew that our Saviour intended to give and did actually give a greater power then is that of declaring a thing to be which already is beside the Repentance of men is a thing which pastors cannot perfectly know and therefore they cannot certainly declare a man to be loosed from sinne For these and other reasons I make no doubt that the Power promised here by our Saviour is not barely a declarative but also an effectuall Power which worketh some effect upon men So the holy Fathers have understood this CHRISOST in his 3. book of the priesthood saith that Christ hath given to men that are upon earth a power to dispose of things that are in heaven This Power saieth he he hath not given to the angels or Aâ—changels for to whom of them hath he said to the will I give the keyes of the Kingdome of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt binde on earth c. Earthly kings sayth he have power to binde loose also but their power extendeth to the bodies of men only whereas this Power reacheth unto the soul and unto heaven That which the servant doth here beneath the LORD confirmeth above and the LORD in a manner denizeth to follow the servant the binding on earth being prior at least in order of nature to the binding in heaven and the loosing on earth being before the loosing in heaven So writting upon the 20 of S. John on these words Whose sinnes soever ye retaine they are retained he sayeth that our Saviour indued his Apostles with such a Power as a king giveth to governours under him when he giveth them power to cast into prison and to take out of it and writting upon these words To thee will I give the keyes of the Kingdome of Heaven Matth. 16. he saieth that Christ hath given to a mortall man the Power of all things that are in heaven for this cause our Saviour addeth here these words on earth whatsoever ye bind On earth To what purpose is this aded but to signifie the amplitude and greatnes of his Power and that how soever it be done by earthly men yet it shall have an authoritie force of a sentence and law in heaven as if a mighty Emperour would say to one whom he much trusted and to whom he had given a most ample commission Whatsoever thou wilt do in the remotest parts of my dominion I shall alow and ratifie it The farrer that servants are from their Masters they use to take to themselves the greater liberty and it is a token of great trust in the master when he committeth power to them in such a case Thus we see that Pastors have properly a power to binde and loose sinners let us now consider more particularly in what manner they do binde and loose and how their binding and loosing is accompanyed with binding and loosing in heaven The Bond wherewith Pastors by vertue of the keyes do binde sinners is directly and immediatly an ecclesiasticall bond exercised about sinue as it as an offence of the Church So their loosing is directly and immediatly an untying and loosing of that ecclesiasticall bond wherwith they have bound a sinner whence of necessity their binding most go before their loosing in this kinde they can loose nothing this way but that which before they have bound But how then yee will say doeth their binding or loosing reach to a mans sinne as it is an offence of God I Ans This is not but mediatly and indirectly in so farre as they do such a thing upon the doing whereof Christ hath promised to binde or loose the sinnes of a man The like we have in haptisme wherin sinne is taken away if he that is baptised put no impediment all that the minister doth is but a washing of the body and an incalling of the blessed Trinitie yet this Action as an instrument or condition carrieth with it the remission of sinne and purging of the soul So in the matter that we have in hand the pastor bindeth the person guilty with an ecclesiasticall bond directly and againe looseth that same bond by ecclesiasticall absolution or reconciliation yet by vertue of Christs promise set down in these words upon the doing of this GOD in heaven doeth binde or loose the sinnes of such a man Thus we see how God not only principally but also alone immediatly taketh away sin for the minister only performeth an ecclesiasticall action upon the doing whereof GOD by vertue of his own Promise taketh away the sinne of such a man Secondly Yee may ask wherein this ecclesiasticall bond consisteth I answer it standeth in a certaine excoÌ„munication whereby a grievous offender is separated in whole or in part from the Church of Christ and from the society of the faithfull and according the loosing opposed hereunto consisteth in the reconciliation of such an one to the Church or in giving him the peace therof whence our Saviour said in the preceeding words If he neglect to hear the Church let him be to thee as a heathen or aâ— a Publican This excoÌ„munication is of two sorts the one is called the lesser excoÌ„munication the other is called the greater In that a man is bound for some grievous offence by debarring him from the society of the faithfull in some things especially in the participation of the blessed mysteries of the body blood of out LORD and by imposing of the works of pennance and humiliation this is called a ponetentiall and medeoinall excoÌ„munication because the chief end of it is to cure him that hath sinned from that disease wherein he hath fallen This kinde of binding we use toward grievous sinners who submite themselves to the direction of the Church and in the ancient Church it was used with great vigor and severitie In the first 300 years when the devotion of Christians was fervent and their puritie great men were not ordinarly admitted to this outward repentance till for a long time with many teares and with great tokens of unfeigned forrow they had earnestly intreated to be admitted in the number of publick penitents when that was granted then they were not immediatly received to their publick repentance but were thrust down as it were first to the degree of the catechumeny or those who were yet unbaptised and did but learne the mysteries of the christian religion and in this degree they were called
a Name of dignitie and authoritie which God hath over the creatures therefore as they were not eternall so this name agreeth not to him from eternitie S. August in his 12. book of the City God and 15. chap. in modestie refuseth to determine this question Vpon the one part he saieth that he dare not deny but God was LORD from all eternitie and one the other part he saieth it is hard to conceive this since Dominion importeth a respect to the creatures which begane in time But if we consider well we will find that the question is rather verball then reall For clearing whereof ye are to understand that there are two things imported by the Dominion of God The first which is the chief and principall is his power over all things that actually are or are possible The second is a reference unto the creatures subject unto God This belongeth unto God but in time but it is nothing else then an outward secondarie respect that which is inward and principall in the Dominion of God to wit his Power was from eternitie and therfore he is truly from eternitie LORD His Dominion is grounded on his Power which is one with his essence and that is eternall Neither is it the creatures that actually are who alone are subject to him Even the things that are not at under his Dominiō he calleth the things that are not as if they were They obey his commandement and commandement presupposeth Dominion by vertue whereof it hath power Thus the Dominion of God was from all eternitie Secondly It we look to following ages this Dominion and Kingdome endureth after them to all eternitie This is true both of Gods Kingdome generally and particularly considered That is the Kingdome of his Power as it is called by which he commandeth and ruleth all things It is certaine this Kingdome shall never end for God shal ever have supreame power over things that are or are possible His particular Kingdome is that whereby he reigneth in his church and this also shall have no end Hence the Angell speaking of our Saviour LUKE 1. saieth Hee shall reigne in the house of Jacob for ever and of his kingdome there shall be no end Wee must not think that this Kingdome of God and Christ shall end when this World endeth no it shall be most perfected and established when all other Rule Authority and Power shall be put down Here it is the kingdome of grace God ruling in the hearts of his servants by his Spirit grace hereafter it shall be the kingdome of Glory wherein the glory of Gods Wisdome Mercie and Power shall be manifested in the eternall salvation of his own and the glory of his Power and justice shall appeare in the eternall confusion of his enemies Now the Kingdome of God is but not peaceable now his enemies are overcome but not wholly rooted out and trampled under foot Sathan remaineth yet and goeth about like a roaring Lyon seeking whom hee may devoure Sinne and Death remain As yet there are many that rebell against the Law of God and despise his Commandements but all these enemies shall be hereafter rooted out Sathan with his angels shall be chained in hel and shall have no more leave to tempt Sin shall be banished also in the godly it shall not be Their flesh shall no more resist the spirit and the spirit God and the wicked shall have no more liberty to commit any new sin Death shall be rooted out by the resurrection so that we may then sing Death is swallowed up in victorie O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victorie Lastly wicked men the rebels of this great KING and disobedient to his Will shall be subjected to eternal pains against their will whereas the servants of God shall be advanced to the participation of his eternall glory Thus this his Kingdome shall be Eternal and not only so in respect of himself but also in respect of his servants Feare not little flock saith our Saviour it is your Father will to give you a kingdom To him that overcometh will I give saith he Rev. 3. to sit with me in my Throne even as I overcame and sit with my Father in his Throne Come yee blessed of my Father shall he say at the last day and receive the kingdome prepared for you c. This much of the Eternitie of the Kingdome of God I come now to the uses of the Doctrine First The consideration of this Eternitie of God his Kingdome should teach us to disesteeme the things of this World which are but fraile and momentanie suppose they endured never so long yet at last they have an end and when that end is come they are as though they had never been Put the case thou had all the riches and pleasures and honours and dominions of the World yet these should end and being ended leave thee nothing but a sad and sorrowfull remembrance of them and the more sad and bitter the more sweet and deare they were to thee when thou had them I will yet say more these things not only have an end but also end suddenly to us Their continuance is most uncertaine and short All our enjoying of them is grounded upon this mortall life and how fraile that is wee know by experience and S. Jam. teacheth us Chap. 4. Go to now saeth he yee that say to morrow wee will go to such a City and continue a year and buy and sell and get gain And yee know not what shall be to morrow for what is your life but a vapour that appeareth for a little whyle and then vanisheth away Now the life being ended all this World endeth to us That which our Saviour saieth of the soule I may say of the body also What profite is it to a man to gaine the whole World if he losse his bodily life More our health is more uncertaine then life and without it we can enjoy no worldly thing Take health from a man what availe all the treasures of the earth Set the most daintie dishes before him they are loathsome Bring his Wife children friends unto him their sight is often grievous Let him remember his former pleasures it breedeth nothing but bitternesse In a word What is the whole man but as it were an earthen vessel which God in whose hand is a rod of Iron is able to dash in pieces when he will Albeit an earthen vessel were never so pleasant painted perfumed adorned with flowers a crown set upon it yet if it be stricken with a rod of Iron it goeth in pieces so it fareth with these earthen vessels of our bodies Though we had the vigour and strength of youth the prudence of the aged the knowledge and eloquence of the learned the treasures of the rich if God but touch us with his rod it is enough to beat us to powder Why then should we set our hearts upon these things that
hearers because of new they were againe instructed the mysteries of christian religion For it was presumed that they who had so grievously fallen had never rightly learned these heavenly mysteries and therefore were taught againe especially concerning the terrour of GODS Iudgements against sinne that they might the more willingly undergo what was injoyned them This done they were received to their repentance wherein for diverse years somtimes for seven more or lesse according to the greatnes of their offence they were exercised with most laborious works of humiliation and mortification TERTUL in the 9 chap. of his book of repentance saieth That they did humble themselves in sackcloth ashes they did lye prostrat upon the ground they did nowrish their prayers with fasting they did weep mourne and cry to GOD and did humblie beseech pastors and all faithfull people to pray for them S. CYPRIAN speaking of this same matter sayeth to them that had fallen That it behoved them to pray earnestly to passe over the day in sorrow to spend over the nights in mourning and teares to humble themselves in sackcloth aud ashes to despise the garment of the body since they had cast away the garment of Christ and to despise the food of the body since they had eaten at the table of the devil they thought not that such works of humiliation could merite any thing at the hand of GOD but they were injoyned as means appointed by GOD to promove unfeigned sorrow and detestation of their sinne which men after great faults especially do not ordinarly attaine unto without those exercises of fasting prayer and humiliation They were injoyned as means of mortifying those carnall lusts whereby they had been stirred up or whereby thereafter they might be stirred up to offend God and as expressions of their sorrow for their sinnes and just indignation against themselves because of their sinnes that so God through Christ might be moved to have pitty upon them that good christians might be assured of their unfeigned conversion and that all who did behold might be edified by their good example as they had been before offended by their fall When all this was done they were not yet admitted to the participation of the holy sacrament of the Body and Blood of our LORD but after a good space of time wherein they had given full proofe of the trueth and sincerity of their conversion Neither was it only those of the meaner sort who did subject thēselves to these ecclesiastical bonds two christian Emperours submitted themselves thereunto The first was Philip the first christian Emperour of whom ye may reade in the sixt book of Eusebius his ecclesiastical historie That when he would have come to the participation of the holy mysteries the bishop to wit Fabianus debarred him refusing to admitt him therunto because of his lowd life till he had made satisfaction by publick repentance which he yeelded unto The second was the glorious Emperour Theodosius He as ye may reade in the 5 book of Theodoret his ecclesiasticall historie 17. chap. after a great murther committed at Thessalonio◠by a rash commandement of his being come to Millane wher S. Ambrose was bishop and intending to enter into the Church and communicat was encountred by S. Awbrose without the Church who freely told him of the grievousnes of his sinne and that though he was an Emperour yet was subject to him who is the LORD of heaven and earth and that those whom he had killed were partakers of that same nature with him and made according to the Image of GOD aswel as he With what eyes saith he can thou behold this temple or how can thou trade upon this holy ground how can thou stretch out these hands embrued with blood or open that mouth which hath commanded so much innocent blood to be shed to receive the sacred Body and Blood of Christ depart therfore said he and adde not a new sinne unto thy former sinne but accept of these bonds wherewith he that is LORD over all hath commanded thee to be bound for these bonds have a power to put away the disease and to restore health unto thee againe The good Emperour hearkned unto him and returning did give himself to mourning and humiliation after he had been excercised thus eight moneths the feast of the nativitie of our Saivour was come in which he begane most grievously to mourne and weep being demanded of one of his chief courteours Ruffinus why he did so alace said he you understand not the evils wherein I am Servants and beggers have accesse to the House of GOD but I am debarred both from the Church Heaven For I remember that sentence of our Saviour Whatsoever ye shall binde on earth shall be bound in heaven Afterward when he was admitted by S. Ambrose the historian saieth That when he entred into the Church he did not stand nor kneel praying but that he did fall down upon the ground saying these words of DAVID My soul cleaveth unto the dust quicken thou me according unto thy word and began to strick his face and to rive his hair and to water the ground with his teares If so great so glorious an Emperour disdained not in such a manner to submitt himself to ecclesiasticall censure is it not strange that every one almost now who is any thing in their own eyes disdaineth to embrace this remedie which Christ hath appointed for grievous offenders S. AUGUST speaking of this purpose saieth in the 49. Sermon of his book of fifty homiles Let no man say I will transact secretly betwixt God and my self I shall have sorrow in mine heart c. Then saieth he The keyes of the kingdome of heaven were given in vaine and in vaine it was said whatsoever yee binde on earth shall be bound in heaven Shal a Senator saieth he be ashamed to do that which the Emperour Theodosius did shall a craftsman or a merchant be ashamed to do that which so glorious an Emperour did I come now to the other sort of excommunication whereby men are bound This is the greater excommunication which is a most fearfull and dreadfull anathema eurse By it a man is wholly separated from the communion of the faithfull in meetings in prayers and in all other sacred fellowship such an one is fully cast out of the Church and cut off from the body of Christ as a rotten and corrupt member by reason wherof he is subjected to unspeakable evils For if he be so cut off from Christs Body he can no more be partaker while he is in that estate of the vitall and saving influence which cometh from Christ the HEAD Being separate from the Body of Christ he can no more have his Spirit then a member of the body cut off from the rest can be quickned with that soul which giveth life to the rest of the body and if a man have not the Spirit of Christ he is not his Such an one
is no more partaker of the intercession and prayers of the Church and of the blessings which thereby are plentifully obtained to those that are within it In a word such an one is left to himself as a wretched and forlorne creature destitute of the presence assistance and protection which God graciously giveth to his Church and to the Members thereof and wherewith he covereth it as it were as the cloud did the tabernacle and so is exposed to the will the furie of the devil as a sheep without a shepherd to the Wolf for the kingdome of the devil is especially without the Church of God There he ruleth and reigneth in the children of disobedience Hence according to the judgement of many such are said 1. Cor. 5. To be delivered over unto Satan albeit it be true also that in the Primitive Church for the greater terrour of disobedient persons who suffered themselves to bee excommunicat◠Diverse of them were given over to Satan as to an Executioner to have their bodies afflicted by him So some think that the incestuous Corinthian 1. Cor. 5. was not only excommunicated but also delivered to the Devil to be afflicted bodily and so they think also of Alexander and Hymeneus of whom S. PAUL saith 1. Tim. 1. That he had delivered them to Satan that they might learne not to blaspheme This is the most dreadfull sentence of the Church which Christ promiseth here to ratifie and confirme in heaven It were better for a man saieth Augustine in his first book against the Adversaries of the Law and Prophets and 17 Chapter that he were stoned to death or killed with the sword or torne with the teeth of beasts then to be strucken with this sentence Hee that is bound this way saith he is bound with more grievous and terrible bonds then if they were of iron and adamant The principall Intention of the Church is not to reclaime the person guilty in this Excommunication for it is exercised against such who are incorrigeable and refuse to heare the voice of the Church It is true the reclaiming of such an one is secondarlie intended for he is separate from the society of good Christiās that he may be ashamed that so he may come in end to a sense of his own sinne but the maine intention of the Church is to purge it self from such rotten and infecting Members which obstinatly go on in an evil course and there is none but may see that this proceeding is full of equity if a member of the bodie be corrupted and the rest of the bodie in danger to be infected thereby it must needs bee cut off In all well governed Cities Leprous persons those that are infected with the Plague at separated from others in a word Those that ar obstinatly disobedient and refractarie in any wel governed society or at least cast out of that society and is it not reason that they who are disobedient to the voice of the Church who are ready to infect others with an infection that tendeth to everlasting death be removed and debarred from the fellowship of the faithfull Hence yee may observe first what is the reason that we so slowly proceed to the pronouncing of this sentence of excommunication against those that are disobedient to the voice of the Church Some that have zeal but without sufficient knowledge accuse us for this as negligent or favouring the errours of those persons God knoweth we detaste their errours and that the true cause of out leasurlie proceeding is that knowledge which we have of the terrour and dreadfulnesse of this sentence A physitian will use all means to cure a diseased part of the body before he proceed to the cutting it off and when he is forced to do that he will not do it but with grief and sorrow It is reported of the Emperour Titus who was called the delight of mankinde that even at the just executions of malefactors he used to sigh and monrue Though Absolom had rebelled against his father David and would have taken from him both his crown and his life yet when his army went out against him he said Deale gently with the young man and when he heard that he was killed he cryed out O Absolom Absolom my son Absolom would God I had died for thee and yet the love of spiritual father ought to be greater toward their children then the love of any carnall father can be as CHRIS observeth Is it any wonder then that we are loath to cut any off by the terrible and dreadfull sentence of excommunication and to deliver them to Satan the enemie of mans salvation especially since we are taught by the Apostle 2. Tim. 2. That the servant of the LORD should he gentle and patient in meeknes instructing them that are contrarie minded if GOD will give them repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth that they may escape out of the snares of the devil who holdeth them captive at his will Secondly Ye may perceive hence how wofull and lamentable is the state of those persons who by their obstinate disobedience to the voice of the Church draw upon themselves this fearfull and terrible sentence It is not without cause that such are compared by an ancient writter to those that are mad Mad persons though they be most strongly bound yet they esteem nothing of their bonds for they are not sensible of their own misery so is it with those of whom I speak They contemne all that is done to them in this kinde and yet in the meane time they are bound both in earth and heaven by GOD and by man Would God that their eyes were opened that they might see the miserable estate of their own soules which are fertered with most strong chains that will draw them unto eternall condemnation Heaven and Earth may passe away but this Word of our LORD shall stand firme Whatsoever ye binde on earth shall be bound in heaven Let them not therefore flatter themselves with this that they see not now the visible judgements of God immediatly ceasing upon men and women that they see not their bodies afflicted by the devil or any such thing GOD is a Patient and Long-suffering GOD but in end recompenseth the delay of punishment with the weight of it if we despise his Goodnesse and by so doing Treasure up wrath to our selves against the day of wrath revelation of the righteous Judgement of GOD. Lastly I beseech you all to remember that it is your duty to esteeme those to be bound both by GOD and by his Servants whom we do binde by this fearfull sentence of excommunication and to carry your selves toward thē as if they wer heathens and publicane So is the Commandement of our Saviour urged againe againe by the Blessed Apostles who requireth that we withdraw our selves from such persons In the ancient Church they did so shune the company of persons excommunicat that scarce they would
us in it Hence our Saviour hath commanded us To watch alwayes because wee know neither the day nor the houre of our LORDS comming Every day and houre we should have our loins girded with the girdle of mortification of our affections and the torches or lamps of good works shining in our hands If thou give thy self but to folly this night what knowest thou but thy sentence shall be This night thy soul c. What assurance of thy life hast thou more then he let us learne to be wise by such examples They teach us a most profitable lecture they who have been so overtaken say to us as it were as my Judgment was so also shall it be with thee yesterday to me and the day to thee Yesterday I was where thou art I had this same thoughts of long life and happines which thou hast here and yet even then my body was condemned to the dust and my soule brought before the Tribunall of GOD to give an account and to receive the sentence of justice What knoweth thou but it shall be so with thee to day Would God wee did rightly consider this That we might number our dayes and apply our hearts to wisdome esteeming of every day as if it were our last day and doing that in it which wee would wish to bee doing if death were come Secondly he sayeth They shall require thy soul He sayeth not he shall die but That his soul shall be required or taken away The words import first that this should be done to him against his will resisting and strugling to the contrary 2. that this should not be done by chance but by justice that he might receive his sentence according to his doings 3 It is said They shall take to signifie that the devils as the executioners of GODS Justice were ready to execute vengeance upon him Here is a dreadfull sentence whereby the soul is taken away The soul the precious soul the redemption whereof ceaseth for ever The soul which is of more worth then all the world What profiteth it a man to gaine the whole world if he losse his soul The soul which is our divine part the Breath of GOD and Stamp of his Countenance The soul for which the precious Blood of Iesus was shed The soul the soile which if it were rightly manured should bring forth the fruit of immortall joy That this soul should be taken away unavoidably first to judgement thence to intollerable torment what wo and misery Hence we may perceive what sorrow and anguish was in the soul of this covetous man or in any like wretch When Belshazzar Daniel 5. 6. saw the hand-writting against him on the wall that he was numbred weighed and divided His countenance was changed his thoughts were troubled within him the joynts of his loins were loosed and his knees did smite one against another such is the anguish and the agonie of the wicked when GOD putteth forth his Finger and writteth on their body by an incurable disease that their dayes are numbred finished when he wakens their conscience writteth therin that they ar weighed and found to be light and that they must be divided from their houses lands wife children friends yea and that the soule must be divided from the body and that the one must go to be the meat of wormes the other to eternall fire If such a man look back to his life his sins which he thought evanished his negligence and coldnes in Gods service ambition covetousnesse malice whordomâ— c. rush upon him like so many furies to gnaw his conscience to rent his heart in pieces and tell him that as he hath had their sweet so must he have their bitternesse If he look before him he sees GOD ready to cast him away and to say depart from me thou cursed c. The good Angels ready to forsake him and the devils ready to snatch up his soul He seeth that within half or quarter of an houre he must change his bed it may be of repose which his children and friends stand about with a bed of fire with a company of horrible spirits with everlasting chains everlasting darknes O what unspeakable anguish is this what is there in this earth that can countervaile it It is not so with the death of the Godly Though nature in them also shune death yet grace in end prevaileth Their soule is not taken from them but they deliver it and recommend it into the hand of GOD the Father and redeemer of spirits In thy Hands I recommend my spirit for thou hast redeemed it O Lord GOD of trueth sayeth David Psal 31. 5. They are content to go out of the body as out of a prison and grave They desire to be disolved and be with Christ They depart in peace because their eyes have seen the Salvation of GOD. They count the last day of their life the first of their happinesse the birth day of eternity which shall draw aside the courtaine and make them clearly see which before they saw but obscurely They know that day shall free them of all stormes and put them betwixt the Armes of their Father And turne their trouble into rest their mourning into joy and their basnes into glory They have reason therfore to be content when it pleaseth GOD to call The LORD grant that we may live their life that so we may die their death and that for the merits of Christ c. THE FIRST SERMON Upon the VI Chapter of S. IOHN Vers 43. JESUS therefore Ansirered and said unto them murmure not among your selves Vers 44. No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day OUr blessed Saviour having entred upon a most heavenly discourse concerning the Dignity of himself and the happines of them who receive Him as they ought having entred I say upon this discourse in the preceeding words He taketh occasion from the murmuring of the Jews at that which he said to prosecute this same discourse more particularly and more fully in these words that I have reade and in many after following Particularly in these words yee have to consider the occasion of this discourse which was the murmuring of the Jews insinuated there And Iesus answered unto them saying murmure not among your selves 2. Yee have an heavenly instruction given to them and to us all in them concerning the way by which we come to Him No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him 3. Yee have the happines of them who are so drawn by vertue thereof unto Christ And I will raise him up at the last day And Iesuus answered and said unto them murmure not among your selves These words insinuate as we said that the occasion of our Saviours following discourse was the murmuring of the Iews whereof yee may reade immediatly before my text
in a most divine manner at length he descriveth In the first verse that I have read The Thankfulnesse of the Church is expressed Praise waiteth for thee c. In the second an excellent benefit is set down for which God should be praised and vowes should be performed to him Praise waiteth for thee c. Praise is the proclaming of the Excellencie of any especially manifested by worthe deeds This David saieth waiteth for God The word rendered to waits signifieth properly to be silent but for the similitude and agreement of silence expectâ—â—â—â— is rendered here to waiâ—e or expect And if we so expound the word the sense is That God doth so loaden his 〈…〉 and by 〈◊〉 his 〈◊〉 every morning furnish such matter of Praise Thà nksgiving that praise in the Church continually as it were waiteth on to honour him If wee render the word to be silent as it properly signifieth and which our Interpreters have put on the Margent the meaning is That the benefits of God bestowed upon Sion or his Church are so great and so many that even our Praise through astonishment becometh as it were silent notable to reach to the due commemoration and esteeme of Gods bountie and benefits And indeed so it is The benefits of God toward his people are such and so many daylie and hourly bestowed upon them in generall in particular known and unknown that no minde can sufficiently conceive nor tongue utter them In him wee live move and have out being Hee maketh his sun to shyne and his rain to fall upon us Hee hath endued us with reason and understanding When we were lost he did not forsake us but even when blinded with our own ignorance and wickednesse and so his enemies Hee redeemed our life from destruction and to this effect sent his own Son which the Church now clearly knoweth to bee born and suffer and by his most perfect sacrifice to purge all our sinnes and withall sendeth his Spirit in our heart to guide us through all difficulties till we attaine to the blessed sight and joy of his Countenance Thus he compasseth and crowneth us with loving kindnesse and tender mercies for which if wee had a thousand hearts and a thousand tongues could wee give him sufficiently praise and thanks No Praise it self is forced as it were to stand here astonished and silent And the saints say with DAVID O Lord What shall thy servants say What shall we render unto thee for all thy benefits towards us But where is this waiting of praise and the admiration of it In Sion DAVID had translated the Ark of God unto Sion There was Gods Sanctuary and there was he woâ—shipped and therefore Sion here signifieth the Church of God then and in all following ages This is added for great reasons First the PROPHET signifieth that Sion or Gods Church hath reason ought to praise God beyond all others whom hee hath not chosen to be his people for Gods chief benefits are poured down upon Sion It is the perfection of beauty and out of it God shyneth Psal 87. God loveth the gates of Sion more then all the habitations of Iudah It is the City of God and glorious things ar spoken of thee O City of God saieth DAVID in the same psalme Of Sion it shall be said such and such a man was born there The Lord Himself counteth and writeth that such a man was born there saieth DAVID in the place mentioned All the true Citizens of Sion are written in the book of God even in the book of life by his own finger and nothing is so great a matter of Thanksgiving and Praise as that Rejoyce not in this saieth our Saviour that the devils are subjectunto you but rather rejoyce in this that your names ar written in heaven So then in Sion justly should praise wait for God The Citizens of it are a chosen generation a royall Priesthood and holy nation a peculiar people to set forth the praises of him who hath called theÌ„ out of darknes unto his marvellous light 1. Pet. 2. 9. Secondly As Sion should so Sion only can praise God righly Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner saieth the Wise-man Ecclesiast 15. IT standeth not so much in the words of the mouth as in the devotion of the heart He that would rightly praise must be affected with that which he praiseth truly believe it haue an inward taste feeling of it Except therfore he hath tasted seen how good the Lord is he cannot praise as he should on the other part God also looketh not so much to the mouth as to the heart of the praiser He respecteth not so much the tongue as the Conversation What availeth it to blesse God with thy mouth and blaspheme him with thy life this is an abomination and therefore it is truly said by holy August that a wicked man cannot praise God The discord of his life from his word marreth all the sweetnesse of his song of praise maketh it unpleasaÌ„t ungracious in the eares of God Thirdly As Sion should and onely can so also she will undoubtedly praise God and therefore rightly saieth the PROPHET that praise waiteth for God in her as if he would have said O Lord albeit all other men would hold their peace of thy praises yet Sion or thy church thy servants and saints will not Though other men haue not eyes to see nor minds to consider thy benefits but bury them in ignorance or oblivion yet thy own people will set forth thy praises and magnifie thy Name Hence we may clearly see how necessare is this duty of praise and thanksgiving Gods Worship standeth chiefly in this that we be not unthankefull unto him saieth holy August in his book of the spirit and latter chap. 11. when God first made the world he sequestred one day of every week as for his service so particularly for a thankfull remembrance of the benefit of Creation Under the law he appointed one day in the month to wit the first which was the feast of the new moone for a thankfull remembrance of the benefit of conservation of the world he ordained the feast of the passover for celebrating the benefit of bringing his people out of Egypt The feast of Pentecost for remembring the benefit of giving the Law The feast of Tabernacles for remembrance of protection in the wilderness and commanded that yearly the first fruits of the land should be offered to him be way of thanksgiving Thus under the law the duty of thanksgiving was most necessare and acceptable to God Under the gospel now I may say it is yet more necessar The proper sacrifice of ChristiaÌ„s is the sacrifice of praise thanksgiving every wher vehemently urged in the new Test Our blessed Lord did institute the blessed sacrameÌ„t of his body blood giving thanks and for this end that we may give thanks to God as for
all his benefits so especially for that of our Redemption By the right performance of this duty we begin our heaven on earth for the proper exercise of heaven is PRAISE blessed ar they that dwel in thy house for they ar still praising thee The blessed spirits are still singing blissing and glory and honour and power and wisedome c. Beside thanksgiving for former benefits is a secret and real prayer drawing down new benefits it preserveth the benefits we have receaved and procureth the increase of them wheras Vnthankfulnes depriveth us both of that which we have and of that which we ought to have looked for Iustly therefor saieth CHRISOST that thanksgiving is great wealth and treasures an unexhausted good which while a man hath he hath aboundance although he had lost all other thing Hast thou lost thy means and yet doest thou praise God thou hast gained thy soule and GGDS favour in greater measure then before When all other things was taken from IOB yet having an heart to praise God and to say The Lord hath given the Lord hath taken blessed be his Name He was most rich even in that his povertie Let us therefore earnestly apply our hearts and minds to this praise of God And let every one in his temple think speak of his glory Wee proceed now to the next duty And unto thee shall the vow be performed As Praise so vowes and the performance thereof belongeth to Thankefulnesse And therefore these two are ordinarly joyned in scripture For clearing of this point we will shortly shew what is a Vow 2. How it belongeth to Thankefulnesse For the first A Vow is a religious promise made to God willingly of a thing acceptable to him It is a promise A purpose to do a thing is not sufficient to make a Vow which is a kinde of Contract betwixt God and man obliedging a man to the performance of something by way of fidelity which obliedgment cannot be without a promise or practical kinde of speech as Schoolmen speak whereby a man tyeth himself as he tyeth another by his commandement Secondly It is a Promise made to God Vnto thee saieth my Text shall the vow be performed Vow pay your vowes unto the Lord psal 76. 11. Offer unto God thanksgiving pay thy vows unto the most High psal 50. 14. In a word everiewher in holy scripture we find vows made to none but to God And yet this day the practise of the Roman Church is to make vows to saints And their Doctours labour to justifie this practise It is acknowledged by Bell. That a vow in holy scripture is ever taken for a promise made to God And yet saieth he vows are rightly made to saints A strange thing How can these two consist Heare I pray you his answere When the scripture was written saieth he vowing to saints was not in use This certainly is true but to confesse it what else is it but to condemne their own practise as an innovation whereby the honour due to God alone is given to the creature O saieth he The saints are Gods by participation They in a most excellent manner are partakers of his naturall glory but by no distinction may the honour due to God be given to any other by the same shift they might alleadge offering of sacrifice to saints with which making of vows is cōmonly joyned in scripture Thirdly I say It is a religious Promise VOWING is a proper act of Religion or the worship of God As by an Oath which is an proper act of worship we profess God to be the supream truth and the Maintainer of it so by a vow wee professe God to bee most good and to be well pleased with the doing of good and indeed a vow is not much different from a promisarie oath except That the Oath is made to man but the vow is made to God 2. To vow to a false God should be Idolatrie and therefore a vow to the true God is true religion and worship which shall hereafter more appeare Fourthly It is a promise made willingly God loveth a cheerfull giver repelleth that which is done by constraint or vnwilingly A vow is as it were a private Law whereby a man bindeth himselfe and differeth in this from a general Law that a general Law bindeth a man whether he be willing or unwilling but so doeth not a vow therefore if made without the use of reason or through ignorance or fear it obliedgeth not Fifthly It must be of a thing acceptable to God That is of such a thing the doing thereof is better then the not doing of it If the thing vowed cannot serve for an good purpose it is but the sacrifice of fools If 〈◊〉 a thing evil as was that of these who vowed not to eat or drink till they had killed S. Paul Act. 23. 12. It maketh the vow abominable for beside the wickednes of intending or doing such a thing he that voweth it cōmitteth akynd of blasphemy in so far as by vowing it he confesseth that God is pleased with such an evil The matter therefore of a vow must be a thing that may be done acceptable to God but these things are of two sorts some are not necessare in particular to be done by such or such a person some againe are necessare Of both some doubt is made whether they bee a fit matter of vow Some Papists affirme that our Divines deny that a vow may be made of a thing not cōmanded or not necessar but this is a calumnie Our learned Divines acknowledge that ther at some things which if a man omitt he shal not sinne yet to do them were better then not to do them and consequently that a man may vow to do such a thing For example such or such a man should not sin not to give such a summe of money to the poo◠or pious uses yet if he would give it he should do better and may vow so to do The same may be said of Fasting or abstinence at such and such times That such things may be vowed is cleare from scripture which everie where almost speaketh of such vows Deut. 23. 21. 22. The Lord cōmands That if a man mak a vow be shal perform it but saith the Lord If thou forbeare to vow it shall not be sinne unto thee To give such or such a summe of money to the poor is a good work without a vow and pleasing to God being an act of charitie why then should it not be pleasing to God when a Vow is passed upon it That which our Divines condemn in such vows is That men ascrive Merite unto them account them works of supererogation and by making them rashly ensnare their own Consciences These and like abuses being removed they acknowledge that vows made of such things are hinderances of sinne nourishments of devotion and profitable exercises whereby the minde is confirmed in good and keeped