tooke our humanity this was advanced that was not prejudiced there came Honour to the one without Detriment to the other whil'st he proves the life of men and yet remaines the head of Angels There are many praevisions of this mystery in the holy Patriarkes and not a few praedictions in the Oracles of the Prophets The Tabernacle of Moses was a direct figure of it of this Tabernacle this building the Tabernacle of God the Tabernacle of his flesh The Israelites saw his glory in the former we saw it in the latter Vidimus gloriam ejus saith Iohn the Evangelist We have seen the glory thereof it hath opened our eyes claryfied our hearts enlightned our minds purified our consciencies Vidimus glorium ejus We have seen the glory thereof As the only begotten Son of God full of Grace and of Truth For indeed there must needs be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nyssen speakes a true reall perfect substantiall building of the Tabernacle where there is Christ in the flesh and God with us a true Saviour a peculiar Immanuel who shall not only renew and Sanctifie but repaire and Glorifie the decayed Tabernacles of our mortall bodyes by the Virtue of his Spirit and the Omnipotency of his Godhead Hence it is that we are enabled to see God and thus it is we are said to behold the Lord of glory though in himselfe he be undiscernable and dwell in light that is unapproachable He tooke that from us and preserves that in us which makes him known to us and beloved of us and therefore since he comes in the vaile of flesh and seems to be covered as with the mantle of Elias we have boldnesse to draw nere and looke upon him as the Sun in a cloud or a candle in a Lanthorne tempered and qualified to the weaknesse of our sight and the infirmities of our nature Which makes the Spouse breake forth into those mysticall expressions My beloved stand's behind the wall he looketh forth of the window and shews himselfe by the lattesse the second and the ninth of Solomon What 's that but the wall of humane flesh the window of humane sense and the lattesse of humane affections as St Bernard interprets whereby he lookes upon us and we looke upon him with Spirituall glances and heavenly dartings of saving knowledg and mutuall complacence crying as it were in the words of Iacob I have seene the face of God and my life is preserved at what time he set a marke on the place and named it Peniel which doth signify the face of God for a token of inward gladnesse and everlasting remembrance Gen 32. Quanta bonitas quanta dilectio quanta humilitas quanta dignatio as St Bernard O the bountyfulnesse and love of God to man who is able to conceive the length and the bredth the height and the depth of his infinit kindness when he did not only bow the Heavens and come downe but empty himselfe and goe back like the Sun in the Dial of Ahaz many degrees that he might give us a signe from the conception of a Virgin and restore us to life by the power of his Salvation There are many results of Practicall Holinesse from so great Philanthropie so great humanity which the Apostle says hath appeared to us Even Praise and honour and Thanksgiving and Obedience with love unfeigned from a pure heart and a good conscience I wish it may be an incentive to them all but cheifly unto love the bond of perfectnesse and the most imitable quality of the Divine nature That as God loved us so ye love one another that ye descend to the infirmities of your Brethren and take up their burthens that ye visite the Churches of the Saints and releive their wants the rather indeed because we are but flesh weake and fraile passible and mortall or to speake in the language of St Augustine Sperma foetidum vas stercorum esca vermium a lump of clay the spawne of Adam a seed of evill doers and vessells of corruption Yet such as God hath respect unto in the Dispensation of his Grace and the Minifestation of his Glory For it is not said every Soul or every Spirit but All Flesh shall behold the Salvation of God where the part is taken for the whole and the worse for the better to shew that God doth not forsake man in the vilest estate of a miserable condition but considers him as Flesh and visits him in his bloud that he may raise and quicken him with the Quatridian Lazarus though dead and buried in the grave of sinne and the pollution of his iniquities For He came to save that was lost as he tells you in the eightenth of St Mathew Not to cure the whole but the sick not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance Publicans and Harlots Theives and Malefactors Blasphemers and Hypocrites Extortioners and Oppressours a Generation of Vipers a brood of Serpents as we gather from many places in the Gospell to seeke the lost groat to find the lost sheep to reclame the lost child to reduce the lost Son to exhilerate and delight the glorious Angels with notice of their conversion since there is joy in heaven with the Angels of God for one Sinner that repenteth And therefore it is noted of the Spouse that she was nigra â—ormosa beloved at the worst and comely when she was black by nature black by grace comely black without comely within black in her selfe comely in him that is more beautifull then all the sons of men the joy of the whole earth and the glory of heaven So that we may hope beyond hope and not be out of comfort in our deformity crying with the Poet in a Divine sense Alba ligusira cadunt vaccinia nigra leguntur As for the Text where it mentions all Flesh with a note of Universality in a larger sense it must not be understood of Numericall persons but of severall conditions by way of distribution in Genera Singulorum as the Schoolemen interpret for though God be in the mid'st of us yet doth he not sanctifie all particulars as we may see by that Devill Iudas The Sun may rise and shine gloriously though not discern'd by such as are blind and shut up in a dungeon in like manner light may come into the world and not be comprehended by the darknesse thereof or known to those whom the God of this world hath blinded Purga oculum ut videre possis lucem oculorum saith learned Augustine clense thine eyes and purifie thy heart that so thou mai'st behold the light of thine eyes and the joy of thy heart for none shall see God but the pure in heart Therefore Christ is said to redeem the Saints out of every Tribe and country and language and Nation where the particle is most emphaticall and worthy observation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not every Tribe but Out of every Tribe and Country and Language and Nation as we are taught by St
to deny ungodlinesse and make that an occasion of falling which is given for a blessing The rather indeed because St Paul will not so much as allow of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the fifth Chapter of his Epistle to the Ephesians when men delight in that which is not comely as spots blots in the feasts of Charity and care not to make themselves ridiculous Morio's so they may others merry with the offence and scandall of their Brethren though in the Sanctuary of God and the very mid'st of his most Holy Temple where they should put off the shoes as it were of foule reproach and not defile it with unsavoury pollutions as they may learne from a meer Heathen Sacer esi locus extra Mei Shall I praise you in this I praise you not to say no more then he doth in a gentle reproofe to the Corinthians Howbeit ye know that our Saviour Christ had a whip for grosse profaners of the Temple The best use we can make of Divine bounty and Evangelicall mercy is a good life and honest conversation in the feare of God and the duties of Religion O kisse the Son and blesse the God of your Salvation who tooke of our flesh that he might give us of his Spirit and poure it forth aboundantly upon all flesh Men and Women Fathers and Children Princes and Nobles Rulers and Servants For God is no accepter of Persons but in every Nation he that feareth him and worketh Righteousnesse is accepted of him The tenth Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles Without doubt their hearts are of stone and not of flesh that do not melt and dissolve with a sense of this Kindnesse He Descends that we may Ascend Ascend and Descend upon the Sonne of man Ascend in Love and the height of Contemplation Descend in Obedience and the Hurnility of Subjection as it is said of the Glorious Angels in the first Chapter of St Iohn the Evangelist If you would learne the manner and desire to know the wings that bring him to us they are as the wings of a Dove VVhose wings are of Gold and whose feathers are of Silver in argento Humanitas in auro Divinitas saith Elegant Bernard by wings of Gold we understand the power of his God-head by feathers of Silver the purity of his Man-hood the Gold and the Silver that meer together in the Royall Person of our Gracious Mediatour and most Precious Redeemer When the Seales of the booke in the Revelation were opened there was a voice heard as the noise of Thunder saying Come and see I have loosed the Seales of the Text and displaid the Treasures thereof the Love of God the Salvation of Christ the Riches of his Grace the Sweetnesse of his Peace and reconciling Merites Give me leave to round your eares and to rouse your Spirits as a Sonne of Thunder in the same Language Come and see come and Sing O come let us sing unto the Lord let us Heartily rejoyce in the strength of our Salvation With Psalmes and Hymnes of Divine praise and Jubilar exultancies Who would not adore him that is Magnified by all the powers of Heaven though he tooke not Angels but the seed of Abraham Was Alpha shall be Omega was the First shall be the Last was the Beginning shall be the End the End of our Hope the Consummation of our Happynesse Give him the Honour due unto his Name the Name of Iesus the Name of a Saviour wherein we rejoyce and whereby we Triumph over the greatest adversaries As his Name is so let his Praise be Great and wonderfull publike and universall in all Churches and in all places let his Saints praise him let all his Saints praise him with Melody and with joyfulnesse Crying aloud in the words of the Magnificat He that is Mighty hath done great things for us and Holy is his name Sometimes with the Glorious Cherubims in Anthems and Antiphonies Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory Sometimes with the blessed Elders in Elogies and Doxologies Salvation and Honour VVisdome and Power be to him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever The Lamb that came to us in a cloud of flesh that all might see him the Lamb that shall come in the clouds of Heaven that all may find him they which have done ill to their greife they which have done well to their comfort in the Visions of Peace and the sweet Fruition of his Beatificall praesence for ever more Which the Lord grant for Iesus Christ his sake To whom with the Father and the Son three Persons and one God be Ascribed all Power Majesty and Dominion this day and for ever Amen FINIS
Iohn in the fifth chap of the Revelat Iews and Graecians Cretes and Arabians they shall all heare they shall all see the Wonders of God and the Power of his Salvation They which liv'd before with Corporall eyes they which come after with Spirituall eyes the eyes of faith and knowledge and a right understanding of Heavenly Mysteries They shall beleive and see they shall tast and see by true experience and sure evidence how good the Lord is in the remission of sin and the free donation of aeternall Righteousnesse For the Promise is made to us and to our Children and to such as are afar off and to as many as the Lord our God shall call Acts the 2. and the 39. This Doctrine is most agreeable with the meaning of the Baptist who was a praecursor to our Lord and Saviour in his first coming though some extend the words to his latter coming when Christ shall be manifest to us and we shall be manifest to him before the Tribunall of his Justice But I wave that as somewhat indirect and desire much you would Suck the milke of Divine truth from the breasts of consolation that are open to you by the revelation of Christ Iesus and the sweet influence of his Evangelicall mercies when he came as raine into a fleec of wooll and did first visit us with his Corporall praesence Gabrill came the Angels sang the Babe sprang the Aire rang and a fountain of Oyle brake forth in the midst of the earth as a signe to all the Nations a miraculous signe of flowing bounties and healing mercies It is not to be imagined that any man now living should have seen him with bodily eyes unlesse it were Iohannes de temporibus as some conceit that was taken up to Heaven in a cloud above sixteen hundred yeares agoe But if we consider the power of his Salvation that came forth of Sion in perfect beauty the whole earth is full of it and we of this Land have found it above other Nations in a singular way and peculiar manner Sicut audivimus sic vidimus As we have heard so we have seen in the City of our God in the City of our King Salvation Corporall Salvation Spirituall the one of the Soul from Haeresy and distraction the other of the Body from Calamity and destruction while there are no tumults no fightings no violence no complaining in our streets Blessed are the people that are in such a case blessed are the people that have the Lord for their God Is it not a precious thing to see Holinesse and order meet together Doctrine and Discipline kisse each other Thanks be to God we enter the Sanctuarie and go to his Altars heare the word and partake of his Mysteries without the disturbance of Lunatick men and Fanatick spirits That Israel may rejoyce in him that made him and the Children of Sion be joyfull in their King There was a time when the Heavens were shut and the Seales of grace in a manner seal'd up by a marveilous restraint of Sacramentall Dispensations but now we see them open again with that blessed Saint and Proto Martyr Stephen when he be held the Son of man at the right hand of God having a great light round about as the Apostle had at his conversion the light of joy and comfort safety and deliverance When the wise men came to Ierusalem they cryed out Vidimus stellam ejus We have seen his star in the East and are come to worship him in like manner we that are inhabitants of this Mysticall Ierusalem may dry out Vidimus stellam ejus We have seen his starre and that as it were in the East from the Orientall praesence of our rising Sun and the sweet reduction of our Gracious Soveragin The starre of his Word the influence of his Grace the light of his Truth the motion of his Providence the working of his Power the power of his Doctrine the brightnesse of his Gospell and the glory of his Kingdome that Evangelicall Kingdome whereby he doth rule in the heart of every Christian O that we might as truly say we are come to worship and to serve him with Singlenesse of heart and Purity of mind in the beauty of Holinesle and the fervency of our Spirit But I feare we come short of those performances and do not present him as the men of the East are said to have done with Gold Myrrh and Frankinsense the Gold of Faith and Heavenly wisdome the Myrrh of Repentance and bitter Contrition the Frankinsense of Prayer and hearty Devotion Where is the Honour and the Worship the Duty and the Service the Labour and the Patience the Tribute and the Obedience we owe to the Power of so Great a Majestie Insteed of all these we do often meet with contempt and infidelity profanenesse and impiety whil'st some despise others deride the Grace which brings Salvation with it placeing themselves as the Prophet hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Chaire of pride or the Seate of the scornfull not unlike unto those VVho laughed and said hail King of the Jewes if thou be the Son of God come down from the crosse be saved others himselfe he cannot save I tremble to recount and am afraid to mention that Execrable speech which a Pope used to one of his Cardinalls when he said quantum nobis profuit de Christo â—abula Cursed Atheists and Prodigy of men Dic quâ Tysiphone quibus exagitare colubâ—is What aileth thee to Blaspheme the Lord of Glory hast thou more Devills in thy heart then were cast out of Mary God forbid any Christian should ever harbour so vile a thought and yet the Apostle sayes there shall be mockers in the last Dayes denying the Lord that bought them we also find by experience that many live as if they tooke the Mystery of Godlynesse for a History of deceivablenesse and held the Gospell of the Kingdome little better than a Golden Legend But let these Men know there is an auferatur impius for the wicked and though God be merciful to the penitent Soul they which provoke the eyes of his Glory shall never see it in the 26th Chapter of the Prophet Isaiah Oh how suddenly do they consume perish and come to a fearful end as the Psalmist speaks with condoling admiration Amongst divers instances of Divine Justice that of Alexander the sixth is very famous who invited his Cardinals to a great Feast with an intent to poyson them for their means and being very frolick dyed lamentably in the midst of his joviality of a poyson'd cup which he provided for others by the Providentiall mistake of his owne servants as you have it recorded in his life by Onuphrius Nec enim lex justior ulla est Quà m necis artifices arte perire suâ Beware then my deare brethren of profane Scurrility and mischievous practises whereby God is dishonour'd or man injured That you turne not the Grace into wantonnesse which teaches us