long since repented in sackcloth and ashes Of the truth thereof Christ giveth them a tast in this History And this hath beene an ancient practise of God when the meanes of grace hath profited little within the Church to confound His people by their readinesse to believe that were without the Church So did He in the dayes of Eliah confound Israel by the Widdow of Sarepta a Woman of Sidon who entertained the Prophet when the Israelites persecuted him And in the dayes of Elizeus by Naaman the Assyrian who upon a little tast of Gods mercy in curing his Leprosie vowed to serve no other God but the God of Elizeus wheras greater Miracles and sundry Sermons wrought and spoken by Elizeus could not obtaine so much Piety of the Jsraelites The very like is to be observed in the story of Ninivy the great City Ninivy as the Prophet calleth it was in three dayes Preaching reclaimed by Ionah which laboured many yeares with the Israelites and laboured in vaine God in the second of Ezechiel sets downe for a Rule in Generall Eze. 2.3 Sonne of man I doe not send thee to a Nation that understands not thy language but if I did they would heare whereas this people understands but will not be reformed Wherefore God as He threatned in the 32. of Deuteronomy Deu. 32.21 did provoke His people justly by them that are no people a foolish nation as His people provoked their God by them that were no gods but the work of their owne hands Christ is found of them that sought Him not and made manifest unto them that enquired not after Him Acts 13.46 Acts 13.46 This was the Iewes case Saint Paul to the Romans saith that we must every one of us make it our case for as God left the Iewes to go to the Gentiles so may He go from us to the Indies for spiritus spirat ubi vult and there is nothing as it was shewed unto Saint Peter in the Vision that is uncleane when God is pleased to sanctifie it Christ went out of the Coasts of Tyre and Sidon Thus much of the occasion Come to the History which represents two eminent vertues of which vertues we are to consider first the conflict the conflict betweene two persons which addes some right unto the vertues for what are the vertues the one is an importunate Faith and in whom is that in a Canaanitish woman an Heathen woman but which is more sprang from cursed Cham and which is yet further to be observed being of that Line which was specially to be odious to the Iewes whom they were to roote out without all mercy that such a woman should beleeve in Christ who was no Iew by birth this makes her Fact more memorable But what is the other vertue It is delay though it proved profitable delay and in whom was this It was in our Saviour Christ who if He had beene onely God it had beene no wonder if He did put off sinners in the holinesse of a Lord or if it had beene at his second comming in glory it would not have beene strange if he had rejected the woman in the austerity of a Iudge but to doe it in the nature of man which hee undertooke as Saint Paul speaketh that he might be tender hearted towards man to doe it when he came not to judge but save for such a person at such a time to use such delay so to reject a poore woman maketh the vertue of Christ the more remarkable the more admirable But let us come to the conslict of these vertues The woman begins and sets upon Christ She cryed and said Have mercy on me ô Lord thou Sonne of David my daughter is miserably vexed with a Devill her case was bad and therefore needs the lesse wonder if in her suit she were so earnest she spake for her child her child was now left to the malice of the Devill nothing in nature could be nearer then her child no corporeall evill could befall it worse than to be within the power of the devill such a case would melt a stony heart what wonder if it worke so upon the tender heart of a mother But the meaning of the Holy Ghost is that we should be earnest in our prayers according to the danger of our estate the more our danger the more our earnestnesse and we should presse the more upon God the more we are occasioned by calamities that are layed upon us by him for therefore doth he humble us to warme our cold devotion It is so in distresses corporall but much more in our distresses spirituall we must learne the one by this woman and the other by expressing the sense that we have of the want of grace farre more painefull then the other sense is of the want of health But let us heare the womans first onset She makes a short petition but it containes a most excellent confession if you looke to the matter yea and a most confident profession if you looke to the manner of those words wherein she speakes to Christ The matter is a short but a full description of the person and office of Christ His person he was God and man she acknowledgeth both God in calling Him Lord for that word must not be understood but according to the style of the Scripture which in stead of Iehovah in the Hebrew and in the Greek signifies not a bare Lord but the absolute Lord both of Heaven and Earth Shee could not conceave lesse of Christ when she desired he would shew His power over the Devill for how could he have power over the Devill that was not Lord Paramount over all the world She acknowledgeth him then to be God And to be man also for she calleth him the sonne of David Which implies not only that he was a man but also the Messias eodem ipso Christum Domini for as David was the Annoninted King of the Lord so was hee the type of Christ that was to bee annoynted with the Holy Chost Hee was then a man and which is more he was that man even the man whom the Iewes looked for to have for their Messias A faire description of Christs person which further intimates his office too for he that was Christ was also to be Iesus He was to save and so to shew mercy his office was to be the Mercy-seat of God the reliever of the distresses of wretched man Thus much she confesseth of Christs person of his office Yea she professeth it also For whereas many Jewes believed in Christ but durst not say so much openly of him because they loved the praise of men more than of God and feared more to be cast out of the Synagogue of the Iewes then to be shut out of the kingdom of Heaven this poore woman is not ashamed of her Faith she publisheth her beliefe shee publisheth it in her prayer unto Christ which she uttereth with a loud voyce that all standers-by might
sorts of meanes to compaâ— his end whereâ—n all thinges serve him and who haâ— resisted his will From without then there can been cause much lesse from within for his word before 〈◊〉 was spoken was tryed to the utttermost as the Psimist speaketh as silver tryed seven times in the fire theâ— is no error to bee corrected in it seeing as in wisedom God made all his workes so hath hee spoken all hâ— wordes and what hee hath wisely resolved hee wiâ— not unconstantly alter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Naâ— anzene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oâ—at 53. It is the foole that chanâ—eth like the Moone but Gods word is as the dirâ—â— beames of the Sunne which passe through the aire 〈◊〉 moved of the windes and though reflected of the eartâ— yet grow they more bright more hot even so God tuâ—neth the rage of man to his praise Psal 76.10 hee restraineth his â—riousnes for with him there is no variablenes nor shaâ—â— of change True it is that God is said to repent but 〈◊〉 Fathers joyntly agree that his repentance is mutatiâ—â— not affectus but effectus hee changeth his creatures 〈◊〉 changeable in himselfe even as a chirurgeon who 〈◊〉 gins with one kind of plaister when that hath wrouâ— his force layeth another kind doth not alter but pâ—â—sue his former resolution which was by those dive plaisters to cure the sore even so whatsoever alteratiâ—â— befalls us God did eternally decree it an decree it as it befalls So then wee must acknowledge that his word much more his Oath is a standing word Psa 33.4 9 Zach. 1.6 Psa 119.89 1. Pet. 1.25 as the Scripture calleth it a prevayling Word an enduring word All flesh is grasse and the glory thereof but as the flower of the field the grasse withereth the flower fadeth but the word of the Lord abideth for ever saith Saint Peter Christ goeth further heaven and earth shall perish Mat. 5.18 one jote or one title of the Law shall not escape till all thinges bee fulfilled Particularly in one case thus saith the Lord If you can breake my Covenant of the day and my Covenant of the night that there should not bee day and night in their season then may my Covenant bee broken with David my servant Ier. 33.20 that hee should not have a sonne to raigne vpon his throne And what is our lesson Truely first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nazianzene adviseth as neere as wee can though wee cannot as constantly as God not to have a heart and a heart Ps 119.106 but to say with King David I havesworne and am stedfastly purposed It were to bee wished there were such constancy in our Oaths so many would not retract the Oath of that Allegeance which they owe without an Oath The more is the envious man to bee looked unto that workes into simple consciences such erroneous conceipts Psa 58 9. Priusquam sentiantur spinae tam redivivam quà m adustam procellat quamque Deus Good husbands suffer tares to grow till harvest but they weed thistles before the corne bee ripe I leave the cutting of these thistles and thornes for they are to us as the Canaanites were to Israel I leave them I say to the temporall sword whom it concernes neerely that their field bee not overgrowen with them even asmuch as the losse of their harvest in stead whereof they may else one day scarce find a gleaning But because their field is also Gods it were to be wished that whatsoever is done to the seducers the seduced might be better and oftner informed There is no doubt but if a wise and constant course were taken Gods blessing would be as great in preserving truth and bringing to the truth as the Devils malice in corrupting so many silly unstable soules This care sleepes in the Letters of Lawes and Canons it would be awakened to doe as much as Church and Common-weale have thought meet But to leave them and conclude with our selves Of the Patriarchs Wisd c. 18. v 6. the Wiseman saith that knowing to what Oaths they had given credit they were of good cheere In imitation of whom Saint Paul said J know whom I have trusted and that hee is able to keepe that which I have committed to him untill that day Wherefore let us listen to Saint Peter and commit our selves unto God as unto a faithfull Creator for as King David saith No man ever trusted in him and was confounded and David was the person to whom God sware in that truth from which he would not shrinke Let us come then from the warrant to the promise and therein consider the persons of whom it stands First to whom the promise was made This person was David God sware to David Though no mans worth is such as to deserve ought at Gods hands for every mans worth is Gods gift Quid habes quod non accepisti and no man must boast as if he had not received it yet God never entred into Covenant with any that was not of extraordinary worth You may perceive it in the story of Noah Abraham Phinees But we have now to doe with David of him God himselfe doth witnesse that he was a man after his own heart Hom. de David Saul that is as St. Chrys expounds it there was between God and that King Individuus amor conjuncta Charitas idem velle idem nolle Which agreeth with that addition St. Paul puts to Gods Word he will doe omnes voluntates meas all my wils for he was eminent in more than one vertue Eccl. 47.3 ut supra Looke on him as a private man how valiant hee played with Lions as with Kids and with Beares as with Lambes And yet how patient millies meruit martyrij coronam saith Chrysostome he was a thousand fold Martyr Looke on him as a King caring for the Church hee spake truly of himselfe the zeale of thine house hath consumed me Which the Sonne of Syrach excellently resembles As the fat separated from the peace offering so was David chosen on t of the Children of Israel Now the fat was only Gods part the rest of the sacrifice was divided betweene the Priests and the offerer so David dedicated it wholly unto God as if none else had any interest in him and yet behold when he commeth to deale with the common-wealth what saith he the earth and all the Inhabitants thereof are out of joynt I beare up the pillars thereof Saint Chrysostome did not lavish when he said In natura humana vitam praestitit angelicam for doe not the Angels also behold the face of God and yet are they ministring spirits for their sakes that shall be heires of salvation So David was indeed the annointed Cherub that covereth and God set him in honour upon the holy mountaine You have not heard all he committed sundry enormous sins yet such was his Repentance the Psalmes are monuments of it that Theodoret
heaven but to them it is not given But I deâ—and have we not heard Yes verily for the sound of GODS Word is gone throughout all the earth and their words to the end of the world All the day long saith God have I stretched out mine hand unto a disobedient and â—ainsaying Nation We have two eares an outward and â—n inward We must bring the first with reverence to God and by that eare God will open the other The apâ—arent reason why we heare so little inwardly is because we heare so little outwardly Yea men are like deafe Adders that stop their eares charme the Charmer never so â—isely Hereby the peoples hearts waxe fatt and their â—ares are dull of hearing and with their eyes they wink east they should see with their eyes and heare with their â—ares and understand with their hearts and should reâ—urne that God might heale them Finally They become â—ike Idols that have eares and heare not eyes and see not as â—eremy speaketh And to conclude with our selves I night exclame with the ancient Prophets and Apostles Quis credidit Who hath beleeved our report or as the â—onne of Syrach The Pastors of our land are like as men â—hat speak to them that are in a sound sleep when he hath â—ld his tale they say what is the matter Read Zach. 7.11 Zach. 7. â—any Epicures what would this babler many proud Pharaohs who is the Lord that we should obey him but I will not complaine of them I will rather admonish with Saint Paul Wee ought diligently to take heed to the â—hings which we have heard lest at any time we run out for â—f the word spoken c. That we may then be in the number of those of whom Christ saith Blessed are your eyes â—r they see and your eares for they heare let us now and â—ver imitate Samuel and say Speake Lord for thy servant â—eareth But what shall he heare that which Moses â—id Exod. 33. Gods glory goodnesse and face Exo. 33.11 14 18 19. for that â—lace is a Commentary upon this And so from the perâ—ns let us come to the lesson The Lesson consists of two parts 1. What God is Secondly How hee dealeth with us GOD is both powerfull and also mercifull To thee ô LORD power and mercy The words are to be understood exclusively for what King David denyed to all creatures he ascribes to the Creator and so are the attributes often limitted to God only as none good but God Noah will easily acknowledge this truth If we distinctly consider of these attributes first the power and then the mercy all that I will observe concerning the power may be reduced to these two branches God is mighty of himselfe and Almighty Mighty of himselfe for power is essentiall unto God it is but by gift in the creatures therefore Gods power is absolute and independant the power of all creatures is limitted and dependant I will make it plaine by resemblances The sunne is the fountaine of light the Moone hath light but it is borrowed of the Sunne there is water in the spring and in the streame but the spring hath it of himselfe the streame borrowes it of the spring so is the juice in the branches and in the root but for this juice the branches are beholden to the root not the root to the branches Hereupon it commeth to passe that the Moone doth wexe and wane as it hath more or lesse influence from the Sunne so is the streame greater or lesser as it draweth more or lesse water from the spring and the branches fade or bud as they are moistened from the root But this difference we must take that these resemblances fit our purpose but in part for God is Agens liberrimum God can at his pleasure increase or diminish and withhold all power from his creatures but so cannot the Sunne his light the spring his water the root his juice therefore that power the creature hath yet is not the creatures but it is Gods in him all things live and move and have their being Gen. 3.6 and they are but his army Our soules are not masters of our own power when God will our eyes faile us as they did the Syrian Army 1 Kin. 13.4 our eares will faile us as they did the Aramites our hands will faile us as they did Ieroboam 1 King 13. Our feet will faile us as they did those bands that came to Christ Our tongue will faile us as Balaam blessed when he should have cursed our hearts will faile us * Deu. 28.28 Our wisdom will faile us for God taketh the wise in their own craftinesse even the Devill himselfe as in the death of Christ. Finally our consciences through feare will betray all the powers of our soule every thing militat Deo that is the ground of the speech of Ioshua The Canaanites though Giants and Inhabitants of high walled Cities they are but bread for we shall conquer them as easily as wee digest our meats hee addes the reason their shield is departed from them the Lord is with us You see then how true it is that God is mighty of himselfe and every creature of it selfe hath no might but a Tenant at will unto God for so much and so long as it pleaseth him But God as he is mighty he is of himselfe and he is Almighty nothing is impossible to God hee doth whatsoever he will both in heaven and earth who hath resisted his will But here we must note that power noteth perfection and imperfection no power but want of power and therefore wee must exclude imperfections otherwise there be many things impossible for God Imperfections are of two sorts onely miserable or blameable and blameable are the ignorance and sinfulnesse of men God cannot be deceaved nor can God sinne both are imperfect Miserable are all the punishments of sinne as sicknesse and death these are as farre from God as sin But whatsoever things are of perfection those can be done of God only in the perfections that are common to God with us we must observe a great difference between God and us for besides that hee is Almighty hee hath all his perfections of himselfe and we ours from him he hath them immutably he hath them eminently he that planted our eare can heare and he that made our eye can see But he seeth and heareth without an eye and eare of flesh he is all eye all eare he sees all heares all Enter praesenter Deus est ubique potenter His Majesty fils Heaven and Earth All things are naked before him yea there is nothing that is not sustained by him Though all imperfections be far from God yet are they not without the compasse of the providence of God he permitteth them hee ordereth them yea hee draweth his glory and his Churches good out of them The same God that could command light to shine out of darknesse can out of evill bring forth good Yea
stickes not to say Regis admirabilem gloriam effecit splendidiorem he was a King admirable for his vertues but more admirable for his repentance as it was a stranger sight to see a King of Ninive come downe from his Throne clothed in sackcloth and sit in ashes then King Solomon sitting upon his Throne and speaking parables unto the Queene of Saba Behold then whom God chose to be a Patriarch to whom he gave a name like one of the great ones like that of Abraham he entered into a Covenant with Abraham and he entred into a covenant with David he sware to Abraham and he sware to David and he sware unto David as unto Abraham concerning his issue The fruit of his body Children are called fruit of their Parents body to note that they are only fathers of their flesh they have another namely God which is father of their spirits Saint Paul teacheth it and the use of it Heb. 12. Heb. 12.9 And this checkes their opinion that will have soules propagated no lesse than bodies I will not trouble you with such an unnecessary dispute Rather this I note that whereas every mans first desire is immortality because hee cannot in this world attaine it hee offereth supply thereof by his posterity This phrase then promiseth solatium immortalitatis a kind of immortality Our mortall part the Sonne of Syrach doth excellently set forth Chr. 30.4 A man that hath issue though he die yet he is as though hee were not dead for hee hath left one behind him that is like him Jn his life he saw him and had joy in him and hee was not sorry in his death neither was hee ashamed before his enemies And why he left behind him an avenger against his enemies and one that should shew favour to his friends Good cause therefore why another Psalme of degrees tels us that Children are an inheritance of the Lord and the fruit of the wombe is his reward As are the arrowes in the hand of the strong man so are the children of the youth Blessed is the man that hath his quiver full of them Surely for a King to have his quiver empty is no small curse God himselfe hath spoken it Ier. 22.30 O earth earth earth heare the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord write this man and that man was Iechonias the King write him I say destitute of Children a man that shall not prosper in his dayes and what is that but that he shall be cursed he addes the reason for there shall be no man of his seed that shall sit upon the Throne of David or beare rule any more in Judah Esa 38.14 King Ezekiah when he was but threatned it confesseth thus he chattered like a swallow mourned like a Dove And what said Abraham O Lord God what wilt thou give me seeing I goe childlesse and loe the servant of mine house shall bee mine heire Happie then was David and so every one of Davids ranke is happy that hath a fruitfull Vine and Olive branches round about his Table Of whom we may truly say Vno avulso non deficit alter Aureus et simili frondescit virga metallo But marke the King was busie to build Gods house and see how God answers him promising the building of â—â—e Kings house God requites a building with a builâ—ing There is a very apt allusion in the word upon which the sonne of Syrach also playes when he saith that â—hildren and the building of a City make a perpetuall â—â—me how much more if they be a royall off-spring that â—e destined to sit upon a Throne And God promiseth â—avid sons for this honourable end To sit upon his Throne It appeares among the buildings of Solomon and in the Chronicles of other Monarchs that the King had a seciall publike seat wherein he was placed when he possessed himselfe of his kingdome and afterwards sate as in his proper seate the Scripture cals it solium Regni as if a kingdome and the Throne were inseparable So that this phrase doth signifie insigne Regni an essentiall an incommunicable rite of a Kingdome This seate is incommunicable the Altar and the Throne saith one are â—â—th proper the Altar to God the Throne to the King The pride of usurping the Throne will as hardly be brooâ—ed by a Soveraigne on earth as the usurping of the Altar will be borne by the Lord of heaven Therefore Pharaoh though he did highly advance Ioseph added Only in the Kings Throne will I bee above thee As it is incommunicable to others so is it essentiall to a King In regard whereof Saint Peter calls Kings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 supereminent supereminent in the Throne But wherein stands this supereminency surely in state and power In regard of the state it is called solium gloriae 1 Sam. 2.8 Pro. 20.8 and in regard of the power solum judicij These two must not be severed A King must in state ascend above all that hee may be the more respected when he doth command God himselfe that did often shew himselfe as a King did shew himselfe in that Majestie that hee alloweth unto Kings The places be knowne in Ezechiel Daniel Revelation I need not quote them But solium is therefore gloriae because judicij The state is to countenance the power it must not be only a Throne of glory but of judgment too Nazianzene hath an apt description of Kings they are persons saith hee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They are not be without a paire of scales in their hands in imitation of God of whom the Psalmist saith Thou sittest iâ— the Throne that judgest righteously And such a Throne indeed was King Davids At Ierusalem are Thrones for Judgment even the Throne of the house of David In such a Throne should the sons of David sit they were to 〈◊〉 but God would set them there It is superfluous for me to remember you that Promotion commeth neither from the East nor from the West 〈◊〉 from the North nor from the South It is God that take downe one and setteth up another Which is evident by the Prophesies of alterations in the most eminent Monarchiâ— of the world As for the Anabaptists that admit no Soveraigne title in a Christian Common-weale upon a falâ— ground that it is a fruit of Adams fall which ceased us on the Redemption by Christ it is enough to touâ— their ignorance not distinguishing between Directâ—â—â— and Coercive power The later is made necessary by sin the former is as naturall as sociablenesse is to man Tâ—â— Romanists detest Anabaptisme but they cherish a mâ—sterie of iniquity that may not be indured by this peculiar of God I will set them For in their Pontificale Remanum they insert such clauses as have within late yeere given occasion of Rebellion in this land Rebellion justified at the Barre upon this ground that the King is 〈◊〉 King till he be anointed In that booke as it is reformâ— by the
begin to differ First That the blessing in using of these meanes we say is common to every particular Church they restraine it to the Church of Rome calling that the Catholike Church which we deny Secondly They take away infallibility from the body of their Church yea of the whole Church and give it to the Pope contrary to their owne councels before Luther that of Constance and that of Basil which placed it in the Catholike Church Thirdly They hold it not impossible even for this head of their Church to be an Hereticke but that he should teach Heresie they say it is impossible As if Ne fides tua deficiat in the Gospell had that sense to say nothing of his common impiety impurity and iniquity which they confesse also Fourthly They say he may teach Heresie but not in Cathedra Extra he may do it so he doe it as a private Doctor yea and print it too at least write it Fifthly In Cathedra the Antecedents or premisses he may mistake though hee take them out of the Scripture but the conclusion is cock-sure Sixthly The very conclusion if he doe not determine it as a matter of faith but probability may be erroneous too Behold how certaine they are and how uncertaine we of our faith and how wee build upon private spirits but they upon a rock Surely howsoever we escape too many of them make shipwracke I presse this the rather because there is not any thing wherein the advocates of that Sea do more now a dayes insult then this But to leave them to their failing and wounding reed of Egypt let us build upon GODS Word whose sense we may search out by such meanes as have beene alwaies shewed Secondly As our Faith is most holy in regard of Gods Word so is it no lesse in regard of our beliefe therein For as the object descendeth from heaven so must we ascend unto heaven But we must distinguish two faculties in our soule answerable to the two points of the object There is in the object the matter of Gods Word and the Author in regard of the matter it is bonum in regard of the Author Verum Now our faith must answerably beleeve it first as verum which is assensus mentis and then as bonum which is assensus cordis Our witt and â—our will our understanding and our affection must both be holy that is lifted up above the earth First Our understanding must be holy for we must beleeve God absolutely and it is the first Article of our Creed I beleeve in God the Father Almighty which clause goeth through all the Articles of Creed God is Almighty to create to redeeme to judge to forgive to give both grace and glory a Luk. 1.37 Non est impossible apud Deum omne verbum saith the Angell So then we must not be b Jam. 1.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 checking the spirit by the flesh nor c Luk. 12.29 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hanging betweene heaven and earth but resolute that whatsoever God saith is true Yet wee must note that the immediate object of our faith is not Gods power but his revealed will though we relie upon his revealed will as it is secured by his Almighty power So that all the arguments for Transubstantiation that reason from Gods power touch us not who denie it because there is no evidence for it in Gods revealed will Constet de voluntate let it appeare that God would have it so and let us goe for infidels if we denie it to be so But finding nothing for it in Gods revealed will we argue against it as impossible not simpliciter but exhypothesi And so affirmatively we give reasons of that which is revealed as of the Incarnation Ascention c. In the revealed will of God there are two things Verbumrei the word and res verbi the mystery Our faith builds it selfe immediately upon the former not upon the latter See then the Sophistry of the Church of Rome that withdraw the Scriptures from the people because they are hard They say true if you looke to rem verbi the mystery but if you looke to verbum rei the word it is not so As for example the Scripture teacheth that there is one God in three persons the words are plaine and easie every man heares and understands them but the mystery contained in these words doth passe the reach of a man and in this respect it is true that sides melius definitur per ignorantiam quà m per notitiam and Saint Austin observes it to have beene the common saying of his time accepto baptismo dicimus fidelis factus sum credo quod nescio and finally S. Hilaries rule is true Habet non tam veniam quam praemium ignorare quod credas So then the hardnesse of the matter is no just reason to debarre the people from reading the words especially if they bee kept from giving them any other sense then may stand with the elements of Religion delivered in the Catechisine for then though they may in reading mistake the true sense or analogy of the place yet they cannot damnably erre against the Creed or analogie of faith But it is too true that many take too great liberty against those sober bounds which are set them by our Church every Parish Church almost having their private Catechisme of private draught not of ecclesiasticall prescript which fils the ignorant with more resolutions then are sound and gives occasion to force many passages of Scripture to that sense It were to be wished that to avoid scandall and to prevent further danger at least publikely no other principles might be taught or tolerated then the Church hath allowed and are without exception that the whole Church sustaine not the just blame that is occasioned by some irregular members therof And let this serve for the lifting up of our understandings above the earth Secondly Our will also must be lift up it must not be earthly but holy For the object is not only Verum true but also bonum good And bonum is the proper object of the will as Verum is of the understanding It is much disputed and not yet agreed whether faith be seated in the understanding or in the will the opinion most consonant to the Scripture is that which placeth it in both and it is grounded upon this evidence that in Gods word as even now I observed there is verbum rei and res verbi The understanding begins and laies hold upon verbum rei assenting to it but the heart openeth it selfe and desireth rem verbi to be partaker of it for we doe not only assent unto the word that it is true but long after it as a Soveraigne good This you may perceive by Saint Pauls description of faith Heb. 11.1 wherein there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some referre the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to things not seene and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
distinctly exprest the name of God is put for the Father as God hath not given the Spirit to Christ by measure Iohn 3 34. and Because ye are sonnes God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Sonne into your hearts crying Abba Father Gal. 4.6 Yet though our love be terminative in God the Father it belongs to all the rest opera ab extra as well as adextra are indivisa I will not farther amplifie it onely take notice that all three persons are remembred in my Text and in this place God doth signifie the Father But I descend more particularly to the love of God Love is either active or passive Passive is that whereunto wee are brought by faith Active is that wherein wee are exercised by our most holy faith The Passive Love is that wherewith God loveth us the Active is that wherewith wee love GOD The Passive makes us children of GOD the Active doth manifest us to bee such the Passive is first in nature and the Active followeth long after for the Passive is eternall the Active in time the Passive is infinite as is God the Active finite as is man the Passive most perfect according to the perfection of GOD but the Active defective according to those defects which accompany this mortall condition even of a regenerate man Both these loves are here meant wee must labour to keepe our selves in both First In the Passive love Deus non deserit nisi deseratur The stile of God is often repeated by Moses and the Prophets A a Deut. 7 9. God that keepeth his Covenant and the Apostle sayes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 b 1. Cor. 10.13 God is faithfull The matter of this Covenant are the c Esai 55.3 faithfull mercies of David and our Saviour saith d Ioh. 13.1 Whom he loveth he loveth to the end Therefore God saith unto the Iewes e Esai 50.1 Where is your Mothers Divorcement whom I have cast off Or who is the Creditor to whom I sold you Alluding to two Causes of the Wives miserie by the Husbands default Want of Love or Want of Abilitie now he answereth that both these Causes are in us For your iniquities are you sold and because of your transgression is your Mother forsaken If our God dislike us or reject us we must seeke the Cause in our selves it is our fault if we abide not in the Passive Love Secondly Yea and in the Active too We must love God Appreciativè Intensivè Affectu Effectu First Appreciativè Love God above all things and in all a Matth. 10 37. He that loveth Father or Mother more then me is not worthie of me b Psal 73.24 Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desiro in comparison of thee c Psal 45.11 Hearken O Daughter and consider and incline thine eare forget also thine owne People and thy Fathers House so shall the King have pleasure in thy beautie Secondly Intensivè with all thy might and strength Affectu Effectu d Psal 103.1 Prayse the Lord O my Soule and all that is within me prayse his holy Name And e Psal 27.4 One thing have I desired of the Lord which I will require even that I may dwell in the House of the Lord c. But God may renew the Complaint of the Prophet f Esai 1.21 Civitas sancta facta est Meretrix g Hos 7.16 Ephraim is like a broken Bow c. and that of the Psalmist h Psal 78.9 Their heart was not upright within them and that in Hose i Hos 11.12 Ephraim compasseth me with Lyes c. But how shall we keepe our selves in this Love of God There are two meanes first by not committing what we should not doe secondly nor omitting what we should doe You may perceive by the a Mat. 12.43 c. Parable of the uncleane Spirit how he kept possession of the man while he was in the state of sinne and also how he returned when being freed from sinne he did not furnish himselfe with Grace b Rom 13.10 Love is the keeping of the Commandement and every Commandement hath an affirmative part and a negative part the one against omission and the other against commission and the rule of the Apostle is c Rom 13.12 We must cast away the workes of Darknesse and put on the Armour of Light This Talking Age is much troubled with an inquisition Whether a justified man may fall wholly from Grace and whether he may fall finally I will not dispute either my Text leads me to warne you not to fall onely these two points let me observe First The least shrinking from God should be very grievous to a true Child of God David bemoaned his absence from the visible Arke but marke upon what grounds O Lord of Hostes Psal 84.1 how amiable are thy Tabernacles my soule longeth yea and fainteth c. You see that the sense he had of the sweetnesse of the favour of God made him bemoane himselfe that was banisht from the Tabernacle of God how much more should he have bemoaned himselfe if God had forsaken his person that it should no longer be the House of God Secondly Nemo repente fuit turpissimus God departeth from this our Temple or us rather his Temple as he departed from the Temple of Ierusalem Ezechiel shewes how First he rose and went from betweene the Cherubins and from the Mercie-Seat that is out of the most Holy Place then rested a while in the second Roome which was the Holy Place then came he neerer Altare Holocausti and then tooke his flight The parts of man most aptly resemble these parts of the Temple of God Our Heart is Sanctum Sanctorum where Christ dwells as in his proper place and the first Grace that failes us is a good Conscience Yet men may retaine the knowledge of God and be able to retaine good from evill as shee did Video meliora proboque Deteriora sequor But continuance in sinne will even darken the Principles of Truth and men may be so obdurate as to oppose themselves against Gods Precepts Then is God driven into the Court the open Court where men in policie and for worldly respects conforme themselves to that which they neither love nor beleeve I will be no mans judge but I would to God we would every man judge himselfe and consider how farre he is gone from God I doubt he will be found in more mens heads then in their hearts and yet more in mens faces then in their heads I would to God there were not infinite that have set their faces against Heaven c. I conclude this point with that of Saint Paul Heb. 3.6 Christ is as the Sonne over his owne House whose Household we are if we hold fast that confidence and that rejoycing of hope to the end Take heed therefore Brethren 12.13.14 lest at any time there be
of his merit for hee satisfied Gods wrath and fulfilled Gods law so that he deserved both discharge from Hell and the ioyes of heaven but if we looke to the same as it is imparted to us so it is a gift of free mercy bestowed upon us Two things then wee must heed that we set not our eyes upon the dignity of our owne person or merit of our owne worke but cloth our selves with Christs person that wee may have an interest in his meritorious worke Let us set Christ alwayes before us and his spirit shall be at our right hand so that wee shall not slide so that our heart may be glad and our tongue reioyce our flesh also may rest in hope for in due time he will shew us the pathes of life in whose presence is fulnesse of ioy and at his right hand pleasures for evermore We see three persons in God and three vertues of a man Man is as it were the center of all blessings that come from every of the three persons in God and God must be the center wherein must end all the three vertues of man As the holy Ghost helpeth us to pray the Father his affected to us in love Iesus Christ vouch safeth us his mercy so must our faith be in God our love toward God and our hope for the mercy of God These be the uttermost of our revelations of God this is the scope of our contemplation of God and this contemplation must suffice us yea this reflexed sight will enable us to a direct sight If we inure our selves to behold Gods vailed face of grace during our mortalitie we shall against the day of our immortality sharpen our sight to endure his revealed face of glory And herein we have King David to resolve us I will behold saith he thy presence in righteousnesse and when I awake after thy likenesse I shall be satisfied with it O Incomprehensible Trinitie and indivisible Vnity that hast revealed thy selfe to us in these graces whereby thou makest a spirituall house of us vouchsafe that by helpe from thee and hope in thee we may so profit and persevere in our most holy faith which shines in that interchangeable love that is betweene our God and us that in due time and in thy kingdome we may see thee face to face and with thy blessed Angels and Saints for ever sing Holy holy holy Lord God of hoasts And that from our mouth as this earth is now so heaven hereafter may be full of thy glory To him that is able to keepe you that you fall not and to present you fault lesse before the presence of his glory with ioy to God onely wise our Saviour be glory maiesty dominion and power both now and for ever Amen A SERMON PREACHED AT SAINT CROSSE NEARE WINCHESTER MATTH 15.21 22 23. And Iesus went thence and departed into the Coasts of Tyre and Sidon And behold a Woman of Canaan came out of the same Coasts and cryed unto Him saying Have mercy on me O Lord thou Sonne of David my Daughter is grie vously vexed with a Devill But He answered her not a word And His Disciples came and besought Him saying send her away for she cryeth after us THat the Kingdome of God should be taken away from the Iewes and given unto the Gentiles our Saviour Christ while Hee was on the Earth taught often times both in word and deed Of such deeds this History is one which is the Argument of my Text. Of which there is to be considered the occasion and the matter the occasion is double given by the Iewes taken by Christ The matter representeth two excellent vertues the one in Christ the other in a Woman of Canaan Of which vertues we are to consider the conflict and the successe The conflict shewes how both Christ and the Woman did by degrees arise the Woman in her importunate faith in Christ Christ in his profitable delay to helpe her and the successe shewes how both vertues proved to Christs great glory and the Womans great comfort The Womans faith would not be said nay and at last it sped well not onely to her Daughters recovery but also to the high commendations of her faith Christ shewes that what He deferres He doth not deny but then yeelds when it is most fit both for Him and also for us This is the substance of the History Let us resume the parts and first the Occasion the occasion which I told you is first given then taken Given by the lewes Christ had Preached long amongst them and wrought many Miracles but they were little the better either in their Faith or in their Life though they were His owne yet His owne received Him not Christ therefore went thence to teach us that though Christ be a constant observer of His promise yet is He a free Disposer of His Grace He breakes with none and He is bound to none if we set light by His guifts we shall be quickly rid of Him The Scripture hath divers examples and Similies to this purpose The example of Israel when God left Shiloh where God had planted His Arke which Ieremy observes Ier. 17.3 Chap. 17. The example of Iudah where God built His Temple Rev. 2. and 3. chapters which Ezechiel observes The example of the Church in Asia of which Saint Iohn in the second and third of the Revelation The similitude of the Vine Esay 5.4 Esay 5. What could J have done saith God for it that I have not done but seeing that which I planted a generous Vine brings forth no better then wild Grapes I will breake down the wall and leave it to the wild Beasts c. The similitude of the Fig-Tree in the Gospell which after three yeares husbandry continuing barren the Owner thereof commanded to be cut downe The similitude of the Shepheard who when He could do no good with His Flocke brake both His Staves the Staffe of Beauty and the Staffe of Bandes He left them to stray and to be slaine The Apostles Rule is short qui stat videat ne cadat If we presume upon Templum Domini Templum Domini as did the Iewes we shall find that God will not sticke to profane His Temple by forsaking it if we do not sticke to prophane that Temple by defiling it We have no priviledge to breake with God and yet to be bold that God will not breake with us He will not begin to forsake us but if we go from Him He will not much desire to continue with us Christ went thence but whither did He go unto the parts of Tyre and Sidon The lewes gave the occasion Christ taketh it to go from the Iewes to the Gentiles to relate the infidelity of the Iew by the faith of the Gentile For what He said elsewhere woe be to thee Chorazin woe be to thee Bethsaida for if the miracles that have beene done in thee had beene done in Tyre and Sidon they would have
men of understanding and wisdome knowne men among your Tribes and I will appoint them Râ—ulers over you And David exhorteth thus Psalm 2. Be wise ô yee Kings be learned Ps 2.10 yee that are Iudges of the earth It was a speciall Caveat in Artaxerves Letters Patents granted to Ezra Chapter 7. Thou ô Ezra according to the wisdome of thy God Ezâ— 7.25 which is in thine hand appoint Iudges and Arbiters over the people even such Iudges and Arbiters which know the law of thy God and teach thou them that know it not The reason of this rule and practise is delivered by the Son of Syrach a wise Iudge nourteâ—eth the people with discretion and the government of a prudent man is well ordered but it is a heavy judgment when fooles doe sit upon the seat of God Eccl. 10.1 Esa 3.4 God himselfe hath spoken it Esa 3. I wil appoint children to be their Princes and Babes shall rule over them Children and babes not in yeeres but in discretion and marke the reason that they may oppresse one the other every man his neighbour the young shall presume against the old and the vile against the Noble Esa 10.1 2. is not then without cause that the Preacher recounteth it for one of the evils which he hath seene under the Sun namely that folly is set in great dignity and they that are rich in understanding for so he meanes as it appeares by the Antithesis doe sit in low or base place for as snow in Summer and raine in harvest so saith Salomon Pro. 26.1 Prov. 26. is honour unseemly for a foole A Governour then must be wise and his meanes of wisdome are two the one from earth the other from heaven from earth for by his own Industry hee must conceave the grounds and rules of Law he must consider the Iudgements of former men he must compare the events of sundry times and his understanding must be multorum mens in unum collecta as Nazianzene speaketh of a History that is his understanding must be compounded of the discretion of many men Besides this from heaven hee must receave the Spirit of God that Heroicall spirit which is vouchsafed them that sit upon the seat of God Mens causes are mutable as are men and receave manifold Sophistications by the cunning of men therefore resolution of them and judgment upon them must proceed from men which can throughly sound the nature of them which is very hard for a meane naturall man therefore doth God grant an extraordinary spirit of wisdome to Moses and also to the seventie Assistants of Moses to Princes and to such as are joyned in Commission with Princes It is true that the lesse the Iewes had of meanes naturall the more they had of supernaturall but no nation was ever so furnished with the naturall but it had need of the supernaturall and God never denyeth it if men have grace to pray for it if when they are called upon earth to supply the place of God they become humble petitioners with Salomon for wisdome unto God But of that which hath beene spoken the nature and parts of the first defect may be easily conceaved Ignorance is opposite to government and that Magistrate is ignorant which wanteth those meanes which he must have either from earth or else from heaven The second defect is Negligence they consider not Heb. 4.13 Although all things be naked as Saint Paul speaketh Heb. 4. before the eyes of God yet is there a solemne inquisition and processe annexed commonly to the eminent Iudgments of God Read it of Adam of Cain of Babel and of Sodome Yea to this purpose God is said to proceede sometimes with scales or weights sometimes with line and levell and sometimes with a touchstone With scales and weights All the wayes of man are before the eyes of God saith Solomon and hee pondereth all his wayes with line and levell Pro. 5.21 2 King 21.13 Prov. 5. I will saith God 2. Kings stretch forth the line of Samaria upon Jerusalem and the plummet of the house of Ahab that is I will measure unto them the same Iudgement Sometimes with the touchstone So God is said not onely to search the hearts but also to try the reynes In a word the author of the booke of wisedome giveth this rule of Gods proceeding he disposeth all things in number weight and measure God needeth no such circumspection but his actions are mens directions Gods warinesse doth condemne mans rashnes he teacheth us that it is hard for man not to swerve from equity except hee pronounce with great maturity * Iob searcheth the cause he knew not diligently 29.16 Iudges make too much speed Lawyers take too many causes and are careles of them and of the Evidences Jurors respect more the persons then the Law vid Act. 14 19. The Emperours Tiberius in Dion and Theodosius in Theodoret are commended for deferring execution upon judgement the one tenne dayes the other thirty that deliberation might correct what is done in passion And indeed right judgment given without circumspection required in judgement doth make that decision to be a sin to the Iudge which is just in regard of the cause for God loveth not Adjectives but Adverbs that is considereth not so much what we do as how The parts of a Magistrates negligence are three either because he taketh not sufficient time or because his industry is wanâ—ing to his time or finally looking through the spectacles of his bribes two blind affections prejudice and partiality suffer him not to see the truth although hee take never so much time I need not amplifie being but briefly uttered they may bee fully conceaved The summe of the second defect is that a sentence of a Magistrate which cannot be easily recalled must not bee rashly pronounced as God so the Magistrate must pronounce leisurely carefully unaffectionately Otherwise hee is ignorant of the cause and that willingly and hee cannot excuse himselfe before God if he judge unjustly The third defect is want of conscience they walke on in darkenesse Darkenes and light as naturally soe spiritually are opposed one to the other and may bee conceaved the one by the other Light naturally hath three properties it is cleare pure and pleasant therefore it noteth spiritually clearenes of understanding purenes of conversation and blessednes of condition so contrariwise darkenesse hath three properties naturally it is obscure impure and unpleasant and noteth spiritually obscurenes of understanding impurenesse of conversation and cursednes of condition Not to touch the other branches unto this place I fit the second by darkenesse understanding sinfulnes for that ignorance was taxed in the first note they understand not and cursednes is an effect of all three defects The middle sense then agreeth best to the place for wicked men are called Children of darkenes their state is a subjection to the prince of darkenes and their deedes are called workes of darkenes
will not shrink from it of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy Throne If thy sons keepe my Covenant and my Testimonies that I shall teach them their sennes also shall sit upon thy throne for ever THis Psalme is one of those fifteene which are called Psalmes of degrees of which title whatsoever reason can bee given sitting the rest surely if we consider the argument of this it may well import the excellency thereof and why It is nothing else but a sacred emulation wherein God and a King contend the King in piety God in bounty The King declares himselfe to be a most eminent paterne of zeale and God himselfe to be a most magnificent rewarder of his servants The King debarreth himselfe of all worldly contents while he is busily providing to entertaine God and GOD who filleth heaven and earth vouchsafeth to lodge in that place which was provided by the King The King presents his supplication not only for himselfe but also for his charge the Priests the people and God restraineth not his blessing to the King but also at his suit enlargeth it to Church and Common weale finally the King bindeth himselfe to make good his duty with a Votive Oath and God restipulateth with an Oath that which he promiseth both to King and kingdome to the kingdome in the words that follow but to the King in those that now I have read unto you This speech then is directed unto the King unto David but it containeth a blessing which redounds unto his issue The fruit of his body This blessing is no lesse then a royall succession in the Throne of David Davids sonnes shall inherit it but it is God that states them in it They shall sit but I will set them yea so set them that they shall never fall they shall sit for ever the succession shall be perpetuall And hitherto the promâ—se runnes absolute it is qualified in that which followeth Least Davids sonnes if they be left without Law should live without care they must know that the succession shall be perpetuall but the promise is conditionall if Davids sons conforme themselves to God if they keepe my covenant whereof they cannot pretend ignorance And they have an authenticall record the record My testimonies authenticall I my selfe will teach them You see the Kings blessing it is very great but least the promise thereof bee thought too good to be true God secures the King with a most unchangeable warrant the warrant is his Oath The Lord sware and this warrant is unchangeable because sincere he swore in truth 2. Stable he will not shrinke from it And what could King David desire more for his owne house then a promise of such a blessing of such a warrant of that promise Yes he might and no doubt he did desire and God also intend to him more than the letter of this promise doth expresse even the accomplishment of the truth whereof this was but a type And what is that The establishment of the kingdome of Iesus Christ So then this Scripture conteineth Gods promissory Oath for continuing the crowne of Jsrael in the lineage of King David The points therein to bee considered are two the promise and the warrant thereof the warrant is Gods oath a sufficient Oath neither false nor fickle In the promise we have first the Person to whom King David and they for whom it is made Davids sons Secondly the matter whereof it doth consist a succession in King Davids throne and that perpetuall yet conditionall But whereas the Consideration of the warrant is single in the promise all things are double to be considered in the tipe and in the truth I begin with the Warrant and therin with the Oath The Lord sware That God made this Oath Psa 89.3 we are taught also Psalm 89. but when it is not agreed Some thinke that Gods Word signed with any of his Titles Thus saith the Lord The Lord of Hosts c. is equipollent to an oath and thereupon conclude that this Text referres to that messagesent by Nathan 2 Sam. 7.8 although the correspondency betweene the two places savoureth their conjecture yet it is more likely that as the last words of David registred 2 Sam. c. 23 intimate 2 Sam. 23.2 3. God reitera ted the promise immediately to the King and then bound it expresly with this Oath questionlesse in Abrahams case Saint Paul saying that by two immutable things Heb. 6.18 his word and Oath wherein it was impossible for him to lye God shewed the stablenesse of his counsell manifests a difference betweene By my selfe have I sworne which is an Oath and thus saith the Lord which is only a signification that the word spoken is Gods A difference certainely there is betweene these two speeches but this difference must not be mistaken it is quoad nos not quoad Deum the one doth oblige God no more then the other Perfection can as little be added to his bare word as to his nature But God condescends lower to our infirmitie when hee maketh an oath then when hee onely speakes the word Therefore the Apostle saith that if wee lift up our eyes to God in swearing hee did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 use a superfluous confirmation But if wee cast downe our eyes upon our selves it was necessary hee should sweare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to settle our distrustfull heartes A timorous man that passeth over a broad streame upon a narrow plank if hee see the same thorough a Cristall glasse will bee more hardy in venturing not for that his bridge is bigger but because it seemes to bee so fareth it with us that passe the troublesome sea of this world by that narrow way that leadeth unto life wee feare drowning every steppe wee dare not bee bold If God onely say I will not faile thee I will not forsake thee wee will have better hold on God See then the mercy of our graciouâ— Fatheâ— strengthning the feeble knees of men by a multiplied heavenly light he is content as if his bare promise were questionable in the word of God to make oath as a man that so man may not doubt to trust God But what is Gods oath Saint Paul tells us in generall that God having no greater swore by himselfe but elsewhere the prophets set downe divers formes in particular By my holines by my right hand by my life Ioyne Saint Paul to the prophets and you may see that these divers formes have but one substance for God is but one yea onenesse yet selfe seeing all in God is God onely because the riches of the nature of God cannot bee conceaved by men at once what one forme cannot expresse to our capacity in full that many doe but every one in part and yet so that the mentioning of one forme of God excludeth not the rest but teacheth us raâ—her that God will manifest â—hat attribute specially which then hee names Even â—s in a consort though
Councell of Trent in the Tract De benediction◠〈◊〉 coronatione Regis to the Bishop that performes that Ceremony the Presentee speakes thus Reverendissime â—â—ter postulat sancta mater Ecclesia ut praesentem egregiâ— militem ad dignitatem regiam sublevetis And after 〈◊〉 King begins his Oath thus Ego Deo annuente futâ—â— Rex And what is this but a devise whereby the Pâ—â— usurped upon the Emperour and encroacheth by Metropolitans upon other Kings feigning an interregâ—â— which in an he editary kingdome is questionlesse reâ—ugnant to the fundamentall lawes of all Nations Therâ—â—re against them and all others Psa 89.18 wee hold that of the 〈◊〉 line Our shield belongeth unto the Lord Our King 〈◊〉 the holy one of Israel hee holds of him and none â—ther the King doth sit but God doth set him And sets him for ever The succession is perpetuall â—ome restraine this untill Christs comming according to â—hat speech of Iacob The Scepter shall not depart from Iuâ—ah nor the Lawgiver from between his feete untill Shiâ—ah come Some continue it unto the end of the World â—ccording to these words of the Psalme so long as the Sunne and Moone endureth They are easily reconâ—iled Distinguish the Prophesie from the Promise the Promise speakes of that which might be the prophesie â—f that which would be If IERVSALEM had â—nowne those things that belonged to her Peace the enemies â—ad not cast a banke about her the Romans had not destroyâ—d her that Throne should have continued as the dayes of â—eaven But Iacobs prophesie meaneth that for want of perâ—rmance of the Covenant Ierusalem should faile when Philoh came yea and before that the tabernacle of Daâ—id should be ruinous The ground of that prophesie is â—t downe Psal 49. Psa 40.11 Many thinke that their houses shall conâ—â—nue for ever from generation to generation and call their â—ands after their names But when man is in honour he â—oth not understand and so becomes as the beasts that perish â—nnes interrupt their continuance for ever Wherefore â—ccording to that in Deuteronomy Deut. c. 29. v. 19. If any when he heareth â—he wordes of this curse blesse himselfe in his heart saying 〈◊〉 shall have peace although J walke according to the stubâ—ornnesse of mine heart thus adding drunkennesse unto thirst â—e Lord will not bee mercifull unto that man but the wrath 〈◊〉 the Lord and his Jealousie shall smoake against him and every curse that is written in this booke shall light vpon him â—â—d the Lord shall put out his name from under heaven The succession then is perpetuall but the promise the of is conditionall the Condition is the keeping of Gods Covenant And so wee come from the absolute part of the promise to the qualified which must not be several It was the error of the Kings and Priests of Iudah and Israel excepting against the prophesies and persecuting the prophets which foretold the ruine of those kingdomes for the sinnes thereof they dreamt that the promise was onely absolute and so howsoever they liveâ— their state should endure for ever not remembring thâ— God exacted their duty as well as hee promised his mercy yea and limitted the performance of his mercy according to the continuance of their duty Although then Kings be Lords over their people 〈◊〉 are they subjects unto God They can bee no greatâ— then Adam of whom Saint Augustine Quamvis in mâ—â— do dominus positus est Adam c. though Adam were created Lord of the visible world yet by subjection unto a 〈◊〉 he was to recognize that hee held of a more soveraigne 〈◊〉 It is a fundamentall rule of reason that from whom 〈◊〉 have our being from him wee must receave a Law preportionable to our dependance on him be hee Godâ— man Kings from God and other men from Kings They that have beene of Phaeraohs mind and have saiâ—â— who is the Lord that I should heare him have tryed Saiâ—â— Bernards rule to be true Posse eos summovere se felicitâ—â— but not subducere se Potestati they may deprive themselâ—â— of the glory of God their throne in heaven but they canâ—â—â— exempt themselves from the soveraignty of God hee will 〈◊〉 his pleasure dispose their thrones here on earth There is a covenant then betweene God and the Kinâ— and it is two-fold I will be his Father and hee shall be 〈◊〉 sonne 2. Sam. 7.14 15 16. he shall build an house for my name and J will staâ—â— the throne of his kingdome So it is set downe 2. Sam. 〈◊〉 The Covenant respects David as a private person and as King as a private person hee is to be the sonne of God for Davids Covenant doth presuppose Abrahams bâ— addeth a regality unto it As a King hee is to build an house for God Hee must be custodious et Custos utriusque tabulae it was so in the Old Testament Psal 2.6 it must bee so in the New It is prophesied in the second psalme we are taught to petitionate by Saint Paul 1. Tim. 2.2 and Saint Augustine doth excellently expresse it Aliter servit Rex Deo quia homo aliter quia Rex As a man hee must conforme himselfe to the lawes of God as a King hee makes lawes for the service of God It is not enough for the King to obey it as the child of God as a King annoynted of God he must commaund it like to primum mobile which moveth it selfe and all inferior orbes with it So did the religious Kings of the Iewes and so did the religious Emperours of the Christians But where shall the King find whereunto hee is tyed by Covenant hee hath an authenticall Record the Record is Gods Testimonies they are tabulae foederis God testifieth his will in his word This appeareth by Moses in Deuteronomy where the King is enjoyned to describe the law Deu. 17.18 when he sitteth vpon his throne and the same charge is reiterated unto Ioshua Samuel giveth the like to Saul Josh 17. and David to Solomon Whereupon the booke of the Law was to be delivered the King at his Coronation You may see it in the Story of Ioash Psa 45. â— The Chaldee paraphase expounding those words of the Psalme the Qucene stood at the Kings right hand gives it this sense Stabit liber legis in latere dextrae tuae et exaraebitur in exemplare splendor tuus velut obrizo ophiritico It is memorable that is reported of Alphonsus King of Arragon that hee read over the Bible with the glosse foureteene times But this I moreover marke in the word Testimony that God speaketh like a King signifieth his pleasure without Rhetoricall perswasions or philosophicall demonstrations There are lumina Orationis in the sermons of the prophets which surpasse the Eloquence of all heathen men but the style of the Law runnes onely with a Teste Yea and simply Gods word requireth faith which is the Correlative of a Testimony Quare et
Quomodo Iewish wordes as the Fathers call them our age may call them Atheisticall which also must be banished farre from the Articles of our Faith and notwithstanding all unbelieving scoffers the bare Testimony of God must go current with us as an indemonstrable principle of our Faith and uncontrollable precept of our life It must go current with all but specially with Kinges who must yield unto God what themselve expect from their suâ—jects this let them not discredit Teste meipso for God himselfe doth teach it them You have heard what is the Record Now heare that it is authenticall God himselfe will teach them The businesses of the Kings of Iudah were either Juris or facti In matters of Fact which were doubtfull either in peace or warre they had immediate resolution from God either by Prophets that attended them or by Vrim and Thummim before the Arke But if it were Quaestio Iuris then they were still referred to the Law the sense whereof they were to require of the Priests which as it appeareth in Nehemiah and elsewhere did dare sensum and in their sitting in Moses chaire so long as they sate in the chaire God did teach by them so that Qui vos audit me audit But it is no longer then they sit in the chaire for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Basil well observeth The Minister is but as the gnomon of a dyall that onely points out the motion of the heavens It is as lawfull for the Prince to prove the spirits of the Prophets as to try his Dyall whether it goe right or wrong But the Bishop of Rome conceipts so much of his Infallibility that hee resembles him in Pliny who finding a disproportion betweene the Diall and the Sunnes motion thought surely the earth was moved from his centre or the Sunne had taken a new course but suspected not that the Dyall had beene shaken with an earthquake even so they will permit Princes to meddle with matters in the Church but directed by the supreme pastor on whose information they must build so securely that they must rather think that God hath altered his mind or Princes passed their bounds then the Priest can be deceaved But this place may intimate an extraordinary Spirit of Wisdome which God vouchsafeth Kings whereunto the phrase respecteth My Lord the King is as an Angell of God knowing good and evill Which Salomon prayeth for Send me that wisdome which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if there were a speciall wisedome that doth assist the thrones of Princes And in regard hereof it was that Salomon elsewhere desires a docile heart and saith that the Kings heart is in the hands of God as the River of waters he turneth them wheresoever it pleaseth him Which one wittily expoundeth All the fruitfulnesse of a land as also the barrennesse depends upon those streames of wisdome which God either sends abroad or withholdeth by the heart of the King The Conclusion of this point is If yee delight in thrones and Scepters ô Kings of the people Wis 6.21 honour wisedome that you may reigne for ever You have heard the promise that GOD makes the King but yee have heard it only in the type I should if the time would serve speake something of the truth seeing the truth concernes that King and all Kings as well as the type The Truth is Christ whom the Scripture calleth David and the Sonne of David God swore to him and for him to him as the head for him as that head is mystically joyned to the body of his Church He was born to be a King and to make all his Kings unto God but not Kings except they were Priests and did sacrifice themselves unto God If they were a Royall Priesthood then were they to sit upon the Throne of the mysticall David To him that overcommeth saith Christ will I grant to sit with me in my Throne as I overcame and sit with my Father in his Throne But the time will not give me leave to wade further in that mystery Only this I adde that if you separate the Ceremoniall from the Morall what was spoken to David concerneth every Christian King they have the same charge of keeping Gods Covenant and they have no lesse the same hope of succession in their Crownes For as the Gentiles which tread the steps of Abraham are in the Gospell said to be the sonnes of Abraham the Father of faithfull men even so Kings which doe the workes of David are the Royall off-spring of David David the father of faithfull Kings which is the cause why our Church on those dayes which we solemnize in remembrance of the favours vouchsafed unto our Kings doth use the Psalmes that were penned for David and his seed The summe of all is God promiseth he warranteth sincerely and constantly unto Kings in a King for their seed Not only for themselves that if they forsake not him hee will never destitute them but continue their Royall line Monarchs in earth and Saints in Heaven Give then thy judgments to our King ô God and thy Righteousnesse to the Kings Sonne That keeping thy Testimonies they may abide in thy Covenant So shalt thou make good unto them the holy things of David and other Princes that are faithfull A perpetuall succession of this Crown on earth and a blessed joynt possession of a better Crowne in heaven * ⎠* A SERMON PREACHED AT SAINT CROSSE NEERE WINCHESTER 1 COR. 10.12 Let him that thinketh hee standeth take heed least he fall ALL men are forbidden to sinne by the Law of the Creation but they which in the Church are by Sacraments consecrated unto God have moreover bound themselves from sin by a religious stipulation For a Sacrament consists of a visible signe and an invisible grace Of which the signe represents not only what God offers but also what man vowes and the grace worketh no lesse a conscience of mans duty then it doth a sense of Gods mercy Adde hereunto that by Christs Institution these two are subordinate and the outward signe seemeth to make the way more passable for the inward grace Strange then it is that any should affect the signe and neglect the grace yea boast of Gods seale and neglect his spirit Not only so but even presume to sinne upon warrant of that which containes so manifold a prohibition of sinne yet some such Corinthians there were Saint Paul in this Chapter taxeth them and maketh good this point of Divinity against them Sacraments are no priviledges either for sinne or from plagues And because in Morals Examples are most working proofes hee tryeth the Corinthians case by the Histories of the Iewes The effect of this Argument is this God is no accepter of persons no more of the Gentiles then he was of the Iewes And why these two particular Churches are similary parts of that whole one which is Catholike both in time and place Though in some other things they differ yet in substance they
besought the Lord that he might be rid of the messenger of Satan that buffeted him and he received a comfortable answer My Grace is sufficient for thee my strength is made perfect in weakenesse The world is now much subject unto falling because indeed it is little given to praying Many flocke in Gods house in the time of preaching but you shall every where find it empty in the time of praying people not remembring that the Preacher giveth them good armour but it is God that giveth them good arms and legs too Scanderbegs sword was sent to the Turke but not his arme The second duty is Humility when thou dost stand What hast thou that thou hast not receaved saith St. Paul And if thou hast receaved it why boastest thou as if thou hadst not received it Quis te discernit Men usually fall into love with themselves so farre forth as to thinke themselves fit to be Gods as did the Angels and Adam whereas he should serve the Lord in feare and rejoyce before him in trembling serve the Lord with feare and trembling seeing it is God that worketh in us the will and the deed especially seeing that God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble Wee must ever remember how unworthy we are of that grace we doe receave how short we come of him from whom we do receave it that wee beare not the root but the root us and therefore ever have an awfull respect to him that doth so graciously respect us The angels in heaven ever behold not their own face but the face of GOD and so must we be ever submissely plyable to the will of GOD. This is a mans second Take heed The third is to use our Talent put on our Saviour as Saint Paul speaketh Be doing good as King David for babenti dabitur Yea as GOD punisheth sinnes with sinnes so doth he multiply Grace for Grace Therefore we must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stirre up the grace of God blow off the ashes that will still cover it not out of the nature of grace but out of the subject of grace Gods grace is like fire when it is in its owne Element it is pure but being a fuell it encreaseth and decreaseth A mans strength is not like the strength of a Bee is cleerer and more dustie according to the fuell and care of the fueller Yea if he stirre it not in greene wood it will goe cleane out Therefore as when God kindled fire from heaven upon the Altar he commanded the Levites carefully to attend it and imploy it so must we entertaine the grace of God that from Heaven is kindled in our soule we must blow it and cherish it God kindled that fire Intendamus medijs non solliciti de fine fire from Heaven but he commanded men to cherish it on earth Men now take little care of God and gifts they do little good Therefore doth God so seldome multiply his graces upon men The last meanes is Mortification He keepeth himselfe from a fall that doth not strengthen his enemy to give him a fall A regenerate man is a common subject both of nature and grace whence it cometh to passe that he hath a double inclination to evill by nature by grace to goodnesse according as his will is corrupt with concupiscence or reformed by holinesse We must both with Saint Paul chastise our body and keepe it under mortifie the flesh with the deeds thereof not violating the substance but restraining the concupiscence that the servant may obey and the Lord command The flesh though it rebell yet prevaile not against the spirit Strange it is that Philosophers observe that man is a little world and indeed so he is he hath his elementary and his aethereall part but sinne hath inverted not the places but the vertues of them the aethereall being made the patient and the elementary the agent And so doth that become corruptible which by nature is incorruptible or the sonnes of God have an eye but it is to see the daughters of men visu concupiscentiae not providentiae and so instead of heeding them they enter into league with them and â—â—ence are borne Gyants Nephilim their name shewes â—â—heir case they are no standers but fallers they take and give fals that History is inserted as a cause of the â—â—eluge Lubrica spes est saith Saint Cyprian quae inter foâ—â—enta peccati salvari sperat And the rather because we must take no care for the flesh if we will take care of our selves The more we bridle the flesh the more we love it verè si severè therefore though grace and concupiscence lodge both in our hearts and passe both from one man yet they should as the Opticks write of the â—â—ames of the Sunne passe impermixti You have seene â—â—en the meanes of heed and God if he keepes us from â—â—lling will keepe us by this meanes and he that chooâ—â—th this way of wisedome walketh without offence And a stander especially must use this meanes for Christ saith Gregory figured in his Baptisme the case of a stanâ—â—r and the dragon waites for the childe borne Lib. mor. 24 12. he â—â—aweth the starres My sonne when thou enterest c. Eccles This is the cause why Christian Princes are so â—â—ch oppugned the devill doth not so much envie our â—â—odnesse as our glory And therefore when he cannot â—aw us in hatred of God he would make us sinne that â—e might sinne against God and so fall The grievousâ—â—sse of a standers fall must make him also to take heede â—hen the foule spirit is gone out of a man c. Better were 〈◊〉 never to have knowne the way of righteousnesse The 〈◊〉 when they degenerate prove the worst because the â—ill will take the stronger hold of them and Gods â—â—ath for their perfidiousnesse is greater in forsaking â—â—m Examples The angels the sonnes of God Iudas â—â—non Magus A King how dishonourable a traytour â—â—th he count him that will yeeld a towne well furâ—â—â—hed Mors servituti anteponenda and bad men when â—â—â—y recover a fall prove rare Saint Peter David Solo 〈◊〉 Saint Paul Saint Austine The devill loveth evill â—â—ruments and God doth detest rebellious traytors If we cannot escape falling into sinne yet let us by repentance escape falling into plagues for God commonly doth give space for repentance that in judging our selves we be not judged of the Lord. We stand in need of his mercy so soone as ever we sinne but as a Tenant that hath a clause of reentry in his lease when he breaks his covenant makes his lease voydable rather then voyd so are sinners depriveable not deprived actually oâ—â— right unto all Gods promises is suspended but restitutâ— in integrum is not denied It was an errour in the Novatians to thinke otherwise yea irrepentance is a greateâ— sinne then any other for to despise Gods mercy is much worse Rom. 2.4 5. Jeâ— 13.16 then to provoke his justice Rom. 2.
more are there that perish then those that are saved t was so in the old world so it shall be in this to follow the parable of the Iewes and the Gentiles but a remnant of the Iewes are saved The Prophet compares it to a gleaning after a vintage or a harvest Whereas the wicked are compared unto the starres of heaven and to the sands of the Sea and to a whole harvest This is meant by the parable of Gods choosing but one tree of all the forrest one Dove of all the birds one Citie of all the world but consider that there is one though there be but one for God will save a flocke though it be but a little flocke for the elects sake he will hasten his judgement lest there should remaine no flesh to be saved The world little thinkes upon that which is a grounded truth that for the godlies sake God forbeares to come to judgement But in Rom. 4. it is set downe plainly when the soules that lay under the Altar cryed unto God saying How long Lorâ— righteous and true dost thou deferre to revenge our blood upon the world answer is given unto them that they must rest for a while till the number of their brethren was sulfilled for then shall be an end of all When Jerusalem is fully built the body of Christ hath all his members and the true Olive hath all his branches Little therefore doe the wicked consider that they bane themselves while they persecute the godly For Obadiahs house was blessed whiles it was the place of the Arke and so were the Roman Emperours whiles they cherished the Italians But as God will have a remnant so it will be but a smaâ— remnant there will be faith but scarse faith as Christ speakes and charity though it will not be quite dead it will be very cold which makes that Romish conceâ—â— very frivolous which maketh the most illustrious Church to be the true Church whereas Christ answers truely to the questioners that demanded whether there should be many saved that the gate is wide and the way broad that leadeth to destruction and many there be that finde it but the gate is straight and the way narrow that leadeth unto life and few there be that finde it The conclusion of the correspondency is that a few though but a few shall imitate Noah in his reverence and likewise in his confidence Observing the meanes prescribed by God and trusting perfectly in the promises of God Saint Peter joynes them both when he makes Baptisme an antitype of the Arke when he shewes that Baptisme hath not onely the putting away of the filth of the flesh which is the externall washing but also the interrogation of a good conscience unto God through the resurrection of Iesus Christ Christ meanes the same when he saith that this little flock shall watch the signes of his coming and also they lift up their heads with joy knowing that their salvation draweth neere The issue of their reverence and confidence is they shall be saved they shall be taken up to meet Christ and ever to be with him they shall enter into their masters joy and be made partakers of the marriage feast You have heard of the correspondency but though in the comparison there be so good a correspondency yet must we consider withall a great inequality as great an inequality of the things as there is of the persons I meane the persons of Noah and Christ as farre as the sonne of man doth exceed that man so farre shall the end of this world exceed the end of that whether you respect the destruction of the bad or the salvation of the good In regard of the destruction of the bad there shall be foure great differences The first is That world was destroyed with water this shall be destroyed with fire and who knoweth not how much more terrible fire is then water But which is the second That water wasted onely the earth and those things that lived upon the earth â—ut this shall waste both heaven and earth and whatsoever is I except Christs little flocke in either heaven or earth If the sight of the Deluge were fearefull how much more fearefull shall this combustion of the whole be when t is compared to the inundation of a part a part which Astronomy proves to be so little in comparison of the whole Adde hereunto the third that of the wicked That destruction was but partiall but this shall be totall Then there was at least a Cham a seed of the wicked that escaping might be an example to reclaime the future wicked and indeed the voice of a Nebuchadnezzar or an Antiochus experiencing and acknowledging the justice of God will in probability worke more then the voyce of Moses or Daniel or Iudas Maccabeus to reclaime the wicked God therefore at that time was pleased to trie also this meanes and preserved not onely a Sem but also a Cham. But in this last destruction God saveth not so much as one Cham not a goate left among the sheepe if there be but one that wanteth his wedding garment the master of the feast will espie him and away with him the corne will be cleane vnmowed from the Chaffe and the gold purified from all drosse Adde hereunto the last point that destruction was but temporall this finall that that was but temporall so some understand Saint Peter 1. Epist. 4. but this is undoubtedly eternall for the sentence is Goe ye cursed into everlasting fire no recall of the sentence no recoverie of the state so Noah saved to be the hope of the second world as the booke of Wisdome speaks Chap. 14. You have here the inequalitie in regard of the bad and in regard of the good there is the same inequality also that fire shall as wonderfully preserve them as it fearfully destroyes the wicked There shall be a generall renovation of heaven and earth wherein dwels righteousnesse as there was a combustion of the other heaven and earth wherein dwelt wickednesse And in this heaven and earth shall be no uncleane thing and that which is purified shall remaine so for ever even blessed for ever intirely and eternally blessed whereas the deliverance by Noah was but temporall it was but partiall it was from a death but onely of the body and that onely for a time and that to live a mortall life so that is and so must have his destruction that in that example we read that God is displeased with sinne that he powreth forth his vengeance upon sinne but how farre he is displeased how much vengeance shall be exacted we may gesse it in the former world but we cannot throughly understand that correspondency doth not amount unto an equalitie Onely for a close of all he that readeth that may well believe this because that is a pledge of this and our best course is to follow Christs counsell Luke 21. Take heed least at any time your heartes be oppressed with surfetting and drunkennes and that day come upon you unawares For as a snare shall it come upon all the inhabitants of this world Let us watch therefore and pray that we may be worthy to escape the things that then shall come and stand before the sonne of man for as it was in the dayes of Noah so shall it be at the comming of the Sonne of man Grant gracious Lord that denying all ungodlines and worldly lusts we may so reverence thy word and depend on thy promise with such a confidence that we be neither sinfull nor senselesse and so surprised with thy just wrath but may watchfully looke for and earnestly hasten unto the blessed appearing of our glorious Iudge and Saviour Jesus Christ FINIS IMPRIMATVR THOMAS BROWNE APRILL 16. 1640.
thwarting one the other teach us that the wordes are to be understood indefinitely and once or twice is often very often many wayes and many times if hee might worke us any wayes or at any time the doubling of a speech representing us the same lesson as it doth testifie Gods constancy so it doth intimate our infirmity GOD doth not alter and hee can hardly alter us Wee have watery memories and stony hearts Gods word leaves little impression in us in the one and makes as little in the other Esay compares us unto weanelings whom hee makes to understand the thinges that hee speaketh to them that are weaned and drawne from the breastes Secondly Saint Paul compares us unto babes in capacity when wee should be men in time So that wee must be fed with milke when wee should be fit for stronger meates And thirdly hee tels the Galathians that they will goe backe againe into the wombe of the Church that which Nicodemus wondred at Can a man enter into his mothers belly and be borne againe Little children saith hee of whom I am in travaile againe till Christ Iesus be formed in you What wonder then if Precept must be upon Precept and line upon line here a little and there a little And Saint Peter wrote a second Epistle to stirre us up to call to remembrance the words which were told us before even twice before by the prophets and also by the Apostles Neither doth it grieve Saint Paul to write the same things to the Philippians and hee assures them that for them it is a safe thing for during this life God cannot speak unto us as altogether spirituall We will be very much corporall men our wits will not be exercised sufficiently to discerne good and evill much lesse our heartes established so with grace as we shall not be seduced by the will The people therefore are too dainty when they conceipt of spirituall food as they doe of corporall Occidit miserâ—s crambe repetita magistros and are weary of the same dish the second time The loathing of Manna cost the Israelites deere God satisfied the lusts of their bodies and sent leanenesse withall into their soules and many starved themselves ghostly while they much longed after variety How often in the same Epistle doth Saint Paul urge righteousnes by faith and Saint Iohn in his the love of God and of our brother Saint Chrysostome reiterated his sermon against swearing Nazianzene his Oration of Peace others of other matters the minister must not spare speaking because wee are not quicke of hearing and it is well of we can say truly as King David here doth The Lord spake once or twice and I heard And so I come from the undeniable Author to the unchalengeable witnesse It is a grounded truth the report caryeth weight according to the Worthinesse of the Reporter This report then must be of greater weight because the reporter is of so great worthinesse A man of God yea a man after Gods own heart A man of God it is more than like that God would speake with him a man after Gods own heart it is very unlikely that he would report what he heard not from God the sacrednesse and sanctity of his person makes his witnesse without exception and worthy our imitation Adde hereunto that he was now a King at least annointed to be a King a renowned Warriour yea a Conquerour of great possibilities if not possessions yet doth such a person so noble so mighty learn to deny to the world what is due to God he rests upon no power or mercy but his he esteemes himselfe an accomptant to God and so he might expect his doome and who of us may stop his eares when King David openeth his for rather doth not the same duty taught so many wayes so many times require that duty of us whereof King David here is a paterne unto us And I heard it God speakes that we may heare heare my people and I will speake And the Lord challengeth the Iowes wherfore came I and there was no man I called and no man answered Quid juvat ad surdas si cantet Phemius aures We have grace and Apostle-ship that obedience might be given to the faith Yea the Word of God is called in the Hebrew Shemina But our Saviour Christ hath a caution Videte quomodo audiatis so that we are farther to enquire how King David did heare surely himselfe was not ignorant how to heare for he delivered that admonition to day if yee will heare his voyce harden not your hearts Saint Paul by way of exposition of that Text saith that hearing must be tempered with faith The case of the eare is fitly by Elihu in Iob paralysed to the tast 34. 〈◊〉 3â— 3 The eare tryeth the words as the palate tasteth meat Now the tast doth relish to swallow that which is wholsome and to refuse the contrary that should be the practise of the eare for we eate spirituall food by the eare as we do corporall by the mouth man liveth not by breâ—â— only but by every word that goeth out of the mouth of God We heare then as David did when like Saint Paul we are obedient to the heavenly Vision when we consult not against our instruction with flesh and bloud and the proverb is Sapiens audiens sapientior fit And this kinde of hearing is commended in both Testaments Thou must diligently hearken ô Jsrael unto the voyce of the Lord thy God and doe that which is right in his sight give eare untâ— his Commandements and keepe all his Ordinances And so in the new You have not learned to live like the Gentiles saith Saint Paul if so be you have heard him and have beene taught by him as the truth is in Iesus that you must cast off the old man Finally this is the eare which the Spouse the Church doth lend unto the bridegroome to Christ and it is described by King David Hearkenâ— daughter and consider incline thine eares He which hath aâ— eare to heare let him heare for every one hath not such aâ— eare it is not an eare of nature but of grace God muâ—â— prepare this eare of which Esay thus speaketh The Lord in the morning will waken mine eare to heare as the learned the Lord hath opened mine eare and I was not rebellious neither turned I backe And agreeable hereunto is that oâ— Nazianzene Can Gods word be conceaved of the Pastoâ— expounded to the people and heard to our comfort buâ— by the gift of the Holy Ghost This is the cause why Elihu saith God speaketh once or twise and one seeth it not And Moses to Israel You have seene all that the Lorâ— did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and 〈◊〉 all his servants and yet hath not the Lord given you aâ— heart to perceive nor eyes to see and eares to heare unto thâ— day Christ To you is given to know the secrets of the â—ingdome of