are his How should hee not know them whom he fore-knew before the world began and wrote their names in the booke of life Apoc. 13.8 Phil. 4.3 With my fellow labourers whose names are in the book of life Exod 28.21 A glorious type whereof was the engraving the names of the twelve Tribes in twelve precious stones with the point of a Diamond never to be razed out To seduce any of the Elect our Saviours a Mat. 24.24 And they shall shew great signes and wonders in so much that if it were possible they shall deceive the very Elect. If supposeth it to be impossible for this were to plucke Christs sheep out of his hand b Joh. 10.28 29 They shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand My Father which gave them 〈◊〉 is greater than all and no man is able to plucke them out of my Fathers hand which none can do All the Elect are those blessed ones on Christs right hand to whom he shall say at the day of Judgement c Mat. 25.34 Come ye blessed of my Father inherite the kingdome prepared for you before the foundation of the world was laid they are the Church of the first borne which are written d Heb. 12.23 in heaven Now although all that yeeld their assent to supernaturall verities revealed in Scripture may not presume that their names are written in the booke of life for Simon Magus beleeved yet was he in e Act. 18.13 23 the gall of bitternesse and bond of iniquity nay the f Jam. 2.19 Divels themselves as St. James teacheth us beleeve who are g Jude 6. reserved in chaines of darknesse unto the judgement of the great day yet they who beleeve in God embrace the promises of the Gospell with the condition of denying of ungodlinesse and worldly lusts and living godly righteously and soberly in this present world and lay fast hold on Christ have no doubt attained that faith which Saint Paul stileth h Tit. 1.1 the faith of Gods Elect and Saint i Act 13.48 15.9 Luke maketh an effect of predestination to eternall life for such a k Rom. 3.28 Joh. 1.12 faith purifieth the heart justifieth before God putteth us into the state of adoption worketh by love and is accompanied with repentance unto life which gifts are never bestowed upon any reprobate if we will beleeve the ancient l Greg. l. 28. in Job c. 6. Extra Ecclesiae mensuras omnes reprobi etiamsi intra fidei limitem esse videantur Aug. cont Pel. l. 1. c 4 de unit eccl c. 23. Hoc donum propâ—ium est eorum qui regnabunt cum Christo Plin. nat hist l. 21. c. 8. Postquam dâ— ficere cuncti flores mâ—defactus aqua reviviscit hybernas coron is facit Fathers The seed of this faith being sown in good ground taketh deepe root downeward in humility and groweth upward in hope and spreadeth abroad by charity and bringeth forth fruits of good workes in great abundance it resembleth the true Amaranthus which after all the flowers are blowne away or drop downe at the fall of the leafe being watered at the root reviveth and serveth to make winter garlands even so a firme and well grounded beliefe after the flowers of open profession of Christ are blown away by the violent blasts of persecution and temptation being moistened with the dew of grace from heaven and the water of penitent teares reviveth againe and flourisheth and furnisheth the Church Christs Spouse as it were with winter garlands unlooked and unhoped for The third pillar The love of God is not more constant than his decrees are certaine nor his decrees more certaine than his promises are faithfull Therefore in the third place I erect for a third pillar to support the doctrine delivered out of this Scripture the promise of perseverance which I need not hew nor square for the building it fitteth of it selfe For it implieth contradiction that they who are endued with the grace of perseverance should utterly fall away from grace Constancy is not constancy if it vary perseverance is not perseverance if it faile And therfore S. m Aug. de bono persev c. 6. Hoc donum suppliciter emereri potest sed cum datum est contumaciter amittti non potest promodo enim potest amitti per quod fit ut non amittatur etiam quod possit amitti Austin acutely determines that this gift may be obtained by humble praier but after what it is given it cannot bee lest by proud contumacy for how should that gift it selfe bee lost which keepeth all other graces from being lost which otherwise might bee lost When I name the gift of perseverance in the state of grace I understand with that holy Father such a gift * Aug. de correp grâ—t c. 12. Non solâ— n ut sine isto dono persevâ—rantes essâ— non possunt verum etiam ut per hoc donuÌ„ non nisi perseverantes sint Gratia qua subventum est infirmitati voluntatis humanae ut indeclinabiliter insuperabiliter ageretur quam vis infirma non deficeret nec adversitate aliqua vinceretur sed quod bonum est invictissimè vellet hoc differere invictissimè nollet not onely without which wee cannot persevere but with which we cannot but persevere Such an heavenly grace whereby the infirmity of mans will is supported in such sort that it is led by the spirit unfailably and unconquerably so that though it be weake yet it never faileth nor is overcome by any temptation but cleaveth most stedfastly to that which is good and cannot by any power bee drawne to forsake it This gift of the faithfull is shadowed out by those similitudes whereto the godly and righteous man in Scripture is compared viz. of a a Psal 1.3 tree planted by the river side whose leafe shall not wither Of the hill of Sion which may not be removed but standeth fast for ever Psal 125.1 Of a b Mat. 7.24 house built upon a rocke Quae Obvia ventorum furiis expostaque ponto Vim cunctam atque minas perfert coelique marisque Ipsa immota manens Upon which though the raine descended and the flouds came and the windes blew and beat on it yet it fell not for it was founded upon a rocke but it is fully plainly and most evidently expressed promised in those words of c Jer. 32.40 Jeremy I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turne away from them to doe them good and I will put my feare in their hearts that they shall not depart from me Which Text of the Prophet is by the d Heb. 5.10 Apostle applied to the faithfull under the Gospel and thus expounded by S. Austin e Aug. l. de bono persev c. 2. Timorem dabo in cor ut non recedant quid est aliud quam talis ac tantus
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he emptied himselfe word for word made himselfe of no reputation and took upon him the forme of a servant and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himselfe and became obedient unto death even the death of the Crosse Wherefore God also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 highly exalted him Superexaltavit as if ye would say he highly raised him on high The stroake is doubled upon the naile to drive it in further the beame is reflected to give more light and heat the word is repeated for more significancy and efficacy as Visitando visitabo and desiderando desideravi and benedicendo benedicam and gavisi sunt gaudio magno a◠in c Exod. 32.34 visiting I will visit that is I will most surely visit and I have d Luke 22.15 desired with desire that is I have vehemently desired to eate this Passover and the wise men e Mat. 2.10 rejoyced with joy to see the starre that is they exceedingly rejoyced and in f Gen. 12.2 3. blessing will I blesse thee saith God to Abraham that is I will wonderfully I will extraordinarily blesse thee with store of blessings so here superexaltavit he highly raised on high signifieth he raised him by many degrees he exalted him to the highest honour he was capable of so highly that all creatures whatsoever are far below him In these two words highly exalted are wound up three Articles of our Christian Beliefe immediately following one the other in the Apostles Creed 1. Resurrection 2. Ascension 3. Session at the right hand of God When he was raised from the dead he was exalted but when he ascended and tooke his place at the right hand of God above all thrones dominions principalities and powers he was highly exalted As there are three descents in his humiliation his death his going downe to Hell his lying in the grave three dayes and three nights so there are three ascents in his exaltation correspondent unto them to the first degree of his humiliation his death answereth the first degree of his exaltation his resurrection to the second his descent into hell his ascension into heaven to the third his lying three dayes and three nights in the grave which was the lowest degree of his humiliation the highest degree of his exaltation his sitting at the right hand of God The sweet flower of Jesse which was set at his death and thrust deep into the ground at his buriall is now sprung up from the earth in his resurrection openeth his leaves and sends forth a savour of life unto life to all that by faith smell unto it But to keep to the words of my Text the parts whereof resemble insecta animalia those creeping things which if you cut them asunder will joyne againe therefore is as the communis terminus to them all because the Son of God was so farre humbled it was fit he should be exalted accordingly because he humbled himselfe therefore God exalted him because he humbled himselfe so low God exalted him so high where humility goes before there is a just cause of exaltation and where there is a cause God will exalt and where God exalteth he exalteth highly Wherefore It is hotly argued between the reformed Divines and Papists Utrum Christus sibi meruerit Whether Christ merited any thing for himselfe or only for us The Romanists stand for the first the Protestants for the second opinion I see no cause why this controversie should not be composed for questionlesse Christs humiliation deserved an exaltation neither can we attribute too much glory to our Redeemer Albeit therefore as Mediatour he merited for us yet as man he might also merit for himselfe and the word Quaproptet Wherefore seemeth rather to imply the meritorious cause of his exaltation than a consequence only of the hypostaticall union Where God exalteth there is alwayes some cause he advanced not his Son without merit Whose example if they in whose gifts the greatest preferments are did alwayes follow the garlands of honours should not be taken from them that winne the race and given to standers by Cato was in the right who said he had rather that men should aske why hath Cato no statue or monument rather than why should he have a monument And surely it is a greater honour that men should enquire why such a man of worth is not preferred than why is such a man of no worth preferred yet as in nature so in states the heaviest bodies will ascend ad supplendum vacuum to fill up a vacuity Worthlesse men like Apes and Monkies will not be quiet till they have got to the top of the house and when they are there what doe they but make mouthes and faces at passengers or breake glasses or play other ridiculous feats The old thorow-faire to the Temple of honour among the Romans was by the Temple of vertue but now it is said men have found a neerer way through the postern gate of Juno Moneta The ancient Philosophers did but dreame of a golden age but we see it Aurea nunc verê sunt secula plurimus auro Venit honos auro conciliatur amor This may be well esteemed the golden age in which gold is in greatest esteem Gold supplies all defects and answereth to all things A g Exod. 32.6 Calfe shall be worshipped with divine honour if he be of gold But the best is they that rise like Jonas gourd in a night are blasted in an houre and as they are raised no man knowes why so they fall no man knowes how It is not possible that a high and great building should stand without a foundation Now if we will beleeve Saint Austine the foundation of honour is worth and this must be laid deep in the ground of humility He humbled himselfe therefore God highly exalted him If Christ who humbled and abased himselfe so low be now so highly exalted above all principalities and powers and thrones and dominions there is no cause then why any of Gods children humbled under his hand how low soever they are brought should despaire of rising againe Looke they upward or downward they may fasten the anchor of their hope beneath them our Saviour was who now is above the heavens Are they spoiled of their goods he was stripped starke naked Have they left a great estate he left a Kingdome in Heaven Are they falsly accused he was condemned of blasphemy Are they railed at he was spit upon Are they pricked with griefes he was crowned with thornes Doe they lye hard he hung upon the crosse Doe they sigh for their grievous afflictions he gave up the ghost in torments Are they forsaken of their friends he was for a time of his Father My h Mat. 27.46 God my God why hast thou forsaken mee Have they things laid to their charge they never knew he was charged with the sins of the whole world which pressed him downe to the earth nay yet lower to the grave
to keepe or warily to looke to because flowers or tender plants need care lest they bee blowne downe with a winde or otherwise wronged Upon which grounds Saint p Ber. de concept Christ Voluit concipiflos in flore intra florem id est intra Nazareth ut fieret ipse flos florens id est Nazarenus Bernard thus pleasantly descanteth The sweet flower of Jesse would bee conceived in the wombe of the blessed virgin a most sweet and unblasted flower planted in Nazareth the flower of Galilee that he might budde and become a Nazarene that is a flourishing flower I will adde no more at this time of Nazareth but that as it was said of Archelaus that q Eras Adag Non Euripides ex Archelai sed Archelaus ex Euripidis amicitiâ nomen assequutus est Euripides was not famous for his acquaintance with Archelaus but Archelaus for his acquaintance with Euripides so for ought I ever read Christ was not ennobled by Nazareth but Nazareth honoured nay rather eternized by Christs dwelling in it This Nazareth is situate in Galilee where our Lord first preached the Gospell of the Kingdome and declared the power of his Deity by many signes and wonders and because his Countrey-men shewed least respect to his person and gave least credit to his doctrine it fell out by the just judgement of God in the conquest of Palaestine by the Romanes that the Galileans first smarted for their unbeliefe the whole countrey being spoiled and laid waste by Vespasian From Galilee we returne with our Saviour to Judaea where hee met John and was Baptized of him At the first mention of our Lords baptisme this objection offereth it selfe to every mans conceit The whole need not the Physitian but they that are sicke the cleane need not to be washed but they that are foule the innocent neede not to aske or receive pardon but the guilty why then should the health and salvation of all mankind take this purge why should the immaculate lambe bee washed in the Font why did hee desire the seale of remission of sinnes who knew no sinne neither was there guile found in his mouth 1 S. r Amb. in Luk. 2. Baptizatus est Dominus non mundati volens sed mundare aquas ut ablutae per carnem Christi quae peccatum non novit baptismatis jus haberent Ambrose answereth that our Lord was baptized not that hee might bee cleansed by the water but as was touched before intending thereby to cleanse and sanctifie the water that being washed by Christs flesh it might thereby bee elevated to bee an instrument of the holy Ghost in the spirituall washing of the soule 2 Saint ſ Aug. de bapt Christ Ne homines gravarentur ad baptismum Domini venire cum Dominus ipse non gravaretur ad baptismum servi venire Austine addeth that our Saviour vouchsafed to bee baptized to draw all men to Christian baptisme for why should any refuse to come to the Lords baptisme when the Lord himselfe daigned to come to the baptisme of his servant 3 Saint Jerome assigneth a third reason of Christs receiving baptisme from John viz. that hee might ratifie and give authority to Saint Johns baptisme 4 t Calvin haerm evang Ut certiùs sibi persuadeant fideles se in Christi corp inseri consepeliri cum eo in baptismo ut in novitate vitae resurgant Calvin yeeldeth a fourth reason that the faithfull might bee more assured that they are engraffed into Christ and are buried together with him in baptisme that they may rise up againe with him in newnesse of life But our Saviours reason must stand for all thus it becommeth to fulfill all righteousnesse the righteousnesse of the law hee had fulfilled in that behalfe in being circumcised the eighth day and now hee began to fulfill the righteousnesse of the Gospell The ceremoniall law was in force in Christs infancy which required circumcision and now the Gospell began to bee in force after Johns baptisme circumcision went out and baptisme came in with John therefore it was now requisite that Christ should bee baptized But why should hee bee baptized of John Of John It had beene an office beseeming the first of the Angelicall Hierarchy to lay hands on the head of the Church True but Jesus now came in humility and as hee was in the forme of a servant so hee vouchsafed to bee baptized of a servant The Lord commeth to doe honour to his servant the sunne to bee enlightned by a starre the fountaine to bee washed in his owne streame the roote to receive sappe and moisture from the branch God to receive the Sacrament from man This doth not more set forth our Lords humility than adde to Johns glory And questionlesse a speciall reason that moved our Saviour to receive baptisme from Saint John was to countenance Johns ministry and to give authority to his fellow-labourer and if I may so speake under-workman For John brought stones to Jesus and cut them for the building and Jesus layd them in the foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem neare himselfe the corner stone John rough-hewed the Jewes with the axe of Gods judgements threatned against them u Mat. 3.10 The axe is layd to the root of the tree c. to cut them downe and cast them into hell-fire unlesse they repented Christ smoothed and polished them with the doctrine of the Gospell that they might bee like * Psal 144.12 the polished corners of the Temple or like the x Lam. 4.7 Nazarites whose polishing was of Saphire John washed the sores of wounded consciences with water as the Jailer did y Act. 16.33 Paul and Silas stripes of body Christ healed them with the ointment of the spirit John cleansed the inward roomes of the soule by the water of baptisme and penitent teares Christ strawed the swept roomes with the flowers of Paradise John began Christ finished John baptized with water Christ with the holy Ghost and with fire Jesus and John resemble the Cherubins in the Arke casting a gracious looke one upon the other Alter in alterius jacientes lumina vultum Jesus like the sunne casteth light upon John and John like a Chrystall glasse reflects it upon him Jesus saith of z Joh. 5.35 John he was a burning and shining lampe John a Joh. 1.34 saith of Jesus This is the Sonne of God Jesus testifieth of John that hee was Elias John of Jesus that hee was the Messias Jesus pointeth to John saying b Mat. 11.9 Behold a Prophet yea and more than a Prophet John to Jesus saying c Joh. 1.29 Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world Jesus commeth to honour John in desiring his baptisme John by putting him back at the first honoureth him the more saying I d Mat. 3.14 have neede to bee baptized of thee and commest thou to me John saith of Jesus e Mat. 3.11 I am not
thing so much as their tiring In summe they spend all their time in a manner in beautifying and adorning their body to please their lovers but in comparison none at all in beautifying and adorning their soules to please their Maker and Husband Christ Jesus Of these Saint m James 5.5 James long ago gave us the character They live in pleasure in the earth and waxe wanton and are fatted for the day of slaughter I spare to rehearse other lavishing out of time lest the rehearsing thereof might seeme worthy to bee numbred among the idle expences thereof And now it is time to set the foot to the account of my meditations on this Scripture The Conclusion and draw neere to that which we all every day draw neerer unto an end The * 1 Pet. 4.7 end of all things is at hand be sober therefore watch unto prayer The day of the Lord will come as a theefe in the night in the which the heavens shall passe away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the workes thereof shall be burned up This great Doomes-day cannot bee farre off as wee see by the fearfull fore-runners thereof howsoever the day of our death which may be called little doomes-day will soon overtake us peradventure before the Sunne yet set or this glasse be runne Wherefore I beseech you all that heare mee this day in the feare of God by occasion of the summons in my Text to enter into a more strict examination of your life than ever heretofore bring out all your thoughts words deeds projects councels and designes and lay them to the rule of Gods Law and if they swerve never so little from it reforme and amend them recount how you have bestowed the blessings of this life how you have imployed the gifts of nature how you have increased your talents of grace wherein the Church or Common-wealth hath been the better by you consider how you have carried your selves abroad in the world how at home in your private families but how especially in the closet of your owne heart You know out of the Gospel that a mans n Mat. 12.44 house may be swept and garnished that is his outward conversation civill and faire and yet harbour seven uncleane spirits within If lust and covetousnesse and pride and envie and malice and rancour and deceit and hypocrisie like so many serpents lye under the ground gnawing at the root of the tree be the leaves of your profession never so broad and seem the fruits of your actions never so faire the vine is the vine of Sodome and the grape the grape of Gomorrah There is nothing so easie as to put a fresh colour upon a rotten post and to set a faire glosse upon the fowlest matters to pretend conscience for most unconscionable proceedings and make religion it selfe a maske to hide the deformity of most irreligious practices But when the secrets of all hearts shall be opened and the intents and purposes of all our actions manifested and the most hidden workes of darknesse brought to light As it is to bee hoped that many that are infinitely wronged in the rash censures of men shall be justified in the sight of God and his Angels so it is to be feared that very many whom the world justifieth and canonizeth also for Saints shall be condemned at Christs barre and have their portion with hypocrites in hell there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Wherefore sith we shall all one day come to such a publike such an impartiall such a particular tryall of all that we have done in the body either good or evill let us looke more narrowly to all our wayes and see that they be streight and even 1. Let us search our heart with all diligence let us look into all the corners thereof and see there lurke no wickednesse nor filthinesse nor hypocrisie there let us looke to our thoughts that they be pure to our desires that they be lawfull to our affections that they be regular to our passions that they be moderate to our ends that they be good to our purposes that they be honest to our intentions that they be sincere to our resolutions that they be well grounded and firme 2. Next let us take our tongue to examination and weigh all our words in the ballance of the Sanctuary and try whether they have not been light and idle but grave and profitable not crafty and deceitfull but simple and plaine not false and lying but true and faithfull not outragious but sober not filthy but modest not prophane but holy not censorious but charitable not scurrilous but ponderous not insolent but lowly and courteous not any way offensive and unsavoury but such as might o Ephes 4.29 minister grace to the hearers 3. Lastly let us lay our hands upon our handy workes and examine our outward acts and deeds 1. Whether they have been alwayes justifiable in generall by the Law of God that is either commanded by it or at least warranted in it 2. Whether they have been and are conformable to the orders of the Church and lawes of the Land For wee must obey lawfull authority for conscience sake in all things that are not repugnant to the divine Law as Bernard piously resolveth saying Thou must yeeld obedience to him as to God who is in the place of God in those things that are not against God 3. Whether they have been agreeable to our particular calling For some things are justifiable by the Law of God and man in men of one state and calling which are hainous sinnes in another as we see in the cases of Uzza and Uzziah 4. Whether they have been answerable to our inward purposes intentions and dispositions For though they are otherwise lawfull and agreeable yet if they goe against the haire if they are done with grudging and repining and not heartily they are neither acceptable to God nor man 5. Whether they have been all things considered most expedient For as many things are profitable and expedient that are not lawfull so some things are lawfull that are not p 1 Cor. 6.12 All things are lawfull unto me but all things are not expedient expedient and because they are not expedient if necessity beare them not out they become by consequent unlawfull For we are not onely bound to eschew all the evill we know but also at all times to doe the best good wee can else wee fulfill not the commandement of loving God with all our heart and all our soule and all our strength To summe up all I have discoursed unto you first of the Stewardship of the things of this life secondly of the account of this Stewardship thirdly of the time of this account The Stewardship most large the account most strict the time most uncertaine After the explication of these points in the application I arraigned foure Stewards before you first the sacred
City here present were wise then would wee understand this this spectacle of our nature this embleme of our frailty this mirrour of our mortality Applicat ad defunct and in it consider our later end which cannot bee farre off For our deceased brother is here arrested before our eyes for a debt of nature in which wee are as deeply ingaged as hee and if either the wealth of the world or gifts of nature or jewels of grace might have redeemed him if either skill of Physicians or love and care of his friends or prayers and teares of his kindred and his dearest second selfe could have bayled him hee had not been laid up as now you see him But let no man sell you smoake to dazâ— your eyes in such sort but that you may all see your owne faces in thiâ— broken glasse There is no protection to bee got from King or Nobles iâ— this case no rescuing any by force from this Sergeant of God death aâ—â— baile or mainprise from this common prison of all mankinde the grave all our comfort is that we may hereafter sue out an habeas corpus which the Judge of all flesh will not deny us at the generall Assizes that we may make our corporall appearance at his barre in the clouds and there have our cause tryed Doe you desire to know how this debt with infinite arrerages groweth upon us and all mankinde Saint Austin giveth you a good account the woman tooke up sinne from the Serpent as it were by loane consensu Adam fecit cautionem usura crevit posteritati Adam by consenting sealed the band the interest hath runne upon all his posterity and the interest that death had in him by sinne and upon us by him and the interest upon interest by numberlesse actuall sinnes eateth us out one by one till death that swalloweth us up all in the end be swallowed up into b 1 Cor. 15.15 victory and then shall be fulfilled that prophesie O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory At which Goale-delivery of all deaths prisoners wee that are living shall not prevent our brother that lyeth asleep before us in his winding sheet upon whose hearse after I have strowed a few flowers I will commit him to the earth and you to God 1. The first flower is a Rose the embleme of charity For a Rose is hot in nature it spreadeth it selfe abroad and after it is full blowne shattereth both leaves and seeds so charity is hot in the affection spreadeth it selfe abroad by compassion and scattereth seeds by almes-deeds Our deceased brother like a provence or double Rose for God doubled the blessings of this life upon him spread himselfe abroad every way by largesse and shed seeds plentifully but withall so secretly that his left hand knew not what his right hand did his Legacies by his death were not great because his will was in this kind to be his owne executor by his life time 2. The second flower is the Lilly the embleme of purity and chastity For the Lilly is perfect white in colour and cold in operation and thereby representeth pure chastity which cooleth the heat of lust this flower he kept unblasted in the time and place of most danger in the prime of his youth and in his travels beyond the sea where hee chose his consort out of pure love and ever loved his choice with a constant and loyall affection unto death 3. The third flower is the Violet the embleme of humility For the Violet is little as the humble is in his owne eyes and groweth neere the ground from whence the humble taketh his name humilis ab humo and of all other flowers it yeeldeth the sweetest savour as humility doth in the nostrils of God and man Of his humility hee gave good proofe in his lovely and lowly carriage towards all in his refusing places of eminency in renouncing all confidence in his owne merits at his death and forbidding that a Trumpet should bee blowne before his workes of piety or charity Wherefore I must be silent of the dead by the command of the dead with whose Christian and happy end I will conclude I was the happinesse of Homer to bee borne in Rhodes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rosa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viola a place taâ—â—â—g the name from Roses and to bee buried in Chios taking the name â—â—â—m Violets this was the happinesse of our brother who was borne and buried in the garden of Christs Spouse where he drew in his first and let out his last breath in the sincere profession of the Gospel which is the savour of life unto life which happinesse God grant unto us all for his Son Jesus Christ his sake To whom c. THE EMBLEME OF THE CHURCH MILITANT A Sermon preached in Mercers Chappell THE XXIII SERMON APOC. 12.6 And the woman fled into the wildernesse where shee hath a place prepared of God that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore dayes Right Honourable right Worshipfull c. THe a Caussin parab hist Ceraunias in locis fulmine tactis invenitur Naturalists write of a precious stone called Ceraunias that it is found only in a day of thunder glistering when the skie is overcast with darknes With these gems the Spouse of Christ is adorned whose faith constancy and patience shine most brightly in time of adversity and persecution when all the earth is full of darknesse and cruell habitations As b Plin. nat hist l. 2. In Troglodytis fons solis circa meâ—idiem maximè frigidus mox paulatim tepescens ad noctis medium ferventissimus est c. 103. the fountaine of the sunne in the country of the Troglodytes is cold or lukewarme at mid-day but most extreme hot at mid-night such is the nature of zeale in the day of prosperity and high noone of temporall glory it is cold or at the best luke-warme but in the night of adversity and dead time of persecution it is most fervent and flagrant Then the sincere professors open their hearts most freely in prayer to God and their bowels of Christian charity and compassion to their afflicted brethren the feare of their enemies husheth their private differences their losse of goods and lands is an inducement to them to contemne the world and as having little or no comfort in this life to set their hearts wholly upon Heaven On the contrary peace usually breeds carnall security abundance luxury wealth pride honour ambition power oppression pleasure sensuality and earthly contentments worldlinesse the bane of Religion In which consideration especially we may conceive it is that our blessed Lord the Husband of the Church who loveth her more than all the world besides which hee preserveth onely for her sake yet seldome crowneth her in this world with worldly happinesse and eminent greatnesse but exerciseth her now under the crosse as hee did under the bondage of Egypt and captivity of
letter on this manner To the Pastour of London unlesse he meant the Bishop or chiefe Pastour Now it is evident out of the twentieth chapter of the Acts ver 17. and all ancient stories that there were divers Ministers or Presbyters in each of these seven Churches He therefore to whom the letter was addressed in particular to the Angel could be no other than the Bishop or Superintendent of the place who is here blamed for suffering Jezebel to teach which sheweth that he had Episcopall power and authoritie to silence and suspend her or any other erroneous Teacher within his Diocesse What should I adde out of k Lib. 3. c. 3. Irenaeus Polycarpus ab Apostolis in ea quae est Smyrnae Ecclesiâ constitutus est Episcopus quem nos vidimus in primâ aetate nostrâ that the Angell of Smyrna was Bishop Polycarpus ordained by the Apostles themselves whom he himselfe saw in his younger years Or out of l In ep ad Tit. l. 1. Toto orbe decretum est ut unus Presbyterelectus superponeretur caeteris ad quem omnis Ecclesiae cura pertineret Jerome that to prevent schismes among Presbyters and Priests Episcopall governement was established through the whole world And let this suffice to be spoken of the office of this Angell we will now consider of his charge or that wherewith the Holy Ghost here burdeneth him the toleration of heresie and idolatrie I have a few things against thee That thou sufferest m Variam miscellaneam Religionem induxerunt sceptro tuendo ne unquam conspirare interse omnes possint Diodorus Siculus reporteth that the ancient Kings of Egypt made a kinde of medley of religion to serve their turne that the people might thereby be distracted and so disabled from attempting any thing against the State And we reade likewise in n Ecclesiast hist l. 4. c. 27. Socrates of Themistius that he laboured to perswade Valens the Emperour that God was well pleased with varietie of sects dum it a pluribus modis colitur because by this toleration of divers religions God is worshipped after divers manners And Father Parsons with whom o Lib. 3. de rep c. 7. Bodine the great Statesman of France and Cardinall p In Apolog. Allen and William q In his answer to the reformed Catholike Bishop Seminarie Priest joyne hearts and pens spending the strength of their wit and flower of their learning in this argument of toleration taking upon them to prove first in Thesi that Religions differing in substantiall points and fundamentall grounds are comportable in the same Kingdome and in Hypothesi that it is not only lawfull and expedient but also honourable for the King of Great Britaine to permit the publicke profession and practice of the Romish Religion within his Kingdomes For the proofe of their Thesis they alledge but one text of Scripture and that miserably wrested r Mat. 13.30 Sinite utraque crescere in messem let both grow untill the harvest The great want of Scriptures they strive in some sort to supply by conjectures of reason and examples of forreine States but the fairest glosse they set upon their foule assertion is from such plausible sentences of the ancient Fathers as these ſ Lactan l. 5. divin institut c. 14. 20. Quis tam insolens tam elatus est qui me vetet oculos in coelum tollere quis imponat mihi necessitatem vel colendi quod nolim vel non colendi quod velim Nihil est tam voluntarium quam Religio in quâ si animus sacrificantis est aversus jam sublata est jam nulla est Who is so proud as to forbid me to lift up my eyes to heaven Who will impose a necessity upon me either to worship that which I will not or not to worship what I will Nothing so much dependeth on the will as Religion which is not Religion but Hypocrisie if the minde be averse from it t Tertul. ad Scapulam c. 2. Nec religionis est religionem cogere It is against Religion to enforce Religion and constraine men to dissemble with God Verily the chiefest point of Religion consisteth in the inward sacrifice of the heart and devotion of the will and how is it possible to devote our u Bernard in Cant. Fides suadenda non imponend◠will against our will This reason against forcing Religion seemed so forcible to Theodoricus that he forbad all Inquisitions and Tortures in case of Religion For other things saith he we may Religion we cannot command Neither was he singular in this his opinion for upon the like grounds to his Theodosius and Leo Catholike Emperours permitted Churches to the Arrian Heretikes as likewise Constantius and Valentinian Arrian Heretikes granted Oratories to Catholike Bishops The Emperours of Germanie tolerate Lutherans and Zuinglians the French King Hugonots the Grand-Seignior Christians the Pope Jewes in Rome whereunto Bodin addeth the example of the ancient x Aug. l. 18. de Civit. Dei Roma cum omnibus penè gentibus dominaretur omnium penè gentium survivit erroribus Romans who permitted the free use of their Religion to all the Nations they conquered and of the Emperour Alexander Severus who kept in his closet the pictures of Abraham Orpheus Hercules and Christ and privily worshipped them all These are the fairest pretences and plausiblest arguments for toleration How few in number how light in weight how easie and short in the answer First for their text of Scripture let both grow to the harvest which Doctor Bishop setteth in the fore-front of his discourse Can any man of learning and judgement once dreame that our Lords meaning was thereby to inhibite all proceedings against Heretikes and wicked livers to enjoyne all Magistrates to suffer vertue and vice truth and heresie to grow together in the Church till the harvest that is the end of the world Could Doctor Bishop or any other Papist perswade himselfe that our Saviour commandeth that to be done for which he here blameth the Angell of y Mat. 13.30 Thyatira and before the Angell of z Ver. 14. Pergamus Doe not all Papists defend the Inquisition in Spaine and Italie and the Pope their Master his proceedings against Protestants under the name of Heretikes Certainely if Christ in this parable absolutely commands a toleration of Heretickes and Schismatikes under the name of tares the Popish Inquisition is a transgression of Christs command by their owne inference from it which if any Papist maintaine he will not be long out of the Inquisition if he trust not to his heeles he shall feele the gag soone in his mouth and assay the a See the book of the Spanish Inquisition and in it the forme of this bridle man-bridle As for the meaning of the place of Scripture it is cleere in it selfe and hath been long agoe by the Ancients declared to be this that God suffereth hypocrites and dissemblers
they may see your workes and glorifie your Father which is in heaven it is your part to endeavour to take your candle from under the bushell which covereth it and set it on a high candlesticke that is some eminent place of dignity in Church or Common-wealth that it may give light to the whole house of God But latet anguis in herbâ there lyeth a foule affection under this faire pretence For such as are overtaken with this temptation of Sathan seeke not their owne advancement for Gods glory but Gods glory if so at all they seeke it for their owne advancement they pray that the Sunne may cleerly shew forth his beames but it is that their gifts which are but as moates in comparison may be seen and glissen in his raies They are like false friends and cunning spokesmen they beare the world in hand that they wooe for God but they speake for themselves Otherwise it would be indifferent to them if any other of as good or better parts than themselves should be preferred to those dignities they aspire unto and howsoever they could not but rest satisfied with the answer of God himselfe I have o Joh. 12.28 glorified my name and will glorifie it God hath a greater care of his glory than they can have neither is there one only way by which he setteth forth his glory for the wayes of the Lord are mercy and justice All that are exalted are not exalted in mercy some are exalted in justice as malefactors are carried up to a high scaffold for more exemplary punishment God bestoweth no gifts in vaine he will make the best benefit and advantage for his glory feare they it not he knoweth the value of all the jewells of his grace and he will sort and ranke them where they may most decke and adorne his Spouse take they no care for it As for their condition what doth their obscurity and privacy disparage them their Father who seeth their good parts in secret will reward them openly I fore-see what may be further objected against the doctrine delivered if he that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted how commeth it to passe that none are usually more vilified and dis-esteemed than they who make themselves cheap Tanti eris quanti te feceris a man is accounted of according to that he valueth himselfe his gifts of mind and body are never thought worth more than himselfe priseth them at Who get sooner into the highest places of preferment than those who are still climbing Doth not pride and ambition exalt many or at least are not those that are in high places high minded and consequently neither are the humble exalted nor those that are exalted humble I answer that the proud are often exalted in this world yet not by God but either by the world who like a cunning wrestler lifteth up his adversary above ground to give him the greater fall or by the Divell who doth his best by his instruments to set them in high places that through giddinesse they may fall and ruine themselves Or if it be by God it is in justice not in mercy as souldiers condemned to the strapado are drawne up to the highest round that they may be more tortured in their fall My collection out of this Text standeth yet firme None are exalted by God in mercy especially to a Crowne in heaven of which the Apostle here speaketh but such as are dejected in themselves and beare a low saile in their minds For God acknowledgeth none for his but those that deny themselves he is pleased with none but those that are displeased with themselves he accounteth none worthy of honour but those that account themselves unworthy Now the reason why God exalteth the humble is apparent for he hath promised Honorantes me honorabo Them that p 1 Sam. 2.30 honour mee I will honour and none more honoureth God than the humble who ascribeth nothing to himselfe but all to God If Princes most willingly advance those to high places under them who they are perswaded will most honour them and doe them best service in their offices whom then should God rather raise than the humble who the more they are exalted the more they extoll him the more glorious they are the more they glorifie him the more light of honour they receive the more they reflect backe Besides to whom is honour more due than to those who flye it who fitter to governe than they who know best what it is to obey who are like to be freer from oppressing and depressing others than they who in the height of their fortune most deject their minds Those vertues which are most attractive and are aptest to win our love and affection are all either parts or adjuncts of humility None so religious as the humble who by so much hath a higher conceit of God by how much he hath the lower of himselfe None so thankfull as hee who acknowledgeth all Gods blessings undue None so patient as hee who acknowledgeth all the chastisements that are inflicted upon him most due unto him None so obedient as hee who utterly denieth himselfe and bringeth every thought in subjection to Gods Word None so fervent in prayer as he who is most sensible of his wants None so penitent as he who abhorreth himselfe for his sinnes and repenteth in dust and ashes None so mercifull as he who accounteth himselfe the greatest offender None so free in contribution to others as hee who maketh reckoning that any better deserves Gods blessings than himselfe These graces and beautifull ornaments of the humble soule kindle an affection in God himselfe and shall they not inflame our love to this vertue Looke we not to the acts of it which seem vile and base but to the effects which are glorious and honourable It is called q Mat. 5.3 poverty in spirit yet it enricheth the soule it is in name and nature lowlinesse yet it exalteth it is vile in the eyes of the world but precious in Gods esteem The grasse upon the house top withereth and the july-July-flowers on the wall soon lose their sent but the Violets and other flowers that grow neere to the ground smell sweeter and last longer What doe the twelve precious stones shining in the foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem signifie but so many Christian vertues laid in the ground of humility Neither let it trouble any that men who put not themselves forth though they are of extraordinary parts are often forgotten in states and neglected by those who should tabulas benè pictas collocare in bono lumine bring them into the light for such men are most fitly compared to the statues of Brutus and Cassius that were not brought forth nor carried with the rest in the funeralls of Junia of whom the wise Historian saith Eo ipso praefulgebant quod non visebantur If true honour as all wise men judge consist not in pomp and retinue or lands or possessions or houses plate or
any court for ought I know against the dead wee know not where to bestow them wee could doe no lesse in Christian charity and providence than procure the bounds of our Golgotha to be enlarged For though other houses and tenements stand void with us the grave shall never want guests nor the Church-yard and vaults under ground tenants against their will All men and women are flowers and all flowers will fall and when they are ready to fall we shall have slips I feare but too many to plant this parcell of ground which wee have gained in by the gift of the father of this Sichem But hereof hereafter when I shall have opened my Text and the sepulchre in it and who were interred there and how they came thither If in any Text almost of the whole Scripture surely in this the coherence needeth to be handled For at the first sight this relation of the buriall of the Patriarchs seemeth to have no affinity at all with Saint Stephens apologie for himselfe against the Jewes who charged him with blasphemy against Moses and against the Law Now as in a shooting match a stander by can hardly discerne the flight of an arrow unlesse he marke the Archers aime and observe the flight-shaft as soon as it is delivered out of the bow so unlesse ye marke Saint Stephens aime and observe how he entereth into this story of the Old Testament ye can hardly discerne how direct it is to his maine scope and purpose But so it is that as he that shooteth farre draweth his arrow backward up to the head and as hee that leapeth forward fetcheth his feeze a great way backe so doth Saint Stephen here seem to give ground and recoile a great way backward but it is to come on with more force and powerfully to confound the Jewes who began not now to persecute the Saints of God and Witnesses of Jesus Christ but in all ages had done the like Fabius Maximus as b Liv. dec 3. l. 2. Livie writeth kept aloofe off from the Carthaginian army upon a high hill till hee saw that Hannibal had foiled Minutius in the plaine but then hee falleth upon him and routs all his troupes whereupon Hannibal uttered that memorable speech I ever feared that the cloud which hovered so long upon the hills would in the end powre downe and give us a sad showre Saint Stephen like Fabius for a great while keepeth aloof off from the Jewes and his discourse resembleth a darke cloud hovering on the top of a hill which on the sudden in the end rained downe upon them and caused a bitter storme for killing first all the servants sent to them by the Master of the Vineyard and last of all his Sonne The Jewes bragged much of their fathers Saint Stephen by epitomizing the story of the Old Testament sheweth unto them that they ought rather to be ashamed of them in whose wicked steps notwithstanding they trod and were now as their fathers ever had bin a stiffe-necked people of uncircumcised eares and hearts resisting the spirit of God and cruelly persecuting those to death who shewed before of the comming of the just One of whom saith he ye have been now the betrayers and murderers who have received the Law by the disposition of Angels and have not kept it The accusers of Saint Stephen articled against him that hee had uttered blasphemy against the Law of Moses and against the Temple because hee taught that the ceremonies of the Law were fulfilled in Christ and that the shadow ought to vanish the body being come in place Saint Stephen answereth for himselfe that the doctrine of the Gospel was ancienter than the Law or the Temple and that all the furniture of the Temple and Arke were made according to the patterne in the Mount and had a reference to heavenly and spirituall things revealed in the Gospel that God was now to be worshipped in spirit and truth by faith in Christ now come as hee had been by the fathers before the Law in Christ to come who by faith gave charge that their bones should be carried out of Egypt and buried in the land of Canaan beleeving that God would certainly performe his promise made unto their posterity first of the reall possession of the earthly after that of the heavenly inheritance by the seed of Abraham in whom all Nations are blessed Christ Jesus that should be born in that land What they gave in charge was accordingly performed as ye heare in the words of my Text So Jacob went into Egypt and dyed he and our fathers and were carried over into Sichem and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought c. Ye see the coherence but ye cannot yet discerne the truth of the relation because there is a mist on the words which hath caused many to misse their way and it cannot bee otherwise dispelled than by cleering this whole relation of Saint Stephen and comparing it with the narration of Moses 1. It is evident out of Genes 23.16 20. that Abraham for foure hundreds shekels of silver bought the field of Ephron the Hittite which was in Machpelah and therein a cave to bury the dead 2. It is evident out of Genes 33.19 that Jacob bought a parcell of a field where he had spread his tent at the hand of the children of Hamor Sechems father for a hundred peeces of mony 3. It is evident likewise out of Genes 50.13 that Jacobs sons carried him into the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field in Machpelah which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a burying place of Ephron the Hittite before Mamre 4. It is evident out of Jos 24.32 that the children of Israel brought the bones of Joseph out of Egypt and buried them in Sechem in a parcell of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Sechem for a hundred peeces of silver and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph Now the points of difficulty are three 1. Whether all the Patriarchs were buried in Sechem or only Joseph For in the booke of Josuah there is mention made of none buried there but Joseph yet Saint Stephen here speaketh in the plurall number Our fathers dyed and were carried over into Sechem And Saint Jerome who lived in those parts writeth that in his time the sepulchre of the twelve Patriarchs was to be seen in Sechem 2. Whether Abraham or Jacob bought this field wherein they were buried For both bought ground for buriall but not at the same rate nor in the same place nor from the same Landlords For Abraham paid for his purchase foure hundred peeces of silver Jacob an hundred Abrahams lay in the country of Heth Jacobs of Sechem Abraham bought it of Ephron the Hittite Jacob of Hamor the Sechemite If the Patriarchs were laid in a sepulchre at Sechem it could not be that which Abraham bought for that was not in the tenure