offer to offer up Isaac and the will went for the deed Non combureris thou shalt not be burnt The third example may be the Israelites in whose company the fire was kindled there went out a fire from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense Num. 16.35 But though the flame burnt up the ungodly mutiniers yet every obedient Israelite escaped Non combureris thou shalt not be burnt The fourth example may be the three Salamanders in the furnace Dan 3. who though they walked thorow the fire yet their coats were not changed nor so much as the smell of fire had passed on them And this last example is without example I never heard of any fire-proof before for Fire is of a most devouring and consuming nature turning all combustible things into ashes that come neer it yet the children of the fire the sparks hurt not these three children with the shields of their faith they quench'd the violence of fire when they walked thorow the fire they were not burnt neither did the flame kindle upon them And to these I might adde though somewhat out of order the example of Abraham whom God brought out of Ur of the Caldees Gen. 15.7 Now Ur as Huge observeth signifyeth fire the Greek word from which our English word seemeth to come hath but one Letter more and therefore the Hebrews had a tradition that because Abraham would not worship the Fire as the Caldeans did he should have been cast into the fire had not God given him notice of it and so preserved him But though Vr signifie fire yet the ordinary Glosse taketh it not for a common but a proper Name for the Name of the town or village where Abraham dwelt This example therefore cannot claim kindred of the Text I might more properly bring in our preservation from the Powder-treason but I will rather answer a question that may rise from our Text for is this promise alwayes performed Thou shalt not be burnt the flame shall not kindle on thee What shall we say then to that fiery persecution in Queen Maries dayes when there were so many Bethels in this Kingdome so many Cities wherein mens bones were burnt I Answer it is true that the Church of Christ this Church in particular hath endured the fiery triall But as Rex non moritur so Ecclesia non comburitur as the King is never buried so the Church is never burnt James may die and so may Charles yet God maintaine his life but the King let rebels do what they can never dieth So Latimer may be burnt and Cranmer may be burnt but the Church is never burnt If Pagans should prevail so farre which God forbid as to burne up all the Christians or if Puritans should prevaile so far which God forbid too as to burne up all the Protestants yet I verily believe that out of their very ashes God would raise up a new Phoenix Cinis Mariyrum should be Semen Ecclesiae the ashes of an old should be the seed of a new Church she shall not be so burnt as to be quite extinct neither shall the flame so kindle upon her And the Application hereof now may be briefly thus Seeing God will not suffer his Church to be finally burnt up by others this may teach us as it were to set on fire our selves not with the fire of lust it is better to marry than so to burn nor with the fire of wrath rather heap coals of fire upon the head of the enemies but let it be with the vestal fire of devotion and affection let our hearts burn within us with love to God and men So shall neither the sun burn us by day nor the moon by night the Lord shall preserve us form all evil it is even he that will keep both our bodies and our souls when the Elements shall melt with fervent heat when the earth and the Works therein shall be burnt up he will preserve and keep us from everlasting fire and exalt us to his Coelum empyreum his fiery heaven there for ever to behold him whose eyes are as a flame of fire and his feet like unto fine brass as if they burned in a furnace And so ye have the safety of the Church in her passage thorow fire literally taken Ye shall see her safety likewise as she passeth thorow the fire of affliction and persecution When thou walkest thorow this fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee It is the nature of fire Congregare homogenea and Segregare heterogenea to bring together things of the same kind and to separate things of divers kinds A Refiner therefore is wont to bring his Myne to the fire and by this means he severeth the silver from the dross which is likewise wise the very practice of Almighty God it is the Prophet Malachie's similitude word for word Mal. 3.3 He shall sit as a Refiner and Purifier of silver and he shall purifie the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver And the sweet Singer of Israel harpeth upon the same string Psa 66.9 Thou O God hast proved us thou also hast tried us like as silver is tried Non sicut foenum sed sicut argentum non in cineres convertisti sed sordes abluisti saith St. Austin God trieth us not with a consuming but with a cleansing fire turneth us not into ashes only taketh away our sullage and our ashes from us purely purgeth away our dross and taketh away all our tinne God purgeth men by affliction as the Israelites were to purge the spoil of the Midianites Numb 31.23 Every thing that may abide the fire ye shall make it go thorow the fire and it shall be clean God trieth men by affliction what metal they are made of they that endure this fiery tryal they are good gold they are Gods Children they that endure it not they are but dross they are but Cast-awayes Good men are like Shadrach Meshack and Abednego though they walk thorow the fiery furnace of Affliction yet they are not burnt up no not so much as singed but wicked men are like the souldiers that bound and cast them in when they are yet but at the mouth of the fiery furnace when the fire of Affliction but beginneth to seize upon them it prevaileth against them and consumeth them in a moment Good men are in this like clay the fire of Affliction strengthneth and confirmeth them but wicked men are like wax as wax melteth at the fire so do the ungodly perish in the fiery tryal Affliction to them is like the fire that burneth up the wood and like the flame that consumeth the mountains God maketh them like a fiery oven in time of his wrath the Lord destroyeth them in his displeasure and the fire consumeth them Affliction maketh wicked men a great deal worse as water becometh much colder after heating than ever it would have been if it had never
trumpet Psal 47.5 As for his Humamity our Saviour seemeth to say that this was in heaven before Ioh. 3.13 No man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came downe from heaven even the Son of man which is in heaven But to these and all other such objections I answer with Theodoret the Divine and Humane nature of our Saviour being Hypostatically united into one Person 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those things which are proper to either of his Natures are attributed and communicated to his whole Person Thus St. Paul saith that God was manifested in the flesh and that God was received up into glory 1 Tim. 3.16 Notwithstanding therefore these objections the Person that ascended was Christ Iesus according to his Humanity He was taken up He it is not said She was taken up The Papists have Ascension or rather Assumption-day for the blessed Virgin Mary which they annually celebrate upon the fifteenth of August whereon they say She was taken up corporally into heaven But this is as true as that the Disciples stole our Saviour out of his grave I am very sure there is not the least mention of any such thing in Scripture and where the Holy Ghost hath no tongue to speak nor pen to write there must we have no eare to hear nor any heart to believe Not the Woman therefore Christ's mother but the man Christ Jesus himself He was taken up And so I passe from the first part of the Text the Person ascending which was Christ to the second part Quando the Time of his ascension which we are to consider first in reference to his Resurrection forty dayes after that then he was taken up But here two questions may be moved First Why Christ did ascend so soon Secondly seeing so soon why no sooner The first question may be why he ascended so soon after his resurrection why he deferred not his ascension till the last day that we might have been taken up together with him To which I answer two wayes First that Christ should ascend so soon was not convenient in respect of him Secondly That he should ascend so soon was not expedient in respect of us First That he should ascend so soon was not convenient in respect of himself And that first in respect of his glorified body Heaven was the most convenient place for his incorruptible and immortall body Earth is a very Golgotha a region of corruption a place of dead mens skuls Though Christ's body therefore could not have seen corruption had it continued still on earth yet the fittest place for such a body were the incorruptible heavens Again it was convenient that Christ should ascend so soon after his resurrection that he might manifest and declare the truth of his Divinity Earth is a region of death Quocunque aspicias nihil est nisi mortis imago All that ever came hither have or must die once and I assure my self that Lazarus and all the rest that were raised either by the Prophets or by our Saviour or by his Apostles died twice should Christ therefore after his resurrection have continued here longer than he did men would scarce have taken him to be God but have mistaken him for a meer Man and they would have thought that Christ like Lazarus had been to die the second time Thus ye see it was convenient in respect of Christ that he should ascend so soon after his resurrection as he did Ye shall now see that this was expedient in respect of us And the expediency of it we have from Christ's own mouth John 16.7 It is expedient for you saith he and what he saith to them we may apply to us that I go away and he giveth his reason in the very next words If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you And John 7.39 we read That the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified Had there been no Holy Thursday had not our Saviour ascended from his Apostles on the fortieth day there had likewise been no Whitsunday the Holy Ghost had not descended upon the Apostles on the fiftieth day Again Had Christ remained still upon earth he had not been so proper an object of our faith which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The evidence of things not seen Heb. 11.1 Thy Fides will not well stand with thy Vides we do not properly walk by faith when we walk by sight Apparentia non habent fidem sed agnitionem saith St. Gregory fruition putteth a period unto faith and therefore Credimus ut cognoscamus non cognoscimus ut credamus saith St. Austin we come to knowledge by faith and not to faith by knowledge the nature of faith is to be exercised about things absent wherefore though we have known Christ after the flesh saith St. Paul yet now henceforth know we him no more 2 Cor. 5.16 The second question may be seing Christ ascended so soon why did he ascend no sooner Why did he not make one ascending for all As soon as he rose out of the grave why did he not ascend immediately into heaven To which I return a threefold answer First This was not convenient in respect of Christ Secondly it was not convenient in respect of his Disciples Thirdly it was not convenient in respect of us First that Christ should ascend so soon was not convenient in respect of Himself for we know what a tradition the Jewes have among them untill this day namely that his Disciples stole him away while the souldiers were asleep Had not Christ therefore shewed himsef alive after his passion though not to all the people yet to certaine selected witnesses the tradition of the Jewes might have passed for currant truth it might have been doubted to this day whether he had been risen from the dead or no. Secondly that Christ should ascend immediately after his Resurrection was not convenient in respect of his Disciples whose faith was almost quite shipwrack'd at his death they little thought he would make his word good to rise again and therefore the relation of the woman seemed to them as an old wives tale they believed it not nay when our Saviour himself appeared unto them they would scarce believe that it was he but were terrified and affrighted supposing that they had seen a spirit It was fit therefore that Christ should be conversant awhile with these raw Schollers both to confirm their faith touching that truth of his resurrection and also to instruct them in those things that were pertaining to Gods Kingdome Thirdly and lastly that Christ should ascend immediately after his resurrection was not convenient in respect of us For his Disciples were not properly Apostles till after his resurrection a good while if they were Apostles their Diocess was very narrow though they were Apostles to the Iews they were no Apostles to the Gentiles Go not into the way of the Gentiles said our Saviour
of heaven Psa 78.23 Secondly the celestial orbes and spheres are heaven the Sun Moon and Starrs are called Exercitus coeli the host of heaven Dent. 4.19 Thirdly and lastly the place of bliffe is heaven the Lord hath prepared his seat in heaven Psal 103.19 which distinction of heaven St. Paul seemes to allude unto when he saith that he was caught up into the third heaven 2 Cor. 12.2 Now where the Apostle saith that Christ ascended far above all heavens we are to understand it of the Orbes Celestial he ascended above the Orbes Celestial above all visible and materiall heavens But here then perhaps that of the Philosopher may be objected in the first book De coelo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without or above heaven there is no place now it is essential to every body to be in some place or other quod nusquam est non omnino est if Christs body therefore be in no place it will be so far from being every where as Lutherans would have it that it will cease to be at all To which I answer that to speak physically and strictly there is indeed no place above the visible heavens But though there be not Locus yet there is Ubi though there be no place yet there is a certaine space as I may so speak and it is sufficient for a body glorified to be in such a space which our Saviour notwithstanding calleth a place I go to prepare a place for you Ioh 14.2 And this was indeed the chief reason why he ascended into heaven Adam's sin shut him out both of the earthly and the heavenly Paradise there was no place for him in Eden nor for his posterity in heaven But the doores of heaven were opened upon Holy-Thursday when Christ had overcome and trampled upon death by his resurrection he did open the kingdome of heaven by his ascension Not as if heaven were so fast shut before that none could enter in no not in soul till Christ ascended thither in body the Papists might have some kind of ground for their Limbus Patrum if this were so That cannot therefore be the meaning of it there were glorious mansions prepared for us from the foundation of the world as it is Math. 25.34 But though places of glory were from the beginning prepared for us yet the plenary and the perfect preparation was made by Christs ascension And seeing our Saviour Christ is ascended corporally into heaven this earnest may ascertaine us of our ascension our Head being ascended we shall also ascend that are his Members It may be objected perhaps that flesh and blood cannot inherit incorruption I answer it is true that our bodies as they are now are not capable of going to heaven they must therefore be crumbled to very dust and ashes and new moulded by him that made them at the first before ever they can be admited into that holy place And as our bodies must be refined so likewise must our souls Heaven is a City of pure Gold no unclean thing must come into it We must therefore lay aside every weight and the sinnes that do so easily depresse us David could not go with Saul's armour nor can we ascend to heaven with the weapons of unrighteousnesse If then we will ascend thither at our death we must begin our ascension in this life if we hope to go to heaven when we take our farewell of the earth then while we are here on earth our conversation must be in heaven For anima magis est ubi amat quà m ubi animat saith St. Bernard the Soul is rather where it loveth than where it liveth If therefore we love the Lord Jesus let our affection be with him where our heavenly treasure is there let our hearts be also where the Load-stone is that way let the Iron tend where the carcase is thither let the Eagles resort by religious meditations and by assiduous supplications let us ascend unto that place whither our blessed Lord and Master is gone before St. Austin would rather have been in hell with Christ than be in heaven without him How then should our hearts be inflamed with love of heaven now we are sure that our Saviour is ascended thither How should we contemn though not abdicate the world use it I mean as though we used it not Seing Christ hath left it we should strive to leave it too dying daily as St. Paul did though not in deed yet in desire having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ our soules must be athirst for him our flesh also must long after him with an How long Lord Jesu◠when shall we come unto thee And so I passe from the fourth part of the Text the Place whither Christ ascended to the fifth Quomodo the Manner of his ascension set down here two wayes I begin with the Positive part of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was taken up Taken up why so Did he not go up of himself Lazarus was taken up carried by Angels into heaven And these carried up Elijah too the charet and horses of fire were holy Angels the Charets of God saith David are twenty thousand even thousands of Angels Psal 68.17 But though they were carried up yet Christ went up of himself in his ascension of all circumstances Quibus auxiliis came not in Christ went up of himself he ascended by his own power Why then doth our Text say that he was taken up as if he had been some way assisted in his ascnesion up to heaven I answer the Text saith that he was taken up for this reason to signifie and shew his obedience to his Fathers Will for otherwise he might have ascended upon the very day of his resurrection every glorified body being of that agility and lightnesse ut ubicunque volet esse anima ibi statim erit corpus wheresoever the soul would be there is the body straight But though Christ might have ascended sooner yet he would not till his heavenly Father saw good for which reason the Text saith that he was taken up And this may teach us not to lay violent hands upon our selves thinking to get so much the sooner into heaven If we be in poverty or sicknesse in imprisonment or banishment yet we must not make away with our selves nor must we repine or be impatient that we are let into heaven no sooner that we have so long sought for death and cannot find it but we must tarry the Lords leisure we must not be our own carvers all the dayes of our appointed time we must wait till our change come following the example of our blessed Lord and Master who submitted himself in all things to the Will of his heavenly Father and therefore he ascended not when first he might but when his Father would have him taken up And so ye have the manner of his ascension positively set down I now proceed to the Expositive part of it in these words A cloud received him out
is our Native countrey all the while we are on earth we are as it were going a pilgrimage to heaven And the application of this now may be two-fold First Seeing we are but Passengers here and Pilgrims this may serve to set spurs to us and hasten us towards our Countrey For no Passenger would willingly tarry long upon the way but maketh all the haste he can to get him home So let us think it our greatest punishment next to this rebellious reformation that we are constrained to dwell with Mesech to have our habitation among the Tents of Kedar and therefore let us wish with holy David to have the wings of a Dove that so we might flie home to Heaven and be at rest Secondly Though here we are but Passengers yet seeing heaven is our home this may comfort us amidst all our plunderings and persecutions all our necessities and distresses For let a passenger meet with never so bad entertainment by the way yet he will not greatly murmure at it I have better at home he will say and it will not be long I hope e're I get thither So as long Brethren as there are Quarters taken up for us in Heaven if we have any Christian Courage let us not faint by the way be our usage never so course be our passage never so perilous which leadeth me from the first part of the Text the Passenger the Church to the second which is her Passage and this I find to be two-fold per aquas per ignes thorow waters and thorow fire When thou passest thorow the waters when thou walkest thorow the fire Her first passage is per aquas when thou passest thorow the waters Which waters have sundry acceptions in holy Scripture the literal is first in nature and must be so in order And Hugo Cardinalis will have an Alleotheta here one tense put for another Transieris for Transibas when thou passest or shalt pass instead of when thou passedst or didst pass alluding to the passage of Noah in the Deluge or rather to that of Israel thorow the red-sea But whether these or no be the meaning these examples suit well with the Text and of the same nature we have some other in holy Writ the example of Moses of Elijah and Elisha of the Disciples and of St. Paul I shall anon touch upon these in their proper place I shall here only shew you the several acceptions of these Waters The literal I have briefly pointed at already Secondly By Waters we may understand the Enemies of the Church so they are expressed by holy David Psalm 88.17 They came round about me daily like water and compassed me together on every side And Psalm 144.7 He prayeth after this manner Send down thine hand from above deliver me and take me out of the great Waters from the hand of strange children And Rev. 17.15 The Angel expounding the vision of the great Whore which sat upon many waters telleth St. John in express words The waters which thou sawest where the Whore sitteth they are people and multitudes and nations and tongues Thirdly by waters we may understand Heresies and doctrines of Devils So Aretius and others expound that Rev. 12.15 Where we read that the Serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood Fourthly and lastly by waters we may understand the Abyss of desperation So we may construe that of the Psalmist Psalm 69. The waters are come in even unto my soul verse 1. I am come into deep waters ver 2. Let not the water-flood drown me verse 16. The Churches second passage is per ignes when thou walkest thorow the fire which fire is first literally to be taken and we have examples of some in Scripture that found a safe passage thorow this fire as Lot and Isaac and the Israelites and the three Children Secondly by Fire we are to understand persecution and affliction according to that of the Psalmist Psalm 66. Thou laydst trouble upon our loynes Ingressi sumus per ignem we went thorow the fire And St. Peter useth the same Metaphor Think it not strange concerning the fiery tryal which is to trie you 1 Pet. 4.12 The result then of all is briefly this That it is the portion of the Church to pass thorow fire and water it is her destiny to suffer persecution and affliction Noah's Ark was a notable representation of the Church that was tossed upon the waves in the general inundation so is this in the worlds troubled sea which cannot rest The Disciples Ship in the Gospel was another figure of the Church that was covered with waves almost overwhelmed with a raging Tempest so this is filled with the scornfull reproof of the wealthy the deep waters of the proud are ready to run even over her soul The Church is a Ship the world is the Sea a Sea of glass mingled with fire Rev. 15.2 Of glass there is the brittle and inconstant condition of the world mingled with fire here are the troubles of the Church St. Peter's fiery Tryal Troubled alas she is and so hath ever been Look upon Jacob look upon Joseph look upon David look upon the Son of David the time would fail me to tell you of the Prophets and Apostles of the Martyrs Confessours and other holy men of God how they passed thorow the waters how they walked thorow the fire how they had Trial of cruel Mockings and Scourgings yea moreover also of bonds and imprisonment how they were stoned as Saint Stephen how they were sawn asunder as the Prophet Isaiah how they were slain with the sword as the Apostle St. Paul how they were beneaded as St. John Baptist how they were hanged as Tomkins and Chaloner Yeomans and Bourchier how they wandred about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth in sheep-skins and Goat-skins being destitute afflicted tormented Thus we see that all which will be loyal to God and the King all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution Till our Saviour came into the ship the Sea was calm and quiet but when he was once aboard there straightway arose a mighty Tempest So long then as thou art without Christ or without God in this world the Devil will make fair weather round about thee but when once Christ Jesus is as it were come aboard thy soul then will Satan raise a storm to try if he can make shipwrack of thy faith when thou hast listed thy self a souldier to fight under thy Saviours and thy Soveraigns banner then look for a whole shewer of fiery arrows from the wicked one for the Messenger of Satan to buffet thee with St. Paul both by inward temptations and outward tribulations by private suggestions and publick persecutions the Devil will strive to split thee against the rock of desperation But take this for thy comfort that although thou art dangerously tossed
been heated As for the Righteous it is not so with them God burneth them indeed throughly as the bricks of Babel were but this is only as a Potter frameth his vessels in the fire that so they may be vessels unto honour and for the Masters use though they walk thorow the fire yet they are not burnt neither doth the flame kindle upon them When Job's wife heard of all the evil that God had brought upon her husband she grew so mad so out-ragious and impatient that she would fain have perswaded him to make away with himself what saith she all that ever thou hadst taken away from thee Is this the reward thou hast for thine integrity Well serve God who will I would serve him no longer make good the devils words if thou wilt be ruled by me do as he said thou wouldest in such a case even curse God and die Job 2.9 But ye have heard of the patience of Job saith St. James let his wife therefore say what she will he will have none of her counsel thou talkest like an Asse saith he thou speakest like one of the foolish women And indeed as he goeth on shall we receive good at the hand of God and not receive evil also Shall we receive health and not sickness wealth and not poverty peace and not War honour and not dishonour liberty and not restraint yea my brethren if we be Christians we must resolve to endure all And if we do this then we may assure our selves that although we sow in tears yet we shall reap in joy though God have long suffered wicked men to ride over our heads though we have gone thorow fire and water yet God in his good time will bring us and our Soveraign out into a wealthy place he will cast these rods of his anger into the fire and then mercy shall embrace us on every side our light affliction which is but for a moment shall work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory which God of his infinite mercy grant c. FINIS THE ASSUMPTION OF THE Messiah A Sermon PREACHED Before His MAJESTY KING CHARLES the IId. AT THE HAGUE in HOLLAND on Sunday May 29. old stile 1649. LONDON Printed in the year 1660. THE ASSUMPTION OF THE Messiah ACTS 1.9 And when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight THat which is spoken of the Sun in the firmament Psal 19.6 St. Austin upon that place applieth unto the Son of Righteousness His going forth is from the end of heaven there saith he is Christs descension from the bosome of his Father and his circuit unto the ends of it here saith he is his ascension to the place from whence he came And our Saviour himself hath much such another passage John 16.28 Which place may not unfitly be compared unto a Circle I came forth from the Father and am come into the world there is the semicircle again I leave the world and go to the Father here is the compleat Circle And by this we may see what agreement there is between the material Sun and the Mystical The Sun in the firmament is appointed to light the day so as long as I am in the world saith our Saviour I am the light of the world John 9.5 The Sun though in the firmament stoopeth to lighten us below So though our Saviours dwelling were in heaven yet he humbleth himself to behold us here on earth The Sun ariseth and the Sun goeth down and hasteth to the place where he arose Ecles 1.5 So the Sun of Righteousness came from one hemisphere from light inaccessible from the place of blessed Saints and Angels that he might shine unto the other hemisphere to us their forlorn Antipodes to us mortals that sat in darkness and shadow of death But as the Sun maketh hast to the place where he arose dwelleth not alway with us but returneth again according to his circuits In like manner the Sun of Righteousnesse having lightned his Apostles understanding by his Doctrine and having warmed and cheared their hearts by his promise of sending them the Holy Ghost having given them the word of resolution of instruction and of benediction he took his leave of the earth and returned into heaven And when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight This Text then is a description of our Saviour's Ascension wherein there are six particulars to be consider'd four plainly expressed two necessarily implied The first is Quis the Person that ascended which was Christ he that descended was the same also that ascended He was taken up The second is Quando the Time of the ascension which may be considered two wayes in reference to his Resurrection forty dayes after that or in reference to his last exercise the resolving his Apostles doubts the instructing and the blessing of them immediately after this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he had spoken these things The third is Vnde the Place from whence he ascended which by comparing Acts 1.12 with Luke 24.50 we shall finde to be that part of mount Olivet next to Bethany he was taken up from thence The fourth is Quo the Place whither he ascended which was heaven he was taken up thither The fifth is Quomodo the manner of his ascension set down here two wayes First Positively he was taken up Secondly Expositively a cloud received him out of their sight The sixt and last are Testes the Spectatours or the witnesses of his ascension which were the Eleven Apostles while they beheld he was taken up c. And of these in order I begin with the first particular Quis the Person that ascended Christ He was taken up He that was from the begining nay he that is the beginning Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending He that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Imamnuel God with us he that is one in Trinity and Duality he that made on Person of two Natures And which of these natures then was ascended It was his Humane nature as may easily be gathered from those words of the Angels to the Apostles Acts. 1.11 The same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven Now we know that our Saviour shall come to judgement as he is man according to that of St. Paul Acts. 71.31 where he saith that God hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousnesse by that man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead Our Saviour therefore ascended according to his humanity The Royal Psalmist seemeth to say indeed that his Divinity ascended Ascendit Deus in Iubilo Dominus in voce tubae God is gone up with a shout and the Lord with the sound of the
to them but only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel Had not Christ then after his resurrection enlarged their Commission we had not heard I doubt unto this hour whether there had been a Christ or no. For his Apostles would not have been like the Mechanicks in our dayes they would not have run about the world and preached without Commission without an Ite Praedicate go and preach how should they have preached except they had been sent Our Saviour therefore delayed his ascension into heaven to furnish his Apostles with a Catholick Commission that so their sound might go out into all Lands and their Words unto the ends of world And so ye have the Time of Christs ascension in reference to his Resurrection Be pleased now to consider it in reference to his last exercise which was the Resolving of his Apostles doubts the Instructing and the Blessing of them by and by after this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when had spoken these things The Church of Rome keepeth much ado about These things she would hereby have her unwritten Traditions to be understood But though all things are not written which our blessed Saviour spake yet all things necessary to salvation I am sure are written the Gospell were imperfect should Traditions be entertained So that we are not to heed mens inventions but only Christ's instructions He was the way and he shewed all men the way that they should walk in as he shewed it his Apostles here when he had spoken these things These things that is First when he had resolved their doubts They asked him whether he would at that time restore the kingdome to Israel Act. 1.6 To which he returned them a short answer that it was not for them to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his owne power And this first may teach the Laity to bring their Queries their Questions to the Clergy the Priests lips must preserve knowledg and they must seek the Law at his mouth Mal. 2.7 And as the People must bring their questions so the Pastour must resolve them And to this end St. Paul would have him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apt to teach 1 Tim. 3.2 he must be both able and also ready to teach and resolve doubts our Saviour ascended not till he had done this till he had resolved his Apostles doubts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he had spoken these things These things That is Secondly when he had throughly instructed his Apostles in the way to heaven Having loved his own which were in the world he loved them unto the end he preached unto them till he departed from them till he was taken up into heaven And herein he was first a patterne to all that are Preachers of his Gospel who having set their hand to his plow ought never to look back The Levites at fifty years old were freed from the service of the Tabernacle But no age will exempt or discharge us of our office we must not cease to exercise it till we are just putting off this Tabernacle though we are never so superannuated though we are such as Paul the Aged or though so feeble that like St. Iohn we were fain to be carryed to the pulpit For as the Echo repeateth only the last part of the voice so the people are aptest to remember the last part of the Sermon and the last Sermon best And therefore St. Peters resolution was that he would not cease to be a Preacher till he ceased to be a man as we read 2 Pet. 1.12 13.15 I will not be negligent to put you alwayes in remembrance of these things though ye know them and be established in the present truth Yea I think it meet as long as I am in this Tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things alwayes in remembrance And as this affordeth a lesson for Preachers so doth it for Parents and Masters who ought to give their children and servants good instructions in their health but then to do this especially when they lie upon their bed of sicknesse when they have the sentence of Death in them when they are ready to depart out of this world the best Legacies they can then give them are godly admonitions For the words of a dying friend like those of our Martyred Soveraign live with us till our death they are as goades and as nailes fastned by the masters of Assemblies every sillable seemetha sentence to us their words make a deep impression in our minds and memories when therefore ye are going the way of all the earth do as religious Ioshua then did call for your families and charge them to persevere in pious duties to fear the Lord and to serve him in sincerity and truth Charge them also as a dying David charged his Son Solomon to know the God of their Fathers to serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind And after your benediction give them St. Paul's valediction Finally as he took leave of his Corinthians Farewell be perfect be of good comfort be of one mind live in peace and the God of love and peace shall be with you Or let our blessed Saviour himself be your patterne and ensample who ceased not to instruct his Apostles till he was taken from them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he had spoken these things These things that is lastly when he had blessed them so we read Luke 24.50 51. he lift up his hands and blessed them And it came to passe while he blessed them he was parted from them and carried up into heaven Thus Iacob when he was a dying blessed both the sons of Ioseph Ephraim and Manasseth Genes 48.16 and Heb. 11.21 Nor did he blesse them only but also all the twelve tribes of Israel every one according to his blessing he blessed them Gen. 49.28 This was also St. Paul's custome to close all his Epistles with a benediction And thus likewise the New Testament is concluded The Old Testament endeth with a threatned curse lest I come and smite the earth with a curse Mal. 4. ult But the New Testament endeth with a blessing The Grace of our Lord Iesus Christ be with you all Revel 22. ult And this may serve to teach the Ministers not to dismisse the assembly without a blessing and the assembly to have so much patience as to tarry till it be pronounced It may indeed teach all sorts of people Soveraign and Subject Clergy and Laity not to part company at any time without a Dominus Vobiscum on both sides the Lord be with you the Lord prosper you we wish you good luck in the name of the Lord. Herein indeed lies the difference between our blessings and our Saviours Our benedictions are in the Optative mood we do but wish them but our Saviour's benedictions as that Royal Martyr hath an expression in
his prayer for a blessing upon the Treaty our Saviours benedictions I say are Imperative he commands them he ascended not till he had done this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When he had spoken these things And so I passe from the second part of the Text the Time of Christ's ascension to the third Vnde the Place from whence he ascended which was that part of Mount Olivet next to Bethany as will appear by comparing Act. 1.12 with Luke 24.50 So that here we have three steps First he ascended from a Mountain Secondly from Mount Olivet Thirdly from that part of it next Bethany First he ascended from a Mountaine And why so He stileth himselfe the Lilly of the valleys Cant. 2.1 Why then did he not ascend from the valley of Iehoshaphat he shall from heaven come thither at the day of judgment Ioel 3.12 Why then did he not from thence go into heaven Was it to shew that he is the God of the mountaines only and not also of the valleyes or was it that he might be a little neerer to heaven and by this meanes shorten his way thither No such matter but he ascended from a mountaine chiefly for two reasons First to teach us saith Lâ—rinus that we should alway use meanes where they may possibly be had He could at all times have walked upon the water but he would not when he came where shipping was he went aboard He could have satisfied the multitude without food he could have taken â—way their Hunger with a word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be ye filled but he would not he fed them at one time with seven at another time with five loves using meanes though inconsiderable and weak He could have cured him that was born blind with an Epphatha be opened but he would not he bade him go to the pool of Silâ—â—â— and wash All to teach us that we should not neglect meanes and look for miracles When we are sick we must send for the Physician not look for Gods help without his When an house is fired we must cast water on it not hope that God will quench it by a shower When perjured rebels have usurped the Crown to recover this out of their hands we must put on not only the armour of God but the armour of man too we must not only have the sword of the Lord but of Gideon For to look for help from God and use no meanes is not to trust in God but even to tempt him And that we might avoid this our Saviour would not ascend from a Valley but rather chose the mediation of a Mountaine Secondly he ascended from a mountaine to teach us that as mountaines raise and elevate our bodies so they should likewise elevate our souls they should put us in mind of heaven and things above VVhensoever therefore we go up an hill we should be thinking upon God's hill and we should fix our cogitations upon him who was transfigured upon a mountaine mount Tabor crucified upon a mountain mount Calvary and ascended from a mountain even from mount Olivet And why from this mountaine of all other The reasons seem to be chiefly two First that as upon this mountain he shewed himself to be a frail man so he might there shew himself to be the mighty God too as he manifested the weaknesse of his humanity upon this mountaine by his agony and bloody sweat and by his groveling on the ground so he might likewise manifest the power of his Divinity upon the same mountaine by his glorious ascension from thence into heaven Secondly the Olive-tree is the emblem and hierogliphick of Peace good reason then that our Saviour should ascend from mount Olivet seeing he is our Peace the very Prince of peace this was the Legacy that he bequeathed to his dearest friends Peace I leave with you my Peace I give unto you And as Christ ascended from a mountaine and from mount Olivet so lastly from that part of it next Bethany Now Bethany by interpetation is the house of affliction and fom Bethany our Saviour went unto his Passion for just before his apprehension he was in Bethany in the house of Simon the Leper Math. 26.6 he went from the same place to his Cross and his Crown And so must we we must not think to go a delicjis ad delicias as St. Jerome speaketh from the jollity of this world to the joyes of heaven no if hereafter we will have good we must here have evill things Per angusta ad augusta through heaviness to happiness Per varios casus per tot discrimina rerum through many tribulations we must enter into the Kingdome of God Acts. 14.22 Lift up therefore the hands which hang downe and the feeble knees For what if thou art imprisoned and as it were buried alive in thy bed of languishing What if sicknesse have taken such hold upon thee that thou are not able to look up What if thou art feeble and sore smitten so that all the night thou washest thy bed and waterest thy couch with thy teares Why yet let this consideration be instead of an handkerchief to wipe thine eyes consider that thy Saviour and thy Martyred Soveraign went from Bethany to Bethel from the house of affliction to their Fathers house and if thou hast faith and patience thou shalt do so too thy bed of sicknesse or if it be thy scaffold or thy gibbet this shall be the same to thee that Bethany was to thy Saviour thou shalt from thence be translated and exalted into Abraham's bosom thy light affliction which is but for a moment shall work for thee a far more exceeding and eternall weight of glory And so I passe from the third part of the Text the Place from whence Christ ascended to the fourth Quo the Place whither he ascended which was Heaven he was taken up thither In the first chapter of Ezekiel's Prophesie we read of four living Creatures and every of these creatures had four faces the face of a man the face of an Ox the face of a Lion the face of an Eagle Whereunto Expositors resemble four actions of our Saviour his Nativity his Passion his Resurrection his Ascension At his Nativity he was like a man more than like he was a man indeed man of the substance of his mother born in the world At his Passion he was like an Ox offered up for us in sacrifice upon the Altar of the Crosse At his Resurrection he was like a Lion even a lion of the tribe of Judah he brake the bonds of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it At his Ascension he was like an Eagle he soared up into heaven Into heaven But did he go no higher St. Paul saith he ascended farre above all heavens Eph. 4.10 But for answer to this we must observe that the Scripture maketh mention of a threefold heaven First the Air is called Heaven he commanded the cloud above and opened the doores
And in him we may observe four things His Name His Countrey His Parentage His Commission The first thing observable in the Preacher or Prophet is his Name which I shall little more than name Jonah which is Hebrew for a Dove And in some sense every Prophet or Preacher should be a Jonah should be a Dove not only innocent and harmless but also patient and revengeless without gall or bitterness putting up any wrong or injury without desire of revenge like a Dove The second thing observable in the Prophet or Preacher here is his Countrey he was a Jew I am an Hebrew so he told the Marriners cap. 1. vers 9. An Hebrew and sent to the Ninevites who were Assyrians why should they give any credit to such a fellow Suppose a Weather-beaten wandring Jew Jonah look'd now like such a one should come into our chief City and proclaim that within fourty dayes it should be overthrown O how ridiculous would men think such words as these they would certainly take them but for some Jewish fables But these Ninevites were nothing so incredulous as men are now adayes they conferred not with flesh and blood but repented at the preaching of Ionah though a Iew though a meer stranger to them But the men of our age are so far from giving heed to strangers that those of their own Nation cannot bring them to repentance The third thing observable in the Prophet or Preacher here is his Parentage he was the son of Amittai chap. 1. ver 1. Now Amittai being interpreted is as much as True or Truth And this Amittai is therefore thought by some to have been that son of the widdow of Zerephath raised up by Elijah The probability whereof is taken from those words of the widdow-woman 1 King 17. ult By this I know that thou art a man of God and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is Truth From whence some would observe that because the woman found Elijah a true Prophet in restoring of her son to life therefore she called her sons name Amittai True or Truth But this cannot be so for two reasons as Luther hath well observed For first Elijah lived we know in the days of Ahab But Ionah and Amittai lived in the dayes of Jeroboaem the second Secondly The widdow of Zarephath was a Zidonian and so a Gentile But Jonah and Amittai were of Gath-Hepher in the Tribe of Zebulon and therefore Jewes 2 King 14.25 But to pass by this Genealogie we will observe only in general that our Prophet here was the son of Amittai that is the son of Truth And so indeed should all Prophets all Preachers of the Word be sons of Amittai like this our Prophet here not speaking lyes in hypocrisie but rightly dividing the Word of Truth But how few such sons of Amittai are there at this day Our Saviours prediction is long since come to pass false Prophets are risen up amongst us and have deceived many such as have changed the truth of God into a lye privily bringing in most damnable Heresies And too too many follow their pernicious wayes by reason of whom the way of the Church of England the good old way of Truth is evil spoken of Thus a wonderfull and horrible thing is committed in our land The Prophets prophecy falsely and the people love to have it so and what will they do unless it please God to restrain them in the end thereof But here perhaps ye may ask as Pilate once did what is truth how shall we know the sons of Amitai these sons of truth how shall we try the spirits whether they be of God For answer to which I must lead you to the third thing observable in our Prophet here and that in his warrant or Commission he was sent from God And he was sent twice to Nineveh before he went thither once he had one commission in the first Capter and another in this third And so had the Apostles of our blessed Saviour one in the tenth of St. Mathow and another in the eight and twentieth No man taketh this honour to himself saith the Apostle but he that is called of God as was Aaron Heb. 5.4 If any man shall intrude himself we are to brand him for a false prophet for he that entereth not by the dore into the sheepfold by the dore of Episcopal ordination as well as that which some call their pretended inspiration the same is a thief and a robber And how many such thieves and robbers are there at this day Such are they which presume to preach when they were never sentâ—â— great is the company of such pitifull preachers as some call them but the Lord gave them not the word though now therefore they stretch forth their mouth unto the heaven and though their tongue goeth thorow the world yet our Saviour at the last day will put such a question to them as they shall never answer wherefore did ye preach my law how durst such as you take my covenant in your mouth And so I passe from the first part of the Text which was the Preacher He to the second which is the Manner of his preaching he Cryed And this is the tenour of many other prophets commissions as well as his For thus Isaiahs commission runneth c. 58. v. 1. Cry aloud spare not c. And thus Jeremies Cry in the ears of Jerusalem c. 2. v. 2. Thus likewise Hosea's commission runneth cry aloud at Beth-aven c. 5. v. 8. And we read of S. Iohn Baptist that he was a Cryer in the wildernesse Isa 40.3 And so should indeed all prophets all preachers of the word be For Praedico some will have derived from Praeco the Preacher therefore should be a publick Cryer to cry the lost sheep of the house of Israel or he should be a Cryer to rouse men from carnal security or as it were a Bell man like St Paul telling them it is high time for them to awake out of sleep For if men be not dead in sin yet sure they are asleep if not fast asleep yet their eares are dull of hearing Preachers therefore must not whisper they must cry aloud Not as if they should be like Plinies nightingale neither vox et praeterea nihil their Doctrine to consist meerly in their voice for what St. James saith of the wrath of man the same may I say of his voice the voice of man worketh not the righteousness of God And yet how is vociferation and lung-labour cryed up in these dayes if he do but thunder and thump Oh! non vox hominem sonat who teacheth like him will the women say a great prophet they cry out is risen up among them But a Preachers whole duty consisteth not in making of a great noise there must not only be words to sound but there must be sound words there is a Dixit in the Text as well as a Clamavit the Prophet did not only cry but cryed and said which leadeth me
FIVE SEASONABLE Sermons As they were preached before Eminent AUDITORIES Upon several ARGUMENTS BY PAUL KNELL Master in Arts OF Clare-Hall in Cambridge Sometimes Chaplain to a Regiment of CURIASIERS in His late MAJESTIES Army LONDON Printed in the year 1660. TO THE SACRED MAJESTY OF THE Most High and Mighty MONARCH CHARLES the Second BY THE Especial Grace of God King of Great Britain France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c Most Gracious Soveraign WEre not your Regal Clemency and Candour very eminent the Tenuity of that which here I offer to your Majesty might indict me for familiarity But as the Israelites were not to appear before the Lord their God so neither durst I before my Lord the King empty-handed Silver and gold indeed I have none scarce so much as that which Solomon saith is like Apples of Gold in pictures of silver but such as I have I most humbly offer to your Majesty knowing that as Artaxerxes did not disdain two handfuls of ordinary water offered to him by Synaetas so your Royal hand will graciously accept one handfull of Sanctuary-water from him who as in duty bound hath both actively and passively approved himselfe a faithfull Subject to the King and a dutifull Son of the Church of England that hath no better Present One of these slender Sermons hath already been honoured with your Royal ear at the Hague they all now humbly crave a glance from your gracious eye at White-hall The Inscription indeed and subscription of this Dedication are so vastly distant that some large Apology ought to intervene But your Majesties many important affairs dispense with no further avocation I humbly add therefore only a short Halelujah and Hosanna Blessing the Lord by whom Kings reign for so signally visiting your sacred Majesty and so seasonably redeeming your distressed People Beseeching also the same Lord of Lords to save and defend your Royal Person as with a shield to make your Throne here as the dayes of Heaven and hereafter to translate You to an Heavenly Throne which is the due and daily sacrifice offered up with a true heart fervently by Your Sacred Majesties Most Humble AND Most Loyal SUBJECT PAUL KNELL THE CONVOY OF A Christian A Sermon PREACHED Before His MAJESTY KING CHARLES the First OF Ever blessed Memory at Matson near Glocester in time of the Siege there on Tuesday August 22. 1643. LONDON Printed in the year 1660. THE CONVOY OF A Christian ISAI 43.2 When thou passest thorow the waters I will be with thee and thorow the rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest thorow the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee QUem miserum video hominem scio Trouble is the very badge and cognizance of humanity we are born to it holy Job saith as the sparks flie upward to this end were we born and for this cause came we into the world Or if this be not Finis intentionis yet it is Finis executionis I am sure if we came not hither on purpose to be troubled yet without great trouble we cannot get from hence from the Cradle to the Coffin being like Ezekiel's roul full of Lamentation and Mourning and Woe There are some indeed I mean the traiterous Reformers of our Age that live wholly at ease in their usurped possessions they come in no misfortune like other folk neither are they plagued like other men But these look like the Devils Darlings or rather like the worlds Bastards though we may be men therefore without Trouble yet without it we cannot be loyal Subjects we cannot be good Christians in the world ye shall have tribulation were the words of our departing Saviour to his Church But he told them just before that in him they should have Peace and he telleth them in effect the self same in our Text That he will deliver them in six troubles yea that in seven there shall no evil touch them that in Famine he will redeem them from death and in War from the power of the sword let their troubles be external corporal corrections let their Troubles be internal spiritual desertions yet their Jehovah and their Joshua will deliver them out of all When thou c. In which words we may observe four parts The Passenger the Passage the Concomitant and the Consequent The Passenger is the Church Cum transieris when thou passest The Passage is two-fold Per aquas per ignes thorow waters and thorow fire When thou passest thorow the waters when thou walkest thorow the fire The Concomitant or Convoy is Almighty God Tibi adsum I am or will be with thee The Consequent is the Churches safety Flamina non operient flamma non incendet the rivers shall not over-flow thee the flame shall not kindle on thee And of these parts in order I begin with the Passenger which is the Church cum transieris when thou passest Had we retained our first integrity we might easily have stept to heaven with as great facility as from one room to another from the Parlour of an earthly to the Presence-Chamber of an heavenly Paradise But sin hath placed a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great gulf between us and heaven we that were sometime near are now afar off whosoever will hereafter enter into Canaan he must undergo a tedious passage thorow the wilderness There are four Titles that pertain to the very best of Adam's sons Advenae Inquilini Hospites Peregrini we are Strangers we are Sojourners we are Guests we are Pilgrims But of all four the last methinks fitteth our condition best Peregrini we are Pilgrims Viatores we are Travellers Transeuntes we are Passengers here we have no continuing City but we seek for one to come Look upon the Patriarch Abraham the great Grandfather of the Church and ye shall find him like St. Paul in journeying often from Caldea to Charran from Charran to Canaan where he sojourned the Apostle telleth us as in a strange Countrey dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob he had there none inheritance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith St. Stephen no not so much as to set his foot on to teach him and us all that we must not set up our staff here Plus ultra we must go farther we being but Pilgrims on the Earth This we know likewise to have been the condition of the Israelites who wandered in the Wilderness in a solitary way and found no City to dwell in Their own houses were Tents Gods house was but a Tabernacle all portable to be carryed up and down from one place to another They had neither Tenement nor Temple till they were setled in the land of Canaan nor have we any certain dwelling place till we come thither where the Lamb is the Temple For while we are at home in the body we are not properly at home we are but in via in the way that leadeth us to it we are born from above and therefore there