us out of darknesse into his marvellous light Aristotle notes of the Eagle whether truly or no I will not dispute that when her Birds are pen-feathered in a hot sun-shining day shee holds their eyes directly towards the beames of the Sun those that cannot endure that intensive light she casts out of her nest as degenerous such as directly eye the Sun she loves and feeds as her owne Hereby it will appeare whether we be Jovis aquila Gods birds or no if we look upward upon the Son of righteousnesse and have our eyes the eyes of our soules fixed on Heaven and heavenly things then are we of this Feather if downwards and have our cogitations Swine-like rooting in the earth and wallowing in the filthy puddle of worldly vanities then are we a degenerous of-spring not worthy to be called Sonnes of such a Father What an absurd and indecent thing were it if a Gally-slave or a Kitchin-boy should have that honour as to be made the adopted Son and Heire of some great Prince and he not considering his high advancement should continue in his former sordidnesse and basenesse of condition Much more undecent it is that a man when he is advanced from a child of wrath and a bondslave of the Devill to that transcendency of honour as to be made a Son of the King of Kings should continue as before in his blindnesse of heart crookednesse of will uncleannesse of affection and perversness of action Shall such a man as I flee said Nehemiah to Shemaiah and shall such a man as hath God for his Father debase himselfe like the Cat in the Fable who being turned into a Gentlewoman kept her old nature and leapt at a Mouse Or like the Popes Asse who adorned with golden Furniture as soon as he came to a Carriars Inne began to smell at a Pack-saddle Cyrus when of a Shepheards Son for so he was then supposed to be he was made a King in a Play began to shew himselfe like a King and Saul when he was annoynted by Samuel to be King had his heart changed He had another heart 1 Sam. 10. 9. Honours change manners if then we be advanced to this high dignity let us be ashamed of our natural basenesse let us have our hearts changed and walke worthy so high a calling not doing our owne will but his who when we were of no strength Rom. 5. nay when we were worse then nothing sent his own naturall Sonne to dye for us that we might be his Sonnes by grace of adoption I urge this point the rather because it is not onely a necessary duty which God requires at our hands but also the most certaine and infallible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Gods child and consequently a matter of the greatest moment in the World upon which depends the everlasting salvation or damnation of our soules If at these Assâ—ses a man shall in a case criminall be convict of Felony perhaps his Book may save him suppose not he at the worst but looses his life for it his soule if he repent is in no danger If in a civill controversie a Verdict shall go against him he looseth but the thing in question but he that hath not God for his Father and none have him but such as work righteousnesse and in holinesse of life endeavour to resemble him looseth all his title and claime to the Kingdome of Heaven and is for evermore in body and soule a Bond slave to the worst Master that ever man shall â—erve unlesse God in mercy shall effectually call him and ingraft him into the body of his onely Son by faith And it is lamentable to see so many Marthaes and so few Maries in the World so many that drowne themselves in worldly imployments and doubt where there is cause and use meanes to clear their doubts and neglect this Vnum necessarium as if it were a matter not worthy the regarding If a mans body be ill affected he will send to the Physician if he doubt of the weight of his Gold he will seek to the Ballance if of the goodnesse of the mettall he will try it by the Touchstone if the title of his Lands be questionable he will have the opinion of a Lawyer but whether he be a Son of God and consequently whether he shall be saved or no he never doubts but whatsoever he doe or thinkes or speaks hee takes it as granted The most wicked and hellish liver who serves no Master but the Devill will as I have â—ayd direct his prayers to God as to his Father others we have whoâ—e practice is farr better being kept from grosse sins by Gods restraining grace our careles and carnall Goâ—pellers our sleepy and drowâ—e Protestants who content themselves with the shadow and let fall the substance of Religion these if they be Baptized and can say that in their Baptisme they were made children of God if they come once or twice in a week to hear Prayers or Sermons if at usual times they receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper if they give their assent to the Law and the Gospel that they are both true and with a generall faith believe all the Articles of the Creed and withal have a care to lead a civill life amongst men then they perswade themselves their case is good they are sound Christians children of God and sheep of that little flock to whom our heavenly Father will of his good pleasure give a Kingdome But alas a man may doe all these and more then these and be a sonne of the Devill He may do all these 1. He may be baptized so was Simon Magus 2. He may heare the word preâ—ched so did Pharaoh 3. He may receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper so did Judas 4. He may believe the Law and the Gospel and all the Articles of the Creed to be true so doth the Devil 5. He may lead an honest and civill life amongst men so Socrates and divers Pagans if ye look to the matter of good works have out-stripped many Christians in the practise of sundry morall duties He may do more then all this and be a reprobate and child of the Devill 1. He may be sorry for his sinnes and make satisfaction both these we see in Judas 2. He may confesse them even in particular and desire good men to pray for him both these we see in Pharaoh He may have a delight in the Word and love the Preacher both these did Herod He may for a time be zealous of Gods glory so was Jehu He may be humbled for his sinnes and declare his humiliation by fasting and weeping so did Ahab and the Ninivites Hee may have a certaine tast of faith which much resembleth a justifying faith so had Simon Magus Hee may in many things reforme his life so did Herod and Maxentius Hee may tremble at the threatnings of Gods judgment so did Falix and so doth the Devill Now then how can such drowsie
dealing holily and hating covetousness and such I hope all are that be here present Now that which I have spoken concerning them that are deceitfull and unconscionable is no more a disgrace unto these and their Calling then it was to Christs Apostles that one of them was a Judas or to the Leviticall Priests that one of them was a Caiphas or to the Sons of God the good Angels Jobâ— that the Prince of darkness the Devil was one of their company Only this one thing let me beseech them to take notice of the better that any thing is the more dangerous it is when it is abused Can there be any thing more necessary then Fire and Water when they keep their proper places displace them remove the fire from the hearth into the house-top and astus incendia volvunt it indangereth the whole Town remove the River out of its Channell into the mowne Meadowes and new grown Corn and Sternit agros sternit sata laeta boumque labores It sweepes away the Câ—râ— and makes havock of all Was there ever Creature that God made more excellent then the Angels and yet those Angels that fell and kept not their first Estate no Creature under Heaven so hurtfull and dangerous as they Come to man is there any calling if ye respect publick peace so necessary as the Magistrate whom God hath set in his own room and stiled with his own name If yee respect the Soule of man so worthy as the Minister if yee respect the health of Body so necessary as the Physitian if yee respect the outward and temporall Estate so requisite as the Lawyer But if these abuse their places if the Magistrate under a colour of executing of Justice practise Tyranny if the Minister for sound Doctrine preach Heresie if the Physitian instead of wholesome Physick minister poyson to his Patients who so pernicious So likewise the Lawyer if in stead of opening and explaining the Lawes and defending the right and standing in the gap that falshood and wrong may not enter he labour to smother the Law and outface the truth and patronize falshood who more hurtfull then he The more you are to be exhorted for you are all but men and no man walke he never so uprightly but he is subject to fall to walke worthy of that excellent vocation whereunto you are called love your Freinds honour the Mighty regard your Clients respect your Fees The labourer is worthy of his hyre But preferr truth and a good conscience before them all and let neither might nor feare nor Client nor Freind nor Fee nor any thing in the World cause you to make shipwrack of a good conscience or to give leave to your tongues which as the Heathen man said should be Oracles of the truth to be Bauds and Brokers for an ill cause remembring that that description which old Cato and Quintilian gave of an Orator as it agreeth to us that are Ministers so to you also that are Lawyers Viz. that he is Vir bonus dicendi peritus and therefore as he must be Dicendi peritus a good Speaker to must he also be Vir bonus a good liver Enough of this To conclude this first generall Point and so to descend unto the second for I will not now trouble you with the other two properties of a Sheep seeing the Dove-like or sheep-like simplicity is a virtue wherwith every Member of Christs Flock must be qualified we are all to be exhorted and let me say unto you with Saint Austine Hortor vos omnes charissimi meque hortor vobiscum I beseech you yea and my selfe with you to avoid hypocrosie and that the rather because it is a sin unto which all Adams Posterity are yea though they be regenerate by the spirit of God in a greater or lesser degree subject To this purpose we are to labour for single hearts because these are the soul of our actions without which well they may have a being yet have they neither life nor moving For as the Body when the Soul is separated from it how comely soever it be in outward form will presently stink and become noysome so all our words and actioâ—s whether they concern Piety or honesty God or our Neighbour if the heart be not joyned with them are but stinking Carrion and filthy Abominations in the Nostrils of Almighty God The second generall Point is the unity of Christs Church she is but as one Flock as the Sheep under one Shepheard though never so many do all concur to the making of one and the same numericall Flock So all Christians though never so dispersed over the Globe of the Earth being fed in the green Pastures of the Lord which are beside the waters of comfort do make but one and the same individuall Church And this the very word it selfe doth imply if we look into his Parentage in the Greek tongue viz. a Congregation or collection of many particulars into one society and city of God for which cause she is called one undefiled Love Cant. 6. 8. one Body Ephe. 4. 4. within which nothing is dead without which nothing is alive as Hugo speaks one Sheepfold John 16 Figured by one fleece of Gideon which was wet with the Dew of Heaven when all the ground beside was dry shadowed by the Arke of Noah wherein eight Persons were saved when all the rest or the World was drowned the Boards of which Arke were conglutinated and pitched together within and without within that she should not loose her own and without Ne admitteret alienam that she should not leake in forrain waters as a Donatist did not unfitly expound it or rather as Austine moralizeth it Vt in compagine unitatis significetur tolerantia charitatis ne scandalis ecclesiam tentantibus sive abâ—ijs quritus abijs sive quae foris sunt cedat fraterna junctura solvatur vinculum pacis August contra Faustum lib. 12. Chap. 14 reason 1. In respect of Christ the Shepheard is one therefore the Flock but one the Bridegroome one therefore the Spouse but one the Head one therefore the Body but one In this respect Cyprian holds the whole Church one Bishoprick not that his meaning is that any one man should be ministeriall head of the whole church in Christs corporal absence that the Bishop of Rome for that were to marry the chast Spouse to two Husbands instead of a faithful Spouse to make her a filthy Harlot Cyprians words wil admit no such Interpretation unus est episcopatus c. And what account he made of the Bishop of Rome which then was a man of better worth then al those Magogs who have possessed that Chaire for a thousand yeares last past it may appeare by this that he contemned his Authority vilipended his Letters opposed his Councell to his his Chaire to his called him a proude man an ignorant man a blinde man and little better then a Schismatick It is then one
spirituall weapons I end seeing the Church is like unto the Moon sometimes in a glorious splendour sometimes clouded with Schism and sometime so darkned with the shadow of heresie and superstition and persecution that the eyes of Linceus can scarce behold her Seeing that the Papists at this day cannot compare neither with the number of Christians taking the name generally for all such as professe the name of Jesus nor with the Protestant Churches if we take an account onely of such as understand the Principles of their Religion I see no reason why Bellarmine should make multitude a Note of the true Church or if it were why the Papists should challenge it themsemselves and therefore he may be well censured with a hic magister non tenetur or not a quod haec nota nihil notat it was onely to make up the number of notes that he may number one note Nam cum non prosunt singula multa juvant though they be of little force being severally considered yet if they be all joyntly taken they will prove like Seleucus his roddes or like a threefold cord which is not easily broken Indeed he had need to be stronger then Hercules that could cut oft all the heads of Hydra at one blow but a simple warricuâ— taking one by one may make an end of them before he be wearied for they are like to the tail of Sertorius his horse which a valiant Souldier taking it altogether could not pull off but a poore Skull pulling one hayre after an other had quickly made it bare Secondly doth Gods flock sometimes consist of a very small number then it behoveth thee beloved Christian with greater diligence to trie and examine thy self whether thou be comprehended in this number for as in that universall deluge of waters all were drowned that were not in Noahs Arke so in the great floud of fire which shall be at the end of the world all shall be swept away with a river of brimstone which are not of this flock it is a common saying he shall never have God for his father which hath not the Church for his mother and he shall never be a member of the Church triumphant which is not first of the Church Militant first then thou art to enquire whether thou be of the true visible Church and this thou shalt know by two marks by the true preaching of the word by the right use of the Sacraments for where these two are performed according to the prescript of Gods word there must needs be a true church this is somewhat but it is not all for what did it availe Judas to be numbred amongst the twelve he was in hell before any of the rest came at heaven all that are in the Church be not of the Church there are both good and bad fish in this net there is wheat and tares in this field Sheep and Goats in this fold thou must goe further and examine whether thou be one of that Company which God from eternity elected unto life and in time effectually calleth by his holy Spirit and makes true Members of his Sonne Jesus Christ which is the head of this body whether thou be of that flock which Christ calleth his garden his sister his spouse his love his doue his undefiled which the pillar and ground of truth 1. Tim. 3. 13. the body of Christ Eph. 1. 23. the temple of the Lord Eph. 2. 21 which the gates of hell shall never prevaile against Matth. 16. 18. Here thou must exercise thy wits this must be thy care to finde thy selfe in this little number but how may this be knowne by the cause that is the will and good pleasure of Gods which dwelleth in light that none can approach unto This is a bottomlesse depth who can sound it Never man looked into this Arke and lived busie thy braines about it and when thou hast done all thou canst thou art but like a flie about a Candle which playeth so long with the flame that at length she burnes her wings and fals downe and good reason it should be so for it is enough for wretched man to be of Gods Couâ—t and it is too much to be of his Privie Councell Thou must therefore doe as Theseus die with the Labyrinth thou must catch hold of the threeds end that hangs without the doore and so by winding steps come at length to the first cause Seeing thou canst not know it a â—riori by the cause thou must know it a posteriori by the effect one effect of Gods immutable decree and an undoubted marke to let all others passe of Gods child is Sanctification for as on the one side it is certainly true that without holinesse of life no man shall see God Heb. 12. 14. So it is as true on the other side that hee which walketh not after the flesh but after the Spirit is ingrafted into Christ and shall never be condemned So then holines of life is the true touchstone to trie whether thou be of this number but here deceive not thy selfe for there is a verball holinesse and a Pharisaical holinesse and a Herods holines and a Popish holines and an Anabaptisticall holines The verball holines is of such as draw neere unto God with their lips but with their hearts are farre from him as the Prophet speakes the Pharisaical holines is of those which devoure widowes houses under colour of long prayers and such as will not leave a mote on the outside of their cup but never care how filâ—hy it be within The Herods holinesse is of them which will quench the fire on the harth and leave it burning in the top of the Chimney will mend their least faults and let their worst bee marring The Popish holinesse is in observing humane traditions and treading under foot the law of God The Anabaptisticall holinesse is of such as are well perswaded of themselves though without all reason but can never have a charitable opinion of any others they are troubled with a Noli me tangere touch me not come not neare me for I am holier then thou but I say unto thee except thy righteous exceed the righteousnes of all these men thou shalt not enter into the Kingdome of Heaven it is another kinde of holines which thou must have if thou wilt assure thy soule that thou art one of Christs flock it is indeed in the tongue but it proceedeth from another fountaine the heart and makes a man say with David thy words have I hid within my heart that I might not sinne against thee It makes a man have a care to approve by outward actions unto men but much more to approve the cogitations of his heart unto God it strives not to breake off some branches of sin such as may be best forgon reserving the rest but it is most severe against those sinnes which are the sweetest to man because such
in Purgatorie The Beasts of the Land that is the men of this world The fowles of the heaven that is the souls of the blessed which the Pope hath canonized Here are two swords that is the Pope hath the managing of both swords Civil and Ecclesiastical an Exposition not altogether so harsh as that which Baronius brought of late to prove that the Pope had authority not only to feed Christs Sheep but also to punish with death such as resist his Papal dignitie because he which said Peter feed my sheep said also Arise Peter and kill if he had pressed the Text a little further he might by the same Argument have proved his Holy Father to be an Antropophagus or Caniball because it is not simply said Arise Peter and kill but Arise Peter kill and eat unless he had Bellarmines wit who proveth the Popes Supremacy not from the first word kill but from the second word eat But the main fault in Religion which hastened Gods judgements upon Jerusalem was her idolatry She changed her God She forsook the fountain of living waters and digged unto her self even broken pits which would hold no water she played the harlot upon every high mountain and under every green tree She said unto a tree thou art my father and to a stone thou hast begotten me Whether Rome go not beyond her in this particular he that hath but half an eye may plainly see Cur natos toties crudelis tu quoque falsis Ludis imaginibus We do not read of many Idols that were famous amongst the Jews there was Ashtoreth the God of the Sidonians and Milcom the abhomination of the Moabites and Chemosh the abhomination of the children of Ammon and Baal and a few more but the Idols which Papists have invented are so many that Rome can scarce finde room for placing them She is more like to the old Gentiles who did acknowledge one chief Jupiter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Jupiter Omnipotens qui res hominumque Deûmque Aeternis regis imperiis But he had three hundred under him which they worshipped as gods though the Papists acknowledge one supreme power yet are there three hundred to whom they perform that worship which is due onely unto God and as they had twelve which they counted greater gods which Ennius containeth in these old verses Juno vesta Minerva Ceres Diana Venus Mars Mercurius Jovis Neptunus Vulcanus Apollo Whom they hold to be of Gods Privy Councel but many lesser gods and goddesses for particular purposes as for their waters Lympha for her Gardens Pomona for their grounds Terminus c So the Papists have the twelve Apostles which with the Platonists they use as Mediatours betweene them and the high God unto which they have added the Virgine Marie thinking especially by her intercession to have their desires as the Trojans in the Poet used the mediation of Venus to obtain favour of Jupiter Now for particular matters there is scarce any thing but they have a God or Goddesse for it When they are in feare of the plague they pray to Sebastian against the falling sicknesse to Valentine against sudden death to Christopher against the Ring-worm to Anthony Now then as Pythagoras from the print of Hercules his foote in the games of Olympus did collect the bignesse of his whole body So from these few things which have been spoken you may gather how far Rome hath declined from her former purity and how well she may paralel with Jerusalem in my Text. I might take occasion to speak of that preheminence which the Pope challengeth over all Christian Kings Gods immediate Deputies on earth by reason of a supposed Authority given unto Peter whose successor he pretendeth himselfe to be the very same argument in substance by which the Turk claimeth the Westerne Empire because he succeedeth Constantine or hee that married Tullies wife laid claim to his learning because hee had married his executor all Pinces must hold their Scepters from him all Nations must couch downe before him and all kingdomes must doe him service Here Jerusalem dare not stand out in comparison with Rome her high Priests were never come to that height of impudencie as to set up their heads above the Lords anointed When Tyberius observed the base servitude which the Romanes used towards him hee could not chuse but crie out O homines natos ad servitutem he that considereth how vilely and servilely she which sometime was the Emperesse of the World doth obey him which is stiled a servant of servants he may well use Tyberius his words or those of the Poet. Roma tibi quondam suberant domini dominorum Servorum servi nunc tibi sunt domini but this onely by the way From her religion let us come to her conversation and manner of living Ierusalem was as corrupt in life as she was in religion She did steale murther and commit adulterie and sweare falsly Her Inhabitants from the least to the the greatest were given to covetousnesse and from the Prophet unto the Priest they all dealt falsly In the wings was found the blood of souls of the poor innocents How farre Rome goeth beyond Ierusalem even in this also wee may have a little taste in our holy English Catholicks the remainder of the Romish Church and the onely true Professors if yee will believe them of the ancient faith in this Kingdome but trie them by the works of regeneration the principall bodie of true Christianitie and you shall finde that in prophanation of Gods Sabbath in swearing and blaspheming in lying and cozening in drunkennesse and whoredome in oppression and all unconscionable dealings they are for the most part the very scumme and excrements of this land And why should they make conscience of these sinnes seeing their holy Mother is as it were a faire royall Exchange where any sinne may be bought at a reasonable rate Nothing more common then what do you lack or what will you buy c. A pardon for your sinnes past or for any sinne you shall hereafter commit a toleration for common Stewes for but I dare not name it dispensation for incestuous marriages or any thing else you shall have it if you can agree for the price shall I say all in a word She is a hell of impieties a habitation of Devils and the hold of foul spirits and a cage of every uncleane and hatefull bird And therefore I lesse marvell why Friar Mantuan should be so bitter against her corruptions in his time Sanctus ager scurris venerabilis ara cinaedis Servit honorandae divum Ganimedibus aedes And he saith further Nullae hic arcana revelo It was no shriving secrets the Fryar did disclose but such things as all the world could witnesse to be true Bernard is more sharpe against the abuses of his time though the rotten hmours were but then in
with old nor new with new nor new with old nor Schoole Doctor with Schoole Doctor nor Fryar with Fryar nor Priest with Priest nor Jesuite with Jesuite nor Pope with Councill nor Pope with Pope nor one with another nor any with God And therefore as he in Plutarch who when he cast a stone at a Dogg happened to light upon his Step-mother sayd That though it was besides his purpose yet it was not greatly amisse Or as the Printer of a learned Treatise when in stead of Cardinales he Printed Carnales although it was besides the intent of the Author yet was it neither incongruous Latine nor false English So if Bellarmine in setting downe the works and rules of the Catholique Romish Church when he made Vnitas for One if in writing of Vnitas he had over-reached a little with his Pen and added one Vowell more and made it Vanitas though it had been beside his owne intendment yet had it neither been beside nor against the truth this being a proper passion immediately flowing from the principles of that Church and consequently an inseparable mark whereby to discerne her But to leave the Papists and with an exhortation to all to make an end of all Is the whole Church of Christ but one flock then let us all which professe our selves to be members of this Church of what calling and condition soever we be bend all our endeavours nor for our owne particulars but for the peace and good and preservation of the whole even as the members of a mans body which is a fit embleme of Gods Church do not so much tender their owne good as the safety and preservation of the whole and because the bond of this Unity is Peace let it be the care of you that are Magistrates to maintaine peace and of us that are Ministers to Preach peace and of you that are Lawyers to procure peace and of you that are Jurors to conclude peace and let us all with joynt consents pray for the peace of this Jerusalem that plenteousnesse may be within her Pallaces and peace within her Walls peace in matters of opinion and peace in matters of action peace in matters of piety and peace in matters of equity peace with God and peace with our selves and peace with all men remembring that God himselfe is called the God of peace and his Gospell the Gospell of peace and his naturall Son the author of peace and his adopted Sons the children of peace But especially let me intreat yea and as an Embassadour of Jesus Christ charge you that are Magistrates of our Countrey Justices of the peace to make your practice agree with your names I use this exhortation the rather because I may use the same words to you which the Apostle did to the Corinthians It hath been certainely declared unto me that there are contentions among you and one saith I am Pauls another I am Apollos Who is Paul or who is Apollos but the servants of Christ and members with you of the same body let no man so respect one particular member as that he neglect the whole the whole Church militant and so every particular Church is like unto that Ship wherein Paul sayled under the Roman Centurion from Sidon towards Rome Caelum undique undique pontus Shee is amidst a glassie Sea every where beset with dangers Vna Eurusque Notusque ruunt The ayre thunders the winds blow the raine falls the Sea rageth the waves rise and beat upon the Ship Exoritur clamorque virum stridorque rudentum the ropes crack the men cry they are carryed up to the Heaven and downe againe into the deepe so that their soules even melt within them What must be done in this case Every man must shift for himselfe and his freind and leave the Shipp to the mercilesse Seas or as Parnus his Marriners did fall together by the eares about a rotten Shipp-board and hurt and wound and disgrace and displace one another No no but the Centurion must command the Pilot must guide the Compasse Paul must preach the Marriners must row every man in his place all private respects set aside must labour to bring the Ship to Land Let me then with the blessed Apostle beseech you that all injuries forgotten all wrongs forgiven all factions abandoned all contentions and discords buryed yee walke as the Elect of God holy and beloved put on tender mercy kindnesse humblenesse of minde meeknesse long suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another if any man have a quarrell to another even as God for Christs sake forgave you and above all things put on Love which is the bond of perfection and let the peace of God rule in you and the God of peace shall be with you Once againe for conclusion of all let me with the same Apostle exhort you if there be any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the spirit if any compassion and mercy fulfill my joy my joy nay your owne joy and the joy of all Gods Elect children that yee be like minded having the same love that nothing be done through contention and vaine glory but that in meeknesse of minde every man esteem better of another then of himselfe supporting one another through love endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace being of one heart and one soule of one accord and one judgement even as the Church whereof we professe our selves to be members is but one Flock and the Governour of this Flock but one Shepheard and the milke of this Flock one Word and the soule of this Flock one Spirit and the inheritance of this Flock one Kingdome and that I may neither add to nor detract from the Apostles words As there is one hope of our Vocation one Lord one Faith one Baptisme one God and Father of all which is above all and through all and in us all consider what I say and the God of Gods give you wisedome to know and a conscionable endeavour to put in practise that which hath been sayd The second Sermon LVKE 12. 32. Feare not little Flock for it is your Fathers good pleasure c. CYRVS when he went against Babylon falling in his way upon Gyndes a Navigable River for his more speedy dispatch he caused it to be cut into many streames and the event was answerable to his expectation for by that meanes he found a safe and ready passage for his Army and Carriages When I first looked upon this River of God in hope of the like event I did the like but the successe hath proved different for whereas I might in an houres space have swimmed it over going in one Channell having cutt it into two streames and divided either into sundry smaller Rivers it hath proved like Elishaes Cloud ever bigger and bigger or like the waters that flowed out of the Temple in Ezekiels vision ever broader and deeper Caelum
of wholsome Lawes for the safety and peace of this Kingdome should have been made like to that old Tophet where is burning and much wood kindled as it were with a river of Brimstome Or as Aetna did of old Flammarum globos liquefactaque volvere saxa belching out flames of fire and heaps of stones not much unlike to the destructions of Sodome and the miserable desolations of dolefull Gomorrah When those true Professors which should have remained after such an overthrow should have been like a few scattered grapes after the vintage is ended and like Pellicans in the Wildernesse and could have expected for nothing but what was written in Ezechiels scrowle Lamentations and Mourning and Woes O daughter of Babylon worthy to be wasted with misery happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast deserved of us Yea blessed shall he be that taketh thy children and dasheth them against the stones Now did not he who hath said Feare not little flocke who keepeth us from the snare of the hunter keepe us from those snares which they had laid privily for us and from the traps of those wicked doers Did not he which taketh the wilie in their owne craftinesse and saveth the poore from the hand of the violent man as Eliphaz speaks in Iob Let these fall into their owne nets and let us ever escape them Yes doubtless it was the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes By this which hath been said the Doctrine is cleare let us now come to the Use Is Gods care and providence over his children such that they need not be discouraged by humane or mundane terrours and feares Oh then comfort thy selfe thou child of God whosoever thou art which art tossed with contrary winds in the tempestuous Sea and begin to say unto thy weary and distressed soule with the Kingly Prophet Why art thou so sad O my soule and why art thou so disquieted within my breast Doth he Who layes the beames of his chambers in the water and makes the clouds his chariots and walks upon the wings of the wind care for Agar and her brat and will he neglect Sarah and her sonne Doth he make his Raine to fall his Sunne to shine upon the unjust and will he suffer to famish the soule of the righteous Is he a Saviour of all men and will he forsake them that believe Doth he nonrish the roaring Lyon feed the young Raven give the little Wren her dinner provide for the poore Sparrows whereof two are sold for a farthing Mat. 10. that's too dear five for two farthings in this Chapter In a word doth he give food to all flesh and will he oversee his owne Doth his providence extend to senslesse creatures to the grasse and Lilie of the Field What will he not do for them for whose sakes these and all other creatures in the world were made Hee that hath given us his Son what will he deny us He that hath provided for us and promised us the Kingdom of Heaven will he deny us the Earth so far as it is expedient for us to have it Heaven and all creatures under it shall change their natures rather then this little Flock shall be left desolate The hungry Lion shall not touch the Lords Prophet The devouring Fire shall stay its burning The Whale shall preserve Ionas The Earth without labour shall yeeld her encrease The Sunne and Moone shall stand still The barren Wildernesse shall afford bread The raging Sea shall become dry ground and the flinty Rock shall be turned into a springing Well before the least Lamb of Christs little Flock shall be left destitute Go too then let Hell rage let fury swell let the men of this world threaten to swallow thee up quick when they are so wrathfully displeased with thee yet put thou thy trust confidence in him who hath said Fear not little flock and say In the Lord put I my trust how say ye then unto my soule that she shall flee like a bird into the hills The Lord is my strong rocke and my defence whom then shall I feare the Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I then be afraid What if the greatest Potentates of the world shall joyne their Forces against thee he who hath said Feare not little flocke and I will not leave thee nor forsake thee is able though they had sinewes of iron and necks of brasse to break them with a rod of iron and to crush them in pieces like a Potters vesselâ— so that thou mayst boldly say I will not feare what man can doe unto me What if the boysterous sea carry thee up to to the heaven and downe againe into the deep What if the waters do compasse thy soule and the weeds be wrapped about thy head as Ionah speaks of himselfe Feare not any of these things that shall come upon thee for though the waves of this troublesome Sea be mighty and rage horribly yet the Lord that dwels on high is mightier So that they shall not be able to drown thee but as Noah's flood carried the Ark above the waters so they shall carry thy head above the water floods till they bring thee to the Rock that is higher then thee Come rock come tope come evill come Devill come what can come nothing can come amisse For he that hath given the barres and hath said unto it Hither shalt thou goe thou shalt goe no further here shalt thou stay thy raging waves He that can put a hook in the lips of Leviathan and peirce his jawes with an Angle though he make the depth to boyle like a pot and the Sea like a pot of oyntment as Iob speaks hath bound Leviathan that piercing Serpent as Esay calls him and all the powers of Hell in chaines of darknesse so that they shall not move one foot to hurt thee but as he permits them and looseth out their chains The spirituall Pharaoh may be a terrour to thee as he of Aegypt was to the Israelites but he shall not hurt her For though he be not cast into the bottome of the Sea lest thou shouldst be secure yet he is dead on the shore lest thou shouldst despair The world may be to thee as the Canaanites were to the Israelites thornes in thy sides and pricks in thine eyes but it shall not overcome thee Thy wife may be as Sampsons was to him fetters and snares of Satan to entangle thee but they shall not prevaile against thee Thy children may be as Absolom was to David a wicked and a rebellious off-spring but they shall not overthrow thee Feare not for as the Angel said to Gideon The Lord is with thee thou valiant man Thou art a branch of that Vine whereof the least sprig shall never be cut off Thou art a member of that body whereof the least part shall never be corrupted Thou art a Sheep of that little flock whereof not one
commanded from heaven to heare saith That without him we can do nothing That those to whom Power is given to be the sonnes of God are not borne of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God 1. They are not borne of blood that is they come not by naturall propagation for by this nativity wee are children of wrath 2. They are not of the will of the flesh This may be referred to them which are borne of faithful Parents yet begotten carnally For as the wheat is sown without chaffe but when it grows the chaffe comes up with it Or as the Hebrew Males which were circumcised begat children which were uncircumcised so the most holy and spiritual man begets a carnal sonne the reason is Quia ex hoc gignit quod adhuc vetustum tenet inter filios seculi non ex hoc quod in novitatem promovit inter filios dei as Austin He begets according to that corruption which hee retains amongst the sonnes of men not according to that perfection which he hath attained unto amongst the sons of God 3. They are not borne of the will of man That is the will of man doth not co-work with God at his regeneration to receive grace and convert himselfe Let the Papists and Pelagians and Semi-pelagians busie their braines and confederate themselves and joyne their forces against Christ and his Apostles maugre their beards it shall stand which is confessed by an honest Frier that there is not in the whole world of natural men vel mica virium so much as a dram or crum of power whereby he may convert himselfe and become a sonne of God Thus then first he is our Father not only by grace of adoption but by grace of regeneration he regenerates and begets us a new by the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the holy Ghost 2. To his children thus begotten and born anew he gives new names Thou shalt be called by a new name Isa 62. 2. To him that overcometh I will give a white stone and in the stone a new name Rev. 2. 13. I will write in it my new name Rev. 3. 12. Old things when they are renewed have new names given them So old Byzantiū renewed by Constantine was called after his name So a son of the old Adam who of himself Is a child of wrath a firebrand of hell Gods enemy and an alien from the common-wealth of Israel being renewed and regenerate and having given his name to Christ is called a Christian This is a new name received from him who after he had spoyled Principalities and Powers and like a triumphant Conqueror shewed them openly in his Chariot of triumph so Origen calls it the Crosse hath received a name above all names that are named not in this world only but also in that which is to come The name also we receive in our Baptisme when we are admitted into Christs Church is a new name and may put us in mind of our new and spirituall estate as the other which we receive from our Parents and Ancestors is a mark of our natural state we received from them So that whensoever we think of our names given us in our baptisme we should think of our new birth and be more and more renewed according to that of the Apostle Old things are past behold all things are become new Therefore as many as are in Christ let them be new creatures New names and old natures are like new wine in old vessels or like new cloath in an old garment 3. He feeds us 1. with corporall food for the sustenance of our bodies The greatest Prince of the world hath not so much de proprio as a morsell of bread to put in his mouth but what he receives from him who hath Heaven for his throne and Earth for his foot-stoole who opens his hand and gives to all creatures that wait upon him their meate in due season For which cause Christ sends us to heaven gates to begge our daily bread viz. not only the substance of bread but baculum panis as the Scripture calls it the power and strength to nourish us without whose benediction be our tables furnished with never such variety of dishes wee shall be but like Caligula's guests at his golden banquet we may well feed our eyes but not our stomacks Or like to him that eates in a dreame and when he awakes behold his soule is empty 2. He feeds us with spiritual food that which was figured by the tree of life and the waters that flowed out of the stony rock as some of the Fathers expound it the bodie and blood of Christ unto eternall life 3. He cloatheth us as the Kings daughter with a vesture of gold the robe of Christs righteousnesse which we must put on as a wedding garment that our filthy nakednesse may not appeare in his sight and withall by degrees makes us glorious within with the habite of sanctification and inherent righteousnesse 5. He protects us against all dangers as hath been already shewed 6. He corrects us for our offences as a father doth his child in whom his soule delighteth 7. He provides for us an Inheritance immortall and undefiled in the heavens For it is your fathers good pleasure to give you a kingdome The next thing that comes to be handled But let us first by way of use and inference reflect upon the point we have in hand Is God Almighty a Father of his little flock and such a father as doth not only regenerate but feedeth and cloatheth and protecteth and directeth and hath in a readinesse a Kingdom for the meanest of them that be his Here then let us take notice of the dignity and worth and happinesse of the meanest Christian above all the sonnes of Adam be they never so great swell they never so high with a conceit of their owne worth The greatest of heathen Philosophers tells us that felicity consists in a cumulation of moral vertues Others place it in worldly pleasures The common sort of men in worldly honours and preferments and the higher a man is advanced the more worthy the more happy they repute him But alas what great felicity is it for a base fellow to act a Kings part upon the Stage and when the Play is ended to be contented with a ragged coate far lesse to be a King in this world and then to be cast into Hell fire Here is the state and condition of the greatest Potentates on Earth that have not Christ for their Brother and God for their Father when they have acted their parts upon the stage of this world downe they must goe into the infernall lake The Spider thinks her selfe no base creature when she hath got her selfe into the roofe of a Princely palace and there woven her webbe and rests there secure as shee thinks from all danger but anon when