inward spirit or inspiration of the holy Ghost revealing as it were to man internally this truth by a speciall favour of holy unction of whom it is said 2 Ep. Ioan. cap. c. 2. v. 20. 27. He shall teach all truth and that his unction teacheth us in all things 7. This for is a proper illative he having said before the Spirit bore testimony that Christ was verity since the Spirit is one of the three in heaven that give testimony beyond all exceptions namely Father Son and Holy Ghost which is the very spirit that is mentioned testifying as above in Christ his behalfe so the scope of this verse is that all the three persons of the Blessed Trinity give testimony to man and Angels of Christ his being the Messias the Son of God sent to redeeme the world The Father in his Baptisme and Transfiguration the Holy Ghost by comming downe upon him in the shape of a Dove and by comming as sent from heaven by him after his Ascension to confirme his Apostles in grace on Whitsunday the Feast of Pentecost and the word or second person abundantly in all the mysteries of his life and death and all these three are one not in essence and divine nature onely but even in their Testimonies of him they all concurre in one and the same Truth 8. Saint Iohn having cited three divine or increated testimonies of Christ his Deity addes also three created testimonies of the same Truth the spirit water and bloud which three to make a perfect Analogy between this double Trinity he sayes are all one meaning they have all one root the Sacred Deity in which they are sanctified The water represents the Father the Bloud the Son the Spirit the Holy Ghost for as water was the first principle of all sublunary things as in the first of Genesis the creation declared so is the Father the creator of all the world and as Christ by his own bloud saved us so his Holy Martyrs by their bloud give testimony of him as the Holy Ghost taught all truth to the Apostles and their successors so that Spirit of Truth in the Holy Church beares testimony of his infallible veracity by whose holy Spirit she remaines infallible Take then this created Trinity thus by Water Baptisme by Bloud Martyrdome by the Spirit the charity of God diffused in our hearts and these three are one in way of Testimony or testifying all one thing the Deity of Christ that he was true God as well as man So they are not one in nature as the increated Trinity is but in office or Testimony they are all one and the same yet may we say they are even in nature all one too if wee make the division thus that these three human testimonies were all one in Christ as he was man that is the water and bloud out of his side and the spirit his human soule which he dying gave up to testifie he was a true man and all these three may be said one as being severall parts that integrated one whole Christ 9. This verse begins with an argument of similitude importing if we beleeve men much more ought we to beleeve God not that it implyeth as if the Testimony that holy Church gives of truth were a humane Testimony onely but yet creditable even upon that account and undoubted upon an other that though men speak yet God dictates the Truth unto them and so the Doctrine of the Church is not onely the Doctrine nor Testimony of men but also of God assisting them and thence it makes human-Divines or Divine-Men so in short the sence of this verse is whither the created or increated Trinity bear testimony of Christ his Deity it is the testimony of God himselfe either being or working infallible Truth whence Saint Peter 2 Epist cap. 1. v. 21. Sayes well The holy men of God spake inspired with the holy Ghost * So were those signes when Christ suffered in the Sun Moone Rocks c. Signes of the creator speaking in the creatures 10. For many reasons this is true first because he hath a thing testified by God secondly the testimony of God about that thing for none but God could reveale that truth of Christ being the Sonne of God This was told Saint Peter and thence he was called by Christ Blessed Matth. c. 16. v. 17. thirdly because this testimony is faith it selfe the greatest gift of God lastly because by this gift of Faith a man is regenerate and made of the devils Son to be the Son of God The Priest asking first the baptized if he do beleeve Christ and that professed then baptizeth immediately The Application 1. THe Illustration upon this Prayer gives a great help to the present Application of this Text unto our best advantage according to intention of the Holy Church for seeing by the Paschal Feast we understand the vertues that were proper thereunto we must not exclude the magazine of vertues which men have been hoarding up since Advent but especially those in Lent towards making us more capable of the benefit of our Saviours Resurrection because it is no lesse vertue to conserve what we have gotten then it was to get the thing acquired and wee shall then best conserve those vertues when by frequent Acts thereof as occasion is administred we make them perfect in us and when our selves are perfected by them 2. Now to shew the Church observes a method in her services as the three Theologicall vertues Faith Hope and Charity are the maine roots of all Christianity and of all other vertues whatsoever therefore from this time till we come againe to Advent where we first began the Rules of Christianity there are three seasons set a part for these Three Theologicall vertues which are the three last misteries of humane Redemption the resurrection whereby we are to perfect our Faith the Ascension whereby we are to perfect our Hope and the comming of the Holy Ghost whereby we are to perfect our charity as shall be said at large of each when they occurr 3. Suffice it for the present that this Epistle in the front thereof and quite throughout commends unto us the exercise of our Faith as the most proper vertue now required at our hands since we see the mystery of the Resurrection was a thing so hard to be believed that it cost our Saviour forty dayes paines to make it good by frequent apparitians in divers places unto divers persons for he had else ascended up to heaven as soone as ever he arose from his grave had it not been matter of huge difficulty to make the world from thence beleeve that he was God as well as man because he was risen from the dead and that as he being man did rise againe so they should doe that were men too the good to everlasting Joy the bad to everlasting paine no marvell then our Faith in the Resurrection be call'd the victory which over comes the world in the sence of the
shield before her against all Adversity whatsoever to be firm in her belief of the most Blessed and undivided Trinity Say then the Prayer above and see how well it suits unto this doctrine thereupon The Gospel Matth. 28. v. 18. c. 18 And Jesus coming neer spake to them saying All power is given to me in heaven and earth 19 Going therefore teach ye all nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and behold I am with you all dayes even to the consummation of the world The Explication 18. THe Evangelist in this Chapter recounts the apparition of Jesus in Galilee to a great number of Disciples and friends as well as unto the Apostles amongst them who were now so far fled from Jerusalem where formerly they had seen him after he arose from his grave and so confirmed them in the truth of this mystery that though in the precedent verse St. Matthew sayes some of them doubted of this truth that Christ was risen yet the meaning is not that any of the Apostles doubted thereof but some others to whom Christ had never appeared before as now he did to confirm the truth of his resurrection And Jesus coming neer not to those doubting persons but to his Apostles saying as this dayes Gospel begins All power c. But we are to observe though S. Matthew seems in this chapter to conjoyn the power of Mission given by Christ to his Apostles unto this story of his Apparition to them and above three thousand more in Galilee since he resolved to end his Gospel in this eight and twentieth chapter and write no more yet the very truth is those words were not spoken by Christ consequently to this apparition but afterwards upon the Mount Olivet when at his Ascension he gave the Apostles Mission over all the world for his valediction or last farewell unto them and in testimony that this was an Act of high Jurisdiction he tells them at the same time All power is given unto him both in heaven and earth so they need not doubt but he that gave them this Mission to all Nations this commission to preach unto them and to Baptize them had ample authority for his so doing and would by his grace from heaven second their labours over all the earth and make them fruitful to the final salvation of all Nations which was a convincing testimony of his being plenipotentiary between God and man or having plenitude of power both in heaven and earth But we are further here to note that this plenitude of power was not now so given to Christ as if he had not had it before for the Word was no sooner Incarnate then this power was begun in him though he was not pleased to mention the accomplishment or perfection thereof untill by his death and passion he had merited the same and therefore suiting to him not onely as he was God but as he was man the Messias or Saviour of the world and to him alone for to no man else was the amplitude of this power competent nay the very participation thereof is above all merit of any pure humane creature however to Christ the fulnesse of it was but due by reason of his being one person with God who as Creatour of heaven and earth had consequently full power over them both so as he could by the Ministery of his Apostles preaching subject unto himself all the Nations of the earth as stooping to the power of his Faith and Doctrine and afterwards in heaven reward this their Faith this their subjection to Christian discipline with crowns of eternal glory to shew he was chief commandant in heaven also having purchased the same by his bitter death and passion and so being able to make eternally happy in this his glorious Kingdom whosoever he pleased 19. We are here to observe when Christ bids go it is not nay it cannot be in the power of any mortal man to forbid the Ministers of Christ from going to convert nations So this Mission is Divine not humane and gives Commission to execute Gods Lawes maugre all mens prohibitions Go saith he to shew us labour pains travel diligence are the marks of those who preach the word of God nor is this labour limited to any one time or place but extends it self to all times to all nations Go sayes our Saviour teach all nations nay he adds therefore go that is to say Go because I send you that have all power both in heaven and earth go teach ye all nations as I have taught you Whence it followes the command of learning was imposed upon the people while the precept of teaching was laid upon the Apostles and their successours for in these latter it is indeed that Christ after said he would be with them unto the end of the world that is in assisting their Successours he would be with them And very great reason it is that an obligation of hearing should fall upon the people when a command of preaching was imposed on the Priest for a Schollar is acorrelative to a Master as a Son is to a Father since no man can be an actual master unless he have an actual Schollar nor can any man be a father that hath not a child And that it was a command given with an obligation to be put in present execution see how Christ tyes himself to an actual assistance thereof even to the worlds end And as he bids them go and teach all nations the principles of Christian doctrine namely those of the Catholick Church so he bids them Baptize all those whom they instruct and teach in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost to shew them the true mark of a Christian is his belief in the Blessed Trinity which is one onely God and three Divine Persons distinct each from other called Father Son and holy Ghost Nor can there be indeed a more succinct method of this deep mystery then is here expressed when the command of Baptizing in the name and not in the names shewes the unity of God and denyes the plurality of Divine nature or essence and yet the specifying of the Father Son and Holy Ghost shewes the Blessed Trinity which is in that sacred unity Whence we see the word Trinity doth import a Triunity or an Unity of nature in a Trinity of persons whence our Saviour saying by the mouth of his Apostle 1 Epist Joh. c. 5. There are three that bear testimony in heaven the Father the Son and Holy Ghost adds immediately and these Three are all one that is to say these distinct persons are one indistinct and undivided nature essence deity so as though there be three divine persons yet is there but one onely God And no marvel if upon Trinity Sunday both the Epistle and Gospel report unto this sacred mystery for it
corporall eyes to the latter that their time is now come also of awaking from the sleep of infidelity and of their other enormious sins being the Redeemer of all mankinde was actually come though even the Jewes also after Christs Birth were fast enough asleep in their infidelity most of them and so were capable of this speech to them even in that sense too 12. By the night is here meant the time before Christs comming made dark as night with infidelity By the day the time after our Saviours Birth rendered bright as day with the light of the Gospel the works of darkness are Sin because they shut out the light of grace from our Souls the Armour of Light are acts of Vertue works of Grace and in these words Saint Paul minds us that our life is here a spiritual warfare since we know Armour is necessary for Warriours though the Greek Text imports by Armour of Light a kind of habit proper to the day and this is not inconsistent with the other sense above for Armour is a kind of habit too 13. This Verse seemes to begin with prosecuting the last sense in the former as if it were indecent to appear in the day without our Armour of Light as above but if it be taken as independent thereof it imports not for the sense is full in it self Aâ— in the day of Grace as in the day of the illuminating Gospel let us walk honestly that is modestly converse religiously and shew our selves to be children of Light by our works shining to the edification of our neighbour and glory of God Not any more in Banquettings and Drunkenness feastings and excesses of Wines These you know are works of the Flesh not of the Spirit or the Grace of God by Chamber-works the Apostle means here plainly Fornication by Impudicities more petulant and wanton actions of Lust even in publick such as indeed may be well called carnall impudencies Not in Contention not striving for vain-glory and popular applause whence followes the forbidden Emulation which is an envie at our neighbours greater good or esteem than our own See therefore here three of the capitall Sins so represented unto us as by all means to be avoided Gluttony Lechery Envy all being acts and deeds of darkness not fit to appear in the day light of the Gospel which now shines bright among us 14. By putting on Christ is here meant being dressed up in such Vertues as may make us appear Christians men clad in the Livery the Sanctity of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ and so abundant the Apostle in this phrase bids our Vertues be that they may hang as full Garments all over us for this difference there is betwixt carrying and putting on of cloathes that when carryed they are cumbersome and not adorning when put on they are light and becoming So to carry Vertue onely wrapt up in the speculation of it is no way graceful but to unfold it by the practice thereof this becomes a good Christian and this is truly to put on Christ not onely to study and speculate but to practice Vertue The Application 1. THe two first Verses of this Epistle are wholly and clearly describing the effects of the Incarnation and do exhort to a due Christian comportment at such a season That is now to prepare our selves for our Deification since therefore God became man that man might become God I have said ye are Gods and all sons of the Highest Psal 82. v. 6. 2. The third Verse tells us how unsuitable all Sin must needs be at this season though indeed it cannot be allowable at any time but especially how unseasonable these three deadly Sins now are which here the Apostle specifies and under them forbids us all the rest Gluttony Lechery Envy For nothing sooner starves a Soul to death than a gluttonous pampering of the Body nothing more odious to our God incarnate than to pollute that humane nature which Jesus could not endure to take upon him but in the sacred womb of his unpolluted Virgin Mother Nothing so unseasonable at this season of love as for a Christian to envy Christ in his neighbour just now when he coming to save us commands us to love each other as he loves us all 3. The last Verse gives us an armour of Proof against all danger of sin whatsoever for as Jesus by taking our sins upon himself did redeem us so we by putting on his Vertues may deserve to be saved that is to say we may be capable of Salvation for other desert we have not of our selves than a meer capacity of Heaven through the merits of our Saviours death and passion applyed to us cooperating towards that which we cannot operate our own Salvations since it is the onely participation of his merits that makes us fit to receive his rewards for those we call our meritorious actions such as Saint Augustine required saying He that made thee without thee will not save thee without thee Yet the same Doctor lest we should presume too much upon our selves says also When God rewards mans works he crowns his own Gifts for even our cooperation whereby we merit is the speciall Gift of God Which we Petition in the Prayer above most aptly set to the Tune of this Epistle The Gospel LUKE 21. ver 25. c. 25. ANd there shall be signes in the Sun and the Moon and the Stars and upon the Earth distresse of Nations for the confusion of the sound of the Sea and Waves 26. Men withering for fear and expectation what shall come upon the whole world for the powers of Heaven shall be moved 27. And then they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty 28. But when these things shall begin to come to passe look up and lift up your heads for your redemption is at hand 29. And he spake to them a similitude see the figtree and all trees 30. When they now bud forth fruit out of themselves you know that Summer is nigh 31. So you also when you shall these see things come to passe know that the Kingdom of God is nigh 32. Amen I say to you that this generation shall not pass till all be done 33. Heaven and Earth shall pass but my Words shall not pass The Explication 25. THese Signes appearing in the Sun Moon and Stars argue they shall not perish but remain set to another Series or order of being than they were before such Signes in them shall portend the dismall day of Judgement And indeed how can there be other than a sad distress on earth amongst all the Nations thereof upon the confusion of sound that will then be in the boiling Sea and Waves which by the general conflagration fire falling from Heaven shall be far more agitated than ever by any storm or tempest these commonly happening but in some part of the Sea whereas this disturbance shall arise from the very bottom of the channell
bred up and not far from Capernaum where he wrought his most Miracles high to shew heaven is hugely elevated from earth and that as in heaven the glory of God shall be so in Thabor the glory of Christ was manifested to those who were like the Elect amongst many chosen singled out for eternal happiness in the next and for testimonies here of Christ his Deity shining through the cloud of his humanity as the next verse describeth 2. His Transfiguration consisted not in the change of his humane shape nor in his giving his body all the gifts of glorified bodies in heaven impassibility agility subtility clarity but in shewing to the Apostles the last onely of these gifts and that so far forth as their weak eyes were capable of which clarity Christ was fain to suppress whilest he lived here that he might be seen and conversed with by all men for else it was at all times due to him as all the other gifts of glorified bodies were by reason of his Divinity united to his humanity Note though there be special mention made of a change in his face onely shining like the Sun and his garments become white as snow yet this clarity or glory was general over all his blessed body and as the brightness of the Sun in his face was a type of his Deity so the whiteness of his garments did represent the purity of his humanity and withal it shewed us how the grace and glory of God renders our Souls as white as snow and by that means transfigures the Saints from their Aethiopian blackness of sin into so many garments of whitest lillies as it were bedecking the body of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 3. These two were summoned as Witnesses to testifie that whatsoever the Law or Prophets said of Christ should be verified Moses standing for the first Elias for the second as also to reward them for their forty days Fast which each had undergone the one to be worthy thereby to receive the Laws the other to ascend the Mount Horeb and farther yet because he would take away the doubt which people had that he was Moses or Elias or some other Prophet and again lest Moses should appear to have been injured when Christ did abrogate the ancient Law as also lest Elias should be valued equal to Almighty God in glory which some conceived of him finâ—lly to shew he had full power of life and death to call Moses dead thither and to summon Elias alive from the place where he was kept till his second coming To both of whom Christ communicated a splendor something like indeed to that of his own garments white as snow that so they might be more worthy of the honour done them to confer and talk with him but far inferior to the whiteness of his own 4. All Expositors say this was a speech of a man half beside himself drunk as it were with the present glut of contentment and not forecasting future things besides that it was impertinent to build Tabernacles for those whom he saw in glory as also it was to fix Christ upon earth and in Thabor who came to purchase heaven for all the world by his passion which by his remaining here had been prevented and to hope for heaven before himself had laboured to deserve it or to think eternal Beatitude consisted in the glory of Christs humanity and not in the beholding of his Deity which here they did not see 5. The interposition of this Cloud upon this speech argues a check given to the speaker thereof by depriving him of that alluring sight which he knew not how to make right use of but not separating them from a due distance both to see and hear whence they fell as S. Luke sayes into a present fear yet this Cloud was clear to shew the difference betwixt the Old Law and the New That being delivered to Moses in a dark cloud This avow'd to be delivered by Christ before Moses Elias and these three Apostles in a clear resplendent Cloud out of which was heard the voyce of God the Father saying This is my beloved Son c. Some think Moses and Elias were gone before this voyce was heard lest the Apostles might doubt to which of the three it was spoken but since they were to be both eye and ear-witnesses too 't is probable they might see to whom the address was made and questionless God did make this testimony such as could not be lyable to doubt since he was pleased to have these Witnesses of the thing as he made them saying Hear him that is Hear my beloved Son for from his mouth not from the mouth of Moses and Elias shall proceed all Truth and Salvation to Mankind The reason why this command of hearing him was not added when he was stiled by the like voyce from heaven to be Son to the same Father at his Baptism was because then he was onely shewed to be the Messias whom men before conceived the Baptist to have been But here he is in presence of Moses and Elias preferred in point of Doctrine before them as if all they had said or done was but to prefigure him but that what he sayes reports to none beside himself as having vigour in it to make him known to be the Illuminator of all the former Prophets and so of himself the true Doctor of Nations and Law-maker thereunto whence he for his own sake is to be heard others for respect onely to him and there was reason to say Hear him that comes to abrogate the Old and to make a New Law to dye for the sins of his people in such excess of ignominy as he and Moses did but now talk of to rise from the dead himself and thereby to impower all men to rise again after they are dead to the Judgement Seat where those that till then believe it not shall finde there is a Hell and those who are believers shall know there is a Purgatory and a Limbus Patrum since Moses was from the latter summoned hither to this Mystery of Transfiguration which was exhibited as an undoubted testimony of the Truths that were preached by him whom we were then commanded to hear and consequently to believe 6. They feared at the shrilness of the voyce though sweet at the loss of the sight they had before of Moses and Elias whom they might suspect were sent away to fulminate vengeance from God upon the people who had abused his beloved Son and hence fearing they fell upon their faces to shew they were themselves ready to adore him 7. And Jesus pitying the fright they were in came presently to comfort them and raise them up again from the posture of their prostration thereby to shew we cannot sooner humble our selves to God then he is ready to raise a comfort in us 8. The reason why they then see none but Jesus was because now all things were given up to his cure no more rigorous Law
Tables of the Law and the Cherubins of Glory above this overshadowing the propitiatory and the Apostle told them this way of Sacrificing should last till the time of correction that is untill the first comming of Christ into this world who should correct this manner of proceeding and take away those legall rites and ceremonies by putting in their place a spiritual Sacrifice and worshipping of God not that it is to be understood the old being corrected should stand but be abrogated by command of Christ as we say ill manners are corrected in youth not by remaining in the young man but by being taken away by good behavior and by vertue correcting his former vices so the Apostle having told the Hebrewes thus much of the old way of Sacrificing begins in this verse to shew how Christ assisting taking upon him the office of High Priest of the new law and of the good things to come thereby distinguished the fruits of his Sacrifice from those of the High Priest in the old Law who by assisting officiating at the Tabernacle obtained onely present and temporall benefits but Christ was an High Priest obtaining the good things to come Spirituall and Heavenly things as here remission of sins graces and vertues and in the next world glory blisse and everlasting life and this by entering to keep the Analogy between the old way of officiating and the new first a more ample and perfect Tabernacle that is as some say by his Divinity entering our humanity as others by his entering his Virgin Mothers wombe but the most genuine sence is by his entering into his Church Militant becoming the first member of it as it was framed in the Idaea of his Heavenly Father For so it was not a work of humane hands of flesh and blood or of this creation of creatures making but was indeed the Tabernacle of God the first Sanctum Holy through which he was to passe by the vale of the Crosse into the second Tabernacle Sancta Sanctorum the holy of Holies his Church triumphant the Kingdome of Heaven nor was it necessary for Christ to prepare his way from his outward Tabernacle his Church Militant to his inward his Church triumphant by the bloud of Goates for his own sins since he had none and the blood of a Calfe for the sins of the people as in the old Law the High Priests did once a yeare that by Sprinkling the Sancta Sanctorum with this blood they might render God more propitious to themselves and the people no he shed once for all mankinde his own most sacred bloud and dying on the Crosse he entered the holy of holies the kingdome of heaven whereby he found for us eternal redemption so copious an one indeed as needed not be repeated by his dying any more for us then once though in the old Law the bloody Sacrifice of the High Priests were annuall because the power of that bloud they shed was weak and could not plead for long mercy whereas Christs blood prevaileth for eternall and that by being shed but once 13. It was the ceremony of the old Law Num. 19. first to shed the blood of Goats Oxen and Heifers and then burning the Beasts to keep the ashes and putting them into living so they called fountaine water and Sprinkling the people with them to declare they should by that aspersion after Sun-set not before be reputed sanctifyed corporally cleane and be admitted into the company of the faithfull as formerly which was a figure of the blood of Christ issuing out of his earthly body to be a reall purgation of sin out of our Souls and not onely of our corporal impurity it was also the ground whence holy Church useth aspersion with holy water wherin is mixed Salt insteed of those burnt-ashes Note it is well said here this ceremony was but to the cleansing of the flâ—sh for it only did declare their bodies who were thus sprinkled should be esteemed cleane and pure though before polluted by the touch of a dead carcasse a leper or otherwise and this cleansing was then called sanctifying as in this text it is 14. It is indeed great reason the blood of Christ who was God as well as man inspired by the instinct of his own Deity and by the speciall instigation of the Holy Ghost to offer up his life as an unspotted Sacrifice to God the Father for our sins should have much more force to purge our Soules from sins that is from dead works then the blood of beasts had to cleanse mens bodies and Sin is not unfitly called a dead work because it not onely defileth our Soule worse then the touch of a dead carcasse did their bodies of the old Law but even kils them too and yet by the blood of Christ they are both purged and revived so as to be able to waite upon the living God before whom no dead Soul that is to say no Soule in deadly Sin can give any attendance at all it being unfit that the Fountaine of life should be attended on by the ougly countenance of death 15. He is therefore truly the Mediator because he did partake of the nature of both extreames that is of God offended and of man offending and so death being a mean which is to say man dying in Christ God was satisfied not onely for the Sins of those who live under the Law of grace but as is specially noted here in this verse for the Sins of those under the former Law of Moses which was the former Testament here specified and of those also under the Law of nature quoniam copiosa erat apud eum redemptio because redemption with him is plentifull and since he took humane nature it was not out of the Spheare of his activity to satisfie for all mankind to whom that nature is common by those called are understood here the elected for those onely are effectually called to the participation of the promise of eternal inheritance of being eternally heirs of God and coheires of Christ and this inheritance is called a promise because it was the pact of God the Father with his Sacred Son that if he would once dye to satisfie divine justice for mans Sins those whom he should call that is effectually single out or elect for eternall salvation should receive the same by vertue of promise from God the Father to his Sacred Sonne whence their salvation is called the promise of eternal inheritance and in this regard Saint Paul speaking of himselfe as of one thus effectually called or elected said that he having done what was required of him had reposed for him in heaven a Crown of Justice not as due to his work but as due to the promises God the Father in Pauls behalfe made to his Sacred Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the like promise we account is made in the behalfe of all those whom Christ hath elected to his eternal inheritance not that it is a thing man can
merit in them and that merit is to make us to have deserved such a master then let us confidently say this Prayer to day and all this holy week for as it is the last of the Lenten Sundayes Prayers so we may see it Steers the ships of our Bodies and Soules downe the very gulfe of our Saviours Passion where to suffer shipwracke is to be saved since the greatest mercy in this Sea is to be cast away upon the waves thereof as our Pilot Jesus was himselfe heare his own words out of the royall Prophets mouth Psal 68. v. 3. I came into the depth of the Sea and was drowned in the Tempest of it This Sea was that of his Passion which we are now all sayling on nor can we hope for greater mercy then to be used as heavenly Ionas was our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to be swallowed up by the whale of death to dye to this wicked world that so we may with Ionas-Jesus be cast upon the shore of Resurrection according as the Prayer above purports But lest we forget the Edde of our Lenten Fast running by the shoares of this Red Sea see how admirably the holy Ghost hath contrived this Prayer with due regard to all circumstances of persons time and place for what more eminent effects of a religious Fast then patience and humility and to what more apparent end are these vertues recommended unto us in this dayes service then that thereby we may obtaine a propitious looke from heaven and to deserve a fellowship in the resurrection with Christ after we have learn't without book these lessons of humility and patience which God sent his Sacred Son to teach us The Epistle Philip. 2. v. 5. c. 5 For this thinke in your selves which also in Christ Iesus 6 Who when he was in the forme of God thought it no robbery himselfe to be equall to God 7 But he exinanited himselfe taking the forme of a Servant made into the similitude of men and in shape found as man 8 He humbled himselfe made obedient unto death even the death of the Crosse 9 For the which thing God also hath exalted him and hath given him a name which is above all names 10 That in the name of Jesus every knee bow of the celestials terrestrials and infernals 11 And every tongue confesse that our Lord Iesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father The Explication 5. THe Apostle had in the foregoing verses of this Chapter exhorted to humility in superiority and now in this verse he takes for a rule of our humility that of Christ who though God disdained not to fall below the repute of man and called himselfe even a worme and not a man so low he had stooped for our instruction and example And Saint Paul by this expression doth not onely wish us to thinke humbly of our selves but even to feele by a practicall humiliation the same subjection within us which Christ felt when he became the scorne of men and the out-cast or offals of the people This is the genuine sense of the Apostle though even to thinke to reflect on Christs humility and by reflecting thereon to humble our selves is not an ill exposition of this place neither and thereby to comfort our selves that as Christ his humility was the cause of his exaltation so will our humility prove to us if we embrace it for our Saviours sake 6. But to imprint this Doctrine deeper in us the Apostle amplifies how farre Christ did debase himselfe for our example saying that though he were in the forme of God c. Where we are to note this word forme is here taken perversely by the Arrians when they thence infer Christ was not really and truly God but had onely a shape or forme divine better then other men ever had yet this is a grosse corruption of the Text for Saint Paul meanes here Physicall not Artificiall naturall and not fictitious forme such forme as gives being to the thing in which it is as the forme of wood gives an essentiall distinct being to wood differing from all other substances that are not wood and so in this place the Apostle sayes Christ being in the forme of God being really God himselfe who neither is nor can be multiplyed into many Gods by the forme of God being communicated to many persons as the forme of man is multiplyed into many men though all those men have but one forme specificall one humane forme This shewes the nature or forme of God is infinitely more perfect and more simple then any other nature can be which may be numerically multiplyed though specifically it still remaine one as humane nature is when many men contract it but the divine nature is not so multiplyed though contracted by three distinct persons for we cannot say there are many Gods though it is most true there are many men so the Apostle here speaks literally and rigorously of the form of the nature divine and sayes Christ being coequall God with his Father in regard of his divine nature held it not robberie to say he was equal to God held it no prejudice to his Father to say he was truly one and the same God with him 7. And yet this notwithstanding though he were in the forme of God who is Lord and Master of all the world he would exinanite himselfe debase and lessen himselfe into the forme of a servant made into the similitude of man and in shape found as man who is by all the Titles of the world a vassall Servant and creature of Almighty God though indeed exinanire is not to be truly rendered into English for it is in effect to say Annihiâ—aâ—e not that he was in truth annihilated onely this word imports thus much that Christ who as God was all things had in a manner annihilated himselfe to become man who in the sight of God was and is as much as nothing because pure man hath no being but from God and if God could take away that gift or rather loane of Being which he affords to man instantly man would returne into his first principle which was nothing before Being was lent unto him I say if God could because as to give Being argues perfection so to take it away some Divines thinke would argue imperfection in God as if he would or could destroy himself by Annihilation of any thing since to take Being from a thing is to take his own perfection away which God cannot doe though he may punish those who use their Being to the dishonor of God by making them Be eternally miserable whom he created with power to have Bin eternally happy By the forme of Servant is here understood the humane nature which Christ assumed for that was truly a Servant even to his own Divine nature which did assume it and this for as much as that nature was a creature and so a Servant to the creator thereof but not that Christ was a Servant by
is indeed the highest article of our Faith the first and main principle of Christian Religion But to conclude this doctrine 20. See how the beginning of this verse tells besides this mystery what the Apostles were commanded to teach the world namely to do all whatsoever Christ commanded them to deliver as the Will of God that is to say as well to do good works as to believe aright and to professe that Faith which was preached unto them and how ever Luther and Calvin pretend the Church of Christ and the right administration of the Sacraments thereof and of the divine Services had failed for many hundred of years together before they arrogated to themselves a kind of new Apostolate forsooth yet it is from hence confidently asserted by the unanimous consent of all Catholick Doctours and Divines that there neither hath been hitherto nor ever shall be hereafter till the day of doom which is the consummation or end of the world any failure in the Church of Christ nor in Christ his perpetual assistance and presence with his ever visible Church insomuch that he is ever visibly present in his perpetual visible rulers of the Church and invisibly in his continual-assisting grace and hence it is evidently proved that albeit no successours of the Apostles had those ample prerogatives which they enjoyed yet their Ministery is so the same that the Apostles was as Christ is said even to perpetuate the Apostles in their successours and his presence with them in his presence with their followers and in his assisting them as constantly as he did assist their predecessours though perhaps not as amply nor as efficaciously at all times For how else can it be true that Christ said to his Apostles he would send them another Comforter that should assist them eternally not in their persons but in their successours to the worlds end For the same are the gifts of Christ and of the Holy Ghost as far forth as they are both one and the same God Nay more Christ is even visibly remaining with the Ministers of his Church in the holy Eucharist or B. Sacrament of the Altar his blessed body and bloud being exposed perpetually to the receiving and adoration of the people more he is visibly with us in his Priests who are his visible instruments to administer the Sacraments and offer sacrifice unto the sacred Deity for though the Priest be the instrumental yet Christ is the chief and principal Priest himself it being proper to him to be both Sacrifice and Sacrificant so as in seeing the accidents of bodies we are said consequently to see the things whose accidents we see in like manner by seeing the Sacramental species we may be said to see the Sacrament the body and bloud of Christ whose accidents they are after consecration though the same species before were the accidents of bread and wine To conclude we may as truly say Christ is visibly with his Church to the worlds end as we may say a mans soul is visibly in his body that is to say perceptibly so long as a man lives and hath motion for look what the soul is to the body the same Christ is to his Church so that as the soul is the bodies natural life Christ is the supernatural life of the soul believing in him and making her self by that belief a member of his Church for as the soul makes the body move so Christ makes his Church to do according to that of S. Paul Philipp 2. he worketh all in all according to the purpose of his own holy will and again he it is that gives a will to do good and a power to put that will in execution and to perfect by him what was undertaken for him as being to his honour and glory The Application 1. IT is no marvel that to day we hear inculcated to us an explicite act of Faith in the Front and body of this Gospel while Hope and Charity are onely recommended to us in the close thereof and that but implicitely neither notwithstanding as our design of piety is laid in this work Charity is the chief vertue to be practis'd from this day untill Advent This is I say no marvel the very name of the day requiring this preference to Faith and the nature of the Feast inforcing it besides for since the proper object of Love is Goodnesse seen or understood and since the Blessed Trinity is not here seen at all but by the light of Faith therefore all the understanding we can have of it on Earth is first to believe and next to love it according as the Gospel intimates where Jesus by the vertue of Plenipotentiality given him both in heaven and earth sends his Apostles first to Teach the whole world the mystery of the B. Trinity by Baptizing all Nations in the name of the Father Son and holy Ghost and thereby obliging them to believe explicitely these Three distinct Persons are all but one simple and single God whereas he bids the said Apostles here at least but implicitely to hope in and to love the sacred Trinity in as much as he commands their Teaching all Nations to observe all his Commandments whatsoever which yet are not observeable but for pure love of the commander and for pure hope of his recompencing our obedience unto his commands Who so reads the Gospel will soon see this to be the whole scope thereof 2. What then remaines for further application but that by an actual confessing this true Faith we actually glorifie the eternal Trinity and that in the Power of each Divine Persons sacred Majesty namely in the Power of the Father creating us in the Power of the Son redeeming us in the Power of the Holy Ghost sayntifying of us we adore the Unity of these Three Persons Deity since none but God can create none but God can redeem and none but God can sayntifie a soul 3. O Happy Christians who by firmly believing this to be their obligation to the sacred Trinity can neither want motive enough for Love of God nor ground enough for Hope that by this Act of Faith they shall be defended from all Adversity since the true victrix over all our enemies is as St. John tells us 1 Ep. c. 5. our Faith which overcomes the world and consequently all Adversity Say now the Prayer above and see how patt it is to what we here are taught On the first Sunday after Pentecost The Antiphon Luk. 6.37 JVdge not that you be not judged for in what Judgement you Judge you shall be Judged saith our Lord. Vers Let my prayer O Lord be directed Resp Even as Incense before thee The Prayer O God the strength of those that hope in thee be propitiously present to our prayers and because without thee mortal infirmity is of no ability grant the assistance of thy grace that in doing what thou dost command we may please thee both in will and work The Illustration ALbeit this Sunday is
identity or equality of love 40. Yes so they depend on these two as all the boughs and branches of a tree depend on the root thereof for the root of all the Law is love of God and of Gods creatures for Gods sake not otherwise hence even self-love is not lawfull but as directed to Gods honour and glory The three Laws of the first table are expressed by love of God the seven of the second table by love of our neighbour 41. This aggregation or assembly of them S. Maâ—k observes was in the Temple be it where it will this seems to assert the Doctour who was his first aggressour was either gone or at least satisfied and so silenced for now they all assault him as if they were not satisfied with him though the Doctour were and hence Jesus seems to ground his question in the following verse 42. Whereby in requitall of their tempting him by a subtile question in the Law which was the chief commandment he now undertakes to impart unto them a farre more subtile verity and more necessary instruction that so he might with good repay evil namely the truth of his being not onely Man but God not onely the sonne of David as they allowed him to be but even the Sonne of God the Messias who was expected to be the Redeemer and Saviour of the whole world and this he inferres upon them so as by force of argument out of Davids mouth out of the Scripture he makes them see clearly it must be so though they were too proud to confesse it No marvell they could not answer right to the question for when S. Peter Matth. 16. did answer the same question right our Saviour told him flesh and bloud had not revealed it but the heavenly Father who had not so illuminated these Pharisees as he did Peter 43. Observe while Christ makes in this verse a further inquiry it doth not inferre he denieth himself to be what they said truly that he was the sonne of David for so the Scripture told them clearly the Messias should be but he was willing to draw them on to a further knowledge that the Messias was also the Sonne of God and not onely the sonne of David and this out of Davids own mouth who in spirit by inspiration from heaven called him Lord a stile which fathers do not use to give unto their sonnes and that this was true he cites Davids words in the next verse saying 44. The Lord said to my Lord God said to the Messias to Jesus Christ by the instinct of the Holy Ghost who did indeed dictate unto David all the whole book of Psalms which runnes much upon the propheticall prediction of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ his coming and being the true Messias that was expected with so much fervour by the languishing world So by this quotation of the Scripture where David calls Christ his Lord they are brought to see evidently he must needs be more then his sonne else they had replied again which they neither did nor durst nor indeed could do as the last verse of this present Gospel shows By sitting at Gods right hand is clearly declared he is not onely Davids Lord but also the King of Kings and Lord of Lords true God as well as man placed above all the quiers of Angels in heaven and impowered at the day of judgement to come in Majesty trampling over all his enemies the world the devil and the flesh when he shall judge all flesh and all spirit too man and Angels and make his enemies truely his footstool when he tramples first upon them and lastly kicks them down to the pit of hell where the foot of his eternall power holds them everlastingly under him in pains and torments 45. It was time for Christ to close up the irrefragable force of his argument by shewing the Pharisees in this verse he being the Messias mentioned by the Royall Prophet was not onely Davids but Gods sonne also and whilst he inferres the greater out of Davids mouth he doth not deny the lesser though here he seems to ask how David could call his Lord his sonne when they themselves did see he must also be Davids and the whole worlds God Redeemer Judge and Saviour too 46. And their silence asserted in this verse to his inference argues their consent it was and must be true hence they were left at least to wonder at if not to believe confesse and love this undeniable truth for of these S. Augustine in his exposition upon the 109. Psalme cited by Christ sayes excellently well These proud Pharisees chose rather to burst with the pride of their swollen and sullen silence then to be taught by their humble acknowledgement confession S. Chrysostome upon the same place sayes They were struck dumb by the dart of this dead wound they had received from Christ convincing though not converting them So it often fares with Hereticks The Application 1. IT is not without designe that when the Epistle runnes wholly upon unity of spirit in the Church of Christ the Gospel is so full of example of disunion and division amongst the Doctours and Sages in the synagogue of the Jews for such were the Sadduces the Scribes and Pharisees And we may piously believe the designe of holy Church in this was to bid us beware of such spirits in our Doctours and Teachers for there is no greater plague no contagion more malignant then duplicity falsity and division in those who should cement us together by the concordancy of their doctrine and by the exemplarity of their lives 2. So when we hear the Sadduces Scribes and Pharisees pretending zeal to Christ and desirous to know which is the first and greatest commandment that of Love or that of Sacrifice we may imagine our charity though she were cleared out of the mist in her way last Sunday hath now a more malignant darknesse in her eyes an Eclipse a shade that hinders her of the sunnes influence upon her that is to say of the light of grace as if God were pleased a while to leave us to our selves to shew us that when he doth so we are darkened with the Eclipse of our judgements of our understandings as the Sadduces Scribes and Pharisees were when the force of sense was so strong in them they would not believe in the Deity of Christ because the mysteries of his doctrine were some of them above reason though never against it 3. But a farre greater Eclipse it is of grace amongst us when our Pastours our Teachers and Preachers seeking themselves and not Jesus Christ do erect Altar against Altar do bandy and contrast with one another out of self-seeking and so mislead their flocks and make them feed upon the sower and contagious fruits that grow in the eclipse of grace or that wither rather then grow that infect rather then nourish that poison rather then preserve us alive that damne indeed and do not save us that putrifie
proceeded by an Act of mutuall love between the Father and the Sonne but all confesse his procession to be from both while it is from the Father by the Sonne 14. True it is by the passion of our Saviour we are redeemed but if we ask what it is to be redeemed we cannot expresse it better then here the Apostle doth by calling it remission of sinnes for as by sinne we were made slaves to the devil so by remission thereof which we obtain by Christ his passion we are made children of God and are thus redeemed from the captivity of the devil not unlike to men freed from prison by their creditours remitting unto them their debts for which they clapt them up but we are in a more liberall way redeemed from the prison of hell that was our inheritance when Christ not we payes the debt and so it is most freely remitted to us since we neither did nor could pay it our selves The Application 1. BLessed S. Paul we have thee now in half a word the Colossians were as dear to thee as the Ephesians the Romans and all thy other Converts what thou didst write to one upon the news of their conversion by thy preaching thou dost in other terms but in the same spirit write to all the rest Again we know our holy mother the Church reads thy ancient lessons every day anew to us that we her children may be Christian Catholicks like thy happy Converts And to that purpose she brings our charity to day with thy Epistle home to her annuall journeys end as the best usher to lead her to this lifes end also and to the entrance into everlasting life that of eternall happinesse and glory 2. See how to day our holy Mother sets us all a preaching to our selves to this effect while she doth make us pray to God that he will raise up our affections to our own salvations Why Blessed Jesu is it come to that must we be courted to our own felicity can we be lesse then willing to be sav'd I dare not say it but I doubt it much And therefore holy Church I see petitions it lest we should vainly think we had advanced farre when God Almighty knows the many years that passe upon our heads are like so many labours lost and therefore at the end of every year 't is piety to think we do but then begin to wish we were but willing to be sav'd yet we must wish it faithfully sincerely earnestly and we must pray withall that God will graciously please to raise our wish to the perfection of a will at last that if we value not our selves we will not undervalue God Almighty who looks upon us as the apples of his eyes as the fruits of all his labours in creating preserving and governing the world and us in redeeming and saintifying of us for no other end but to save us at the last and that at so easie a rate as can be possible our onely cooperating with him to that happy end our onely being willing be should work in us that saintity we cannot work in our selves without him 3. To conclude the many books of controversie in the point of merit may be summ'd up all in this petition of the Churches Prayer to day so deep so copious so facund and so fecund withall is the spirit of the Holy Ghost couch'd in those teaching Prayers What is it else we say defending merit but that we must cooperate to our salvation but that the more we do cooperate the greater Saints we are but that the improvement we make of one grace procures us another greater then the former but that we so take in hand the work of our salvation as we do not think it is nor can be any work of ours but must be still the work of God in us though by us too whose onely part is to be pulling down the greater remedies of his Piety towards us by improving his lesser and to be drawing from him grace upon grace so fast untill by means thereof we render our selves a fruit of the work divine as ripe as grace can make us here ready then to be transplanted into heaven where yet the sunne of glory will mature us more so farre indeed as we shall never fear to be corrupted but shall hang upon the tree of everlasting life an ornament to the celestiall Paradise Say now the Prayer above and see how home it is to this construction in it self to this instruction of us by it if we say it in the sense above The Gospel Matth. 24.15 15 Therefore when you shall see the Abomination of desolation which was spoken of by Daniel the Prophet standing in the holy place he that readeth let him understand 16 Then they that are in Jewry let them flee to the mountains 17 And he that is on the house top let him not come down to take any thing out of his house 18 And he that is in the field let him not go back to take his coat 19 And wo to them that are with child and that give suck in those dayes 20 But pray that your flight be not in winter nor on the Sabboth 21 For there shall be then great tribulation such as hath not been from the beginning of the world untill now neither shall be 22 And unlesse those dayes had been shortened no flesh should be saved but for the Elect the dayes shall be shortned 23 Then if any man shall say unto you Lo here is Christ or there do not believe him 24 For there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great signes and wonders so that the Elect also if it be possible may be induced into errour 25 Lo I have foretold you 26 If therefore they shall say unto you Behold he is in the desert go ye not out behold in the closets believe it not 27 For as lightening cometh out of the East and appeareth even to the West so shall the Advent of the Son of man be 28 Wheresoever the body is thither shall the Eagles also be gathered together 29 And immediately after the tribulation of those dayes the Sun shall be darkened and the Moon shall not give her light and the Starres shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be moved 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven and then shall all tribes of the earth bewaile and they shall see the Son of man comeing in the clouds of heaven with much power and majestie 31 And he shall send his Angels with a Trumpet and a great voyce and they shall gather together his Elect from the four winds from the furthest parts of heaven even to the ends thereof 32 And of the fig-tree learn a Parable when now the bough thereof is tender and the leaves come forth you know that Summer is nigh 33 So you also when you shall see these things know ye that it is nigh even at the
and so make the Surges much more horrid than when they are caus'd by the most boisterous winds ploughing up onely the even surface of the waters but here probably the very Sands Stones and Rocks will all boil up from the deep roaring like Thunder in the ears of all Nations whatsoever And we may guess at the confusion of this sound when it shall be heard and known distinct from that of the generall summons given by the Angels in the sound of Trumpets breaking even the deepest sleep of death awaking and raising dead men from their graves 26. It is indeed an usuall effect of fear to make men pine away and look like withering plants nor is man other than a rationall plant if well considered in all his parts and though here the cause of pining seem to be the sadness of mans expectation what shall become not onely of himself but of the whole world besides yet what followes tells us this expectation is but an effect of the powers of Heaven being moved that is removed from us by having their usuall influence into earthly creatures obstructed for so we now depend upon their influencies that we see the least or shortest ecclipse of either Sun or Moon is sensibly felt in all the creatures of the earth by some present or future disturbance to their well-being insomuch that should the Sun but miss to make his annuall or diurnall revolution all the plants upon the earth would wither immediately and cause a famine over the whole universe so absolutely necessary is the Suns heat to the cold earthy nature that is cherisht by it 27. This verse will litterally occur in the 24. Sunday after Pentecost and shall be there expounded 28. We are here told the confusion of this dismall day shall not be void of comfort to the just at least while they are all advised to hold up their heads to Heaven in hope to receive the fruit of their redemption for when the Apostle tells them their redemption is at hand he means the fruits thereof since we all know the work of our redemption was the past passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and it will be here with the just thus looking up to Heaven as with the holy Patriarchs and Prophets it formerly was when with the like action Isai c. 38. v. 14. tels us His eyes were weary with looking dayly for many years together up on high in hope to see the promised Messias come from thence Thus will it fare with the just at the time when these fore-running signes portend the second coming of our Saviour in the nature of a Judge sharing out to every Just the fruits of his Redemption Glory and salvation which then was said to be at hand because all time is but a moment or instant to eternity 29. The gloss above is made good by this verse following which likens the generall Judgement of the just unto the spring in respect of the then promised fruits of their labours unto all the husband-men upon the earth onely what Analogy St. Matthew chap. 21. makes between the fig-tree and this day of Doom St. Luke doth make between that and all other trees or plants whatsoever since as every springing plant first or last brings forth some fruit or other and therewith some seed to conserve the kind or species of the plant so every Christian soul that hath but the least vegetation of grace within her bringing forth thence some spiritual fruit may hope to reap in time the seed of her salvation by it and therefore with reason should look up to Heaven though Hell do seem to meet it when all things are in this confusion The 30 31 32 and 33 Verses following in this Gospel are in a manner verbatim the same with the close of the last Sundays gospel in this book and so being there largely expounded need here no further exposition The Application 1. THerefore holy Church to day joynes a Gospel of Judgement to an Epistle of the Incarnation to let us see we cannot at a less rate than the hazard of a most rigorous Judgement omit to celebrate the holy time of Advent by acknowledging the second coming of Christ shall be to punish those eternally in the next world who have not made him a Religious welcome into this 2. And because our holy Mother found we were not apt to do our Christian duties purely out of love to God therefore having given us at least that motive first in this dayes Epistle She addes now the other of holy Fear which the memory of the day of Judgment needs must striks into us O let us now by frequent acts of holy Fear prevent the danger of our then despair yes now while every minute of Repentance is able to purchase an eternall recompence Let us I say now do that which then in vain we shall wish to have done if we now omit to do it 3. But happy they who shall prevent the latter fear with a present love by making the whole doctrine of this day the rule of their practice by so securing Man-God to be their friend that they need not fear God-man to be their Judge and doubtless that is holy Churches aime to day whilst to prevent Christ calling us to a fearfull indeed a dreadfull Judgement She calls on him to a chearfull Incarnation Praying as above by the Protection of his grace to be freed from all dangers here and by the deliverance of a happy sentence to be finally saved there On the second Sunday of Advent The Antiphon MAT. 11. ver 3. ARt thou he that art to come or look we for another Goe and report to John what you have seen the Blind see the Dead rise again to the Poor the Gospel is preached Vers Drop c. as before pag. 1. Resp Be the Earth c. The Prayer RAise up our hearts O Lord towards preparing the wayes of thine onely begotten Son that by his coming amongst us we may deserve to serve thee with purifyed soules The Illustration IN the last Sundayes Prayer we besought Almighty God to rowse up his own power and come away to those that had four thousand years expected him now to day we beseech his Divine Majesty to raise up our hearts towards him left our but lately opened eyes from the sleep of sin do close again if our raised hearts affections do not keep them open for lumpish hearts are many times the cause of sleeping eyes and indeed what hearts so lumpish as those that are addicted unto lumps of flesh to carnall and terrene desires which as they ever draw us downward so must they of necessity make us dronish and drowsie in the service of Almighty God this day therefore finding the danger of a sinfull effect we deprecate the cause thereof we pray to be rid of the lumpishness of our hearts and that we may have them vigilant active vigorous raised and rowsed up by Almighty God to high and Heavenly thoughts
have it so but in a way clean contrary then we are not of one minde nor do we speak forth his praises with one mouth which yet we doe when out of severall mouthes we express one and the same will and way to praise Almighty God The Apostle seemes to insert the glorifying God and the Father of Jesus Christ under two severall notions to let us see that as Christ was man he was also truly the Son of God because as the second Person had in Heaven a Father without a Mother so in Earth Christ had a Mother without any Father save onely God in Heaven 7. For the which cause that is to shew you are all of one mind c. receive help and cherish one another being Christians or in order that you may be so as Christ hath received you that were Gentiles unto the honor of God to the same Church with his native and chosen People th◠Jewes and of all severall nations made up one joynt honour and glory to the Divine Majesty 8. True it is Christ was sent by his Heavenly Father with Commission as it were unto the Jewes onely and therefore he did live and die amongst them to verifie those promises which God had made them in Abraham and the Prophets for as the law was onely given unto and kept among the Jewes so the promises and predictions of that law did onely appertain to them and were necessarily to be made good amongst them as indeed most exactly they were by Christ and this in virtue of Cōmission from his Heavenly Father For which cause he is called here Minister of the Circumcision though he abrogated that law in regard he did all his life time administer to the circumcised his labours and pains by Teaching Preaching Curing and infinite other wayes serving the Jewes in order to their Redemption and this directly and principally to prove the veracity of God who had promised to send the Jewes a Messias that should do this and by doing this he was truly and properly their Minister 9. But not to the Gentiles so because he came to them for mercy onely and ultroneously to shew his goodnesse was not limited to the bounds of his Commission to the Jewes but might and did mercifully extend it self also to the Gentiles thereby to amplifie the honour and glory of God in doing more than could be expected of him and that to a people who had no promise nor any hope thereof Though it was not onely foreseen that Christ would doe this act of ultroneous grace and mercy but fore-told by the royall Prophet Psal 17. ver 50 as followes in this nineth verse of the Epistle 10. And as Deut. 32. ver 43. The Prophet sayes of the Gentiles Rejoice ye Gentiles with his People that is with the People of God with the Jewes for your Conversion also and sing forth praise to God for his mercy shewed to you therein 11. Here it is declared that not onely some few Nations of the Gentiles but even all of them shall be first or last made partakers of these mercies and thereby are bound to praise our Lord. 12. By the root of Jesse is here meant a Branch of that root namely Christ Jesus the son of David and of Jesse as Isaias saith in another place There shall spring a rod from the root of Jesse Isai 11. ver 1. which Rod is Iesus descended as above and yet with reason enough Christ is called the root of Iesse too for though as man he was but a branch of David his root yet as God he was the root of David his Creature again David was rather his Seed than his Root because he had not from David to be Redeemer of the World but was himself the Root of Davids and all Mankinds redemption and sprouting forth as from the Root of goodnesse in himself branches of Grace and Glory to David and all those whom he was graciously pleased to predestinate for Heirs to God and Coheires to himself in his Heavenly Kingdome The hope of which Kingdome he hath mercifully given as well to the Gentiles as faithfully by promise he gave to the Iewes 13. The Apostle here calls him the God of Hope as above Verse 5. he did call him the God of Peace and Comfort and prayes he will replenish them with all Ioy and peace as who should say both Jew and Gentile setting aside former distances now are to Joy in this that they are made one in Christ Iesus and therefore must live in peace together as the members of a naturall Body since they are become Members of Christ his Mysticall Body that by so living they may both abound in hope of one reward enough for both the Kingdome of Heaven and this through the Vertue that is Charity or the Grace of the holy Ghost wherein he also prayes they may both abound The Application 1. IF what is here written be to our Instruction 't is to make us be the Saints we are not yet 't is to facilitate the way by shewing us how the Jew and Gentile were both Saincted by Christianity The Roots whereof are the three Theologicall Vertues Faith Hope and Charity which indeed doe briefly summe up this whole Epistle in the last Verse thereof and are given us as the best preparatives to make way for Jesus into our Hearts Faith we see made Jew and Gentile both one Church O may it grow to such an excellence in us to abolish Heresie from Christianity and because it is a speciall gift of God let it be our daily Prayer that he will give it unto all the World Turk Heathen Pagan Jew 2. Hope keeps together those that Faith uniteth and like an Ancre in a storme secures the Ship of Christ in highest seas of Persecution May then the Hope of future mercy inable us to undergo our present Misery may the example of the Saints before us encourage us to be like patterns unto our Posterity as they have been to us that were our Predecessours 3. Charity makes operative both our Faith and Hope sends the Believer with the hazard of his life to propagate the Faith of Christ throughout the World and directs our present actions to such a rectitude of their intentions as may secure a future possession of their Hopes So without Charity in vain we Hope in vain men doe believe and are rather nominall than reall Christians such as cry out at the latter day Lord Lord and shall hear him say I know you not while you professe belief in Jesus Christ and offer dayly sacrifice to the Devill while you pretend a hope of Heaven and doe such actions as can onely merrit Hell while you call one another brethren in Christ and bear a mutuall hatred greater than the Gentile bore the Jew for want of those Heart-raising virtues this Epistle recommends and bids us Pray as above that by the frequent acts thereof we may both prepare the way of Christ and be able by his coming
abundance or store enough of Scripture for them to be able inwardly to abound withall and to conferre wisely thereupon with one another nay even to teach themselves if the Priest fail to doe it how to square their actions according to the Word of God the Law of Christ the instinct of the holy Ghost and the rule of his immediate substitutes the Pastours of holy Church whose preaching may be more ample but must not be to other sense than what they find delivered to be the true meaning of the holy Scriptures so shall they be ever in grace singing c. that is in thanks-giving to God for having received thus much of his holy Word expounded to them in their own native tongue and rendring him much more thanks for having left so much more of the Gospell as they have not here expounded full of the same delightfull and solid substance conducing to their Souls salvation and even this thankfulness of their hearts is the singing here mentioned for out of their abundant gratitude they will be alwayes praising God with some discourses of this nature which will sound in the ears of our heavenly Lord as so many Hymnes Psalmes and Canticles of praise unto his Divine Majesty 17. And consequently will beget in us a habit of doing as this last verse exhorteth us to doe namely directing all our words and actions to the honour and glory of God the Father Creating us God the Son Redeeming us and God the holy Ghost Sanctifying us and commanding that we remember our acquaintance with the sacred and undivided Trinity came unto us by the means of the second Person thereof wherefore in recognizance of that infinite obligation to thâ— second Person which was Christ Jesus all our thoughts words and deeds all our prayers and praisings of this great God shall then be most acceptable when they fall from our lips or flow from our hands imbellished with this adorning memory of being said and done in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord which is partly a Precept and partly a Counsell and certainly it is a negative precept that is to say it forbids us now to call upon God in the name of Moses or of his Angels or of his Saints directly as in former times the Jewes did saying Let not our Lord speak to us lest we die no let Moses speak whereas now we are bound to say Let not Moses but Christ speak to us nor let the Angels or Saints be our immediate recourse but be Christ the principall refuge we have and if by Saints or Angels we help our selves be it as they are more in favour to intercede for us than our selves are but so as still by them we aim at Christ for our Assistant for our Redeemer for our Saviour so as by his not by their Merits we hope to be saved though by their intercessions rather than our own we may hope of Christ to be heard And thus from the negative precept as above we come to finde it as well a positive or affirmative command as it is a counsell to direct all our thoughts words and deeds to Christ as to our last end of those Actions which must first in his Grace have beginning This I say is an habituall precept however it may be but an actuall Counsell that is to say in generall all we think say or do must to be meritorious be virtually at least directed to God by the merits of Christ our Lord his Son But we are not under precept bound actually to make this application of all we say or doe for to this we are onely counselled and it is indeed the best counsell we can or give or take if at every thought word or deed we make attend an act of directing it to our last end our souls Salvation through the merits of Christ Jesus which God of his infinite goodnesse grant we may doe by a sweet custome of so doing not by a scrupulous perturbation of minde if we fail therein for nothing so certain as that we shall fail and then to afflict our Souls otherwise than by endeavour to mend next time is so far from Vertue that it is a very dangerous vice of scruple as if it were in our powers not to be failing men or as if God were a Tyrant and would expect under pain of Sin from us that which he onely counsels but commands not so our failings is rather Infirmities than Sins and at such we ought rather with the Apostle to glory in them than to be troubled at them 2 Cor. 12. ver 15 God forbid saith he I should glory but in my own Infirmities that is to see how in the midst of them he was still supported and assisted by the grace of God alwayes enabling him to endeavour at least to doe all things to Gods Glory as the same Apostle exhorted the Corinthians to do in his first Epistle to them chap. 10. ver 31. and as we may laudably endeavour all our life time to doe but must never be afflicted to finde our selves fail of doing it since it is rather a counsell than a precept and so to fail in this is rather infirmity than sin as I said above and which I choose to repeat because I would have it fixed in the memory of all scrupulous Souls for their comforts and their Ghostly Fathers ease whom they often tire with their needless scruples in such trifles as these for want of rightly stating the duty of a Christian to themselves The Application 1. LAst Sundayes service told us of the dangers we were in this points us out our best defence in dangers To body our selves and take up our Mansions in the Bowels of Christ Jesus for so we doe by being our selves mercifull to others as he hath been to us as if the sharpest sword against an enemy were to have pitty or mercy on him 2. Now we are bid above all to love him too for to pardon him is not enough and to be in Peace with him if we expect our selves to be members of the same Mysticall Body whereof he is a member though our enemy and since it is apparent out of this dayes Text that by Peace with one another we are united members to our common Head Christ Jesus we must by this peace exulting in our hearts defend our selves and others from the common enemy 3. Then shall we declare this Peace to be in our Hearts when the Word of God is alwayes in our mouthes when we are singing forth the praises of our Lord to shew we glory in no other Generall than Jesus Christ we need no other weapon than his holy Word no other sheild than his proteâ—ting Grace against our greatest enemies And therefore we pray to Day as bodyed all in one Family c. The Gospel MAT. 13. ver 24. c. 24. ANother Parable he proposed unto them saying The Kingdome of Heaven is resembled to a man that sowed good seed in his field 25. But
in Evang. upon these words of S. Luke Chap. 21. v. 9. When you hear of warrs and seditions be not troubled at such evils because sayes hee many evils must here fore-run that they may put us in minde of evills without end and so make us avoid Temporary lest we plunge our selves into eternall evils confiding in his that wee serve a God who alâ—ne is able to cull good out of evill 30. Hence therefore the Master bids his men let the weeds grow up with the corn untill harvest let the bad men live together with the good till the day of judgement which is the true harvest indeed that brings home the whole crop of nature rectified by grace into the barn of glorie We are here to note that though formerly the word of God were called the seed or good wheat yet here the just are called by the same name as if the cause weâ—e â—xpressed by the effect for Saints are indeed the fruitfull effects of the Gospel the holy word of God On the other side sinners are the ill seed or cockle in this place specified and by the Reapers we may account are here meant the Angels that are to summon all the world to Judgement and in that summons to sever the cockle from the corn the wicked from the just binding up these in bundles as so many piles of fuell for hell-fire and ranging those as stacks of corn fit to be made bread of life for the heavenly Table of Almighty God The Application 1. SInce it is by his protecting Grace wee must hope whilst we are asleep to bee defended from the enemie who then doth machinate our mischief let it be our parts while we are awake not to sow any cockle our selves of ill manners if not of false doctrine in the field of our soules for then no marvell if while we sleep this ill seed sown by us grow up and choak the good corn sowed in our hearts by the seeds-men of holy Church the Pastors of our souls 2. Since wee are not able to avoid the alternate rest of night after a toylesome day let us at least in the day time stand upon a close guard and be sure not to sleep that is not to loose the presence of Almighty God and fall into the trance of transitory pleasures such as pash us in pieces against the Rocks of sin and under pretence of yeelding us a present momentary dâ—light purchase us eternall torments 3. Since we cannot tell even when we doe best whether we deserve love or hatred we have great reason to fear lest we may be separated at the latter day from the blessed as Cockle sit for nothing but hell fire and out of that religious fear let us work out our salvation with trembling by planting in our souls the roots and seeds of vertues and for better doing it Let us pray to day with Holy Church as above to be secured from the danger of damnation by our sole hope in the protecting and saving grace of Jesus Christ our Lord. On the sixth Sunday after the EPIPHANY The Antiphon MAT. 13. ver 33. THE kingdome of heaven is like to leaven which a woman tooke and hid in three measures of meale untill the whole was leavened Vers Let my prayer c. Resp Even as Incense c. The Prayer GRant we beseech thee Almighty God that alwaies meditating those things which are reasonable we may both in our words and deeds doe what is pleasing unto Thee The Illustration I Have met with some prodigious wits of both sexes who conferring with me about this my designe when it was in hand would laughing say I might perhaps as well adjust this Prayer to the Epistle and Gospel of the day as I should be able to perswade them it was other than a meere paradox and if it were possible for men alwaies to meditate upon reasonable things considering how irrationally all the world was commonly distracted so as friends they advised me if I would goe on to change at least this Prayer and put some other in the place of it lesse paradoxicall in it self and more suiteable than this could be either to the Epistle or Gospel of the day which they read over and over before they spent this judgement upon me and my designe To these I answered pleasantly as me thought they spake to me though I perceived they were serious too That if they observed the Gospel it was all Parabolicall and therefore admit that were true they said it was not unsuiteable on this day to have a Prayer Paradoxicall since Parables and Paradoxes were of near allyance but further let me now ask all the world if it be not reasonable the Church should pray most fervently for that which is most hard to doe as it seemes men account it the hardest thing in the world alwaies to meditate on reasonable things and yet the harder this is to doe the more necessary it is to pray for grace at least to enable us thereunto since even â—hese prodigious wits would think a man unmannerly that should tell them th y were irrationall soules at any time and yet what difference there is between being irrationall and thinking and doing for the most part unreasonable things I doe not well know sure I am reason alwaies dictates to doe well and as sure I am that a sinne is an irrationall act as it is certainely a thing ill done nay if I had said every sinne were so farre forth against nature as it is against reason I think I should not exceed verity in that assertion and since all that men doe like men they premeditate therefore with reason we pray this day least our actions should prove unnaturall that our meditations or thoughts should be rational for none other are connaturall to men as men though often they creep upon us and so render our actions more bestiall than rationall more unnaturall than naturall To conclude though many of our actions passe among men as rationall which yet are not so indeed therefore we pray to day that really they may be so since God is not deceiveable as man is and since no unreasonable thought or deed can passe with him for reason or be pleasing to him see then if it be not very fitting to pray that corrupted Nature may by Grace be elevated to the operations suiting Nature in her best rectitude when even so she is crooked enough in the sight of God who is Rectitude Essentiall But least while we condescend to satisfie curiosity we forget our maine designe let us see how this Prayer suits indeed with the other parts of this daies service which with the Epistle it seemes to doe whilest petitioning Reason to be the guide of all our actions it puts us in mind of a rationall persisting to doe well since by Gods grace we are called with the Thessalonians to the profession of the same faith which this daies Epistle from first to last exhorts them to continue in maugre
supernaturall propensions by hearing the most elevating Word of God Symbolically Saint Hilary sayes This leaven of the Gospell was hid in the three measures of meal the Law the Psalmes and the Prophets and now appears in the Trinity of the three Theologicall Vertues Faith Hope and Charity or as others will have it to the three sorts of Believers Beginners Proficients and Perfect who bring forth loaves of fruit swollen to these correspondent proportions of Thirty Sixty or an Hundred fold increase of bigness Allegorically Saint Bernard makes the wombe of the Blessed Virgin Mother of Christ to be the leaven of the Hypostaticall union having a seasoning influence into the three parts of Christ his Soul his Body his Divinity uniting them all in one Person or one loaf made of these three measures of meal as above Anagogically Caesarius Dial. 4. Sayes the woman is the divine wisdome or deity of Christ the three measures oâ— meal are all humane natures death and hell and the leaven Christs humanity hid in his grave and in hell whither his humane soul went with his deity seasoning all mankind into the blessed condition of a resurrection from death and purgatory to life eternall in everlasting glory 34 35. There is no more mystery in these two verses than litterally they sound onely this we may observe that as all the whole 77 Psalme of David is a kind of parabolicall or aenigmaticall grave sententious speech because in that psalme he speakes prophetically of this manner of parabolicall speech of Christ therefore to verifie that prophesie Christ here speakes both in grave and truely parabolicall senses though David have much of litterall sence in his said psalme as where he recounts the Benefits God bestowed on the Synagogue or children of Israel in their forty years march with Moses through the red sea and the desert from Aegypt to Canaan the land of promise yet S. Hierome saies that David the type of Christ speakes there mystically as in Christs person promising to his Church infinite blessings namely to man passing through the red sea of his passion and through the desert of this world into the heavenly Canaan or promised land of Glory And for that purpose Christ here ends his parabolical discourse with this second verse of that 77 Psalme of the royall Prophet David I will open my mouth in parables I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world The Application 1. AS it was reason Christ should speak in Parables to verifie what was prophecied of him according to the last Verse in this Gospell so with those Parables he is said with great reason doubtless To utter things hidden from the foundation of the World we may suppose the hidden Mysteries of the Blessed Trinity and of the Incarnation in particular and in generall the workes of Faith whereof Saint Paul in this dayes Epistle mindes the Thessalonians and in them all after Believers For it was indeed the main business our Saviour had to doe upon Earth to plant a Faith in mens mindes whereby they might work out their salvation Hope and Charity assisting the said work of Faith as Saint Paul above cited sayes 2. As it was reason Christ should verifie the Prophets sayings of him so was it reason he should draw the Ignorant multitude to a belief of the greatest Mysteries of Faith by degrees as he did in first speaking Parables and then expounding of them by his Apostles at least in so rationall a way that they easily took all he said for good when they had heard good sense to be wrapt up in his Parabolicall speeches which at first they understood not so what seemed to be spoken to blind their understandings was indeed intended to open them and thus did Christ reasonably condescend when he seemed most unreasonably to transcend the capacities of the People 3. As the Mustard seed of Divine Faith and the leaven of Christian Doctrine have seasoned the whole world with Christianity so is it great reason they being both received into our hearts should in such sort season the little world we are within our selves that all our actions may be answerable to those hidden roots of Religion planted in our hearts as then they will bee when our thoughts are alwayes meditating upon those Christian Duties which in reason we are alwayes bound unto And that we may doe this the Church reasonably prayes to day as above On SEPTUAGESIMA Sunday The Antiphon MAT. 20. ver 6. THe housholder said unto his workmen What stand you here all the day idle but they answering said Because no man hath hired us Goe ye also into my Vineyard and what shall be just I will give you Vers Let my prayer c. Resp Even as Incense c. The Prayer VVEe beseech thee O Lord clemently to hear the Prayers of thy People that we who for our sinnes are justly punished for the Glory of thy Name may be mercifully delivered The Illustration WEe were in the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany taught to pray much to this purpose but we must not think much of repeating the same Prayer when we dayly repeat the same Sins which are the cause of our increased punishments yet we shall finde that danger was there the punishment we deprecated here it is labour either in the race we are by the Epistle bid to run or in the paines the Gospell calls us too in the Vineyard of Christ as if we were hereby given to understand our life in this world is a continuall toil and labour to deserve an eternall rest in the next But further we are to note this Prayer is particularly proper to this day not onely as referring literally in a manner to the Epistle and Gospell but even to the whole Series of holy Churches service upon this Septuagesima Sunday when the Priest in his office is bid begin the story of Genesis thereby to minde us we should from this day begin to serve God as if we were but newly created for that purpose and yet lest we should forget that we were no sooner created than we had by sin annihilated as it were our selves and lost our right of return to that All-being the Creator of Heaven and Earth from whence we came out of our nothing See the Prayer of this Day puts us in minde of our degenerating from God by Sin But withall of our return to him by Repentance if we cooperate with his holy Grace who is ever more ready to give than we are to ask him Pardon Now in regard the Epistle of this day falls from the simile between a Christians life and those who runn a race and mindes us of the Children of Israels going out of Aegypt into the Land of promise of the Cloud and of the Red Sea wherein they were by Moses as it were Baptized as also the Rock which followed them to quench their Thirst and of the Manna from Heaven to be their Food we must observe that this Story
the holy Altar not his reall body as we doe so the true sence of this place is that as they all did eat one figurative bread and had one faith in God so doe we but yet as their faith and food did not carry them all to Canaan so will not faith alone carâ—y us to heaven without good works 4. This verse is harder than the former in regard it will not be easy to shew how they drank of that rock that followed them unlesse we allow they drank of Christs bloud as well as we now doe since Christ is truely the rock that did follow them or came after them and issued out his pretious bloud for us really to drink againe Christ was a spiritual rock as here is said not a reall rock of stone for the true understanding therefore of this place we must know by spirituall rock is here understood a mysticall or typicall rock and such was the reall and naturall rock out of which Moses commanded water with a stroak of his rod and yet that reall rock was but a mystery type or figure of Christ and so in regard of that mystery is called here spirituall because it did praefigure the rock of Christ some therefore say with the Hebrewes that this rock did miraculously follow the children of Israel even to the land of Promise grounded in that text Numb 21. ver 16. Others conceive this to be verified by the water of the rock following the children of Israel at least till they came where plenty of more water was others think following them is veryfied by the obedience the rock shewed to issue out water once at Moses command so by follow they understand obey but this falls short of the gramatticall signification of the word follow so the true and genuine sence of the Apostle is that this rock as it was a type of Christ so the following of this rock is typicall and not reall Spiritual and not naturall as who should say Christ who corporally followed them many yeares after did spiritually now follow them that is in his sacred Deity or as he was God not man marched with them from the beginning to the end and so by his providence still supplyed them with water which was in effect to make the rock follow them so here Christ his divinity was the thing signified by the water out of the rock which did represent the same and to clear this sence the Apostle sayes in plaine termes the spirituall rock here meant by the material or natural rock was Christ Those are his words But the rock was Christ as who should say what we mean by this spirituall rock following them was Christ his divinity for his humanity was not then in being when spiritually he did follow them nor doth it urge against this truth what is further objected they did drink of this rock but the rock they drâ—nk of was the materiall rock therefore that material rock was not onely a type of the spirituall but was truely the spirituall rock since as the drink was materiall water so the rock must be the maâ—eriall rock for it is answered the water they drank was typicall because it was a figure of Christs Deity and so the materiality of both rock and water hinder not the spirituality of Type or Figure in them both To conclude the Allegory of this place holds thus Christ was this rock who was therefore sayd strucken by Moses because the Iewes were of the Mosaicall Synagogue who struck Christ to death by the Rod of the holy Crosse the bloud of which rock was satiating drink to the true believers and was water of contradiction to the Incredulous Iewes who will not believe in his deity and misbelieving hereticks that deny the reality of his blessed body and bloud in the Sacrament of the holy Altar by whose virtue we are carried through the desart of this world into the heavenly Land of Promise nor will it follow that therefore these words of Christ saying this is my body are to be understood as hereticks pretend This is a figure of my body as here we say this is a spiritual rock that signifies This is a figure of a spiritual rock because Christ doth not say this is a figure of my body or this is my body spiritually meant no but this is my body absolutely and really the same which shall be crucified for your sinns upon the crosse as it was indeed not onely figuratively but really besides the sixth verse of this Chapter cleares all doubt of this point saying in expresse termes These things were done as in a figure to us so here is a plaine profession of a figurative speech in the Apostle we find none such of any figurative speech of Christ when he said This is my body 5. This fifth verse confirmes what was said before That Faith alone without good works was not enough to bring the children of Israel into the Land of Promise and consequently much more are good works necessary to bring us to heaven lest as the greatest part of the Hebrew people perished in the desart so the greatest part of Christians be damned if they lead not lives answerable to their Faith and Religion The Application 1. FRom the first Sunday in Advent to the Nativity of our Saviour the Churches service represents the senility or decrepit age of Judaism weary of old expectation and longing for the coming of new hopes in Jesus Christ Yet to shew the Jews were dear to God he gave them a happy period a glorious Catastrophy in John the Baptist 2. From the Nativity to this Septuagesima Sunday the Holy Church hath fed us with the admirable doctrine of out Infantile Christianity beginning with the Infant Jesus and teaching us how to walk religiously as so many Infants and children of grace 3. From this day to the end of Lent the service runs upon another strain minding us of the forfeiture of our first Father Adam made of that Repose and Rest he was created in and of the toil and labour hee drew upon himself and his whole Posterity by his disobedience so the vicility or perfect man-hood of humane nature is the state wee are now taught to perfect And therefore this Epistle brings us into the school of vertue to day neither as decrepid men nor as new born Infants but as active youths all running of a race to win the Prize of heaven and this to verifie the curse imposed on our Father Adam of eating his bread in the sweat of his brows So that toyl and labour is wee see most justly inflicted on us for the punishment of sin and all the rest we can hope for must be by the meer mercy of our Lord who yet is ready to give us an eternall Rest in the next life for a short race here for a little labour taken to glorifie God by loving our own souls Say then beloved the Prayer above as the fittest Petition for the performance of our present
these are in number many in regard of the blessed that are saved but in the other opinion making both first and last saved soules it is hard to solve how all that are called are not also chosen since every saved soule is elected to salvation But Malâ—onat solves it thus saying out of the precedent particular assertion that the first shall be last and the last first he now makes a generall conclusion affirming many are called but not many chosen as in such a kind of way he spake in the precedent Chapter ver 23. how hard it was for all rich men to be saved because once a wealthy young man refused the counsell of holy poverty given unto him others say by many called are included all because all are many though few onely are saved others will have it that all are called to observance of the Commandements but not all to the observance of evangelical Counsels or all to grace but few to glory The Application HOw ever S. Paul in his Epistle to day seems to set us all a running over the Race of this life each upon his uttermost speed for the gaining of his own soul onely yet S. Matthew in this Gospel gives us hope we may gaine heaven for others as well as for our selves while he sets us all on work in the Vineyard of our Lord where the fruits of our labours are common though our reward be but particular 2. Hence it is this days Gospel points directly at the Pastors of Gods Church and at the missionary Priests set on work in the Vineyard of Christ for gaining soules by converting of the whole world yet indirectly it alludes to every soules particular indeavours in cultivating of their own special land in hope of gaining heaven by the sweat of their browes 3. So still we see toyle and labour is to be the life of man upon earth who forfeited all his temporall rest by Adams sinne and though our Saviour purchas 't againe an eternall rest for us in the next world yet that future rest must be gained â—y a perpetuall present labour here most justly inflicted one us for the punishment of sinne Hence we fitly pray to day as above On SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY The Antiphon LUKE 8. ver 10. TO you it is given to know the mysterie of the Kingdome of God but to others in parables said Jesus to his disciples Vers Let my prayer c. Resp Even as Incense c. The Prayer O God who seest we confide not in any of our own Actions grant us propitiously that against all adversities we may be armed by the protection of the Doctor of the Gentiles The Illustration I Have known hundreds even Priests themselves much admire at this prayer wherein Saint Paul with his best attribute is so unexpectedly brought in when not the least mention of any feast to him sacred is made by holy Church either in the office or service of the day and though I might in so hard a condition as I am now plunged into for making my designe good to day pretend it were sufficient for all the whole Church to be commanded to pray as now the mother Church of Rome doth this day unto Saint Paul whose Station is now kept in that holy City with great concourse of people thereunto yet this were to runne my selfe upon the rock of why not other Saints to be brought as unexpectedly into the prayers of the Church by this account as well as two onely are in all the year Saint Paul to day Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian upon Midlent-Thursday though we shall find every day in the year made sacred to some Saint or other by the frequentation of their stations in the City of Rome besides if this might satisfie others it must not be satisfaction to me because it comes not home to my designe of adjusting the Prayer to the Epistle and Gospel of the day unlesse we can find it as suitable to the latter as it is indeed to the former relating from first to last the whole story in a manner of Saint Pauls life though truely in the Gospel there is not one syllable of him wherefore if meditation had not helped us out this concordant designe had been very discordantly broken off but upon a day or two spent in prayer to find out some report between these parts of holy Churches services and upon remembring it was but last Sunday we were taught our life was a mere labour here upon earth and that we were all hired as labourers to work in the Vineyard of Christ me thought it was not strange this next Gospell should bring us in labouring indeed and like so many husband men sowing with corne the Vineyard we had lately ploughed up nor was it then so strange to heare us call upon the chiefe labourer now in eternall rest Saint Paul to help us with his intercession that our labours might be if not as great or as profitable at least as incessant as his were who by the common suffrages of all the Church will easily be granted to have been the chiefe Seeds-man thereof though Saint Peter were the chiefe pastor or governour and if so then it will be a most proper prayer on that day when the Gospell runns all upon sowing seed in severall grounds as to day it doth that the principall Seeds-man be called upon to help us the chiefe Preacher he that is stiled the Doctor of Gentiles or Nations for his eminence in preaching that is to say in sowing the word of God in the hearts of men and that this word is the seed to day made mention off we have our Saviours own authority to avouch it so we cannot be said to have strained this sense out of the prayer to day because it is as genuine to it as the Word of God in the parable is to the seed our Saviour doth compare it unto and look how many waies Expositors make Analogies between the Word and Seed so many waies at least shall we find this a proper prayer both to the Epistle and Gospel of the day and we may hope for the same answer from heaven whilest we complaining like S. Paul do look up thither and say we cannot confide in any of our own actions and therefore begge Almighty God will propitiously grant us in all our adversities that we may be armed with the protection of the Doctor of the Gentiles that is to say not onely by his prayer for our perseverance who were with Adam last Sunday sent to gaine our bread with the sweat of our browes but further by his protection namely by the same protection which was S. Pauls in all his temptations and difficulties the grace of God for this is that answer which was given to him in the height of his complaints Saul Saul My Grace sufficeth thee and truly the same Grace is more than an abundant protection for all the world nor can any man in the whole vniverse ask this protection with more
we lack but also whatsoever we can rationally ask of him who is no niggard of his favours and while the blind man askes his sight we may conceive he askes as much as his life too for a blind man is like a visible death to all other men and a sensible one unto himself since he can feele misery on all sides but see comfort no way to which purpose see Tobias Cap. 5. ver 12. and heare Saint Ambrose Uti tristes sunt c. As the day without Sun-shine is but sad and the nights without Moone-light not so pleasing so is the life of man deprived of the light of his body his eyes for they the Sunne and Moone are as it were the eyes of the world and without their lustre the heavens themselevs do suffer a deformity of blindnesse And S. Austine upon this place saies Tota igitur vita c. Our whole lifes exercise therefore is but to cure this eye of the heart to this end hath Almighty God instituted all the holy Mysteries to this end is the word of God preached to this end tend all Ecclesiastical exhortations c. Let us therefore all cry out O Lord give us the light of Grace to see the turpitude of sinne the vilitie of concupiscence the exilitie of pleasure the atrocity of hell fire the beauty of virtue the happinesse of Paradise the eternity of Glory Amen 42. No marvel our Saviour gave so speedy a reward to so strong a Faith the cause taken once away the effect must needs cease the cause of this corporall blindnesse was spirituall coecity the blind-mans infidelity which taken away by Faith he enjoyes immediately his corporall sight and so hath the effect gone upon surcease of the cause nor need we scruple to make this exposition when our Saviour saies in expresse termes This mans Faith was his cure for if so then Infidelity was his disease 43. We cannot read this story without being moved to imitate the gratitude of the blind man in giving thankes for the benefit received as we shall be forward enough to imitate his importunity in calling to God for help in our necessities and what was his gratitude his following our Saviour magnifying and praysing of him as also did all the people that were witnesse to the benefit received that we would our selves thus testifie our own gratitudes thus get all the world to help us expresse our thanks for such benefits as they all see we receive daily and hourly from almighty God since we have an assurance if we goe as farre with him as this blind man did to his passion to his Cross to his death to his grave he will raise us with him to a new life of grace here and to an eternall life of Glory in the next world The Application 1. AS it was this blind mans Faith that made him corporally whole so was it his love and charity that made him spiritually sound that did shake off the Fetters of his affection to sinne and kept him by that meanes from all adversitie while it fastned him to the purchaser of all prosperity our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ 2. It was indeed his Charity that made him leave all other company to follow Jesus and to magnifie his Deity by proclaiming his mercy in having delivered him from misery And whither did he follow him To Hierusalem to his Passion to his Death to his Sepulcher 3. O lively Faith that did not die in this poor man when Jesus dying for him left even his Apostles tottering in their Faith O burning Charity that like a flaming lamp hung ore the Sepulcher of Jesus dead and buried Adoring then and magnifying the Divinity which never did forsake the sacred corps of Christs Humanity though his living soul had left his dead body in the grave O admirable way to shake off the shackles of sinne and to keep us free from all adversitie thus firmely to believe thus ardently to love and so to follow Jesus from his grave into his glory O for this purpose well adapted Gospel of Faith to an Epistle of Charity O well adjusted Prayer as above to both On the first Sunday of Advent The Prayer called the Collect. ROwse up we beseech thee O Lord thy power and come away that from the emiâ—ent dangers of our sinnes thou protecting we may deserve to be freed and thou delivering us we may be saved Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen So end all Prayers The Prayer called the Secret MAy these Sacrifices O Lord by their powerfull vertue bring us cleansed and more pure unto their purifying fountain The Prayer called the Post-Communion LEt us receive O Lord thy mercy in the midst of thy Temple that we may prepare for the future solemnities of our reparation with congruous homages On the second Sunday of Advent The Prayer ROwse up our hearts O Lord towards preparing the wayes of thy onely begotten Sonne that by his coming amongst us we may deserve to serve thee with purified Souls The Secret VOuchsafe O Lord to be appeased by our humble Prayers and Offerings and whereas we have no title of merit succour us with thine own supplyes The Post-Communion BEing filled with the food of Spirituall Almes we humbly beseech thee O Lord that by the participation of this Mystery thou wilt teach us to contemn Earthly and to love Heavenly things On the Third Sunday of Advent The Prayer LEnd we beseech thee O Lord thine ear unto our Prayer and enlighten the darknesse of our minde with the Grace thy Visitation The Secret MAy the sacrifice O Lord of our Devotion be continually offered up both to perform the precepts of this sacred Mystery and admirably in us to produce thy saving work The Post-Communion VVEe implore O Lord thy clemency that these Divine helps may expiatâ— our sinnes and prepare us to the future solemnities On the fourth Sunday of Advent The Prayer O Lord we beseech thee raise up thy power and with thy mighty vertue come away to our succour that by the help of thy Grace what our sins retard the indulgence of thy propitiation may accelerate The Secret ORdain O Lord we beseech thee being by these present sacrifices appeased that they may avail to our Devotion and Salvation also The Post-Communion HAving received thy bounties we beseech thee O Lord that by frequentation of thy Mystery the effect of our salvation may increase On Sunday within the Octaves of the Nativity The Prayer OMnipotent Sempiternall God direct our actions in thy good pleasure that in the name of thy beloved Son we may deserve to abound in good Works The Secret GRant we beseech thee Omnipotent God that the offering which we have made in the eyes of thy majesty may obtain us the grace of holy Devotion and bring unto us the effect of a blessed Eternity The Post-Communion BY the operation of this Mystery may O Lord our sins be purged and our just desires be accomplished On Sunday within the
intrinsical flowing from the Deity The causes of this Fast were many As that thereby he might satisfie for Adams eating the forbidden Apple That his own humane Soul might be more apt to contemplation by this means That he might sanctifie the Lenten fast of forty days which he knew his Apostles would erect and deliver over for the Church to follow until the worlds end in imitation of this example he had given them When it is said That after forty dayes he was hungry this argues not but he might sooner have felt the want of meat however his divinity supplyed the defect thereof and when he was sensible of hunger afterwards it was not that he could no longer fast but to have the merit of being tempted against his holy purpose and of resisting that Temptation for our future instructions in like occasions 3. The Tempters approaching argues he came visibly in the shape of a man which he had assumed for Christ had his internals so regulated as likewise Adam by Original Justice had that he could not be tempted by any inward Suggestion against Reason nor was Adam what-ere he might have been so tempted but by Eve and she by a Serpent outwardly appearing When the Devil said If thou be the Son of God it argues he was doubtful of it for he had heard the voyce from heaven saying This is my beloved Son when Christ was Baptized as also he had heard how John the Baptist preached him to be the Messias the Son of God and yet seeing him appear to be a man and finding he was hungry as men are he tempts him to break his fast by the subtilty of telling him it would shew him to be the Son of God if he would turn stone into bread to satisfie his hunger 4. Excellent answer giving no advantage to the aggressor but repelling him rather by his own weapons turned upon him by holy Writ saying Man doth not onely live by bread but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God Deut. c. 8. v. 3. and what need he convert the stones to bread to manifest his power who with the least word of his mouth could feed the better part of man his Soul intimating thereby Prayer and Meditation to be as fit a food for the refreshment of a Christian as his daily bread the one enabling him to live eternally the other helping out a momentary breathing onely 5 6 7. The evil Spirit finding Gluttony to be no motive able to prevail with Deity flies to the medium that had wrought upon himself the Titillation of Ambition or Vain-glory when he said he would be like the Highest fondly thinking what prevailed with him in Heaven would work upon our Lord on Earth To be forsooth attended on by holy Angels though in an act of diabolical presumption Precipitation of himself from the pinacle of the Temple Too short a cloak to hide so large a sin as the Revenge thou aymest at beneath it Thou hadst thy self a Fall from Heaven down to Hell which thou wouldst now repay by giving Christ another from off the Temple where God is adored down to the ground where thy High Altar is when men adore low Creatures of the earth before their high Creator This this fond Serpent is thine aym to make thy God lye sprawling on the earth as thou dost lye in everlasting flames and this thou wouldst have done before the doors of all the holy Priests whose houses were about the Temple so to make them scorn and trample ore the God they had adored upon their holy Altars Alas how short is thy Serpentine wisdom of his that is eternal of his that sees thy specious pretexts are all deceits and tells thee so when he replies Thou shalt not tempt thy Lord thy God Deut. 6.16 How canst thou hope to Tempt hereafter any man to evil under shew of good this thou hast got to make poor man thy Master by ayming at the Mastery upon thy God To conclude by the Hands of Angels in this Text is understood their ayd for Spirits have no hands nor any other limbs or parts at all 8 9 10. Alas how poor a thing is Avarice to tempt a God withall say who is able first to give him any thing and it shall be restored Rom. 11. v. 35. Thus creatures seeme to uncreate their God in their foolish imaginations thinking him to be imperfect as themselves needy or indigent as they who yet hath made and given to the universe a being out of nothing But for the devill to presume God should adore him too for that he could not give this is a fondnesse not to be exprest as passing all imagination and so was best returned with a scorn of bidding the fond usurper know his distance go like a Lacquey at the heeles of his creator and well he was not yet reduc't to his first principle to nothing by an immediate annihilation It was indeed high time to tame his insolence when nothing but an homage due to God an Adoration would suffice him No devil no maugre thy pride Thou must adorâ— thy Lord thy God and he alone it is that thou and we and all the world must serve His are the Heavens and the earth is his and well it is thou art the Lacquey yet of him thou wouldst have Lorded over if thou couldst It is his greater glory to force thee to thy duty maugre thy proud heart then to deprive himselfe of what is good in thee thy being how bad soever thou art thy selfe and howsover despicablely miserable in that being too 11. Some doe doubt how Christ came backe to his desert of Quarentana when the devill was gone affirming the good Angels carryed him thither as the bad Angel had brought him thence but probably himselfe gave his own Divinity leave to doe that office to his body if yet we may not say it was the effect of his glorified soule and body too for they were both as glorious then as now Sure enough as soon as he was there the Angels as to their Lord and God came offering their attendance however this is for our comfort that after the devill hath tempted us if we resist we may hope the Angels will come to comfort us that need it since they did so to Christ who stood in no necessity thereof at all The Application 1. WE had the honour to be called into the field to day by the Lieutenant Generall the Priest of holy Church but we are led up to the Battaile by the Captaine Generall himselfe our Saviour Jesus Christ who hath already vanquisht all our enemies for as he dyed to conquer death and purchase us eternall life by dying so by his being tempted he secur'd us of the victory in our Temptations if we but resist the Temptor and persisting in our holy purposes Crown the Fast with our Perseverance therein such as Jesus in his hunger gave us an example of although not bound to Fast as we 2. It is a
though there were no priority of time wherein the Synagogue was existent before Moses the first-borne thereof nor of the Church before Christ the first-borne of her So here we see it is not inconsistent that Christ be both the Father and the childe of the Church the childe as the first borne of it in the sight of God the Father as the first erector of it in the sight of man 28. And from hence floweth the genuine sence of this next verse wherein the Apostle doth not onely meane that we Christians are Brothers to each other but that we have yet an honour farre transcending this namely to be even the Brethren of Christ Jesus so that he is a child as as well as we are the children of promise and consequently he and we are brethren being borne both of one promising parent Almighty God out of the barren wombe of Sara he only having this prerogative to be the first-borne of Sara and so Abrahams heire but we as being his brethren by vertue of the same promise are his coheires 29. This verse alludes to what we read Gen. 21. v. 8. of the jesting or playing of Jsmael so familiarly with Jsaac at the banquet which Abraham made when Isaac the younger brother was weaned that Sara knowing it was her Sonne Jsaac who must be heir to his Father Abraham complained to him not onely of the boldnesse of Ismael and of his sawcy familiarity with Jsaac which was a figure of the Jewes mocking of Christ and of false Churches scoffing at the true one but also of Agar his Mothers impudence not to reprehend her Slave-borne Son for his boldnesse with his Free-borne Brother whereupon Agar and Ismael were turned out of doores by Abraham as the Synagogue and Jewes were out of Christs Church for by Son of the flesh is here meant Ismael and by the Son of the Spirit the Apostle in this place meanes Israel as was said before adding that this quarrel betweene those two brothers continues stil in us so long as the flesh rebels against the spirit in man or so long as false Churches arise and persecute the true one 30. Then and not tiil then shall the Son of the Bond-woman be cast out by Christians as well as the Synagogue was by Christ himselfe according to Saint Pauls meaning here when there shall be in the worlds end but one stock and one shepheard though even now we that are children of the true Church must cast out of our communion in spirituals at least those that are of false Churches for they cannot with us inherit the kingdome of heaven what claime soever they lay unto it by feigned Sanctity or pretended legitimacy of birth unto that inheritance 31. Note though here the Apostle tels us for our comfoâ—t that we true Christians whereby is understood onely Catholikes who are of the true Christian religion are Sons of Sara the Free-woman that is of the remaining Church of Christ and not of Agar the abrogated Synagogue of the Jewes yet withall he mindes that we have not this Freedome this honour by right of inheritance as from our earthly or spirituall parents either but meerly as from the gratuite gift of Jesus Christ since by his holy grace it is we are adopted Children of Heaven and not by our Fathers in nature or in Spirit the Priests of the Church for as the first are no way able to beget us unto God so the last doe it but instrumentally as they are Vicars of Christ or dispensers of the mysteries of God and of his holy grace by meanes of the Sacraments The Application 1. THe Illustration upon this Sundayes Prayer and the explication upon this Epistle are so full and so home to the purpose of the Lenton Fast and to the end thereof our Purification that nothing will remaine now but to finde what good works now are by this Epistle taught to adde unto the Holy Fast which is not perfected without them 2. Now in regard we see this Parabolicall Epistle windes off with an Application to the Catholike Christian Redeemed from the Bondage of the Jewish Synagogue and from the slavery of sin by the merits of Christ and consequently giveth us cause of huge comfort for this redemption therefore we shall do well to joyn an Alacrity of soule unto the Lenten Fast because God loves a merry giver as a proper integrative part thereof especially on this Sunday which is called the Sunday of joy and not unfitly so when the whole Epistle runs upon the joyful Allegory between the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant by the abolition of the Jewish Synagogue 3. And yet because the motive of our joy is ever extrinsecal coming from Heaven to us out of the infinite mercy of God and no way proceeding from our selves whose every action so far forth as it is our own is demeriting and drawing punishment upon us for the sin it is in us unlesse by Gods assisting grace it be made vertuous therefore we are justly bid in our greatest comforts to acknowledge the punishments we deserve if God should ever give us our own due and consequently to mix with our Ioyes our Tears or rather never to look for any joy that we doe not first beg with sorrow for our sins to the end it may be with us as Holy David said according to the multitude of my griefes thy consolations have joy'd my soule whence it is we are taught to mix contrition with Alacrity this holy time of Lent to make our Fast compleat And that we may do this we fitly pray when this is preached to us as above The Gospel Joh. 6. v. 1 c. 1 After these things Iesus went beyond the Sea of Galilee which is of Tiberias 2 And a great multitude followed because they saw the signes which he did upon those that were sick 3 Iesus therefore went up into the mountaine and there he sate with his Disciples 4 And the Pasche was at hand the Festivall day of the Iewes 5 When Iesus therefore had lifted up his eyes and saw that a very great multitude cometh to him he saith to Philip whence shal we buy bread that these may eat 6 And this he said tempting him For himselfe knew what he would doe 7 Philip answered him two hundred peny-worth of bread is not sufficient for them that every man may take a little piece 8 One of his disciples Andrew the Brother of Simon Peter saith to him 9 There is a boy here that hath five barley loaves and two fishes but what are these among so many 10 Jesus therefore saith make the men sit down And there was much grasse in the place The men therefore sat downe in number about five thousand 11 Iesus therefore took the Loaves and when he had given thanks he distributed to them that sate in like manner also of the fishes as much as they would 12 And after they were filled he saith to his Disciples gather the fragments that are remaining
any legall servitude imposed on man as punishment of his sins against God for this servitude tooke hold on the Individuals of humane nature not of the nature it selâ—e and since our Saviours Individuall person was one with that of God the second person of the Blessed Trinity he was not a Servant by any legall servitude falling on his person and so even his humane nature though servile as a creature was not yet servile as a sinfull man because he had not the least guilt of sinne in him and thus we see in captives humane nature is no slave though the man that is taken be made so when then we say humane nature was corrupted in Adam we doe mean every childe of Adam received a contagion or corruption from him and yet humane nature in the line of a creature to God was not corrupted so as to be a less perfect creature then it was before for that had been to corrupt the Essence not the Persons of mankinde whereas sin onely corrupted his State and not his Essence the Persons contracting Humane Nature and not the Nature of man it self for if so Christ being man made of that Humane Nature must have been corrupted in that nature at least which yet he was not By the Similitude of man in this verse we are to understand literally the external shape of man not the accidental or phantastical as the Hereticks said but the substantial and real shape though St. Augustine takes it here as for the predicament of habit which consists in Garments or Clothing and likens Christs Humanity to be as a Garment covering his Divinity or as Iron is made fiery or as Gold is made a Statue and even in that Sence the thing is as true as it is ingeniously expressed by St. Augustine By being made as man is not to say onely like man and not to be truly such but like here signifies to be so like as it is the very same as if a Statue should from a dead Stone be made move as a man moveth eat as a man eateth speak as a man speaketh why still by every one of these gradations the Statue becomes more like a man then it was before and when at last it had all the Faculties of a man it became as man indeed that is to say not onely like but really and truly man In this Sence our Saviour was said to be as man as if we said though he were truly God yet he did not appear to be so but appeared onely to be as man which truly he was as well as he was God 8. This humility was not an Act of God the Son to God the Father for so there is no commanding Power in the one over the other but of his Humanity both to his own Divine Person and to his heavenly Father too by dying on the Cross in vertue of this command Christ did humble himself as low as could be in regard no death was so vile and contemptible as that on the Cross was in the esteem of man in those days though since even for reverence no man is executed in that kinde so Christs Humility made this contempt become reverentiall 9. For the which Act of Humility and Obedience God hath exalted him his Humanity for his Deity could not be exalted and given him a name Here we are to note Calvins pervisity who took such a hatred against the Church for the Doctrine of merit that he hence denied Christ the honour of meriting this Exaltation by his Humiliation but says that for which is to be taken consecutively or consequently not causally as who should say after his Humility God rewarded him by exalting of him but not for his Humility or for the merit thereof which yet is an abominable Impiety and Heresie whereas we allow Christ by his Death not onely to have merited for mankind redemption whereof himself had no need who was from his first Conception Blessed by his Hypostatical Union but even for himself the Glory of his Body and the endowments of a glorious Body the highest place in Heaven above Saints and Angels nay the very setting at the right hand of God the Power to Judge all the world and the dominion over Heaven and Earth which were not onely due to him as united to his Deity but as merited by his Passion further he merited to have a name that is above all names and such a name it was when Christ was called God and the Son of God the name of the Messias so famous in this world lastly the name of Jesus and Redeemer of all mankinde which name though it were given him in circumcision yet it was not divulged to all the world till he was crucified so then he was truly said to have merited that name of Saviour and many times names are given to foretell what such men will merit before they dye thus was the Blessed Name of Jesus given to Christ foretelling how richly he would deserve to be called Saviour of the world 10 In the name of Jesus every knee shall bow because this name is greater then ever any other was for Jehovah which signified God creating and was the greatest that ever had before been heard of is not so great as God redeeming and that is meant by the name of Jesus whence the Church boldly says it had nothing availed us to be born unless to have been redeemed had made our birth availing to us So it is a greater abuse to blaspheme the name of Jesus then the name of God because God gave us more Grace and Benefit by our Redemption then he did by our Creation and Jesus includes both God and Saviour which God alone doth not whence the very Angels who were not redeemed bow their knees to the name of Iesus as convertible with that of God and therefore all mankinde hath much more reason so to do for the Devils they would refrain to honour it perhaps if they could but as it is they cannot since if no otherwise they must adore Man in the Person of God ever since Iesus took Humane Nature upon him 11. And every tongue not onely all Nations upon the Earth first or last shall confess that our Lord Iesus is in the Glory of his Father but every tongue of Angels and Devils as well as of Men and by saying he is in the glory of God the Father is understood more then that he sâ—tteth at his right hand namely that he is equal in Glory to God the Father since Iesus is not onely Man but joyntly God withal So that the summity or highest pitch of Iesus his praise is indeed this that the Man Iesus being God as well as Man is though as man much inferiour yet as God even equal to the Heavenly Father in Glory Power Majesty Goodness and all the other Attributes Divine which are given to Almighty God The Application 1. MOrtification Prayer and Alms-Deeds Perseverance in good Purposes The Fear of God and Holy Poverty were
the same childe was first cause of pain so he is cause of comfort the like of Christ dying and rising again Sixthly both joys are excessive Great whereas they take away all sense of Sorrow So here the Passion of Christ is in this Parable supposed to be the labour or travail of the Apostles dolorous as a womans in childe-bearing and his Resurrection is supposed to be as the Birth of a Son to them after so hard a labour as they were in whilest all the world jeered and scorned them for hoping after so impossible a comfort as it was thought when the Apostle calls it a scandal to the Jews and to the Gentiles a folly St. Augustine is so acute upon this place as to say Christ compared the Apostles sorrow for his Passion to the pains of a woman in labour of a Boy and not of a Girl because those are the greatest labours of women and again he makes a special remark that the Text saith here the Mother forgets her pains not because a Boy is born but a man one that is to be the Support and Prop of her house when her self can no longer live for saith St. Augustine Christ was as it were born by his Resurrection to the World not as a Childe but as a Man conquering Death winning eternal Glory to himself and to all his Posterity to all Saints of Heaven who are the Children of his Grace 22. This Verse applies all the rest by way of Repetition to the Senses as above while it tells the Apostles this shall be their Case about him this their Grief at his Death this their Joy at his Resurrection like the travail and comfort of a woman first in labour then delivered of a Son But when he adds this Close That their joy no man shall take from them he means neither in this world nor in the next for such shall be their joy to see Christ risen who was dead that even the menace of Death to themselvcs shall be comfortable out of their assurance to share with Christ in the joy of his Resurrection if they partake with him in the pains of Death by dying for his sake Whence St. Paul boasting said who shall part us from the Love of God Nakedness the Sword Persecution Rom. 8.35 No no the love of Christ and hope of Heaven are comforts above all afflictions whatsoever whence we reade of the Apostles that they went rejoycing from the bench of the Iudges because they were held worthy to suffer contumely for the name of Iesus Act. 5.41 And this to shew that no man could takâ— away that joy which God gave them as the Text above hath told us The Application 1. IT is worthy our observation that amongst so many passages as were between Christ and his Apostles after his Resurrection this days Gospel is taken out of Saint Iohn Evangelist his Story of our Saviours Actions reporting what he said to his Apostles immediately before his Death For we see the Expositors upon the first Verse of this Gospel tell us all that is here said alludes to the Death Passion and Resurrection of our Lord as well as to his Ascension and to the coming of the Holy Ghost Then certainly our Mother Church reads us this Lesson to day with intention to draw from us such like Acts of Faith as our Saviour desired the Apostles should make when he told them he was shortly to dye and shortly to rise again 2. And since this Parable aims at raising consolation in the Apostles hearts out of the disconsolate Death and Passion of their Lord and Master by vertue of the Faith they had in his future Resurrection after his Death Assuredly it is now our parts that are Christians to make the Cross of Christ our chief content the Death of our Saviour the onely hope we have to live and his Resurrection the ground of our Faith that by vertue of his Blessed and Incorrupted Body risen from his Grave our corrupted flesh and blood shall rise again and be made partakers of those heavenly Joys which he hath prepared for all that do firmly believe in him and live according to the Rules of Christian belief 3. Note that amongst those Rules a Principal one is read unto us this day of believing firmly that all the sorrows this world can afford us are not able to rob us of the future joys prepared for us in Heaven if from erring Infidels we become right believing Christians and live according to the light of Truth The Faith of Jesus Christ that is if we do such Actions in Vertue of that Faith as We pray to day we may do say then the Prayer and see how pat it is to this Doctrine of the Church On the fourth Sunday after Easter The Antiphon Joh. 16. v. 5. I Go to him that sent me but because I have spoken these things unto you sorrow hath filled your hearts Alleluja Vers Tarry with us O Lord Alleluja Resp For night draweth on Alleluja The Prayer O God who makest the mindes of thy faithful to be of one accord grant unto thy people that they may love what thou commandest and desire what thou doest promise that amongst worldly varieties there we may fix our hearts where are true joys The Illustration O Beloved what a Prayer is here what an elevated language doth the holy Ghost speak in to day behold hold a whole Sermon in a few lines what preacher needeth other Text then this Prayer to dilate upon even till the day of Judgement shall I speak a big word upon this Prayer be it but with us as this day we pray and we are even with God himself at our journeys end and why should we despair thereof since in vain we are bid to pray for this if it were not by Prayer to be obtained beg it then beloved on your often bended knees beg it earnestly fervently heartily and doubt not but it will be granted for God doth not feed us with fond hopes of what he will not grant if we so a k it as we ought But stay how comes it that with so much plenty of Spirit we finde to day so little seeming connexion with the Epistle and Gospel which yet I am confident will prove both as it were eminentially contained in this admirable Prayer And first observe how suitable it is for holy Church to pray thus when we are now in the time that Jesus Christ prepared his Apostles to be content to leave him or at least that he should leave them How often did he command them resignation on all occasions to the will of Almighty God was not this the very form of his Prayer Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven Matth. 6.10 Hence the Church begs to day that we who believe in Christ may live all of one minde and since it is morally impossible so many men should be consenting all in one therefore we see the prayer gives that to God saying it is he
must make that to be which we beg he must gives us grace since we are all one in Faith to be all of one minde in the operations of that belief which works by charity that knows not thine and mine but gives all to God and takes onely from his Holy Hand what he pleaseth to give back again Next we pray that we may love what God commands which in this case was to the Apostles that they might love to leave our Blessed Lord for so God had commanded That they might desire what he promised which was the coming of the holy Ghost That amongst worldly varieties there they might fix their hearts where onely true joys are to be had O! what a taking off their mindes was this even from himself whose departure was one of the worldly varieties he would not have to trouble them but that they should upon the loss of the happiness they had in his society fix their hearts on a greater happiness who but the holy Ghost could make this good upon the joys of heaven which are true joys indeed and this also shews we are still sliding down the Channel of the Resurrection too in this Prayer as hath been said Blessed God! how good art thou to man who hast made him a happiness greater then the company of thy sacred Son whom yet we know is God and man too the reason was his Humanity here did shade his Divinity but in heaven his Deity shall outshine his Humanity and so make us love man in him for Gods sake whereas here the Apostles did love God but for Christs sake as he was man and therefore this Prayer as it speaks the Apostles parts bids them fix their hearts upon true joys indeed those onely that are in heaven being greater then any they could have in the society of Jesus Christ himself so long as he was upon earth not that his Glory was less here then in heaven but that man is less capable to see God on earth then he shall be to see and enjoy him too when he comes to heaven and therefore hee ought not to fix his heart upon any content whatsoever upon earth but still to keep it moving towards a greater and a truer Joy And thus having made way for the Application of this Prayer unto our selves by seeing how in the Apostles sence we ought to say it let us close with our accustomed Application of it to the Epistle and Gospel of the day or rather of them both unto it which are as it were eminentially contained therein And first there is nothing so cleer as that it is a gift of God to make us thus resigned hence the Epistle breaks out into that acknowledgement saying every good and perfect gift is from above descending from the Father of Lights with whom there is no transmutation nor shadowing of alteration and who by his own sacred word hath ingrafted in us a filiation that makes us be a beginning of his creature that is willing by our resignation to be made through his holy Grace his better creature then by nature we are And so in brief to be those Saints which St. Iames in his Epistle sets before our eyes and consequently those which the Apostles were when our Saviour had prepared them for his departure from them and told them they were not inquisitive enough after the heavenly joys whilest they doted too much upon his Humane presence after he had made them believe it was expedient even for themselves that he left them and that the holy Ghost came to them in his stead to all those purposes that are recited in the Gospel following and to all which purposes we shall finde this Prayer availing us if in this sence we say it often and thereby take as in a little Cordial the whole substance of the Epistle and Gospel of this day The Epistle Iac. 1. v. 17 c. 17 Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above descending from the Father of Lights with whom is no transmutation nor shadowing of alteration 18 Voluntarily he bath begotten us by the word of Truth that we may be some beginning of his creature 19 You know my deerest Brethren And let every man be swift to hear but slow to speak and slow to anger 20 For the anger of man worketh not the justice of God 21 For the which thing casting away all uncleanness and abundance of malice in meekness receive the engraffed Word which is able to save your Souls The Explication 17. IT is prodigiously strange to see how much the Apostle here speaks in Little under these two terms of best gift and perfect gift for though the simple and literal meaning be that all which is good amongst men is given them from God and all which is bad amongst them comes from the Devil and from their own concupiscence yet there is a far deeper sence couched also here and first under best gift is understood not onely the goodness of the thing given but the excellent good will of the giver and even that being as good as the gift adds much to the value thereof for indeed as man hath nothing of his own to give so he hath no will of his own nor desire to give any thing that is good but even that good will is Gods and comes from God inspiring man to do good unto his neighbour but the sence is yet deeper by the reduplication of perfection upon the goodness of the donation or giving and of the gift given as who should say Gods gifts are not onely goodness in themselves by being communications of his infinite goodness to us but they are also most perfect both as their intrinsecal goodness makes them so and as their extrinsecal operations and effects do make us so likewise unto whom they are given since the end for which they are given is that man by means thereof may be perfect as Christ was perfect again many men give oftentimes that which obligeth others and yet is not either perfect in it self or properly their own to give neither of which can be wanting when God is the donation the gift the perfection and all that can be imaginable to render a gift or the donation of it good and perfect best indeed and most absolutely accomplished Again by all gifts are here understood those of Nature Grace and Glory whereof each is from God so immediately as none of them can flow from any other fountain since he is Natura naturans as Divines call him and we Natura naturata he is the Fountain Origin and first Principle of all Natures he is a simple and perfect Nature in and of himself so fecund or fertil as he is able to branch himself out into an infinity of other Natures which yet shall all be as distinct from his own Divine Nature as Creatures are from their Creator and from one another too But the very truth is the Apostle here reports to the two latter sorts of gifts namely
those of Grace and Glory for he had before spoken much of Faith Grace Wisdom and Patience all of them seeds planted in the souls of the Faithful purposely to render them the fruits of Glory in the next World To conclude Saint Thomas of Aquin will have the word Datum that is the thing given to mean the gift of Glory in the next world as who should say all God gives here is to make us good all he gives in Heaven is to make us perfect others and they not unproperly say by the best and most perfect gift here mentioned is meant our Saviour Jesus Christ himself who is indeed all goodness all perfection and so it is well said that when God gave us his onely Son how is it possible he must not with him have given us all things but we may also conceive the Apostle here gives all Christians a general rule to ask of God nothing but what is good and perfect because he can give nothing else being himself all goodness and all perfection And since Christ was the best pledge of this goodness and of this perfection that ever man was witness off he coming from his heavenly Father it is by consequence true that all the good we can hope for must come from the same Fountain the same heavenly Father who is therefore called the Father of Light because he is the Fountain of in accessible Light and indeed by the Father of Light is here understood the whole sacred Trinity First because God is ad intra as Divines speak meaning in himself Majesty Glory and Light inaccessible as was said above again as in this Trinity there are three Divine Persons so every one of them is properly called a light as of the Son we are told by the Nicene Council that he is Light of light or the Light of the eternal Father and consequently the holy Ghost is Light of lights proceeding both from the Father and from the Son whence holy Church calls the holy Ghost lumen cordium the Light of hearts and St. Dennis explicates the mystery of the sacred Trinity by light in which are three Properties Light Splendor and Heat for as light without its own loss produceth the other two so the Father without his own loss begets his Son who is called Splendor patris the Splendor of the Father and from them proceed the holy Ghost called Love which is not onely a Heat but a Fire of Charity burning eternally bright between the three sacred Persons Father Son and holy Ghost Secondly because God ad extra that is to say without himself is the Origen of light as he created Angels the chief of whom being for his excessive brightness called Lucifer and the rest having power each Superiour of them to illuminate his Inferiour Angel Also as he created man endowed with the excellent light of reason by which he was able to enlighten the souls of those that are ignorant in the knowledge of Truth Thirdly as he created the Sun Moon and Stars all gallant lights useful to creatures in this world Fourthly as he is the Author of all Supernatural lights namely of Faith Hope and Charity Wisdom Understanding Counsel and all other Vertues whatsoever and Graces that are the lights guiding our souls to eternal Bliss amidst the mysty darkness of death and sin Fifthly as he is the Author of all prophetical Spirits foreseeing by the light of Revelation things to come Lastly as he is the Author of the light of Glory a creature so perfect that St. Thomas saith God cannot make it perfecter his reason is because it is the medium to shew us perfection it self his own sacred Deity and without the help of this Glory elevating the powers of Angels and blessed Souls of men neither of them could behold this inaccessible light which is God himself but whether this light of Glory may not be answerable to the more or less Grace in Saints or Angels and consequently an accident more or less intense or perfect accord to the exigence of every individual subject in which it is we shall rather leave to Schools to dispute with St. Thom. then presume here to determine with whom that is with which Father of Light with which sacred Trinity there is no Transmutation no going from place to place as all other lights do especially the Sun from East to West nor no vicissitude of over-shadowing no Eclypse or Darkness by the Interposition of any thing between God and his creatures or by his recess from them as the Sun goes from us and so makes night called vicissitudinal darkness and comes to us and so makes day called vicissitudinal light because it comes and goes by fits by turns by changes by alterations whereas in God there is none of these to be found for his light doth not come and go he is not now Author of Grace now of sin but all that comes from him is Grace and if sin interpose it is from us that interposition comes nor doth his Glory to the Blessed fade at any time grow dark or dim but keeps still the same fulness of lustre it hath at first but God is so far from mutability that he is from five remarkable Heads immutable First by nature Immortal Secondly by quality as we call it Vnalterable Thirdly by place Immoveable because immense and filling all place Fourthly by Will constant ever the same in Resolution Lastly by Operation ever here with Grace ever in Heaven with Glory working upon his Creatures and all these four last flow as from their origin out of his Immortal and Eternal Nature nay that which is most remarkable is to think how in all the vicissitudes and changes that Christ Jesus felt in himself for us as man he was not the least altered as he was God but therefore became man that he might incourage us to beare patiently the changings and turnings of corrupted nature when he that was God exposed himselfe to the like lest we should despaire of ever coming to an unalterable eternity of bliss from amidst so great a privation of rest as this perpetually altering world produced in us 18. This verse proves God is not the Author of temptation or sin in us since he hath freely begotten us to be his children children of his own inaccessible light and this generation also is that best and perfect gift which in the verse above we heard came from God but this word voluntarily is of deep sense and alludes to the difference wherewith God begot his own naturall and eternall Son namely naturally and necessarily so that he could not choose but beget him from all eternity coequall to himselfe but our generation was gratuit free voluntary whereby we were in time begotten and so as God might have chosen whether he would or not have gotten us to be his children of grace and not of nature infinitely inferiour no wayes coequall to him againe by voluntarily is understood not only gratis but also by designe as
alone damning without redemption for he that beleeveth not shall be condemned Mar. c. 16. v. 16. 10. Againe he shall argue them of Iustice that is hee shall accuse them of injustice shewing to the Jewes all their ceremoniall rites and Lawes did not render them just nor would all the morall vertues of the Gentiles that were infidels justifie them in the sight of God because none could render them just there but Jesus Christ who for that purpose went to his Father to tell him these onely shalt thou justifie who beleeve aright in me who renounce the ceremoniall Law of the Jewes the humane Law of the Gentiles and follow the divine Law that I have left them who alone have redeemed them and can alone save those that keep my Law that can make them truly just in the sight of men and Angels and of God himselfe it is very pretty what Saint Bernard saith of these words Ser. 12. The Holy Ghost doth argue the world of sinne because it dissembles of Justice which it doth not rightly order while it attributes the same to man not to God of Judgement which it usurpes while it judgeth rashly not onely of it selfe but of others too 11. Lastly he shal argue the world of Judgement is diversely understood by some that the Holy Ghost shal shew the world made a false judgement of Christ his Miracles holding them to be witchcrafts or workes of the devil by others that he shal argue men of sloath to be overcome by the wounded and conquered devil for want of diligence to resist him by others of cousenage to put their hopes in the devil who himselfe is damned and can save no man by others and those best of all that the Holy Ghost shal argue men of Judgement in shewing them how justly they deserve damnation who follow for their guides the damned devil and all his wayes and workes and this when he shal make the Apostles cast out devils out of the visible Temples where they were as Idols adored for God and out of the invisible Temples the soules of men whom they had possessed both by their foule persons presence and by the guilt of enormious sinne cast out by Sacramental grace of holy pennance 12. Christ here alludes to the mysteries of Faith the conversion of the Gentiles the foundation of the Churches and Government thereof by his Vicar by the Bishops and Priests in a Hierarchical way all which he left to be the product of the holy Ghost and things deeper then for novices to be able at first to dive into in whose eyes the carnal and ceremonial Rights of the Jewish Churches or Synagogues rather were too fresh as yet and their souls were not sufficiently illuminated to attend to higher matters and those altogether spiritual whence we may gather that even the Apostles had by the coming of the holy Ghost new lights and did daily increase in the knowledge of the mysteries of Faith and Religion according to that of the Proverbs Cap. 4. v. 18. The ways of the just are like light shining and increasing to high noon day whence the Primitive Church is compared to be quasi aurora consurgens like the dawning of the day Cant. 6.9 and proceeding brighter and brighter daily till she come to the brightness of the latter day when all her Saints shall enter like so many noon-time Suns into the kingdom of Heaven 13. When for the reasons above he shall come who is the spirit of Truth he shall teach you all Truth that you are capable off and that is fit you should know to guide your own and others souls to Heaven For he shall not speak of himself but what he shall hear since t is not what he alone says but what my Father and I say too that he shall tell you so all he says shall be as we all three determine nor shall he speak as men do out of their fancy no but just as I have taught you before and as my Father and I will have him tell you hereafter not as fables but as undoubted Truths which are of eternal Verity so look how Christ said his doctrine was not his own but his Fathers that sent him in like manner the truth which the holy Ghost shall teach is not his own onely but joyntly the Fathers and the Sons from whom he doth proceed and from whom he was sent And he shall tell you things to come by this is understood the Apostles were to have the Spirit of Prophesie as Actor 11. v. 18 20. v. 19 21. v. 11. we may read nor is St. Johns Apocalypse other then a continued Prophesie from one end to the other Nor was it requisite Christ his Apostles should be inferiourly gifted to any of the Ministers of God in the old Law and this gave great comfort and encouragement to the Apostles since naturally men desire to know future things by future things also venerable Bede understandeth things of Heaven of Grace and of Glory as who should say the Apostles shall not be onely able to guide you here but to set you safe into a blessed Eternity and future Kingdom that shall never end 14. He shall glorifie me when he shall confirm the world in the belief of my being the Messias expected God and man the Saviour of the World He shall receive of mine for he shall proceed from my Father and me and receive the Divine Essence one and the same in all the three Persons of the Trinity and consequently his Will shall be mine his Science mine his Doctrine mine where note the Text doth not say he shall receive me but of mine because he is a distinct Person from the Son and though he receive not the filiation by his procession he receives the Essence of the Son so that is to receive of him and yet not him nor to be him And thus he gave compleat content to the Apostles seeing they did passionately love him to tell them the Comforter he was to send them should supply his absence by teaching them as he had done by loving them as he did since he received his doctrine from him and his affection too The Application 1. THe whole scource of this Gospel is to beget belief in the Apostles that our Saviours departure from them was for their good and that the Primary effect of the coming of the holy Ghost was to beat down the sin of Infidelity as who should say it were the sin of sins not to believe in Jesus Christ and not to obey all his commands in vertue of that belief 2. What should then be the Practice of us Christians at this time but to use all means possible to fortifie our Faith as the greatest Bulwork against all sin whatsoever and indeed what is it else but a kinde of Infidelity not to do according as we are taught by the rules of Faith that is not to make all our actions tend to the sole will and pleasure of Almighty God since if
thing in our own names that is as good Christians for that name we take of Christ nor doe we aske otherwise then in his name if we goe to our Prayers and tell the heavenly Father we come as from his Sacred Sonne to prefer such a request as he bid us make much like the Embassage that is made by the Embassadors person but understood to be the business of the King that sends him so by this way of asking we can desire nothing but what Christ himselfe doth wish we had and consequently we aske it very properly in his name it being answerable to his will But the most genuine of all these is the second way by that of Christ his merits for what we aske thus is not given to us onely by way of grace but it is granted by way of Justice since it was merited unto us by Christ dying for us and wishing it unto us and for this reason we end all our Prayers with the close through our Lord Iesus Christ Amen The last remark we are to make is upon those words he shall grant unto you that is to say what e're we ask as above shall be granted how comes it then to pass we ask so often and so many things and goe without them for all this asking the reason is that affirmative promises are commonly conditionall so if we aske without performing the conditions required on our part we cannot wonder that we faile and the conditions requisite to Prayer on our part must be those five above enumerated humility reverence confidence fervour and perseverance whereunto if we adde resignation we doe but secure our Petition the more by making Gods will ours when ours is his where these are exactly performed and the name of Christ rightly used there we cannot feare to faile while it is said he shall give you what ere you thus ask imports as well he shall give it a third person for whom you ask it as if you did ask it for your selfe and indeed if the defect be not on the third persons part we shall sooner obtaine what we aske for others then what we aske for our selves because it is a greater charity to pray for others and especially for our enemies then for our selves since they may want our help but we can never lose our owne reward by helping them 24. Because hitherto you have relyed wholly upon me and have not asked any thing of my Father in my name and indeed having asked of me â—ather as of man then of God you have in a manner asked nothing because you asked not of him who was all things but when I am gone ask as above and you shall receive what ere you so do ask and ask that your joy may be compleat As who should say you will begin to be glad when I shall be risen but if you ask my Father any thing in my name after I am gone then you shall receive all things that you want and have your joys compleated here by Grace and in Heaven by Glory both which I have purchased for you 25. This Verse shews what he spake now was before his Passion and so it was Proverbial Parabolical or Enigmatical unto them but the time would come after his resurrection when he for fourty days together would speak plainly what now they heard of but obscurely and that when he was Ascended the Holy Ghost should come and by a purer language by the tongues of fire should speak all Love all Light all Clarity all Truth unto them and then they should be capable of much more then now they are yet there want not who think Christ by this place alludes to his displaying of his Fathers Glory in the kingdom of Heaven where they shall see all things cleerly as they are even God himself and shall therefore become like God because they shall see him face to face as he is 26. The day he means here is when he shall be gone from them and ascended up to Heaven and then saith he I do not tell you that I will pray to my Father in your behalf first because the holy Ghost shall come and by his Inspirations and holy Grace you shall make your own petitions so effectually in my name that I shall need no more to intercede for you or because I shall not need ask as I did when I was upon the Earth by way of suffering for you but by way of exhibition of what I have suffered Thus one of the Fathers will have it that Christ did onely pray for us on Earth and that now in Heaven he prays no more but onely shews his sacred Wounds to his heavenly Father though Cornelius a Lapide here concludes the better opinion is that really and truly he doth there pray for us as was explicated Rom. 8. v. 34. by the said Cornelius but after another manner then here he did where he both prayed and suffered too and there he praies without suffering So the true Sence of this place is that he doth not tell them he will pray for them though he means to do it and actually doth it too as often as desired but that if he did not pray they should not need his prayer both because he had sufficiently purchased to them the love of his heavenly Father for his voluntary vouchsafing towards them and because the holy Gbost was to finish the remainder of our salvation by his Supplies and Magazines of Holy Graces and in truth what Christ once obtained for us by his Passion we losing the benefit of it by our sin are to attribute the recovery thereof to the special act of the holy Ghost not coming once onely down as to the Apostles to confirm them in grace but millions of times descending upon us by the influence of his holy Gifts and so as often saving us by the recovery of grace as we make our selves guilty of damnation by relapse of sinne 27 See how this Verse in terms tells them his Father needs not now be prayed unto by him for them since he hath already purchased unto them abundantly his Fathers love and so made him soft to all they can desire by their own prayer and the reason why he so loves them is because they loved Jesus Christ and believed he was his heavenly Fathers Son and come out from him to them but if any ask why God loving us as here it is said he doth for his Sons sake doth not give us all we want without our asking but requires our humble and frequent Prayer The Reasons are many first because it is suitable to the Majesty of God that all his Creatures do adore him and Prayer is the best kinde of adoration next because it acknowledgeth our totall and necessary dependance on him and our Indigence and his Liberality Thirdly the Dignity of the things we ask requires on our parts a frequent expression of our esteem thereof namely Grace and Glory not so cheap as to be given gratis
Illumination of his holy Spirit and was to make the often dead letter of that word to be the life of our Souls for so it must needs be when it brings us that peace which it promiseth namely another manner of peace then the world giveth which is alwayes mixed with war for whoever relisheth what is right hath a true peace within his conscience and so is at no variance or war at all In a word the Gospel being out of the story of our Saviours Life tells us the effect of this fact the fruit we shall receive by the coming of the Holy Ghost by relishing those things that are right and by rejoycing in the consolation of this holy Spirit that comes to read lessons of Divine Love unto our hearts and to wean us from the humane affections we have unto creatures and consequently this Gospel wants no adjusting to the Epistle and Prayer of this solemn day but makes good still our main design in this book The Epistle Acts 2.1 c. 1 And when the dayes of Pentecost were accomplished they were all together in one place 2 And suddenly there was made a sound from heaven as of a vehement wind coming and it filled the whole house where they were sitting 3 And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire and it sate upon every one of them 4 And they were all replenished with the Holy Ghost and they began to speak with divers tongues according as the holy Ghost gave them to speak 5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jewes devout men of every nation under heaven 6 And when this voyce was made the multitude came together and was astonied in mind because every man heard them speak in his own Tongue 7 And they were all amazed and marvelled saying Are not loe all these that speak Galilaeans 8 And how have we heard each man our own tongue wherein we were born 9 Parthians and Medians and Elamites and that inhabite Mesopotamia Jewrie and Cappadocia Pontus and Asia 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia Aegypt and the parts of Lybia that is about Cyrenee and strangers of Rome 11 Jewes also and Proselytes Cretensians and Arabians we have heard them speak in our own tongues the great works of God The Explication 1. THat is to say Fifty dayes after the Resurrection for as the Christian Pasche is a fulfilling that Feast of the Jews which was a figure thereof so likewise the Christian Pentecost is a fulfilling of the like figure of the Jewish Pentecost or of the delivery of the Law upon Mount Sinai by the like confirmation of the Christian Law upon the Mount Sion when the holy Ghost descended purposely for that end But as the Jewish Pasche was on Saturday which was their Sabbath so was the seventh Saturday after their Pentecost and the Christian Pasche being the day after which was Sunday makes the seventh Sunday following to be the Christian Pentecost both to shew Christ did abrogate the Jewish Sabbath by rising on Sunday and the Jewish Pentecost by sending the holy Ghost the seventh Sunday after which proves that the Christian Religion as it was successive to the Jewish so it did abrogate the same By those that were here in the place of the last Supper assembled we are not to understand onely the Twelve Apostles but also the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the rest of the Disciples and friends of Christ then in Jerusalem to the number of about one hundred and twenty as S. Luke recounts and S. Augustine gives a very pious reason for this number saying What Christ did promise onely to his twelve Apostles he performs into a ten-fold multiplyed number for ten times twelve make just one hundred and twenty so Christ to shew his liberality made his promise good ten times over and indeed it is usuall in Almighty God to better the expectation of his creatures 2. The mystery of this noise or sound was that thereby the Jews might come together out of curiosity to see what the matter was when they heard a sudden clap like thunder just over the place where the Apostles were assembled and likewise to raise up the hearts of those within the place to heaven expecting hereupon something of consequence to follow it was sudden for two reasons First to shew it to be a voluntary and free gift of grace such as could not be merited by any our previous preparation thereunto Secondly to shew the efficacy of that holy grace working to all purposes in an instant as we see it did in S. Paul and S. Mary Magdalene both instantaneously converted from notorious sinners and made eminent Saints whence S. Ambrose sayes truly commenting upon the first of S. Luke The grace of the holy Ghost brooks no delayings This sudden sound came from heaven to shew that as Gods throne was there so he came by his holy grace to call and to carry the Apostles and all good Christians thither it came like a huge high wind to shew the effects it was to have when the voices of those it sell upon were heard all the world over from one end to the other as was prophetically foretold by holy David Psal 18. Now we are to note the holy Ghost hath appeared severall times in severall wayes as first like a Pigeon or Dove upon Christ baptized to shew the columbine simplicity of grace and good works next like a Cloud in the Transfiguration to shew the fertility of Christian Doctrine falling like a fruitfull rain upon the barren souls of men and covering them from the nocive sinne of lustfull desires Thirdly like a Breath to shew the manner of Christian conversion was to be by aspiration or breathing of the holy Ghost upon our hearts and giving us thence a spirituall life and this was when at the last Supper Christ breathing upon his Apostles said Receive ye the holy Ghost to remission of sinnes Joh. 20.22 Fourthly as here both like fire and wind the first to shew the holy Ghost did inflame the hearts of men to the love of God and burn up in them all the stubble of their terrene affections the last to shew the efficacy that the Apostles preaching should have to convert all the world and like a whirl-wind blow down the resistance of Princes and Potentates as so many Towers standing in their way and also blow all infidelity all heresie all sects and schisms quite away as so much chaff and drosse in respect of solid doctrine not that there was a reall wind but yet a reall sound or rather an effect as of a reall wind for had the wind been reall being so great it had overthrown the house and done mischief to those within and indeed the Text saith it was a noise like the coming of a high winde nor was it marvell God could produce a sound without a winde for as the fiery tongues were not reall tongues but onely similitudes thereof so was this noise no reall wind but onely a likenesse of it
Gods transient works about his creatures now we come to the immanent actions of the Sacred Deity within its own Essence and these are operations so hidden from created knowledge as our best comportment will be with St. Paul rather to admire then search into them suffice it Christ who hath revealed this mystery hath proved himself to be God by his works amongst men and being God must needs be essential verity and so can neither be deceived nor deceive even when we take him upon greatest trust We must therefore follow him as Schollers do their masters before they understand them and we shall find as children do our understandings bettered by giving trust unto this heavenly Master and at the latter day we shall with the Blessed in heaven see as we have heard of this prodigious mystery that is we shall with our intellectual eyes behold the Triunity thereof which yet while we behold we cannot comprehend And indeed it is admirable to see how in the dark of this profound mystery we find light to illuminate the whole world whilest the light of Faith breakes out of this blessed cloud since in believing this one thing which we know not we are taught to know almost all things else that we believe as the Apostles in vertue of this belief were bid immediately to Go and teach all nations that is they were to go in the light of this Faith and teach all the world both it and all things else belonging to their soules salvation And how to teach them by first Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost By the name we have the unity by the persons the Trinity of God taught unto us and that teacheth us all the rest which we are implicitely told in the close of this dayes prayer when we beg a firmnesse in the Faith of this mystery as the shield that must defend us against all adversity whatsoever by teaching us to bear off all the blowes of Infidelity after we see Faith to be an elevated reason which secures us Points of Religion are not therefore against reason because they are sometimes above it O what a seeing blindnesse is this when we believe of God what we do not know I can liken it to nothing more then to the means wherewith our Saviour cured the blind mans sight by putting dirt into his eyes just such is the darknesse of knowledge in this mystery to the light of Faith it brings into our souls To conclude since the report between the prayer and other parts of this dayes service is even literal we need no labour to make it appear suiting with our main design of this book shewing a harmony between them all The Epistle Rom. 11.33 c. 33 O the depth of the riches of the wisdome and of the knowledge of God! how incomprehensible are his judgements and his wayes unsearchable 34 For who hath known the mind of our Lord or who hath been his counsellour 35 Or who hath first given to him and retribution shall be made him 36 For of him and by him and in him are all things to him be glory for ever Amen The Explication 33. HEere we are first to note that height and depth how ever seeming to differ even in their natures as well as in their names are oftentimes taken both for one and the same notion as for example that which we in our climate call depth or profundity as relating to things below us to the Antipodes that same thing is height or altitude above them namely the Hemisphere or arch of the heavens under the earth to us which is over the earth to them and the arch of the heavens over our heads is as it were under the earth to them again if any of the Antipodes should from the footing he hath upon the earth fall with his head from us downward he would seem indeed to fall and yet that fall would be his rising up towards heaven and the like fall to them would our rising seem to be if from our footing we departed hence up towards heaven in like manner we call a deep Well high and a high Well deep So by depth of the riches of God is here understood the height thereof though for him that is all in all there is neither depth nor height however for want of better expression we use such terms wherefore the Apostle here under one terme expresseth both depth and height of Gods riches as who should say O deep height O high depth of the riches of Almighty God! And though St. Ambrose and S. Augustine so point this verse as they joyn the depth both to the wisdome and knowledge of God and in them make up the depth of his riches yet St. Chrysostome Origen and others following the Greek and Syriack pointings of this sentence seem to attinge the sense of this place more home distinguishing the sense and meaning it to be tripartite not single that is to say attributing the depth equally to the riches the wisdome and knowledge of God as it were three things equally high and equally deep beyond humane or Angelical understandings for first the riches here mentioned report to the infinite mercies of God insisted on by the Apostle saying in the two and twentieth verse God hath concluded all in incredulity that thence he might shew his mercy unto all by making the incredulity of the Jewes the cause of his mercy turning to the Gentiles and so converting them to the right Faith as also some Jews shall be converted by the exemplarity of the Gentiles becoming good Christians Secondly the three after questions in this Epistle shew these three are to be read distinct and so understood namely who knew the mind of God who was of his Counsel who first gave to him and it shall be restored And we are to note by riches the Apostle understands the mercies of God whereby he makes us rich in all gifts of grace and glory as appears Ephes 1. v. 7. where the Apostle sayes we receive mercy according to the riches of his grace The true and genuine meaning therefore of this place is O profound depth of the mercies wisdome and knowledge of God! of his mercy extended to all Nations of his wisdome making even the incredulity of the Infidels to be the motive to convert Nations of his knowledge penetrating all future present past and contingent things at once And indeed these three points are the scope of all the Apostle aymes at from the ninth to this eleventh Chapter to the Romans for it was a special design of God to send his Sacred Son poor and abject amongst the Jews who had he come in a splendid way would have been undoubtedly received by them but if we ask the reason why God would do this there is no better can be given then in brief O the depth of Gods riches and mercies of his wisdome and of his knowledge This is the Abysse that
be reall and not verball onely to be operative not idle or lazy for here the tongue is opposed to truth as dissimulation to sincerity and the word to the work as empty air to a purse full of money or as froth is to beer or wine To conclude hence we are taught further that we must not onely be effectually charitable but also we are bound to be affectionately so for it little avails to give alms unlesse we also love the poor whom we relieve and therefore love them because we relieve Christ in them and unlesse we give thus we sell our selves for popular applause by giving away our substance to purchase the empty air the shadows of vain commends and so lose a divine blessing as to the children of God to get a morall one as to be esteemed humane fathers of the world The Application 1. HItherto it hath appeared how exactly holy Church recommends unto us the practise of charity and truely this dayes Epistle confirms us in the same practise while it runnes wholly upon the subject of love so high that it seems to exceed even the last sundayes act of charity commanding then to love our enemies because now it exhorts us to do more then love them when v. 16. it invites to die for them also if need be which yet a true love of enemies involves as our Saviour did for us to shew his love unto us 2. And least we should pretend to love and not do it really see how the master of this Art S. John Evangelist in the last verse of this Epistle bids us take heed we do not feign the part we ought to act in earnest for he tells us 't is not enough to say we love unlesse we do it too no he obligeth us to love in deed to love in truth lest we seem to mock Almighty God by giving out we mean to act the best part of his sacred sonne his loving unto death those he pretended once to love according to that of the Evangelist Christ when he loved his people he loved them to his end that is he died for love of them 3. Hence we may safely say those are unworthy of the gift of love who have not in their hearts and eyes the holy fear of God as truely those can never have who dare to mock his sacred sonne by their dissembling love that is not reall No Christians no we are not yet in heaven where we cannot erre here we must carry fear before our eyes lest losing it we lose our labours too for without this holy fear we cannot work out our salvation nor can we hope to please his heavenly majesty unlesse we fear his power who is as well our Governour as our God and as we must love his Deity so we must fear his Government Whence it is holy Church most properly prayes to day as above The Gospel Luke 14. v. 16. c. 16. But he said to him A certain man made a great supper and called many 17. And he sent his servant at the houre of supper to say to the invited That they should come because now all things are ready 18. And they began all at once to make excuse The first said to him I have bought a farm and I must needâ— go forth and see it I pray thee hold me excused 19. And another said I have bought five yoke of Oxen and I go to prove them I pray thee hold me excused 20. And another said I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come 21. And the servant returning told these things unto his Lord. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant Go forth quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and the poor and feeble and blind and lame bring in hither 22. And the servant said Lord it is done as thou didst command and yet there is place 23. And the Lord said to the servant Go forth into the wayes and hedges and compell them to enter that my house may be filled 24. But I say to you that none of those men that were called shall taste of my supper The Explication 16. THis parable is almost the same that was mentioned Mat. 22.2 only there in a different way time and place as under the name of a dinner and here it is brought in under the name of a supper And there are divers senses made upon this supper Some call it a parable of the Incarnation life and death of Christ and thus S. Matthew seems to take it calling it a dinner as to the Church militant and a supper to the Church triumphant Others apply this parable unto the Blessed Sacrament and those make God the Father master of this feast his sacred Sonne the feast it self made of his blessed body and bloud and in favour of this opinion the holy Church at this time reads this Gospel as alluding to the flowing feast of Corpus Christi But yet for all that the literall sense of this Gospel alludes to the last supper of heavenly glory for that is the true supper which ends the laborious day time and begins eternall rest that never shall have end so though many may be cast out of doors after the dinner of the Church militant yet none can be cast out after they once enter to this triumphant supper And for that cause the most genuine sense of this place alludes as S. Gregory saith hom 36. to the society of eternall sweetnesse and glory Where note that great signifies here all the degrees of greatnesse such a supper as none could be greater either for the rarity of the dainties and banquets thereof or for the splendour and duration of it whereof S. Paul 1. Cor. 2. v. 9. sayes Eye hath not seen nor hath ear heard neither hath it ascended into the heart of man what things God hath prepared for them that love him And to this supper he called many by many are here understood no lesse then even all the Jews who were the true Church and people of God and were called by the Patriarchs and Prophets by John the Baptist by Christ himself while he lived amongst them 17. But by his servants whom he sent are properly meant the Apostles left by him to convert these Jews as well as other nations And by the bower of supper here mentioned is understood the resurrection of our Saviour for then and not till then were all things ready for this great supper of glory because then he brought with him from his grave a multitude of blessed souls who therefore were in Paradise as he promised the thief to be that very day he died because they were in his impassible presence that is to say when he was pleased to allow his body the benefit of all the gifts due to glorious bodies so though they were not in the finall place of eternall rest untill they did ascend with him to heaven yet they were set at the table of glory with him and were carried
the devil therefore holy Church as strucken with an admiration at the wonder of it to see souls saved upon so huge an odds as three such enemies to one poor man or three millions to one rather considering every one of these three principall enemies have millions of instruments to damn a soul by and not knowing what else to attribute this unto then to the admirable Providence of Almighty God who hath so contrived that those whom he hath chosen to be his amongst the multitudes of men shall make their very dangers their security their very sinfull flesh the instrument of their saintity and salvation by the sole helping hand of charity Therefore I say it is the Churches prayer gives this prodigious work to the sole Providence of Almighty God and begs that by this never-failing Providence all lets to our salvation may be taken away and all helps possible afforded thereunto The Gospel Matt. 7. v. 15. c. 15 Take ye great heed of false prophets which come to you in the clothing of sheep but inwardly are ravening wolves 16 By their fruits you shall know them Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles 17 Even so every good tree yieldeth good fruits and the evil tree yieldeth evil fruits 18. A good tree cannot yield evil fruits neither an evil tree yield good fruits 19 Every tree that yieldeth not good fruit shall be cut down and shall be cast into fire 20 Therefore by their fruits you shall know them 21 Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdome of heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven he shall enter into the Kingdome of heaven The Explication 15. BY false prophets are here understood any that undertake to teach or preach false doctrine By their coming unto us is understood they are not sent lawfully but pretend mission By the clothing of sheep is meant their false pretence of sanctity liberty of conscience expounding Scripture and the like whereas they inwardly are wolves that devour souls under pretext of saving them 16. Their fruits are commonly licentiousnesse of life obstinate heresie schisme from the true Church These the thorns of their pretended vines the thistles of their pretended fig-trees 17. That is to say a true prophet or teacher teacheth good doctrine and leads a good life a false teacheth bad lessons and liveth lewdly too 18. This is parabolically spoken in order to the will of man and so holds not ever but for the most part unlesse taken in the compounded sense that is a good will whilest it remains good cannot produce evil fruit though it may cease to be good and then produce evil 19. What is here said in the future tense is in the third chapter of S. Matthew spoken by the Greek Text in the Present tense as who should say every tree that yields not good fruit is presently cut down and cast into the fire as if it had cut it selfe downe and cast it selfe into the guilt of hell fire by mortall sinne And it is onely Gods infinite mercy that whilest we yield bad fruit whilest we sinne mortally we are not presently damned for so we deserve to be And in the same third chapter the hatchet is said to be placed at the root of the tree to cut it instantly down meaning Christ is come whose Law is ready to passe upon us whose sentence is ready to be pronounced upon every mortall sinne for then we are spiritually dead and after death judgement is instantly ready nay our own guilty consciences do even immediately pronounce our sentence of damnation unlesse God give us grace to repent and amend by producing good fruits again 20. If they live well and do good workes you may know they are true teachers if not they are false ones 21. See the modesty of our Saviour Christ who rather names his Fathers will then his own although they are alwayes both one and the same God and both equally produce the same effect of salvation if equally observed and obeyed But to the first part of this verse 't is not every one that calls upon God or undertakes to preach his word that is saved no he must bring forth the good fruit above required and what is that good fruit the will of God he must square himself and his actions thereunto and then he shall be saved by crying onely or knocking at heaven gates nay wee need not cry nor knock at all if we bring a key to open the doore if we have cast our own inordinate wills into the form of the will of God and so made unto our selves a key to open heaven gates withall to enter whensoever we die The Application 1. AS in the Epistle above Saint Paul bid the Laymen beware of their greatest internall enemies or evils their own flesh so in this Gospell Saint Matthew bids the same Lay-people take great heed of their most dangerous externall enemies the false Prophets meaning false Teachers and Preachers of Gods holy Word We are therefore as in the Illustration was observed by this dayes doctrine armed against all enemies whatsoever internall or externall by the prudence of holy Church collecting at once all the motives that may be to increase our love and charity to Almighty God in shewing us how his infinite Providence hath secured our way to Heaven by pointing out every danger that we can encounter in the way 2. And as the Lay-man hath no better guides to heaven then those that preach and teach the Word of God unto him that catechise and instruct him in the Principles of Christian Doctrine that offer sacrifice to God for him and administer the Sacraments of God unto him because with these guides it is he trusts his very soul so in regard there are that doe usurp this office of Prophets of Teachers and Preachers to the very bane poyson perdition and damnation of souls it was hugely necessary the divine Providence should arme us against this worst of evils by giving us a rule to know these impudent usurpers by these false Prophets from the true ones which knowledge we shall have by looking on the fruits of one and the other them that bring good fruit we are to follow them that bring forth bad to flie 3. Now because holy Church hath not made the Lay-man absolutely Judge in this particular therefore while her Doctours preaching on this Text give all the signes of true and false Prophets she contents her selfe the Lay-men have recourse to God Almighties Providence herein and that they onely follow those who make their works answerable to their Doctrine who doe as well as teach the will of God For as they onely are true lovers of him who keep his Commandements so such onely are to be the Lay-mens guides And to the end they may have such and may be freed from others They pray to day this may be an act of God Almighties speciall Providence over them
more since there is no more time to work salvation in then that between his birth and his coming to judgement 12. This verse seems added lest any should conceive the former menaces did not belong to him in particular for such is the condition of humane frailty that who to day is a Saint may tomorrow be a sinner and therefore the Apostle bids us all stand upon our guard 13. This Greek phrase of the imperative moode Let not c. is to be understood in the Latine and English as if it were in the preterperfect tense of the indicative and would say hath not that is the temptations you have had were but mere humane namely to contention to lust to liberty and the like such as are common to all mankind but are easily avoyded by the help of grace bestowed on us by our faithfull God who as the following words assure us will not desert us in our temptations nor let us be tempted above our strength much lesse doth God as Calvin sayes thrust us on or tempt us himself nor doth he as Luther will have it impose things impossible on us to whom his grace as to Saint Paul it was is all sufficient and from whom he never takes the said grace till we reject it or by our consent to sin expell it Contrary God permits us not to be tempted but that we may thereby gain greater force to endure yet further assaults as who should say the issue of our temptation is if we will our victory and inabling us to a new if need be to a greater combat for thus much import the last words of the verse that we may be able to sustain these and yet greater onsets if we will our selves use the grace which God gives us to resist them with The Application 1. THe summe of this Epistle is to tell us Christians that what punishments were inflicted on the little children of Almighty God the Jewes who had onely the Alphabet the Elements of religion bestowed upon them will if we commit the like sins befall us too that a e the Men the Combatants the Champions of Jesus Christ honoured by him so far as to have the perfection of religion taught us by himself not onely in the delivery of his holy word unto us but in the example of his sacred person doing before our eyes much more then he expects from us because we should have no excuse from doing our endeavours in some sort at least to follow his saving footsteps 2. It will therefore behove us that are now marching our long journey through the desert of this world to the kingdome of heaven upon the feet of Christian charity to behave our selves as we were passing some narrow and loose bridge standing o're a precipice of deepest waters full of rocks sure to pash us in peices or to drown us if we fall for to this reflection the 1â—th verse and close of this Epistle lead us And by this means we shall be sure to beg both faith and hope to lead our charity over this dangerous passage lest while she thinks she stands she fall upon the sharpest rock of all before our eyes to day Idolatry by idolizing to her own inventions in seeking of her self not looking after Jesus Christ in her devotions or upon the splitting rock of Fornication by pouring out her affections on the alluring creatures of the world which she hath made by her baptismal vow solemnly sacred to Almighty God alone or into the deepest pit of Tempting Christ in her prayers by praying to God for things she should renounce and not enjoy her own inordinate desires and so indeavouring to give God law instead of begging favour at his hands to make her self God instead of captivating her rebellious will to his holy pleasure or lastly into the desperate swallowing gulf of Murmur by repining at God Almighties bounties when she sees any prosper whom she loves not especially when this murmuring arrives to the malice of envying her neighbours spirituall good 3. O beloved if this be the frequent practise of Christians who pretend charity to be their guide how ought the reflection of it to strike us into a religious awe into a holy fear into a dread indeed lest while we make a shew to men of saintity we practise iniquity And therefore holy Church to day hath made a prayer so excellently suiting to this purpose that it alone said with a heart which beats according to the lip that saies it will suffice to cure us of those evils and to secure our charity she shall hold her footing o're the narrow bridge of danger If while she prayes she perfectly renounce her own desires and beg of God Almighty only that which is agreable unto his holy will and pleasure The Gospel Luke 19. v. 41. c. 41 And as he drew near seeing the city he wept upon it saying 42 Because if thou hadst known and that in this thy day the things that pertain to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes 43 For the dayes shall come upon thee and thy enemies shall compasse thee with a trench and inclose thee about and straiten thee on every side 44 And beat thee flat to the ground and thy children that are in thee And they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation 45 And entring into the Temple he began to cast out the sellers therein and the buyers 46 Saying to them It is written That my house is the house of Prayer but you have made it a den of thieves 47 And he was teaching daily in the Temple The Explication 41. HEre our Saviour shewed the tender bowels of his humane nature when drawing near Jerusalem the head city of his own chosen people whither he was sent by his heavenly Father to redeem them and all the world besides seeing by his al-seeing eye that maugre the exclamations of the children and people who shewed his way into the City yet he should by the chief commanders there be crucified in requital of his love he fell a weeping mixing the wine of his triumph with the water of his tears to shew us how to temper our pleasures here Three causes there were of our Saviours tears upon this city The first the blindnesse obduracy and ingratitude of his chosen people that would not receive their Messias and Saviour The second the revenge of God upon them by Titus who was to be their destruction by this ingratitude The third the losse as it were of all his own labours upon his best beloved children most of the sons of that city 42. That is if thou o my beloved city didst know as I do and that in this thy day when I come to give thee a kisse of peace from heaven being sent unto thee by my eternall Father when I enter thy gates to redeem and save thee which is indeed a thing appertaining to thy eternall
clear a demonstration of it as deeper souls may make encouraged by these beginnings of my shallow understanding Mean while I shall beseech our whole sodality to say these Prayers with all devotion possible as being such indeed that rightly understood do ravish any tender soul and will make them see the fondnesse of a single-soled devotion in comparison of this which is the Universall Churches Prayer Let me conclude with this one question onely tell me beloved what we may not daâ—e to aske of God Almighty who in this dayes prayer are bid demand more then we dare presume to aske And why because no guilt of conscience is so great but he that is the searcher of our hearts can see the depth thereof and seeing mercifully pardon it through the abundance of his pitty towards us nay then he commonly gives a more ample pardon when we acknowledge his mercy exceeds as much our desires as it doth our merits when we rely upon him for prevenient grace to ask him pardon for our sinnes and that done with a soul contrite then build upon his goodnesse for the rest when we leave it to him what proportion of mercy he will show us since he being God cannot give so little but it is much more then we his creatures can deserve and since his goodnesse is such as he cannot chuse but give more then he bids us aske since we must alwayes ask as wanting creatures he alwayes gives as an abounding Creatour giving all things to nothing rather then want a subject to bestow his bounties on and we are lesse then nothing when he gives repentance to our sinfull souls O! this beloved is the pouring out of his mercy this is the out-doing goodnesse of Almighty God which in the prayer above we so much magnifie and in so doing glorifie his blessed name whence we may one day hope to see our blisse our glory flowing also since therefore God is glorified here in time that he may render us in heaven glorious for all eternity The Epistle 1. Cor. 15.1 c. 1 Brethren I give you to understand the Gospel which I have preached to you which also you received in which also you stand 2 By the which also you are saved after what manner I preached unto you if you keep it unlesse you have believed in vain 3 For I delivered unto you first of all which I also received that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures 4 And that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures 5 And that he was seen of Cephas and after that of the eleven 6 Then was he seen of more then five hundred brethren together of which many remain untill this present and some are asleep 7 Moreover he was seen of James then of all the Apostles 8 And last of all of an abortive he was seen also of me 9 For I am the least of the Apostles who am not worthy to be called an Apostle because I persecuted the Church of God 10 But by the grace of God I am that which I am and his grace in me hath not been void but I have laboured more aboundantly then all they yet not I but the grace of God with me The Explication 1. THat is I call again here to your mind So runs the Greek Text where the Vulgar sayes we are given to understand 2. Meaning if you work according to your belief so here faith without works was preached by Saint Paul to be vain as who should say no faith were saving but that which by charitie is operative 3. Hence it is clear the Apostle did first deliver by word of mouth the doctrine which he after writ so by tradition we come first and chiefly to Christianitie by preaching not by writing for faith is by hearing Rom. 10.17 And whereas here we read of delivery the Greeks write tradition and that according to the Scriptures 4. That is as was literally foretold by the figure of Jonas three dayes in the Whales belly allegorically of Isaac delivered safe to his mother three dayes after he had been preserved from death though offered up thereunto by Abraham 5. By Cephas understand Peter who was the first man Christ appeared to though he had before appeared to Mary Magdalene as we read Mark the last v. 9. Then to the eleven Apostles That was in the Octave of Easter when Saint Thomas was also present for at first he appeared onely to the other ten though the Greeks read to twelve meaning to the whole Colledge of Apostles which may stand good though one or two were absent as an act is said to be the whole Councills act when it is past by the greater number 6. He was seen to those five hundred as in the aire or from some high place that all might see him at once to shew them rather then to tell them he was risen for it is not said in this Text that he spoke to any of these five hundred persons And it is most probable this apparition was in the mountain of Galilee which was by our Saviour foretold so that this company probably went thither purposely and as foretold what would happen This apparition was before the Ascension for this mountain was in Galilee not in Judaea as was the mount Olivet whence our Saviour did ascend 7. This was an apparition of speciall favour to Saint James of Alphaeus called the brother of Christ and succeeding him in his sea at Hierusalem So our Saviour was not content once onely and that in common to appear unto Saint James with the rest of the Apostles and peradventure with the five hundred in the verse above but he was pleased specially to grace his brother so called because he was like our Saviour by a private appearing to him after these publick apparitions to him and others 8. Saint Paul calls himself abortive because he was born to the Apostolate after the time of Christ his choosing his Apostles by a speciall calling even from heaven after Christ had ascended to his heavenly Father So S. Ambrose and S. Chrysostome expound it Yet there want not other pious expositions of this word by other Fathers as if by this S. Paul would render himself lesse considerable So the next verse clearly saies and needs no further exposition 9 10. By the grace of God I am an Apostle and the Doctour of the Gentiles and this grace hath not been void idle or lazie in me but operative according to the diligence of a soul inflamed with the love of God and making his free will a servant to grace by acting freely what by holy inspirations he was called unto The Epistle ends at void but the verse goes on as above He saies more aboundantly then all they this may seem an ill arrogancy after so much humiliation of himself but it is not so for by more aboundantly he means onely by overcoming more vice not that he professed more virtue namely
our selves is not understood as well as our selves for a man may lawfully love himself better then his neighbour but yet so as withal he is bound to love his neighbour too and self-love is not so much commanded as presumed because it is natural but the love of our neighbour is an absolute command because our neighbour is as dear to God as we and was created by him as we are redeemed by him as we are and so must be beloved by us because he is as well beloved of God as we if not better and if he be a better Christian sure enough he is better beloved 28. Here our Saviour caught the Doctour who thought to have entrapped him by telling him the keeping of this Law is the way to live everlastingly but the Doctour expected Christ would have contradicted the Law and not have confirmed or bound him to keep it which therefore he did bind him to because it was a Law of love not of ceremony as those other lawes were which Christ abrogated 29. By justifying himself is here understood a huge pride in this Doctour as who should say he was so just a keeper of the Law and so just thereby that he did not think he had his fellow in justice or any neighbour like to himself and so he demanded of Christ to know who was his neighbour who so just as he who to be compared with him 30. By these words Jesus taking it is intimated Jesus understood the latent pride of the man and so in the following parable undertook to confound him and make him answer himself by finding that no man in misery is to be rejected by those who are in prosperity but that the way to make a man in prosperity as good as another in misery is to commiserate his case and to relieve his wants who is in need not to neglect or scorn him as it seems the Lawyer did all others besides himself whilest he thought no man so just as he was True by the word tempting as above it is evident this was first the sense of the Lawyer till afterwards as some say he found by his conversation with our Saviour that his own heart was changed from malicious to religious If so the sense is sound that sayes really the Lawyer desired to become just and did not then as formerly think he was so but with a real desire of becoming so ask Christ who was his neighbour that he might love him as he did himself And this stands with reason because the Jewes held none for their neighbours but vertuous people of their own Nation so they thought it a vertue to hate a sinful Jew or a Gentile but our Saviour reduced them from this errour by the following parable wherein he made the Jewish Lawyer see the Samaritan was the Jewes neighbour if he did love him and relieve him in his wants and that Christian perfection extended even to the love of enemies Where note that our Saviour takes hold of the dangerous passage that was between Jerusalem and Jericho because none could passe almost without danger of being rob'd stript wounded and many times slain By this man half-slain is understood the state of man corrupted by the fall of Adam whose understanding and free will remain but so as a man half dead is said to live in respect of another in full health and vigour of body 31. 32. This is understood a chance to man but a true providence in respect of God who therefore ordained those passengers should go by that some of them might relieve the wounded man But by this act of the Priest and Levite we are instructed how little inward vertue was in the Ministers of the Church under the old Law all their sanctity consisting in outward ceremony and having no acquaintance with internal sincerity or charity so as disdaining they went off from him whom they found in misery in the way they were to passe 33. By the Samaritan is here figured Christ the perfect Priest of the perfect new Law and light of the Gospel He therefore goes not off blancheth not from the man in misery but comes near him and hath pity on him 34. By the oyl and wine understand the Sacraments of the new Law made as salves to cure the sore of sin which yet literally may be taken for the Samaritans provision in his journey By his own beast may here be understood the humanity of Christ taking upon his back all our sins to ease us of the burthen 35. By the two pence given the hoste may be understood the Sacrament of the Eucharist consisting of two natures in Christ Divine and humane The hoste may signifie the Deacon or the Priest of the new Law or the Priest assisting the Bishop in administration of the holy Eucharist By what he should supererogate is here understood what he should spend in cure of this man above the two pence held sufficient he would repay and here is grounded the Catholick doctrine of works of supererogation which Hereticks allow not of And by this Parable is insinuated that what the old Law had not power to do for recovery of the wounds in corrupted nature the new Law by way of the Priests and Sacraments thereof is sufficient for and so can save even all the corrupted seed of Adam by the virtue they have from the passion of our Saviour Jesus Christ 36. Christ doth not intend to ask which of these was neighbour to the wounded man for all men are truly neighbours each to other but onely which behaved himself like a neighbour 37. Here you see Christ by a question makes the Doctour be his own instructer commends his answer and tells him if he will be saved he must not onely know but do the law of charity and this whilest he bids him do to all men as the Samaritan did to the Jew to enemy as well as friend to bad as well as good Christians if the bad one be in misery Thus Christ hath made curiosity the cause of sincerity and dissimulation the cause of truth in this entrapping Lawyer and no marvail since he alone is able to cull good out of bad The Application 1. THis dayes Epistle taught us a due regard to the Law of God least breaking it we loose the hopes of heaven and all the expectation of the happy promises God made to those who keep his holy Law This Gospel tells us now how to keep that Law By loving our neighbour as we love our selves by loving him for that dear Jesus sake to whom he is probably much more dear then we as happily offending God lesse however most displeasing us who are still lesse pleased with others when we our selves do most displease the heavenly Majesty So 't is not indeed what others do to us that ought to trouble us but our omitting that we ought to do to please Almighty God and purchase heaven by keeping of his holy Lawes which then our Saviour sayes are kept when we
of the doctrine of Christ the Gospel we have delivered unto you 6. The particle as here imports as much as if he had said by these two means namely of our preaching and your thereby tightly understanding the true sense of Christs doctrine you are confirmed in Christ in your belief of his veracity and so he becomes confirmed in you by these infallible testimonies you have of him our preaching and your right believing 7. See here how absolutely right masters the Apostles were how absolutely true schollars or disciples the Corinthians were of Christ to whom nothing is wanting in any grace that can be requisite to their confirmation who are true children of Christ who have such masters and who are such believers as the Corinthians were So that what remained was onely to see all they had heard and believed of Christ to be verified by his revealing the certainty thereof at his second coming in the day of Judgment when this perfect and fertile grace shall bring forth in them the fruits of glory in the Kingdome of heaven 8. This verse alludes to the present grace of Christ which the Apostle sayes should confirm them now in their belief meaning the Church not every particular member thereof and render them both here till then and at the day of Judgement inculpable for their having thus believed being thus called by God and thus instructed by the Apostles The Application 1. WE heard last Sunday how this Apostle summed up to his Ephesian Converts those particular vertues that were proper for new converted soules now to day he speaks to the Corinthians much in the same stile they being newly by his means then made good Christians onely here the Apostle insists much upon the effects of that grace in them which wrought their conversion and those effects how excellent they are the Explication of the Text above hath told us 2. It remains therefore that all Catholick Christians while they read this Text which minds them of their like conversion amidst a thousand millions of men who want that happinesse set their charity on work immediately to produce the like effects in their soules by the operation of the grace they have received to be and to persevere in that saving Faith which works it self by charity out of grace into glory at that latter day when every one shall receive according to their works 3. As therefore the gift of Faith wrought upon our understandings and directed them to an assent to mysteries above the reach of reason so charity is to direct our wills to attempt things above nature such as are all good works done for a supernatural end Now because all such works are the effects of grace and not of nature and because grace is given to us by the operation of God his mercy towards us who mercifully operates that in us which we our selves may cooperate unto but cannot operate without his helping hand without the operation of his mercy upon us even towards our cooperation which is indeed his holy grace working in us Therefore holy Church to day fitly prayes as above The Gospel Mat. 9. v. 1. c. 1 And entering into a boat he passed over the water and came into his own cittie 2 And behold they brought unto him one sick of the palsie lying in bed and Jesus seeing their faith said to the sick of the palsie have a good heart son thy sins are forgiven thee 3 And behold certain of the Scribes said within themselves he blasphemeth 4 And Jesus seeing their thoughts said wherefore think you evil in your hearts 5 Whether is easier to say thy sins are forgiven thee or to say arise and walk 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man hath power in earth to forgive sins then said he to the sick of the palsie Arise take up thy bed and go into thy house 7 And he arose and went into his house 8 And the multitudes seeing it were afraid and glorified God that gave such power to men The Explication 1. MUch dispute there is about this Cittie which it was since the Text calls it his own but the most probable sense is that it was Capharnaam which he was most pleased to grace with his miracles and preaching for Bethleem he had honoured with his birth Nazareth with his youthly education Egypt with his slight thither Hierusalem with his passion and so it rests Capharnaam must be that cittie which he now calls his own by his habitation preaching and cuting all diseases frequently therein 2. They bring him a paralytick in his bed the reason was that men sick of this disease lose the use of their joynts can neither go stand nor sit Here we may learn not onely to labour our own but our neighbours wellfare for this paralytick was brought doubtlesse by those who having seen the works of Christ and his wonders were zealous to bring this sick man on their shoulders to the fountain of health S. Marke sayes c. 2. v. 3. there were foure did bring this man to Christ And by the following words in this verse is evinced what we have already said of these mens zeals foâ— they carried the man up to the top of a house not being able to bring him bed and all through the crowd So Christ seeing the faith of these men who brought him with this zeal said to the paralytick in recompense of his and their faiths who brought him for the Text runs in the plurall number Sonne be of good heart thy sinnes are forgiven thee By these words we see the faith of miracles is and must be mixed with a confident hope of obtaining the favour asked which we believe is in his power to grant that we do ask it of and this confident hope is that which chears up the heart which Christ bade this paralytick continue Great is seen to be the benignitie grace and favour shown by Christ to this poore diseased creature when he calls him childe and to make him capable of that denomination forgives him his sinnes to shew he was not onely a corporall but a spirituall Physician and had power over souls as well as over bodies Nor is it marvell he first heals the soul of sinne by remitting it before he cures the body of this paralytick since commonly sinne in the soul is the cause of diseases in the body so that this was even a due order to cure the disease by taking away the cause thereof besides since all Gods workes are perfect it is consonant to Christ his dignitie and bountie being God to doe the worke completely to cure the man both body and soul and this indeed is commonly found to be the practise of Christ in most of his cures since his aime in all his miracles was the conversion of souls besides he came purposely into the world to take away the sinnes thereof But a main reason why here he did remit sin was to shew himself to be God by exercising that power which
honest ends not for lucre or unjust sordid gain the temptation whereof will cease if we make it the end of our labour to do works of charity to others such as is relieving them in their necessity And if to this end even Church-men labour they will not want the example of it given them by the Apostles who did practise the same as well as preach it The Application 1. St. Paul not knowing what better counsel to give his Ephesian Converts when he found some of them relapsing towards the old man then to bid them be renewed in the spirit of their minds and to put on the new man which according to God was created in Justice and Holinesse seemes in this to have left it as a rule of Christian perfection that the Ephesians should endeavour to be continually the Saints which first they were when God by holy baptisme snatcht them out of the bondage of the devil and made them free-born Citizens of the heavenly Hierusalem clad in the richest robes of Saintitie the purest Innocency 2. And surely holy Church can have no other aym by reading us this lesson to day then to mind our charity of walking in that saving path of Innocency by renewing her baptismal vow her holy covenant with Almighty God of loving him above all things and her neighbour as her self of renouncing the world the flesh and the devil with all their lying passion malice and injustice forbidden to all Christians in the holy Text above 3. Now because this is easier said by Preachers then done by the people and because it is impossible for men of themselves to do the least good at all the Royal Prophet saying there is not one that doth it therefore holy Church finding her children by S. Paul exhorted to no lesse perfection then the highest of Saintity and remembring that as when Adam was in Paradise God to ease his way to Saintity had shut out all Adversity both of mind and body from thence all disturbance and grief of soul all rebellion of sense against reason all disasters of the body in a word all mortality it self so the same God having pleased to bring us in to a Paradise of grace our prudent Mother hopes his divine goodnesse will also shut out all adversity from thence that we may not by disturbance either in mind or body be hindered from executing his commands better in this paradise of grace then Adam did in the paradise of Earth yet withall our holy Mother knowing the difficulty of this work to procure us this tranquillity useth all her best arts and for this end Prayes to God that it may be if not ours at least his own handy-work and if not feisible by his ordinary Power that yet it may be done by his Omnipotency or by that which yet to us is greater by his mercy and lest that mercy be mistaken she conjures him by the highâ—st of his mercies by his bitter death and passion by that mercy which doth not onely satisfie the rigour of his Justice but renders him Propitious also to us Say but the Prayer above and see if it be not home to all this purpose The Gospel Matt. 22. v. 1. 1 And Jesus answering spake again in parables to them saying 2 The Kingdome of heaven is likened to a man being a King which made a marriage to his son 3 And he sent his servants to call them that were invited to the marriage and they would not come 4 And again he sent other servants saying tell them that were invited behold I have prepared my dinner my beeves and fatlings are killed and all things are ready come you to the marriage 5 But they neglected and went their wayes one to his farme and another to his merchandize 6 And the rest laid hands upon his servants and spitefully entreating them murdred them 7 And when the King did hear of it he was wroth and sending his hosts destroyed those murtherers and burnt their City 8 Then he said to his servants the marriage indeed is ready but they that were invited were not worthy 9 Go ye therefore into the high wayes and whomsoever you shall find call to the marriage 10 And his servants going forth into the wayes gathered together all that they found bad and good and the marriage was filled with guests 11 And the King went in to see the guests and saw there a man not attired in a wedding garment 12 And he said to him Friend how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment but he was dumb 13 Then the King said to the wayters binde his hands and feet and cast him into the utter darknesse there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth 14 For many are called but few elected The Explication 1. BY this way of parables Christ did often instruct and illuminate the Jewes who were very intentive to any parabolical sense and much pleased therewith 2. By the Kingdome of heaven is here understood the Church militant which is truly a Kingdome purchased by the blood of Christ and the time when this marriage was made was when Christ became man who being the second person of the blessed Trinity was espoused to his holy Church So the King here mentioned is God the Father sending down his Son to be married to his said Spouse the holy Church 3. The servants meant in this verse were the Patriarks and Prophets of the old Law who could not prevail with the Jews to come unto the wedding feast that God had by these his servants invited them unto 4. The servants in this verse were the Apostles their disciples and all missionary Priests of the new Law of Christ These were bid tell the people invited and with great reason the wedding feast was ready for so the word dinner here imports By the beeves and fatlings are understood the Sacrifices Sacraments Sermons Martyrdomes and all other spiritual food prepared for souls in holy Church 5. By these are understood men preferring the world before God and so refusing to be reconciled for fear of loosing their estates by the penal lawes of man made against the followers of the Law of Christ The farm and merchandize are here set down in lieu of all other worldly occupations withdrawing soules from the service of God 6. These are such as did not onely refuse themselves to become good but proceeded farther in their malice by opposing others in their way of vertue in a word by persecuting the people of God the true Church of Christ Such were those who put to death the Apostles such they who now execute the Priests that succeed the Apostles in the ministery of Gods holy Word 7. This verse tells us that God perceiving the wickednesse of those who persecuted his Saints as the Jewes had done his sacred Son sent in his wrath Titus and Vespasian to destroy the Jewes to sack Jerusalem and therein to pull down the Temple of Solomon the miracle in a manner of the world So
that the Princes Armies were the hostes in this verse mentioned who after they had sackt did burn the City of Jerusalem 8 This verse alludes to the turning a way Gods face from the Jews his chosen people and casting his eye upon the Gentiles which signifies the transmigration from the Jewish Synagogue to the Church of Christ from the old Law to the new And he sayes truly dinner was ready indeed because Christ was then crucified and yet after that his resurrection ascension and coming of the Holy Ghost the stiffe-necked Jewes would nor be made believe in him so then the Apostles were sent from the unworthy Jewes to the Gentiles 9. Into the high wayes into all the nooks and turnings of the whole world into all Nations with Commission to make no such distinction as formerly God made between Jew and Gentile but to preach and teach the Word of God to all in general and to every one in particular of what Nation soever to every creature of the whole world Mark 16. v. 15. 10. This verse alludes to the performance of this Commission when holy Church sayes in honour of the Apostles Rom. 10.18 The sound of their lips went into every Nation and even to the worlds end their words were heard inviting as they were commanded bad and good that is not denying as Reformists do but that true faith may consist with evill manners that bad men may be yet true Christians or which is all one that in the Church of Christ there are sinners as well as Saints who are not therefore secluded the Church because they are of evil life but are still exhorted to mend By the marriage being filled with guests understand here the Church of Christ was full of true believers of all Nations whatsoever 11. This verse points at the day of Judgement which is the last day of the nuptial feast of Jesus Christ when God coming to view his guests brought into the Church out of all Nations shall espy one wanting his wedding garment wanting his robe of innocence and sanctity of life wrought by charity in his soul and rendring his faith meritorious in the sight of God by the good works of his charity By this one is literally and eminently here meant the reprobated Jew who at the day of Judgment shall be more confounded then any other Nation whatsoever so here is not had regard to faith as distinguished from charity since the onely obstinate Jew is understood to have no faith at all how ever he come thither to receive his doom with others that are then to be judged but his reprobation shall be signal and remarkable when he shall be as it were the onely man picked out to be thrust into the pit of hell Though by one man mentioned here is also signified that at the day of Judgment there shall not one be permitted to enter into the Kingdome of heaven who hath not on him the wedding garment of sanctifying charity hence each one ought to have a great care lest he be the one singled out to eternal perdition since in that vaste multitude not one can hope to lie hid from the sight of the Judge 12. By being dumb is here understood not being able to alleadge any excuse why he should not be damned Yet even in this inexcusable delinquency the text by the word friend out of the King mouth expresseth it is purely our own faults we are not saved for God on his part is our friend and so calls us when we obstinately persist in professing enmity to his Divine Majesty 13. By the Waiters here we may not unfitly understand the divels who wait indeed to snatch away as many soules to hell as they can By the binding his hands and feet is understood the cessation of all future action and place is then onely left for passion for enduring endlesse torments The darknesse of hell is therefore called utter darknesse because there is neither light of reason nor of grace nor place left in the damned to be saved by any meanes Though S. Gregory calls it outward darknesse which is more after the Latine text because it is a darknesse added to the darknesse of the heart and soul wherein the damned creature lived which as contradistinguished to that of hell S. Gregory calls inward darknesse where no light of grace did shine within the soul 14. This is a fearful conclusion for whereas the parable speaks but of one rejected this verse intimates very few are saved that is though many are called into the lap of the Church yet but few are placed in the bosome of Christ and there rewarded with eternal glory namely those onely who by good works and godly life added to their faith have according to S. Peters counsel made certain their vocation and election too 2 Pet. 1.10 certain indeed to God but not so to their knowledge who at most can have but a certain hope thereof so long as they live The Application 1. THe Parable of this Gospel seems nothing else but a deeper inculcation to us of the doctrine delivered above in this dayes Epistle inviting us to an innocency of life in this Paradise of grace by inviting us to a saintity of a far better life in the Paradise of glory 2. For what are all these excuses pretended here against our going to heaven but that which the Epistle forbids a meer practise of lying both to God and man So the Prophet had reason to say Iniquity gave her self the lye by pretending excuses from her bounden duty which ought to be nothing else but the serving God and the saving of her soul thereby What is the laying hands on Gods servants and murdering those that invite us to heaven but the Anger and giving place to the devil both forbidden in the Epistle what our stealing away the grace of our soules by the hands of sin which was a treasure given us to work out both our own and our neighbours salvation also by but a plain practise of the prohibited Theft in the last verse of the Epistle with making the theft a sacriledge to boot by robbing God of his glory and of his Saints whilest we concur to their damnation whom Jesus sayntified by his bitter death and passion 3. What then remaines but that as these falsities passions malices thefts are meerly the devices of the devil the multiplicity of his invented adversities to disturb the quiet of our minds and bodies by that they may not be free to serve God with a prompt obedience to his commands his meer bolts indeed to shut us for ever out of our best Paradise of glory so the Church by the practise of veracity patience goodnesse and honesty bids us work counter to the devil And for this purpose prayes to day that God will by the bolt of his efficacious grace shut out the devill with all his adversities from our soules and bodies that so by a tranquillity of serving God in the Paradise of grace in
this life our charity may enter into a security of enjoying him in the Paradise of glory in the life to come On the twentieth Sunday after Pentecost The Antiphon John 4.52 BVt the father knew that it was the same hour in the which Jesus said thy son liveth and he believed and his whole house Vers Let my prayer c. Resp Even as Incense c. The Prayer VVE beseech thee O Lord thou being pacify'd grant unto thy faithful pardon and peace that they may be both clean from all offences and serve thee with secured soules The Illustration WHat is remarkable in this Prayer is the filial language of it to the heavenly Father of whom we beg first that he will please to be pacified for the offences of his children next that he will not onely pardon the said offences but further grant unto us the highest of all favours his blessed peace the same which surpasseth all understanding as we have heard formerly and the reason why we are not content with pardon unlesse we have also the peace of conscience to boot that which is never struck up between God and man without a kisse of love the close of this prayer tells us because as by pardon we are cleansed from all offences so by peace we are made able to serve his Divine Majesty with secured souls And of what are we secured of his undoubted reconciliation to us by the kisse of love which sealed a happy peace between us Blessed JESU how fond the holy Ghost is of us that inspires aged men to demean themselves in their devotions like little children sitting in the laps of their loving parents For such is the language of this prayer even as in a word or two we said to God Almighty Kisse and be friends for without a kisse of love it is impossible to hope for peace of conscience to serve God with souls secured that we are in his favour But that this glosse may appear to be as congruous to the other service of the day as to the prayer above see how by S. Paul the holy Ghost speaks to us to day as to little children bidding us walk warily and be wise redeeming lost time and wisely now leave to run after the rattles of our own inventions and learn to understand what is the will of God to forbear the riotous company of sinners and to converse with Saints those that are not glutted with the wine of worldly pleasures but filled with the grace of the holy Spirit which makes them never speak in other language then in psalmes hymnes or spiritual canticles sung in their hearts to our Lord God or then in some thankesgiving to him in the name of Jesus Christ that hath made us subject to one another without any other fear then of our Lord and Saviour from whom we are confident to obtain pardon of our sins testified with a pledge of peace given us by a kisse of love as often as we shall like dutiful children demand it And if we take the Gospel in that mysticall sense wherein the Expositours do explicate the parable thereof we shall find this glosse we have made to be hugely suitable thereunto For the Expositours will have the soul of man to be the Lord or little King who demands of her father Christ the great King of heaven cure of a sick son a depraved will and imployes all the senses as so many servants sent to beg this cure when the soul renounces the world the flesh and the devil in holy baptisme and is by that Sacrament as by a touch of the virtue of our Saviour cured of her ague her inordinate desires and appetites and this at the seventh hour that is to say by the seven-fold healing Spirit of the holy Ghost we shall then see this prayer is penned in a language speaking though in other tearmâ— the very sense of this Gospel too For what doth the pardon begged in the prayer allude unto but original sin remitted by holy baptisme and actual sin forgiven by the Sacrament of penance and to the pledge of peace sealed with the kisse of love when by the Sacrament of the holy Eucharist we see our selves not onely set as it were like darlings in the lap of Christ but even the blessed Trinity delighted to dwell in our hearts cleansed as above from all offence and serving God with secured soules that then all is well between us and our heavenly Father when in testimony thereof his Divine Majestie makes our soul here his temporal throne that we may hope to have his bosome our eternal tabernacle in the world to come And thus we see how particularly this Prayer is grounded on the other service of the day what ever common place of piety it seems to be to those that will not study the special mysterie thereof The Epistle Ephes 5. v. 15. 15 See therefore brethren how you walk warily not as unwise but as wise 16 Redeeming the time because the dayes are evil 17 Therefore become not unwise but understanding what is the will of God 18 And be not drunk with wine wherein is riotousnesse but be filled with the Spirit 19 Speaking to your selves in Psalms and hymns and spirituall canticles chaunting and singing in your hearts to our Lord. 20 Giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father 21 Subject one to another in the fear of Christ. The Explication 15. THe Apostle here speaks to the Ephesians out of the abundance of his care when he bids them see how they walked as if the least trip in them now they had so clear a day so bright a sun-shine to walk in as is that of the Gospel were unsufferable in regard the word of God was like a lanthorn to their footing Psal 118.105 shewing them where they might fix everystep securely and walk converse warily as if they were to render an account not onely for every idle action but for every idle word Mat. 12.36 since they had the honour to be instructed by Jesus Christ the wisdome of the eternal Father how to lead their lives here so religiously wary as that they need not fear to live eternally happy in the next world And not to do this S. Paul here tels them is folly and they that do so are not wise but fools to wast away that precious time in idlenesse which was given them to work out their salvation in with fear and trembling lest by loosing any part of the time allotted them for this end they might by sudden death be prevented in that very losse of time they made and so with the foolish virgins be shut out of heaven as not ready nor fit to enter in when the Bridegroom comes by with whom or never they must be admitted in 16. And that the Apostle in the verse above intimated their regard to a good use of time in their conversations this verse restifies bidding them not onely have a care to
believe the touch of his vertue was sufficient unless he added thereunto the touch of his person so he pressed him to go personally to his son 48. Be the opinion of the Lord what it will concerning Christ his power whether as Doctour or as God that he did his cures certain it is Christ his meaning was to bring men by the fame of his works to believe in his Deity and therefore he replies to this Lord as if he must have signes and wonders done to work belief into him Note that signes and wonders thus differ the first are properly done in and by nature gently operating as curing diseases which need not any power above nature the second is commonly miraculous and is therefore done by a power exceeding natures force of this sort is raising the dead So by wonders here are understood miracles and all little enough to make the Jews believe 49. It seems by this reply the Lord shewed himself to be rather of the Jewish then of the Samaritan that is of the Gentiles race for you see he believes in no virtual but will have an actual touch to cure his son lest he die for want of such a touch and no Nation so hard of belief as the Jewish 50. O strange clemency in our Saviour he rebukes no more but by yielding to humane infirmity confirms this Lord in the belief of his Deity for the more he doubted of Christ his power to be able at a distance to cure his son the more he must admire to see it done at the same distance and the more he admires at the thing done the better he thinks of the power doing it and the stronger is his faith in him that gives testimony of such a power Lo by this art our Saviour converts this Infidel by doing at a distance what the other thought was impossible so to be done whereupon our Saviour sayes to him Go thy son liveth that is as much as to say he is cured and shall live Now though this Lord did not sufficiently believe in Christ his distantial operative virtue yet he nothing doubted of his presential veracity but firmly believed what he said or promised here would undoubtedly be verified and made good there where his son was Hence the Text sayes he believed and went to enjoy the hopes of his belief by finding him well for the words of our Saviour were not onely affirmative or enunciative but operative too that is did effect the thing they declared to be done and this effect the Lord did confidently believe So by this means Christ wrought two miracles one in curing the corporal sickness of the son the other in curing the spiritual disease of the father his infidelity and it may not be wide of the sense to say the later cure prevailed to obtein the first for it seems the child proved well just at the time the father did believe he should find him so when he came home 51. 52. These two verses seem to tell us onely for they import little else besides this remarkable sign of Gods goodnesse to prevent the father in the satisfaction he expected by ordaining his servants should meet him and give him the certainty thereof and thereby the reward of his belief soone then he did expect it which was not before he had seen his son well at home but now he finds it is true ere he gate unto his house much lesse unto his son for it seems they were come the day before from home since they told him he was yesterday recovered to meet their master with this gladsome tidings of his sons recovery Yes indeed God is so good he rather anticipates then protracts his servants rewards when they do well 53. The reason why the exact hour of the childs recovery was enquired after by the father was to satisfie his family as well as himself that this was a miraculous and not a natural cure since the child lying at the point of death was proved to recover just at the instant wherein our Saviour said he lived or which is here all one that he was well for it was proper enough to speak this later by the former words since the father had told our Saviour his son began to dye was actually agonizing or dying whereupon Christ told him he did live as who should say there was not in him any danger of death And since this danger was prevented by the virtue onely of a word out of our Saviours mouth spoken at that minute when it was doubted whether he were dead or alive so dangerous a case he was in those who heard of this prodigious alteration upon the meer and sole prolation of a word were immediately converted and became as faithful believers in our Saviours Deity as their Lord and Master was so every way is it true that God his works are absolutely perfect Deut. 32. v. 4. since here we see by the force of one onely word of God the father son and all the family became of Jewes good Christians and doubtlesse so continued and so dyed having the same their converter who was their Saviour and who questionlesse converted them to save them all To conclude if we will understand this story mystically we may conceive this Lord to be the soul of man called little King as being allied to the King of heaven his sick son to be his depraved will his servants his corporeal senses his ague his inordinate appetites or desires This soul sick as above is cured by Christ in holy baptisme and made of a petty King of an heir to the world a great King indeed an heir to the Kingdome of heaven her cure is said to be perfected at the seventh hour because the number seven is a type of the Sabbath or day of rest or of the seven-fold healing Spirit of God the Holy Ghost conveyed into our soules by the seven Sacraments while in them his holy grace is bestowed on us or of the number seven divided into three and four betokening the mystery of the sacred Trinity dispersed into and reigning over all the four corners of the world East West North and South The Application 1. SInce the story of this Gospel is all parabolical and concludes that in recompence of this Lords faith his sick son was cured and his whole family with himself was converted to the faith of Christ we that have already the happinesse to be of this faith are taught yet by this parable how to perfect it upon all occasions by producing frequent and deeper acts thereof then as yet we have done For here in this Lord we see three degrees of Faith the first that faint one when he besought our Saviour to come to his house and cure his son the second that stronger one when after Christ had bid him go for that his son was well then he believed the touch of his power was equal to that of his person and the third that strongest of all which made him go
when having once begun to serve God well the whole continuance of endeavours is still to better that beginning still to begin anew where last we did end as in this work you see we doe setting the same feare of our Lord before our eyes in the end thereof the same memory of the day of Judgement wherewith we first begun this practise of Pietie which here I tender unto every one of our sodalitie not doubting but if we live an hundred yeares we shall find of this devotion that it will alwayes please though a hundred times repeated over because the subject is so sweet as the more we suck it comes the sweeter still And since in the Title of this Booke we called it not onely a Christian sodalitie but a Hive of Bees I beseech God we may find no drones amongst us in this Hive no lazy Bees that will not flie abroad to suck the hony of devotion from the blossomes of the word of God which are growing in every leaf of this Book the whole being framed either of the holy Text or of the Exposition of the same The Epistle Coloss 1. v. 9. c. 9 Therefore we also from the day that we heard it cease not praying for you and desiring that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdome and spirituall understanding 10 That you may walk worthy of God in all things pleasing fructifying in all good works and increasing in the knowledge of God 11 In all power strengthened according to the might of his glory in all patience and longanimity with joy 12 Giving thanks to God and the Father who hath made us worthy unto the part of the lot of the Saints in the light 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darknesse and hath translated us into the kingdome of the Sonne of his love 14 In whom we have redemption the remission of sinnes The Explication 9. THat is from the day we heard you were converted to the faith of Christ upon the hope you had of heaven thereby as in the precedent verses of this chapter is expressed and as soon as Epaphras our fellow labourer in the vineyard of Christ brought us this happy news and of your speciall love to me and Timothy From that time we cease not praying for your being still filled more and more with the grace of God and with the knowledge of his will with the acknowledgement thereof as being done in you by this your conversion The Apostle appositely mentions here wisdome and spiriâ—uall understanding praying they may be filled therewith to shew the difference between the folly of profane learning such as was that the Simonians affected in those dayes meer humane and carnall wisdome and that sacred learning which Christian doctrine teacheth for that onely he accounts true wisdome and true understanding as teaching us to walk spiritually not carnally in the Church of Christ which is the school of Christianity 10. And praying further that you may walk worthy of God in all things pleasing that you may so farre please God in all you do as to make your selves worthy of him by receiving no lesse then himself for your reward of so walking By which we see S. Paul here piously points at the now Catholick doctrine which the pretended Reformers oppose of meriting heaven by our good works though perhaps this place doth not directly prove it since he speaks of making our selves worthy even of God himself whereas there be those who teach we are onely imputatively and not really or de condigno justified by Christs merits or made partakers of them Again lest he should in vain bid us do what he thought sufficient to render us thus worthy he tells us in the following words how to be made so namely by fructifying in all good works by reaping fruit out of every laudable exercise and others we must not addict our selves unto and by increasing in the knowledge of God by making it our study better to understand the mysteries of our faith and religion for thereby it is we come to know God See here the obligation we have to be daily diligent in learning more and more of Christianity and not to lose our time in studying fooleries for thereby we shall hazard the deserving Hell and not God for our reward 11. See the sense of this verse explicated in the Epistle upon the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost for the first part of it and in the Epistle upon the fourteenth Sunday for the second part theâ—eof because there it is explicated all at large suffice it to note here his aim is to stir them up to alacrity even in persecution 12. And to thank God the Father for the benefit of his grace which gives them that alacrity he directs our thoughts to the Father as knowing they will thereby be more pleasing to his sonne our Saviour Jesus Christ who made offering of all his own actions to his heavenly Father thereby to shew us we must attribute more to the goodnesse of God then even to the passion of Christ which was dignified from the Deity whereunto the humanity was united That hath made us worthy this shews how little we ought to confide in our own merits since even all the good we do is by the speciall grace of God and must have its value from God assisting more then from our selves acting yet by both together we become worthy of God himself for our reward as was said above much more of our share with the Saints in glory though here the Apostle alludes chiefly to the Colossians being made worthy with other Saints of the light and glory of the Gospel by their conversion to the faith of Christ which he calls therefore the lot of the Saints because it is a grace gratis given and no man can merit his conversion which the Apostle calls the lot of the Saints in the light of the Gospel given by God the father gratis through the merits of our Saviours passion Or if we shall take the complete sense of this verse it imports the lot we have to share with those who live in the light of the Gospel is the beginning of the accomplishment of that lot when we shall live and reign with Christ and his Saints in the lot or happinesse they have to dwell in the light of eternall glory 13. By the power of darknesse is here understood the infidelity they were in before conversion when they were under the command of the Prince of darknesse as being then in his power By this Graecisme or phrase common among the Greeks viz. the Sonne of his love is here understood his beloved Sonne the second person of the Blessed Trinity not that as Sabellius would have it Christ was one and the same person with the holy Ghost proceeding as he did by an act of love whereas we are taught the second person was begotten by the understanding of his eternall Father and the third as some Divines hold