not permissively only but as they speak effectively So that the Author of sin is the Punisher of sin And man poor man must suffer for what it lay not in his power to prevent Not so Not so But God made man upright and He hath found out many Inventions Eccles 7.29 'T is true 't is Amos Shall there be Evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it Amos 3.6 No sure But they are mala ultoria non peccatoria as Tertullian said Poenae non Culpae Supplicii non Delicti Sin as Sin is ours The Evil of Sin is from our selves the Evil of Punishment from God Ferdinand King of Naples in that miserable flight of his from his Country driven out by the French layes the whole cause of his Miseries and loss of his Kingdom upon his Parents and Ancestors My thoughts saith he were never subject to motions of Ambition my Mind never defiled with inclination to Cruelty my own sins bring me not this Affliction But by a Divine Justice I suffer for the wickedness of my Parents Ah poor King But here 's a King will read us another Lesson Hee 'l make another manner of Acknowledgment and tell you Ego peccavi I have done amiss and dealt wickedly And therefore Deliver me from all my transgressions v. 8. This is the first step to Penitency Confitebor Nay Dixi confitebor Psal 32.5 I said I will confess my transgression unto the Lord and thou forgavest the Iniquity of my sin To have but a Purpose and Resolution to confess finds favour Secondly Desiste à me As he acknowledgeth his own sin so doth he likewise Gods Justice in punishing him for his sin Not attributing ought to the bright Stars blind Fortune or any other untimely Accident But Tu fecisti God made the Gourd God sent the Worm Jonah 4. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away as Job If therefore the destroying Angel come we know who sent him and for what And he can say and he alone Hold thy hand He lengthens the day to Joshuah Quencheth the violence of the Fire to the three Children Stops the mouth of the Lions for Daniel Addeth fifteen years to Hezekiah Wealth Children all to Job Whom have I in Heaven but thee And there is none on earth in comparison of thee And therefore Desiste à me Good Lord spare me Thirdly as God doth punish so doth he punish even Kings themselves No partiality or respect of persons with the highest David Vnctus Domini Servus Domini He whom the mouth of God pronounceth upright save in the matter of Vriah 1 Kings 15.5 Yet he smarts under the Rod. Kings are not exempted for their Eminency nor dispenced with for their Potency Reges in ipsos Imperium est Jovis Great they are and yet behold a Greater Pharaoh may cry out Who is the Lord that I should fear him Caligula may tell his Grandmother All things are lawful for him who doth rule and command all And wicked Julia may buzz into the Ears of Caracalla That he 's above the reach of Laws But he that sits in Heaven doth laugh them all to scorn He calls the Chiefest the Greatest as Stewards to account And in much rigour and severity are they oft-times punished You that know the miseries of Flight and what 't is to be made Exiles you will say so when you shall see a King fly from his Royal City and with his handful of men all weeping seek for shelter in the Wilderness You that know the sacred tye of Friendship and what 't is to be betrayed by your nearest and dearest Friends you will say so when you shall see a man a good man injured persecuted by those he loved best and did most esteem You that have Children and thereby know what none else can the love that Parents bear unto their Children you will say so when you shall see a Father robbed and despoiled and deprived of his Children by his Children Joseph is not and Simeon is not and will ye take Benjamin away also Tamar is defloured Amnon is slain Absolon O my son Absolon Absolon come to a fearful and prodigious end O Lord spare me Surely Seneca said much in few words Bonun incogritum carere liberis An unknown and unimaginable good to have no Children Well whether 't were this or whatsoever else besides this 't was Plaga a Plague and a sharp one too that made him cry out He was even consumed by the means of Gods heavy hand But that will read a lesson to Rulers 2 Sam. 23. He that ruleth over men must be just ruling in the fear of God If he do otherwise he must expect a blow He may rise with the Sun but his day will not be without Clouds As secure as many a Great Man thinks himself God keeps his Circuit Visitation punishing their Offences with the Rod and their Iniquities with Scourges But fourthly here 's a special and reserved Case Spare me Nay Tu desiste Do thou spare me who only hast power to punish me None but the King of Kings may punish or take account of Kings Tibi peccavi Tibi soli Psal 51.4 David had sinned against men too by private injuries by publick wrongs by general scandal Ask poor Vriah and Mephibosheth and the thousands of Widows and Fatherless 2 Samuel the last Verse Yet Tibi and Tibi soli As a King he was exempted from the punishment of men The lesser are blessed of the greater Heb. 7.7 So the lesser punished by the greater And as Joseph said Gen. 39. There is none greater in the house than I. None is greater in the Kingdom than the King A Deo Secundus Solo Deo minor That the Doctrine and Belief of the Primitive times Fifthly well now What shall we poor souls say Our Fathers had the happiness to see better dayes and were carried to their Graves in peace and had that unspeakable blessing to have their Children bury them as Isaac had Gen. 35. the last Verse Our miseries increase at home and abroad and what their end or when their end who can tell But yet Kings and Prophets have drunk we see of the same cup before us Are we better than they O Lord I know the way of man is not in himself It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps O Lord correct us but ad modum with measure not with rigour as Jeremiah said Chap. 10. at the end Pour out thy fury upon the Heathen that have not known thee and upon the Families that call not upon thy Name For they have eaten up Jacob and devoured him and consumed him and have made his Habitation desolate Let us not fall into the hands of men wretched cursed and malicious men And thus are we come to our first Stop or Pause O spare me And spare me that I may recover strength That of the Poet is known and it hath sometimes staggered the best of men Qui cum res hominum tanta caligine
XIII SERMONS Most of them Preached before His MAJESTY King CHARLES the II. IN HIS EXILE By the late Reverend HENRY BYAM D.D. Rector of Luckham Canon of Exeter and one of His Majesties Chaplains in Ordinary TOGETHER With the Testimony given of him at his Funeral by Hamnet Ward M. D. Vicar of Sturminster-Newton-Castle and one of the Prebendaries of the Cathedral Church at Wells LONDON Printed by T. R. for Robert Clavell at the Peacock in St. Pauls Churchyard 1675. TO THE Right Honourable HENEAGE Lord FINCH Baron of Daventry Lord Keeper of the Great SEAL of ENGLAND AND Of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Councel My Lord THese Sermons having been many of them preach'd before his Majesty in the Isles of Scilley and Jarsey and much approved and accepted of by him I cannot think to whom they may be more welcome under that qualification than to Your Lordship Your Goodness likewise giving me a confidence of Your Acceptance Your Greatness of their protection That is not only known but admired too by all that indeed know you This as I long since had the good fortune luckily to foretel so I do now most heartily congratulate Nor had I need to erect any other scheme for this prognostick than that of Your own Countenance vultus portendebat honores When You were yet young the traits of Honour were there fairly visible to any discerning Eye which now by the accession of His Majesties favour are grown so eminent that he that runs may read Your yet increasing Grandeur and Felicity May Heaven add its blessing to all your Enjoyments here and prepare for You hereafter such as Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath it entred into the Heart of Man to conceive These My Lord as they are my earnest wishes so they are my real hopes for the accomplishment whereof his Prayers shall uncessantly be poured forth who humbly begs leave to subscribe himself My Lord Your Lordships daily Votary and most obedient Servant Hamnet Ward TO THE READER I Shall not commend these Sermons to such as had the happiness to be acquainted with the Author 'T is sufficient I know to them to be assured that they are his And to such as were strangers to him I shall need say but little only what was once spoken to a Holy man in a Vision concerning the Scripture Tolle Lege Take up and read take up and read Whoever doth but diligently peruse them cannot but both like and admire them And sure if a work may receive a real addition to its worth from the reputation of its Author this may challenge as great an advantage as any since I can boldly say that for Learning Piety Charity and Loyalty the Age he lived in scarce afforded his equal He that desires to be yet farther acquainted with the transactions both of his Life and Death I refer him to what was delivered as a Testimony to him in a Sermon at his Funeral by him who highly honoured his person when living and doth now reverence his Memory being dead H. WARD A SERMON Preached before His MAJESTY King CHARLES the II. In the ISLE of JERSEY DEUT. XXXIII 7. Hear Lord the voyce of Judah and bring him unto his people let his hands be sufficient for him and be thou an help to him from his Enemies YOu expect a Sermon and I am come with a Prayer But so the fitter for the place Domus Orationis this is the House of Prayer And so the fitter for the Times Molesta tempora perilous times as the Apostle spake of them And so the fitter for the Persons Orate pro Regibus One of our chiefest Duties is to pray for Kings and all that are or should be in Authority Sermons offer themselves to the Ears and perchance find thence some further passage to the Heart But Prayers pierce the Heavens yea Coelos Aereos when they are Brass Oratio Justi a good mans prayer finds a good and speedy passage through those obstructed passages and walls of Brass James 5.16 Deut. 28.23 Now here you have not only a Prayer but a Good mans prayer the Meekest man upon the Earth Numb 12.3 and he a King too but two verses before the Text A King in Jesurun that is amongst all good and godly men a King and so esteemed or Rex apud Rectissimum as the Vulgar hath it God and all Good men acknowledge him for such And so you have the Prayer of a King for a King or rather for a Race of Kings Though a Benjamite the Son of Belial blow the Trumpet and say We have no part in David David of the Tribe of Judah yet Non non auferetur Sceptrum de Judah the Prayer is for the Sion of Judah and that Royal Race Again 'T is the Prayer of a Dying man which commonly doth most affect The lasâ— Words leave the deepest impression behind them Extremum morientis munus non extremum munus And we would willingly preserve a Legacy especially a rich one as this is and which like the River of Paradise doth part it â—f into four heads First Hear Lord the voyce of Judah Secondly Bring him back unto his people Thirdly Let his hands be sufficient for him Fourthly And be thou an help to him from his Enemies Every one of these doth properly subdivide it self into four parts also that so we may have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every way a Cube full of it self able to subsist upon his own Basis Audi Domine vocem Judae c. Or you have here First A Prayer in general a Two-mens-Prayer Moses and Judah which like the stem of a Tree breaks forth and parts it self into three Branches Secondly The Prayer speciallized or those special Branches First for Reduction Bring him back Secondly for Sufficiency Self-sufficiency Let his own hands do it Thirdly for Assistance Heavenly-assistance the prime Branch upon this Tree And be thou an help to him from his Enemies I shall handle the Words in their order and with what brevity I may Hear Lord the voyce of Judah O now for some Moses who might fully express the drift of Moses He would tell you We are not born for our selves alone King Country Friends every one requires some special duty at our hands He would tell you The Care of Governours doth extend it self in Nondum Natos 'T was a wretched wish of his who with himself would have the World dissolved that they might perish together But Moses knowing his day of Dissolution to approach prays for a perpetuity of happiness on his Country especially on Judah who was to sway the Scepter Hear Lord the voyce of Judah You may call it a Legacy a Prayer and a Prophecy for 't is all these and what is here given prayed for and foretold in Earth was all ratified and confirmed in Heaven And this Blessing is conveyed to Judah in a Prayer because Oratio is Clavis Gratiarum the Key which opens a door to all our happiness And
Thus lie the Words and thus lie they in their own order to be handled and first for the Physician that Shepheard and Bishop of our Sculs as St. Peter calls him GOD. 1 Ep. 2.25 There are two waies especially by which miserable man doth dishonour his Maker and rob him of his Glory The one is by taking from the other is by adding to the Sacred Deity Of the first are those Irreligiosi who strike at the Divine Majesty and either acknowledge none or such an One as by disâ—bling Him they mâ—ke none Of the second are those Superstitiosi who such is their Holiness acknowledge a God yet afford him for which they shall never receive th nke certain Coadjutors this same Deos populares or Miâ—orum gentium Angels or Saint or Stocks or what they most fancy and unto these in all Necessities do these miserable wretches address themselves Of the first sort was Diagoras and he flatly denies a God secondly Protagoras and he is doubtful and makes a question whether there be a God thirdly I add unto these both another as bad as both David's Fool Dixit insipiens in corde Psal 14. and 88. The fool hath said in his heart there is no God This is some religious outside of which God help the World is too full in these daies who together with his Dog comes to the Church and perchance dares stare the Preacher in the face He will tell you there is a God and a Religion after which that God is to be worshipped and perchance he shall talk and tumble out as much Divinity as may win him the Name and Reputation of a Zealous Gentleman but Dixit in corde all this while He can distinguish of Quota pars to rob the Church And as the Jews could plead a Law to put Christ to death Joh. 19.7 We have a Law and by our law he ought to die so can he find Law to manacle those hands which reach to him the Blessed Sacrament and find a Law to dishonour those the Sacred Writ pronounced worthy of double Honour 1 Tim. 5. As much will he do by Fatherless or Widows or ought else accounting whatsoever his pretences be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 6. His Gain is his Godliness and his Revenues his Religion After this Fellow comes there in another and he Confesseth and with halting Agripâ—a is half-perswaded of the matter His heart tells him there is a God But what Eliâ—haz casteth in Jobs teeth Epicure-like he proposeth to himself That God walking in the circle of Heaven cannot through the thick Clouds see our misdoings And therefore after his Master Ennius he concludeth Ego Deûm esse genus semper dixi dicam coelitum sed eos non curare Either for their Greatness they may not or for their Goodness they will not behold the things that are done here beneath upon the Earth His Gods are Gods upon the Mountains not in the Valleys Gods in Heaven and not in Earth Gods only somewhere and therefore no where Gods so confined to places and Cases as he is yet to seek for his Religion And therefore with the Samaritans 2 Kings 17. He dares be of any or of all Religions yet Lions taught them a lesson how to fear God and that roaring Lion 1 Pet. 5.8 will teach him when 't is too late to acknowledge Gods Providence In a word to him and all the rest I say no more but what Michaiah sometime did to Zidchiah The day is at hand and you shall see in that day when you shall go from Chamber to Chamber to hide you when you shall say to the Mountains fall on us and to the Hills cover us You shall see there is a GOD who beholdeth all that is done here beneath upon the Earth Bern. You shall see there is a GOD too great to be terrified too wise to be deceived too Just to be corrupted when your selves against your selves shall be forced to confess Verily there is a Reward for the Righteous doubtless there is a God that judgeth the Earth Now after Irreligion steps forth Superstition who believeth a God and a Righteous God yet with Jacobs How should it hath not yet learnt to put away those Deos alienos those strange Gods other Gods no gods which He and his Father worshipped He hath found out for every Town and every Trade and every Sickness and every Any thing a god proper and peculiar to that purpose he would employ him in St. Gallus shall keep his Geese St. Wendolin his Sheep St. Eulogie his Horses St. Anthony his Piggs One is good for the Tooth-ach another for the Plague One is for the Mariner another for the Tanner c. In a word He hath his Angelos Tutelares and his Sanctos Tutelares and nothing makes me more wonder then that so many dear Friends will after all this suffer his poor Soul to fry in Purgatory Well I say no more but with the Apostle 1 Cor. 8. Though there be that are called Gods whether in Heaven or in Earth as there be many Gods and many Lords yet unto us there is but one GOD which is the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him But every man hath not knowledge the Publican had and therefore doth he invocate God alone GOD be merciful to me a sinner And indeed thus must He thus must all do whether we regard his Mercy or his Justice the favours he hath bestowed on us or the punishments he may inflict upon us This made David somewhere cry out Tibi soli peccavi 't is in that penitential Psalm of his after his Murder and Adultery Against Thee onely have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight Bathsheba is dishonoured Vriah is murthered Davids posterity disgraced the whole Realm endangered yet Tibi soli Against Thee onely have I sinned O my God though my Sins be never so many never so bloudy never so hellish never so execrable yet Tibi soli peccavi The Sin against Thee alone is more than all the rest more many waies more infinitely I have offended Thee my God my good and gracious God I have offended Thee who mightest justly expect much of me to whom thou hast given much Thy eyes cannot behold Vanity and lo thou spiest out all my waies I could blear others Eyes Thine I cannot For thou O Lord knowest the very Thoughts of my heart long before Thou hast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homer Thou art Oculus ille insopitus Thy Eyes will neither slumber nor sleep but every Creature is manifest in thy sight Heb. 4. and all things are naked and open unto thy Eies with whom we have to do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hesiod And therefore Deus quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thereby intimating that Fear and Reverence due to so infinite a Majesty of whom the Prophet David somewhere saith
use our best Means and yet in our greatest Extremities Lift up our eyes to the hills from whence commeth our Help Do our best but trust in God When all other helps fail then is God our Helper The Lord saw the Afflictions of Israel that they were very bitter For there was not any shut up nor any left nor any helper for Judah then he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam 2 Kings 14.26 Look on us say those two Disciples Acts 3. yet were they but the Instruments only and they confess it v. 12. Look on him who is both able and willing to help all those that faithfully call upon him Then may we say with David with Paul and that with confidence Heb. 13.6 The Lord is my Helper I will not fear what Man can do unto me 'T is taken out of 118. Psal v. 6. And 't is remarkable at the 10. v. All Nations compassed me about Philistines Syrians Ammonites Moabites Edomites and yet 't is but Quid mihi faciat homo a Man nay one Man Psal 90. A thousand Years are with GOD but as one day and a thousand Armies as one man So for St. Paul He was oppressed by men fought with Beasts 1 Cor. 15. wrestled with Devils Eph. 6.12 yet still 't is but Quid mihi faciat homo All these are but one man in comparison of him that made Man And therefore I speak confidently saith St. Paul I will not fear what Man can do unto me And this is Judahs Case Let his Enemies be never so many never so mighty and so malicious yet if GOD be his Helper he need not fear what Man can do unto him Nay let them be worse than men if ought can be worse for Homo homini lupus Let them be the worst of Beasts unreasonable indomitable and perversly violent yet Lysimachus was not the first that slew a Lion David will tell you so and others after him Heb. 11.33 Men Beasts and All will come under if GOD be our helper against those Enemies Let them be Devils too if they be yet with Devils must the Christian man encounter Et hoc genus Daemoniorum Let them be the worst of Devils Matth. 17.21 yet nought but Incredulity can retard our Victory over those most malicious and incarnate Devils Si Deus nobiscum Rom. 8.31 If God be for us who can be against us O therefore Hear Lord the voyce of Judah be thou his help against his Enemies All the Blessings which Jacob the Father bequeathed to this Son Gen 49. All those Blessings light upon our Judah Let his hands be in the neck of his Enemies verse 8. Let him be a Lion whom none durst rouz up v. 9. Let the Scepter never depart from him till Shiloh come again v. 10. All peace and plenty be to him and his v. 11.12 And that I may conclude with Moses's Words with Moses's Prayer Hear Lord the voyce of Judah His Prayers and our Prayers Let our Cries find entrance to the Throne of Grace Bring him back unto his People And they that will not be his People O let them not be a People at all Cut them off from the face of the Earth Bring him back unto his People that People who with us have born the burthen and heat of the Day Who cut of holes and Prisons peep out for a Redeemer and a Deliverer Who pray for Judah and will fight for Judah To this People bring him back O be his Hands his own hands sufficient for him Let no Forraign power say Ego restitui This is thy Title to make and un-make Kings O therefore strengthen those Hands of his Make all the World see that this is Thy work and that Thou LORD hast done it And therefore Be thou his help against his Enemies TV DVC TV REDVC And as the Vulgar reads it TV INTRODVC Bring him home Bring him in Give him Livery and Seisin His Kingdom here and Thy Kingdom of glory hereafter Propter JESUM CHRISTUM Dominum Nostrum AMEN A SERMON Preached before His MAJESTY King CHARLES the II. In the ISLE of SCILLY ACTS III. 17. And now Brethren I wot that through Ignorance ye did it as did also your Rulers LET it not seem strange that I bring Pascha and Advent so close together and speak of Sorrow so shortly after Joy But so ' t is Extrema gaudii luctus occupat And our Saviour was no sooner Agnitus quam Agnus A Lamb appointed for the slaughter And Herod sought the Babes life Yea the first moment of his Incarnation was also the first degree of his Exinanition The greatest Birth was followed with the greatest Murder The First was Opus Spiritus Sancti The Second had a Vos fecistis Men are the Actors In the first the Angels sing in the second Heaven and Earth and All did mourn The Temple rent The Sun obscured c. Of the first the Prophet saies Quis generationem ejus enarrabit of the second the Apostle Quis ad haec idoneus 'T were no wonder to hear of Murder but such a Murder and in Domo sua with Amon and by his Friends those friends whom he came to visit to serve to save And in so barbarous a manner with such a superlative Cruelty Be astonished ye Heavens And all you that pass by look and see if there were ever sorrow like this sorrow If ever Murther like this Murther Now If one man sin against another the Judge shall judge him but if a man sin against the Lord who shall intreat for him 1 Sam. 2.25 None to plead the Jews Cause Jer. 30.13 Their wound is incurable Yet here 's one found that dare plead their Cause and seeks to Cure by Compassion scio fratres by extenuation quod per ignorantiam by God's praeordination v. 18. 'T was foretold by all the Prophets and must be fulfilled Then follows a Resipiscite ergo the way to make it an absolute Cure by bathing their Sins in that Blood they had spilt But I must keep me to the 17 verse and see what Ignorance can do for take away Ignorance and the Sin must needs be incurable A sin against the Holy Ghost And therefore we must see what hopes this Door of Ignorance will open to us I know Brethren that through Ignorance ye did it as did also your Rulers Where you have First A Compellation or Title which St. Peter gives those Jews Brethren Secondly The Sin that he laies to their charge Fecistis ista ista praedicta Betraying Denying Killing the Lord of Life Thirdly A mitigation or extenuation of the Sin You did it of Ignorance Fourthly The extension of the Extenuation to the Rulers as well as to the Inferiour sort You and your Rulers did it through Ignorance There are two other little words in the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which maybe referred either to what went before or to that which follows after First Et nunc after all this Those Sins of yours though they be
about Psal 4. Whereas the wicked are like the troubled Sea that cannot rest and there is no peace to the wicked saith my God Isa 57. the last verse Sure if we would look upon the ends of many of our Incendiaries and bloody Traitors slain shot hanged or otherwayes cut off we might see with what fears and terrours of Conscience they took their parting Their Souls were required of them as 't was said of his Luke 12. God knows much against their wills But for ours with what undaunted Courage did they tread the Scaffold and look grim Death in the face with St. Stephen obdormierunt they fell asleep And with Simeon They did depart in peace So then look upon both look upon the end of both And finis hujus hominis pax their Life good their Cause good and the End of them was peace Their Enemies might do their worst but Animae non habent quod faciant as Bernard said of the seduced Prophet slain by a Lion Their souls were safe and being justified by Faith they had peace with God Rom. 5. which brings us to another peace the best of all Fourthly Pax illa vera Hereditas Christianorum as St. Augustine said A peace which no man can take from us Peace in Heaven Luke 19. A peace which passeth all understanding Phil. 4.7 Now the Lord of peace himself gave you peace alwayes and by all means 2 Thess 3.16 Peace from Men and peace from Devils Peace from Sickness Peace from Sins The Peace of Conscience and the Peace of Heaven Such Honour have all his Saints God make you perfect and upright and you shall be sure of peace at the last Seek you first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and then caetera adjicientur the rest will follow And no good thing will he withhold from them who live a godly life I have no more to say but what St. Paul said to Timothy 1 Tim. 6.12 O Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust Keep your Religion keep your Loyalty Look upon those who are gone before Let your Travels tell you that Man is a Pilgrim and a Traveller upon Earth and we have no continuing City but we seek one to come O God grant us so to seek that we may find Let us keep innocency and take heed unto the thing that is right For that shall bring a man peace at the last A FUNERAL SERMON ON PSAL. XXXIX the last Verse PSAL. XXXIX the last Verse O spare me that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more HOW hard it is for the very Saints themselves to keep a measure in their fearful Tryals and Adversities Job David and the very best of men do shew 'T was said of Job a good while In all this did not Job sin At last Homo erat and the very pattern of Patience falls into Impatiency cursing the Day he was born and the night that could speake a child conceived And as for David A long time he held his peace At length Locutus sum lingua mea Complain he doth and that bitterly Who ever thinks him to speak Rhetorically or what some dare say Hyperbolically Had they his Tryals they would better be perswaded of his passions Many were his Afflictions and deep were his draughts out of the Cup of Gods wrath But Patience and Penitency never loose their reward Many are the troubles of the Righteous but the Lord delivereth them out of all The way to this Deliverance is by Prayer Invoca me and pray he did And this his Prayer is composed into a Psalm and commended to Jeduthun a chief Musitian a Church Musitian to be sung to their Instruments of Musick in their Divine Service So that Church-Musick is old enough and useful too As Athanasius and Marcellinus that men by Musick might be put in mind to be musical in themselves and learn to compose their Affections Not to think well and do ill Not like Pilate Speak well of Christ but give Sentence against him This were Discord indeed And for this cause amongst others in the ancient and best of times He was thought scarce fit for any Christian Company that could not in some sort bear them company in the Quire And the Psalms were Quotidianae Lectionis Repetitionis Decantationis They were ever a chief part in all their Liturgies Unhappy those dayes that would it otherwise Well if we may not keep our Quires God grant our Churches stand And if we cannot say Cantemus Domino with our Prophet yet let us say Oremus Come let us pray together and magnifie his holy Name c. O spare me that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more Psal 39. ult verse The words are Davids Of whom I may say what Chrysologus doth of John the Baptist That he was Fibula Legis Evangelii here 's Mercy and Truth Law and Gospel Fear and Hope all knit together First he sees his Sin Secondly then he trembles under Gods Judgments Thirdly not yet as one without hope He sins he suffers he sues for mercy The words contain First A Request Secondly A Reason Each double if you will First Spare me Secondly So spare me that I may recover strength There 's the Request Secondly For I must shortly hence I shall no more be seen There 's the Reason The Request or Prayer is of that kinde which we properly call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Supplication to be delivered out of his Troubles The Reason is drawn from the frailty of man He must away and away for ever no returning back again I shall take the words in their order which seem to make four Stops or Pauses The first of which is Desiste à me O spare me Words which bid us look back upon his Sin and his Punishment at the tenth and eleventh Verses The sin great whatsoever 't was for great was the punishment I am even consumed by the means of thine heavy hand thy heavy stroke But so 't will be When thou with Rebukes do'st chasten man for sin thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth c. And this my case But spare me O spare me a little Where we have two things chiefly observable First the confession of his sin Secondly his imploring pardon I begin with the first his Confession How willingly do we plead Not guilty denying transferring extenuating our offences The Heathen would plead Fate for their Defence The Heathen do I say Yea many Christians do as much Gallinae filius albae The Founder of Reformation as some honour him John Wickliff said as much and John Hus his Disciple after him The Priscillianists thought the Stars had a compulsive power Not to incline only but to force men to do wickedly Making the twelve parts in the Zodiack to over-rule the twelve parts in Mans Body So they number them Our later Masters have gone beyond all those making God the cause of sin as sin And
Invention of Mans Brain but meer Idolatry Aliena Dogmata Alieni Dii as said Lyrinensis And whilst they pretend to make a thorow Reformation as their phrase is they aim at a thorow Destruction of Church and State This is not Reformare but Innovare as Maximilian the Emperour said this is not to mend but to marr all The Lord hath given us a Rule in Jeremy and we will hold us to that Rule Ask for the old way for that 's the best way and walk in it and you shall find rest to your souls Jerem. 6.16 If we preach our selves and not Christ If we set the world together by the ears with our new Opinions as Erasmus said of some If with Isaiah Cap. 8.20 we do not keep us to the Law and to the Testimony If we speak not according to this Word receive us not say not to us God speed 2 John But when men grow weary of the old wayes and seek them out By-pathes to wander in When the Primitive Church is counted but an Embrio which must be lickt into a better Form by future Ages vide Calvin When the best of the Fathers are but Dish-clouts an homely phrase in a Scholars mouth when men gape for new Doctrines as the Oysters do for new tides When the Precepts of God and the practises of men do clash Beware of such Prophets and be ye not carried away with every blast of Doctrine Take heed how you forsake St. Paul with Demas Obedite praepositis vestris Hebr. 13.17 Be subject to the higher Powers Rom. 13. Kings and Bishops both must have our Prayers and Obedience And they who fail in these forsake St. Paul The last Part followeth The Motives which induced Demas to forsake St. Paul And they are two implyed in the word me First Me under the Rod of Persecution Secondly Me who am in penury or want And both of these expressedly in this Chapter He suffered multa mala v. 14. And Nemo adfuit v. 16. few Friends and many Troubles And this were enough to make a Demas forsake Paul many weak in the Faith to stagger many worldlings to fall away But we have not so learnt Christ The Servant is not above his Master And our Master hath left us an Example and we must tread in his steps For if we suffer for doing well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Peter 2. And this made so many Martyrs so prodigal of their lives if I may so speak so ready to suffer so willing to die Many offering themselves to the Fire even to the amazement of the Beholders Not to speak of Adavetus-Romanus or St. Laurence and his Grid-iron And in the Arian Persecution at Edessa Modestus the Governour did wonder to see not only the constancy but the forwardness of the Martyrs Women hastning with their Children to the Fire to the astonishment of the Tormentors They went saith one tanquam ad Nuptialem Thalamum as joyfully as to a Wedding Feast or to a Bridal-bed Since the beginning of those late miserable Confusions in our Land how many good men have been cut off in Ships Prisons and the Royal-Scaffold And many poor Widows and Fatherless do yet cry out and cry up for Justice at the hands of Heaven If Christ should say Sequere me as he did to Peter Go follow your Friends your Leaders your Betters and drink of their Cup What should we do We must do that or do worse And therefore where St. Pauls Sword doth come God give them St. Pauls Courage But all who suffer are not Saints nor are all Martyrs who die by the Hang-mans hand for their Religions sake What think you of Baals Priests that did slash and cut themselves or Cybiles Priests that did gueld themselves What of those poor Children made to pass thorow the fire to Molock or those Bohemian-women who suffered so much so miserably for the Opinion of the Adamites To these I might add whole swarms of Marcionists put to death for their Religion And the like might be said of most Sectaries and Seperatists And what is observable by the way not an Heretick not a Schismatick but have Scripture at their fingers end and all pretend Conscience and Religion John of Leiden Clement Ravilliack All Vsurpers Rebells Monsters take shelter There Yea he who called the Scripture Nigrum Atramentum or another A dead Letter or A Nose of Wax yet all these fly to Scripture and Conscience as to the Shoot-Ancre in a Tempest They who crucified our Saviour did as much Yea the Devil had his Scriptum est to tempt him All I shall say to this is The Scripture must be sanè Intellecta the Conscience must be benè Regulata they miss in both And so do all those who would be thought Martyrs for their Disobedience They forget St. Peter Let no man suffer as an evil Doer or a Busie-body They forget St. Paul who suffered for Christs sake 2 Cor. 12.10 And vestro commodo for the good of the flock Col. 1.24 The last thing which caused Demas to forsake his Friend and Master was I told you Pauls Poverty If Paul could have left some great Legacy behind him I know not what Demas would have done A golden hook they say will catch any fish But Paul is poor and must be beholding to his Friends for Maintenance And therefore the less wonder if Demas do as the young man did in the Gospel He would follow Christ wheresoever he went till he saw no hope of profit pleasure or preferment in the World the chiefest mark the most do level at I think the Millenary took his Rise from hence No life to this life And that made him dream of Wealth and Wantonness in his New World Ah poor Christian what can that New Earth be in comparison of the Old Heaven Or what comfort can it be to be kept out of the Caelestial Paradice yet the Millenary makes that a step to his future Felicity 'T is his Mount Nebo to see a better Canaan But we fading we to dote upon this fading World to crave a Knife to cut our Throats and tye a Mill-stone about our Necks To talk of Heaven and yet make provision only for the Earth O wherein do we do such surmount the Beasts that perish Nay Beasts do like Beasts and perish like Beasts But Man Divinae particula aurae to whom the blessed Deity hath given a Jewel invaluable a Soul so capable of eternal Glory for Man so much to un-man himself and make this World his summum bonum Angels and Saints I think the Devil himself doth wonder at it When Lot went out of Sodom and was now upon his way to Zoar his Wife looked back again upon her wealth she left behind There lay her heart When Demas was in a fair way for Heaven he looks back again upon the World There lay his hopes Nazianzen said of her That she was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an immortal Pillar set up by the hand of Mercy
of the Rulers or the Pharisees believe on him The Papists Argument Universality The Westminster Argument the major part is ours I the more the pity All Forts Castles Ships all ours I know what Masters they serve the while He that cryed 'T was all his and he could give it to whom he would Again as the Church hath been from time to time pusillus Grex harmless â—nd armless too yet must it not be dismayed Fear not thou worm Jacob Isai 41.14 A worm which every one is ready to insult over and tread upon yet fear not I will help thee Be they Pilgrims be they few yet suffered he no man to do them wrong 3. The third thing is their Poverty Strangers few and poor too Much misery sharp arrows and coals of Juniper Psal 120. But methinks I hear some men say He cannot find Poverty in the Text and I know not how to keep it out Or if I find it not there I am sure we find it here in these times Times which will set Porphyry to School again and tell him Poverty is Accidens inseperabile I am sure if the Text could shift it off there 's many a poor Exile cannot But let me see While they were yet but a few and these they were such as could say with Bias Omnia mea mecum porto and he that would not be enriched by a King of Sodom afterwards was glad to receive gifts of the King of Egypt and so did Isaac of the King of Gerar. And Jacob could say With my staff came I over this Jordan and did serve for wages So that hitherto you have them poor few and poor Take one more and you have all the Company except Servants and that 's Lot He and his Daughters dwell in a Cave Gen. 19. no House nor Home but a Cave to dwell in And there the story leaves them and so must I and return to the rest of this smâ—ll Company this poor Company for such you see them and therefore the more unfit for travel Strangers at the best find poor Entertainment but such poor Pilgrims where shall you find an Eye to pity them Money is one of those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Principle in the trade of Travelling to be supposed and not disputed 't is that holds soul and body together as he said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Money must be had Oportet habere as old Ennius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our best Friends look a squint on Poverty What then can be expected at the hands of Strangers I remember a story of one Cosmus Bishop of Constantinople who when he saw the Church and Common-wealth torn all in pieces all Discipline in the one and Government in the other brought to confusion and as he thought quite past recovery he relinquisht his Bishoprick and bidding adieu to that Royal City he took along with him only one Servant whom he commanded to carry with him of all his Wealth nothing but the Psalms of David If he took no better Viaticam with him in these dayes he might quickly dye unburied unlamented St. Austin was much of this mans mind and he tells us Paupertas foelix est si laeta est But by his leave 't is not so toothsome 't is but a Pill at best And I cannot but remember the counsel St. Paul gives Servants If thou be a servant take it patiently but if thou canst be free utere potius 1 Cor. 7. So of Wealth if it cannot be had take it patiently but if thou canst honestly compass it utere potius Sure begging is the worst of Trades Et non levi mercede emitur quod rogatur 4. But all men are not of one mind and some Countries are more charitably affected then others are See we then in the next place The Country whither they were forced to fly for succour and relief 'T is said from one Nation to another from one Kingdom to another People Gen. 12.20 26. ch design the places from Caldee to Canaan from Canaan to Egypt and Palestine I know Arguments taken from names are not demonstrative yet some would hence conclude their Cruelty Mitsraim signifying Streights or Tribulations Whereupon is that I conceive of Isidore Egyptii hoc est affligentes St. Bernard that it signifies Tenebrosum And after him Scaliger 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 idem est quod niger Hic niger est hunc tu Romane Caveto Others fetch it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Vulture a Bird of prey all comes to this Egypt was a fierce afflicting cruel Nation And so for Palestine it signifies they tell us a bruising hammering and braying as in a Mortar to shew us 't was a hard-hearted and malicious cursed people But let their Names say what they will I am sure their Actions cry louder They speak them the greatest Enemies the Church of God had and for their Religion Idolaters The Egyptians I dare say of all the World the greatest Quae non Aegyptus Portenta colit And for the Philistims Abraham tells Abimelech to his face he did believe the fear of God was not in that place Gen. 20.11 What brought this handful of Believers thither then What make the Sons of God amongst the Miscreants Sure matter of pity rather then wonder That which hath made in our times Children eat their Mothers Mothers eat their own Children Men to drink their own blood A man a moneyed man to hang his wife and two daughters and last of all himself to compleat the Tragedy The Famine was grievous in the Land they dwelt in and necessitas cogit ad turpia ad tristia And therefore abroad they must or starve at home Abraham and Jacob got them into Egypt for succour and Isaac into Palestine to King Abimelech Here was bona terra though mala gens For Egypt Moses describing the fruitfulness of Sodom and Gomorrah before the stood of Fire fell down from Heaven tells us 't was like the Garden of the Lord like the Land of Egypt Gen. 13 10. And for Palestine Isaac sowed in that land and received the same year an hundred fold Gen. 26.12 But as 't was said of Sodom the men were exceeding sinners against the Lord. So that the worst people have often-times the best Land the richest Country Full fed and wicked go much together The belly and some other thing near Neighbours St. Hieroms observation These poor Pilgrims had much ado to keep their heads from Horns in both places But God suffered no man to do them wrong The second Part 2. Eliphaz chargeth Job wrongfully as that he should think how God sitting super cardines Coeli could not through the thick Clouds see what was done upon the Earth Job 22.14 Yes yes he seeth ordereth disposeth and delivereth as it seems him best Here 's a sealed Protection He suffered no man Pharaoh and his House are plagued with great Plagues Abimelech's Court is strangely punished The King is told he is a dead man if he restore not the
is concerning Regeneration The Doubt made by Nicodemus is How can a Man be born which is old Answer is returned by our Saviour Verily Verily I say unto thee Except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God You may here understand the Sacrament of Baptism with his parts Water and Spirit Secondly His Benefits To regenerate and give us a new life Thirdly The Danger in omission and neglect Without it no entrance into the Kingdom of God Fourthly The Result He that believeth and is baptized is made a Member of the Church and shall be if he continue faithful partaker of Eternal Bliss The Exposition which many of Ours do make upon this place runs another way That our Saviour speaks not here of the Sacrament of Baptism And therefore by Water they understand not material water as Willet * Synop. or the Element of water as Zanchy †De tribus Eloi l. 4. c. 5. But the purifying Grace of Christ which is called The water of life or living water John 4.11 and is here an Epithite of the Spirit So that To be born of Water and the Spirit is with them no more then to be Regenerate and born again of the Holy Ghost I dare not condemn this common received Opinion among the Protestants And yet I know a Exam. Concil Trid. par 2. p. 20. Chemnitius and b Loc. Com. loc 47. §. 4. Bucanus with many c B. Andr in Or. Dom. Ser. 19. p. 132. D. Feat in Dippers dipt pag. 10. Confer at Hampton Court p. 17. others are of another mind And what do I speak of these The Ancient d Cyril l. 1. in Isai c. 3. Aug. Ep. 23 c. Fathers I think all understand the Text of Baptism And the Councel of Trent pronounceth Anathema to all those who shall make any Metaphorical Construction of these words but we fear not that Thunderbolt Yet whiles the many of Antiquity have run this way I hope it will not seem a Deviation to any indifferent Hearer I am sure there is no Danger and I may safely tread in those steps where the best of men in the best of times have gone before And the Analogy which in a Sacrament is required is here every way answerable to the full Here are two parts Terrena Coelestis Visible and Invisible Water and Spirit an outward Washing and an inward Ablution one of the Body from Filth and the other of the Soul from Sin And both these are necessary both necessary here Water and Spirit Abesse non possunt alterari non debent Or these must be or we must perish For verily verily c. I am not so quick-sighted or so Eagle-eyed as some men are I cannot find an Oath here as they have done A Protestation an Asseveration I see and such as doth command attention and belief I shall only pass by it with the words of Bernard Amen Amen Verbum Confirmationis praemittitur magnum esse noveris quod sequitur Where such an emphatical and significant word as Verily verily doth go before there is without doubt some great matter following after There is indeed For Water and Spirit must oo before or Heaven and Happiness will not follow after This is The Way this the Door through which we enter into Life For Except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God And here 's the Answer to Nicodemus and a full one too First 'T is possible to be born again and How Secondly 'T is Necessary and Why. Again you have here The Duty and Direction The Peril and Prevention What to do and what to hope for First Man Except a Man Incola Mundi All Men next Water be born of water a King on Jonah 26. lâ—ct p. 345. Anton. A. Bish of Florence part 3. tit 22. c. 5. §. 1 4. Bell 's Dâ—fiance to Popery c. 3. p. 7. Cingulum Mundi All Waters Then the Spirit And that 's Anima Mundi A Platonick phrase but such as may well beseem a Christians mouth That Spirit that enlivens the whole world That Spirit that moved upon the face of the waters Gen. 1 2. Nay incubabat cherished and gave life must do the like to the water â—n the Text the water in Baptism Thus Heaven comes down to Earth That Earth may ascend to Heaven Me thinks I am got to the top of a Mount from whence I have a goodly prospect a world of variety offers it self But 't is Mount Nebo from whence I may behold more then I may enter I must content me with a little out of much And I shall only Answer five Quaere's 1. What Baptism is and of its parts 2. To whom it appertaineth to Baptize 3. Who they are which are to be Baptized 4. What peril they are in who dye without it 5. What benefit they receive who are made partakers of this holy Sacrament 1. There is in Baptism as in every other Compound or Material a co-union of Matter and Form which Two concur as parts essential of the thing The matter here you have expressed Water and Spirit not Fire not Blood b Ga. pratecâ— Hermian c. There were certain Hereticks of old who instead of water did use fire branding the Baptized with an hot Iron in the Fore-head because forsooth it was said Matth. 3.11 That Christ should baptize with the holy Ghost and with Fire c Ib. tit Flagell There were the Flagellantes those a later Crew who instead of water did baptize in blood And those had Scripture for it also For Christ had said Luke 12.50 That He must be baptized with a baptism and he was much troubled till it was ended And in Mark 10.39 he tells the Sons of Zebedee They should drink of the Cup that he should drink of and be baptized with the baptism with which he should be baptized By which the Fathers all do understand A bloody Baptism But my Text tells you that it must be water And not my Text alone which hath received you heard a metaphorical Construction but all along from John in Jordan down to the Eunuch and Cornelius Yea long before praefigured in Noah's floud in the Red Sea and the River Jordan and ever since in all Orthodox Congregations or Churches The outward sign the Visible or Element was Water Yet Sursum Corda Here 's a slippery Element to stay in And therefore not Water alone but Aquae usus or Aqua taliter applicata saith one What can water do to the washing away of sin No no Christ hath given himself for his Church that he might sanctifie it and cleanse it by the washing of water but through the Word Eph. 5.26 And now are you clean saith our blessed Saviour now are you clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you John 15.3 Upon which words thus d Tract in Joh. 8. Augustine some-where Why
can offer up no greater Sacrifice to our Master We can purchase no greater happiness to our selves We can leave no better example to others We can bring no greater comfort to our Friends then under the hand of the merciless Executioner undauntedly to acknowledge whose Servants we are and with a free though fading spirit to confess our Saviour First We can offer up no greater sacrifice to our Master You shall first understand who ought properly to be called a Martyr Cyprian makes two sorts The first of them who shed their bloud Cypri ep st 9. Epâ—â—t 25. c Lib. de Duplâ—ci Martyrio in ter opera Cypriani tomo tertio Zanch. tomo 6. in cap. 2. ad Philip v 30. apud Aquinam 2â— 2â— q. 124. art 4. the second of them who are ready so to do for Christs sake And to those last torments were wanting saith one they were not wanting to the Torments Zanchius a knowledgeth that the Curch did usually call this later sort Confessors yet he will have Epaphroditus a Martyr and Hierom doth somewhere call the blessed Virgin a Martyr quamvis in pace vitam finicrit and Poâ—icrates * Euseb l 3. c. 28. G. 3. calls John the Evangelist a Martyr And Chrysostome tells the people of Antioch that a man may alway be a Martyr for Job was one and suffered more then many Martyrs did saith Bernard in his Sermon of Abbot Benedict Homil. 25. pretily differenceth Martyrs from Confessors and somewhere else tells us of three kinds of Martyrdom without bloud We must first conclude with Cyprian and Augustine In Senten Gab. Prateol Flench Heâ—es lib 3. §. 5 The Cause not the Suffering make a Martyr We disclaim the Campates a kind of Donatists who would have all voluntary Deaths Martyrdoms I think St. Augustine calls them Circumcelliones August de Haeres c 69. Prateol l 13. § â—6 Zanch tomo 6. in epist ad Phil cap 1. Idâ—m ib d August â—omâ— in Psal â—â— And l kewise Pelibianus who taught them to be Martyrs who slâ—w themselves in detestation of their Sins But â—o saith one Judas should have been a Martyr Secondly As Talis Causa so Talis Poena They are Martyrs who testifie the Truth Vsque ad mortem even sealing it with their 〈◊〉 The other whom the Church calls 〈◊〉 are â—eâ—â—de 〈◊〉 Martyres aequivocè Martyres so Zanchius Vbi Suprà in c. 2. v. â—0 in secundam secundae q. 124. art 4. Apud Zauch ubi supra in cap 1. Designati Martyres so Tertullian Interpretativè inchoativè secundum quâ—d mental Martyrs so Cajetan And therefore we may be bold with St. Augustine to blot out some and question other some even the holy Innocents themselves question I say not their bliss but their testimony that the dignity of Proto-Martyrship may remain unto St. Stephen The sum of all is this He is properly a Martyr who is tormented to the death for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ Revel 1.9 Of King Henry and Queen Maries Martyrs both for the honour of the dead and the peace of the Church I say nothiâ—g Academ quaest Cic 1. Officiorum Perchance the question then was or most while was for bounds as Tully speaks but now 't is for the whole possession and inheritance Nay 't is Vter esset non uter imperaret I am sure Heaven cannot hold us and Mahomet and blessed is he that shall lay down his life in so good a Cause A cup of cold Water shall not lose his reward Math 10 4â— Whosoever shall forsake Houses Mark 10 3â— or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for the Name of Christ shall receive an hundred fold more for the present and in the world to come eternal life What shall he have that forsaketh all He that offereth praise and thanksgiving honoureth God Ps◠〈◊〉 ver◠〈◊〉 He that gives his bread to the poor members of Christ feeds his Saviour but he that gives himself his life his bâ—â—â—â— doth give all and therefore more then all He that gives his life can give no more John 15.13 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen thou couldst offer no greater sacrifice to thy Master Secondly We can purchase no greater happiness to our selves I should much wrong you if I should labour to prove this If Heaven be better than Earth if the Crown of life better than the pains of death if things eternal better than temporal if to be alwaies happy better than ever in hazard in fear in trouble then he that suffereth for the Name of Christ doth to himself purchase Name Fame Heaven Happiness and with Mary hath chosen the better part which shall never be taken from him then he that loseth his life shall find it Math. 10.39 and he that dies with Christ shall live with him shall reign with him 2 Tim. 2.11 and the momentany afflictions which he doth here endure shall cause to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a more excellent weight of glory 2 Cor. 4.17 In a word participes passionis shall be gloriae participes as saith Chrysologus If we share with him in affliction here Chrysolog serm 40 Calvin inâ—titut lâ—b 3 â—ap 8. sect 7 he will impart to us blessedness hereafter So happy are these men whom God vouchsafeth that special honour as to die for him Write them blesâ—ed aâ— the voice said Revel 14.13 no men more no mâ—n like And therefore râ—member â—rom whence thâ—â— a t falâ—en Thou couldest purchase no greater happiness to thy self Thirdly We can leave no better Example to others St. Paul Philip. 1.12 14. tells us that his durance turned to the furtherance of the Gospel insomuch that many Brethren in the Lord were emboldned through his bands and durst more frankly speak the Word In Ecclesiastick History you shall read continually how one Martyr led the way to another and the noble resolution they shewed in their Death made hundreds then alive to take the same course yea so powerful is Example in this kind that the very Heathen not onely gave them testimony of Courage but were won to the Faith and sealed the same Testimony with their bloud Beda Hist. Angl. lib. 1. Palatina and the 3 Convers of England part 3. So did St. Alban beget his Headsman to the Faith and had him his Companion to the Kingdom of God So did the Constancy of Pope Sixtus the second strengthen St. Laurence and St. Laurence brings Romanus from a persecuting Souldier to be his fellow-Martyr Tryphon did the like and almost who did not The Phoenix-ashes some say yields another Phoenix but the Martyrs by life and death beget many Tertul. apolog c. 50. Semen est sanguis Christianorum Now if they that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the Stars for ever and ever Dan. 12. How happy are those faithful Witnesses in Heaven whose holy lives and unterrified
those crimson Capital offences that as the Orator said 2 in Verrem They might Cure not cover the wound and labour to profit raâ—her then to please the Patient So Clerus Romanus ad Cyprianum inter ejus opera tomo 1. ep â— That neither the wicked might be incouraged by their Facility nor religious minds disheartened by their Cruelty and yet of the twaine it was better with Domitius to be thought severe in punishing then dissolute in praetermitting passing by the wickedness Thus were some strengthened in Faith and armed against Lapses others were made to see the greatness of the sin and terrified against Relapses All were framed ordered tuned to a most wished happy harmony in the Church of God Reply p. 41. Yet Mr. Cartwright that disturber of Sions peace will cry out against the Churches severity extream excessive severity and though he somewhere tells us That Murderers Adulterers and Incestuous persons must die the death the Magistrate cannot save them such is this mild Moses's mercy toward those yet here pardon Ibid. p. 36. pardon pardon And lest he might seem any way to favour the proceedings of the Roman Church though when she was younger by fourteen hundred years then now she is Ibid. p. 149. He tells you That if Offenders be not meet to receive the holy Sacrament of the Supper they are not meet to hear the Word of God they are not meet to be partakers of the Prayers of the Church and if they be for one they are also for the other But this is he who thinks it more safe for us to conform our indifferent Ceremonies to the Turks Ibid pag. 131. Calvin Institut lib. 3. cap. 3. sect 16. Ibid lib. 4. â— 12. sect 8. which are afar off than to the Papists which are so near Indeed his Master tells us That the Church did use too much rigour And would know Si Deus tam benignus est ut quid Sacerdos ejus austerus vult videri God saith he is merciful and gracious why should his Priest be so austere and rigorous Ibid. lib. 3. c. 4. sect 10. Art 33. And yet Calvin here in our case will have the Sinner yield sufficient testimony of his sorrow That the scandal which the offender hath given may be obliterated and taken away And it must be palam in Templo and so doth our Church teach The Offender must be openly reconciled by Pennance Indeed we might be as unreasonably plausible as other some are and with those Hesterni as Tertullian calls Praxeas Cyprian tomo 1. epist. 10. Prov. 22.28 we might remove the ancient bounds which our Fathers have set We might be as unhappily undiscreetly merciful as Foelicissimus in Cyprian or another if it be true Tom 1. ep 40. lib. 6. cap. 9. in Socrates we might after a welcome-home admit them to the Church and Sacraments Cyprian de lapsis but it would prove a worse persecution then the first and we should call them A medela vulneris Idem tomo 1. ep st â—â— Serm de Benedicto Abbate it were the way to kill out-right and not to cure the disease Quae nimis propere minus prosperè The words are Bernards but it is a Proverb of our own More haste than good speed This made some Holy men of old pray That those which had fallen might know and acknowledge the greatness of their fall that so they might learn non momentaneam neque praeproperam desiderare medicinam That they might with all fearful humbleness expect Clerus Romanus ad Cyprianum inter ejus opera tomo 1. epist. 31. and not audaciously presume a pardon But to soder those rents to daub the breach with untempered mortar to incarnate on the splintred bones to cry peace peace in a present peril and the greatest danger what is this else but to precipitate and plung a poor distressed Soul into a more perplexed case and desperate disease It is a terrible lenity as saith St. Augustine Terribilis lenitas blanda pernicies stulta misericordia Bern ser 24. super Cantica a courteous mischief as St. Cyprian a foolish pity as St. Bernard Misericordiam hanc ego nolo God keep all poor sin-sick-souls from such Physicians Let the righteous rather smite me friendly and reprove me but let not their precious balms break my head Let me know my danger and whence I am fallen that I may repent and do the first works If much be remitted of the ancient severity as we see there is and the punishment be much less then those primitive Times did usually inflict it is not because the Sin is now less or the Compassion of the Faithful greater for that ancient discipline is to be wished for again but these delicate Times will not suffer it And the Church is forced to condescend to the weakness of her Children Church-book ante Comminat Tertul de poenitent cap. 1. Many men are become pudoris magis memores quà m salutis They will rather hazard the loss of Heaven than endure disgrace so they account it on earth And this is the very cause why many and as I am informed many hundreds are Musmans in Turky and Christians at home doffing their Religion as they do their Cloaths and keeping a Conscience for every Harbour where they shall put in And those Apostates and circumcised Renegadoes think they have discharged their Conscience wondrous well if they can Return and the Fact unknown make profession of their first Faith These men are Cowards and flexible before the fall careless and obstinate after it but what good will it do them saith Lactantius Bern. in Psal Qui habitat serm 11. l. 6. c. 24. non habere conscium habere conscientiam To have no witness without and one within To hide their sins from men and to appear as they are to the righteous Judge from whose eyes nothing is hid nothing is secret To be baptized with Simon Magus and yet live in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity Cyprian de lapsis These are those cursed wretches to whom proprius interitus satis non fuit who will not perish alone but both by their example and their exhortation draw others into the same pit of perdition also who do add sin to sin and multiply and aggravate their offences by hiding denying excusing translating sin So that they may be Men here they care not to be Devils afterward If any such be here who hath received the Mark of the Beast and lives unknown yet for Gods sake for his own sake for that sweet Name by which he is named the Name of Christ by the hope of Heaven by the fear of Hell by his Friends on Earth and the holy Angels in Heaven who joy at the Conversion of a sinner by whatsoever is dearest unto him Gregory Nyssen in the end of his Homil. of Repentance Si vis curam agnosce languorem P. Chrysolog