gloria Patris Our third Point The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father For though the time of his coming be concealed yet not so the manner of it That indeed is plainly exprest and revealed unto all but in such and so high terms as mortal man can no way worthily speak of no nor rightly in any degree conceive in his thoughts until he shall come to see and behold it with his Eyes Then indeed and then only he shall know what it is to come in gloria Patris in the glory of the Father He came once already in the days of his humiliation and then he came Filius hominis the Son of Man emptying himself of his Divine Honour and vailing it up in the cloud of our mortality when he was content to suffer himself to be contemned scorn'd and derided reviled spit upon and buffeted scourged with whips and crowned with thorns until he became a worm and no Man having neither form nor beauty why we should desire him and last of all crucified on a Tree But now the scene comes to be altered the face of things utterly changed That was dies hominis Mans day indeed and the hour of the powers of darkness They did then what they list and he was pleased to suffer whatsoever they list to do Now comes dies Domini and the Lord shall have his day too He will now be active and men another while must be content to suffer every one according to his deservings This poor despised filius hominis this worm without form or beauty to be desired will now appear in the strength of his Glory as the Sun breaking out of a Cloud or the Lightning out of the East striking all eyes even with astonishment at his beauty and brightness yea and make all faces all faces of the wicked gather blackness too to behold it For as every hand hath wounded him so every eye shall see him whom they have pierced but not every eye endure the sight of such overawing and dreadful Majesty as shall draw them to embrace Rocks and cry unto deaf Mountains to cover them from the presence of the Lamb and him that sitteth on the Throne for he now comes in gloria Patris But why in the Glory of the Father Indeed at his first appearance it was Ecce Rex tuus venit mitis Behold thy King cometh unto thee meek sitting on an Ass and the foal of an Ass. Now it is Ecce Judex tuus venit terribilis Behold thy Judge cometh with terrour flying upon the wings of the wind and riding upon Cherubins as the Psalmist speaks yea many Cherubins and Seraphins millions and myriads of holy Angels attending on his Glorious Majesty when the whole Earth and Heavens too shall be filled with the Majesty of his Glory Because he endured the Cross and despised the shame valued not his life but humbled and bowed down his Soul even unto death therefore God now exalts him sets him on high yea gives him a name above all names whereat the knees that now are so stiff shall then will they nill they bow and bend and the tongue of every one confess laudando as he speaks vel ululando that Jesus is the Lord to the Glory of the Father for he now comes in gloria Patris in the Fathers Glory He comes at this time for Judgment and that originally belongs unto the Father Vengeance is mine I will recompence saith the Lord. But yet the Father judgeth no man saith Christ but hath referred all judgment to the Son even filio hominis to this Son of man to whom as man he hath given all power both in Heaven and Earth The son indeed himself even as the son of God is a Receiver from the Father even of the Glory which he hath for glory he receives from him from whom he receives his Essence the fountain of glory as having his very being not of himself but of the Father Fons Deitatis the fountain that communicates the Deity immediately to the other persons solely unto the Son who is therefore Deus de Deo God of God and light of light Yet having received it from eternity it is his own even his Fathers both essence and glory and so though God of God and light of light yet because the same both God and light he is in Majesty equal in Glory coeternal equal without robbery saith the Apostle and though not without reception yet without any duty of gratitude for the receipt as receiving it not by a free and voluntary but by a generation no less natural and simply necessary than absolutely eternal For which reasons he is elsewhere said to come not in gloria Patris but in gloria sua even in his own glory when the Son of Man shall come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his own glory as he doth here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with his own Angels In the glory of the Father and with his Angels And his Angels sure they are whom they are commanded to adore and worship Worship him all ye Angels of his All of them must worship and all attend on him now even the whole Quire and Court of Heaven not an Angel left behind for he shall come with all the Angels No marvel if Daniel said thousand thousands shall minister unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand shall stand before him in that day what a presence of state indeed will this be how full and every way Majestick But yet these are not only for State and Majesty at this time but for ministration also Thousand thousands shall minister unto him for the time is now come when that of the Apostle out of David is to be fulfilled He shall make his ministers a flaming fire at least to minister to those flames that shall never be quenched for the great Harvest of the world is now come and their imployment in it is set down before-hand The Angels must be the Reapers These are they that must separate the Sheep from the Goats sever the Tares from the Wheat We may be too forward in plucking them up now indanger the good Corn 't were best let this alone for them whose proper office it is and will do it exactly gather the Tares in fasciculos into bundles as the Text hath it bind them up too and cast them into everlasting fires Bind them in bundles indeed to tell us that sinners in the same kind shall be sure to participate in the same punishment The profest and merciless Mamonist with all his brokers and bribing ministers that assist his incestuous money to engender on it self in one bundle bound up now and presently burning in bands of their own parchments The tatter'd young Prodigal whom they undo with his Tapsters and Drawers and the whole knot of Roarers and Ranters about him taken all as in a net and bound up in another bundle The Adulterer and his Mistris the Adulteress with the Chamber Attendant
that we may bound our discourse within certain lines and limits this generation of our Lord and Saviour is not simple and of one sort but various and manifold As his Person is compounded of divers things so hath he accordingly several generations In the blessed Trinity there are three Persons and but one Substance In Christ Jesus three Substances and but one Person he hath but two Natures indeed Divinity and Humanity but the Humanity again is compounded of two several Essences corporal and spiritual a body and a Soul so in all there are these three a body a Spirit and the Divinity whereunto both are united And according to these three we shall consider a threefold generation Divine Humane and Spiritual For Christ was born from all Eternity and still is in heaven without a Mother on earth he had in due time a humane birth without a Father and in the minds and Souls of men he is spiritually born without Father or Mother of a Mother without a Father he was born once without Father or Mother he is born often of a Father without a Mother he is born always and perpetually Lastly of his Father in Heaven he is born God of a Mother on Earth he was born man without Father or Mother in the Souls of men he is born God and man As there are three Substances therefore in our Lord and Saviour so hath he three births or generations which we shall consider in their order Divine Humane and Spiritual all three so hid and full of admiration inutterable as the Prophet and we with him may well say of them all Generationem c. To begin then with the First his Divine generation whereof we shall say but little because indeed we can say nothing worthily and as we should say For how shall frail man say what no man can possibly conceive since he cannot fully say and enunciate what he doth conceive That there are several persons in the God-head is the high yea highest Act of our faith no subject for our expression That God hath a Son we are bound to believe but how he begat him we are bound not to inquire because he hath not revealed nor will reveal peradventure may not but to the glorified eye Then indeed and then only when we shall see him as he is we shall see his generation and be happy in seeing it it is the eternal and everlasting blessedness of the Father to beget him for it is his inmost natural Act and essential and it shall be our perpetual happiness hereafter to behold it which we shall then but behold comprehend it we may not but know it we shall And this is life everlasting to know thee and him whom thou hast sent In the mean time till that life everlasting come whilest we are Pilgrims and lead a life temporary here upon earth wherein we know and prophesie but in part it is not our least wisdom to know such high mysteries are no part of our knowledge It is enough for us with holy Moses to see the back-parts of the Lord to see him in his effects his word and outward works to see him in his glory in his Essence and inmost operations we cannot and live And they who will attempt it with those Bethshemites that would needs pry into the Ark shall assuedly die Such aspiring Spirits that with the bold Schoolmen do pierce into the hidden secrets of Divinity what do they but like foolish flyes flutter about the light till they are at length singed with the flame For qui scrutatur majestatem opprimetur à gloria he that searcheth into the majesty of God shall assuredly be opprest with his glory And therefore it is docta ignorantia a learned ignorance as St. Austin hath it not to know what may not be understood and it were much better piously to profess it than rashly to arrogate science For that may deserve pardon but this shall never want punishment saith the same Father Serm. 15. For which reason well said the great St. Basil of this high Point when he came to treat of it mysterium hoc silentio potiùs quà m oratione colendum it is a mystery to be adored in silence not exprest by words Homil. de Nat. Domini The Prophet Esay himself was not able to do it and which is more he knew that none else could And therefore quis enarrabit who shall declare it for his Interrogation hath the force of a Negation who shall that is none can who shall declare c. There is indeed in it self nothing so light and clear and evident as this Divine generation wherein light of light and very God of very God is produced and begotten but withal unto us nothing more hidden secret and obscure Not that there is any obscurity in God in quo tenebrae non sunt ullae in whom there is no darkness saith the Scripture but that he dwells in unaccessible light and is cloathed with Majesty inapproachable as with a garment aciem oculorum vincens non solùm hominum sed etiam Angelorum darking and blinding the sight both of men and Angels And therefore how is it possible to behold the light of his generation who is the brightness and very splendor of his Fathers glory mens deficit vox silet non mea tantùm sed etiam Angelorum the eye of the mind fails and the tongue of every Creature becomes mute and dumb not mine alone saith St. Cyprian but of the bâ—lessed Angels also Therefore Quis enarrabit Before ever the world was or any foundation of it laid Ibi non tempus non seculum intercessit nemo spectator adsuit when as yet saith St. Basil neither time nor age was formed nor any spectator by to witness or report it but God alone injoying and embracing himself from all eternity in himself and of himself he begot his only Son who is none other but himself no other God though another person And who then shall declare Again the Father begets a Son and yet the Son is not younger than the Father nor the Father any antienter than the Son he begets him by communicating his Essence unto him and he communicates not any part for it is indivisible but his whole and intire Essence unto his Son and yet parts with none himself who hath heard or may conceive such things who therefore shall declare Yet once more the Son of God is perfect and compleat within himself and so hath been from everlasting intire and wanting nothing and yet which is strange as continually produced and begotten for not as in the beginning God made the Heavens so in the beginning he begot his Son who in the beginning both was and was begotten the Heaven was made once but the Son is begotten for ever and who c. Lastly to omit many things the eternal word is truly the Son of God and is truly born of him and yet notwithstanding hath no Mother that ever bare him but which hath
desires it may be freed Bring my Soul c. First then it is well and rightly directed not to Saint or Angel or any creature else in Heaven or Earth but unto the Creator of Earth and Heaven and Angles and all to him that made them and is Lord over them He cried unto the Lord this cry Bring my Soul c. He well knew what Isâ—iaâ— wrote afterwards Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel knows us not And if they should know and understand him and his prayers yet he well understood they could not help him in his distress for which reason amongst an hundred and fifty Psalms which he wrote one hundred whereof at least are prayers you shall not find one directed to Cherub or Seraphim to Gabriel or Raphael Abraham or Moses or any other whatsoever but still his cry is unto the Lord He was sure he could hear his complaints and no less able than willing to relieve him when he complained It is he only that is Lord indeed of Death and Hell of sin and affliction too who alone hath the Keys of all these Prisons who opens and no Man shuts who shuts and none shall ever open that hath power and strenght in his holy arm to break the Gates of Brass and smite the bars of Iron asunder and so make way for the Captives that are fast bound in misery and iron either in the Iron chains of sin or the misery of distress and affliction To him therefore must this prayer come of all others Bring my soul out of prison that of all others can break it up at his pleasure And however in small and petty grievances we may cast about for humane succours and strain our wits for stratagems to relieve us neglecting the Lord in the mean time yet cùm dignus vindice nodus inciderit in great and overwhelming calamities especially if sudden too when neither head nor hand counsel or force can provide a remedy when it is once come to Davids case in this Psalm that we have no place to flee unto nor any Man that careth for our Souls tunc Deus intervenit then we run readily whether Papists or Protestants leave all they their Papois and Pictures we our projects and devices whatsoever and betake our selves only unto the Lord the Lord alone of deliverance and in Davids cafe approach with Davids petition deliver thou my soul out of prison So then the object was right and his prayer well directed And the manner was answerable devout and fervent he cried it out Deliver my soul out of prison And yet it is not likely he cried with his voice he now lay hid in a cave and it was not safe for him to make any loud cries saith Theodoret and Austin It was not therefore the outward sound of the lips but the inward affection of the heart that sent forth this the cry of this voice as those Authors observe for as St. Bernard hath it Desiderium vehemens clamor magnus a strong and earnest desire cries loud though the lips say nothing And this is the cry the cry of the heart that gives acceptance to our prayers and deliverance too from our Prisons The prayer of the Just availeth much if it be fervent saith St. James otherwise even the prayers of the Just if they be cold and of custom rather than Devotion and Piety may hurt but they profit nothing The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him faithfully saith David not formally if as those Jews we draw near only with our lips when our heart is far from him he may draw near unto us with plagues and miseries but his heart will be as far from our supplications and distresses when you stretch forth your hands I will hide mine eyes and though you make many prayers I will not hear you saith the Lord in Isa. i. The reason is there your hands are full of blood the reason to us may be your hearts bleed not Your Altar is without fire your prayer without heat how should I accept your sacrifices The very wooden Priests of Baal may be an instruction to us They called saith the Text on the name of their god from morning till noon and when they had no answer they cried loud nay they themselves with knives and lances till they prayed not only in tears but in blood that they might be heard and I would the children of light were as zealous in their generations though not so foolish But yet rather let us receive directions here at home from our own Prophet You saw how zealous he was in praise and he is as well affected in Prayer it was his darling this and delight of his Soul and it is hard for any Man ever to pray well that hath not learnt it of him No Man ever so frequent so fervent in this holy exercise I will pray saith he at Morning Noon and Night yea seven times a day will I pray and that instantly with the inwardst and deepest affections of his mind His bleeding heart may easily be discerned at his weeping eye which every night washt his Bed and watered his Couch with tears He mingled his bread with weeping nay made weeping his bread tears were his meat and drink Sure he had a strange fire within him that made him run over so fast or at least he was watered plentifully with the dew of Heaven that could minister such continual fountains to his eyes We why we go to prayers as if our Souls and tongues were strangers like the right hand and the left in the Gospel one seldom knows what the other doth as if we gave God an Alms and not prayed for our own necessity Our Bodies peradventure are in the Church but our affections abroad our lips utter prayers our hearts are on our penny and then no marvel if our eyes be dry when our devotions are so drousie But this is not it that can do it such faint and feeble prayers will break open no Prisons He must cry louder and deeper that will be heard in his distress when we can say with David è profundis out of the deep have I called on the Lord when the depth of our sins calls for the depth of our sorrow and both upon God for the depth of his mercies when Abyssus Abyssum shall call one upon another then with David we shall be sure to be heard and have our Souls brought out of Prison which is the matter of the Prayer our last point but hath many points in it Bring my Soul out of prison For it is not a Prayer only for one penn'd up in a Cave but whatsoever doth any way inclose and straiten the Soul as was said afore may not unfitly be termed the Souls Prison and for ought we know intended in this Scripture at least applyable to it And of these things that thus besiege and shut up the Soul though they are infinite almost in themselves yet they may be reducible to
he seeks to infer the necessity of the Gospel doth apply it to shew that all men are naturally evil and deprived of the glory of God and therefore stand in need of the Grace of Christ that they might attain unto it In like manner it is said in another place Omne Animal in Arca Noae that every Creature was in Noahs Ark which notwithstanding cannot be verified of every Creature but of one of all sorts and kinds of Creatures and not of those absolutely neither but of all kinds that could not live in the waters for there were no Fishes there It were easy to give you instance in many more but these may suffice Now that in this place this Inhibition here is of the like nature though absolute in terms yet not in sence restraining Oaths but yet not all without limitation or distinction is manifest both by the letter of the Scripture and the example of St. Paul that writ it and the perpetual practice of all Churches since The Text of Scripture is that before cited in the 6. to the Hebrews where St. Paul doth not only approve and allow of an Oath now under the Gospel but sets it down as a principal remedy for the establishing of peace and dissolving of quarrels and discords amongst men if so be that St. Paul were the Author of that Epistle as is most commonly held though it be not greatly material whether he were or no for it skills not much whoâ— was the Pen where it is confest by all that the Holy Ghost was the Writer And if he were not the Author of the Doctrine yet he doth elsewhere frequently maintain it by his own practice and example often confirming his speeches even in his holy writings sometimes with a bare and simple Oath as Rom. i. 9. God is my witness whom I serve in the Spirit c. Sometimes even with an execratory mixed with imprecations as Testem invoco Deum in Animam meam I call God for a record upon my Soul 2 Cor. i 23. and in divers other places Now who can imagine that blessed Apostle either so ignorant or so evil as not to understand the precepts of Christ or else so often to disobey them especially in those holy pages and sacred instructions of the whole Church wherein he was but the quill or at most the Scribe unto the blessed Spirit that did dictate and indite them Whereunto if we add the consent of all famous Churches from that Apostles time unto this very day not only approving but in divers cases even requiring of an Oath it will be more than abundantly manifest that that speech of our Saviour is not so absolutely Universal as to be received without all limitation and restraint only the difficulty is unto what kind of Oaths it ought to be restrained For even they that consent unto a limitation as the most of the Fathers do yet they do not consent in the specialty whereunto it is to be limited Some conceive that our Saviour doth here prohibit not those Oaths that are made in the Name of God but such only as are sworn by some of his creatures for which cause after the inhibition Swear not at all he immediately infers neither by heaven for it is his Throne neither by the Earth for it is his Footstool of this opinion was St. Hilary yea and St. Hierom Consider saith he upon this place that our Saviour doth not here forbid men to swear by the Lord but by the Heaven the Earth Jerusalem and his head But this Commentary seems to fail because the assuming of a Creatures Name in an Oath is not utterly unlawful as you shall hear when we come to it as also for that the words of our Saviour tying up our speech unto yea yea nay nay and afterwards that whatsoever is more proceeth from evill doth clearly exclude all forms of Oaths promiscuously as well those in the name of the Creator as those by the name of a Creature Others are of opinion that the words are to be restrained unto all false Oaths taking jurare for pejerare swearing for forswearing To whom if you object that according unto this exposition nothing is added by our Saviour about that which was said unto them of old if swear not at all be no more than thou shalt not forswear thy self They answer yes that there is because the Lord in the latter part doth forbid all kind of forswearing even that by the Creatures specified in heaven earth Jerusalem and the head which the Jews did not conceive to be forbidden of all for they had a Tradition which they sucked from the Pharisees that there were certain Creatures by whom if they made their Oath they did not stand bound to perform it It is true indeed that such a Tradition they had which made a distinction of Creatures in this kind as of the Temple and the gold of the Temple the Altar and the gift on the Altar affirming that to swear by the one was nothing but he that sware by the other was a debtor which our Saviour in the 23 of this Evangelist doth both mention and refel and not without indignation But it seems not to be his intent here both because yea and yea and nay and nay doth debar all swearing as well as forswearing as also for that our Saviour doth purposely alter the first word forswearing into swearing to shew and signify that he understands an Oath as it differs from Perjury And yet St. Austin himself lib. de Sermon Domini Cap. 17. did sometimes give this Interpretation Others again as St. Bernard and Christianus Duthmanus that lived long before him upon this place desire to have it esteemed rather for a Counsel than a Mandate a Counsel of extraordinary perfection rather than a Mandate of necessary duty wherein he that fails doth not sin though he that observes it doth the better But neither may this satisfy for it is clear that our Saviour doth prohibit something which the Scribes and Pharisees thought to be lawful Neither is it likely that St. Paul whom we find often swearing in his Epistles would neglect the Counsel of Christ when he ought to give example of perfection unto others But St. James puts it out of all question who repeating those very words of our Saviour he so repeats them as a Mandate and Commandment as he makes damnation a punishment of the breach for where Christ says let your speech be yea yea and nay nay for whatsoever is more cometh of evil he to shew that this evil is sin and a sin that deserveth death doth paraphrase it thus let your speech be yea yea and nay nay lest you fall into Condemnation No counsel therefore James v. But not to hold you any longer with several and erroneous opinions They seem to make the best interpretation that restrain this prohibition unto the idle trivial and customary Oaths of common speech which the Lord did forbid as well as unjust and false
Belial God and Baal is most insufferable yea more than the clear rejection of him Utinamcalidus esses aut frigidus I would you were hot or cold saith the Lord to some in the Revelations As if since they were not throughly hot he had rather by much they were utterly cold than in that faint temper between both fit for nought but evomition as is there threatned for the indignation of God riseth at nothing so much as when Men neither so cold as to contemn Religion nor yet so hot as to forsake their sins present him with a cooler mixture of both Better therefore be a pure Gentile or a graceless sinner than a compounded and perfunctory Christian worse than either and harder to be cured his mediocrity being grown venerable unto the world and himself under the shew and title of calmness and moderation For which cause that may be verified of these our Saviour said of others Publicans and harlots shall sooner enter the kingdom of heaven If we mean to find entrance there it may not be by the formal and falsehearted seeking seek the Lord and you shall find him but if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul otherwise instead of finding a Kingdom we may chance to fall upon a curse Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord negligently Seek ye therefore first with all Industry and with all speed too that it may be the first thing you seek every way first in time as well as in intention Death is uncertain and delays are dangerous whilst we take farther day unto our selves enlarging our time as the rich Fool did his Barns God oftentimes derides us as he did him Stulte hac nocte Thou Fool this night shall thy soul be taken from thee And who in his own particular knows the length and date of this his day who can tell how many hours there are in it or how many of them are spent already How soon that now that henceforth of obstruction and blindness may come upon him and refusing to cleanse his Soul whilst the Spirit like that Angel in the Pool of Bethesda is moving the waters how suddenly he may fall under that fearful Sentence of the same Spirit in the Revelation He that is filthy let him be filthy still If that Fig-tree were cursed even before the time of fruit in comparison was come before the Gospel was throughly published may not those that have lived long under the bright beams and Sun-shine of it and still bring forth nought but leaves of shew and formality have just cause to fear every moment the approach and probation of that final and fatal doom Never fruit grow on thee more Whilst Men in their presumption are sporting themselves and grieving God with their sins God in his wrath in the mean while may be swearing they shall never enter into his rest Undoubtedly did the rays of true wisdom and divine pierce into the Soul had the heart any true impression of future things or of the vanity of the present did Men taste and relish the good gift of God and the powers of the world to come they would not permit any quiet to their Spirits or peace unto their Souls till their Souls had made and gained peace with their God and freed themselves from such uncertainties This is the Haven of our Rest and Heaven upon Earth and we that see it may well say unto our Souls better than he did say but saw it not O quid agis anima meâ— fortiter occupa portum what dost thou O my Soul the Port is before thee steer away before Sea and Wind manfully foul weather is behind thee make haste to escape the stormy Wind and Tempest And however there should chance not to be any for there may be room for misericordia Domini inter pontem fontem He hath not shut up life nor the gate of his mercy upon any yet it will concern wise men to fear the worst that is more likely and prevent it whilst they have time to work the work of the Lord whilst it is yet high day before that dreadful and terrible night approach wherein no man can work To defer it to the eleventh hour to the evening and twilight were a presumption too full of boldness especially since our Sun may set at noon and our light go out in the midst of our life For we are but dust as our Fathers were and the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with us Let us therefore laying aside all delays be resolute and vigilant attending speedily to open when it pleaseth him to knock when he calls instantly to answer Lo I come when he says seek ye my face to echo immediately thy face Lord will I seek So seeking his face in holiness here you may be sure to see it in glory hereafter In the mean time that God who hath added all things else plentifully unto you all abundantly unto one continue and multiply his favours unto all but principally and above all unto that one For since it is one of the last services your Majesty before your journey is to receive from this place I would not willingly leave it without one word of apprecation For though I may not bless yet I may pray God almighty whom you seek and serve hath blessed you ever hitherto and may his faithfulness and truth be your shield and protection ever hereafter He that went with Abraham in his Journey be with you in yours Let him lead you forth in peace and to the joy of all hearts return you again in safety May he carry you from Crown unto Crown from one Kingdome to another upon earth and having ministred all things else unto you according to your hearts desire here may he at last and let that be late minister an entrance unto you also abundantly into his own Kingdom this Kingdom of God Whereunto the same God of his infinite mercy vouchsafe to bring us all for and in the meritorious blood of his dearly beloved Son and our most blessed Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen Laus Deo in aeternum A PREPARATION FOR THE Holy COMMUNION SERMON VIII Upon 1 COR. XI 28. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup. THE holy but fearful Sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord as it is the highest and noblest Institution the Christian Religion hath so is it to be approached unto with the greatest reverence and regard For as it affords inestimable comfort to the worthy participant so not less danger and terrour to the unworthy Receiver He that takes it must know he takes a powerful medicine that will work one way or other either cure or kill prove wholsom Physick or deadly poyson As the patient is prepared so it works this way or that even either life or death For the blood which is received if it do not wash and cleanse it willâ— certainly stain
thence drops on the very skirts of his rayment even the rest of the Creatures who have all some interest in his body and therefore in his glory Whereby we are given to consider not only the greatness but the large extent of the Almighty's goodness in this Act of his Incarnation For bonum est sui diffusivum goodness is diffusive and loves to communicate it self and that of God the supream good most of all other And indeed whatsoever we every where see whatsoever any where is or hath any being it is nothing else but a Communication of the Divine goodness from whence they have all that they have whatsoever they are But now in this mystery God did communicate a new goodness and a greater than ever before not only unto man but in a sort unto all his Creatures which all have some title in his person and shall in their time receive a benediction from it for man as he was Supremum Creationis colophon the last and supream work of the Creation so was he the sum and recapitulation of all that was created before him and all that was so created was but either spiritual as the Angels or corporeal as the rest of the world and in man who hath a material body with the one and an immaterial Soul sutable to the other both were bound up together in one Creature A Creature which hath being with the Elements whereof he is compounded life and vegetation with plants sense with beasts reason and spiritual existence with the Angels and therefore a little but compleat world within himself Nexus vinculum totius creaturae the very knot and band that holds together the whole Creation And therefore the whole world being united in man and man unto God every Creature of the world cannot but have some interest in the union who have a part in the Nature that was united Had he assumed the nature of Angels the rest of his works that are corporeal had been excluded Had he taken unto him a Celestial body and made his Tabernacle in the Sun the Creatures that have life and sense had lain unregarded and should any of these have been honoured with it those that are intelligent and spiritual men and Angels had been left out under contempt for ever Man therefore was the only creature in whom he could interest and honour all the rest as being both corporeal and spiritual and having in him being life sense intellect and whatsoever the rest have and are And mansnature therefore he only assumed ut dum una assumitur in qua reliquarum gradus continentur in una reliquae omnes quoad suos gradus assumerentur That so assuming the one wherein the degrees of all the rest were contained all the rest in that one according to their degrees might be assumed Wherefore that Cardinal Schoolman Cajetan said not amiss Incarnatio est elevatio totius universi in divinam personam the Incarnation is an exaltation of the whole Universe into the Divine Person Since by it man in whom all things are knit together is himself knit and united unto God that as man is all in one so God might be all in all And all from God receive not only elevation and honour but blessing and benediction in Christ Jesus the Son of God who is therefore the head both of men and Angels to them a Conserver to us a Redeemer and not unto us only but unto all other Creatures that were made for our use and become subject unto vanity through our sin that as they suffered by mans transgression so in man they might partake of mans Redemption And therefore the whole Creation saith St. Paul travaileth in pain together with us and together with us shall be delivered into the glorious liberty of the sons of God and therefore waiteth until they shall be revealed For which reason our blessed Lord fully is as he is termed Saelvator mundi the Saviour not of man alone but of the whole aspectable world and whatsoever is in it Thy truth reacheth unto the Heavens saith David of him and thy faithfulness unto the Clouds how excellent is thy name in all the World thou Lord shalt save both man and beast and what name is that which is so excellent in all the world but the name of a Saviour thou Lord shalt save both man and beast And therefore the prophet Esay calls unto Heaven and Earth the Forest and all the Trees that are in it that is the whole world and whatsoever dwelleth therein to sing and rejoyce together for this Redemption Sing O Heavens for the Lord hath done it shout ye lower parts of the Earth break forth into singing ye Mountains O Forest and every Tree therein for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and glorified himself in Israel Esay xliv 22. And St. Paul gives the reason which is the same we have hitherto given because in this Redeemer all things in Heaven and Earth were collected and gathered together in one even in Christ Eph. x. 10. And not only gathered and collected but restored in him and renewed For nova jam facta sunt omnia all things are now made new saith the same Apostle Most worthily therefore at the name of Jesus the knee of every Creature both in Heaven and Earth and under the Earth is injoyned to bow and give glory as being by that name glorified in a sort and restored to more excellent perfection So great so universal is the goodness declared in this Act Yet this is not all But as it is great unto man and universal unto the Creature so is it the highest Communication of goodness in it self and the best demonstration of the intrinsick goodness of the Creator the highest in it self because in this he communicates himself which is not goodness but goodness it self Besides this there are but three degrees of communication Nature Grace and Glory but this fourth of hypostatical union infinitely exceeds them all on which all acknowledge their dependance for it restores Nature gives Grace purchaseth Glory Nature indeed and natural properties are a great communication of Gods goodness unto natural things supernatural Grace unto the Soul of man in this life a greater Divine glory unto body and Soul in the life to come greatest of all yet the best goes not farther than a Created quality for though being glorified we shall see God see his Essence and be blessed in seeing it yet we shall see it but per speciem by a Divine indeed but a created light but in this of Incarnation he doth not exhibit any shews or similitudes he doth not bestow any created gift whether of natural or supernatural order but he gives and bestows himself immediately unto his Creature who doth as immediately see and injoy him in himself being the self-same Person with him a communication of goodness wonderful above all other and not to be conceived had it not been revealed And as the highest in it self so is it the greatest
Jurabis Thou shalt swear c. Well then sometimes it may be Lawful for us to swear but yet as we may not swear in all cases so neither under all forms But thou shalt swear The Lord liveth that is only in the Name of the living Lord And the reason of it is evident by that which hath been said already for since an Oath is an Act of religious worship as containing in it a tacit acknowledgment of the infallibility and verity omnisciency and omnipotency of him whom we make the witness and the Judge of the otherwise unknown Truth and falshood of our speeches it must needs be an honour due only unto the alseeing and ever-living God to whom alone those Attributes are proper And cannot but be direct and gross Idolatry to communicate it unto any thing else And so God himself doth ever interpret it as a manifest defection from himself Filii tui dereliquerunt me Your sons have forsaken me saith God in the Prophet and they swear in the Name of those that are not Gods Jer. v. 7. The greatness of which crime he doth elsewhere aggravate by declaring the punishment Perdam eos I will destroy them that swear in the name of the Lord and of Malcham Zephany i. 5. But this point the swearing in the name of false Gods is so gross in it self and so frequently forbid in the scripture as we shall not need to discourse any farther of it Only I will note two things out of St. Austin and so pass from thence unto swearing by the Creature The first is that it is not simply unlawful to receive an Oath of him that swears in the name of false Gods if just necessity doth exact it and he acknowledge not the true God of whom it is exacted as when a Christian King confirms a League or Peace or any other business of high importance with a Prince that is an Infidel This St. Austin doth expressly affirm in his 154 Epistle where he doth not doubt neither but it might be confirmed by examples out of the Scripture as by those Covenants which Isaac and Jacob made with Abimelech and Laban who were Idolaters and that by an Oath on either side given and received though I see not how these may justify the point for though Abimelech and Laban were Idolaters yet they acknowledged the true God and in those Covenants seem to swear by his Name And therefore I rather think that of Judas Maccabeus with the Romans might be more pertinent to the matter The second is That they which swear falsly by false Gods notwithstanding both are and are taken and punished too for Perjurers by the true God whether it be done by those that do not acknowledge him or others that do for even some Christians of the Primitive times when they meant to deceive the unbelievers with whom they lived that they might the better do it and with the less sin would swear by their Gods as taking it for nothing to swear falsly by those Idols which they knew to be nothing whom St. Austin Epist. 154. doth finely refell shewing that instead of lessening the sin they double the crime bis ulique peccat for such a one saith he sins twice Quia juravit per quos non debuit contra pollicitam fecit fidem quod non debuit first in swearing by that which he ought not to worship and then in breaking his faith which he ought to have kept And God will assuredly punish both Non audit te Lapis loquentem sed punit te Deus fallentem for the stone doth not hear thee by whom thou swearest yet that God will take vengeance of thee who sees thy deceit saith the same Father And he seems to have learnt both out of the Wisdom of Solomon who says the same of gross Idolaters that swear by the Idols which they worship for saith the Author of that Book In as much as their trust is in Idols that have no life though they swear falsly yet they look not to be hurt but for both causes shall they be justly punished both because they thought not well of God giving head unto Idols and also unjustly sware in deceit despising holiness Wisdom xiv 28 29 30. But I leave the false Gods and come unto Works and Creatures of the living God for though there be no doubt but the Oaths made in the name of them are sinful and Idolatrous yet it is much questioned whether a man may lawfully swear by these and there want not great and learned men that affirm and maintain it too and I assure my self very rightly for he should assume too much boldness and reserve too little Charity to himself that durst censure and condemn others for irreligious even all those holy men of God whom we find in the Scripture to have sworn by his Creatures both before under and after the Law Before the Law Jacob sware by the fear of his Father Isaac which if it may be taken objectivè for the God whom he feared yet that of Joseph cannot who swore by the life of Pharaâ—h Under the Law examples are many As thy soul liveth saith devout Anna unto Eli the Priest So said Obadiah unto Elias the Prophet and so Elisha the same unto the same Prophet and that three times in one Chapter for failing And I protest by your or our râ—jâ—â—ing as some read it I die daily saith St. Paul under the Gospel I Cor. xv and many good Christians even unto this day swear by the Evangel body of Christ their own faith soul and the like and it were hard to condemn them all as some do which had they but observed that distinction of Aquinas and other Schoolmen they would not have done for an Oath saith he made in the Name of a Creature may have a threefold respect The first is when a Creature is called for a witness simply considered as it is in it self without any further relation unto the Creator and this is ever sinful and Idolatrous as attibuting a Divinity unto that which hath it not The second is when the Creature is called upon not as considered in it self but with a respect and reference unto that God whose goodness or glory is manifested in it which though it be in all Creatures yet it is more conspicuous and eminent in some and this may be done without any sin for though the Creature be only named yet thus taken it is not the Creature but that God whose favour or power we honour in it that is called for the witness as the Master of the Sentences doth interpret it nay as our Saviour himself doth expound who for this very reason in the xxiii of Matthew doth plainly affirm that whosoever sweareth by the Temple sweareth both by it and by him that dwelleth therein and whosoever sweareth by heaven sweareth by the Throne of God and by him that sitteth thereon And after the self same manner that Oath by the soul of another
would not have him fall instantly into such a fit of hideous Oaths as if with Jobs Wife they were resolved presently to curse God and die If the former were profanations these sure are direct blasphemies when men enraged with their trifling misfortunes pour forth floods of direful Oaths as the desire to wreak their anger upon that God whose providence they know doth guide them and because they cannot reach unto his Essence they will at least this way avenge themselves on his Name For you shall see such Tear-Gods sometimes swear a whole Catologue of Oaths over and over still swear them and still say nothing else as having no other end in their swearing but to swear for they swear not to affirm a truth or confirm a promise yet they swear and to no other purpose but to offend God by swearing Their Tongue as the Psalmist speaks walketh through the Earth and they set their mouth against heaven and yet as if neither Heaven nor Earth could afford them Oaths enow to swear by they set their invention on work for strange uncouth and unheard of blasphemies which not without rancor of mind they dart at God himself and spit with more than Epicurean Liberty in the very face of the Almighty The Tongue saith St. James is but a little member yet it hath in it a world of wickedness it sets the world on fire and its self is set on fire of Hell Which though it were spoken of the malicious and slanderous Tongue yet it may be no less true also of the blasphemous for this if any is certainly set on fire of Hell and flames with a sin hot enough and likely enough to set fire on the whole world in the last day when for that world of wickedness it shall find a world of sorrow and torment and as it was fired from Hell before so it shall now be fired in Hell where like Moses bush it shall ever burn and never be consumed for this later fire none shall ever escape but such as with a River of penitent Tears do quench the former before they come there But omitting such high and horrid blasphemies the hellish impiety whereof every one must needs perceive and none that have any goodness remaining can choose but abhor We will a little insist only on those lesser Prophanations in the vain and frequent Oaths of common speech which though men can be content to account a sin yet they would willingly esteem it such as may easily be excused It is only a Custom that is grown upon me I like it not but I cannot leave it the plea of the world as common as the swearing and if it might stand for an excuse it were easily excused indeed But consider it well and you will find it such an excuse as only seems to make the sin more inexcusable since that very reason which they give to lessen the Crime is the principal thing that augments the offence for sin never becomes above measure sinful until it grow into Custom that heaps it up infinitely and so makes it immensurable until it rule and reign in our mortal bodies which alone can stile us not only sinful but the slaves and vassals of sin and then we are sinners indeed There is no man not the best of us without sin yet all are not sinners it is not the falling into sin but the habit and serving of sin that gives the denomination A man may sin and be the servant of God for what servant of Gods doth not sometimes sin but to serve sin and be the servant of God is impossible And therefore of all things else the habit and custome of sin especially mortal and presumptuous sin is most dangerous as being incompatible with the state of Grace and reconciliation with God who never gives remission of the sin unless we abhor and utterly renounce the custom for which cause the Swearer and no man hath the name of a swearer but from the habit of swearing is set down in the same Catalogue with the Adulterer the Drunkard and other heinous sinners which St. Paul tells us shall never enter into the kingdom of God And therefore let no man flatter himself and deceive his own Soul it is a custom that we must leave one time or other or God will eternally leave us The which that we may be the better induced to do I beseech you do but consider besides the greatness of the sin already shewn to how little or rather no purpose it is committed and with what severity it will be punished both here and hereafter for so highly to offend God and no way in the world to pleasure our selves is the utmost of folly and treads on the very heels of madness Why he that burns in Hell for his Mistris had once yet some delight for that torment he shall ever suffer All other sins have their strong provocations in our corrupt nature whereunto they give some content but this idle and wanton sin is without all instigation of the depraved flesh and can give satisfaction to no one appetite of our frail condition unless death and everlasting sorrow dwell in our desires And as it can give no pleasure and delight because it hath no affection in nature to fulfil and content so neither that you may perceive it to be utterly vain can it plead any other benefit there being no just pretence or reason or end for it why it is used And if neither pleasure nor profit be in it the malice of the Devil is in it if to gain nothing here we will run headlong into eternal destruction hereafter If there be any end of it in the world or benefit that we may reap by it it can be no other than the gaining of credit to our speech and to be believed of others when we speak which is indeed the true and proper end of an Oath but an end which the trivial and customary swearer of Oaths in reason cannot expect and if he deal with rational and wise men shall never obtain though they urge it often and think it their best plea to stop the mouth of reproof for this sin Why they would not believe me whereby notwithstanding instead of excusing they do but condemn themselves and yet gain not their purpose with others For first if they mark it what doth it argue but that they do not usually speak truth that cannot be believed without an Oath Qui jurat suspectus est de perfidia The very use of swearing is a manifest sign that he is suspected of perfidy saith Philo. And therefore rightly St. Basil Turpe omnino stultum c. he doth no less basely than foolishly accuse himself as unworthy of credit and belief that perpetually flies unto the safeguard and sanctuary of an Oath for which cause the Esseni saith Josephus did avoid and abhor swearing no less than perjury as conceiving that he was before-hand condemned for lying that could not be credited without
originally aspected But a Platonick year were any such possible would sooner be spent I suppose than these wise men agree among themselves when and what time this great Revolution will be finished This atempt therefore as rash and vain so ridiculous also The Modern Jews and Talmudists seem to go upon better grounds and with them some of the Fathers as Lactantius and others these all resolve the former for certain the latter in a strong opinion upon six thousand years for the worlds continuance two thousand under the Law of Nature two thousand under that of Moses and two thousand under the Gospel of Grace And that these once expired the son of man then comes without fail in the glory of the Father And the truth is they have some shews of reason and pretty congruities to countenance their divinations Some of the Rabbies by their Cabal learning have found this out even in the first verse of Genesis where Alpha the first of the Hebrew Alphabet and the Numerical letter that denotes the number of thousand is just as they observe six times written That so the worlds Age and dissolution might be mysteriously read in the very front and forehead of the worlds Creation which in the Creation it self and the manner of it is they suppose much more legible as farther typed out and more fully discovered For in six days it pleased God to create the Heaven and the Earth and all that is therein and on the seventh day he rested And to shew that this concerned mans continuance of Travel in this world God afterwards commanded him also six days to labour and to observe the seventh for a Sabbath the figure of Eternal rest in the Heavens now mille anni coram Deo sicut dies una A thousand years with the Lord are but as one day one day therefore in signification here as a thousand years And the self same they would have yet farther insinuated in the first Patriots and Progenitors of this new-born world Generis humani satores the first storers of the Earth with Mankind six succeded one another in order and then died Adam Seth Enos Cainan Mahalaleel and Jared but Enoch the seventh from Adam was translated taken up to walk with God as the type and figure of all his Children To these others add divers other sutable instances That the Ark of Noah the Type of the Militant Church floated six Months on the Waters and that in the seventh it rested on the mountain That Moses six days was in the Cloud and in the seventh was called unto the prefence of the Lord. That Jerico the figure of this world as being opposed unto Jerusalem the type of that to come being six days compassed by the command of God in the seventh fell utterly and ruined which happened too just as the Israelites were going off the Wilderness to possess their promised Land Some more yet there are to this purpose but of another strain and fetcht something farther There be that fish for it out of the sixscore years given to the old world for amendment before the coming of the Flood which though in that regard literally meant yet in a mystery these say they do design as many great years or years Mosaical and Jubilar every one whereof contained fifty of the common and ordinary and then fifty drawn on six-score every score producing a thousand the product that results from the whole must needs be just six thousand years the general space they conceive for the repentance of the whole world before the coming of the second deluge diluvium ignis that deluge of Fire The same these Men collect likewife from the life of Moses who lived precisely a hundred and twenty years forty years in the Court of Pharaoh which answers as they would have it unto two thousand years under Nature forty years in the Desart with Jethro keeping Sheep on the backside of Horeb which responds unto two thousand under the Law given in that Mountain and forty years in the wilderness governing the people of God and leading them on unto their Land of rest which design the other two thousand under the conduct and Kingdom of Christ our Lord who when these shall be once elapsed and spent will come again and deliver up the Kingdom unto his Father So some But Lactantius and others otherwise That he shall come indeed at the end of six thousand years but the end for all that is not yet For he shall spend they suppose a thousand years in a kingdom of Righteousness upon Earth as a spiritual Sabbath from sin which first kept they shall then pass into that great and eternal Sabbath of Glory even for ever These may be pretty Speculations to say no worse of them but they cannot conclude any thing They are little better than what that learned man tearms them Commenta quibus malignus ille humana detinet ingenia something indeed they have of wit much of curiosity but of certainty nothing at all For suppose the conjecture true were six thousand years as they would have it the full period of the Worlds age yet what could certainly be discovered from thence when the different Calculators themselves are at a fault or rather an unrecoverable loss concerning the just age of the world and how much of it is spent already But what need such computations Excellently St. Austin Omnium de hac re calculantiuâ— digitos ... quiescere jubet qui ait non oft vestruni noscere c. He raps all Accountants on the fingers and commands them to cease who says it is not for you to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power What the Son of God with such a check refused to reveal why should any other the sons of men dare presume to search or think to discover But such are the cross and preposterous ways of perverse Mortals ever attempting to know where they are enjoyned to be ignorant and there for the most affecting ignorance where God most requires their knowledge Otherwise we might find other computations much fitter to be busyed in forbear counting of the Times and think rather upon that Redde rationem Vilicationis how we may make up our own Accounts against that day which when all calculations are ended will notwithstanding steal upon the world undescryed like a Thief saith our Saviour in the night when men least dream of it overtake even these busie Calculators as the Enemy did Archimedes drawing his Circles for prevention in the dust and not suffer him to finish his diagrams nor These peradventure their Computations For as it was in the days of Noah men eat and drank and married securely until the Flood came and carried all away So saith he himself will it be at the coming of the Son of man who will come as a sweeping deluge indeed yea much more unresistable For he shall come in power and Majesty and great glory even in
certain and ought to be acknowledged by either That the first Graces of God either confer'd in time upon Earth or prepared eternally by him who dwelleth in the Heavens are a free collation and absolute without any thing of reward otherwise Grace were not grace as the Apostle speaks Secondly The last punishments in Hell a meer reward in justice without any thing of free and undeserved collation otherwise Punishment were not punishment But the Kingdom of Heaven and the joyes of that place come to us after a mixed manner though originally and principally yet not altogether by grace neither yet altogether by merit not as a gift only nor yet wholly as a reward but is so a reward as it is still a gift so a gift as it is still a reward A reward because promised unto works a gift because that promise was of grace and these works no way deserve the reward And therefore the Scriptures apply themselves unto both terming it sometimes an Inheritance by Adoption sometimes a Crown of Righteousness sometimes a gift of Grace sometimes a Reward of our Works But that we mistake not we are most commonly careful not to mention the one respect without some intimation of the other In that very place where the Apostle affirms it a Crown of Righteousness yet that we may receive it as a Crown rather given than deserved it follows immediately which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me in that day On the other side in those places where it is called an Inheritance as it is in many yet in all we shall find it to be an Inheritance of the Saints and never conferred but on obedient Childeren My Sheep saith our Saviour hear my voice and follow me wheresoever I go do istis vitam eternam and I give them eternal life There it is a gift but yet to his sheep that hear and follow him dâ—num datâ—m non personae sed vitae a gift given not to the persons of men but to their lives and that is no other than a reward as St. Jerom rightly In the v. of St. Maâ—thew it is a reward merces vestra your reward is great in the Kingdom of Heaven yet it is merces coprosa a great and plenteous reward magnanâ—mis as God said unto Abraham I am thy exceeding great reward a reward with excess far exceeding indeed all the works and passions too of men that are to be rewarded So true is that rule of the Rabbins concerning the holy Scriptures In omni loco in quo invenis objectinoâ— pro haeretico ibi quoque invenis medicamentum in latere ejus Not a place that seems to favour an heresy but hath an Antidote or Medicine hanging at the side of it But on the other side most true it is Hell and eternal death are the wages and meer wages of wickedness That of the Prophet Vita â—ors a domino life and death are both of the Lord is right but yet must be rightly understood not both of him after one and the same manner but with St. Aâ—stins difference Vita scilicet à Donante mors à Vindicante which we may render in the words of the Apostle Life is the gift of God but death the wages of Sin To shew therefore that death is be to attributed not so properly to the Inâ—â—ctour as to the deserver the Wiseman is bold to say Deus mortem non fecit God hath not made death but men by the errours of their life have sought it out and drawn it down upon their own heads Let not any man therefore conceive the evil works oâ— wicked men as effects of a foredoomed destruction buâ— destruction rather wherever it lights to follow both iâ— design and execution as a just meede and recompence of evil doings for the merciful Lord that preserver of Souls as the same Author hath it cannot possibly hate any man as Davids enemies did him gratis without any cause but is ever as the Scriptures teach and the Fathers proverbially affirm Primus in amore ultimus in odio first in love and last in hatred And they that will needs think otherwise if they be not reckoned among the haters of God sure I am they will be found lyars at the last for the Lord is a just God and so is his reward that will look precisely on the work without respect unto any mans person be he what he will or may be for so it follows in the next place reddet unicuique he shall reward every man c. Great diversity there is among the Sons of men but the summons of this day is universal and will reach unto them all Be they rich or poor noble or ignoble none so mean as to escape unregarded none so mighty as to decline the Tribunal we must all appear saith the Apostle we and we all no remedy we all must make our appearance before the judgment-seat of Christ. And however here upon earth there doth indeed belong great respect and reverence unto the persons and dignities of great and honourable men yet these things are all now passed away and Christ the great Judge in this terrible day will have no regard unto any mans person or titles farther than these have had an influence into his actions and rendred them justly rewardable with greater honour or else with sorer punishment For the Virtue or Vice of such Men dies not at home in their own bosoms but as their persons are great so their works and ways in like manner eminent and every way more exemplar And therefore the Wise man saith but right Potentes potenter mighty Men that have done amiss shall be mightily tormented and for the same reason those that have done well as mightily rewarded There is nothing mean in them now nor shall be hereafter For these are they whom God hath made great upon Earth filled them with substance and honour that pouring out of their plenty upon the distressed and relieving the oppressed by their power they might become even as Gods unto their brethren These he hath placed tanquam majores venae as the greater veins in the body Politick to minister blood and spirits unto the rest of the members tanquam communes Patriae parentes as the common Fathers and Parents of their Country to whom all the weak and injured may fly as unto a refuge and sanctuary of protection yea tanquam planetae stellae majores as the greater Stars and Planets in the Firmament of power by sweet and propitious influence to cherish the Earth under them and all good things that are in it These now if clean contrary shall abuse this wealth and power push the weaker cattle with them as with horn and shoulder as the Scripture speaketh If the higher Potentates and Princes like so many mighty Nimrods molest and vex the world they should govern provoke Heaven and take peace from the earth embrue and embroil all to satisfy their own impotent and unlimited
farther care of them according to that of Gregory Non sinit neglectè perire quod est qui hoc etiam quod non fuit creavit ut esset The manifestation whereof will consist in these three points 1. That God left not the sick world destitute of a Saviour but sent him to die for all 2. That to as many as he calls he gives sufficient grace whereby they may if they will lay hold of this Saviour 3. That he Reprobates none of them but after a long and often abusing and rejecting of this Grace All three high and noble points worthily challenging a large and full discussion which the straitness of time will not now permit me I shall therefore only point at them briefly and so conclude And first for the first the extent of the death of our Lord and Saviour unto all I know not how 't is possible for the wit of Man to set it down in plainer fuller and more variety of terms as if the Holy Ghost did strive to free it from all objections What terms of universality are there wherein it doth not seek to express this truth He died for all for the world for the sins of the whole world and that the word may not still be taken only for the Elect it is here used with opposition to them not for our sins only but for the sins of the whole world saith St. John 1 Ep 2. 1. And yet that it might not be understood of the world of Elect only that were in after ages to succeed St. Paul hath the same Antithesis in other terms that utterly rejects the cavil God is the Saviour of all men especially of the faithful 1 Tim. 4. 20. Nay yet more directly the Saviour of those that perish for through thy knowledge shall thy Brother perish saith the same Author for whom Christ died Yet more positively for those that are damned There shall be false teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction For All for the world the wole world the wole world of faithful and others and those others they that perish they that are damned what can be said more for it or answered unto it I know not To say herein that he died for all sufficiently if truly meant is as much as is required as the places enforce but if their intent be as it is That the merit of Christs Blood and death is in it self considered sufficient for all had it been as it was not intended and laid down for them then to say that he died for all sufficiently is but to abuse others and contradict themselves For how can it be said he died sufficiently for those for whom he did not die This is all they can answer and the consequence that if Christ died for all they cannot see but how all should be saved is all or the chief thing they can object which they would not object neither if they observed the difference and distinction between the imputation of Redemption and the application thereof His life may be laid down for the whole world though his death be actually imputed and applyed to those only that are faithful believers for he was as the Brasen Serpent hung up for the good of all but benefits none but those that look upon him that is believe in him A distinction sweetly insinuated and strongly confirmed by the Oracle of Learning the non sicut of Divines in the non sicut of Sermons upon the non sicut of Christs passion whereof to the former purpose he thus speaks It pertains unto All but All pertain not to it ◠after whose authority it were but ill manners to seek a farther proof To proceed therefore to the second point wherein we are to shew that this Saviour is wanting unto none with sufficient power whereby they may lay hold on him and if they will be saved by him to none that are called that are within the pale of the visible Church that come to hear his Gospel and profess his name according to that of the Apostle quotquot receperunt eum as many as received him dedit iis potestatem filios Dei fieri to them gave he power to become the Sons of God And according to St. Austin where power is given necessity is not also imposed that you may know many might receive this power who never become the sons and servants of God for of all that are called and come not that of the same Father is true qui velle praecepit posse praebuit non impune nolle permisit He that commands to will gives power to perform and yet justly permits to neglect which place he doth not retract though he repeat it in his Retractations Unto that supper prepared in the Gospel saith he elsewhere neither would all come that were called neither could they have come that did come unless they had been called Itaque nec illi debeut sibi tribuere qui venerunt quia vocati venerant nec illi qui noluerant venire debent alteri tribuere sed tantùm sibi quoniam ut venirent vocati erant in eorum libera voluntate Lib. Arbit cap. 16. What can be more manifest From whence it is that that which from thence he infers is as just That he which deserved not to be called begins to deserve punishment when he neglects to come being called because then it first begins to be in his power Sicut non habuit meritum praemii ut vocaretur sic inchoat meritum supplicii cum vocatus venire neglexerit lib. Quaesti 38. quaest 68. Many other passages of this Father might be produced unto this purpose but I pass them over now to come to the places of Scripture which are infinite from whence this Doctrine may be concluded I will only point at two in one whereof God makes men themselves the Judges and in the other the Prophet calls heaven and earth for witnesses of this truth Deut. l. 19. I call heaven and earth to record this day saith Moses against you that I have set before you life and death cursing and blessing therefore chuse life that both thou and thy seed may live The reason hereof he had before set down because the Commandment which I command thee this day is not hidden from thee neither is it far off that is thou art neither ignorant of it neither is it out of thy reach or beyond thy power to perform and effect it This then being so plain no marvel that God calls to the Men of Israel themselves to judge between him and his Vineyard that is between him and themselves judge I pray you between me and my vineyard I have not chosen out any barren soil for it is seated pingui dorso in a very fruitful hill I did not plant it with a wild or degenerate or bastard slip but generosa stirpe with the choicest Vine
matter important The main parts but two A Precept The Precept seek A Promise The Promise All these things shall be added unto you A promise not as it sounds only of these things which shall be added but of those spiritual things also we are willed to seek for if those be added it implies these shall be given These given as the Reward of our search Those added ex Abundanti as an overplus or surplusage out of his Providence so the Promise is of all both spiritual things and secular of the one sort expresly implicitely of the other And so it should be for Righteousness hath the promise of this life and the life which is to come saith the Apostle The precept on which the accomplishment of this promise doth depend and wherein only I think I shall at this time proceed hath these particulars 1. The Action enjoyned and the manner and modification of that Action Seek and first seek 2. The object of our search proposed a double object prime and secondary The Kingdom of God and the Righteousness of God for both must be sought that intentionally as the end of our Travel this by prosecution as the way the only way that leads unto it Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Rigeteousness c. But because the object as the Schools speak doth ever precede the Action that works upon it not ever indeed as really existent but yet always Ideally in the mind and contemplation of the worker whether it be God or man whether actions transient or immanent external Creation Decrees and prefinition internal Though they suppose nothing in being but their Author yet they presuppose all things as being understood and apprehended before they can be either wrought or willed 3. Therefore in the third place the right way thither is discovered Righteousness a way as clean as right unto happiness through the paths of holiness to the Kingdom of God by the righteousness of God But Righteousness is not so easily found or being found is not so easily kept and observed And therefore it is not a bare seeking that will serve the turn here he must seek and search knock and call with his best might and his utmost endeavour which will be the fourth and last point though first named First seek So have we all the direction and incitation too that may be desired The Port and Haven of our rest and happiness everlasting proposed the Kingdom of God Our duty and endeavour urged to weigh Anchor put to Sea for the search and discovery of it Seek Our course shaped and directed that we wander not in the Ocean by the Righteousness of God And lastly because the voyage is tedious and difficult unto flesh and blood and no less perilous than painful by reason of many Rocks and Shelves and Quick-sands that lie in the way at least about it our vigilance is farther admonished our best attention and industry again and more earnestly called upon with a primùm quaerite first that is chiefly and above all things most carefully seek For so seeking we shall be sure to find performing our part in the precept God will not fail to perform his part in the promise give both the Kingdom which we sought and add those other things which are unworthy of our search But I begin with the Precept and in it with that Kingdom that should quicken us to the practice of it The Kingdom of God Whereof yet at this time I shall speak but little because no Man can say enough or indeed any thing to purpose of that which neither eye hath seen nor ear heard nor possibly can enter into the heart of Man St. Peter saw but a weak beam of it in the transfiguration of Christ and he was so ravished with it as he spake presently he knew not what St. Paul heard but a little sound of it with his ear in an ecstasie and rapture into Paradise and he was himself he knew not what whether in the body or out of the body he could not tell only he heard words there which when he came to himself he could not utter neither 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ineffable words words impossible and were they possible not lawful to be uttered The holy Spirit himself seeks not to express this happiness in it self but only to intimate it by similitudes and such feeble notions as we are capable of and acquainted withal And of all such this here this of a Kingdom is the best Kings and Kingdoms they are the most glorious things that are upon Earth and therefore fittest to resemble the glory of Heaven And yet they are but resemblances neither indeed shadows as the Author of the Hebrews rather than full resemblances of this Kingdom Regnum Dei the Kingdom of God A Kingdom fully accomplished with all Dignities and Prerogatives Royal and that in an eminent and excellent manner They seem principally to be but four 1. Dominion 2. Majesty 3. Wealth 4. Pleasure Dominion and Empire Majesty and Glory Wealth and Treasure Pleasure and Delights these are the dazling beams that give such lustre and brightness unto sublunary Monarchies and they are all here and all infinitely more illustrious in the celestial the Kingdom of Heaven For Empire and Dominion how full and absolute how large and spaciousâ— extending it self not only from Sea to Sea from the flood unto the lands end but from Land to Sea from Sea to Air from Air to Heaven from thence to the Heaven of Heavens which as they contain not his person so neither may they limit his Dominion and Power It is called the Kingdom of Heaven not that it is there â—onfined and bounded for it runs through Heaven and Earth the heaven is his throne and the earth is his footstool That indeed is the City of the great King the Metropolis and principal Province of the Kingdom the Heaven of Heavens Next unto it is the Ethereal Region wherein are the Celestial Orbs the Stars and wandering Planets all of them keeping the due course and order their King hath appointed them and not fainting in their watches as the Wise man speaketh From hence it passeth into the Aereal wherein are the strange and formidable Meteors lightning and thunder fire hail snow vapours winds and tempests and all of them fulfilling his word as the Psalmist hath it After this into the Aqueous the Region of Waters the great Sea and all that walk in the paths of the Sea all subject to his power that made them they and their raging Element He hath given them a law which they may not break he hath set this bound which it cannot pass hitherto shalt thou come and here shalt thou stay thy proud waves The earth follows as the Center and Foundation of all which yet hath no foundation it self but is hung out upon emptiness as Job speaks And this though a remote yet a principal Region it is of his Empire and furnished with the noblest
shedding of it which was purposely shed to cleanse them from the guilt of their sins if instead of sealing salvation to their own Souls they do but eat damnation to themselves for not discerning the body of their Lord. For did they discern it did they understand and conceive it to be there they could not but approach unto it with greater reverence with much more heed and awful regard When it was at the worst and lowest estate the malicious Jews could bring it to bereaved of all form and beauty yea and of that blessed Soul which dwelt within it and now remained only a dead and crucified Carkase all over gaping with wounds and gored with blood yet even then with what care and reverent respect was it handled by the good Arimathean It was wrapt up in fine and clean Linnen imbalmed with sweet Oyntmens and perfumes and laid in a new Sepulcher hewen out of the Rock How then and with what high esteem should we we that are to be made not Sepulchers but Shrines and Temples not of his ignominious but glorified body not of his body only but of his whole person of his body and blood and Soul and Divinity and all how I say and with what diligent preparation should we see that all things be pure and clean and sweet and new where such a guest is to be entertained where he is not to be lodged for a night or two but to inhabit where he is not to lye a while as in the grave but to dwell and live for ever This were something to the purpose and we should then shew we discerned the Lords body which now we seem not at all to regard eating and drinking of his flesh and blood with no more reverence and respect than if we were at an ordinary Table of Bread and Wine Nay I assure my self many of us make more preparation being but to dine with some Neighbour than they do to come to the great Kings supper They can with all diligence apparel and trim up the outward man against every ordinary feast in the mean time neglecting the inward man of the Soul little regarding how foul and slovenly that comes to the holy Banquet But let such careless men in time take heed the wrath of the Lord hath never shown it self more terribly than on the profaners of holy things especially his own holy presence Many and fearful are the examples in this kind The great King of Babel no sooner polluted the Sanctified Vessels but even whilst he is carrouzing in the bowls of the Temple a strange hand from heaven writes his doom on the wall before him the terror whereof looseth the joints of his loyns and makes his knees knock one against another which was but a forerunner of his ruine who that night lost at once both his Kingdom and his life But how dreadful was that judgment in the 1 of Sam. vi where fifty thousand Souls are suddenly struck dead for but looking irreverently into the holy Ark and Uzzah instantly smitten with the like vengeance for but touching it with profane hands though with a good intent to hold it up when in his judgment it was like to fall And shall we who are permitted I say not to touch or to look into the moveable but to walk into the standing Ark the Temple of the Lord yea to enter in within the Vail and approach up even to the Mercy-seat and eat of the holy shew bread that stands before the Lord if we continue to pollute that sacred place and banquet with our unwasht feet unclean and impure affections shall we think to escape alone without wrath from Heaven Let no Soul flatter it self with such a bold and mad presumption The divine indignation that in former times was wont ever almost to follow such profanations at the heels though in these later ages the great day of final accounts drawing on it seem to slacken the pace yet it will certainly overtake them one time or other if not here in this world yet infallibly in that other hereafter though oftentimes even in this also Even at this instant when the Apostle wrote this very Chapter the Lord had sent a fearful sickness amongst the Corinthians and that for this very cause their profaning of the Sacrament as you may read the words immediately following my Text. For this cause saith he some are even now sick others weak and many amongst you fallen asleep that is taken away by bodily death But however it go with us now yet at that day when the great King shall come to take a particular view of his guests he will not fail to find out all those careless people that have presumed to sit down at his table without their wedding garments and pronounce upon them that heavy doom in the Gospel take them bind them hand and foot and cast them into utter darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth So necessary is this duty of reverent preparation and so great the necessity urged upon the high terms of no less than plagues and punishments here and destruction for ever hereafter So true is that of our Apostle he that eateth unworthily doth but eat judgment unto himself so the word imports judgment temporal though he repent and without repentance damnation eternal and that in so heinous a manner as if he were guilty of the very body and blood of the Lord no less than the cruel Jews that shed the one and crucified the other or treacherous Judas that betrayed both Well then necessary it is and highly But to come to the second point let us now see what the preparation is that is so necessary wherein it consists and how far it extends that must denominate and make a worthy Receiver Surely though no Man living be absolute worthy in himself or can by any means attain unto that entire and compleat worth which is fully answerable unto the dignity and holiness of those sacred mysteries yet it pleaseth God of his grace to accept of him for a worthy Receiver of them that doth truly and faithfully endeavour to receive them with a competent measure of that reverence and those qualifications which he hath prescribed in his word amongst which Knowledge Faith Repentance Love and Charity Love to God and Charity to our Brethren I suppose are the chief if not all And these sure at least are simply necessary by them we must examine and with them we must prepare our selves whosoever will be worthy Receivers First with Knowledge an honest degree of knowledge what the mysteries are what they signifie and exhibite for what purpose they were ordained of God and are received by our selves Thus much seems requisite in the meanest capacity for so long as we are ignorant of the substantial parts and fundamental doctrine of the Sacrament so long as we neither know nor consider the main ends and purposes for which it was instituted how can we possibly prepare our selves worthily to
sins now or the Kingdom of Heaven hereafter thou art more than faithful even foolishly presumptuous yet in the promises which pertain unto this life we are all for the most part though Christians in profession yet in truth and practice gross and palpable Infidels Thou beginnest thy Creed with I believe in God the Father Almighty wherein thou dost acknowledge him thy Father and therefore willing Almighty and therefore able to relieve and succour thee in all thy wants and distresses but from the teeth outwards for let want or distress approach though but afar off how art thou presently perplexed what anxious and heart-breaking care doth instantly vex and discâ—ciate thy very Soul how are thy thoughts lost and distracted this way and that and every way searching and bending thy will upon all humane helps and succours that may be imagined with such fear and distrust as if there were no God in Heaven or providence of his upon earth Tell him how of his Father Almighty that knows whereof he shall need and will not fail if he first seek his kingdom and the righteousness thereof to add and supply all other things that are necessary and you shall give him as much comfort as if you had cast water in his Shooes He is clear out of his belief now and Pater noster too when if you shew him the plain Text in Mat. Take no care that is no anxious and solicitous care what you shall eat or wherewith you shall be cloathed or in David do good and verily thou shalt be fed he will sooner laugh at their promises than believe them Nay which is strange a Man whom God hath well blest that hath 〈◊〉 want within ken nor likely to have any yet scrapes and scratches on every side as if poverty were coming on him like an armed Man as Solomon speaks who if urged to relieve the necessities of his poor Brother without a small piece of Silver though the King intreat and the King of Heaven command and his Ministers perswade yet it may not be wrâ—ng from him He can presently cast doubts who knows whether himself or his Children may not live to want Shew him the promises of God in the Scripture assuring the contrary that it shall be a means to prosper and multiply the rest tell him that of the Wiseman Cast thy bread upon the waters and after many days thou shalt find it or that of another be that giveth to the poor lendeth unto the Lord yet nothing can move him which manifestly argues either he doth not believe God when he says it or at least not believe he is a good paymaster yet this Man thinks he hath Faith nay many of them are so far from relieving as they can find in their hearts to oppress and grind those that are poor enough already and as if they conceived that honest courses and Gods blessing on them were too weak means to provide sufficiently for themselves and Children they can shift and shark project and undermine screw themselves into testaments and deceive trusts buy over their Brothers head that imploys them for himself and use all their wits and fraudulent devices to compass an estate and root their possession in it for ever madly supposing to establish their Generations by those ways for which God never fails as he every where threatens to weed them or their posterity out of the Inheritance so purchased it being his glory ever to destroy the wisdom of the wise and to ruine the house built in fraud or on the ruines of others For the hope of the wicked saith Job is as the spiders web cunningly spun out with a great deal of labour all night and suddenly swept away in the morning What Faith then is there in this or indeed what is it else but a wild branch of meer Gentilism and infidelity if not absolute Atheism For did he truly believe God or his comminations it were not possible one that loves his Children so well could run so direct a course to destroy them But assuredly he doth not believe and whatsoever we pretend yet for the most part we secretly say in our hearts with that Fool in the Psalm if not there is no God yet at least there is no knowledge in the most high or else with those wicked ones in Job tush God careth not circa cardines coeli perambulat his walk is about the hinges of Heaven he doth not trouble himself to behold or regard the things upon Earth Do not suppose I wrong you search your own Consciences truly and I believe the best of you all will find even this infidelity lurking in them For wert thou absolutely assured in thy Soul of the omniscience and omnipresence of the Lord didst thou faithfully believe that he is every where and beholdeth every action and operation of thine though never so secret that he is about thy path and about thy bed and spyeth out all thy wayes and seeth thy thoughts more clearly than thou thy self how were it possible for thee in his presence and under those eyes so often and deeply to dissemble with thy Brother with thine own heart and with God himself Couldst thou imagine a window in thy bosome and thy Neighbour permitted now and then when thou dreamest not of it to look in upon thy impure and fraudulent thoughts and see how thy cogitations are busied how would thy Soul shame and blush to be taken tardy in such base and unworthy imployments which yet thou canst freely exercise and continue without any trouble or interruption at all though God himself and his pure eyes behold them whereunto thy breast is transparent as glass and more open than the air what doth this shew but that thou believest it not for to believe his presence truly and so much contemn it is meerly impossible It is beyond imagination to conceive were thy Faith firm in this point how it possibly can be that the sight of God and his holy Angels should not deter thee not only from thinking but from acting those secret works of darkness which the coming in but of a little child can utterly interrupt and hinder Of necessity thou must be driven to confess either that thy Faith is asleep and thou dost not believe it or thy reverence utterly dead that thou esteemest of a child more than thy Maker Assuredly could we fortify our perswasions but in this one Article of Faith and strongly apprehend the truth of it nothing could be of greater power to purge our hearts and our hands too from all evil and uncleanness Thus if thou carefully examine thy faith by the effects and judge of it as thou shouldst by thine actions for the tree is known by her fruit thou wilt easily find notwithstanding thy former conceipt of thy self how full of infidelity thy false heart is and how little thou believest either threats or precepts or promises or providence or any thing else sincerely and as thou shouldest Well therefore it would
in pain together with us as the Apostle speaks Rom. viii whose case is well expressed in the Psalm for we all sate in the region of death and darkness and quale gaudium iis qui in tenebris sedent and what joy hath he that sits in the dark said blind Tobe unto the Angel But that is not all we were fast bound too in misery and iron bound with the chains of our sins and shut up to condemnation under the Law as in a Prison of misery and quale gaudium what joy unto such not only in darkness but in chains chained both in darkness and misery This was our case and in this case to tell men now of a glorious light of a rising Sun that should shine into their darkness and not only so but to tell them of a strange deliverer also born into the world to give them liberty as well as light for light without liberty would serve them only to see their own misery of a mighty deliverer indeed that both could and would break the gates of Brass and smite the bars of Iron in sunder and so open the Prison to the miserable Captives quale gaudium hoc how great were this joy the joy of these tidings And these are the joyful tidings the Angel now brings well therefore may he term them tidings of joy and great joy by which we are delivered from darkness and misery utter darkness and everlasting misery Behold I bring you tidings of great joy Joy then there is in it and great joy yet this is not all that is in it 't is publick joy too and that is something more Great joy there may be and we see there often is which yet concerns but a very few others in the mean while may wail and mourn This is not such but as it is great in it self so it spreads and diffuseth it self unto many to all omni populo to all the people Behold c. And well fare that joy where it is merry with all every good heart will like it the better bonum quo communius eo melius for the better it is ever whatsoever is good the more general it is This is a degree beyond general it is universal joy a joy that runs through the universe and affects the whole world And the world may well wonder at it It never saw I am sure never could give any the like As our Saviour said of his peace so he might well say of this his joy non sicut mundus dat gaudium not as the world giveth joy so give I joy the world is poor and beggarly and cannot give to one but it must take from another cannot make one rich but it must impoverish another cannot advance one but it must depress another and therefore cannot give joy to one but it must give sorrow to another This is the condition of the world and all worldly joy The Conquerer celebrates his triumph and the vanquisht lament their misery The heir joyes and rejoyceth in his inheritance the possessor dies weeping and mourning that he must leave it The advanced ascends merrily unto his seat of dignity whilst his predecessor tumbles from thence with sorrow into his own ruin Run through all the glory of this present life and see if you can any where find any man happy whereto felicity doth not arise out of anothers misery and whose joy is not built upon another mans sorrow and therefore if some be merry some must be sad if some laugh others must weep if some rejoyce others must mourn no joy in it to all the people Non vox hominem sonat it is not the condition of humane felicity this neither can it spring out of the Earth an Angel must bring it from Heaven from that God who is truly rich and of unexhausted bounty able alone to fill some without any diminution or emptying of others Yea to fill all and leave none empty Only exinanivit semetipsum it pleased him to empty himself of his honour this day by assuming our flesh that we and our nature might be replenisht with it he made himself poor lying in a manner among brute beasts that his poverty might redound unto the riches of the world and make men who for want of understanding might well be compared unto the beasts that perish in knowledge and goodness too like the Angels of God that stand about his Throne unless themselves refuse it And this is the tydings of joy the Angel here now brings true joy indeed and publick joy Christmas joy right gaudium omni populo Joy unto all the people to all that will but entertain and embrace it to all that do not wilfully reject and refuse it To such indeed this joy shall be turned into sorrow but that is their own fault If when the Prison is open'd any of the captives be enamoured of their own misery and still love darkness more than light they may questionless perish in it but then they may thank none but themselves it was still matter of joy that a passage was made and they might have come forth if themselves would We must still distinguish between the event of a thing unto obstinate men and Gods intention of it in his own mercy which though some men abuse to their hurt and sorrow yet the news of it in it self is news of joy unto all to all the people to all that then were and to all that ever shall be quod erit omni populo which shall be to all people c. Not only it is joy which is unto the present age unto all the men of that or any one time but which shall be unto all ages and generations successively unto the worlds end and therefore she that now brought forth the blessed tydings which the Angel here delivers all generations saith the Scripture shall call her blessed And this is our comfort it is the word of tenure by which we hold that it shall be to all people But this good Erit that shall be is not reserved only to omni populo all the people that shall be but may be read with the joy that goes before gaudium quod erit joy which shall be not joy which is for a while and then vanisheth but which shall be for ever and ever everlasting joy And this gives us one degree more in the joy For joy though never so great in it self though publick and common unto never so many yet if it abideth not it is but a perishing and transient joy but if great publick and permanent too then 't is compleat and absolute joy indeed when it is gaudium quod est erit joy which is and which shall be that is none but Christs joy a joy which none can take from us The worlds joy is quod est non erit a joy which is but which shortly shall not be but a flash but a blaze quickly kindled but as suddenly out Invicem cedunt dolor voluptas Joy and
grief like day and night take their turns in this life and mutually ever expel one another They are clean contrary yet like twins they are bred in the same bowels wherein though they sometimes struggle as Jacob and Esau did who shall first come forth yet the advantage of precedence is but little when the latter is not so far behind but he hath ever hold of the formers heel like Actors in a Tragedy so they play their parts on the Stage of this world when one goes off the other enters and though joy begin the Prologue the Catastrophe ever shuts up in sorrow All our pleasures though never so sweet in the mouth proving as the Wiseman speaks but gall and wormwood in the belly and sometimes rottenness in the bones It is therefore gaudium quod est only a joy that is but shall quickly cease to be a joy which like the winter Sun may rise gloriously but is soon overcast with clouds of discontent and must set ere long in a night of sorrow a long night unto some that shall never see morning Only Christs joy the joy which the Angel here brings Christmas and Christian Joy is gaudium quod erit a joy which is and which shall be which is begun here and shall be perfected and accomplished for ever hereafter when we shall sit down at the right hand of God where are pleasures for evermore So now you have all unto the full great joy publick joy permanent and perpetual joy nothing more can be added to make it fuller or greater it hath already all the dimensions of greatness height length breadth and depth As deep as Hell from whence it delivers as high as the highest Heavens whither it will bring us broad as the whole Earth spreading unto all people that have or do inhabit it or ever shall and long as eternity can make it whereinto it runs joy which shall be for evermore Well did it deserve that Ecce of admiration set up in the top of it as a burning Beacon to draw all eyes and affections towards it Behold I bring you c. But this is but the Preface proceed we now unto that wherein all this Joy doth consist and whereof it is spoken the message or sermon it self whose whole subject is the blessed birth of our Lord and Saviour we this day Celebrate For unto you c. Wherein there are three Circumstances of the birth where when and for whom Unto you is born this day in the City of David And three Titles or Attributes of the Person born a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. The Circumstances are first placed but the parts of substance must be first handled both because they are more worthy in themselves and also have nearer reference unto the joy precedent and the three degrees of exaltations of it whereunto these three titles do fitly answer and correspond the joy was great publick permanent and now we see the reason Great Joy for a Saviour is born publick joy for that Saviour is Christ permanent and perpetual joy for that Christ is the Lord the Lord of eternity that only can give eternity to our Joy And briefly of them all but first of the first Attribute of him which is a Saviour 1. And sure if ever any this is tydings of great Joy tydings of a Saviour no joy in the world to the joy of a man saved We our selves acknowledge it in other matters If it concerns the saving of our skin of our goods of our life or the like how do we rejoyce in such Saviours Let a man under the Law in case of a lost man cast and condemned expecting nothing but execution and then let a Saviour come to him with a pardon and see if it be not a welcome message if he think it not the joyfullest tydings that he ever heard But beloved we have Souls too and they are our better parts by far and the sorrows of that death they are subject to great and more lasting And if the saving of a perishing transitory life or living be so precious unto us how full of Joy would the birth of a Saviour be for them that otherwise must die for ever in perpetual torments O when it concerns the loss of Heaven and danger of Hell when the Soul is at stake and the well doing or undoing of it for ever Consider it right and in this case sure no joy to the joy of a Saviour But we do not consider it at least not throughly and that is the reason it affects us so little To spiritual things we are dull and dead but quick and sensible in carnal and as it seems more apprehensive of our sickness than our sins of the saving of our goods and bodies than of the loss of God or perishing of our Souls Otherwise the preserver of those wishes would not be welcomed with such joy and the Saviour of these which are infinitely better so coldly esteemed Certainly could we but see our sins in the true shape and behold with our eyes the sorrows they deserve and our souls must suffer for them were we permitted a while to look into that fearful pit whereunto we are condemned and take a view of the horror that is in it A Saviour from them and from thence would be something better regarded But however we esteem it not now when the destruction is too far off us to affect us yet the time will come when it shall In novissimo intelligetis planè in the end saith Jeremy ye shall clearly â—nderstand In the end indeed in that sad and fearful day when the destruction shall approach and the destroyer shall come when tribulation and anguish shall be upon every Soul that hath done evil when they shall cry unto the Rocks and Mountains to fall upon them and hide them from the presence of the Lord and the wrath to come then indeed when we shall find the want of a Saviour we shall plainly understand this and value the benefit and joy of it as we ought and know and find that there is no joy in the earth to the joy of a Saviour A Saviour that is the first the Angel addeth for a difference which is Christ to distinguish him from all other Saviours For others there were many born and sent unto them at divers and several times to deliver them from particular and several distresses As Moses Joshua Gideon Jephta Shamgar Sampson and the rest in the Book of the Judges which indeed is nothing else but a Catalogue of Saviours which the Lord at sundry times raised up to free and avenge them of their enemies These were Saviours all in their kind and joy there was in them and great joy too in their times and to that Nation but no universal joy they were but petty and particular Saviours One there was yet behind that was worth them all one that should save his people from their sins save not their bodies for a time but
consider what he suffered in the other that you may do also factus sub lege will give you both For what were the actions of his life but the keeping of the Law in himself or what was the passion of his death but the satisfying of the Law for others that had broken it and in regard of either made under the law under the law to fulfil the precepts which it commands and under the Law to satisfy the penalty which it injoins So by this time I think it is full filled with the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ whose natures person actions passion whose incarnation birth life and death it fully contains verè verbum abbreviatum it may well be termed and abbreviated word a viol of Spirits a very extract and quintessence drawn from four Evangelists and clapt up in two verses by an Apostle Two verses which as I said have but two general parts fulness of time and fulness of matter both tend to declare the greatness of the Fathers love the depth of the Son's humility and the height of mans happiness The Fathers love is full and grows unto its fulness by two degrees He sent and he sent his Son The Sons humility is full and it ariseth unto its fulness by two degrees made of a woman and made under the law Mans happiness is full and it cometh to its fulness also by two degrees Redemption and Adoption that he might or that we might c. If then the greatest thing the Father could send the Son or the worst thing the Son could suffer the malediction of the Law or the best thing men could receive or wish for adoption of Sons can make it full it is full indeed and to purpose for it is filled with all these And of this fulness we will now draw out unto you as much as the short time will permit beginning first with the fulness of the time When the fulness of time was come c. All the works of God saith the Wise man are done in number weight and measure and therefore questionless in a just and opportune time For time it is that doth both number and measure all his works yea and gives weight unto them too his weightiest works and greatest would be something the lighter and lesser were they not designed unto the fullest and fittest times This then as it exceeds all other in the greatness of the work so was it fit to receive an answerable fulness of the season And sure the season must needs be full when so great a work was poured into it when he came to fill it in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily True but yet the Text doth not so much derive the fulness of the time from his coming as apply his coming unto the fulness of the time as being full and fit to receive him Again the time appointed by the Father as it is a little before and foretold by his Prophets was now full come and expired this then must needs be the fulness of time True also they argue the fulness of time but short as we make it for had there not been a fulness and fitness in the time it self it had never been either appointed by the one or foretold by the other though without his appointment it came not to this fulness neither True it is that the wit of Man is too narrow a vessel fully to receive and comprehend all the reasons of this fulness yet sure in that which it doth apprehend it hath reason enough to admire the wisdom of the Lord in the fitness of his appointment not without special convenience chusing out neither the first beginning of the world nor the last end of it but a mid time as it were between both when the world should arrive at his just age Not a time of war but a time of universal peace Not the time of a Common-weal but the time of a general Monarchy not of the AEquinox but the Solstice not in the Summer but the Winter not in the day but in the night for all these may be comprehended within this fulness as not wanting their convenient fitness First then upon great reason the Lord chose not the first ages of the young world but deferred it for some thousands of years that being first shadowed in types and figures and promised by many and antient prophecies and predictions his coming might be the more desired and expected of Men and himself the better received and with less doubt entertained when he should come So great a mystery is the Incarnation of the Son of God that unless his person and actions his birth death and resurrection with all the particulars of either had been clearly and frequently for many ages foretold by the Prophets his forerunners we should have little means either to perswade it to others or at this day to believe it our selves And again upon as good reason he chose not the end and last age of the decrepit world lest all eyes should fail and hope faint in too long expectation with Where is the promise of his coming Rightly therefore in a point and period of time between both these neither when the world was too old and doting nor whilst it was too young and under tutorage as it is two verses before but when it came to full age and strength in the sight of him that made it Secondly he chose not a troublous time of war but of calm and settled peace as being the true Solomon and Prince of peace that came to no other end but to make and establish an everlasting peace between Heaven and Earth God and Man Man and his own Soul Thirdly he chose not a time of Republick neither of Aristocracy wherein few nor Democracy wherein the people have the chief power but a time of Monarchy when one Man Augustus Caesar had obtained the Dominion did sway the Scepter command and give law unto the whole world to shew that the universal Monarch of all Nations the Supream head of all Churches the Catholick Bishop and Pastor of all Souls was now born into the world Fourthly he chose not the AEquinox but the Solstice not the Summer Solstice when the Sun runs at his highest but the Winter Solstice when the days are at shortest because then the Sun first begins to return and the days to increase as in light so afterwards in heat So in like manner he chose the Meridian time not the diurnal Meridian when the Sun by his presence makes light more but the nocturnal when by his absence he makes the deep noon of night because at that time the Sun is in the furthest point he can go from us and first begins to ascend towards the morning And both to shew the true Son of Righteousness was now approaching and drawing near unto us by his comfortable presence to give new light unto our minds and divine heat unto our affections to unthaw our benum'd and frozen consciences and to
most admiration is begotten only with a look by mere aspect and intuition as the Fathers speak and the Scriptures intimate and therefore who shall declare These and many other the like high and inexplicable mysteries of this wonderful generation the Apostle seems not to express but to shadow as well as he might when he terms him the brightness of his Fathers glory and the express image of his Person Heb. i. 3. For though these words cannot reach home to the thing yet others more apt and significant may not be found For brightness is ever coeval with the thing that is bright if bright in it self the brightness of the Sun is neither before nor after but fully as ancient as that Sun that begat it and so begat it as it doth not cease still to beget it For it is not produced once for all but is generated perpetually and generated not of two but of one only who can communicate it to other things and yet lose none of it himself Excellently therefore the brightness of his glory and as fully the express image of his person to shew as far as may be shown the manner of his generation by sight and intuition For the images which we behold when we look on our selves in a glass are of all others the most exact and perfect Now God himself is his own mirrour wherein beholding and comprehending himself he produceth the most express and absolute image of himself So that the Divine intellect of the Father reflecting inwards and fully conceiving his own perfection doth at once both conceive and bring forth his own and only Son the substantial and essential picture of himself And therefore no thought here of Mother or Matrimony nor imperfection or inquination but he is begotten after a pure clean chast high and sublime manner as the beam from the Sun as the image from the glass as being the brightness of his Fathers glory and the ingraven Character of his person Though neither of these can fully express it for it is wonderful and therefore to our ears cannot be uttered it is singular and therefore hath no example for how should the imperfect Creature every way square with the absolute perfection of the Creatour And therefore let us adore in Soul and believe it in heart but lay our hand on our lips and not think to utter it in words whereof when we have spoken yea and thought all that we can we must shut up all with the Prophets Admiration who shall declare And this shall suffice for the non-declaration of his Divine birth and generation we now pass on to his humane the subject of this days Solemnity and therefore the chief theam of this hours discourse but a theam every way beset also with so many Pearls of highest admiration as we may well say of it as of the other Quis enarrabit Nay in some things it may seem something stranger than his other generation For that God should be born of God though we can no way apprehend it yet in reason it carries some Correspondence and proportion But that God should be born again and born of a woman hath such an infinite disparity that unless it had been foreshewn by such illustrious prophecies and confirmed by so many and great miracles it had exceeded not only reason but even all belief Well therefore did S. Paul term it a mystery and a great mystery and great too without controversie without controversie great is the mystery of Godliness God manifested in the flesh 1 Tim. iii. God in the flesh a great mystery indeed yea how many great mysteries are there in it The Antient of days is become a swadled Child and he who was the Son of God without a Mother now made the Son of a woman without a Father a woman that is at once both a Mother and a Maid conceiving and bearing a Son and yet a Virgin in and after both conception and birth Nay more the Mother of her own Maker and so the daughter of her Son as he the Son of his own daughter No marvel therefore that at this admirable birth of his he had marvail and admiration it self given him for his name for his first To us a Child is born and to us a Son is given the principality shall be upon his shoulders and you shall call his name Wonderful Isa. ix wonderful and full of wonders as in other things so especially in his birth and generation and therefore Quis enarrabit Wise Solomon having with all his skill and diligence searched into the depths and profundities of Nature after all his travel could find out no new thing under the Sun but that you may know a greater than Solomon is here our Saviour this day together with himself brought many new things you see into the world which the Sun never saw before nor ever shall see again A new birth new man new person new Heavens new Earth a new Creation for all had need of renewing and all things in him are made new Ecce nova jam facta sunt omnia behold all things are become new saith the Apostle All things but wretched men that regarding it not grew old in their Sins but shall receive a punishment hereafter that shall never grow old in it self because it shall never be ended And therefore Quis Yet that we may declare it as far as we can or at least declare how far it is above all declaration we will in their order briefly touch upon these circumstances of his birth and generation Who it is that is born of whom and in what manner and where he was born For there is newness and strangeness in them all not fully to be declarable And first who or what he is that is born And what is he an ordinary man as we our selves are one of the rout one of the vulgar A Man indeed he was and when he was at the lowest and worst Pilate could term him so ecce homo behold the Man but yet no ordinary Man he was a King too and a King born where is he that is born king of the Jews say the Wisemen of the East Nay no petty King no King of the Jews alone he shall have the Nations too for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possessions saith God in the Psalm And therefore an universal Monarch And yet higher for I will make him my first-born higher than the Kings of the earth higher indeed even the high God that is King both of Heaven and Earth and therefore his name shall be called Wonderful and mighty counsellor and Deus fortâ—s the strong God pater aeternus the everlasting Father saith my Prophet in the place but now quoted And it is worth the observing in the beginning of the verse A child is born and a son is given towards the end this weak child is the mighty God this young Son is the everlasting Father for the Son of God is our
shall perceive the better and receive too the sooner for though it be powerful all do not always receive it if we be observant of the circumstances of this spiritual in the mind which for the quality of time place and person doth much resemble that other humane birth in the flesh For as then he was born in the night so still is he usually begotten in the nightly and silent meditations of the Soul When all things were in quiet silence and the night in her swift course then the Almighty word left the Royal Throne and leapt down from Heaven saith the Author in the book of Wisdom And sure then especially when all things are quiet and silent when the works and toils cares and labours of the day are laid aside and the Soul in sweet contemplation of the vanity of all her travel under the Sun then I say especially is Divine Wisdom preparing the place for the Son of God who though he leave not Heaven and his throne there yet by his spirit doth he vouchsafe to descend and live and dwell in this earth of ours for ever And as in the deep of night so for the most part is he born still in the depth of Winter For in the Summer and sun-shine of prosperity we are all apt to forget God and regard but little what he speaks unto us but in the cold and bitter storms of Winter when our Bark is tossed in a tempestuous Sea of afflictions then like other Mariners we can quickly pour out vows leave our canns and carouses and betake our selves to Supplication and Prayers and can attentively hearken also what the Lord God will say concerning our Souls Only take heed of the 3d. circumstance in this point and though he came in the last age of the world yet be sure not to defer thy entertaining of him till the last age of thy life For however he be sometimes and it may be usually as yet born spiritually in that point of Mans days as he was then of the world yet it cannot be safe yet it must be more than foolish to presume of it For we well know how frail we are and God knows how suddenly we shall be swept away in our sins when we would give the whole world if we had it for but one hour of that time we so foolishly neglected and may not have Remember therefore thy Creator in the days of thy youth before the eveil day come and give attentive consideration to the counsel of the Wiseman Defer not to do well and put not off from day to day for suddenly shall the wrath of the Lord come forth and in security thou shalt be destroyed But lastly and above all be most assured that as then so he will still be born in no other time but a time of peace Peace there was in the whole world when he was born in it and we must cease from wars and envies and hatreds and have peace every one with his Brother or he will never be born in us It was the Song and Anthem at his birth sung by Angels Glory be to God on high in earth peace good will towards men He is the great peacemaker that came of purpose to establish an everlasting peace between God and Man but on this condition that Man shall first be at peace with Man otherwise not to expect it from God of whom he may not so much as beg mercy for his offences but as himself remits the trespasses of others O take heed therefore flatter not thy self but search narrowly and be sure to strip all wrath and revenge from thine heart or be most assured Christ will never dwell and inhabit there who cannot but hate the very place where such odious and hateful sins make their abode Sins that bind all the rest of our iniquities on our Souls yea make whatsoever else is good sinful unto us Whereof so long as thou art guilty thou dost but curse thy self when thou prayest and damn thy own Soul when thou receivest This for the time see now how well the other circumstances agree which concern the place of his birth and especially the person of whom he was born For born he was not of any ordinary Woman at a venture but of a pure and chast Virgin and so will he still be both born and bred in a clean and unpolluted Soul Into a defiled heart full of noisom lusts and sordid affections he will not enter they must be first purged out and all the stains and pollutions of them washed away and cleansed in a bath of penitential tears then he will descend thither be born there and instead of those natural corruptions fill the place with all divine and supernatural Graces and so not find but make the Soul a Virgin by being begotten in it A Virgin full of virtue which he will espouse and marry unto himself for ever But yet of all virtues he most affects humility in her the first and laft of virtues the first begining and last consummation of whatsoever is virtuous For without it the Soul is not capable of virtue and had she never so many would spoil all by growing proud of the virtues which she hath And therefore as he was born of a Virgin so would he be born in no other but a Stable the meanest place and lowest in the house to shew us the condition of the mind the humility and lowliness of the spirit where he still is and ever will be spiritually brought forth For as the covetous Soul is but a Barn the Epicure's a Kitchen the Drunkard 's a Cellar the Ambitious a Chamber of State so the low and regardless Stable may well signify the humble spirit that both is and esteems it self a wretched sinner Not then in the Barn of Misers nor in the Kitchin of Belly-gods not in the Cellar of Winebibbers not in the great Chamber of Pride and Prodigals but in the despised Stable of humble and dejected spirits there is he there will he and no where else ever be born And every Soul wherein he is so born may be bold to say with the blessed Virgin that first saw him for thou regardest the lowliness of thy hand-maiden But yet humility is not more acceptable to him than worldly cares and covetousness displeasing than which nothing can more hinder his conception and generation in our Souls For God and Mammon cannot dwell together And for this cause as in a Stable so he would be born in an Inn For an Inn is domus populi free and open unto all comers and so must the Soul be wherein he will be the second time born free and generous holding nothing as it were in private and proper to it self but open and ready to communicate all things to those that want and are distressed and no less freely than the other for money And the sooner because he knows the world it self is but an Inn where we do not inhabit but lodge for a
therefore in Gods account not right but even dissemblers in what they truly intended because they falsly forsook it Hypocrites then they are and with hypocrites they shall have their portion Consider therefore faithfully what thy lips spake when thy heart was in trouble and be sure that thy hand perform it when thou art released And yet if your lips spake nothing if you have no vow upon you thanksgiving is due without it pay that at least with cheerfulness No such Monster in the world not the Hypocrite himself as the unthankful Man he that hath said Ungrateful hath said all and the worst he can say And therefoer above all things if there be no vows to pay yet offer unto God thanksgiving next to that of a broken heart it is the best sacrifice thou canst offer him This shall please the Lord better than a bullock that hath horns and hoofes Psal. lxix 31. Nay not all those Hecatombs and millions of Sheep and Oxen which Solomon offered at the dedication of the Temple no nor thousands of Rams and Rivers of Oyl as Micah speaks can so glad the Altars of God as these Calves of our lips the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving but then it must be made a burnt-offering that is kindled with the fire of zeal and true devotion sing praises lustily saith our Prophet and with a good courage And as he gives us the instruction so let him be our example that you may know he did not promise more in this place than he was glad and willing to perform afterwards See how lustily and with what a good courage he doth perform it he doth not go about it drowsily but his very preparation to it is hasty even beyond expression by any Mans words but his own My heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed awake up my â—uâ—e and glory â— my self wâ—â— awake right early My lips will be fain when I sing unto thee and so will my soul which thou hast redeemed nay my mouth shall be satisfied as it were with marrow and fatness when I shall praise thee with joyful lips words that have vigour and life and shew a good courage indeed but all this is but preparative for when he comes to performance see how he stirs up all the parts of his body and powers of his Soul to concur with him in the work Praise the Lord O my Soul and whatsoever is within me praise his holy name And yet it is not enough himself and all his faculties are too little this is still but private praise he must have it publick too and so it is to the purpose you may see him summon up not only righteous Men as here but all the creatures of Heaven and Earth to bear a part with him Angels Sun Moon Stars Fire Hail Snow Vapour Storm and Tempest too praise ye the name of the Lord. And as yet not satisfied he calls for all the Instruments of Musick Trumpets Psaltery Harp Timbrel Cymbals and the high tuned Cymbals to express and set it forth the more solemnly Neither is it a passionate flash like fire in Flax as quickly out as kindled but a constant and parmanent affection Whilst I live I will praise the Lord and as long as I have any being I will sing praises unto my God Ps. cxlvi How mightily doth this upbraid the dead and cold devotion of the present world scarce a spark of this holy fire to warm it can now be found in one bosom of a thousand we think we have performed a worthy sacrifice if with a barren and a dry heart we can only say with the Pharisee I thank thee O Lord that thou hast not made me like other men Superficial we are and perfunctory in all our service forward in nothing but to run on the point of that curse of the Prophet Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord negligently And the reason is â—or that it all things do not run according to our desires we are insensible of the goodness of God in other matters and seldom meditate on it thoroughly But had we apprehensive spirits and could duly weigh and seriously consider the mercies of God not only to Man in general but every Man his special favours unto himself in particular a thousand ways when a thousand ways he deserved destruction he would soon find his breast straitned and too narrow for his swelling affections till he breath them out in our Prophets double expostulation of love not only Domine quid est Homo Lord what is Man that thou art so mindful of him but Domine quid sum ego what am I what is my Fathers house that thou so regardest me Let such meditations blow on the little fire that lies raked up in our embers and they will soon kindle into a flame wherein our devotions may ascend into Heaven like that Angel which went up playing in the flames of Manoabs sacrifice Judg. xiii And this shall suffice for this part for the thankfulness the Prophet promiseth both private and publick within himself and in the resort and company of the Righteous I now leave his praise and come to his prayer Bring my soul out of prison O Lord c. And being in prison in streights and pressures what should a good Soul do but pray If any man be merry let him sing if he be afflicted let him pray saith St. James For prayer it is the Souls Herald sent forth in extremity to parly and intreat for comfort And as nothing can relieve our distress better than prayer so nothing can again assist our prayer better than distresses They inflame our zeal and set an edge upon our devotions the cries of our own will are weak and feeble as cooled with success in respect of those which grief doth utter Sorrow is ingenious to pray and in an instant formeth the slowest tongues to an holy eloquence and furnisheth them with sighs and groans which cannot be expressed And sure those are the best and most piercing prayers of all other fidelis oratio plus gemitibus constat quà m sermonibus plus fletu quà m afflatu faithful prayers indeed consist rather of Tears and silent groans than many words And such a prayer is this to speak on it is but a groan very short but very pithy few words but fervent and full of substance including in it as an abstract of all prayer whatsoever conditions may seem necessary to a holy and devout supplication if you consider the object the manner and the matter of it The object the Lord so some Texts have it here but it is evident in the former verses I cried unto the Lord. The manner vehement by way of crying out as himself in the same Psalm testifies I cried unto the Lord. The matter or extent larger than we imagine even no less than deliverance from all evil that may any way inthral the Soul as will appear when we come to open this Prison from which he
these four Afflictions the World or worldly cares sin and this body of sin and death And under any of these we may say and pray with David here Bring my Soul out of prison The first to take them in order are afflictions sorrows and distresses and that these imprison the Soul and are here specially meant and intended there is no question all agree tribulatio angustia are inseparable companions Tribulation and anguish upon every Soul that hath done evil saith the Apostle and Anguish is nothing else but the English of Angustia for streights and pressure there are in all tribulations Prosperity and Joy do dilate the spirits and draw forth the Soul but stricken with grief and sorrow like a prickt Snail she shrinks into her shell and is instantly straitned But yet of all the Prisons this is the most necessary It is the Bridewel of the world and without it we should quickly grow Bedlam and run mad in excess and wanton delights For all sins are frenzies and such sinners seldom recover their wits any where else The wild Prodigal whilst free and in prosperity runs on in his course and never perceives his own distraction till shut up here and well whipt a while redit ad se then he comes to himself and can say surgam ibo ad patrem I will arise and go unto my Father For tribulatio id habet proprium ut hominem revocet reducat ad se it is the very nature and property of affliction to call home and reduce Men again unto their senses Neither doth it only give them their wits but sets them on work affording them matter whereon they may exercise themselves and all the Christian virtues Faith Hope Patience Meekness Humility and the rest which otherwise would languish and vitiate if not exhale for want of imployment This Prison therefore is of excellent use But why then if it be so profitable should we pray to be freed of it why absolutely we do not but with limitation if God shall think it expedient for us who when the cure is perfected it may be will dismiss us or if he keep us there longer he will make us large recompence for it hereafter Our Saviours Prayer is our rule in this point because all afflictions are grievous for the present we may say with him if it be possible transeat calix ista let this cup pass but still with submission to his good pleasure not mine but thy will be done And thus much though not always exprest is ever reserved and understood whensoever in this case we shall say here with David Bring my Soul out of prison The second is the world or rather worldly cares that â—log and fetter the Souls of most Men nailing them fast unto the Earth that they cannot stir a foot nor move a thought towards Heaven and heavenly meditations This is a large prison wherein every one hath seen restraint more or less as they have learnt that high precept of the Apostle to use the world as if they used it not but satisfying nature only account the rest that belongs to pomp and superfluity nothing near at that high rate as they are bought and sold for in this Market of Fools quanti venduntur emuntur in nundinis stultorum These indeed have some freedom and though they are in a sort prisoners yet they are prisoners at large and have liberty as large as the Prison wherein they have elbow room enough not to be straitned But those miserable wretches that admiring the wealth and honour of the present world have inthralled and wrapt their Souls in terrene and base solitudes how close are they shut up and how miserable a servitude do they indure No Gally-slave can be tied in stronger chains than the Ambitious and Covetous Man like those condemned to the Mines he digs under earth and sweats for Ore all his life long and when he dies hath his mouth stopt only with a handful of gravel And here every one may freely pray and without any restriction at all Out of this Prison O Lord deliver my Soul The Third of these Prisons and worst of all is Sin the Third indeed it is in order but first in time that gives power and strength unto both the other Had not that in the beginning seised on our Souls and fast bound them to their hands they could never have touched us The world instead of a Prison had been a Paradise and the men in it subject neither to Cares nor afflictions But now being fast tyed by this we have a thousand Chains cast on us besides and are become prisoners almost to every thing else This therefore is the head and fountain of our misery and as the first so the worst straitest and closest prison of all other a common Jayl indeed rather than a Prison and the very hole of the Jayl wherein millions of men lie fast bound indeed in misery and Iron putrifying and stinking in their corruption like Lazarus in his Grave the very emblem both of the Prison and Prisoners And unless that Son of God who came down himself from Heaven to open this Prison and preach liberty unto the Captives unless he graciously call unto us yea cry aloud as in the Gospel he did even groaning in his Spirit to shew how difficult a thing it is to dissolve these bonds wherewith custom and habit hath tyed us as with cords unless he I say by the power of his holy voice cry unto us all as lie did unto him Lazare veni foras Lazarus come forth we shall all perish in our captivity for ever and never see light For this sink of sin wherein the longer we lie the deeper indeed we sink doth at length empty it self into Hell the bottomless Pit and Prison of everlasting sorrow But blessed be his name the barrs are smitten asunder and the doors thrown open by his death And he still calls unto us by the voice of his Ministers yea and Spirit too to come forth and unless we be enamoured of our own misery and like Beasts delight to lie in our own filth till we perish in that nethermost Gulf let us hearken unto his calls and rouse up our selves betimes answering his voice with another call of our own calling and crying with all our might and without ever ceasing all of us From this Prison good Lord deliver our Souls But yet call and cry as long and as loud as we can our Souls shall never be clearly freed either from this Prison of sin or those others of Cares and Sorrows so long as they are still inclosed in this of the corruptible body Which is the Fourth and last Prison of the Soul and here intended by David according to the exposition of many Fathers whose words I cannot now stand to recite And therefore Laurentius Justinianus said well of this Prayer Verba sunt peregrinationis suae miserias meditantis c they are the words saith he of one
neither comfort himself nor receive any from the rest of the world shall he for his last refuge as thousands of others have done cry Lord Lord be thou my help and comfort and bring my Soul out of Prison But alas unto what purpose and upon what acquaintance He that gave his Soul unto sin and Satan in his life time why should he think God in his death will embrace and entertain it No no Either give up thy Soul unto God when he calls for it in his word in the provocations of his love in the holy motions of his Spirit unto thine or else when thou wouldest give it he will none of it unless as an angry Judge to deliver it over to the tormentor And in these streights what remains but that he either take up the ditty of that dying Emperour heu quae nunc abibis in loca fearfully part with his Soul he knows not whither or else embrace the counsel of Jobs wife desperately curse God and die Either way he comes to his deserved end and he whose whole life was as the way of a snail not a step but leaving filth behind at the last dies like a Candles end in the Socket boyling and burning in the flame of his own distressed and distracted Soul till he go out in a suff and leave an ill savour behind him amongst all good people Such is oftentimes the fearful departure of those whom God for their former wicked lives shall refuse to lead out of their Prisons when they die No this favour belongs not unto them it is reserved for those faithful Souls that with holy David have throughly sorrowed for their sins for they only shall partake of Davids Prayer that imitate Davids repentance And these however he may seem to absent himself for a while and hide his countenance from them yet in that day of need in that last and Fearful time that most requires it they shall be sure of his comforts He will not fail then to discover his face and make the light of his countenance shine into that region of darkness and by the beams thereof chear up his people leading and lighting them through all the dark and winding Alleys of death until they arrive in the glorious Kingdom of immortality and peace Believe not me but behold the holy man of God and see it performed with your Eyes Look upon Jacob the Patriarch and Father of the Patriarchs he that wrestled not only that one time at the River Jabbock but all his life long with the arm of the Almighty continually afflicting him yet in the end all these storms are blown over and he is gathered unto his Fathers in a calm of content and peace But first mark how the Lord gave him strength before he went hence and was no more seen wherewith he collects his fainting Spirits raiseth himself up in his bed calls his Sons about him gives every one his several blessing and benediction in such a high and Prophetical strain as if an Angel had sate on his lips and I think many Angels sate waiting in that door of his body for the coming forth of his Soul which stayed not long after to convey it into the bosom of his Grand-father Abraham there to rest in everlasting peace Look upon Joshua the Captain of Israel after all his Wars and Battles past at length he sits him down and divides the spoil among the Tribes of Jacob and death drawing near see how he summons the whole people together and with such power of speech exhorts them to the fear and service of God which had dealt so mercifully with them that the whole Congregation as if it had but one heart and one tongue and both throughly affected joynt ly cry out unto him God forbid that we should forsake the Lord nay but we will serve him for he is our God Thus out of the flame of his own zeal having kindled a fire in the breast of others this great Worthy was led forth from his Prison in peace See Samuel the Judge of Israel going to his grave as to his bed and in him consider the power and vertue of a good Conscience arising from the memory of a well acted life Whose Oxe or whose Ass have I taken whom have I defrauded or at whose hands have I received a bribe saith he unto the Congregation as all bear him Record saith the Text hoc ducit ad funus sepulturam This is it which accompanies him to his grave and laies him in his rotten Sepulchre Lastly consider St. Paul and his marvellous confidence even before his death that made him bold to deliver up his Soul almost like his Saviour with a consummatum est I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the just Judge shall give me at that day words worthy of a Soul so near unto its Heaven such have been the blessed ends of these holy Men of God and many more famous in their generations and such it is and shall be in all others that faithfully serve him though it be not ever manifest in all And what is there now that can more deeply affect a good heart what can a religious mind so much desire unto it self or behold with so great delight in another as to see a devout and penitent Soul give a peaceful farewel unto Nature and in the midst of death depart full of comforts of immortality and life as those Souls only do whom God shall vouchsafe to lead out of their corruptible prisons with the sweet consolations of his spirit But peradventure far off examples will be left too far off respects Usually those that are nearest do affect us most if so this sad occasion will afford you a worthy one for I have done with her Text and must speak as I promised and you expect of her person that made choice of the Text and by this time you cannot but perceive how justly She delighted in prayer and praise while she lived and she left this behind her written with her own hand that it might testify so much for her even after her death and that by it she might in a sort lest her thankfulness being private should die with her self publickly praise the name of God amidst the company of the righteous the congregation of good men here on earth even then when she her self freed from her prison should be singing honour and glory with Saints and Angels in Heaven Yet this was not all the reason of her choice It sorted well with her condition whilst she was in the body and she knew it would be fully accomplished when she should be led out of it For she had her part of afflictions and they prest sore upon her too even straitned her Soul Her branches she saw were rent away branch after branch and to so loving a nature they could not but go off as limbs from her body What Bernard
said in the loss of his friend is most true in her case Her bowels were pluckt from her and she could not but feel the wound and therefore if for nought else but her sorrow and afflictions sake she might well pray educ animam c. But other troubles she had besides and distractions in the world that often called her meditations from Heaven where they delighted wholly to converse especially in her later time wherein she so inured her Soul unto blessed contemplation as she had almost freed her self from this prison ere she was freed from the body that indeed was still in the world but her mind and affections were usually with her Maker So that those earthy cares which hang at the heels of other mens Souls like talents of lead hung at hers only but as a line that usually gave her leave to soar aloft only humane necessity that held the end of it had power now and then to draw her down to the grief and sorrow of her heart I am a witness of her complaint and of her tears too that any worldly occasions though never so necessary should trouble and interrupt her spiritual devotions and therefore I am sure in this regard it was her frequent prayer Bring my Soul out of prison And besides afflictions and cares sins she had too no question for what Soul is without them but yet so few and so far from habit as I think no man can easily tell what they were Infirmities and omissions it may be though for my part I know them not yet this I know that her goodness esteemed them as the greatest sins and bewailed them with sorrow enough to suffice one that had murdered his Father or betrayed his Country never ceasing to send forth her fervent supplications in this behalf unto the last gasp Her tongue her hands her heart all prayed this prayer her tongue as long as it could move and when that failed her hand spake and when both were gone yet questionless her heart cried this cry deliver my soul out of this prison the prison of sin But yet until the body be severed from the Soul the Soul can never utterly be severed either from sin or care or sorrow of affliction And a body she had it is now you see a carkase but sometimes was a goodly frame a well built and comeâ—y maniâ—on and even cut out of an antient Quarry but unto her whose thoughts were on another habitation above as it was in it self by reason of the corruption whereunto it was subject so she esteem'd it but a prison unto her Soul and that did at last trouble her peace with pains and delay her from those joys that are pure and know no mixture of sorrow No marvel therefore if in the desire of these she could make that her prayer which others tremble to think on deliverance from her Prison But yet there needed no earnest Prayer for this death comes fast enough on of it self without hastning it more concerns us to die well and with the comforts of God in our bosomes that may shield us from our spiritual enemies that are then busiest and guide and conduct us through the dark valley of death that is terrible in it self And therefore in this respect I rather conceive she that was so careful of her Soul could not but make it her humblest and heartiest prayer that when the time should come the Lord of his mercy would be pleased to lead it out of Prison So fit was it every way and in many regards so good a choice did she make of her prayer whilst she lived and the Lord from his holy habitation heard her cry and at last accomplisht and fulfilled it all in her death Though before he pleased to lay sorrows enough upon her yet now in the midst of them all his comforts did refresh her Soul Now he comes to it in his dearest loving kindness and leads it forth indeed with his choicest consolations and graces to make her a full recompence for all her former afflictions How doth it now rejoice others about her even in the depth of their sorrow to see her full of the Spirit and out of the abundance of it sometimes pouring down blessings on her children and childrens children and every one his several blessings like Jacob sometimes stirring up and exhorting to the fear and service of the Lord with holy Joshuâ— sometimes again solacing her self in the sweet peace of a good Conscience as blessed Samuel and lastly sometimes venting out her strong hope and stedfast confidence with St. Paul but in the words of Job I know that my Redeemer liveth and I shall see him with these eyes as she often repeated But what may be said enough of her fervent praying she was ever pious and frequent in this holy exercise through the whole course of her life thrice a day at the least at morning at noon and at night besides her times of publick prayer so five times a day she prayed and I doubt not but instantly too But now when her prison began to ruine and death to appear within ken how assiduous is she now it is not Davids seven nor twice seven times a day that can suffice but she plies it as if she had meant to fulfil the Apostles precept pray continually I told you but now her heart tongue and hand prayed to the last gasp and I think that gasp was a prayer too when her understanding failed and she could neither hear nor see others yet others might see and perceive that she prayed So perfectly had she taught her tongue to pray that when her senses were locked up it could run of it self And if such a Soul as this be not whose shall ever be led forth with comfort and peace But yet before her leading forth being remembred of it she willingly made confession of her Faith acknowledging all the Articles of her Belief and adhering only unto the blood of Christ Jesus for her hope in these she had lived and in them she would die but die in charity too forgiving and desiring to be forgiven of the whole world as at other times she did not refuse to ask it even of her own Servants when she had but uttered a word with a little more earnestness than ordinary And this solemn profession made that she might farther yet fulfil all rights she gladly makes her Son her Father and receives his absolution And not long after the God of all mercies on whom she continually called answered her gently and opening the Prison eduxit animam led forth her blessed Soul full of gracious comforts unto everlasting glory for with this all the other prisons are utterly dissolved No more afflictions now nor sin nor death for ever all tears are wiped from her eyes and sorrow from her heart all pain from her Body and sin from her Soul which now in the highest Heavens compassed about with the righteous sings the songs of praise and honour and
us seek his face while he may be found and make our prayers in an acceptable time So shall our petitions be heard and we in all our tribulations in the hour of death and in the day of judgment as we desire be most assuredly delivered finding comfort in our life and life in our last end And what is all the wealth and honour pomp and glory of the world in comparison of this They may yield discontents enough as being gotten with travel kept with care and lost with grief but can never give any true satisfaction to the Soul especially in that last and perillous time which most requires it Surely every Mans thought is a secret watch unto his own heart let him then ask his own Soul and it will tell him versa reversa in tergum in latera in ventrem dura sunt omnia Christus solus requies muse and forecast toss and turn all the night long from side to side still still no true ease nor true contentment no perfect joy to be found but in the sweet peace of a good Conscience sprinkled and washed with the blood of Jesus Christ the Prince of peace All other things fail us at our death and therefore are unworthy of our care whilst we live No no Thoughts of remorse and joyes of sorrow silent moans and melting tears an heart truly humbled and a Spirit ever setled chearfully to live and willing to die in the loving arms of a gracious Redeemer this is the prize this is the Crown we should contend for and this is the way now to live a Saint on Earth and ever hereafter to injoy an exceeding and an eternal weight of glory in the highest Heavens Which the Lord of all glory grant unto us for and in the meritorious Passion of his Son Christ Jesus our Lord. To whom with the blessed Spirit c. Laus Deo in aeternum Amen FINIS * Antiquitates Univers Oxon L. ii p. 109. * â— x. Instit C. 2. * Better known perhâ—ps by the name of Mercurius Rusticus an 1647. Psal. cxi 2â— Ecclus. i. 16 Ecclus. i. 18 1 Joh. iv 18. Ecclus. i. 12 Psal. xix 10 Rom. viii Matt. x. Job xxxi Psalm xliii Jon. i. Gen. xxxi 53. Deut. vi Matt. iv Isa. viii 12. Rev Matâ— Job xxviii 28. Rom. 8. Matt. 7. 24. Rom. 4. Rom. 8. Gen. viii 4. Exod. xxiv 16. Josh. vi 16. Matt. 25. Heb. 1. Matt. 25. Prov. xxiv 12. Heb. ix 8. Heb. â—i 40. slev vi 10 Verse 6. Jam. iii. Rev. xx 10. Rev. xx 14. 2 Tim. Job xxix Rom. i. Rom. v. â—2 Acts xi 48. Gen. xvii Rom. v. 18. Rom. i. 2 Cor. v. 10. Mat. xxvâ— Aristot. De fide operibus Galat. i. 19. Mark xi 40. 1 Pet. 2. 11. Rom. 6. 2 Sam. 2. Judg. v. 23. James iii. 15. Jam. iii. 16. 2 Tim. iv 3. Matt. V. Gen. iii. 12. verse 14. 1 Cor. xv 55. Ber. de Con. ad Cleric Abbot in praesat Exercitat de gratia perseverant De bono Persev cap. 14. Rom. ix Phil. i. 2. John xv 16 Rom. ix Epist. 103. Aug. Enchirid cap. 98. De sp lit c. 34. Lib. 12. â—â—iâ—it Del cap. 9. Wisd. i. 13. Gen. Lib. 3. contra Julian cap. 13. Aug. lib. de Orat c. 22. Ad Moni lib. 1. c. 22. Suit cap. 61. Lib. advers mort sibi falso imp ad artic 10 Inst. lib. 3. cap. 23. Moral lib. 26. cap. 10. 2 Per. ii 1. Retract lib. 1. cap. 11. Isai. v. Lib. 4. cap. 71. Matt. xxiv Luk. ix 33. 2 Cor. xii 4. Exod. xii 48. xxii 6. Knowledge Faith Repentance Love Jer. xxx 24. 〈◊〉 Gen. xlix 10. Esa. vii 14 Jer. xxiii 5. Dan ix 25. Zaâ— vi 12 Hag. ii 8. Psal. lxxi lvi xxxv
glory unto him that sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb for evermore Who now shall mourn who shall weep for such a Soul none can sorrow for her unless they envy her happiness foelix illa anima imitationem desiderat nâ—n planctum that blessed Soul is no subject of grief but a pattern for imitation And therefore if any weep in her death they must be tears of joy not of sorrow and if they be of sorrow they must not be for her but for our selves and our own loss This indeed is great and invaluable and when you think on it weep a Gods name Quis natum in funere matris flere vetat he were barbarous that would forbid it you yet you shall not have all to your selves we 'll bear you company for she was a publick loss Such a Wife such a Mother such a Friend such a Mistriss such a Neighbour such and so good a Woman and so great an example of Virtue cannot should not go to the grave with dry eyes in whose loss so many have interest I would praise her if I could to make you weep more but she is beyond my commendations A Woman of her Wisdom and Judgment of her Wit and discourse so free and liberal and yet so prudent and provident withal for she was so in her self though misfortunes befel her so sweet so kind so mild so loving and respective to all and withal so charitable to the poor a Chirurgeon to the hurt and a Physician to the sick she eat not her morsels alone and their loins were warmed with her wooll as Job speaks such a Woman so well born and bred and of such a strain beyond ordinary as she seemed with the blood to inherit too the virtues of all her Ancestors so upright and clear and innocent in her whole course that the eye of envy nay were all the malice of the world infused into one eye it could not find any just stain to fasten on her such a one so every way compleat surely no Man unless he had her own or the wit and tongue of an Angel can sufficiently commend neither can we if we regard our own loss sufficiently bewail But the truth is she is not lost non amissa sed praemissa sent before she is lost she is not And therefore you whom it most concerns though you mourn mourn not as those without hope It is but a short separation and the time will come when you shall see her again though not with these earthly affections Pay the due tribute unto nature but then shut up the sluces for graces sake And the God of all grace give you comfort the Holy Ghost the Comforter himself replenish your heart with consolations And the blood of Jesus Christ wash us all from all our sins and strengthen us with the power of his might that we may so live whilst we remain here in this Prison of the Body that when it shall be dissolved we may obtain mercy from him to lead forth our Souls To lead them with his grace and then as he hath done to this blessed Saint receive them unto glory There with her and all the company of righteous spirits that are gone before us to sing praise and honour unto his holy name for evermore To this God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost c. Laus Deo in aeternum THE Second FUNERAL SERMON FOR THE DAUGHTER SERMON XIII Upon ROM viii 10. And if Christ be in you the Body is dead because of Sin but the Spirit is life because of Righteousness MAN of all Gods Creatures is the strangest compounded the most marvellous mixture that ever was a very fardel of contrarieties wonderfully united and wrapt up in one bundle Heaven and Earth light and darkness Christ and Belial may seem to dwell together and man the house of their habitation what can be more directly opposite than Flesh and Spirit Life and Death Sin and Righteousness and lo all of them united here in one verse nay in one man For the Text is but the Anatomy of man and must therefore be composed of and divided into the same parts man himself is As his body is composed of contrary Elements heat and cold fire and water So his person is composed of contrary Natures Corporal and Spiritual Body and Soul His Natures again of contrary qualities Life and Death the Body is dead the Soul lives and lastly these qualities issuing from contrary causes sin and righteousness death from sin and life from righteousness The Body c. And though the sin by which the body dies is our own yet that we may know that the righteousness whereby the Soul lives is not of our selves but received from our Saviour there is a caution given in the entrance of the verse If Christ be in you So then here are three couples a Body and a Soul Sin and Righteousness Life and Death The body with her two attendants sin and death the Soul with her two endowments righteousness and life The former is universal and common to all the Sons of Adam according to the flesh the latter particular and proper only to the Children of the second Adam begotten by the Spirit If Christ c. I begin with the first part which is a meditation of death and our chief Christian comforts against death But yet before the Apostle brings in his consolations he premises a conditon If Christ be in you To teach us that the comforts of God belong not indifferently to all men He that is a stranger from Christ hath nothing to do with them What hast thou to do to take my Covenant into thy mouth so long as thou hatest to be reformed saith God in the Psalm I. When our Saviour commanded his Disciples to proclaim peace unto every house they came to he foretold them it should rest only on the Sons of peace He forbad them in like manner to give those things which were holy unto doggs or to cast pearls before Swine This stands a perpetual Law to all his messengers that they presume not to proclaim peace to the impenitent and unbelieving but as Jehu said unto Jehoram's horsman what hast thou to do with peace so are we to tell the wicked who walk on still in their sins that they have nothing to do with the peace or promises or priviledges of the Gospel If Christ be in you c. Secondly if we compare the verse immediately precedent or that which is subsequent with this between both you shall easily perceive after what manner Christ dwells in his Children Sometimes we are said to be in Christ and sometimes Christ is said again to be in us and both in effect come to one we are in Christ by faith and Christ is in us by his Spirit For so it follows If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies It is