reward therefore now Abraham might depart in peace when God and hee were so reconciled Now Abraham may cheerefully go to his Fathers After that old Simeon had embraced his Sauiour and had gotten Christ in his armes Then he sings Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace for mine eies haue seene thy saluation Therefore seasonable was the death of Abraham both in that it did preuent the euill to come that he should not see it and also because it was after the couenant that passed betweene God him and there must needes follow in the next place a most blessed death expressed well in the phrase of going to his Fathers which must not bee vnderstood of his bodily buriall for Abraham was buried in the field of Ephron the 25. of this booke the 10. verse where none of his Fathers were buried and so the like phrase is vsed in the 32. of Deuter the 50. verse where it is said that Moses was gathered to his Fathers and yet it is said likewise in the 34. of Deut. the Sepulcher was not knowne therefore of necessitie this phrase must onely haue relation to the soule and spirit of Abraham that that was gathered to the societie and company of those holy Fathers that went before thou shalt goe vnto thy Fathers for there is a companie and society of Saints Indeede when men are taken out of companie here on earth in this world they goe to a better companie and societie of blessed soules and spirits in heauen a companie where there is no distraction or diuision no ambition or emulation no strife nor contention but where there is peace ioy and pleasure for euermore vnto this companie and societie of blessed spirits did the spirit of Abraham goe and what a comfort is it Beloued vnto a faithfull soule to consider what companie and society it is going vnto when it departeth out of this life if it bee within the couenant if the couenant haue passed betweene God and vs then when wee die wee shall goe vnto this place when wee go to our Fathers to the society and fellowshippe of the Saints of God that wee are at rest with Abraham where we shall inioy the companie and societie of all the Saints of God that euer haue beene departed from the beginning of the world to this present time and hereafter of all those that shall come vnto the same place to the end of the world Where Eliah shall knowe Moses and Moses Eliah and conferre together as on mount Tabour although they did liue in seuerall ages of the world Peter the Apostle of our Sauiour Christ when hee did see but the least glimpes of this comfort when hee see but two of the Saints Moses and Eliah on mount Tabour hee was so rauished with ioy that he cries out Let vs build three Tabernacles And it is indeede to bee obserued that the two chiefest Apostles of our Sauiour Christ that is Peter and Paul God did afford them this priuiledge that they had both a tast of the ioyes of heauen liuing in this life to the end they might more effectually perswade men to lift vp their affections to that comfortable society in the world to come Paul was rapt vp into the third heauen and so rauished with ioy that hee knew not whether hee had his bodie about him or no and methinkes after hee comes downe againe out of heauen he writes and esteemes of these worldly things as of dung such a contemptible respect hee hath of any thing vnder the Sunne after hee had tasted once of the sweetnesse of Paradise For imagine it were possible for a man to bee lifted vp in his body whither Paul was to the third heauen that he might be admitted but to looke into paradise to the blessed society of blessed Angells and Saints and looke but downe againe and see this earth hanging like a Clodde beneath and see so many millions of men busied about nothing like Ants in a mole-hill methinkes afterward hee should neuer esteeme of this world being rauished with this companie of the Saints in heauen And beside Peter and Paul except it were onely Iude that writes but one short Chapter I thinke there was not any of the Apostles of our Sauiour Christ that hath vsed exexhortations to the Church of God in their Epistles but they themselues of purpose did taste some part of this glorie to the end they might the more powerfully eleuate the hearts of men Paul in the third heauen and Peter Iames and Iohn on mount Tabour all of them see a glimpes of this glorie Go vnto thy fathers so did Abraham in Spirit he went vnto his Fathers that were dead before him and his sonnes after they came vnto him Then the manner and the passage vnto this place is expressed in the text Thou shalt goe vnto thy Fathers in peace Now you must vnderstand whosoeuer dieth in peace must die in Christ for there is no true peace without Christ Abraham died many hundred yeeres before Christ was borne and yet our Sauiour Christ saith of Abraham in the eight of Iohn the 58. verse that Abraham saw his daies and reioyced hee saw him then in the eyes of faith Hee died therefore in the faith of Christ and so died in peace for Christ is the Prince of peace that conferreth true peace vpon all his Saints hee is the Oliue tree of peace whereon peace groweth the eleuenth to the Romans the twentie-four Like that doue with the Oliue branch in her mouth hee euer brought peace with him it was his ordinary salutation when hee was on the earth peace be vnto you it was his legacie left with his Church when he went out of the world my peace I leaue with you Therefore Abraham dying in the peace of Christ must needes die in peace of conscience and as in peace of conscience so likewise in a most peaceable maner In the 25. of Genes the eight verse it is said Abraham did yeeld vp his spirit his spirit was not taken from him by violence but hee did most willingly yeeld vp his spirit into the hands of God Oh how fearefull is the remembrance of death to those that are not in Christ that fearefull rending of the soule and bodie a sunder is most terrible vnto them but the death of Abraham it was like that sleepe which was spoken of before this verse that signified his death a heauie sleep fell vpon Abraham for so likewise fell death vpon him euen as if nature should haue falne a sleepe quietly meekely peaceably and this is for his soule Then it followeth in the next place concerning his bodie that that also should bee buried in a good age Euen for to bee buried it is a blessing and a blessing that euery man doth not enioy No Iehoiakim himselfe though hee were a King in the 22. of Ieremy the 19 verse shall bee buried like an asse drawne and cast forth on a dunghill as Iosephus also writes of him
you will giue no more and by a fraudulent deuise vnder hand thus you conueigh the matter we will pay part of the rent by bond and the rest by lease so wee will sweare and sweare truly that we pay no more rent Or in the same lease I will pay part in the name of a fine For I haue learned a prettie distinction betweene Fine and rent in that kinde so I will swear and sweare truely that I paid no more rent And wilt thou sweare this oh collusion worse then Iesuitisme Beloued you had better equiuocate for all the clothes in your shops for all your goods by sea land then in this case It is Gods cause and God is not mocked whatsoeuer a man soweth in this kinde he shall bee sure to reape the same Remember Ananias and Saphirah for this is done not vnto men but vnto God did you sell your possession for so much yea for so much saith Ananias and iust for so much saith Saphirah they said so but they did not sweare so yet you see what a haruest they did reape presently by not obeying Gods will I would to God wee were worthy to moue that high Court of Parliament in this one mischiefe If wee haue too much let them giue vs lesse onely let there bee plaine dealing in Gods cause let them not suffer men to run their soules and consciences vpon the pikes of periury vpon these nice equiuocations which shall pierce them through vnto eternall death I am sure I haue wearied your patience but one word more and I will remooue my finger from this sore Shall I tell you what is the cause of all this besides that roote of all euill couetousnesse which rootes vp all pietie and dutie that concernes the purse beside that pride of heart that makes euery one almost to thinke himselfe wiser then his Teacher and that they are able of themselues to prescribe Lawes vnto their owne consciences there is one especiall cause of the transgression of this my text The very same which was the occasion that moued the Apostle Paul to write this text Doe you know what Corban meanes it is in the seuenth of Saint Markes Gospell at the 11. verse it is when as voluntarie oblations doe dispense with necessarie duties Bring your offrings to vs say the Pharises and then for the rest it is no matter Corban such Pharises did bewitch the Galathians against whom the Apostle writeth this Epistle who as they did withdraw them from the truth so withall they did withdraw the maintenance from their true Teachers And our Apostle may seeme by the spirit of prophecie to haue directed this worthy Epistle against our Priests and Iesuits who crie Corban vnto their Disciples telling them that they are their ghostly fathers it is no matter for their Ministers neglect them as Hereticall and I pray God that Micah that is the Courtier Iudg. 17. 10. and the Church-robbing Patron haue not taught his Leuite and trencher Chaplaine also who sits at his table and serues in his house to say Corban that his stipendarie pension which hee begrudgeth him out of his benefice is rather a beneuolence then a dutie Be not offended Beloued because I haue told you the truth I haue of purpose abstained from any thing that is questionable the truth as I haue conceiued it I haue tould you plainly and briefly as I haue discharged my conscience in this point so I doe humbly and heartily pray vnto the God of heauen that al of vs may both in this and all the rest discharge our consciences in obeying the truth that wee may so dispose of our selues as nether the profits nor the pleasures of this world any way hinder vs from this truth that wee may place our hearts soules on the certainety and the generalty of the same that as a man soweth so shall hee also reape either the same in kinde or in proportion Whatsoeuer it be be it good or euill sowne to the flesh or to the spirit be it in pietie or Charitie bee it more or lesse he shall be sure to reape the same partly in this world but most fully in the world to come Let vs now desire of Almighty God our gracious Lord for a shower of grace for this that in some weake measure hath bin sowed amongst vs at this time that it may fructifie and be couered and receiued into our hearts so as Satan do neuer steale it away but that it may take deepe roote in our hearts and bring foorth fruite to our endlesse comfort through Iesus Christ our LORD Amen A SERMON PREACHED AT Mercers chapell in LENT 1614. BY ROGER FENTON D. in Diuinitie LONDON Printed for William Aspley 1616. CANTIC 8. 6. Set mee as a seale on thine heart and as a signet vpon thine arme for Loue is strong as death Iealousie is cruell as the graue THE sodaine change of the person in this kinde of SCRIPTVRE which is penned Dialogue-wise is the cause of the greater difficultie of it but for the vnderstanding of these wordes which now I haue read vnto you they do concerne the Speaker whose words they be whether the words of the Bridegrome vnto his spouse or the wordes of the spouse vnto her Bridegrome whether Christ speaketh them vnto his Church or the Church of Christ vnto him And it makes little difference whether that Christ our Sauiour do exhort vs to set him as a seale vpon our hearts and to weare him as a signet vpon our arme or whether that the Church do desire Christ to set her as a seale vpon his heart or to set her as a signet vpon his arme the difference is no more then the counterpane betweene one and the same lease for here the same things are deliuered vp betweene Christ and his Church enterchangeably so hath Almighty God in his wisedome euer prouided throughout the whole doctrine of Christianity as Saint Austine noteth that those places which are of most difficulty there is in them the least danger of mistaking and those points that are most necessarie to be knowne vnto saluation they are most plainly of all other expressed in the booke of God If yee conceiue them to bee the wordes of the Church vnto Christ then they deuide themselues into a petition and a reason of the petition if you conceiue them to be the words of Christ vnto his Church then they diuide themselues into an exhortation and a motiue each of them twofold for the word of this affection of loue neuer vseth to come single for hee that loues loues for to dwell vpon it for to repeate and to reiterate the petition or the exhortation which is the first part which is expressed by a seale on the hart and againe by a signet placed vpon the arme the reasons or the motiues being also double it taketh hold of two affections the affection of loue and feare the two hands of the soule as Saint Austin calleth them by which the
here on the earth he hath carried them with the same bodie vp into heauen and as hee remembred vs vpon the Crosse so doth hee not forget vs when he is now in his kingdome Hee is not like Pharoahs Butler that forgat Ioseph who was so kinde to him in prison when hee came to his preferment but Christ hee remembred the petition of the thefe thou now remembrest vs because thou art in the same passion with vs subiect to the same death but when this passion is past when thou coÌ„mest into thy kingdome ô God remember me then So doth Christ remember vs now when hee is come into heauen to the right hand of God hee remembers vs as hee did remember vs when hee was dying and shed his precious blood for vs on the Crosse Wherefore did he take humane affection vpon him but that hee might expresse this loue vnto vs The affection of loue is noted to be most vehement in women as Dauid doth expresse 2. Sam 1 26. speaking of Ionathan Thy loue to me was wonderfull passing the loue of women And because the affections of that sexe are naturall so should be most tender therefore our Sauiour when hee came to bee incarnated and to take our flesh vpon him he was made of a woman Gal 4. 4. and yet because sinne doth naturally harden the heart and dull the affection therefore he tooke them from a pure Virgin and that they might yet bee more tender he did free them and purge them from all sinne and these affections hath he in his bodie taken vp with him into heauen and set them at the right hand of God his Father and therefore I may be bold to say hee hath set vs as a seale vpon his heart and as a signet vpon his arme and with his stretched-out arme he hath mightily defended vs and preserued his poore Church from time to time from all enemies Thus the petition is easily heard and granted therefore I will not stand long vpon it that which happily you are more loth to heare yet that which is more needfull for mee to speake is the dutie reflecting vpon it if we take that sense or the very literall sense it selfe that Christ doth exhort vs that we set him on our hearts as a seale and weare him as a signet on our arme And of this dutie here be many branches notably expressed in these two metaphors For first there 's a heart there we must euer begin It is a maxime in Diuinitie that which the heart doth not is not done at all before God for whatsoeuer is done is but formally done it is not effectually done vnlesse the heart be affected with it the heart it is the first that liues by nature so it is the first that must liue againe in our regeneration and new birth It is the first that God doth challenge in the first Commandment of the first Table Thou shalt haue no other gods before me that is in my presence or before mee in thine owne affection but thou shalt loue me with all thine heart and with all thy soule c. It is the last Commandment of the second Table Thou shalt not couet in thy heart God in his Table begins with the heart first because in all our actions the first thing that God beholds is the heart but in the second Table which is for continuall duties amongst men it is in the last place because the last that a man can see is to see into the heart so then to take all ten Commandments together the heart you see it is the Alpha Omega the first and the last of all and so in truth it is all in all for giue God the heart and all the rest will follow a heart therfore hee doth claime at our hands in this exhortation in the first place and this heart it must be wrought like wax that it may receiue the impression of a seale for so saith Christ here to his Church set me as a seale vpon thy hart You know the matter that is disposed for to receiue an impression it must neither be too hard nor too soft for if it bee ouer hard it will not take it and if ouer fluxible it will not hold it therfore the heart must bee of a good temper to receiue the impression of the seale of Christ As a braine if it be too dry it will not be apprehensiue and if too moist it will not be retentiue it must be a well tempered brain that shall receiue both in apprehension and memorie So the heart that receiueth Christ and his righteousnes must be of a good temper some hearts are too hard that will take no impression at all like the hearts of the Cheifetaines among the Iewes that nothing could mollifie them nothing would moue them nothing would perswade them to haue pitty and compassion on our Sauiour Christ Pilat himselfe when hee had made furrowes on his backe with scourging him and crowned his head with thornes he brought him out before them to see if they would haue pitty and compassion on him to say it is enough but their hearts they were hardned they would receiue no impression at all On the other side the hearts of the people they were soft and vnstable and vnconstant ready to cry Hosanna one day Blessed is hee that commeth in the name of the Lord and shortly after Crucifige Crucifige the hearts of men do offend in these two extremities somtime they are too hard to receiue any impression and somtimes they are againe too inconstant they will not hold it there be as a Diuine speaketh not onely Sabbatarians that were heretikes but Sunday-Christians also that haply vpon the Sabbath will take some impression some certaine qualme of religion haply may come ouer their consciences but it is quickly gone againe they serue God vpon the Sabbath and serue themselues and the Deuill all the weeke after they are resembled vnto that goodly Idoll Dagon in the 5. chap of the 1. booke of Samuel the 4. verse who so long as he stood in his place in the temple was a goodly Idol to looke vpon but the next morning when they came they found his hands and his head at the threshold of his temple so as the text saith there was nothing left but the very stumpe of an Idol so is it with many of vs who comming into the house of God to heare a Sermon and it may be with great shew of deuotion also to receiue the Sacrament but at the Church doâ—e there lies their hands and affections nothing remaineth but a very stumpe of religion they haue neither hands to doe a good deed nor happily tongues to speake a good word all the weeke after these be Sabbath day Christians But if we will fruitfully receiue the ingraffed word of Christ which is able to saue our soules as the Apostle speaketh Iam 1 21 We must haue a heart fit to receiue and retaine that his impression set me
that loue is abused Now when wee doe ascribe any humane affection vnto God we must separate from it all imperfections whatsoeuer if there be a ielousie not grounded in loue it is faultie or if it be a ielousie without cause it is blame worthy neither of these faults are in the ielousie that we ascribe vnto GOD and vnto CHRIST hee is a ielous God but his ielousie proceeds of loue though it tend vnto hate vpon suspition that loue is abused and not without cause so God may be ielous of vs but wee cannot be ielous of God the reason is because he that is ielous is ielous of a partner in loue I would to God saith S. Paul to Agrippa Act. 26. 29. I would that all that heare me this day were both almost and altogether such as I am S. Paul cares not how many partners hee hath in the loue of Christ the reason of the difference is that the loue of God towards vs is infinite but our loue vnto Christ it is so straight and so narrow that if so be he haue any partners with him it is to be feared he shall not haue his due so that hee hath cause to be ielous Wherefore without all question wee must take this motiue to be spoken of Christ and of his ielousie Loue is strong as death Ielousie is cruell as the graue to shew the strength of Christs loue vnto vs the Holy Ghost hath made a fit comparison For what is stronger than death that deuoureth all Surely the loue of Christ vnto man Marke then what is the generall effect of death yee know it is the separation of the soule and the body taking the soule out of the body and leauing it wan pale and gastly And that is likewise the effect of the extremitie of loue especially of Christs loue towards vs. For this pure chast and diuine loue wherewith Christ loued vs it made him to emptie himself that he might fill vs to go out of himselfe that he might dwell in vs to die once in himselfe that wee might liue for euermore Wherein did death euer shew his greatest power Verily in seasing vpon the Sonne of God our Sauiour himselfe then was showne the greatest power that euer death exercised Yet let me tell you herein the loue of Christ was farre stronger than death Death seazed on Christ when hee was become man vpon the earth but the loue of Christ to vs pulled him out of heauen when hee was in the bosome of his Father and humbled him and made him so weake that hee might become a fit Redeemer for vs. What ailed thee thou great strong Sampson of heauen saith Chrysostome thou that bindest Kings in chaines what meanes this surely it was the loue of Christ to our trecherous nature that delt so vntruly and so falsly with him that pulled this Sampson out of heauen and made him as weake as one of vs. To speake properly when death did seaze on christ in his weaknes it was not the power of death but the power of loue Christ tels vs so plainly in the 10. of Iohn the 18 vers I lay downe my life no man taketh it from me So then take death at the strongest still the loue of Christ vnto vs is stronger than death Wee haue heard sufficiently of the loue of Christ vnto vs if this will not draw from vs loue againe vnto Christ what will True loue is of the nature of a Loade-stone it drawes loue vnto it Magnes amoris amor but such is our ingratitude though we loue to heare of the loue of Christ yet wee care not to shew our loue to him againe This vnthankfulnes of vs ingratefull wretches is the the cause that wee are euer so loth to be drawn vnto him Dauid in the 118. Psalme the 27. vers speaking of the sacrifice that was offred when he reckons vp the loue of God towards vs he speaketh sodenly in regard of our retribution of loue backe to him againe binde the sacrifice with cords yea euen to the hornes of the Altar It is a saying amongst the Hebrewes that the beasts that were offered in sacrifice they were the struglingst Procul extensum petulaÌ„s quatit hâ—stia funem Juven Satyr 12. beasts of all the rest such is the nature of vs vnthankfull beasts when wee should loue God againe we are readier for to runne away from him wee must bee tyed to the Altar with cords to draw from vs loue or feare Though it bee true that forced loue is no loue Non extor quebis amari His loue is strong as death but if we abuse his loue by our vnthankfulnesse then marke what followes out of his loue hee growes ielous and that ielousie growes cruell cruel euen as the graue Ielousie saith Salomon it is the raging of a man it will not be pacified Prou 6. 34 35. Remember the Law and the sacrifice that was appointed for ielous persons in the 5. of Num the 15. verse there was neither oyle to make it gracious nor incense to giue place of atonement or reconciliation For intire loue it will not be adulterated nor yet suffer it selfe to be wronged such is the nature of mans ielousie Our God he is a ielous God and our blessed Sauiour out of the vehemencie of his loue he is a louing Sauiour and ielous too but the ground of this ielousie it is loue and if his loue be abused it tends vnto hate vpon iust suspition of a iust cause Then to summe vp all in a word it is the primarie nature of our good God blessed Sauiour to bee most louing and gracious vnto vs so is it the nature of that loue if there bee iust cause to grow ielous and it is the nature of that ielousie to be cruell cruell as the graue if so be before the graue we do not appease it and be reconciled to our husband Christ by true repentance For we may assure our selues that if our Sauior Christ finde any impression in the heart deeper than this set vpon it or any ornament aboue true religion faith in Christ hee will presently grow ielous and that ielousie will grow cruell In the 22 of Genesis when as Abraham seemed for to bee fond of his sonne Isaack God tryeth Abraham what he would doe for his sake yea he tries him whether hee loued him truly and indeed or no Therefore saith he to Abraham go and take thy sonne thy onely son Isaack and offer him vp for a sacrifice Abraham showes there though he loued his sonne Isaack very dearely and tenderly yet notwithstanding it was not to be compared with his loue to God In the Decalogue of the Law God hee is so iealous he wil not set any creature in the same table of the Law with himselfe there shal stand neither Father nor Mother King nor Caesar Saint nor Angell none in the same table with God he is a iealous God if there be cause And Beloued there is none of vs