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A27517
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A sermon upon the Epiphany preach't at Christ-Church in the city of Dublin, 1672 by Richard Berry ...
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Berry, Richard.
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1672
(1672)
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Wing B2046; ESTC R14245
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13,293
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36
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salvation O Sun of Righteousness O brightness of the Eternal Father Rise thou upon us with healing under thy wings Display the beams of thy saving countenance upon our souls Dispell the dark mists of Sin and Infidelity which overcloud our minds and wills Dry up the damps of Original Concupiscence in our hearts by the warmth of a mighty grace as these earthly ones are done away by the heat of that burning fiery Globe above us That at the last becoming the sons and daughters of Epiphanies we may walk as becomes Children of the Father of Lights and as Brethren of the Son and Heir of Lights shining in all manner of Purity and Integrity throughout the whole course of our Conversations Secondly Now follows as a second Branch of my propounded method that in the same order by way of Historical Narration and profitable Inferences we speak somewhat and more briefly of the Persian Magi. Of these early Votaries and true Converts to the Son of God and Discipline of his Kingdom there is a great Controversie amongst the most eminent of the Fathers whether they were Kings or no. But though the late Learned Dr. Hammond be for the Affirmative following St. Augustine St. Jerome and Tertullian in this point yet waving Disputes of this nature we may take it for granted That they were men of Princely dignity at the least For the name of Magi both in Persia and Arabia was a name of men highly eminent for their extraction as well as for profound Learning and Employ That in general they were Princes and Philosophers of the highest rank it seems to be clear from the Character that Cicero gives them in his learned Book de Divinatione where he sayes Nullum Persarum Regem esse potuisse qui non ante Magorum disciplinam scientiamque percepisset i. e. That he was utterly uncapable to be King of Persia who had not been in some good measure experienc'd in the Discipline and Wisdom of the Magi. And that they were men of the greatest state and place if not Kings themselves yet Kings Privy Counsellors he assures us by another Character that he gives them elsewhere in the same Book Sine auctoritate consilio Magorum sayes he constat ne ipsis quidem Regibus quicquam agere licere Without the counsel and authority of the Magi even unto Kings themselves was it never permitted to act in any important matter whatsoever And again magnifying another high qualification in them he gives their name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to denote not only a peculiar sort of Wise men thoroughly instructed in all the Liberal Arts and Sciences as was said before but who had likewise a grand Concern about Sacred Things Magus altissimarum rerum Cultor Interpres habetur Doubtless they were profoundly skill'd in Mathematicks and Philosophy great Inquisitors into and Interpreters of the Phaenomena of Nature of the Nature and Counsels of their Gods of the Causes and Events of Things The onely Curators of Religious Matters in Doctrine Worship Vows Prayers Sacrifices and of whatever else appertained thereunto They were briefly the same in their Countrey what the Gymnosophists were amongst the Indians the Philosophers amongst the Graecians the Wise men amongst the Latines the Druids amongst the Gaules the Chaldaeans amongst the Assyrians Therefore does our Holy Evangelist entitle them with the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon these forementioned accounts of their eminent Birth Office and Learning and not from their illusive dealing with King Herod in not returning unto him according to his Injunction as some do imagine It is the judgment of St. Chrysostom That they had this name given them from those unlawful Arts which he supposeth them to have practised and as we are apt to call in our Tongue but in the worst sense your wiser sort of men Wizards and Magitians But if such these men were we are bound the rather to admire the goodness of God who was pleased to call at so great a distance and from so deep an abyss of Impiety and Hell the very Priests and Votaries of Devils the Forerunners and First fruits of us once such sinful Gentiles or worse haply to the adoration of his Son but just new born and that too by the imperious message of a new-made Star And thus much may suffice as touching their persons and personal perfections which may minister unto us several good Documents and Consolations 1. In that they were Gentiles once a despised people we are given to understand that it is Gods free grace and mercy through them to open unto us a door of life and having pull'd down that partition wall to give them and us a free entrance into the promised rest 2. And if Gentiles then sinners too From hence springs light and comfort to all disconsolate Souls languishing under the burthen of their sins for if Heaven notwithstanding our deep defilement by original and actual transgressions vouchsafe to favour us with a gracious look nor they nor we nor any Nation or person need fear to be excluded the Kingdom of God if they obey the call 3. Great Personages they were foretold in Psalm 72. under the notion of the Kings of Arabia and Saba bringing gifts as most interpret that place of them Our Saviours Question How hard is it for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven And St. Paul's Negation That not many mighty not many noble of this world are called might well enough startle and confound the hopes of all the great men of the earth were it not for this particular instance of Free-grace that the Persian Magi great Princes of the East rich and honourable may claim an Interest in Christs Star as well as the poor and those that are termed the Off-scowring of the World 4. Nor does their great Learning or mysterious knowledge any way debar them from being Proselytes to Christianity The Apostles Intimation of not many wise not many learned might well again amaze and deaden the hearts of great Scholars were it not that these accomplisht Heroes of Learning had a portion in the Star that leads to Christ as well as they had an accurate knowledge of the Stars above them to gratifie the nobler senses of their intellectual Faculties as one day they shall have them under them for the glory of their whole beatifi'd Beings The knowledge of natural things and natural reason it self was first set up in the Soul as a Star or Candle of the Lord to lead man to the admiration of his Divinity And these Renowned Princes who had the full use and benefit of the same employed it wholly to the right end But such alas is the Corruption of these last Ages of the World That instead of coming unto God and Christ by Faith and Obedience Things consentaneous with reason advanc't to the highest pitch our gallant Atheists do as much as in them lies endeavour to depart from them not only by their vicious Lives but to
banish also the very existence of a Deity out of their Thoughts and at the same time reason out of their Souls So that quite contrary to our New-quaking Luminaries who do so highly magnifie and extend the Light within them these dark Souls labour to put out all manner of Light both within and without them And however these new Anarchical Lights may account of Princes and great Learned men as Enemies unto him who was represented by this Star nevertheless this Star shines unto them with as benign and efficacious Influences as unto any nay with more than unto the Inferiour Orders of men Mean and ordinary Capacities such as Women and Shepherds must have sutable Guides to lead them to Christ It is for Kings and Learned Sages onely to be led by Stars and Tokens of stupendous Providence to the veneration of the Christian Faith Their hearts are larger and their mental strengths are greater and their examples of greater force to capacitate them for greater Impressions and to advance the Kingdom of Christ Jesus by their exemplary Conformity as much as to enlarge their earthly Empires by Conquest or victorious Policy So as what one said of Government That it was the best when Kings do Philosophize and Philosophers Reign I will say the like of both with this reciprocal Inversion That it is the best of Governments when Kings and Philosophers do submit unto Christian Laws and when Christian Laws are supported and defended by the secular power and policy of such great men And thrice happy is such a people whose Supreme does defend the Faith with his pious Life as much as with his Sword and Shield Secondly In the next place we are to consider 1. These Wise mens advancing on their Journey 2. Their Deportment They fell down and worshipped 3. Their Congratulatory Accostment They presented him with offerings 1. Of the first of these Rowz'd up by the inward Inspirations of the Holy Ghost and outward sight of this inviting Star to wait upon their spiritual King for the quicker dispatch they call forthwith for their Dromedaries and away they come Many a weary step had they trod many an unprofitable Question had they ask't but neither yet do they break off their pace or expectations They knew full well that it would prove a long Journey from their Homes to Jerusalem and a troublesome one too as being to pass through the Wildernesses of Arabia Deserta and over the Rocks of Arabia Petraea The uncouthness of the way the danger of the narrow passages infamous for Robbers and dreadful for Precipices the Inconveniencies of the Journey nor yet the uncertainty of it because of the disappearance of the Star for a season could no whit deter them from their design For Faith and Love brook no Impediments know no Difficulties in the search after the beloved Jesus To have made many such Journies to have enlarg'd their Empire would have been grateful to ambitious minds but this is none of their ambition and if it had been they had just reason to say What would it profit us to gain the whole world and to lose our own souls or rather to lose the sweet Jesus who is the life of our souls What a reproach now must all this be to the Christians of our dayes How many trivial excuses shall scare many of us from adhering to that Faith we do profess 'T is a fashion now adayes to reason our selves out of our Devotion and Religion and to object any thing to save our pains in the great Concerns about Christ and our Souls The extremity of a little cold weather or the dampness of a rainy Morning the cold Snow under our Feet or the Wind whiffling about our Cloaths shall easily keep us off from coming to the House where Jesus delights to dwell from coming out to worship him in his Sanctuary But what strikes deeper at the root of Religion is the vile reasonings of reprobate minds against Christian Obedience Some of whom plead against the necessity of it Because the Gospel say they is a messuage of peace and rest to their souls and thence they think themselves wholly disingag'd from all kind of duty Others will tell you of an utter Impossibility to perform the Commands because they are weak and impotent Creatures by nature and therefore they can do nothing at all of themselves and the best righteousness that they have is but as menstruous Rags in Gods esteem The Well besides is deep and they have not wherewith to draw A third sort there is who are much aggrieved at the bitterness of it saying These Laws are troublesom and unsavoury full of sadness and melancholly void of good fellowship and recreation and subject to continual afflictions and anxieties of mind These pious Magi met with no such Bugbears made no such Demurs upon the way They had more generous Apprehensions and more inflam'd Affections towards Christ and his Discipline Ah! Let us make these Wise men our pattern and example the Wisest men in the World for this one Act of coming unto Christ though they had been meer Fools in all other respects whatsoever Nor could they themselves but confess That they carried back with them a far more nobler wisdom and more costly treasures by infinite degrees than they brought with them and instead of porishable they returned with immortal Diadems in their Crowns Come away then readily without pretences or delay with the eye of a strong Faith and the motions of a pure love and pay your homage to the holy Jesus The rising Sun we are told is the Persians God and these Wise Eastern Votaries now much wiser than before do but Translate their Adoration from one Sun unto another from that material but perishable Sun in the Firmament to this material but immortal Sun of Righteousness Incarnate And this prostration of the Body it is the first part of their Worship A lesser Adoration would not have been proportionable to so great a Blessing as the sight of a Saviour For it seems most reasonable That his assuming of a Body to his Divine Nature should challenge the humble obeysance of our whole bodies now his coming down from Heaven our falling down upon the Earth his so great Humiliation the greatest expression of our Humility And this we shall do though not in posture yet in a spiritual sense the same and in effect if we keep our bodies vessels of honour pure and untainted from the lusts of the flesh and offer our members as instruments of righteousness unto holiness Now this bodily prostration is not wholly and truly Adoration of it self It is the Intention of the mind that turns this outward expression of the body into Adoration and it is the Soul that specifies the Worship and gives it both its nature and its name The Soul then consecrates its self with all its Faculties unto God in all Acts of Devotion and Adoration at the same time with the Bodies humiliated prostration The Apostles Exhortation therefore may haply refer to this Therefore glorifie God in your bodies and in your souls which are Gods 1 Cor. 6. Otherwise to fall down in humility with the body and lift up the soul with pride to give him an outward respect and inwardly to slight him is to use Christ as the Souldiers did worship him in a mockery saying Hail King and smite him Now Lastly After that we have considered how the Princely Magi have made a twelve days journey out of the East of an 150 German 600 of English miles according to the Computation of Geometricians and Divines posting it all along with Dromedaries laden with the costly wealth of the Countrey to make Presents thereof to the King of Glory What shall we think of our selves if we should come empty-handed to congratulate the same our King Open therefore the treasuries of your souls dear Christians I beseech you and see whether they will not furnish you with presents of gold frankincense and myrrhe for with such presents God is well pleased whether it be as to the congruity of our apprehensions of him or the nature of that spiritual homage we pay unto him For as to the first in offering gold we acknowledge him to be King and so pay Tribute unto him In offering frankincense we confess him to be God which is the oblation of the Altar And in offering myrrhe we profess he should dye like men for myrrhe is generally made use of in Sepultures and Embalmings This for the Theological sense 2. If we look upon the moral sense of this Allegory we may affirm That they are the several Christian vertues that are represented by these material Emblems in the practice of which we make him most acceptable Presents For God looks upon us as offering him gold if we patiently and constantly suffer for the Faith which according to the Apostle St. Peter is far more precious in his eye than gold that perisheth though it be tryed seven times in the fire The same we do when we keep his Commandments which according to the Psalmist is more desirable than gold yea than much fine gold And no less we do when we relieve the poor feed the hungry and cloath the naked in doing which though the distressed receive the benefit yet the offering is made unto God and he takes it as done unto himself for to do good and communicate with such like sacrifices God is well pleased 2. We offer up frankincense unto him in our daily prayers and devout ejaculations in our hopes and sure confidence in his mercies in our humility and obedience to his holy Laws which as frankincense is binding and restringent are the onely binders and restrainers of our inordinate wills and passions 3. Lastly If we mortifie our Affections upon the earth for myrrhe hath a quality in it of killing worms if we keep our bodies chaste and pure for myrrhe is a soveraign antidote against all impurities and the insiliences of a wanton mind and if in the bitterness of our Souls repent us of all our past sinful Extravagancies for myrrhe is of a bitter nature then do we truly present him with offerings of myrrhe Thus the Persian Wise men did and if we their Off-spring would maintain the reputation of Wise men let us do so too FINIS