is vniuersally spread in all parts of the world God hath his chosen Did our intellectuall eyes truely behold the beauty of this Temple wee would with that good Emperor esteeme it better to be a member of the Church then head of the kingdome We would set this one thing against all worldly glories As when Henry 4. that late Great king of France was told of the king of Spaines ample dominions as first he is king of Castile and I quoth Henry am king of France he is king of Nauarre and I am king of France he is king of Portugall and I am king of France he is king of Naples and I am king of France he is king of the Sicilies and I am king of France hee is king of Noua Hispania the West Indies and I am king of France he thought the kingdome of France equiualent to all these So let thy soule O Christian solace it selfe against all the wants of thy mortall pilgrimage in this that thou art a member of the church Another hath more wit or learning yet I am a Christian another hath more honour and preferment on earth yet I am a Christian another hath more siluer and gold and riches yet I am a Christian another hath large possessions yet I haue an Inheritance in heauen I am a Christian Dauid thought it not so happy to bee a King in his owne house as to bee a doore-keeper in Gods house Were our hearts throughly sanctified we would vnder-value all honours to this that we are parts of this spirituall Temple the members of Iesus Christ Jdols Euery deuice of man in the seruice of God is a meere Idol Whatsoeuer we inuent out of Gods Schoole or substitute in Gods roome is to vs an Idol Howsoeuer we flatter our selues with reflecting all the honour on God yet hee will reflect the vengeance on vs. Iob 13.7 Shall a man speake deceitfully for God or tell a lye for his glory Hee is not so penurious of meanes to honour himselfe as to be beholding to vs for a lye The doctrine of vniuersall grace seemes to make much for Gods glory but himselfe sayes it is a lye for he will haue mercie on whom he will haue mercy and whom hee will hee hardneth To say that Christ in the wombe wrought many miracles hath a faire shew of honouring him but who can say it is not a lye Sure wee reade no such matter To distribute among the Saints departed seuerall Offices as one to haue the charge of women in child-bed another to bee the Patron of such a Citie or Countrey to omit their protection of beasts one for hogs another for horses seemes to honour God in thus honouring them but it is a lye and a plaine derogation to his vniuersall prouidence yea as absurd as if the flies should take vpon them to giue the charges and offices of this kingdome To say the Saints in heauen know the occurrents of this nether world and the condition of their ancient friends or children below reading them in the Deitie as by the reflection of a glasse this is a fiction that carries a shew of honouring God but it doth indeed dishonor him by making creatures as omniscient as their Maker Besides how absurd is it to say that Iohn in Patmos seeing Christ did see all that Christ saw If I standing on the ground see a man on the top of a high Turret doe I see all that hee seeth If the sight of him that looketh bee to be measured by the sight of him on whom hee looketh it will follow that hee which looketh on a blinde man should see nothing at all And who seeth not the blindnes of this consequeÌ„ce To say that all the worship done to the Virgin mother redounds to the honour of her Sonne and God is a grosse falshood The Idolatrous Iewes might as well haue pretended the honor of God when they worshipped the Queene of heauen That fanaticall vision of theirs Specul Exempl concerning the two ladders that reached vp to heauen while Christ was preparing to iudge the world the one Red at the top whereof Christ sate the other white at the top whereof the Virgin sate and when the Friers could not get vp the red ladder of Christ but euermore tumbled downe backward St. Francis called them vp the white ladder of our Lady and there they were receiued Did this make for the honour of Christ when the red blood of our Sauiour is not so able to bring men to heauen as the white milke of his mother which must needs be the morall or meaning of it Barrbad in Conâ— Euang. Or the obseruation of Barrhadius the Iesuite who made bold to aske Christ why in his ascension to heauen he did not take his mother along with him and makes himselfe this answer It may be Lord for feare lest thy heauenly Court should bee in doubt which of the two they should goe first to meet An tibi Domino suo an ipsi Dominae suae whether thee their Lord or her their Lady as if it had been well aduised of Christ to leaue his mother behind him lest she should share part of his glory Did this make for the honour of Christ To choke vp the knowledge of God by preaching that Ignorance is the mother of Deuotion hath small colour of honouring God The ascribing of false miracles to the liuing or departed Saints seemes to honour God but sure he will neuer thanke them for it Saint Augustine being sick a blind man came to him expecting that he could miraculously restore his sight but that good Father sent him away with a check Doest thou think that if I could cure thee by miracle that I would not by miracle cure my selfe It is a foolish thought that God will bee glorified by a lie Our iudiciall Astrologers that tye mens destinies to the Starres and Planets pretend Gods honour who hath giuen such vertue and influence to his creatures but indeed make theÌ„ no better then Idols Though the Sunne and Moone bee good and necessary yet to adore the Sunne and Moone is flat Idolatry It was not Mercury that made the theefe nor Venus that made the strumpet as when the husband cudgeld his adulterous wife and shee complained that he was vnnaturall to strike his â—wne flesh alledging that it was not shee that playd the harlot but Venus in her to whom he replied that neither was it shee that he did beat but Venus in her or rather Venus out of her To make this vsefull to our selues let vs take heed of fancying an other seruice of God then hee hath prescribed vs. Euery Master in his owne family appoints the manner how he will be serued He that requires our seruice requires it his owne way or else he holds vs to serue our selues not him Shall we make our selues wiser then our Maker as if he did not best know what would best please him Shall heauen giue a blessing to that
not rather go home to his house Peter and Iohn went vp into the Temple at the houre of Prayer Actes 3.1 they thought it not sufficient to pray in their priuate chambers but ioyne themselues with the Congregation as a Nauy Royall to transport their holy Merchandise to heauen Psalm 134.2 Lift vp your hands in the Sanctuary and blesse the Lord. Pure hands are accepted in euery place but especially in the Sanctuary What followes The Lord that made heauen and earth blesse thee out of Sion Hee sayes not the Lord that made heauen blesse thee vpon earth nor the Lord that made earth blesse thee out of heauen but the Lord that made heauen and earth blesse thee out of Sion Blessings come originally from heauen mediately through Sion In the Temple let vs seeke in the Temple wee shall finde those precious treasures and comforts of Iesus Christ This Temple is not without some enemies Besides those prophane Polititians that thinke with one Eustathius that there is no vse of Temples or those Massilians who as Damascen reports did adde to other Heresies Templorum contemptum or those Pseudo-Apostoli that laughed at a Temple full of Suppliants as a house full of fooles Or those that bee of Ieroboams mind who to settle himselfe in the kingdome of Israel diuerts the people from Gods house at Ierusalem In stead of that snowy glittering Temple they shall haue two golden representations Sion is too farre off these shall bee neere home that is a tedious way of deuotion these both compendious and plausible Antiqu. lib. 8. cap. 3. As Iosephus brings him in perswading them My good people and friends you cannot but know that no place is without God and that no place doth containe God wheresoeuer we pray he can heare vs wheresoeuer we worship hee can see vs therefore the Temple is superfluous the iourney needlesse God is better able to come to you then you are to goe to him Beside these the Temple of God hath two kinds of foes 1. The Anabaptists tell vs that the old superstition hath made those houses fitter for Stables then for Churches that they ought no more to be called Templa Dei but Templa Idolorum as they pretend the Passeouer was called in those corrupt times Iohn 2.13 not Pascha Dei but Pascha Iudaeorum By the same reason they would haue remoued all Princes because some haue abused their gouernments But we say though euill men abuse good things yet if a kingdome were not a lawfull State Dauid and Iosias would neuer haue been Kings for good men doe not vse euill things The Temple in Christs time was become a denne of theeues yet euen then and there did hee send vp deuout and holy Prayers It is a grosse ignorance that cannot distinguish betwixt a fault that proceeds ex natura facti Th. 1. qu. 41. art 6. and that which proceeds ex abusu boni the former is malum simpliciter the other is but malum per accidens No man pulles downe his house because vncleannesse hath been committed in one of the chambers Let offenders be remoued from the Temple not the Temple demolished because of offences The Kingdome of God shall be taken from you Math. 21.43 saith Christ not quite taken away but onely taken from the Iewes When GOD threatned the like to Saul 1 Sam. 15.28 he did not meane to haue no more Kings or to reduce it to the former state of Iudges no onely the kingdome shall lose Saul but Israel shall not lose the kingdome It is a Maxime in nature Things dedicated to God are not to bee transferred to the vses of men a principle in Philosophy Plato Quae rectè data sunt eripi non licet and a prouerbe among our children To giue a thing and take a thing is fit for the Deuils darling 2. The Sacrilegious to whom God is beholding if they let his Temple stand but for the maintenance of it they will bee so bold with him as either to share halfe or leaue him none There bee many that pray in the Temple who yet also prey on the Temple as if a thiefe should doe homage to that house in the day which hee meanes to robbe in the night But alas why should I touch that sore which is all dead flesh or speake against Sacriledge In orbe sacrilego among them that delight in it Where Lawyers are feeed hired bribed to maintaine Sacriledge God and his poore Ministers may euen hold their peace Something would be spoken for Sions sake but I take this place and time for neither the right Vbi nor Quando We know Abigail would not tell Nabal of his drunkennesse till hee was awoke from his wine Whensoeuer it shall please God to awake you from this intoxication we may then find a season to speak to you But God keepe you from Nabals destiny 1 Sam. 25.37 that when this sinne shall bee obiected to your Consciences on your death-beds your hearts doe not then die in you like a stone One thing let me beg of you in the Name of him whom you thus wrong Howsoeuer you persist to robbe the Temple of the due Salary yet doe not stand to iustifie it By imploring mercy perhaps you may bee saued but by iustifying the Iniury you cannot but be lost As the French King Francis the first said to a woman kneeling and crying to him for Iustice Stand vp woman for Iustice Iowe thee if thou beg'st any thing beg mercy So if you request any thing of God let it bee mercy for he owes you Iustice and in this poynt God be mercifull to you all It was Dauids earnest prayer One thing haue I desired of the Lord Psalm 27.7 and that will I seeke after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of my life to behold the beautie of the Lord and to enquire in his Temple There are many that pray Dauids words but not with Dauids heart Vnum petij one thing I haue desired De praeterito for the time past hoc requiram this I will still seeke after de futuro for the time to come I haue required it long and this suite I will vrge till I haue obtained it What to dwell in some of the houses of God all the dayes of my life and to leaue them to my children after me not to serue him there with deuotion but to make the place mine owne possession These loue the House of God too well they loue it to Haue and to Hold but because the Conueyance is made by the Lawyer and not by the Minister their Title will bee found naught in the end and if there bee not a Nifi prius to preuent them yet at the great day of vniuersall Audite the Iudge of all the world shal condemne them By this way the neerer to the Church the further from God The Lords Temple is ordained to gaine vs to him not for vs
call his Sonne out of Egypt it is no wonder the wonder is that hee did call him into Egypt It is true that Egypt could not hurt Christ the King doth not follow the Court the Court waits vpon the King wheresoeuer Christ was there was the Church But be our Israelites so sure of their sonnes when they send them into Egypt or any superstitious places It was their presumption to send them in let it bee their repentance to call them out The familiar societie of orthodox Christians with mis-beleeuers hath by God euer been most strictly forbidden and the neerer this coniunction the more dangerous and displeasing to the forbidder No man can chuse a worse friend then one whom God holds his enemy When Religion and Superstition meet in one bed they commonly produce a mungrell generation 2 Sam. 3.3 If Dauid marry Maachah their issue proues an Absolon If Salomon loue idolatrous women here is enough to ouerthrow him with all his wisdome Other strange women only tempt to lust these to mis-religion and by ioyning his heart to theirs hee shall disioyne it from God One Religion matching with another not seldome breed an Atheist one of no religion at all I doe not say this is a sufficient cause of diuorce after it is done but of restraint before it is done They may be one flesh though they be not one spirit The difference of religion or vertue makes no diuorce here the great Iudges sentence shall doe that heereafter And the beleeuing husband is neuer the further from heauen though hee cannot bring his vnbeleeuing wife along with him The better shall not carry vp the worse to heauen nor the worse pull downe the better to hell Quod fieri non debuit factum valet But now is there no tree in the Garden but the forbidden none for me to loue but one that hates the truth Yes let vs say to them in plaine fidelitie as the sonnes of Iacob did to the Shichemites in dissembling policie Gene. 34.14 Wee cannot giue our sister to a man that is vncircumcised either consent you to vs in the truth of our Religion or wee will not consent to you in the league of our Communion Saint Chrysostome calls this a plaine deniall of Christ Hee that eateth of the meate offered to Idols Gustu negauit Christum hath denied Christ with his tasting If hee but handle those things with delight Tactu negauit Christum hee hath denied Christ with his touching Though hee touch not taste not yet if he stand to looke vpon the Idolatry with patience Visu negauit Christum hee hath denied Christ with his eyes If he listen to those execrable charmes Auditu negauit Christum hee hath denyed Christ with his eares Omitting all these if he doe but smell to the Incense with pleasure O doratu negauit Christum hee hath denied Christ with his smelling It is said of the Israelites Commisti sunt inter gentes Psalm 106.35 They were mingled among the Heathen What followed Presently they learned their works The reason why the Rauen returned not to Noahs Arke is giuen by some because it met with a dead carkase by the way Why doe we pray Deliuer vs from euill but that wee imply besides all other mischiefes there is an infectious power in it to make vs euill Let vs doe that wee pray and pray that wee may doe it Yea Lord free vs from Egypt estrange vs from Rome separate vs from Idols deliuer vs from euill For thine is the kingdome the power and the glorie for euer and euer Amen Thus farre we haue taken a literall suruey of the Text concerning the materiall Temple externall or obiectuall Idols and the impossibilitie of their agreement Now to come neerer home to our selues in a morall Exposition here first The Temple of God Is the Church of Christ and they are so like that we often interchange the tearmes calling a Temple the Church the Church a Temple of God The materiall Temple vnder the Law was a figure of the spirituall vnder the Gospell The former was distinguished into three roomes the Porch the holy place and the Sanctum Sanctorum or Holy of holies The Porch prefigured Baptisme which is the doore whereby we enter into the Church of Christ The Holy place the communion of the militant church vply earth separated from the world The Hoon of holies whereinto the high Priest only entred that once a yeare presignified the glorious kingdome of heauen wherinto the Lord Iesus entred once for all There was one Court of the Temple common whither accesse was denied to none though they were vncleane or vncircumcised thus farre they might be admitted There was another Court within that allowed to none but the Israelites of them to none but the cleane There was a third proper only to the Priests and Leuites whither the Laitie might not come thus farre they might bring their offerings but further they might not offer to goe In the Temple it selfe there was one roome into which the Leuites might not enter the Priests might Another whither the Priests might not come but onely the high Priest and euen hee but once yearely Some passages of the Christian Church are common to all euen to the vncleane hypocrites and foule-hearted sinners They haue accesse to Gods holy ordinances and tread in his Courts as the Pharisee came into the congregation and Iudas receiued the Communion Other are secret and reserued wherein the faithfull onely conuerse with God and solace themselues in the sweet fruition of his gracious presence The materiall Temple in three diuisions seemed to be a cleare representation of the Church in three degrees The first signified the externall and visible face of the Church from which no professor of Christ is debarred The second the communion of the inuisible Church vpon earth The last the highest heauen of Gods glorified Saints Neither did those roomes more exceed one another then do these parts of the spirituall house of Christ What are the most polished corners of the Temple to the spirituall liuing stones of the Church What be pebles to Saphirs or marbles to Diamonds Howsoeuer some are more transported with insensible monuments then with liuing Saints As it was a complaint long since Fulget Ecclesia in parietibus luget in pauperibus Yet Temples are built for men not men for Temples and what is a glorious edifice when the whole world is not worth one soule Dead walls bee of small value to the liuing Temples of the holy Ghost yea the temple of our body to the temple of Christs Body his Church yea the Temple of Gods Church militant on earth to that which is triumphant in heauen What is siluer and gold Cedar and Marble to those diuine graces faith truth pietie holinesse Salomons Temple did last but some 430. yeares the Church is for eternitie The Temple took vp but a little space of ground at most the Hill Sion the Church
shall bee called the house of prayer this was Gods Appropriation But you haue made it a den of theeues this is mans Impropriation Let vs take heed of impropriating Gods house remembring howhe hath reuēged such a profanation with scourges Wee are bought with a price 1 Cor. 6.20 therefore let vs glorifie God both in body spirit for they are his His purchase his Temple his inheritance his habitation do not lose so gracious an owner by the most vngracious sacriledge You see many ruined houses which haue bin once kings palaces learne by those dead spectacles to keepe your selues frō the like fortunes lest God say of you Hoc Templum meum fuit this was my house but now because it took in Idols I haue forsaken it Or what if wee doe not set vp Idols in these Temples when we make the Temples themselues Idols or say not with Israel Make vs gods while we make gods of our selues while we dresse altars and erect shrines to our own braines kisse our own hands for the good they haue done vs If we attribute something to our selues how is Christ al in all with vs Do we iustly blame them that worship the Beast of Rome and yet find out a new Idolatry at home Shal we refuse to adore the Saints Angels and yet giue diuine worship to our selues dust and ashes If victory crowne our battels if plenty fill our garners or successe answere our endeuours must the glory of all reflect vpon our own atchieuements This is a rivality that God will not endure to make so many Temples nothing but Idols But as the Lancashire Iustice said of the ill-shap'd Rood thogh it be not well fauoured enough for a god it will serue to make an excellent deuill So proud dust and ashes that arrogates the honor of God and impropriates it to himselfe though he be too foule for a Temple yet he is fit enough for an Idol When Dauid prayes Libera me ab homine malo Deliuer me from the euill man O Lord. Saint Augustine after much study and scrutiny to find out this euill man at last lights vpon him ab homine malo that is à me ipso Deliuer me from the euill man deliuer me from my selfe Deliuer Augustine from Augustine I am that euill man So of all Idolatries God deliuer vs from a superstitious worship of our selues Some haue Idolized their Princes some their Mistresses some their Manufactures but they are innumerable that haue Idolized themselues He is a rare man that hath no Idol no little god in a boxe no especiall sinne in his heart to which he giues vxorious and affectionate Indulgence The only way to mend all is for euery man to begin with himself In vain shall we blame those faults abroad which we tolerate at home That man makes himself ridiculous who leauing his own house on fire runs to quench his neigbors Let but euery man pull a brand from this fire the flame will go out alone if euery soule clense his owne Temple all shall be quit of Idols and God wil accept of all A multitude is but a heap of vnities the more we take away the fewer we leaue behind When a field is ouergrowne with weeds the best course to haue a good generall haruest is for euery man to weed his owne ground When we would haue the street cleansed let euery man sweep his owne doore and it is quickly done But while euery man censures none amends we do but talk against Idols with still vnclensed Tēples Let vs pray for vniuersall repentance like a good Iosias to purge the houses of God till lust and profanenesse pride and couetousnesse fraud and wantonnesse malice and drunkennes be no more found among vs till euery thing be cast out and nothing let in that is vncleane So shall the Lord dwell in vs with content and we shall dwell in him with comfort Here we shall be a Temple for Him hereafter he shall be a Temple for vs. So we find that glorious Citie described I saw no Temple therein Reu. 21.22 but the Lord God Almightie and the Lambe was the Temple of it Wee are Gods Temple on earth God shall bee our Temple in heauen To this purpose the Spirit of God sanctifie vs and bee for euer sanctified in vs. Amen Some may haply long ere this haue preiudicated in their censures How is this Opus diei in die suo What is all this to the businesse of the day I might haue preuented the obiection by comparing Idolatrie with Treason the one being a breach of Allegiance to the Lord the other a breach of allegiance to the Lords Annointed Idolatry is a Treason against God and Treason is a kind of Idolatry against the King From both which the diuine grace and our holy obedience deliuer vs all I conclude with application to the Time This is one of those blessed dayes celebrated for the deliuerance of our gracious Soueraigne and well may the deliuerance of a King of such a King deserue a day of gratulation When God deliuers a priuate man he doth as it were repeat his Creation but the deliuerance of a King is alwayes a choyce piece in the Lords Chronicle The Story how he was endangered and how preserued this place hath diuers times witnessed and that in a more punctuall manner then I haue either strength or art or time to match A hard time it seemed to be when a King was imprisoned when he had no guard with him but his Innocency no subiect but a Traytor But there was a stronger with him then all they could be against him A good Prince hath more guards then one he hath 1. a subsidiary guard consisting of mortall men 2. An inward guard the integritie of his owne Conscience 3. A spirituall guard the prayers of his faithfull subiects 4. A celestial guard the protection of diligent powerfull Angels 5. A diuine guard his Makers prouidence that fenceth him in with a wall of fire which shall at once both preserue him and consume his enemies But my purpose is not to bring your thoughts back to the view of his perill but to stir your hearts vp to thankfulnesse for his preseruation He is iustly styled The Defender of the Faith he hath euer defended the Faith and the Faith hath euer defended him Hee hath preserued the Temple of God from Idols and therefore God hath preserued him from all his enemies Surely that Prouidence which deliuered him from those early Conspiracies wherewith he hath been assaulted from his cradle meant him for some extraordinary benefit and matchlesse good to the Christian world Hee that gaue him both life and Crowne almost together hath still miraculously preserued them both from all the raging violences of Rome and Hell Now when the Lord deliuered him what did he else but euen deliuer vs all That we might reioyce in his safety as the Romans did in the recouery of Germanicus when they ran with lampes and sacrifices to the Capitoll and there sung with shouts and acclamations Salua Roma salua Patria saluus Germanicus the Citie is safe the Country is safe and all in the safetie of Germanicus While we consider the blessings which we enioy by his gracious Gouernment that the estates we haue gotten with honest industry may be safely conueyed to our posterity that we sit vnder the shadow of peace and may teach our children to know the Lord that the good man may build vp Temples and Hospitals without trembling to thinke of sauage and barbarous violences to pull them down that our Deuotions be not molested with vproares nor men called from their callings by mutinies that our Temples be not profaned with Idols nor the Seruice of God blended with superstitious deuices that our temporall estate is preserued in liberty our spirituall estate may bee improued in pietie and our eternall estate assured vs in glory that our liues be protected and in quiet our soules may be saued for such a King of men blesse we the God of Kings and sing for his deliuerāce as they did for their Germanicus as priuatly euery day so this day in our publike Assemblies Salua Britannia Salua Ecclesia saluus IACOBVS Our Kingdome is safe the Church of God is safe our whole Estate is safe wee are all safe and happie in the safetie and happinesse of King IAMES O that as we haue good cause to emulate so also we would truly imitate the gratulation of Israel we for our King that hath preserued the Temple 2 Chron. 5.12.13 as they for their King that built the Temple while the Leuites and singers stood with Harps and Cymbals and Viols and the Priests blowing with Trumpets as if they had all been one man and made one sweet harmony to the praise of God For these publike extraordinary blessings God requires publike and extraordinary praises that this great Assembly with prepared hearts and religious affections should magnifie his glorious Name if it were possible by some vnusuall strain of our vnited thāks pierce the very skies giue an Eccho to those celestiall Quires singing Honor praise and glory bee to our gracious God for all his mercifull deliuerances both of Prince and people Yea O Lord still preserue thine own Annointed conuert or confound all his enemies but vpon his head let his Crown florish Long long liue that royal keeper of Gods holy Temple the Defender of that Faith which he hath of old giuen to his Saints and let all true-hearted Israelites say Amen yea let Amen the faithfull witnes in heauen the Word Truth of God say Amen to it For our selues let vs heartily repent of our former sins religiously amend our future liues abandon all our intestine Idols serue the Lord with pure hearts and still and still God shall deliuer both Him and vs from all our enemies This God grant for his mercies sake Iesus Christ for his merits sake the Holy Ghost for his Names sake to whom three persons and one eternall God be all praise and glory obedience and thanksgiuing world without end FINIS