goodnesse As pride is the beginning and originall of sinne Ecclesiasticus 10. 14. because iniquitie is nothing else but inequalitie and pride is most vniust attributing vnto it selfe too much vnto all other too little so contrariwise contented humblenesse is the Primer and as it were A. B. C. of our Christian Ethicks it is as Ambrose and Bernard write the mother vertue yea Custos sigilli magni the keeper of all Gods great seales graces without which his other gifts are rather curses then blessings to vs. It is an eminent grace for a man to speak with the tongues of Angels and so to transport other with the wind of words and flouds of eloquence whither he list and yet if learning be not seasoned with humilitie knowledge saith Paul puffeth vp and as Aristotle speaks it is armata iniustitia like a sword in a mad-mans hand Fasting that tames the bodie without humilitie makes proud the mind I fast twice in the weeke quoth the Pharisee Luke 18. 12. Almes are a sacrifice pleasing to God for he that giueth vnto the poore lendeth vnto the Lord yet if a Trumpet bee blowen and we giue meerly to be seen of men if we beare not our poore brethren in our bowels and bosome we shall haue no reward of our Father which is in Heauen Matth. 6. 1. And therefore Christ inculcates often this one lesson as well by patern as precept Learne of me for I am humble and meeke In the world ye shall haue affliction he that will follow me must of necessitie forsake himselfe and yet be of good cheere for there is no man that hath forsaken house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the Gospels but he shall receiue an hundred fold now at this present houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the world to come eternall life I tell you that in the beginning which you shall find most true in the end Blessed are the poore in spirit For Blessed is the predicat of the proposition And there is a two-fold blessednesse Beatitudo viae and Beatitudo patriae blessednesse in this world and blessednesse in the next The poore in spirit haue the promises of both 1. Tim. 4. 8. The present happinesse is either outward and worldly or else inward and ghostly Outward as Psalme 132. 16. I will blesse her victuals with increase and I will satisfie her poore with bread And Psalme 144. 15. Happie are the people that be in such a case And Deut. 28. Blessed shalt thou be in the field and blessed in the citie blessed shall be the fruit of thy ground and the fruit of thy cattell the encrease of thy kine and the flocks of thy sheep These temporall and worldly blessings often accompany the meeke more then the proud because fortune as Charles the 5. told his sonne Is like a woman if shee be too much woed shee will be the farther off Howsoeuer it be godlinesse is great gaine and the poore in spirit want nothing as being content with any thing But the blessednesse promised by Christ here surpassing all worldly treasures and pleasures is inward and ghostly consisting in the riches of the mind and in a sweet contentation of the conscience which is a continuall feast and a daily Christmas whereby the poore in spirit are made lords and as it were tyrants ouer the whole world domineering ouer Iustices and laylour our Iudge and Iurie Treasons and murthers and felonies and other routs and riots inquired after at Sessions and Assises are bred of discontentment and pride But though all the Deuils in Hell and all their agents in earth and ayre combine themselues against one little one yet Qui vadit planè vadit sanè He that walkes vprightly walkes confidently The text will alway be found true They that put their trust in the Lord shall be euen as the mount Sion which may not be remoued but standeth fast for-euer But here we must obserue with incomparably learned Melancthon and other protestant diuines That in this and all other like places of holie Scripture where good works are commanded or commended in any that Christ is the sole cause of our happinesse Without me saith he you can doe nothing and without faith in him it is impossible to please God Heb. 11. 6. Our persons must be first reconciled vnto God hauing for Christs sake pardon of our sinnes and imputation of righteousnesse and then our workes shall be blessed and acceptable Psalme 32. 1. Blessed is the man whose vnrighteousnesse is forgiuen and whose sinne is couered Blessed that is iustified for iustification is blessednesse begun glorification blessednesse perfited It is a sweet saying of our Church Faith is the nest of good workes albeit our birdes be neuer so faire yet they will be lost except they be brought foorth in true beleefe The sparow hath found her an house and the swallow a nest where shee may lay her yong euen thine Altars O Lord Psalme 84. 3. Such as are true beleeuers hauing their vnrighteousnesse forgiuen and their sinne couered are blessed men and all their workes as being laied vpon Christs Altar are a sweet smelling sacrifice to God But saith Augustine Hereticks and Infidels in doing glorious acts and honorable deeds haue no where to lay their yong and therefore they must of necessitie come to nought as the fathers of our common Law speake Moritur actio cum persona their actions are damnable with their persons He which is poore in spirit is blessed he which is mercifull is blessed he which is a peace-maker is blessed But as our Diuines haue iudiciously noted against the Papists in all these Beatitudes a liuely Faith is presupposed according to that Apostolicall axiome Whatsoeuer is not of Faith is sinne The Saints of God are sealed inwardly with Faith as it is in our Epistle but outwardly with good works as in our Gospell To be poore in spirit to mourne to be mercifull are not causes but effects of our iustification as we commonly speake out of Bernard Via regni non causa regnaâ—…di For the followers of Christ are blessed not because they be poore in spirit but because theirs is the kingdome of Heauen That is the right exposition of the proposition Blessed are the poore in spirit Now the kingdome of Heauen in holie Scripture signifieth either the kingdome of grace which is heauen on earth or else the kingdome of glorie which is heauen in Heauen And both these belong vnto the poore in spirit Some construe this of the kingdome of grace because Christ saith expresly Luke 4. 18. The spirit of the Lord hath anoynted me that I should preach the Gospell vnto the poore he hath sent me that I should heal the broken hearted that I should preach deliuerance to the captiues and
recouering of sight to the blind that I should set at liberty them that are bruised And I am not come to call the righteous but the sinners to repentance And I giue thee thankes O Father Lord of Heauen and earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and men of vnderstanding and hast opened them vnto babes The carnal wise Credentes oculo magis quâ—…m oraculo rely more vpon their fiue senses then the foure Euangelists and therfore because they can not find a reason of naturall things they make to themselues false gods and because they can not find a reason of supernaturall things they denie the true God The curious while they desire to know what they should not are not able to coÌ„ceiue what they should by dyuing too much into the subtleties of reason they forget often the principles of Religion As wholsome Lawes are lost many times in the cases of the law so Religion it selfe is lost among Sophisters in the questions of Religion It was the Serpent that first opened Adams eyes and enticed him to prie into the secrets of God Our care therefore said Luther must be to shut vp our eyes againe that we seeke not ambitiously to see more then almighty God would haue vs to know Christ would haue vs to bring Faith and humilitie to his schoole leauing our arguments at home Non vult nos esse curistas quaristas He resisteth the proud and giues grace to the humble The poore receiue the Gospell as it is in our text Theirs is the kingdome of Heauen But other expositors vnderstand this of that incorruptible crowne of glorie for as this world seemes to be made for the presumptuous and proud so that other only for the humble and meeke It is Theirs and that in present Is and it is a kingdome and that a kingdome of Heauen According to the tearmes of our common Law there be two sorts of Freeholds A Freehold in deed when a man hath entred into lands or tenements and is seised thereof actually and really A Freehold in law when a man hath right to lands or tenements but hath not yet made his actuall entrie Now the kingdome of Heauen is our Freehold in law though as yet while we liue we can not actually be seised thereof It is ours as being prepared for vs by God the Father It is ours as being purchased in our behalfe by God the Sonne It is ours as being assured to our spirit by God the holie Ghost Rom. 8. 16. 17. We haue now right to this inheritance Habemus ius adrem as Melancthon acutely nondum in re Or as Augustine and other of the fathers vsually the kingdome of Heauen is ours alreadie Non in re sed in spe The Scripture saith as much in plaine tearmes We are saued by blessed hope which is immoueable without wauering Fides intâ—…etur verbum rei spes verò rem verbi Rom. 5. 2. Thorough our Lord Iesus Christ we haue accesse by Faith vnto this grace wherein we stand and reioice vnder the hope of the glorie of God And we may well vnder hope reioice seeing our reward when our fight is finished is no lesse then a kingdome The citizens of Tyrus are described by the Prophet Esay to haue been companions vnto Nobles and Princes but in that heauenly Hierusalem euery burgesse by his second birth is the brother of a king the sonne of a king and himselfe a king hauing in token hereof a triumphant palme in his hand and a golden crowne on his head And this kingdome is not a fading inheritance but a kingdome of Heauen an immortall and euerlasting life Men on earth haue Life but it is full of trouble and of small continuance not euerlasting The damned in Hell haue an eternall being but because they can not moue but are perpetually tyed vnto their torments it is not a Life but a death Only the rich in grace the poore in spirit shall haue when this world hath his end an euerlasting Life without end Tell O man what thou most earnestly desirest Is there any thing thou louest bettter then life Is there any life better then a blessed life Is there any blessed life without hope here and hold hereafter of euerlasting life Yet all these things and more then I can vtter or you conceiue are prepared and reserued for such as are poore in spirit for theirs is the kingdome of Heauen Preached at Maydston Assises Iuly 28. 1614. vpon the request of my much honoured and worthily beloued friend and kinsman Sir Anthonie Aucher Knight high Sherife of Kent Almightie God which hast knit together thy elect in one communion and fellowship in the mysticall bodie of thy Sonne Christ our Lord Graunt vs grace so to follow thine holie Saints in all vertuous and godly liuing that we may come to those vnspeakable Ioyes which thou hast prepared for them that vnfaynedly loue thee thorough Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen a Proaem com in Esa. epist. Paulin. tom 3. fol. 9. Non prophetiam videtur texere sed Euangelium b Cap. 7. 14. c Cap. 9. 6. d Cap. 53. vers 3. 4. 5. 6. e Cap. 53. vers 8 f Musculus Hyperius Caluin in loc g Luke 2. 25. h 2. Cor. 1. 3. i Tertullian cont Marcian lib. 4. cap. 33. Cyril cat 3. August de Io. Baptist ser. 1. k Psal. 74. 1. 10. l Caluin m Psalm 68. 11. n Musculus Caluin o Geneuaglosse p 1. Pet. 54. q Rom. 4. 18. r Hyperius Musculus s Ecclesiast 3. 1. t Esay 58. 1. u Esay 5. x Amos 6. 1. y Philip. 3. 19. z Ezech. 33. 11. a Luke 3. 9. b Ionas 3. c Psalm 42. 9. d Esay 61. e Caluin f Musculus g Hyperius Dan. Arcularius h Ecclesiastes 12. 11. i Ieremy 23. 29. k Hierom Vatablus Caluin l Psalm 32. 1. m Esay 57. 21. n Socrates o Cap. 4. vers 18. See Ribera in loc p Musculus q Vatablus Arcularius r Hierom Hyperius Castalion s Caluin t Musculus in loc Idem Caluin Iâ—…stit lib. 3 cap. 4 §. 33. u Esay 27. 8. x Psalm 103. 13 y Abacuc 3. 2. z Cap. 10. ver 24 a Caluin in Esai 27. 8. b 1. Cor. 10. 13. c Psalm 103. 14. d Matth. 3. 3. Mark 1. 3. Luk. 3. 4. Ioan. 1. 23. e Melanc in Ioan. 1. See D. Abbots sermon at the funerall of Thomas Earle of Dorset pag. 2. f Psalm 146. 2. g 1. Epist. 1. 24. h Caluin i Arcularius in loc k Matth. 6. 29. l Plin. nat hist. lib. 7. cap. 7. m Idem n Ibid. Matth. Paris in Ric. 1. o Sr. Ric. Barckley discourse of felicity lib. 5. pag. 450. p Philip. Com mi. hist. lib. 8. cap. 18. q Eox Mart. fol. 1731. r Walsingham in Hen. 5. pag. 444 Idem Paradinus in sym bol pag.
solicitudine me parturiebat spiritu quà m carne and in another place ita pro nobis omnibus curam gâ—…ssit quasi omnes genuisset ita seruiuit quasi ab omnibus genita fuisset Ye wot not what ye aske for either ye erre very much in the matter or else in the manner in the matter if ye thinke that my kingdome is of this world in the manner if ye desire to sit in my kingdome before ye haue drunken of my cup I must as ye shall one day further vnderstand first suffer and then enter into glory If any man will be my Disciple let him forsake himselfe and take vp his crosse and follow me you must enter into my kingdome thorough many tribulations Acts 14. 22. They that sowe in teares shall reape in ioy Psal. 126. 6. He that will haue wages at night must labour first about the Lords vineyard in the day Mat. 20. 8. None receiue the price before they runne 1. Cor. 9. 24. And if any man also striue for a mastery yet is he not crowned except he striue as he ought to doe 2. Tim. 2. 5. Well then I tell you the truth if ye seeke to sit on my right hand and on my left in my kingdome ye must first drinke of the cup that I shall drinke of and bee baptized with the baptisme that I am baptized with that is ye must of necessity beare the crosse before ye can weare the crowne To him that ouercommeth wil I grant to sit with me in my throne euen as I ouer came and sit with my father in his throne when holy Moses Exod. 33. said vnto the Lord I beseech thee shew me thy glory the Lord answered thou canst not see my face but thou shalt see my backe parts Insinuating hereby that we can not enter into Christs glory vnlesse we follow him and see his hinder parts in this world why Christ called his sufferings a cup and baptisme see Iansen concord cap. 104. Theophylact Aretius Marlorat Maldonat in loc Ye shall drinke indeed of my cup he said not ye can as being able by their owne vertue but ye shall as being made able by grace but how did they drinke both of Christs cup seeing Iohn is said in Ecclesiasticall history to haue dyed in his bed peaceably Remigius answereth in one word bibit Iacobus in passione Ioannes in persecutione Iames dranke of Christs cup in his martyrdome being slaine with the sword by cruell Herod as our Epistle this day witnesseth and Iohn tasted of Christs cup as being banished into the Isle Pathmos for the word of God and for the witnes of Iesus Christ. Iohn dranke of the cup of confession as the three children in the fiery furnace though he were not actually martyred actually I say for in his readines to suffer he was a very martyr yea the Proto-martyr suffring for Christ vnder the crosse when he saw Christ suffer on the crosse But to sit on my right hand or on my left is not mine to giue Christ saith in this Gospell Chap. 11. verse 27. All things are giuen vnto me of my father and chap. 28. 18. All power is giuen vnto me both inheauen and in earth and Iohn 14. 2. In my fathers house are many mansions and I goe to prepare a place for you and Luke 22. 29. I appoint vnto you a kingdome c. How then is it true to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to giue S. Augustine Basile Remigius and other answere thus it is not mine to giue as I am a man and allyed vnto you but as I am God equall to my father and heire of all things Or as Ardens it is not mine to giue you now namely before ye haue drunke of my cup. Or it is not in my power to giue as you conceiue to wit in respect of kindred alliance By which example Bishops may learne not to prefer their nephewes on their right hand on their left hand in their diocesse except they be men of merit For God saith expresly non afcendes per gradus ad altare meum Exod. 20. 26. And Melchisedeck the first Priest is said Heb. 7. 3. To haue hin without father without mother without kindred hereby signifying that we must ascend to dignities in the Church of God not by degrees of Consanguinitie but by steps of vertue or it is not mine to giue to such as you are now namely to proude ambitious men according to that in the 101. Psalme verse 7. Who so hath a proude looke and an hie stomacke I will not suffer him in mine house so that as Ambrose notes Asserit non sibi potestatem deesse sed meritum Creaturis or as Christ here construeth himselfe it is not mine to giue but it shall be giuen vnto those for whom it is prepared of my father I and my father are one and therefore most vnfit either for you to request or for me to grant any thing contrarie to the determination of my father His kingdome is an inheritance prepared before the foundations of the world Whom he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called them he also iustified and whom he iustified them he also glorified Concerning Christs direction here following addressed vnto all his Apostles and in them vnto all Christians see Gospell on S. Bartholomewes day The Epistle ACTS 5. 12. By the hands of the Apostles were many signes and wonders shewed among the people c. SOme thing in this Epistle concernes more specially the Pastors by the hands of the Apostles were many signes and wonders shewed some thing more specially the people the people magnified them and the number of them that beleeued in the Lord both of men and women grew more and more some thing generally both Pastors and people they were all together with one accord in Solomons porch insinuating that it was their ordinarie custome to meete in that holy place not onely to preach and pray but also to consult about the proceedings of the Gospell and busines of the Church From which assembly no conuert absented himselfe either vpon any proud opinion of his owne priuat conceits or vnder pretence that the Temple was now superstitiously prophaned or for feare of the common enemie the Pharisies especially but all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according concording ioyned together for the good of the publike weale Wherein obserue not onely their vnanimitie but also their magnanimitie not onely their louing carriage one toward another but also their resolution and zeale for the Gospell exposing themselues vnto very much danger in a place of such sort and resort The chiefe poynt is the working of miracles by the hands of the Apostles and that is nothing else but an execution of Christs promise Mark 16. 17. 18. In my name they shall cast out
is length of daies and in his left hand riches and glory Both hands of the Lord were so with Iohn the Baptist as that it was no wonder if al men wondered at him The first part of Zacharies hymne concerning Christ and his kingdome is expounded in the Liturgie tit the Benedictus The latter touching Iohn the Baptist and his office Gosp. Sun 3. 4. in Aduent The Epistle ACTS 12. 1. At the same time Herod the King stretched forth his hands to vex certaine of the Congregation c. THis Chapter containeth a relation of Herods bloody life in Killing Iames the brother of Iohn with the sword Imprisoning Peter terrible death an Angel of the Lord smote him in the middest of his pride because he gaue not glory vnto God so that hee was eaten vp of wormes and gaue vp the ghost I am to treate of Saint Iames martyrdome vpon his proper holy day that which especially concernes our present festiuall is S. Peters imprisonment Wherein according to the record of S. Luke two things are more chiefly remarkable to wit his Durance by Herods cruelty in apprehending and taking him aggrauated by circumstances of the cause why for that it pleased the Iewes time when in the daies of sweet bread holding and keeping him fast 1. Hee put him in prison 2. He deliuered him to foure quaternions of souldiers to be kept 3. Hee caused him to bee bound with two chaines 4. He set keepers and a double watch ouer him Deliuerance by Gods mercy wherein also note the Motiues praier with out ceasing of the congregation Meane an Angell of the Lord. Manner a light shined c. Bâ—…cause he sâ—…w it pleased the Iewes Herod persecuted the Saints of God not out of any hatred to Christs gospell or any loue to Moses lâ—…w but only to serue his own turne namely to please the people So Pilat to content the Iewes as it is apparent in the gospels history quit 〈◊〉 a notable prisoner Math. 27. 16. a notorious murtherer Mark 15. 7. but scourged Iesus and deliuered him into their hands to be crucified albeit he did openly confesse that he was a iust man in whom he could finde no fault at all Iohn 19. 4. So Felix willing to get fauour of the Iewes left Paul bound Acts 24. 28. It is a base sinne in a subiect to be made his Princes instrument in any wicked designe as Ioab was king Dauids agent in murthering Vriah the Hittite and the nobles of Iezreel Ahabs and Iezebels instruments in killing Naboth for his Vineyard But it is a most vnworthy thing for a Prince to flatter and to follow his subiects in their giddie courses for ordinarily the people walke not in the best but in the beaten way non qua eundum est sed qua itur It is a good obseruation that popular and military dependence in noble men to make them great are like Iâ—…arus two wings which were ioyned on with waxe they will happily for a while mount them aloft and then faile them at the height It is therefore better to stand vpon two feet then to flye vpon two wings the two feet are the two kinds of Iustice Commutatiâ—…e and Distributiue for great men shall grow greater if they will aduance merit and relieue wrongs The scriptures are plentifull in this argument If sinners entise thee consent not thou shalt not follow a multitude to doe euill Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the counsell of the vngodly nor stood in the way of sinners c. If sayd Paul I should yet please men I were not the seruant of Christ and therefore let Princes and Prelats also take heed that they be not too popular in their courses alway remembring the words of Peter and Iohn Acts 4. 19. Whether it be right in the sight of God to harken vnto you more then vnto God iudge yee 2 From hence we may learne that the wicked accord in doing mischiefe though otherwise they be most opposite The Sadduces Herodians and Pharisâ—…es were Sectaries of diuerse and aduerse factions all differing one from another and yet all these ioyned together against Christ Math. 22. The Libertines and Cyreneans and Alexandrians and Câ—…licians and Asians disputed against S. Stephen Acts 6. The Macedonians Arrians and Eunomians had confused language like the Giants in old time who built the tower of Babel and yet in malice they were lincked against the true Catholicks Herod neither loued the Iewes nor the Iewes Herod yet both agree to vex the Church according to that in the second Psalme The kings of the earth stand vp and the rulers take counsell together against the Lord and against his anointed and therefore that Wisedome may be iustified of all her children let vs which are true Christians endeuour to keepe the vnity of the spirit in the bond of peace being of one heart and of one soule of one accord and of one iudgement that as there is a society of Iesuits a family of Anabaptists a brotherhood of Scismaticks euen so to confront all these let there be still a communion of Saints and a perpetuall holy league in truth against all such as trouble Gods Israel See Gospell Sun 18. 23. after Trinity Then were the dayes of sweet bread The feast of vnleauened bread was instituted by Moses according to Gods owne direction and afterward repeated by Duke Iosua and from his time celebrated by Gods people solemnely till this day This circumstance then aggrauates the bloody sinne of Herod who did not abstaine from his mischeuous enterprises on a feast so high and holy The Iewes obserued their Easter in abstayning from leauened bread the mystery whereof and morall as Paul teacheth is that we should purge the old leauen of sinne that corrupteth and sowreth all the sweetnes of our life before God and become a new lump voyd of the leauen of malitiousnes and wickednes but Herod here contrariwise sowred the whole dough with his leauen of mischiefe and malice Againe from hence we further obserue Herods hypocrisie who seemed to reuerence the feast in such sort that he would not slay Peter in the dayes of sweet bread and yet he caught him and put him in prison and deliuered him to foure quaternions of souldiers to be kept intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people so the chiefe priests who gaue Iudas Iscariot thirty peeces of siluer to betray Christ afterward sayd it was the price of blood and therefore not lawfull for vs to put them into the treasurie so the Pharisees strayned out a gnat and swallowed vp a camell so the popish Monks hold it an honester thing for a priest to be entangled with many concubines in secret then openly to be ioyned in mariage with one wife He put him in prison Foure things increase the miseries of a man in custodie the
their tentes about vs and keepe vs in all our wayes Indeed God is able to defend vs himselfe by himselfe thorough his immediate concourse which he hath in all things but to manifest his abundant loue to men which are wormes and rottennes and mere vanity he doth inioyne the pages of his honour princes of his court euen his glorious Angels to become messengers and Ministers for their sakes who shal be heires of saluation that all the time of this life in the houre of death and in the day of iudgement The good which Angels procure to the Saints in this life concerneth either the body or the soule as for the body these ministring spirits attend vs euen from the beginning of our dayes vnto the end most carefully performing all manner of offices appertaining necessarilie to the preseruation of our temporall life When Agar cast out of Abrahams family wandered in the wildernes an Angel appeared vnto her and aduised her to returne to her mistresse and to humble her selfe vnder her hands the reuenging Angels caught and carried Lot out of Sodom and Gomorrha before they did burne those Cities with fire and brimstone Abraham as being assured of the protection of Gods Angels in all his wayes said vnto his seruant the Lord God of heauen who tooke me from my fathers house c. will send his Angel before thee when Iacob feared his brother Esau hee met Angels comming vnto him and thereupon he did acknowledge that they should be his guard in his iourney saying this is Gods host an Angel appeared vnto Duke Iosua when he was about to sacke Iericho with a drawen sword in his hand as a captaine to fight for Israel an Angel comforted and fed Elias when he fled from Iezebel an Angel deliuered the three children out of the fierie furnace Dan. 3. An Angel assisted Daniel in the Lyons denne and kept him also from all manner of hurt Dan. 6. An Angel directed Ioseph to flie into Egypt An Angel ministred vnto Christ in his heauines and in our present text the Lords Angel brought Peter out of prison and deliuered him out of the hands of Herod and from all the waiting of the people of the Iewes Angels procure good vnto the soules of the faithfull illuminando confortando saith Aquine because they be maintainers and furtherers of the true worship of God and of all good meanes whereby saluation is attained The law was deliuered in mount Sina by the hands of Angels an Angel expounded vnto Daniel the 70. weekes an Angel forbids Iohn to worship him and inioyneth him to worship God the creatour of heauen and earth an Angel declared the will of God vnto father Abraham that he should not kill his sonne Isaac an Angel reuealed the mystery of Christs conception vnto the Virgin his mother of Christs birth vnto certaine shepheards in the field attending their flockes by night Luke 2. 10. Of Christs resurrection vnto Mary Magdalen and other deuout women Mat. 28. 5. In a word Angels are pursiuants harbingers and Heralds betwixt heauen and earth alwayes in a readines to make knowne the will of God vnto men In the houre of death Angels conuey the soules of the faithfull as they did the soule of Lazarus into blessed Abrahams bosome And in the day of iudgement they shall gather together all Gods elect from the foure windes and from the one end of heauen vnto the other that they may come before Christ and enter into the fruition of eternall glory both in body and soule The vse of this doctrine is manifold 1. It serues to terrifie the wicked who despise Gods children for so Christ himselfe reasoneth Mat. 18. 10. Despise not one of these little ones because I say vnto you that in heauen their Angels alway behold the face of my father It behoues reuiling scoffers therfore to take heed whoÌ„ they mocke for though happily good men called little ones in respect of their innocency and humility for their parts are content to put vp abuses and iniuries yet their Angels may take iust reuenge by smiting them as they did Herod in this Chapter with heauy punishments for their offences 2. This may teach vs humility for if Angels high and holy serue vs let vs not thinke it any bad or base dutie to serue one another in loue 3. Wee may learne from hence to behaue our selues in open and in secret places after a reuerent and seemely manner as being spectacles vnto glorious Angels which are witnesses and obseruers of all our words and deeds To this purpose Paul saith that the woman ought to haue power on her head because of the Angels That is not onely the Ministers of the Church but Gods heauenly Angels which daily wait vpon his children and guard them in all their waies 4. This ought to stirre vs vp vnto the Lords praise saying with Dauid Lord what is man that thou hast such respect vnto him or the sonne of man that thou shouldest so regard and guard him Alas all flesh is grasse and man is like a thing of nought yet behold if hee truely loue God all things are for his good for God is his father the Church his mother Christ his brother the holy Ghost his comforter Angels his attendants all other creatures his subiects the whole world his Inne and heauen his home I will end this obseruation with a meditation of S. Augustine O Lord thou makest thy spirits messengers for my sake to whom thou hast giuen charge ouer me to keepe me in all my waies that I hurt not my foote against a stone For these are the watchmen ouer the walles of the new Hierusalem and of the mountaines about the same which attend and keepe watch ouer the flocke lest he as a Lion make a prey of our soules while there is none to deliuer he I meane that old serpent our aduersary the diuell who walketh about as a roaring Lion seeking whom he may deuoure These Citizens of Hierusalem aboue walke with vs in all our wayes they goe in and out with vs diligently considering how godly and how honestly we doe walke in the midst of a naughty and crooked generation how earnestly wee seeke the kingdome of God and the righteousnes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of with what feare and trembling we doe serue â—…hee and how our hearts reioyce in thee O Lord those which labour they strengthen those which rest they protect such as fight they encourage they crowne such as ouercome they reioyce with such as reioyce such I meane as reioyce in thee and they suffer with such as suffer I say with such as suffer for thy names sake great is the care which they haue of vs and great is the affection of their loue toward vs and all this for the honour of thine inestimable good will
for them both and therefore the question here for maiority was not vpon that occasion it was happily cherished by it but engendred in their mindes long before for that Christ had admitted none of his Apostles to the sight of his transfiguration and the raising of Iayrus daughter from the dead saue Peter and Iames and Iohn Or it may bee this emulation arose for that Christ had said vnto Peter Mat. 16. 19. I will giue vnto thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen c. But what neede we so curiously to seeke for the reason of this quaere seeing these two things are certaine 1. A desire to be like Gods on earth is an in-bred sinne deriued from the transgression of our first parents Adam and Eue 2. The Diuell is euer most busie to nourish this ambitious humor in the ministers of the word as it is apparent in the Gospell and Churches history What a deale of time was vsually spent in the Councels about precedence of Bishops and in our age the question of the Popes primacie is termed by Cardinall Bellarmine Summa rei Christianae Came the Disciples vnto Iesus In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdome and knowledge and this fact of theirs is imitable for when any doubt ariseth in our mindes concerning the kingdome of heauen it is our best way to come vnto Iesus who lighteth euery man that commeth into the world If any lacke wisdome saith S. Iames in â—…is Epistle cap. 1. verse â—… let him aske of God for God is only wise Rom. 16. 27. Come therefore to his law to his testimony search his Scriptures which are able to teach and instruct and to make the man of God absolute 2. Tim. 3. 16. 17. And for the better vnderstanding of the dead letter come to his liuing Oracles and walking Bibles I meane the true Prophets and learned Preachers of his word for he cals them expresly the light of the world and their lips should preserue knowledge praeuij sunt monstrantes sâ—…mitam in scriptâ—…ris Come to Iesus come to the word of Iesus come to the Preachers of the word of Iesus least happily the Lord say to you as he did once to the Iewes ye haue not asked at my mouth Esay 30. 2. Who is the greatest in the kingdome of heauen It is certaine that there arose a disputation among them which of them should be greatest and yet to cloake their ambitious pride they doe not aske who shall be greatest among vs but indefinitly who is the greatest in the kingdome of heauen vnderstanding by the kingdome of heaâ—…en the kingdome of Christ in this world for they carnally conceâ—…ed that Christ after his resurrection would restore the kingdome of Israel and so reigne as a Monarch vpon earth and therefore they make suite to sit next to him at his right hand and on his left in his kingdome I know Chrysostome construeth it of the kingdome of heauen in that other world condemning the men of his age because they did not attaine to the defects of the Disciples all our question is saith he who shall be greatest in the kingdomes vpon earth and not who shall be greatest in the kingdome of heauen But by Chrysostomes leaue to contend who shall be greatest in heauen is charity not vanity Luke 1â—… â—…4 Striue to enter in at the straite gate As in the Aâ—…ke there was three lofts one aboue another euen so there be many mansions in Gods house Iohn 14. 2. There bee degrees among the Saints in heauen as there be degrees among Angels there is a Prophets reward and a Disciples reward Mat. 10. 41. 42. We should therefore striue to bee greatest in heauen out-stripping one another in goodnes as they who runne in a race 1. Cor. 9. 24. Againe it is apparent by Christs answere both in our present text and also Mat. 20. and Luke 22. That his Disciples expected a kingdome after the fashion of this world dreaming that he should reigne as a Soueraigne and themselues domineere like Dukes and Lords vnder him They call it indeed the kingdome of heauen in imitation of their master often tearming his kingdome the kingdome of heauen or for that they thought his kingdome though vpon earth should notwithstanding be diuine and heauenly see Gospell on S. Iames and on S. Barthelomewes day Iesus called a childe vnto him Iesus seeing the thoughts of his Disciples and vnderstanding the causes of their errour heales the desire of glory with the contention of humility in reading of his lecture S. Marke reports that he sat downe now we finde in the Gospels history that the Doctors among the Iewes in their teaching vsed sometime to stand and sometime to sit Peter in Hierusalem and Paul at Antiochia preached standing but the Scribes and the Pharisees are said to sit in Moses chaire Mat. 23. 2. So Christ himselfe sometime taught standing as Luke 6. 17. And sometime sitting both in the mount and in the temple It may bee therefore that it was the Iewes custome partly to stand and partly to sit for Christ as it is apparent in the 4. Chapter of S. Luke preaching at Nazareth in the Synagogue stood vp when he read his text and sate downe when he did expound it Whatsoeuer the Iewes order was at this instant there was noâ—… fitter gesture for Christ then sitting for this as Augustine notes shewed that hee taught as one which had authority When he was sate downe he called all the twelue doubtles hee knew who they were which ambitiously contended to be greatest in his kingdome yet he called all his Apostles as being assured that his lesson of Humilitie was exceeding necessarie for them all It is reported in the 20. chapter of this Gospell how Iames and Iohn only desired to sit on his right hand and on his left in his kingdome yet Christ admonished them all and said Yee know that the Princes of the nations haue dominion ouer them and they that are great exercise authoritie vpon them it shall not be so with you but whosoeuer will be chiefe among you let him be your seruant Now the reason why Christ and after him his Church vse generall admonitions in rebuking of particular malefactors which are worse then the rest is two-fold First That the delinquents may the better admit that checking which is common and not particular or personall 2. That such as haue not offended in that kind may learne to be more carefull in their waies and to hate the garment spotted by the flesh as S. Iude speakes Often hauing in mind the saying of Augustine Aut sumus aut fuimus aut possumus esse quod hic est When Christ had called his Apostles vnto him he set a childe in the midst of them as it followeth in our present text
to the Magistrate ciuill or ecclesiasticall giues place to diuine Iudgement for as much as all higher powers are Gods ordinance substituted Iudges and deputies in his place See Epist. 3. Sund. after Epiphan Lastly like to children as Christ expounds himselfe in humblenesse and harmelesnesse In humblenesse v. 4. Whosoeuer humbleth himselfe as this child c. In harmlesnesse vers 6. Whosoeuer offendeth one of these little ones c. So S. Ambrose Theophylact Euthymius and other as well ancient as moderne writers As if Christ should haue said Except ye turne from your ambition and indignation and become like to children little ones in your minds as they be little ones in their bodies vnlesse ye become that by grace which children are by nature ye shall not enter into the kingdome of Heauen I say by grace for euery good gift is from aboue descending from the Father of lights and therefore Christ here said not as one notes Nisi efficiatis vos sicut parâ—…los sed nisi efficiamini To become like to little children in humblenesse is not in our power it is the worke of Gods hand and help Yet to shew that we must as we may worke with his preuenient grace Christ addeth in the next clause Whosoeuer humbleth himselfe according to the saying of Gregorie The good which a man doth is both the worke of God and the worke of man of God as being author in giuing grace of man as being an actor in vsing grace yet so that he co-operate with grace by grace See Epist. Sun 11. and 14. after Trinit and Gospell on S. Markes day Whosoeuer humbleth himselfe That is humbleth his heart for as Plato said euery mans soule is himselfe it is not sufficient that our words are humble our gestures humble our habits humble though I see that be more then many professors in our age will afford vnles our soules and our selues are humble Lord said Dauid I am not puft in minde I doe not exercise my selfe in great matters which are too high for me but I refraine my soule and keepe it low like as a childe that is weyned from his mother yea my soule is euen as a weined childe Men of great wits are commonly state-criticks ouer curious eaues-dropers of the Counsaile table prying into the secrets of court and Prince so long vntill in fine they complaine with Actaeon cur aliquid vidi for when our hearts are sowred with the leauen of our pride there ariseth often times a bitternes out of the stomacke into the mouth so that we cannot forbeare to speake ill of such as are in authority yea prophanely of the Kings sacred Maiesty the spirit of wisdome giueth another rule studie to be quiet and to meddle with your owne busines A priuate person hath a common wealth of his owne let him intend the gouernment thereof in prouiding for his houshold in laying vp for his children in reioycing with the wife of his youth abounding with all workes of piety toward God and pitty toward his neighbour He that thus humbleth himselfe as a little childe the same doubtles is a good subiect vnto the King and shall hereafter proue the greatest in the kingdome of heauen All they which are drunken are not drunken with wine saith Esay for there is a drie drunkennes as well as a wet ambition is a drie drunkennes making such as are giuen ouer to humours of vaine glory to stagger often in the way and sometime reele out of the way This kinde of drunkennes made Lucifer reele out of heauen Adam out of paradice Saul out of his kingdome Nabuchadonozer out of mens society to conuerse with beasts It is impossible that great ones I meane such as are drunken with their owne greatnes should either walke in the narrow path or enter in at the straite gate only little ones are great ones in Gods kingdome So the text here whosoeuer humbleth himselfe as a little childe the same is greatest in the kingdome of heauen So the text elsewhere blessed are the poore in spirit for theirs is the kingdome of heauen theirs is the kingdome of grace which is heauen on earth and theirs is the kingdome of glory which is heauen in heauen See Gospell on all Saints day The Epistle 2. TIM 4. 5. Watch thou in all things suffer afflictions c. THis Epistle was written by Paul at Rome in his last apprehension and imprisonment there for so we may gather out of these wordes Cap. 1. verse 16. Onesiphorus was not ashamed of my chaine but when hee came to Rome carefully sought me and found me c. It is an admonition vnto Timothy to stirre vp the gift of God in him by the putting on of handes and that is done by preaching sound Doctrine painefully and by suffring for the same patiently This our text then is a short abridgement of the chiefe points in the whole letter for Paul exhortes Timothie to diligent preaching of the truth in saying watch thou in all things doe the worke of an Euangelist and to Martyrdome for the truth in saying suffer afflictions and to both in saying fulfill thine office vnto the vttermost all which exhortations are hedged in as it were with a forcible reason at each side 1. Timotheus ought to bee vigilant in executing his office thoroughly because the time will come when as men shall not endure wholesome Doctrine c. 2. Because Paul cannot any longer continue to helpe him I am now ready to be offred and the time of my departing is at hand c. Watch thou in all things The time will come when as men will not endure sound doctrine but hauing their eares itching shall after their owne lustes get them aâ—… heape of teachers and shall turne away their eares from the truth and shall be giuen vnto fables And therefore while thou hast time before this dangerous time come that greiuous wolues enter in among you be watchfull ouer the flocke committed vnto thy charge such as haue itching eares are like to proue scabby sheepe and therefore preuent that mangie disease by possessing their eares with a forme of sound wordes Before they turne away from the truth and giue themselues vnto fables instruct them in meeknes preach the word in season and out of season reproue rebuke exhorte be watchfull in discipline and doctrine yea vigilant in all things that is in all things which are profitable for thine hearers or in all the workes of an Euangelist and offices of thy calling vse watchfulnes or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be construed of all men as if he should haue said the time will euen shortly come when as many shall not endure wholesome doctrine but endeauour thou to conuert all sortes of men vnto the truth according to that Mat. 28. 19. Goe teach all nations and