they who sow in tears shall reap in joy and be made partakers of the Anthems of Angels and glorified Spirits through Jesus Christ our only Mediator and Advocate Amen The Anthem for Monday The CREATION I. THE Mighty God long in his Palace dwelt Blest without want of other Things E're Time had plum'd his Silver Wings Or Heaven and Earth the powerful Voice had felt For ever happy in themselves alone Were th' undivided Three and One E're sensual Transports or voluptuous Arts were known II. But when the great Prolifick Word went forth Then every Thing began to be The Light broke from Obscurity Light which we use but do not know its worth The spacious Tent of Heaven was smoothly spread Like Curtains to the Earths Green Bed With most Illustrious Torches richly furnished III. The Waters which before made one great Deep And like a deluge did appear Floating confusedly every where Aw'd by th' Almighty Word their distance keep Part into th' Earth's vast hollows did retreat While the rest in Heaven fix their seat But when the Showers fall these distant Brethren meet IV. In Heaven was plac't the Prince of Day the Sun Adorn'd with Beams of strongest Light While over the dull shades of Night The Stars bear rule and over them the Moon Who does not only o're the night preside But guards the motion of the Tide In which the turbulent Whale and all the lesser Fry do glide V. The Earth was in her loveliest Verdure clad Her Fruits and Blossoms kindly grew VVater'd with soft and balmy dew The Forrests smil'd and every Field was glad Anumerous Herd cover'd this Fertile Space The Beasts of a more generous race And those that were for burthens made here found a place VI. In the expanded Air upon the VVing The Fowls did range of which some flew For shelter others did pursue Some hoarsly sereecht others did sweetly sing In that vast Region Lightnings first take Fire There VVinds and Thunders do conspire And Comets do forebode when Princes shall expire VII When all things thus were order'd God made man Whose Ornaments of Soul and meen To Heaven declar'd him to be kin At first view all the Creatures round him ran Lord of the World was Adam at his birth His Territory the whole Earth And nought was in his Kingdom heard but innocent mirth VIII In Eden did this mighty Prince keep house Eden where every thing was gay And all the Year did look like May. There did he fall in love with Eve his spouse But Heavens first blessing straight became a curse Of all his Evils she the source Enticing him to fall who could not fall by Force IX Thus shorter was deluded Adam's Reign Than Persian Kings their Slaves allow Whose three days Royalty's a show Which ended the mock Monarch must be slain The difference lies in this the Persian slave Unwillingly goes to his Grave But man refus'd to live when Mercy would him save Tuesday before EASTER THis Day was called the Holy and great Tuesday or the third Day of the great Week for the more solemn Festivals of the Christian Church never wanted their Appendages they had their Antecedent Fasts as Advent was to Christmas and the Lent to Easter and perhaps this was the Reason why the Rogation week preceeded Whitsuntide whereas else the whole fifty Days ought to have been days of Exultation and rejoicing as also after the great Festivals succeeded the Octaves which were eight days of Gladness attendant on the extraordinary Solemnity when by the Laws of the * Constit Ap. li. 8. c. 33. Church and by the Authority of the ‖ V. Scalig de Emend Temp. p. 730. Epiph. Haer. 70. Empire servants were exempted from Work and all People kept Holyday according to a very Ancient Practice Now as the whole forty days of Lent were a preparation to the Paschal Festival so the Offices suited to that time of self-denial were doubled on this last week that put a period to that Fast and that all such devout and mortified Penitents might not want the ghostly comfort which was requisite on such an occasion on this week * Cypr. Ep. 56. the absent Bishops returned to their Churches whatever had caused their absence that they might give the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist to their People and that now * Conc. Nic. c. 5. also they might hold their yearly Synods at the time appointed that all disputes might be quieted all quarrels reconciled all abuses rectified and all hinderances removed that might obstruct a general receipt of the Holy Communion And because this Week was called the Passion Week therefore in the Ancient Church as in ours the History of our Blessed Redeemers sufferings as it is recorded by the Four Evangelists was read to the People that nothing relating to that performance on our behalf might be omitted and that the Congregation might be continually put in mind of their obligations to their Saviour The Epistle Rom. 8.1 THere is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit The Gospel John 14 15. IF ye love me keep my Commandments and I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it sees him not neither knows him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you I will not leave you comfortless I will come unto you yet a little while and the world sees me no more but ye see me because I live ye shall live also The MEDITATION IT is the great Honour as well as the Happiness of the Christian World that the good things which our Religion promises its Proselites stoop not to our senses but gratifie our Reasons for were Pleasure all the Felicity of a pious Man how much better were it to be a Bruit since the greatest Epicure never lived so voluptuously as the Beasts that perish they eat they sleep with an uncontroulable freedom and whenever their inclinations lead them to it they live above the restraint of Laws and whatever they desire they pursue without the fear of being countermanded in the Attempt by reason or scourged afterwards by the lashes of Conscience they are under no necessity of Building Planting or Sowing the liberal Provisions which Nature makes them are both their Palace and their Feast they do not foresee dangers nor make their lives uneasie by studying to prevent them nor do they
And these were the Subjects of all the Sermons of those days And there was nothing expresly required from the person who came to the Font but a solemn profession of the Articles of the Creed And upon this profession the Catechumen was baptized and after his Baptism immediately admitted to the Lord's Supper When therefore I know and understand that our blessed Saviour by his precious Death sealed a Covenant with God in the behalf of Mankind and that I have solemnly in my Baptism ratified my part of that agreement resolving no further to depend on his Merits than I obey his Laws When I understand that I must be truly penitent for my former Offences and ought to live better for the future when I believe all Gods promises of Mercy and Salvation made to me in Christ Jesus and am convinc'd that I ought to be thankful for that Mercy to God and charitable to all Mankind then I suppose I have knowledg enough to intitle me to this Ordinance For if my search after knowledg should engage me in the Labyrinths of the Schools and I must not receive till I am able to demonstrate how Christ were present there and to comprehend all the Arguments that are brought for and against Transubstantiation I might perhaps be always seeking but I should never come to the knowledg of the truth And if I happen'd to understand what I enquired after should probably be never the better For what advance hath that man made in Christianity that hath spent his days in the little questions of the School men how one body can be hid under the accidents of another body * Suarez to 3. disp 51. how the whole body can be so present as that what was cut off in his circumcision should not be wanting Or whether a Rat when he nibbles a Consecrated Host doth communicate and truly eat the substantial Body and Blood of Christ with many other such Impertinencies to give them the softest Name Whereas one day spent in the due consideration how I shall receive worthily and how I shall live more piously gives me more useful knowledg than an Age of controversal studies That God is present in the Sacrament I have infallible Authority to assure me Thy Word O my Saviour is sufficient to command my belief but the mystery is enough to stifle my curiosity And to seek to know more than thou art willing to reveal were to derogate from the Reverence due to thy Oracles and Authority For how can I pretend to describe so transcendent an Institution which the Angels themselves stoop to look into This Sacrament was ordain'd for better purposes than to puzzle and confound It was design'd to strengthen and confirm to bind us to remember God and our selves to remember his love and our Returns of gratitude For the deepest speculations seldom make a man more wise or more holy but the knowledg of Jesus Christ and him crucified I am sure is the true method to endear me to God The business of a good man is not to amuse but to prepare himself to communicate with his Saviour The understanding of a Religious soul is vastly different from that of a great Scholar and the Wisdom that comes down from above consists not in Word but in Power I am resolved therefore not to meddle with the quarrels of the different parties of Christendom While they dispute I will pray while they sacrifice their Charity to the maintenance of their Faith I will pursue after peace and holiness And by that means I doubt not but I shall be fit to communicate here and to see God in Heaven The Collect. TO thee the only wise God from whom comes every good and perfect gift does my soul in her Necessities address her self beseeching thee who givest liberally and without grudging to enlighten my understanding with the beams of truth and to lead me to the Palace of Wisdom Give me less of that Knowledg that swells and makes vain and more of that Charity that edifies Enable me in all my Engagements to contend for Truth and not for Victory in all my Reading to be more in love with the Piety of the discourse than the Eloquence that all my Reasonings may be subdued and every thought brought in captivity to the obedience of Christ And since my proficiency in thy School O my best of Masters is not to be judg'd of by my being honour'd with Visions or enabled to unriddle Mysteries not by the Eminency of Learning or Station but by a transcendent Piety an Angelical Conversation and a profound Humility give me to this end thy Grace and let thy Holy Spirit govern me because without those Assistances all Learning is but Neise all Wisdom Craft and all my Natural Powers Impotence my Virtues but Formality and my Devotions but Pretence so shall my Knowledg no longer consist in empty Notion but shall exert it self into practise And I shall so follow thee my dearest Saviour here as I may live with thee for ever Amen CHAP. VIII Of the Study of the Holy Scriptures IF the most useful wisdom be that which is practical instead of busying my self with Books of Controversie I will be a diligent Reader of the Holy Scriptures For they are the Oracles of God able to make me wise to salvation and perfect unto every good work In those Oracles there is nothing trifling and impertinent nothing doubtful or obscure of the things which belong to my eternal welfare * Dionys Areop Eccl. hierar c. 3. For the whole Book of Holy Scriptures saith the Eloquent Father doth set before us either the creation and disposal of all things by the divine Power or the Polity and Government both of Church and State under the Law or the distribution and possession of the inheritance which God had given to his peculiar people or an account of the wisdom of their sacred Judges their holy Kings and devout Priests or the undaunted courage and bravery of their Patriarchs under all sorts of Affliction or excellent holy Precepts how to govern our Actions or the Songs of heavenly Love and the Idea's of Divinity imprinted on the Mind or the prophecies of future things or the Atchievements of the Son of God in our Humane Nature or the Acts and holy Discourses of the Apostles deliver'd to them from God and done in imitation of him or the mystical and abstruse Visions of his beloved and inspired Disciple In these shall be my delight and in these will I spend my time These Oracles alone can charm my Passions and allay my Griefs And what a dishonour is it to us * Olearii Iâ—iner that the Turks in their Schools should teach their children nothing but to read and write and remember the sentences of the Alcoran which is their Scripture and that the poor * Abudac c. 22. p. 29. Coptite Christians tho under severe and cruel bondage to their Mahometan enemies should take care to instruct their Youth in
for the Laws of our Religion oblige me to die for thee And by so doing I make a noble change I barter a few transitory trifles for eternity I give a small pittance of my wealth and with it I purchase the prayers of the poor and indigent who generally pray heartiest and are heard soonest and I gain Heaven by it For it * Acts 20.35 is much more blessed to give than to receive Nor will a narrow and necessitous Fortune make an excuse For tho a man cannot build an Hospital or redeem a number of Captives yet he may deal his bread to the hungry and cover the naked with a Garment Or if this be above his Circumstances and Estate yet he can give good advice and a good example and he can pray for all mankind to that God who gives liberally and without grudging and this is a noble peice of Charity The Collect. O God whose Nature and Property is ever to have Mercy and to do good send down thy Holy Spirit into my Heart that I may love my Neighbour as my self and do unto all men as I would they should do unto me endeavouring as much as lies in me to promote the welfare and salvation of all the world and by earnest Prayers pious Advices and a good Example to advance thi Kingdom of our Holy Saviour till the Number of his Elect be accomplished through the Merits and Mediation of our only Mediator and Advocate Amen CHAP. XIII Of Vnity MY Love to my Neighbour is discovered 1. by my union and peaceableness 2. By my Alms. 1. By my Union for this is one great end of the Sacrament to unite all Christians in the bond of peace For * 1 Cor. 10.17 we are one body says St. Paul because we are partakers of one bread and therefore the primitive Christians had their publick Love-Feasts joyn'd as an Appendix to the Holy Sacrament in which persons of all Sexes Characters and Degrees did promiscuously partake of Gods blessings and made the meeting properly an Eucharist and some old * Glos MS. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Glossaries say that the Lord's Supper in S. Paul is this Love-Feast and to testifie the sincerity of their Love they gave the Holy Kiss each to other before they approacht the Holy Table which they called the sign of Reconciliation * Cyril Catech. Mystag 5. and the ‡ Act. Pass Perpet Faelicit p. 35. solemnities of peace and some learned men affirm that they gave it also a second time just before their departure out of Churh and then they called it * Tert. de Orat. cap. 14. the seal or close of their Devotion tho ‡ Legat. pro. Christ p 41. Athenagoras expresly affirms that it was forbidden by the Canons of the Church that any person should give this Kiss a second time as the * Act. Mart. ubi supr Martyrs also saluted one another before their deaths as a token that they went out of the world in perfect Charity and in the Communion of the Church of God And to this time on Easter-day and a fort-night after the * Olear Itin. l. 2. p. 53. Moscovites wherever they meet use this custom Nor may any person of what condition sex or quality soever dare to refuse this Kiss And in the * Sandy 's Trav. l. 1. p. 62. Greek Church now tho it be an insufferable wrong to kiss a Greek woman at any other time yet between the Feasts of the Resurrection and Ascension it is allowed when they greet one another with these words Christ is risen For it is this Sacrament that does unite us in our holy brotherhood by Vertue of which we are impowered to acknowledg one Father which is God to be made partakers of one and the same spirit of Holiness and to be set free from the powers of darkness and admitted into the only true light For every man who is a believer is a brother and no one else for * Vid. Chrys Hom. 25. in Ep. ad Hebr. the terms are reciprocally used by the Apostle it being also anciently given to those who were called The Faithful * Just M. Apol. 2. as they were distinguisht from the persons under catechizing or penance And therefore in those best days as no man durst travel to any Foreign Church in expectation of admission into their Communion or receiving their Assistance and Relief without Letters Testimonial from the Church which he left so they who were so recommended were acknowledged as Good Catholick and Orthodox Christians by their admission to the participation of the Lords Supper And among the Clergy it was an ancient custom to send pieces of the consecrated bread of the Eucharist * Iren. apud Euseb l. 5. cap. 24. from one Bishop to another as a Symbol and Mark of Communion till the Council of * Can. 14. Laodicea out of reverence to the Sacrament forbad it the Prelates afterwards instead of the consecrated bread sending some parcels of the bread destin'd to and prepared for the Holy Sacrament Now this mutual participation of Sacraments and other Offices of Religion is not unfitly thought by some men to be meant by that Article of the Apostle's Creed The Communion of Saints the Holy Catholick Church being so denominate from those sacred Rites which are in common to all Christians whereby they are not only united to God their Saviour but have fellowship one with another And to this purpose the ancient Church thought fit in the beginning of the Communion-service when none were present but those who were compleat Christians and in intire Communion with the Church in all Ordinances to recite out of the Diptychs which were never read but at the Altar not only the Names of the famous Princes and Bishops who were alive as a testimony that they held communion with them but also of all the Saints departed of the Mother of God the Apostles Martys Confessors and others that they might give a publick testimony to the world that they lived in the profession of the same Orthodoxy for which some of those Saints were martyred and in which they all died magnifying the Name of Christ for his goodness to his Church in calling it out of darkness into marvellous light and making them children of God And whosoever was left out of those Tables was by that Omission excommunicate as is famously known in the case of St. Chrysostom Since therefore all these holy usages are so many lessons of Peace and Union I will avoid all Schism as carefully as I shun the paths of death and I will conscientiously keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace I will honour my superiors and obey their Laws I will reverence my Holy Mother the Church and value her Communion and will study to be quiet and to do my own business The Collect. KEep O Lord thy Universal Church with thy perpetual Mercy in thy true Religion and
in constant peace and godliness that all thy faithful people may do unto thee true and laudable service and through thy protection may be free from all adversities and devoutly given to serve thee in all good works that all who are baptized into the Death of thee O Holy Jesus may die unto sin and rise again unto newness of life Peace and Love hast thou made the sum of the Old Law and injoyned as a new Commandment in the Gospel Thy first Message to the World was peace on Earth and thy last Legacy was peace to thy Disciples Be thou pleas'd therefore to convince all Hereticks to reclaim all Schismaticks and to correct the prophane and irreligious cement our breaches allay our passions pacifie our minds grant that we may all speak the same things and that there be no Divisions among us convince us that tho different Modes of Worship shall not disinherit a man of thy favour yet disobedience to Government is a great sin Let the Holy Dove hover over those waters and allay the tempest and let it teach the world to follow after the things that make for peace that Jerusalem may be as a City at unity with her self and all her children may love and praise thee who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest ever one God world without end Amen CHAP. XIV Of Alms. IT is also another end of this Sacrament to engage all who receive it to pity the poor the Alms of the Communicants being usually called * Vid. Hebr. 13.15 the Sacrifice because rendred by way of Oblation to God and given to the poor as his Bedesmen And canst thou O my soul imagine that thou dost duly observe the Lord's day and reverence his Sacrament when thou comest to Church without thy Oblation Nay such an honour was it in the Primitive Church to give Alms that all men were not thought worthy the honour of being admitted to the Offertory tho permitted to enjoy the other priviledges of Religion * Constit Apost l. 4. c. 5 c. For neither the unjust Publican nor the Usurer nor the Executioner nor any promoter of debauchery and looseness were allowed this liberty For they seriously discountenanced all Fraud and Vice and accounted that man a Reprobate who endowed a Church with the spoils of the poor They would not admit of that Shop-keeper to the Communion who put upon the ignorance of a Customer and made him pay more for what he bought than the thing was really worth nor would they allow that man to give his Estate to pious uses who had gotten it by Extortion and robbing the Fatherless And how should this present Age blush when we consider this especially when we remember that where no Law bound but that of Natural Conscience some Heathens were ashamed to commit such Iniquity Thus * Vit. Isidor apud Phot. cod 242. p. 555. Hermeas of Alexandria when an ignorant person offer'd to sell him a book for less than the value corrected the illiterate man's mistake told him the book was more worth and gave him the full price for it And thus * Knolles Turk Hist S. Selim. p. 561. the great Selim the first of that Name when in the Agonies of death his beloved Bassa Pyrrhus advised him to erect an Hospital with the money which had by his Order been unjustly taken from the Persian Merchants smartly replied ' Wouldest thou O my Pyrrhus that I should bestow the Goods of other men wrongfully taken from them upon works of Charity and Devotion for my own Praise and Vain-glory No see they be again restored to the right Owners and then I may die in peace Where are the Christians who think themselves thus obliged And how few are there of us who do not fall short of these Examples of Heathens and Mahometans And in truth Justice is a duty so sacred that my Alms are Robbery without it the best actions which are founded in injuries being such sacrifices as were offered in Tophet where Murther was the Oblation And to this day it is a * Bava Metz. 59.1 Maxim among the Jews tho the greatest Usurers in the world that when the Sanctuary was destroyed all the gates of prayer were shut up except the gate of fraudulent usages that is that tho God may be deaf to all other prayers yet his ears are always open to the cry of those who have been injured defrauded and rob'd My Alms therefore ought to be of Goods justly gotten and of them must I make my distribution with all chearfulness and as often as God gives me any opportunity Nay it is my duty to seek for occasions of beneficence and to * Rom. 12.13 be given to Hospitality that is to be earnest and unwearied in the pursuit of all opportunities of being charitable Which command was so intirely complied with in the Apostles time that * Acts 4.34 every believer sold his Estate and made one common stock for themselves and their poorer brethren the Apostles being the distributers of that stock to every man as he had need And tho some men affirm that this custom lasted but a little while because in St. Paul's time * 1 Cor. 16.2 the men of Corinth were obliged to lay aside every Lord's-day what they devoted to charitable uses yet this Argument does not prove what it is intended to demonstrate For probably they gave their praedial visible Estate to the Church and yet might reserve something out of what they got by their Trades their Profession or Labour to be given weekly to the indigent And when at last that method was antiquated * Tert. Apol. cap. 39. every Christian was obliged once a month or oftner as he was willing to give somewhat to the Church-Treasury And this money was imployed to feed the poor to bury the dead to maintain Orphans and to put them into a capacity to get their own living to make provision for the decrepit by Age or Sickness to cherish the Shipwrack'd and to relieve those who were condemn'd to the Mines or banish'd or cast into prison for the sake of God and Religion So universal was their Charity and so liberal their Inclinations in those good days How then can any man satisfie himself that he is prepared to come to this Sacrament who is negligent of this duty Do not the Mysteries exhibit to me the greatest Instances of my Saviour's Charity and Compassion And can I be his Disciple unless I imitate his Vertues St. Gregory the Great was so scrupulous that when News was brought him that a man was found dead within his Territory he suspecting that he died of want and that the not timely relieving every indigent person did cast an Aspersion on his Government he for that Reason abstained for some time from the Holy Communion And tho I am not willing to cherish such unnecessary scruples yet that man does very rashly thrust himself upon God who neglects
Execution allowed nothing but Preparation for the approaching Solemnity of Easter Nay such Veneration was paid to that Festival that on this Week all Prisoners except a few notorious Criminals were releas'd and in the Regions of Darkness as their Dungeons were Lights were set up the ‖ Ambr. Ep. 33. Cod. Theodos li. 9. Tit. 9. l. 3 4 c. Emperors forgave those who had forfeited their Lives to the Crown and private Persons releas'd their Debtors so that this Week was like the Jubilee or the seventh years release among the Jews for this was the time when God forgave the World their Sins and releas'd them from the Prison of Hell now the War was ended that had been so long maintain'd between God and Man now was Death laid in Grave and Buried the Curse of the Law taken away the Empire of the Devil destroyed and the hinderances of Reconciliation removed and therefore all devout People lookt on themselves as bound to do something equivalent in pardoning those who had offended them in Testimony of their gratitude * Orig. l. 1. in Job Ambr. ub Supr On this Week the Church ordered the reading of the Book of Job in which History they had a plain example in the Afflictions of Job of our Saviour's Sufferings and in his Restoration of our Saviour's Resurrection and ‡ Chrys To. 5. pag. 542. the subject of the Sermons at this time was the duties of Compassion of remitting Injuries and forgiving Enemies of which the time afforded them a signal Example And now also they used to sing the 146 Psalm Praise the Lord O my Soul while I live will I praise the Lord c. The men the Women the aged Persons and the Youth all joyning in this excellent Hymnody And in * Smyth of the Gr. Ch. p. 221. the Greek Church to this day as they read over the Psalter twice every Week in Lent so they read it over but once in this Week ending it on Wednesday from which time to the Saturday acccording to the Ancient Custom it is wholly omitted for from the day of our Masters apprehension to the day of his Resurrection the mystical Body of Christ sympathized with its Head was full of sadness and cover'd with the marks of a deep and solemn Sorrow and therefore intermitted the Psalms which for the most part consist of Thanksgivings and Exultations The Epistle Isa 42.1 BEhold my Servant whom I uphold mine Elect in whom my Soul delights I have put my Spirit upon him he shall bring forth Judgment to the Gentiles he shall not cry nor lift up nor cause his Voice to be heard in the Street A bruised Reed shall he not break and the smoaking Flax shall he not quench he shall bring forth Judgment unto Truth he shall not fail nor be discouraged till be have set Judgment in the Earth and the Isles shall wait for his Law The Gospel Matth. 21.33 THere was a certain Housholder which planted a Vineyard and Hedged it round about and digged a Winepress in it and built a Tower and let it out to Husbandmen and went into a far Country and when the time of the Fruit drew near he sent his Servants to the Husbandmen that they might receive the Fruits of it and the Husbandmen took his Servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another Again he sent other Servants more than the first and they did unto them likewise But last of all he sent unto them his Son saying They will reverence my Son but when the Husbandmen saw the Son they said among themselves This is the Heir come let us Kill him and let us seize on his Inheritance and they caught him and cast him out of the Vineyard and slew him When the Lord therefore of the Vineyard cometh what will he do unto those Husbandmen He will misâ—rably destroy those wicked men and will let out his Vineyard unto other Husbandmen who will render him the Fruits in their seasons The MEDITATION GReat was the Wisdom of the Son of God in adapting his Discourses to the several Genius's Capacities and Needs of his Auditory and tho he were sometimes upbraided with his Birth Education and want of Learning yet truth at other times extorted this Confession from his Enemies Whence hath this man this Wisdom and these mighty Works Nor could the-sharpest Philosopher or the most subtil Rabbi express himself with that Acumen and strength of Reason that the blessed Jesus often uses What Stoick could entertain the World with such Discourses of Self-denial and Mortifying the Passions as the Sermon on the Mount affords us What Platonist could Treat of Divine Love as our dying Saviour does in his last Oration before his Passion What Sophist argue with that readiness and quick address as Christ does when he puzzles the Pharisees with his Dilemma's about St. John's Baptism and the Father of the Messiah What Scribe ever explain'd Moses or interpreted the Prophets so clearly as the Son of God did Nor was the matter only of his Discourses severe and profound as his Knowledg was Infinite and Unlimitted but his very manner of expressing himself had its peculiar Graces sometimes his talk was mystical and his words a Prophetick Riddle when there being no present need the Interpretation was left to the Spirit who was to succeed him but for the most part he expresses himself with a becoming plainess using Similitudes and Parables than which there is no more speedy and effectual method to instruct the Ignorant who are desirous of Knowledg but hardly drawn to pursue after that Wisdom which is not without much Study acquired for there cannot be a plainner because there cannot be a more familiar way of Instruction than this a Parable being commonly taken from things that are seen and so is both a Precept and example at once and by that means not only makes easie impressions on the understanding but as easily sways the Affections and by a certain secret kind of delight wins a man before he is aware but above all it insinuates a reproof without disgust and causes a man insensibly to be the accuser of his own Vices while he condemns the like practices in another and in this manner are the Jews treated in this Parable our Saviour chusing this method to induce them to a belief of his Doctrine and an acknowledgment of their own Enormties Wretched and Infatuated People whom salvation it self cannot rescue from ruin Did God ever deal so graciously with any Nation as with the Jews From a mean and small Original when they were the fewest of all People they insensibly multiplied into vast numbers under the hardships of slavery and tyrannical usage and when Israel was to be no longer a stranger in Aegypt by what stupendious wonders did God deliver them With what a strong Hand and a stretched-out Arm did he take them out of the House of Bondage notwithstanding the Anger of Pharaoh and the Opposition of
of Religion to an Infidel Debauch't and Superstitious World for let Men and Devils combine against such Persons and exert all their Strength and Cunning to ruin them they suffer no more than what their Master hath done already nor can they perish because they are under the Shadow and Protection of the Almighty Not but that Christianity like the Author of it is and always will be attended with Opposition and the contrivances of the Kingdom of Darkness to ruin it but that man does not deserve the Priviledges of the Kingdom of God that cannot be a Martyr for it that cannot patiently suffer an unjust Excommunication from the Synagogue and from Life it self that he may follow his Saviour It is true the Doctrine of the Cross is uncouth and uneasie and Men naturally are unwilling to court Ignominy and Tortures especially when their Bigotted Enemies shall by their uncharitable Censures as much as lies in them destroy their Souls as well as their Reputations and their Lives by pretending the Advancement of Religion and God's Service when they murder the Professors of the best Religion that ever was or shall be in the World But these are the Terms of the Gospel Covenant and this is owning our Master for tho a Man may formally call Christ Lord and yet be shut out of his Kingdom yet no man can say so effectually but by the Holy Ghost and he who will not embrace the Hardships must renounce the Advantages of this Religion Nor is this so disconsolate an Estate as Men imagine for besides that it is better to be afflicted here than to be damn'd for ever that man cannot be miserable whom the Holy Ghost comforts and tho in the World he shall unavoidably meet with Tribulation yet he ought to be of good Chear because he hath Peace in his Saviour who hath by his Death and Resurrection overcome the World and emancipated the Sons of God from a state of Slavery to enstate them into the Glorious Liberty of the Gospel There was no need that the Son of God should have promis'd these Consolations to his Apostles while himself was with them his own Presence was a sufficient Blessing great enough to supply all their wants but this was a Felicity that they were not always to enjoy it being requisite that he should depart to make way for the descent of the Comforter who when he should come into the World should direct the Apostles in the discharge of their duty giving them an intire Account of the Nature Excellency and Extent of their Masters Kingdom and instruct them in all other things which during their Masters Life time their shallow Understandings were capable of comprehending and who also should solidly convince all their Enemies that notwithstanding their Pride and Confidence they were in a state of sin particularly guilty of Unbelief and that nothing but Faith in a Saviour could render them acceptable to God that all their Righteousness whether by the guidance of the Law or by the strength of Nature was insignificant and of no value and that nothing could reconcile the World but the Death of Christ but if this Holy Spirit could not perswade men it should at last assure them that they shall be judg'd for their perverseness for Satan is already condemned and so shall all his Followers be This Spirit our Compassionate Saviour engaged to bestow on his Apostles and as his Performances always out-do even his own Promises so he filled them with Wisdom and Power and the other Gifts of the Holy Ghost till they by the incredible method of suffering and dying overcame all Prejudices and triumpht in the Conquest of the World And so shall all the other Servants of God who sincerely take Jesus for their Master tho they may not be enabled by the Holy Ghost to cure the desperately diseased or to raise the dead tho they cannot allay Tempests or cast out Devils yet their Triumphs shall be as great tho of another Nature the Blessed Spirit shall impower them to mortifie their Lusts to resist Temptations and to raise a Soul dead in Trespasses and Sins to a state of new Life and holy Performances and this in Truth is a nobler Honour and a more beneficial enjoyment than Ability to work Wonders for many that have called others from their Grave have themselves dropt into Hell But he that hath renounc'd himself and despised sensualities shall infallibly enter into unspeakable Joys And now what hinders but that I also should be my Redeemer's Disciple and partake of his Grace Why should any of thy Creatures O my God love thee better than I Why should any of thy Servants tho Prophets Apostles or Martyrs be more conformable to thy Laws than I Hast thou done more for them than me Didst thou not dye for me also And hast thou not given me thy Gospel thy Blood thy Sacraments and the Assistance of thy Spirit Nay hast thou not done more for me in forgiving me more and greater sins than ever they committed And where there is much forgiven should there not also be a proportionable Degree of Love I will therefore hearken diligently to these passionate Words of my dying Saviour and I will remember they are his last Will and Testament and as I hope to enjoy the Legacies that he hath left me of inward Peace and Heavenly Bliss so I will comply with his Desires and perform all that he enjoyns me and so tho I here come behind the Apostles in Age in Knowledg in Zeal and Holiness yet I shall overtake them at the Day of the Retribution of all Things when I shall be enabled to understand all Mysteries and to fulfil all Righteousness and shall share in the Crowns and Scepters that shall be the largesses of that happy time which shall end in Eternity The Collect. HOly Saviour who didst despise secular Pomp and wert the greatest Pattern of Self-denial I most humbly beg thee give 〈◊〉 thy holy Spirit to be my Guide my Instructor and my Comforter that I may pray by its Assistances and be heard for thy Merits and because nothing on Earth can make me truly and perfectly happy I beg nothing more but that Blessed Donative I beg nothing that may gratifie my senses that may please or profit me but what may most honour thee and advance thy Glory that I may love and serve thee and obey thy Commandments now and for evermore Amen The Anthem for Tuesday The NATIVITY I. FRom the lov'd Mansions of the Blest Where true Pleasures are possest Where bright Angels always sing Hallelujahs to their King The lovely Gabriel who does Heav'n adorn The happy Tidings brought Jesus was Born II. Glorious were the Beams that shone Brighter than the Summer Sun Midnight had its Curtains drawn And the Morn was far from dawn When Beams of wondrous Lustre did display Beauties that baffle all the shine of day III. The humble Shepherds stood amaz'd Awful Tremblings had them seiz'd While they
which our Redeemer once offered to cleanse the world from their sins and we offer as often as we communicate setting that Immaculate Lamb before the Eyes of God and by that intreating him to have Mercy upon us For our Saviour commanded us to do as he did at the Institution in remembrance of him not only to our selves and our Neighbours but to God also as the Ancients and the most judicious of the Modern Writers affirm For tho my Saviour was many Hundred Years since Crucified yet he is the Sacrament represented as if his Passion commenc'd at the same time in which the Holy Office is performed and what should hinder my receiving the benefits of his sufferings tho so long since undergone For if by reason of my share in the first Adam's Transgression notwithstanding the vast distance of Time and Place I and every one that is born is infected with Original Sin what should hinder but that the Crucifixion of my Saviour tho transacted so many Ages past and in a Countrey so remote as Judea should be available to my Salvation For as by one mans sin many were made Offenders so by the Obedience of one many are made Righteous The Priest therefore offers a Sacrifice at Gods Altar a commemoration of that one full perfect and intire Sacrifice which was once offered on the Cross And at the same time Jesus our High Priest offers in Heaven pleads his VVounds and the merits of his Death and implores the Divine Pardon and the assistances of Grace for all his Servants And this is as much as the Church can pretend to while it is Militant so under the Old Law the Priests who had admittance into the Temple were denied entrance into the Holy of Holies thither only the High Priest went once a Year but they were not denied the Liberty to direct the smoak of their incense toward that sacred Place and their Prayers and their Incense had access where themselves could not come And so is it in the Christian Congregration for when the Oblation is made we that are concern'd in the Offertory cannot reach Heaven while we are in this state of Imperfection but our High Priest is there already and gives his People liberty thither to address their supplications and the sweet Odours of their Devotion this is the Honour and these the Priviledges that are purchased for the Church by that Sacrifice and secured to it in this Sacrament Blessed Eucharist Glorious things are spoken of it in the Writings of the good men of old It is called the Supernatural Bread the Divine Mysteries the Sacrifice of Sacrifices the Honourable the Holy the Heavenly the unspeakable Gifts the Sacrament of Sacraments the Holy of Holies the food which gives Life and Salvation the nourishment which endears a man to his God which recovers those that languish which recals those who are in error which raises them that are fallen and secures to the dying penitent the rights of Immortality and by way of eminency it is called the Sacrament the blessed and holy Sacrament when we eat of it we feed on the fatness of the Lord's Body and when we drink of it we taste the immortal Blood of our dying Saviour If Manna were Angels food this is the Bread of God and what an honour is it to receive my Saviour If Joseph's Tomb tho but a little and narrow place when it entertain'd the Body of our crucified Lord was by that means made more venerable and august than the Palace of Kings and became more glorious by containing the Son of God than by being the residence of the Angels who there took up their station how much more excellent is my injoyment when I give my dear Saviour a lodging in my heart and my bosom becomes an habitation for the Lord of Life With trembling therefore will I approach the Altar of God I will admire the Mystery and contemplate the circumstances of his Passion in which every word that he spoke was a Sermon for his Cross was his Pulpit and Mount Calvary the House of Prayer for there he prayed for his enemies and from thence he preached patience and submission to his Friends and I will remember his last actions for tho in all his discourses he spake so as never Man spake like him yet he never entertain'd the world with so eloquent and convincing a Sermon as when he went dumb before his persecutors and opened not his mouth when he carried his Cross silently and bore the marks of his adversaries cruelty without murmuring I will remember this my greatest and best Friend I will remember his last words and dying injunctions and I will communicate with him in the benefits of his Passion till his second appearance to judgment when the just shall eat of the Tree of Life in a better Paradise at that time all Signs shall cease all distant methods of conversation shall expire for in Heaven there are no Sacraments so that at the dawning of the day which the Lord himself shall enlighten when no other beams shall be needful but those of the Sun of Righteousness to make it glorious for ever then all Types and symbolical emblems shall be accomplisht then I shall be united to my Jesus and personally enjoy that immediate communion of which these Mysteries are but shadows and remote representations The Collect. BLessed Lord who bast so graciously invited me to partake of the merits of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ conveyed to me in the blessed Sacrament grant that I may receive it to the remission of my past sins and to the preservation of my Soul against future temptations to the correcting of the deformities of my mind and the rooting out all evil customs out of my heart to the inlightening of my understanding to the strengthening of my faith and that I may be able to give a good account at the dreadful seat of thy judicature help me to spend this day and every day in thy fear and in the offices of holy Religion let thy Mercy pardon me thy Angels guard me and thy Goodness lead me to repentance that I may live and dye thine for Jesus Christ's sake our only Mediator and Advocate Amen The Anthem PETER Mourning IN a cold dark and melancholly night To gloomy shades which did augment the sright Where dismal horrors and confusion dwell And ghastly sights that made the place like Hell The trembling Peter tends and with swoln eyes Deeply laments his fear and cowardise Wretch that I am thus to deny my Lord Fit to be scorn'd by men by God abhorr'd Disconsolate and sad where shall I fly T'escapte the lightnings of my Master's eye That glance that passionate and killing look When Jesus turn'd his head me thunder strook Sufficient was the warning which was given By the infallible Oracle of Heaven Peter said my wise Master boast no more The rich in brags are in performance poor In vain thou promisest with me to dye Thou e're
thy sight for all mankind especially for the houshold of faith through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen May the Blessing of God Almighty the Father Son and Holy Ghost be with me and remain with me now and for evermore Amen § 28. And because the blessings of an Easter are very valuable and deserve extraordinary returns the good Christian thinks fit after the Evening Service at Church is over to return again to his Closet to converse with his holy Saviour and to exercise those acts of Love of Faith of Contrition and Hope and other Graces which for want of leisure or other conveniences could not so well be performed in the House of God to which he subjoins this or the like Meditation The MEDITATION § 30. I Am now return'd from that happy place that is preferable to Paradise where I have been treated with a Feast of fat Things and Wine well refined and what does my Lord require of me in point of Gratitude for these his inestimable benefits but to do Justice to love Mercy and to walk humbly with my God For every thing in this Sacrament obliges me to holiness of Life the Institutor of it was the undefiled High Priest of our Profession who did bear all sins but committed none the end of its Celebration is to show forth his Death which when we receive unworthily we act over again we new crucifie the Lord of Life who hath bought us and bring on our selves the most horrid and affrighting guilt that we can incur the preparation is nothing less than a strict examination of our Consciences than strong Prayers and Cries ardent resolutions of being better and a constant course of pious and charitable Actions This Sacrament actually enters us into Covenant with God and what agreement can there be between Light and Darkness It is an Emblem of our holy Profession which calls us to an exemplary Conversation it is a bond of Christian Communion and obliges to Charity 't is a representation of our Saviour's Crucifixion and so calls to the practice of Patience Forgiveness and Holy Resolution and it is a solemn Sacrifice of Praise and so obliges to practical Gratitude How wide are thy Wounds O my dying Saviour and how sorrowful thy Countenance Oh thy bitter Agony Oh thy shameful Cross And all occasioned by my sins and shall I continue in the same Transgressions out of despite to my Saviour Lord let me never be in any capacity to do so any more for how shall I dare to eat with thee and to lift up my heel against thee In this Sacrament I renew the Vow which I made in my Baptism and have so often shamefully broken and thereby forfeited the blessings which were promis'd me upon the performance of my duty Now this Covenant as on Gods part it entitles me to his Protection and his love to the Merits of his Son and the indwelling of his Holy Spirit so on my part it engages me to accept of that Son of his in all his Offices obliging me to receive him as my Sovereign and to obey his Commands and to depend upon him to receive him as my High Priest and to believe that his Sacrifice of himself if I repent and amend shall cleanse me from all sin but if I continue in my disobedience shall avail me nothing and to give my self up to his Instruction as a Prophet learning from him all the particulars of the Divine Will that are necessary to make me wise to Salvation and perfect unto every good Work But how often have I broken that Covenant rebell'd against this my Sovereign made my self unworthy of the blessing of this my High Priest and cast all his Laws behind my back Before my Repentance my bosom was a Den of Thieves and a Cage of unclean Birds but now it is cleansed and I am become a new Creature now know I that I am the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in me but if any man defile the Temple of God him shall God destroy for the Temple of God is holy which Temple I am There is a particular Veneration paid to the places where Princes usually entertain themselves and every House where any of the Blood-Royal of Persia is born is afterward converted to a Sanctuary and whereever any of their Princes lodges in a Journey the place is reputed for the future sacred and ought not the place where my God takes up his Habitation to be for the same reason separate from profane and common uses And if some of the School-Doctors who assert Transubstantiation tell us that as soon as the consecrated Host grows mouldy the Body of God retires from it and it is again changed into its old substance of bread can I think that God will pitch his Tents in a polluted Soul infected with the Leprosie of Vice I do therefore resolve and it shall from henceforward be the employment of my time and my strength so to live in thy fear and to thy service that I may dye in thy favour and rest in thy Peace through Jesus Christ our Lord. § 31. At the end of this Meditation this Collect is fitly subjoined BLessed and most bountiful Saviour as thou hast honoured me and made me happy this day so vouchsafe me the same measures of Grace the same ardors of Mind and the same holy opportunities all the days of my Life fix my thoughts upon the things of Heaven strengthen and inflame my love to my dying Saviour increase and support my Faith confirm and secure my Hopes and give me frequent occasions to exercise all the other Virtues of my Christian Calling and as thou hast filled my soul with the most ravishing and transporting pleasures so make me for ever careful that I neither quench thy Blessed Spirit nor stifle its Motions but that I may improve all the seasons of Mercy and all the tendries of Grace to the best ends and purposes to the advancement of thy Glory and my own Salvation through thy Merits and Mediation who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest ever one God world without end Amen § 32. After this the devout man is all Rapture and all Joy and cannot forbear praising God afresh for all his spiritual blessings in Heavenly Places in this or the like Hymn O God my heart is ready my heart is ready I will sing and give praise with the best Member that I have I will give thanks unto thee O Lord among the people and I will sing praises unto thee among the Nations For thy mercy is greater than the Heavens and thy truth reacheth unto the Clouds Through God shall we do great acts and it is he that shall tread down our enemies Truly God is loving unto Israel even unto such as are of a clean heart Oh how amiable are thy dwellings thou Lord of Hosts my soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the Courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh rejoice in