at the very heeles by the Hue and cry of two foule sinnes Murder and Adultery is at length brought unto the barre and after arraignment and conviction done calls for his Psalme of mercy and insteed of an Exaudi me Domine hee comes with a miserere mei Deus 'T was before Heare me O Lord for thy righteousnesse sake as if hee stood upon termes of justification but now both the Tune and the Plea is alter'd And therefore have mercy upon me O God after thy great goodnesse according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my offences Psal 51.1 Here we finde Saint Bernard againe with his Magna misericordia and his Multitudo miserationum great sinnes require great goodnesse offences that are not common the multitude of Gods mercies the multitude of his tender mercies and according unto those Have mercy upon mee the Psalmist cryeth upon mee thy servant thy Prophet the man after thine owne heart My sinnes are such that they require thy goodnesse thy great goodnesse my offences so capitall that they looke for thy mercies thy tender mercies the multitude of thy tender mercies for their sake and onely for their sake blot out these my foule corruptions which if they should still continue in that uglinesse which they now are whither O whither should I flye No flesh is righteous in thy sight nay no righteousnesse in me as man meerely but is as flesh in thy sight fraile imperfect rotten not able to indure the touch of thy judgements If thou shouldest marke what is done amisse who should be able to abide it Psal 130.3 Surely not flesh blood not I I that am the miserablest of flesh and bloud I cannot answer thee one for a thousand Job 9.3 not one for a thousand thousand so desperate are my sins without thy goodnes thy great goodnes so hainous my transgressiōs without thy mercies thy tender mercies the multitude of thy tender mercies And this ever was will be the plea of Gods Children in their great extremities all their thoughts words endeavours then tread no farther the way to heaven than a miserere mei Deus If any brain-sick or upstart speculation have found out a newer cut or a neerer for mine owne part I give it the Pasport and good speed that Constantine did the Novatian Hereticke Tollescalas Acesi Socrat. lib. 1. cap. 7. in coelum solus ascendas let Rome suggest me it is in him that willeth or Geneva in him that runneth Saint Pauls miserentis Domini carryes the Palme at last It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy Rom. 9.16 Those vaine-glorious opinions of merit and perfection here are but the dreames or delusions rather of two opposite and wayward Sisters Popery and Puritanisme Non sum dignus Nonsum dignus was the true and ancient ensigne both of sanctity and martyrdome And therefore the great Patriarch of the Romish Church was inforced at last to come in with his Tutissimum est It is most safe most safe Cardinall Bellar. de justif lib. 5. cap. 7. most just In sola Dei misericordia only in the mercy of God to repose our hope our confidence our eternall exectation And to this purpose one of the candles or rather stars of the same Church speaking of the mystery of our redemption Stella in 1. Lucae calls it mercy Quia tale tam divinum opus sub nullo merito comprehenditur sed sola divena misericordia factum est He that hath heard of Bellarmine or Stella knowes where the Quotations lie Heere then mercy and mercy only is embrac'd and those old presumptions of merit casheird by some of their greatest Rabbies Now if I could but reade or heare of so much modesty or so much mercy from some Perfectists of ours men so pretendingly immaculate and pure as if their hands and hearts were wash'd in innocence and they could goe boldly to Gods Altar as if they rather dar'd his justice then implor'd his mercy I might at length beleeve as I doe not yet that it were possible for a sincere or a learned or a not discontented man to turne Chatharist and so finde out a new way to Heaven by the spirit of opposition and singularity If any such Pharisees there be here standing about the Temple which yet dare vaunt in their plumed righteousnesse and tell God sawcily to his face that they are not as other men Extortioners vnjust Adulterers no not as this Publican let them enjoy the fruite of their insolent and uncharitable devotions whilst others and my selfe addresse our Orizons to God in his pensive and humble posture where wee may find a heart more stooping then a knee and a looke then either an eye so dejected and intent that it dares nor so much as glaunce where it offended as if one cast of it towards heaven were enough not only to dazzle but confound him Besides a hand so trembling or rather so feeble that it moves only to the striking of a sinfull breast no higher thoughts so mortified and gesture so lowly and language so modest that wee can discover nothing but penitence and submission and these rather express'd by groanes then words or if words broken ones Luke 18.13 God be mercifull to mee a sinner And here by the way we must remember that as mercy and truth meete so peace and righteousnes must kisse too nay righteousnes and mercy God is as well a righteous as a compassionate God a God of justice as of mercy nay his mercy sometimes shines the cleerer for his justice as the Sunne doth neere a storme or thunder-clapp His mercyes saith the Prophet are above all his workes All his workes Psal 145.9 That as you have heard is without Quaere not all his attributes too No though the Apostle seemeth to intimate so much Misericordia Dei super-exaltat judicium mercy doth super exalt or gloryes above or as some reade it Against judgement James 2.13 There is nothing in God majus or minus His attributes as I tolde you are himselfe and therefore to make one lesse or greater then another were to make God lesse or greater then himselfe God is summe simplicissimus not only one but very onenesse and therefore whatsoever is in himselfe must be himselfe and if himselfe therefore infinite infiinite then his justice as well as mercy and all his attributes as either and yet though mercy and justice as they are referr'd to God may bee styled infinite and are yet in relation to his workes they have such a reason of their magnitude as the worke it selfe is either proceeding from mercy or justice And therefore when God suffers sinnes to passe by unpunished as sometimes hee does hee is sayd to bee exceeding mercifull But when hee doth scourge a little his justice was not home to the desert of the offender so that his mercy is said to be greater than his justice though both be infinite
because in his workes Ad extra he doth more use mercy in forgiving than justice in punishing offences Thus Misericordia Dei plena est terra Psal 119.64 The Earth is full of the mercy of the Lord and it need be full the mercifull Lord knowes for the earth wants it miserably wants it And Domine in coelo misericordia tua Psal 36.5 Thy mercy is in heaven also Heaven is full of it and yet heaven never wanted it for there is no misery but fulnesse of joy for evermore And are Heaven and Earth thus full of his mercy where then doth his justice raigne in both these but that his mercy is sometimes superintendent and so doth qualify the other though not impaire it When justice is at the barre mercy interposeth ventures on the very seate of judgement and not only sits by it but sometimes in respect of man over it It doth mellow and sweeten justice and takes away the acrimony and sharpnesse of it Gods threatnings I confesse have sometimes a fearful browe and like a skie troubled flak'd with red intimate fire and bloud but scatter none They are sparkles perchance of his indignation but not coales sent onely to menace not to destroy Or if his vengeance once begin to kindle indeed so that from his Throne proceed Hailestones and coales of fixe lightnings and hot thunderbolts yet his mercies are still sprinkled on those flames and the very dregs of the cup of Gods sury are temper'd with some compassion nay God is seldome seene in any of his workes or his Attributes but mercy is there either as an agent or looker on Mercy in his goodnesse fortitude providence wisedome Power nay in his very justice To bee mercifull and just and mercy and justice mercifull and mercy just and justice are one with God Essentialiter though not Denominativè Concretes and Abstracts alter not the God-head but are the same in substance though not denomination And therefore whereas some workes of his are said to be of Iustice others of Mercy Non diversitas subjacentis sed varietas sensuum effectuum in creaturis monstratur saith Lombard there is no diversitie express'd of the thing signified by the words but the variety of sences and effects manifested in the Creatures Moreover in some of his workes there are said to be effects of his mercy in others effects of his justice not that Iustice doth produce one thing Mercy another if we referre them to his essence but because of some effects hee is understoode to be Index of others Miserator or as some please Iustus et Misericors In every worke therefore of God secundum effectum mercy and justice doe not alwaies concurre but in some mercy in others justice in others mercy and justice as some of the Schoole-men would suggest us and yet withall confesse that whatsoever God hath done Misericorditer egit Iuste referring the reason of the speech to the will of God which is Iustice and Mercy not to the effects of Iustice and Mercy which are in things and yet others conjecture and they more rationally that as God is said to doe all his workes justly and mercifully so it is to be granted that in every such worke there is mercy and justice Secundum effectum too because there is no worke of God in which there is not an effect or at least a signe of equity and clemency either conceal'd or open for sometimes his clemency is apparent and his equitie hid and sometimes E converso as the Master of the Sentences more at large in his 4. Booke 66. distinction Now as Mercy and Iustice goe hand in hand in respect of God the Father so they doe also of God the Sonne Omnia quae Dei sunt Christus est saith Origen Christ is Gods All Wisedome Sanctity Providence Fortitude Iustice Mercy and all these One but one here as before by way of Essence not Denomination To be Iustice then is to be as Essentially Christ as to be mercy and to bee iust as to be mercifull wee cannot divorce nor sever them for loe mercy and truth here meet together righteousnesse and peace doe kisse each other meet and kisse in the same Christ Thus Isaiah calls him the Prince of peace Isai 9.6 and Ieremy The Lord our righteousnesse Jer. 23.6 Here Righteousnesse and Peace kisse againe and as they kisse mercy and iustice meet mercy as hee is the Prince of peace Iustice as the Lord our righteousnes One Prophet sayes that he is Fons misericordiae another that he is Sol iustitiae So that belike hee hath as well the face of a Lyon as of a man of a Judge as a Mediator and therefore hee came not onely to governe but to iudge the Nations Government presupposes mercy and iudgement truth and therefore he is called mercy and truth towards Israel Psal 98.3 Loe here mercy and truth kisse and as they kisse peace and righteousnesse meet meet and kisse in the glorious Bridegroome Christ Iesus Thus All the wayes of the Lord are mercy and truth Psal 25.9 Misericordia quâ placabilis est D. Aug. ad psal 24. v. 9 veritas quâ incorruptus est allam praebuit donando peccata hanc opera 〈◊〉 faith Saint Augustine 'T is mercy then makes God not implacable and 't is truth that speakes him not corrupt by the one he is ready to forgive by the other to censure and scanour Actions His mercy therfore still leaneth to his truth and his truth declines not from his iustice All the wayes of the Lord are heere all the waies by which he either descends unto us or by which we ascend unto him By his truth heaven first came down unto earth and by mercy earth climb's up again to heaven 't is truth qua a malo declinamus 't is mercy qua bonum facimus Lom lib. 4. dist 66. In these two are all Gods workes included and these two goe hand in hand with his iudgements Towards his Saints all his waies are mercy towards the wicked all his wayes are Truth Quià in judicando subvenit sic non deest misericordia in miserando id exhibet quod promisit nè desit verit as To all those then that hee doth either pardon or condemne all his wayes are Mercie and Truth Quià ubi non miseretur vindictae veritas datur as S. Augustine pleades it in his 19. Sermon upon the 5. of Matthew They then that would divide and sunder the Lord of Life and cleave as some doe his mercie from his Iustice deale with him as some curious Limners and Painters doe who commonly picture him with a halfe face That which is of mercy is transparent and lovely to the eye the other of Iustice is shadowed and understood But certainely they that would looke upon him as All mercy deale too much with the spectacle and the multiplying glasse where the thing they desire to see shewes greater than it is and so endeavouring to aseist the
seate of finne but the soule and yet the soule new borne by the spirit serves principally the Law of God which is indeed rather a freedome than a service a perfect freedome sayes our Lyturgie and because made perfect by the Spirit the spirit of freedome too Non accepistis spiritum serviiutis sedlibertatis And if Christ have made us free we are free indeed otherwise our freedome is no better than a bondage Rom. 8.15 This made the Singer of Israel warble sweetly Psa 19.7 The Law of the Lord is an undefiled Law converting the soule And the Soule in this manner converted is a kinde of undefiled soule because it so serves the Law of the Lord. Thus He that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 One Spirit How Essentially no how then accidentally one in charity consent of will grace and glory too Cornel. Lap. 1. Cor. 6.17 Quae hominem saciunt quasi Divinum Deum which make a man as t were divine so farre forth God that with God he is as one and the same spirit And therefore a chaste and a holy soule the Fathers often stile Deisponsam the Betrothed of the Lord. Now Serm. 7. sup Cant. Sponsa and Sponsus as S. Bernard notes Maximè indicant internos animi affectus And doubtlesse God doth so intimately affect a religious and a sanctified soule that in his Armes he doth imbrace it even as his Spouse and with the Beloved in the Canticls doth even kisse it with the kisses of his mouth and therefore as at first in the matrimoniall Vnion betweene man and wife Cant. 1.2 Two were made as one flesh so in this mysticall union betweene God and the Soule two are become as one spirit Againe The Commandement of the Lord is pure and giveth light unto the eyes Psal 19.8 Light unto the Eyes what Eyes the eyes I told you of before the eyes of our intellectualls the eyes of our minde which being dimm'd and clouded by the fall of the first man God doth illuminate againe by the beames of the spirit and the Eyes thus opened behold instantly the wonderfull workes of his Law and so Psa 36.10 In lumine tuo videbimus lumen In this light wee shall see light Psa 119.105 the Light of his Word and Commandements which he called A Lanthorne unto our feet and a light unto our pathes and without which we grope in ignorance and error walking in blindnesse and in the shadow of Death the way of the wicked being darknesse saith Salomon and a continuall stumbling Prov. 4.18 19 but the way of the Just as a shining Light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day And therefore S. Peter cals the word of Prophecie which is the Word of God and of his Law A Light which shineth in a darke place untill the Dawne and the Day-starre arise in our hearts 2 Pet. 1.19 Our hearts which were but the Chambers of darknesse the couch and resting place of our blinded minde God who hath commanded light to shine out of darknesse hath shin'd into 2 Cor. 4.6 shin'd into the darker corners of them To give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Iesus Christ who is the spirituall day-star that day-spring from on High Luk. 1.79 which through the tender mercies of God hath thus visited us giving light to them that sit in darknesse and guiding their feet in the way of everlasting peace Hereupon the Kingly Prophet ravish'd it seemes with the joy of the inward man tells us That the statutes of the Lord are right and rejoyce the heart Psal 19. V. 8. The heart which was before meerely sensuall a rude lumpe of flesh a cage of uncleane birds a bundle of sinfull and impure thoughts they new brush and sweepe and so garnish with spirituall gifts and graces that insteed of drooping they cheere and elevate it making that which was before the ground of Terror the meanes of rejoycing more desiring it now than gold than fine gold sweeter than the hony or the hony combe that to the mind regenerate the Law of God is not a service barely but a delight His delight is in the Law of God and in that Law doth he exercise himselfe day and night Psal 1.2 And indeed wherein should he be exercised what object more proper or more blessed what should the Spirit minde but the things of the Spirit what the Righteous aime at but his center and eternall resting point God hath created man for his own Glory and as Man is the end of the world so is God the end of man and his Glory of both And therefore he is call'd The Temple of the Living God and his minde the Sanctum Sunctorum in that Temple in which God is said not onely to dwell Serm. 27. Sup. Cant. but to walke 1 Cor. 6.16 O quanta illi Animae latitudo quanta meritorum praerogativa quae divinam in se praesentiam digna invenitur suscipere sufficiens capere saith S. Bernard That Soule is of a boundlesse circuit and goodnesse that can comprehend the incomprehensible God Cannot the greater World containe him and is he involv'd in the lesse Is the Minde a Temple for him to dwell in that dwelleth not in Temples made with hands Is there in Man a Tabernacle for his service at whose seete both Men and Angels fall downe and worship This then should mount him above the world and all the base Lees and dregs thereof disrobe him of his earthly garment make him put on the New man in Righteousnesse and Holines shake off the very dust from his feete those dusty corruptions which sticke so fast on his feet of frailty lifting himselfe above himselfe and retiring from all outward things into the Soule the soule unto the minde and the mind unto God may seeke his conversation in Heaven onely minding nothing but Heaven and Heavenly things every true sanctified soule being not only Heavenly saith S. Bernard but Heaven it selfe Sâ—rm 27. sup Cant. and sitting in the body tanquam Deus in suo mundo where his understanding shines as the Sunne his vertues as the Starres and his Faith as the Moone which he calls Psal 89.36 The faithfull witnes in Heaven And so Man being a kinde of Heaven to himselfe and having a God within him ruling and commanding it should alwayes have his Contemplation wing'd his thoughts towring upwards to the God of Gods in the Heaven of Heavens where there is joy unspeakeable for evermore And now you have heard what the Front of the Text meaneth by the word Mind what her office and properties and how they looke to the Law of God In the next ranke I am to sew you how the Flesh comes up with all her Forces and how that joynes with the Law of Sinne. PARS II. With the Flesh I serve the Law of Sinne. SOme Expositors leaving the Geneva Rode
and veines and the joynts swimming with marrow and fatnesse there is a kinde of macelency and famine and leannesse in the soule all goodnesse is vacant and banish'd then and Lust keepes her revell and rendevouz A fit caution and mements as I conceive for this place and meeting that those dayes which the Church hath of Old solemnely consecrated to the service of the Spirit we devote not another way in making provision for the Flesh to fulfill the Lusts thereof That the time shee hath set apart for Fasting and Prayer whereby we should magnifie the Lord upon the strings and pipe and so make the tongue Cymbalum jubilationis A wel-tun'd Cymball wee over-lavish not to feasting and excesse and so make our throate Sepulchrum apertum An open sepulchre I know that Noble assemblies require something extraordinary both for State and Multitude and let them have it But withall I beseech them to consider what Lent is Preached in Lent ad Magstratum and with what devout strictnesse observ'd by the Christian Church for many hundred yeeres together though in these dayes of Flesh cryed downe by some pretenders to the Spirit as a superstitious observation of our blinded Ancestours But let them know or if they doe not let them reade reade Antiquity in her cleere though slow streamings unto us not the troubled and muddy waters novelty hath cast upon our shore and then they shal know that it is a time of Sackcloth and Ashes and casting earth upon the Head for the humbling and macerating of the Sinner not of putting on the glorious apparell your vaine shinings in silkes and trssues for the ruffling of the Gallant A time like that in the mountaine of restraint and scarcity when a few barly loaves and some small Fishes should suffice a Multitude Ioh. 6.9 Not of pomp or magnificence when the stalled Oxe and the pastur'd Sheepe and the fallow Deere 1 King 2.4 and the satted Fowle are a service for the Lords Anointed For mine owne part I am not so rigid either in practise or opinion or if I were in both it matters not where a higher judgement and authority overballac'd me to deny sicknesse or age or in respect of travell or multitude of imployments the publike Magistrate what in this case were either convenient or necessary or enough however I desire them to remember that both the Sword and the Keyes have a stroke here and so that they would feed onely not cloy nourish not daintie up the body knowing that when it is cocker'd and kept too high the Soule it selfe is manacled and more than lame and heavie in sacred operations And therefore let us not be altogether men of Flesh but as the Father hath it occasionally on this Text D. Aug. 43. Ser. de verb. Dom. Vincat spiritus carnem aut certè nè vincatur a carne let the spirit have a sway too and though not wholly a Conquerour yet make her not a captive let our Devotions goe along with our entertainments our Acts of Charity with our Acts of Iustice Foeneratur Domino qui miseretur pauperis saith the Wiseman He that hath pitty upon the poore lendeth or as the Latine implies putteth to use unto the Lord Prov. 19.17 Now Qui accipit mutuum servus est foenerantis The borrower is a Servant to the lender Prov. 22.7 So that the Lord is as 't were a Servant unto him that hath pitty on the poore because in that pitty hee lendeth to the Lord. And indeed who would not be a lender to the Lord when his interest may be a Crowne and his reward everlastingnesse who would not exchange a morsell of bread for the celestiall Manna and almes for the food of Angels a few earthly ragges for the white Robe of the Saints Since most of these are not so properly a lending or benevolence as a due The gleanings of the Cor-field Levit. 23.22 and the shakings of the Vintage were a Legacie long since bequeath'd the poore man by the Law when the Gospel was yet in her non-age and minoritie But now it is not onely the crums and fragments from thy Table and so feed the hungry or the courser shearings of thy Flock and so cloath the naked But visit the sicke too and those which are in prison Mat. 25.26 So that our charity should not onely reach the impotent and needy but the very malefactor and legall transgressor The groanings of the prison should bee as well listned to as the complainings in the streets and at this time more specially more particularly that those bowels which want and hunger have even contracted and shrivel'd up and those bodies which cold and nakednesse have palsied and benumm'd not finding it seemes so much pitty as to cloath and feed them as they should whilst they were alive may at last meet with such a noble and respective charitie as to shroud and interre them like Christians when they are dead In the meane time I have that humble suit to preferre to the Gods of Earth here which David had of old to the God of Heaven Oh let the sorrowfull sighing of the prisoners come before you Psal 79.12 according to the greatnesse of your power have mercy on those which are appointed to dye Let your Vinegar be tempered with Oyle Iustice suger'd o're with some compassion that where the Law of God sayes peremptorily Thou shalt restore and not dye let not there the Law of Man be writ in blood and say except to the notorious and incorrigible offender Thou shalt dye and not live There will a time come when wee shall all appeare before the Iudgement seate of God 2 Cor. 5.10 And what then what The Sinners Plea will bee generally then Job 9.3 Lord I cannot answer thee one for a thousand And what if I cannot yet O Lord with thee there is mercy and plenteous redemption Psal 130.7 But now and then it falls out so unhappily at the Judgement seate of Man that parties arraign'd though they answer a thousand in one multitudes of inditements in one innocence yet sometimes naked circumstances and meere colourable conjectures without any solid proofe at all shall so cast them in the voyce of a dazled Iury that there is neither hope of mercy nor redemption Gen. 40.22 Esther 7.10 but Pharohs Baker must to the Tree and Haman to the Gallowes fifty cubits high But in this case Bee learned and wise yee Iudges of the Earth serve the Lord in feare and rejoyce to him in reverence Psal 2.10 But I have here digress'd a little and perhaps a little too sawcily in this point of charity let charity have the blame if shee have deserved it whilest I returne where I formerly left you and that was at a feast in time of fasting Good LORD how preposterously nay how rebelliously and in one act crossing both the civill and ecclesiasticke power which prohibite it And therefore since nature saies for the better
that can both protect and pardon infinite as well in Mercy as in Power Are thy wounds grievous there is balme in Gilead Thy ulcers in the eye of man incurable the Samaritan hath Oyle he searohes and poures in and bindes up and heales the maladies of those that seeke him with a true heart Psal 72.1 Ah quam bonus Israel Deus iis qui recto sunt corde saith the Psalmist Doubtlesse he that watcheth his Israel will neither slumber nor sleepe but preserveth his children as tenderly as the apple of that eye that watcheth them hee is their staffe and crutch and supportation in all their weakenesse he erects them if they fall directs them if they erre succours them if they want refresheth them in the heate of their persecutions mittigates the tempests of their sorrowes moderates the waves of their bitter passions smiteth their enemies upon the cheeke bone Psal 3.7 breakes the teeth of those that rage and grin so furiously upon them Insomuch that God hath sworne by his Prophet to have mercy upon the dwelling places of Iacob and all they that devoure her shall be devoured and they that spolle her shall bee made a spoile and all they that prey upon her shall be made a prey And he will restore health unto her and cure her of all her wounds Jer. 30.16 17. Jer. 30.16 17. This should arme us with resolution against that triple assault of the world flesh and divell and make us buckle on our harnesse as that good King of Israel did I will not be afraid saith hee for ten thousands which should compasse mee round about Afraid Psal 3.6 No for ten thousand of men and dangers If calamities hover over me God is my Tower if they would undermine me God is my Rocke if they come before me he is my Sanctuary if behind me he is my Castle if about me he is my Trench if on my right hand he is my Sword if on my left hand he is my Buckler if any way he is my shield and for tresse and mighty deliverer Then put not your trust in Princes nor in any child of man Psal 146.3 5 6. for there is no helpe in them Blessed is hee that hath the God of Iacob for his helpe and whose hope is in the Lord his God which made heaven and earth the Sea and all that therein is which keepeth his promise for ever This made our Prophet awake his Harpe and Lute and cheerefully sing that Magnificat of his Praise the Lord Psal 146.1 O my soule praise the Lord yea as long as I have any being I will sing praises unto my God I will bee like a greene Olive Tree in the house of my God my trust shall bee in the tender Mercie of God for ever and ever Psal 52.9 Once more and but once Is God thus indeed a God of power Questionlesse and only a God of power No the text tells us he is a God of mercy too his goodnes keepes pace with his greatnes his sanctity with his fortitude Luke 1.49 He that is mighty saith the blessed Virgin hath done great things for mee and holy is his Name Luk. 1.49 Vpon which place Stella hath an adverte lector A note it seemes worth observation Mary there to Gods name joyning both sanctity and power Quia imperiumet potestas fine sanctitate Tyrannis est Stella in 1. Lucae v. 49. saith he Commaund not season'd with holines is but Tyranny Let Nabuchedonozer and Pharoah stand for instance whose wickednesse got them the nick-name of Tyrants which by their power otherwise had the title of Gods Empire there fore must acknowledge it selfe indebted to religion godlines being the chiefest top and welspring of all true vertues even as God is of all good things So naturall is the union of true religion with power that wee may holdly deeme there is neither truely where both are not Insomuch that where there is commaund without holines there is not power properly but cruelty and therefore God is not only stiled powerfull but holy also Sanctum et terribile nomen ejus and Consiteantur nomini tuo magno quoniam sanctum et terribile est in the 98. and 110. Psalmes And 't is this mixture of Sanctus and Potens that divides betweene the God of Heaven and those others of Earth Power and sanctity conjoyn'd proclaime a God Power without sanctity sometimes a Divell Mistake mee not I come not here to schoole the gray haire to cast dirt in the face of the Magistrate no I remember well what Elibu said unto Iob Is it fit to say to Princes yee are ungodly Job 34.18 By nomeanes I leave such reproofes to those saucie and pragmaticke spirits which will undertake to catechize a God teach Divinity what it hath to doe for whom the reply of Iob to Zophar shall passe for a counter checke O that you would altogether hold your peace and it should bee counted your greater wisedome Job 13.5 My drift and purpose in this point is onely to shew you how prone and head-long those dispositions are to all manner of depravednes which project rather to bee great then Good and this an instance or two from antiquitie shall cleere in which the relation onely shall be mine the application as you bring it home to your owne brests yours It was but an itch of Ambition and a thirst of Greatnesse not rectified as it ought that was the ground worke and first staire of Iulians Apostacie his fiercest enemies did acknowledge that hee was once a man of rare dexterity and forwardnesse both in Wit Vertue and these not without their salt and seasoning of true Religion D. Aug. lib. 5. de C. D. cap. 21. Sed illam egregiem indolem 't is both Saint Augustines phrase and testimony Amore dominandi decepit Sacrilega detestanda curiositas his love of Empire and a little curiosity to boot blew off his devotions from Christianity to Paganisme So that the Altars and Oracles of the true God are now left for those doubtfull and false ones of the Heathens where instead of Prophets inspir'd from Heaven hee now consults with the very factors and promoters for the Divell Wizards and Necromancers incited principally thereunto by the suggestions of Libanius the Sophister So fatall sometimes it proves to unstable greatnesse that where men more subtle than sound hang at the eares of it there 's commonly a trench dig'd no lesse for ruine than innovation Who knowes not that Nero the meteor and comet of the times he mov'd in had at first his faire promises of youth the glowings as it were and sparks of future Clemency and Goodnesse For when he was to signe the death of a Malefactor which was a solemne custome among the Romanes his unwillingnesse to doe with an Vtinam literas nescirem was if hee dissembled not a great argument of his mercie But when his Power once began to mount his Cruelty tooke wing
Domini Luke 2.30 The salvation of the Lord or rather the salvation from the Lord from the Lord for man Hence David rapt in the spirit and desiring to see the sonne of God incarnate pour's out his request to the Lord with an Ostende nobis misericordiam tuam et salutare tuum da nobis domine shew us thy mercy O Lord and grant us thy salvation Psal 119 41. thy mercy and thy salvation because from thee but thy mercy and our salvation because for us And this Salvation for us was a mighty salvation So runnes the prophecy Blessed be the Lord God of Israell why Hee hath raised up a mighty salvation for us in the house of his servant David Luke 1.68 A mighty Salvation and therefore a mighty Mercy such a mercy as the Apostle cal's Divitias misericordiarum riches of mercy mercie so wonderfully rich that it is above all Gods workes all his workes of nature or miracle or glory or mystery In his workes of nature there was only flatus or spiritus Dei the breath of the Lord used what breath his Dixit et facta sunt which were the breathings of the Almighty upon his creatures he spake and for the most part they were made and where they were not so he spake and breath'd and they were made good So God breath'd into man the breath of life Gen. 2.7 and man was a living soule Gen. 2.7 In his workes of miracle there was digitus Dei the finger of God so in those done before Pharach and his wisemen When magicke was at a stand and all her spells and inchantments non-plust in the production of lice out of dust the Sorcerers and Wizards insteed of manifesting their skill acknowledge their impotence and that great Master of their blacke art who had hitherto tutor'd them in lyes now lectures them a way to truth with a digitus Dei hic This is the finger of God Exod. 8.19 In his workes of glory there is manus Dei the hand of God so those roling torches of the firmament those bright eyes of Heaven Sunne Moone and starres with all that spangled and glorious hoast the Apostle calls the worke of Gods hand Heb. 1.10 But in his workes of mystery especially in this greatest of incarnation as if nature and miracle and glory were subordinate and the breath or hand or finger of the Almighty too weake for so mighty a designe there was Brachium Dei the arme of God his mighty arme the strength of his mighty arme And therefore the blessed Virgin Mary in a deepe contemplation of it professes Stella in 1. Lucae Dominum potentiam in brachio forti demomstrasse The Lord hath shewed strength in his mighty arme Luke 1.51 In that ransome of the Israelites from the Egyptian vassalage the text sayes he did it with his arme his outstretched arme Psal 77. with his arme why not as well there with his finger or his hande as with his arme why Their freedome from that temporall captivity by Moses was a type of our redemption from our spirituall slavery by Christ and therefore as the arme was exercised in the one so in the other too Wee were in our Egypt here in darkenesse darkenes so thicke that it might bee felt made slaves to the grindings of a Tyrant though not a Pharaoh yet a Prince as he was of darkenes and worse then hee was then of utter darknesse under his Iron rod and scepter all the fetters and manacles of sinne and Sathan till God by the vertue of his Arme knock'd off those yron shackles and brake asunder the bands of death and darkenesse And herein was the worke of his Arme his mighty Arme the Strength of his mighty Arme nay it was not so properly the strength of his own Arme as that strength which is the Arme it selfe the Arme JESUS And here in two Prophets meet Paravit Dominus brachium suum and Dominus in fortitudine ventet brachium ejus dominabitur The Lord hath made bare his Arme so Isaiab His holy Arme hath gotten him Victory so David And why hath the Lord thus made bare his Arme or what is that Victory his holy Arme hath got What Isai 52.10 All the ends of the world shall see his salvation Isa 52.10 And His salvation is made knowne in the sight of all the Heathen Psal 98.2 Here then still Psal 98.2 this Arme is Salvation and this Salvation Mercie and this Mercie Eminent and this Eminencie in Truth All the ends of the world shall see it and it shal be made known in the eyes of all the Heathen all the Heathen all the World all shall see it shall See it but not enjoy it and yet to see it is the way to enjoy it and that we may finde that way and at length enjoy it as we should Isa 52.9 Breake forth into melody sing together ye waste places of Ierusalem and not onely those but the whole Earth Sing aloud unto the Lord all yee Lands the round world and all that therein is ye sowles of the Ayre Psal 98. that sing among the branches ye Beasts and Cattell upon a thousand Hills yee that sport also in the deepe Psal 104. v. 8. 11 12. that goe up as high as the mountaines and downe to the Valleyes beneath Let the Sea roare and the fulnesse thereof let the floods clap their hands and the little hills dance for joy Let the Nations also be glad let them sing upon the harpe upon the harpe with a Psalme of Thankesgiving Praise him on the Cymballs ye sons of His praise him on the Wel-tuned Cymballs with trumpets also and shawmes praise his Name Powre out all your acclamations and shouts of Joy all your Hosannahs and Hallelujahs yee Saints of his Sing and sing aloud unto the Lord that his mercie is thus made knowne upon Earth and his saving Health among all Nations And here we cannot complaine of the Lord as the Prophet did of old Isai 63.15 Where is now the sounding of thy bowels and thy mercies towards us For it is gone you heare into all Nations but rather where is the sounding of our Thankfulnesse our singing aloud in Magnificats and Regratulations unto him Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantobo saith David I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever Psal 89.1 And certainely if they be Mercies of the Lord they are Mercies for ever Psal 89.1 and if Mercies for ever great Mercies and if Mercies and Great and For ever too worthy for ever to be sung by all those that are in misery even by Kings by David himselfe if a King as he was in misery For Misery hath aswell a For ever as Mercy hath And therefore it was necessary that God's Mercies should be infinite because of our miseries and it was just that our miseries should be infinite because of our sinnes Here then Abyssus abyssum invocat One deepe cryes unto another and here Altitudo
altitudinem invocat One height cryes unto another this Height and Depth will make up Infinitenesse Now infinite Sinnes cry unto infinite Miseries there are the two Deepes Againe infinite Miseries cry upon infinite Mercies and infinite Mercies upon infinite Truth there are the two Heights Once more Shame is a consequent of Sinne and death of Shame and of such a Death Misery here is a Great deepe On the other side the strength of Goodnesse is Power and of Power God and of God Eternity There 's a Great Height Now between this Height and Depth what Medium have wee Mercy still and how this Mercy but from Truth and how this Truth but from God and how from God but as a Father And therefore S. Paul calls him Pater misericordiarum Deus totius consolationis The father of Mercies and God of all Consolation 2 Cor. 1.3 2 Cor. 1.3 Marke he is not barely Pater misericordiae but Misericordiarum Generall offences presuppose generall Pardons and therefore the Father of Mercies not of Mercie and he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Father of them there is no other Besides he is Deus totius consolationis Vniversall distresses require universall comforts S. Ber. Serm. 5. de Natal Dom. and therefore not only the God of This or That but the God of All comfort Againe he is call'd Miserationum non ultionum Pater The Father of Mercies not of Revenge For in this he were rather a God than a Father and a severe Judge than a God A Father then of Mercies not of Judgements Quià non tam decet patrem indignari quà m misereri filiorum saith S. Bernard Mercy is more proper in a Father than Indignation and therefore a Father of Mercies still or if these be sometimes mixt with Indignation Tamen miserendi causam sumit ex proprie ulciseendi ex nostro The cause of being mercifull is from Himselfe of being angry from us and our sinnes On the other side He is Deus totius consolationis The God of all Comfort S. Ber. ut supra Quià micificè dum misericordiam exercet omnes mortales consolatur He hath a Salve for every wound a Cordiall for every languishment for every calamity a Comfort And therefore according to the diversities of Benefits we receive from him we returne him as well diversities of Attributes as Thankes In Weaknesse wee call him Strength in Sicknesse Health in Misery Mercy in Distresse Comfort In time of War he is the Sword and the Bow Psal 18.2 of danger the Buckler and the Shield of Persecution the Castle and the Tower of Trouble Psal 27.1 the Rocke and the Sanctuary And here the Apostle belike calls him The God of hope and peace the God of Patience and comfort Rom. 15.5 13. Of Peace in Warre of Hope in Danger of Patience in Trouble of Comfort in Persecution Of all These he is a God that is Largitor saith Theophylact the Benefactor or Disposer his very Deity doth include Comfort Theoph. in loc and by his Essence he is not onely Tota but Totus consolatio or rather Totum consolationis a full Tide and Sea of Comforts which hee powres out in this life upon his Servants in Tribulation with such a bountifull hand that mortall heart is not capable either of receiving or expressing it but inforc'd to cry out with that blessed Martyr Satis est Domine Satis est Lastly he is call'd Pater misericordiarum intransitivè that is multum misericors or by the same Hebraisme Misericordissimus as both Cornelius and Carthusian glosse it Father of mercies Cornel. a lap in 15. cap Rom. v. 5.13 for most mercifull or full of mercies and in that sence he is said to be the Father of them as elsewhere hee is the Father of Raine Job 38.28 't is a quaint speculation the Iesuite hath because his blessings come in showers and are not so properly drop'd as powr'd downe upon his inheritance Iustin Gen. in 2 Cor. cap. 1. Moreover 't is the nature of raine to cherish and refresh the dry and barren ground and of Mercy the languishing and thirsting Soule And therefore the Psalmist cryes My soule gaspeth unto thee as a thirsty Land Psal 143.6 Psal 143.6 Now the thirsty Land gaspeth after him as the God of Raine but the thirstie Soule as the God of Mercy And yet these as they are one in substance so oftentimes in effect and operation too Mercy extends as well to the unjust as to the just Mat. 5.45 So doth the Raine He raineth saith the Evangelist as well on the unjust as the just Mat. 5.45 And doubtlesse both the just and the unjust want it and desire to be refresh'd with those two dewes of Heaven Providence and Mercy Hence is that elegant similitude of the Prophet As the Hart brayeth after the Rivers of waters so my soule panteth after thee Ps 42 1. Here the Sic wil answer punctually the Sicut the Hart you know for 't is a trodden observation when he is hard chas'd wounded immediately betakes himselfe to the next water or River which is to him both balme and refreshment and the heart of man when it is sore chas'd and wounded by his manifold sins flyes to the water and the River too the River of everlasting waters and these waters everlasting comforts comforts from him that is everlasting the God of comforts and who is that God of comforts but he that was before the Father of Mercies And who this Father of Mercy but he that is the Father of Raine From the noise of whose water-spouts streame all those blessings which we here call Mercies and Comforts and these sometimes both in measure and manner extraordinary And indeed it was requisite saith Saint Bernard that many should be Gods Mercies and Comforts because many were the tribulations of the just and so Miseria nostra multiplex non medo magnam misericordiam sed multitudinem quaerit miserationum as the Father in his 5. Sermon De natali Domini a manifold misery doth not onely require a great but a manifold Mercy And therefore David touch'd it seemes at the quicke with the smart and sence of his transgressions gives not off his suit with a single importunity but closely prosecutes the Lord with a Fac mihi gratiam fac mihi gratiam Domine Be mercifull unto me O Lord be mercifull unto me Psal 57.1 And why this doubling upon mercy except his miseries were double And doubtlesse they were doubly double and therfore be mercifull unto me be mercifull unto me why thus unto me unto me why Because my soul trusteth in thee in the 1. v. of that Psalm Now in what or in whom should it trust but in the Father of mercies Or from what or whō should it expect redresse but frō the God of comfort hereon the same Prophet wounded in soul and under the bitter pangs convulsions of a griping conscience dogg'd and pursu'd
eye they coozen it Iustice no doubt is as visible as Mercy but that Flesh and Bloud is apt to turne the perspective the contrary way and so beholds Iustice in a small letter but turning it againe views Mercy in a large print In such a case I should rather chide than counsell did not the Sonne of Syrach put in his caveat here Ecclus. 5.5 6. concerning Propitiation Bee not without feare to adde sinne to sinne and say not His mercie is great he will be pacified for the multitude of my sinnes for mercy and wrath come from him and his Indignation resteth upon Sinners Ecclus. 5.5 6. 'T is true the Mercies of the Lord are infinite but his promises of them are for the most part conditionall and restrain'd like as a Father pittyeth his owne children so is the Lord mercifull Psal 103.13 but to whom Timentibus eum to those that feare him Psal 103.13 So againe the mercyes of the Lord are throughout all generations All generations How Timentibus eum to those that feare him throughout all generations Luke 1.50 No feare then no mercy But is there alwaies mercy where there is feare yes this Timentibus eum joyn'd with a Credentibus ineum if feare goe with beliefe and filiation with feare not else Yea but the Divells beleeve and tremble too is there not mercy for them Origen will say there is and after some expiration of yeeres Salvation too And for the better colouring of his tenet he hath as well text for the Divell as the Divell had for Christ Hath God forgotten to be gratious or will he in his anger shut up his tender mercyes for ever Psal 77. From which words he endeavours to lenifie those often breathings against the wicked Vt terribilus dicta quam verius as if they had more horrour in them than truth and us'd only to awe malefactors not to punish them But this wilde fancy of his the Church long since spewed out as erronious and interprets that anger of God which he formerly urg'd in the behalfe of the damned not any divine perturbation but their owne damnation which is frequently in scripture call'd anger and that anger endlesse and therefore the Psalmist sayes Inira sua non ad finiendam Lib. 4. dist 66. or post iram suam as the Master glosseth it And doubtlesse as the glory of Gods children is endlesse so is the destruction of his enemies The text oftentimes resembling their torments unto fire fire unquenchable everlasting fire Everlasting in respect of time though sometimes not of rigour And herein is mercy still though no salvation mercy in that there is a qualification of punishment not salvation because no termination of time for that punishment Hereupon Saint Augustine in his enarrations upon that of the Psalmist The mercy of the Lord endureth for ever Psal 106. From a double version of the word ever gathers a double observation of mercy The Septuagint reades it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In aeternum Saint Ierome whom the Father followes In seculum Now there is a mercy saith he Qua nemo sine Deo beatus esse potest by which no man can be blessed without God that is not injoying him And this he calls mercy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In aeternum There is a mercy besides Quae miscris exhibetur which is afforded to men in misery such a mercy as either involves barely a consolation or else such a mercy as presupposes freedome and this he calls mercy In seculum D. Aug. ad Psal 105. that is as he interprets himselfe In finem seculi in quo nòn decrunt miseri quibus misericordia praebeatur At the generall and dreadfull assize at the last day some shall not cease to be miserable to whom mercy is allowed and so to the Divell his Angells and the reprobated drove there is a mercy granted a mercy not of inlargement but relaxation and so that mercy may be said to be eternall on their eternall misery Non aeterno supplicio finem dando Lomb. lib. 4. dist 66. sed levamen adhibendo not by Ending but by Easing their everlasting torments And here D. Aug. ut sup Quis audeat dicere saith the Father who durst say this Easing is not Mercy or this Mercy not Eternall His mercie endureth for ever His mercy endureth for ever His mercy endureth for ever 'T is the burden and under-song the Prophet useth thrice in one Psalme and 26. times in another Whither then O God shall wee flie from thy Power or whither so flying but to thy Mercy If wee climbe up to Heaven Mercy is there If we goe downe into Hell Mercy is there If we take the wings of the morne and flye to the uttermost parts of the Earth Mercy is there also 'T is in Glory Exile Torment Psal 118. Above beyond under us with thy Friends thine Aliens thine Enemies thy glorified thy dispersed Psal 13. thy condemned Mercy Before the world and Mercy After the world Mercy From everlasting and Mercy To everlasting Mercy when there was no Time and Mercy when there shall be Time no more Mercy from that immortality which hath No beginning and Mercy to that immortality which hath Noend Infinite Incorruptible Aeternall For his Mercy endureth for ever for his Mercy endureth for ever for his Mercy endureth for ever Well then Is God the God of Mercie And Christ the Christ of Mercie Are we Christs and Christ God's Let us then be the Sonnes of Mercy too being mercifull as our Father in Heaven is mercifull forgiving one another as God for Christs sake forgave us Let there not be a Nabal murmuring within us no heart of stone for the hammer of the Law to batter but hearts of Flesh soft and pliable to the miseries of others And as God hath powred out his bowells for us so let us powre out our bowells for our brethren our bowells of Pitty and Compassion Remember what the counsell of S. Ierom was to Demetriades the Virgin S. Hieron parte 3. Tract 5. Ep. Epist 17. Laudent te esurientium viscera non ructantium opulenta convivia Let the great mans Voyder be the poore mans Basket the emptying of his Abundance the Accommodation of the others wants Hunger will not be fed with Ayre nor misery with good words they must have a taste of the Meale in our barrell and of the Oyle in our Cruse Let 's abate somewhat of our superfluities to supply their necessities Sint tua supersiua pauperis necessaria Sen. ad Lucil. Ep. 51. Bleed this Plurisie of ours and Cordiall their Consumption Let the Naked be cloth'd the Hungry fed the Impotent provided for the Sicke visited Give not for Bread a Stone nor for a Fish a Scorpion But let our hands speake what our hearts meane our Almes tell that our thoughts are compassionate And not like those flinty professours which turne Gospell into Law Christianity into Barbarisme A poore widow
spirit the very joints and the marrow Heb. 4.12 Is Piety then blossoming shall I not cherish it Is Wickednesse branching forth shall I not prune it shall I make a Pulpit the Throne of Falshoode shall I teach God to lye shall I bitter vertue and sweeten vice Call Light Darkenesse and Darkenesse Light Am I not Gods Embassadour his Herauld shall I proclaime Peace where there is open Warre deale with the Dulcimer and the Cymball when I should be at the Trumpet and the Fife shall I sing of mens providence when I should cry downe their Opression magnify their Religion when I should scourge their Hypocrisy shall I apply Lenitives and Oyles where Corrasives are more proper stroake a sore when I should bruize it Lastly shall I instead of the Rasor come with the Brush and the Combe when I should launce or cut off a growing Insolence shall I curle and frounse it No but as on the one side I condemne the rough hands of Esau so on the other the soft voyce of Iacob as well him that gripes the tender and relenting Conscience as him that will not scarifie the impostumated and corrupt There is a time as well for Lightning and Thunder as for Raine and all these from the cloudes above from the Ministers of God who are his spirituall cloudes upon which the Fathers have many a dainty flourish and continuing the Metaphor drive on to an Allegory and say that when God threatens by preachers Tonat per nubes when he doth wonders by them D. Aug. in Psal 35. v. 5. Coruscat per nubes when he promiseth blessings by them Pluit per nubes Thy mercy O Lord is in the Heavens and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds Psal 108.4 By Truth here Saint Augustine understands the Word and by the Clouds the Teachers and Dispencers of it Now how can we that are but Earth saith the Father know that Gods mercies are in the Heavens mittendo veritatemsuam usquè ad nubes by fending his truth unto the clouds by revealing his word to his faithfull Ministers which like those bright clouds Zac. 10.1 shal give their showers of rain to every grasse of the Field Every man that is but as the grasse of the Field shall know that these mercies of God are heavenly and provided for him if hee beleeve in the truth of that word which God reacheth unto his clouds or rather in that truth which is The Word that commeth with the clouds and every shall see Revel 1.7 Now though Pastors are so compar'd unto the clouds that they can lighten and thunder as well as raine yet the raine is most fruitfull to the pasturing of their Flockes It was a fearefull judgement God was preparing for Iudah his Plant and Israel his Vineyard when he threatned it with a Mandabo nubibus nè pluant super eam I will command the clouds that they raine not on it Isai 5.6 And certainely that Plant cannot but wither that Vineyard but grow into barrennesse and instead of the Grape brings forth the Thorne and the Brier which is not refreshed with the Dew of Heaven not watered with the droppings of these Clouds And therefore the Church had need to pray Jude 1 2. that her Pastors bee not such as Saint Iude calls Clouds without water dry and ignorant Pastors or Saint Peter 2 Pet. 2.17 Clouds carried withâ—â— tempest turbulent and factious Pastors but Iobs wel-ballanced clouds Job 37.16 those bottles of Heaven as hee stiles them which drop downe the fruitfull dew and send the joyfull raine on the inheritance Pastors that can feed as well by instruction as reprehension by knowledge as understanding As there was before a feeding by the Word 2. Exemplo so here a seeding by Example too our Life must preach as well as our Doctrine Action as Instruction Titus must not onely speake the things which become sound Doctrine but in all things besides Hee must shew himselfe a patterne of good workes Part. 1. past Tit. 2.17 Non deoet hominem ducatum suscipere qui nescit homines vivendo praeire saith Saint Gregory hee that hath the charge and governement of others should as farre out-strip them in Example as in Office Those whom the Scriptures so richly cloath with Titles of Lights and Candles and Burning Lamps should so shine before men that they may not onely heare their words but also see their good workes and then Glorificabunt patrem they shall glorifie their Father which is in Heaven Vocem virtutis dabis si quod suades prius tibi cognosceris persuasisse validior operis quam oris vox as Saint Bernard sweetly in his 59. Sermon upon the Canticles Hee that will worke a reformation in the miscarriages of others must first circumcise his owne Si me visflere dolendum est prius If I will be a curbe to others I must first be a bridle to my selfe The Pastor hath not so great a conflict with the eare of the multitude as with the eye which is more active and intent upon what hee practiceth than what he doth prescribe and this is rather their madnesse than their judgement since examples are not totally to carry them but precepts Nazianzene you know was wont to stile great men Speaking Lawes and unprinted Statutes they were first Lawes and Statutes to themselves and then they not only spake obedience to others but also impress'd and commanded what they spake Boni mores praedicantium Saleorum Doctrinae the integrity and manners of the Preacher is the salt of his Doctrine 2 Kings 2.20 And as that Salt which Elisha cast into the Spring made the waters sweet which were before bitter and unsavoury so shall his conversation sweeten his precepts though they seeme never so bitter and untooth some to the people He that will be great in the Kingdome of God must both teach and doe nay if he teach well he must first doe Mat. 5.19 and then teach Eusebius tells Damasus and Theodosius Facite posteapradicate Christ never said Qui praedicaverit voluntatem patris mei sed qui fecerit Not he that preacheth but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven Mat. 7.21 shall enter into the Kingdome of Heaven Subtilium verborum Dollor non operum est quaedam levis aurium inslatio 〈◊〉 Damâ—sum Thenâ—osium de vila â—â—ansiâ—u S. Hieronim sumus sine fructu pertransiens saith the same Father This feeding of a Flocke by words onely is but a slight fanning of the ayre a thin cloud of smoake that in the rising vanisheth and what is this to the substance of Religion Surely no more than the shadow of it Give then Camelians ayre and Men bread There are many intruders upon the Sanctuary of the Lord whose Bells tingle shrewdly but their Pomgranate buds not forth a noise wee heare of but no fruit Cant. 7.12 as if all Religion were planted in the tongue none in
presume you will not refuse though presented by the hand of your poore Servant Now it is yours indeed but it is yours chiefly to peruse not to protect for such a subject will looke above all humane Patronage there being nothing fit either to owne or protect Omnipotence but GOD himselfe to whom I consecrate both my selfe and It. And yet though the subject be Sacred and points directly at the Creator of us all yet there may be and are by all likelihood frailties in the discourse which as they will meete with some cavill or opposition so they will require a Bulwarke and defence also and from whom more properly than from a Great man who both in place and nature is nearest to his God if Goodnesse as it ought shake hands with Greatnesse and of that no man dispaires in a Noble disposition where but to question vertue were to profane it Your Countrey hath often tasted of the Greatnesse of your Spirit and where there is Spirit truely there must be something that is divine also which cannot but speake your Goodnesse without controule from me especially Your old and if you please to preserve him constant Servant HVM SYDENHAM IEHOVAH JIREH PSAL. 59.16 I will sing of thy Power and sing aloud of thy Mercy I Thinke it not unseasonable Preach'd Ad Magistratum nor besides my errand to sing of the Power and Mercy of one God in the presence of another Greatnesse is a kind of Deity God himselfe affording Rulers Nobles no lower Title than his owne of Gods But Gods by Office or Deputation not by Essence and yet so Gods by Office that they personate that God by Essence Power they have a mighty one and Mercy too or should have and both these the people sing of onely mortality puts the distance and divides betweene civill and sacred or if you will sacred and celestiall attributes I say yee are Gods Gods with a Moriemini mortall Gods there is a but annexed to the Deitie But ye shall dye dye like men and fall as one of the Princes Psal 82.6 And now that I may not beguile time nor you with any curiositie of preface the Text being onely a parcell of a Psalme I have formerly resembled to the whole where I observ'd the ground the parts the descant the Author or Setter of it the time when it was sung and the occasion of the singing The Author and his descant I have already opened in two words Cantabo and Exaltabo I will sing and I will sing aloud Now method leades mee to the parts Power and Mercy Mercy is a plausible Theame and a large one enough of it selfe to fill up discourse and time and attention with exquisite varietie And therefore I shall dwell for the present onely in the expressions of divine Power A Subject I confesse like the Ocean wide and deepe and not without some danger to him that shall either steere or sound it But that God who was a staffe to his Patriarke to passe over Iordan will be a Pilot to his Disciple in the Sea too that hee sinke and perish not this vast and troubled Sea of his Omnipotence where some learned Wit have beene overwhelm'd either by a bold curiositie venturing too farre to shoot the Straight and Gulfe they should not or else by a vaine glorious conceit of their owne Tenets have proudly borne sayle against winde and tide the maine drift of Scriptures and current of the true Faith and so at length have runne themselves on the shelves of Heresie or Blasphemy or both Against both which I shall ever pray in the language of the Disciples in the great storme Master save mee lest I perish Mat. 8.25 And thus by Thee in safetie I shall daily sing of thy Power and sing aloud of thy mercy because thou hast beene my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble I will sing of thy Power THis word Power in respect of God is Homonymon and of various signification in sacred Story Sometimes it is taken onely for Christ so by Saint Paul unto the Iewes and Greeks which are call'd we preach Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Power of God 1 Cor. 1.24 Sometimes for the Gospell of Christ so by the same Apostle I am not ashamed of the Gospell of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for it is the power of God unto salvation Rom. 1.16 Sometimes neither for Christ nor his Gospell but the enemies of both So the Samaritans said of Simon Magus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Man is the great power of God Acts 8.10 But here wee take Power for that Essentiall property of God by which he is able and doth effect all in all and all in every thing And whereas Divines distinguish of a double power active and passive the one Ad agendam the other Ad suscipiendam formam 'T is manifest that this latter is not in God because God who is a pure Act and simply and universally perfect is not passive nor capable of any forme but in himselfe from all eternity containes the perfection of all formes this active power being in him principall and most eminent and indeed the very Mynt and Forge where all things had their first stampe and hammering Now this Power of God is not onely infinite in its owne nature and perse as it is the very divine Essence Pol. Syn. lib. 2 cap. 29. but in respect of Objects to which it is extended and of Effects wich it can produce and of Action too by which it doth or can worke miraculously which Action is never so valid and intense for so Polanus words it but it may be set to a higher pin and screw and woon'd up even to Infinitenesse And therefore it is not onely call'd Power or Strength or Efficacie or Fortitude but Omnipotence Insomuch that though it have some rationall and modall distinction by reason of our feeble capacities yet no reall and substantiall difference from Gods Will Knowledge Providence but are all wards of the same Key shut and open to the same Essence For when wee name his providence wee conceive it ut dirigens his Knowledge ut apprehendens his Will Estius in lib. 1. Sent. dist 42. Sect. 1. ut imperans and his Power ut exequens So that Apprehension and Direction and Command shine more properly in Gods other Attributes but Execution principally in his Power And therefore it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vim efficacem as Beza translates it the Working power whereby God is able to subdue all things to himselfe Phil. 3 21. And as this Power is alwayes so it is onely active and that Saint Paul intimated when hee stiled it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ephes 3.20 The Power that worketh in us so worketh in us that no power of any Creature can hinder that operation for the Throne of it is a fiery flame and the wheeles of it a burning fire Dan. 7.9 The Fathers it seemes heretofore were much