Causes of flight together and then learne from Saint Iohn Iohn 1.3 20. If our conscience doe accuse vs God is greater then our Conscience and knoweth all things And yet Saint Basil maketh such a liuely Description of the worke of Conscience in Iudgement that a man would thinke nothing could be added to the terrour thereof 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The Conscience will so limme out our Liues and be such a Looking Glasse of all our deeds that by an vnspeakable power in a moment of time as we would thinke nothing can better represent our selues to our selues But for all that the Heart of a man is an intricate Labyrinth none knoweth it but God only as God himselfe teacheth in Ieremie 〈◊〉 17 1◠〈◊〉 4. 〈◊〉 4. As all things are naked before his eyes so will he then bring many things to light which are hid in darknesse When then both these terrours concurre whereof the one so much increaseth the other you will not wonder that the wicked vpon the apprehension thereof betake themselues to flight Flying is their shift but it is a vaine one for whether should they flie when euery creature which at the Creation was made a Souldier in Gods Hoast shall at the last Day become a Iaylour to arrest prisoners and present them at his Assizes What remayneth then but that they that cannot shrinke from the Iudgement â—isdome 17. sinke vnder it For wickednesse condemned by her owne witnesse is very timerous and being prest with Conscience alwayes forecasteth terrible things The man that was but questioned for wanting his Wedding Garment at the Marriage Matth. 2â— grew presently speechlesse Our Sauiour Luke 21. saith that their Iudgement shall come like a snare and indeed in the Psalme we reade that God shall raine vpon the wicked Psal 11. Snares Fire and Brimstone Storme and Tempest this is their partion to drinke Now we know that a Snare doth not only take but ouer-turne the wild beast that is taken therein But if the terrour of the Iudge doe not 〈◊〉 19.12 Vnder whom the mightiest Helpes doe stoope as it is in Iob nor the inextricable suddaines of his Iudgement yet the weight of sinne will crush and beare a Sinner to the ground Dauid in his owne person and conflicts with a guiltie Conscience out of which notwithstanding by Gods mercie he did finally rise yet confesseth that the sense of guilt is like a drowning Floud like a crushing Burden a Burden too Heauie for man to beare and if the righteous that Man after Gods owne Heart when he sell as a man were scarcely saued where shall the Vngodly 1. 〈◊〉 â— and the vnrighteous appeare You see then how true it is that The Vngodly shall not stand in Iudgement Causâ cadent cadent persond themselues with their Cause shall fall to the ground they shall both sinke as low as the Chambers of death But Bonâ— concessum quod impijs negatum as Bede noteth though They shall not yet shall The Righteous stand And no maruell for they shall bee free both from the guilt of Conscience and the terrour of the Iudge And why Their hearts are purified by Faith yea purified from dead workes whatsoeuer is mortall is taken from them for Christ Iesus of God is made vnto them Wisdome Righteousnesse Sanctification and Redemption 〈…〉 the Law of Life which is in Iesus Christ freeth them from sinne and death so that Rom. 8. Matth. 24. there is no condemnation vnto them which are so in Christ And if there bee no Condemnation then may they Lift vp their heads with ioy when Christ commeth 1. Iohn 3. Luke 21 knowing that their Redemption draweth neere If their Conscience doe not accuse them they may haue boldnesse in the Day of Iudgement they shall stand before the Sonne of Man and his Throne shall be vnto them a Throne of Grace But more distinctly The Standing of the Righteous is opposed to the Flying from and Sinking vnder Iudgement if Adam did flie only because hee was Naked that which remedieth the Nakednesse stayeth the flight now Nakednesse stood in Sinne and Mortalitie both these are remedied in the Resurrection of the Iust The Sinne is all taken away by the Imputation of Christs Righteousnesse and Sanctification of his Spirit The Mortalitie because as they are quickened by Grace in their Soules so their Bodies of Naturall become Spirituall 1. Cor. 15. and their Corruptible puts on Incorruption their Mortall Immortalitie so then there being no part of Nakednesse left there can remayne no cause of Flying And if not of Flying from then not of Sinking vnder Iudgement for that which is the Cause of Flying is the cause of Sinking also but the state of their Person doth deny al possibility of Sinking the Spiritin their Soule is the Pledge of their Inheritance in Heauen and their Bodies which they shall then receiue are not only Houses from Heauen 2. Cor. 5. but such as are fitted for Heauen both carrie vpward and not downward But marke more particularly 1. Thes 4.16 what the Scripture saith of the Resurrection of the iust The Dead in Christ shall Rise first Yea they onely shall Rise from death for the Resurrection of the wicked is not from but vnto Death from one Death vnto another And therefore in Saint Luke onely the Righteous are called Filij Resurrectionis Luke 20.36 because their Resurrection is vnto Life which is properly a Standing the wicked doe but Rise to take a greater fall they fall from a Temporall to an Eternall Death Secondly As the Righteous shall Rife first so being raysed 1. Thes 4.17 Rapientur in occursum They shall be taken vp into the ayre to meete Christ and so shall euer be with him So that except He fall they shall neuer fall they shall be remoued from the Earth which is the place of falling Thirdly they shall be placed at the right Hand of Christ to be taken vp vnto him is to be admitted to a Beatificall Vision Psal 16. for what is our happinesse but to see Him as He is For in his presence there is fulnesse of ioy and if we be placed at His right Hand there is pleasure for euer more secure Honour and endlesse Life if that support vs no feare of falling we shall certainely stand But to put it out of all doubt When we come to the right Hand Matth 9. we shall be set vpon Thrones and shall with Christ iudge the twelue Tribes of Israel 1. Cor. 6 yea the Angels also so farre shall we be from being wofully Passiue that wee shall bee gloriously Actiue in that Iudgement How we shall Iudge is a curious question I will not now vndertake to resolue it it sufficeth to my purpose that howsoeuer we shall Iudge as many as are honoured with that function may well be held Standers they shall neither Shrinke nor Sinke But we may not forget
not haue Gods paines so wasted vpon him hee would haue it sort a good effect and make him to bee as without blame in regard of Innocency so without spot in regard of Sanctitie we must desire that wee may bee renewed aswell as discharged as thoroughly renewed as fully discharged that we may be acceptable in Gods eyes and comfortable in our owne Put now these two together the description of Miserie and the Petition for Mercy and you shall finde diuerse remâ—akable things therein First that Miserie presenting it selfe vnto Mercy doth take a right course Nathan did charge Dauid with sinne and threatned him many plagues you finde not heere that he doth mention Gods plagues but his owne sinnes he spends his desire not in deprecating the Plagues but in ridding himselfe of his Sinnes And this is good spirituall wisedome for seeing plagues come for sinnes wee are sure that we shall neuer eate of that Fruit if we plucke this Tree vp by the roots if sinne cleaue not to vs we need not feare Gods wrath either we shall not feele it or we shall bee the better for it Pharoah and Pharoah-like Men haue an eye to their plagues not to their sinnes and therefore as he so they are eased of one plague to fall vnder another if Gods Mercy heare our Prayers and ease vs of any Affliction and doe not rid vs of our sinne let vs assure our selues that we are but like a Prisoner reprieued that may bee hanged when he least feares death Secondly Miserie must learne of King Dauid to lay it selfe fully open that it may be fully cured Ambros Quis nostrum qui peccatum confitetur non perstringendum potius quam repetendum putet When we repent happily we can be contented to glance at our sinnes but we will bee loath to looke farre into them and search our wounds to the quicke But King Dauid doth not so hee doth aswell amplifie Sinne the Cause of his Misery as he doth distinctly sue for the branches of Gods Mercy Gods Mercy And indeed God is the Person to whom he sueth for Mercy he directeth his Prayer vnto him from him he doth expect this Mercy But here is a Paradox for he that is ougly in his owne eyes how can he but be odious in Gods and how dares a guilty Prisoner offer himselfe at the Bar of his Iudge Gods face is against those that do euill Psal 34.15 to root out their remembrance from the earth This is true and yet Dauid goeth to him and no maruaile there is no flying from him but to him hee only can restore a sinner restore him to his owne fauour and rid him of that that intercepteth the influence of the coÌ„fortable beames of grace the Church confesseth it in the Collect it is Gods property to haue mercy and it sayth it according to the Scripture Daniel confesseth it 2. Cor. 1.3 To thee O Lord God belongeth Mercy and forgiuenesse Saint Paul maketh God the Father of Mercies Moses or God rather speaking to Moses sheweeh vs that it is an especiall branch of Gods glory in that Proclamation which hee maketh Exod. 34. The Lord the Lord God mercifull and gracious long suffering c. But as Mercy is Naturall vnto God so it is not comfortable vnto vs but as it is deriued through Christ therefore we must marke the Words Chesed and Racham words wherein King Dauid doth expresse Gods Mercy for they note 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Affection the bowells of a Father towards his Children Now God is not a Father vnto vs but by Adoption and we are not adopted but in Christ which is the onely Sonne God doth except vs in his Beloued in him it is that he hath Mercie vpon vs Therefore these very Words louing kindnesse are in the New Testament applyed to Christ comming in the flesh Christ also in the Old Testament is noted by the Propitiatory or Mercy-seate and in the New Testament he is called our Propitiation 1. Iohn 2.2 Heb. 2.17 and Mercifull high Priest The nature of sinfull men without Christ and God that is iudge of all the World are Infestissimi inimici they will neuer agree together our infirmitie will be ouerwhelmed by the diuine Maiestie but it is Christ that turneth the dreadfull Tribunall into a Throne of Grace Neither must we seeke onely for Gods kind affection in Christ but his gracious Actions also no hope of Dele nor Laua but in him and by him It is true that God by the Prophet tells vs that it is he that blots out our sinnes for his owne sake Esay 43 44.59 27. and bloâ—teth them out like a cloud and casts our sinnes into the Sea But hee doth not this immediately hee doth it by Christ Daniel teacheth Chap. 9. Coloss 2.14 that Hee was to finish wickednesse seale vp sinnes and reconcile iniquitie Saint Paul teacheth it saying that Christ fastened and cancelled the Obligation that was against vs on his Crosse Finally the Father sent him and he sent his Apostles with power to remit and to retayne sins which must needs implie that Dele blot out belongeth to Him And as Dele so Laua Zacharie foretold it In that day meaning the dayes of the Gospell there shall be a fountaine opened to the House of Dauid Zâ—ch 13. and to the Inhabitants of Ierusalem for sinne and for vncleanesse Saint Paul sheweth the accomplishment of it Ephe. 5 Christ loued the Church and gaue himselfe for it that he might sanctifie it and clense it by the washing of water through the Word that hee might make it vnto himselfe a glorious Church not hauing spot or wrinckle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blame Neither must we be beholding to Christ only for these gracious Actions רב but for their measure also The Text tells vs that there is not onely Mercy in God but that Mercy is of a large size it is called here Rob we translate it Multitude it signifieth also Magnitude The Conscience of a Sinner is afflicted some times with the Number sometimes with the excesse of sinne least we should sinke vnder either burden this word must specially be heeded which doth assure a distressed Conscience that there commeth not only Mercy from God but Great Mercy also so Great as that his Mercy reioyceth ouer his Iudgement there lieth an Appeale from God vnto God from God the Righteous to God the Gracious and God in regard of his Mercy is in a manner Greater then himselfe with this Moses presseth God significantly Num. 14. Now I beseech thee let the power of my Lord be Great according as thou hast spoken saying The Lord is slow to anger and of Great Mercy c. in the whole period hee importuneth him to shew that his Mercy exceeds his Iustice. The Scripture doth amplifie this point by setting downe the dimensions of his Mercy telling vs sometimes 〈◊〉 3. 〈◊〉 11 33.
of Gods of such turning there is too much in the world But our returne here meant is a returne to him from whom wee went we went from God therefore to him we must teturne againe lost sheepe that we are we must returne to our Shepheard from whose fold wee straied the onely and great shepheard of our soules prodigals that we are we must returne to the Father that we forsooke euen to our Father which is in Heauen or to keepe my former Simile we turned from the Sunne to the shadow and so became darke and cold ignorant and vntoward we must turne from the shadow to the Sunne againe that we may bee light and warme and recouer againe the knowledge and the loue of God A quo habet homo vt sit 〈…〉 70 apud ill im habet vt benè sit if at any time we bee ill wee must not looke that it will be well with vs vntill we come to God that made vs. Put now these two points together Vndè and Quò and we may resonably conceiue what Conuersion is it is that which by another word is called Repentance and indeede the word in the Originall doth import that vertue But marke that whereas Repentance is a compound thing of our turning from the world and turning vnto God it hath its name rather from turning vnto God then turning from the world turning from the the world hath no commendations in it except it be to the end that wee may turne vnto God as also turning to the world is no Sinne it deserueth no blame vnlesse in doing it we turne from God the offence is properly in turning from God as Repentance consists properly in turning vnto God Such a kind of turning is the successe which King Dauid hoped would follow vpon his teaching conuertentur the sinners the transgressors will be conuerted if I teach them thy way a confident speech yet very likely whether you looke vpon vias tuas thy wayes or docebo I will bee the master Gods Wayes are Gods Lawes now of Gods lawes we read in another Psalme Psal 19. that they are perfect conuerting the soule his testimonies are sure Fâ—â— 1. 1. Cor. 2. Heâ— 4. 2 〈◊〉 3. and giue wisedome to the simple they are the power of God vnto saluation in them is the euidence of the Spirit they are sharper then any two edgedsword sinally they are able to make a man wise vnto saluation there is then good hope of Conuersion from the efficacie of Gods lawes and indeede they are able to worke fidem infusam a sauing faith Docebo is a good ground of hope also for that is able to worke fidem acquisitam a morall perswasion it worketh that which maketh way to the other while what we thinke credible by reason of the speaker wee are wrought to belieue by the word which hee speaketh wicked men commonly scorne good men as fooles when they tell them of the vanitie of the world and the danger of sinne they suppose because that they had neuer any experimentall acquaintance with it the iudge of it most absurdly but when they shall haue a Nebucadnezzar an Antiochus one that hath beene as deepe in sinne as themselues can goe turne Penitent declaime against dehort from an ill life they cannot but muse they cannot but doubt they cannot but bethinke themselues in what state they stand Or if they may shift of such a Teacher because they thinke noueltie doth abuse his iudgement and the nature of man is delighted with change yet when they shall heare a Salomon a Dauid a Prodigall that was first in the state of Grace and hauing fallen foule into sinne is come to himselfe againe and vpon an experimentall comparison of both passeth an indifferent iudgement giueth grace giueth sinne each his due his thundrings and lightnings against sinne cannot but shake the greatest Oakes the tallest Cedars make the obstinatest sinners to tremble and bring them vpon their knees to Sing the Psalme of mercie the Adder that cannot be charmed by this inchanter will neuer be rid of his poyson vntill his poyson riddeth him his case is desperate hee that will not heare a Penitent malefactor will neuer be conuerted by any Preacher I haue dwelt long enough on the vnfolding of the Meanes and the Successe as we are to looke into them seuerally Let vs now in a word or two consider them ioyntly and see how reasonable it is that those Meanes be vsed for this Successe teaching for conuerting A man is a reasonable creature and Conuersion is an act of the reasonable soule and therefore not to be expected but from meanes that can worke our reason ordinarie meanes of this kind there is none but teaching feare of the sword may ouer-awe the outward man and hinder vs from doing what wee would but it cannot alter the inward man and make vs well what wee should whether it be truth or goodnesse that is commended vnto vs it is not torturingâ— but instructing that must make vs belieue the one and loue the other Magistrates may compell to the vse of the Meanes but without the naturall meanes no hope that euer any one will entertaine these vertues The more barbarous hath beene and is the tyrannie of the Church of Rome which vseth the Inquisition insteed of Instruction and laboureth to conuert soules by subuerting of whole states Secondly as without teaching there is no conuerting so if a man should be conuerted without teaching his conuersion cannot please God Rom. 14 2â— for Quicquid non est ex fide est peccatum as good that were neuer done which we doe without the guidance of our Conscience because God looketh that in his seruice especially wee should shew our selues reasonable Wherefore let vs leaue Monkes to their blind obedience and the superstitious Papist to his implicit faith let vs turne to God but so that we first be taught his wayes let not our Conuersion out runne our Instruction let them walke hand in hand together I conclude There is not one of vs which doth not sometime or other by bad counsell or euill example mislead others out of the way what must we doe then We learne here of King Dauid Let vs by good counsell by good example bring them or some others into the way againe the rather because it is a worke of the highest perfection to be Gods instrument to bring sinners from hell to heauen Dan. 12.3 Daniel hath foretold that Teachers shall shine as Starres in the firmament and Saint Paul that the Conuerted shall be the Conuerters crowne and Glorie in the day of the Lord. 1. Thess 2.19 LOrdwe are all apt to goe astray and how many stumble at vs that fall before vs when thou doest vs the fauour to lend vs thy hand let not vs denie ours to them that are downe let vs teach them what thou hast taught vs and let it profit no worse with them then it doth with vs let vs both be
vnto vs confusion of faces to our God also belonge Mercies and forgiuenesse though we bee plunged deepe in Miserte and Sinnes Cause thy face O Lord to shine vpon vs thy seruants and let not our sinnes seperate betweene thee and vs remit the Guilt purge the Corruption of vs miserable sinners which doe not present our supplications before thee for our owne Righteousnesse but for thy great Mercies though our sinnes witnesse against vs yet deale with vs according to thy Name for great are thy Mercies AMEN PSAL. 51. ver 3. For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sinne is euer before mee THis Psalme as heretofore you haue heard consists of two Vowes both were made by King Dauid one for himselfe another for his Kingdome the first doth expresse his Desire and his Promise his Desire to bee restored vnto and preserued in the state of Grace his Promise if hee speede hereof to performe religious seruice vnto God In the former Petition of his Desire there are two remarkeable things the Matter contained in it and the Manner of King Dauids redoubling it of the Matter I haue already spoken wherefore I now come on vnto the Manner And herein we must obserue first the Inference then the Amplification that is how that which followeth is brought in vpon that which goeth before and how King Dauid enlargeth himselfe in vnfolding the Confession of his owne Miserie and Petition for Gods Mercy In the Inference we shall learne that as God hath Mercy so it is for such as are sensible of their Miserie in the Amplification we shall learne that hee which is sensible must shew himselfe not onely ingenious in displaying his owne wretchednesse but bee assured also of the Remedie which is prouided by Gods Goodnesse But to looke more particularly into the former branch of the Amplification behold therein how King Dauid doth rip vp his sinnes the Branches the Root thereof the sinne which himselfe hath committed and the sinne which hee hath deriued from his Parents hee layeth open both both the Debt and the Vsury so Saint Chrysostom calls them Homil. ad Neophytos Hee beginneth at the sinne which himselfe hath committed he vseth not the querulous Prouerbe of the Iewes the fathers haue eaten sowre Grapes Ier. 34.29 and the Childrens teeth are set onedge the remembrance of his wofull Inheritance doth not make him forget his owne graceles Purchase no hee mindes this first hee first amplifieth the Debt which himselfe hath contracted In laying open this he obserueth two things the naturall Properties thereof and the supernaturall Euent which followeth thereupon the naturall Properties are two a Malignity and an Impiety he handles the Impietie in the next verse the Malignitie in this that I haue now read vnto you Malignity is a vexing euill first there is euill in his sinne hee toucheth a double euill euill of the Heart and euill of the Head of the Heart noted by the word Peshang which signifieth a rebellious inordinatnes of the will of the Head noted by Chata which noteth an erring Iudgement or misleading aduise these two euills are in sinne enormous sinne and where they are there they vexe for they are Coram or Contra before vs or Against vs the word beareth both significations and therefore it is translated both wayes and if we couple them as well we may then you shall finde that enormous sinne committed doth haunt our thoughts and afflict our wills Neither onely doe they so but they doe so incessantly so saith the Text they are Semper Coram Semper Contra Alwaies before vs and Against vs alwaies vexing both our Head and our Heart Of this King Dauid is ingeniously feeling and testifieth the truth of it in his owne Case in his owne Case I say for the sinne which he remembreth is his owne My transgressions My sinnes the disease of mine owne Head and mine owne Heart therefore saith King Dauid I am feeling feeling in my Head and feeling in my Heart for Agnosco I Acknowledge it Acknowledging importeth a worke of the Head which is Noscere to know and a worke of the Heart which is Agnoscere to Acknowledge the vse of knowledge the applying of it to our Liues Neither is King Dauid only feeling hereof but ingenious also in publishing the same for he did Acknowledge it in this Psalme These bee the particulars which offer themselues in this Text and whereunto God willing I shall now speake more fully and answerably vnto this * The 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈◊〉 of Welles Occasion But I must first touch at the Inference and shew you how these and the following words are brought in vpon those that goe before Haue mercy vpon me O Lord c. saith King Dauid for I acknowledge my transgressions c. Obserue then Mans deuotion must follow Gods direction neither may we hope otherwise to speede then we are waranted by his Promise Now God doth not promise Mercy but to those that are feeling of their Miserie in the beginning of the Leiturgie we heare daily out of Ezek. Eâ—c 18.21.22 At what time soeuer a sinner doth repent him of his sinne from the bottome of his Heart I will put al His wickednesse out of my remembrance saith the Lord Ioel. 2.13 and therefore out of Ioel we are called vpon to Rent our Hearts and not our Garments and turne vnto the Lord our God because hee is gentle and mercifull patient and of much mercy and such an one as is sorric for our Afflictions Mâ—t. 5.6 to this purpose doth our Sauiour Christ in the Gospell pronounce them Blessed that hunger and thirst after righteousnes saying Mâ—â— 11. â— they shall be satisfied and inuiteth those that Labour and are heauie laden saying he will refresh them Although then wee doe yeeld that the Mercy of God is infinite and that it is readie to releiue all wretches yet wee may not forget that in obtayning it there are Partes nostrae as Chrysostom speaketh there is some thing that God requires on our part hee requires that we approue vnto him our Repentance Saint Austin sets it forth in a prettie Dialogue betweene God and King Dauid Quidergo quaeris miserecordiam pecatum impunitum remanebit what saith God vnto King Dauid doest thou seeke for mercy so that thy sinne may remaine vnpunished Respondet Dauid respondeant Lapsi King Dauid replied and all sinners must ioyne in this answer with King Dauid Non Domine Nay Lord my sinne shall not bee vnpunished I know his Iustice whose mercy I implore my sinne shall not passe vnpunished but therefore would not I haue thee punish it because I doe punish it my selfe and so Chrysostome I see my sinne O Lord therefore doe not thou see it I register it in this Psalme therefore doe thou blot it out of thy Booke Agnosco ignoscas therefore pardon because I am penitent 1. Cor. 11. And indeed it is the Apostles Rule That if we would
Gods Word which is the first Branch of Iustice The second is Integritie Integritie I told you is Iustitia in facto when iust deeds are squared by iust wordes The Deed heere is Iudging and this word must lead vs to another Chapter the 12. of the 2. of Sam. Where the same Nathan commeth vnto Dauid with a second Message a Message that containeth a performance of that which God promised in the former Message hee promised that if he did sinne hee should smart and there hee maketh him smart hee promised that hee should not so smart but hee should haue good proofe of Gods greater Mercie and there he feeleth it in the Absolution from his sinne So that Gods Deeds in Iudging keepe good correspondencie with his Wordes therefore is Integritie ascribed vnto them for what is the integrity of a Iudge but the true temper of Seuerity and Mercy if God be Iudge the gracious mixture of the Law and the Gospel where both these are put in practice and put in practice as they ought there is Integrity so much is wanting of Integritie as is wanting of these if Seuerity bee administred without Mercy or if Mercy haue not the vpper hand of Seuerity there wanteth Integritie in the gouerment of the Common-weale because he is commanded of God so to temper his Iudgement And God may seeme to come short of his Integritie if hee did not mixe and mixe so his Law with his Gospell as he himselfe being otherwise free hath by promise laid a tie vpon himselfe Hee couenanted with Dauid to administer the Law vnto him and chastise his sinnes but citra condignum with the rod of a Man and not of God He couenanted with him to administer vnto him the Gospell but vltra condignum not after the manner of Men but after the manner of God Thus to administer both Law and Gospell so to dispence Mercy and Seuerity is Gods clearing himselfe in Iudgement I called it his Integritie Ioyne these now together Promissionem et Praestationem the 7. and the 12. of the 2. of Sam. whereof one containeth the promising Word the other the performing Iudgement and couple the Integrity of the Performance with the Fidelity of the Promise and you haue an excellent Picture or Representation of the Iustice wherewith God doth gouerne his Church Now this Iustice must haue its Praise As God is Iust in speaking so must hee bee Iustified as hee is cleare in Iudging so must hee be clarified that I may so say that is glorified These two Verbes doe not import that the Creature can infuse any perfection into the Creator will wee nill wee these things are in him Fidelitie is inseperable from his wordes and Integrity from his Iudgements all that can be done by vs is Cognitio Recognitio we are bound to take notice of them and not to smother our knowledge but yeeld God the glory that is due vnto them To this end doth God manifest his perfections vnto the reasonable Creature and in their owne Cases doe they feele and see in other Mens Cases the experience of them Saint Paul seemeth to read the latter part of the Text otherwise then here is exprest for hee hath Rom. 3.4 that thou mightest ouercome when thou art iudged whereas heere it is that thou mightest be cleare when thou iudgest They are not words of a contrary meaning but Saint Pauls Text which followeth the Septuagint doth adde an obseruation ouer and aboue that which you haue heard that is Though God be Iudge of all the world yet worldly men sticke not to take vpon them to iudge God yea and God is pleased to put his Iustice vpon tryall as wee read Esay 1. Micah 6. and elsewhere so carefull is hee that not onely his proceedings be iust but his Iustice euident also so euident as that whosoeuer shall contend with him in Iudgement shall bee driuen to yeeld The best haue oftentimes doubts and disputes they question Gods Integritie how the Gospell and the Law can stand together and God at the same time condemne and absolue and yet bee iust God would settle their consciences Vnbeleeuers not onely quarrell with but deny also Gods Integritie but the Mouthes of all gainsayers shall bee stopped they shall bee forced to subscribe to confesse that God is cleare in Iudging free from all drosse of contradiction that Mercy and Truth may kisse each other and the Law goe hand in hand with the Gospell as after appeares And so haue I declared vnto you the praise of Gods Iustice I come now to shew you the reference that it hath vnto K. Dauids sin which that I may the better do you must obserue that the former words Against thee against thee onely haue I sinned and done this euill in thy sight may be vnderstood either Materialiter or Formaliter as a Description of sinne or a Supplication of a sinner Some vnderstand them after the latter fashion and so King Dauid Non not at finem peccati sed precationis hee noteth not the end of his Sinning but the end of his Praying Non dicit quo fine fecerit Malum sed quo fine nunc faciat bonum hee doth not shew vs whereat he aymed when he sinned but what he desireth now heeprayeth Hee desireth that as in amplifying of his sinne hee doth by a Comparison amplifie Gods Iustice for Contraria iuxta posita magis elucescunt Vertue neuer shineth more gloriously then when vice is made a foile vnto it so his recouery may bee a Monument of Gods Mercy And we may well propose vnto our selues in our confession the setting forth of Gods glory and this may be the end of it yea comfortles were our Confession if it were not for this end God would not accept it neither should wee haue good of it the more we humble our selues to magnifie God the more wee doe our duty and the more wee shall tast of his Mercy To make good this sense some take in some of the former words I acknowledge my sinnes yea goe backe as farre as the beginning of the Psalme Haue Mercy vpon me O Lord. And indeed those two must concurre the humble Repentance of a sinner and the gracious Indulgence of a good God that God may be iustified in his sayings and cleare when he his iudged O Lord saith Gregorie if thou doe not forgiue the Penitent thou wilt haue none to whom thon mayst performe thy Couenant Ruffinus and diuers other Fathers doe amplifie this sense and restraine it to the particular Case of King Danid as if the gracious promise in the 7th of the the 2. of Sam must needs fall to the ground if the indulgence specified in the 12th of the 2. of Sam. had not released the forfeiture which God might haue taken for King Dauids sinne Though this be a religious and a true sense of the word yet hath Saint Paul taught vs another that doth better fit the Contexture Rom. 3.4 wherefore Saint Chrysostome and
a booke of record Now then in ore duorum aut trium testium stabit omne verbum if so be doubt should be made of the first booke the booke that is in Heauen it must needs bee put out of all doubt by the threefold booke or record of our sin which God hath prouided here on earth Now wee throughly know the bookes let vs come to King Dauids dele the blotting out of that which is in the book or rather the Record or bill of indictment for as such must we apprehend these bookes There is no doubt but Dauid is primarily sollicitous of the first booke and indeed that is the ground of all the rest and the rest are but imperfect exemplifications of that and if the booke bee cancelled that is in Heauen these on earth will be of no validitie God will not leaue them longer vncancelled if God raze our sinnes out of the booke of his Memorie hee will giue an acquittance also to our Conscience hee will plucke out the tongue of the staines that are in our Bodies and Soules and put to silence the clamours of those Creatures which wee haue abused all those records shall be cancelled and it is for the cancelling of them all that King Dauid doth pray But marke that Hide thy face is not enough except blot out be added God may dissemble the sinnes of men for a time and punish them at length 〈◊〉 32. Moses is taught as much when hauing prayed that God would forgiue the Israelites Idolatrie committed with the golden calfe God was intreated so farre as to hide his face to forbeare them but not to blot out Vos 34. that is to forgiue them for he addeth Neuerthelsse in the day when I visit I will visit their sinnes vpon them the like is to bee obserued in the case of Solomon Ahab Manasses and others Dauid prouideth better for himselfe then so he ioyneth both in his desire and prayeth not onely hide thy face but blot out also and so must we when we seeke forgiuenesse of sinnes It is a cold comfort to a debtor to obtaine of his creditor that he will not looke vpon his obligations hee is not secure except he haue them cancelled neither is a prisoner without feare that is onely repriued and why he may be hanged when he little looketh for it a sinners case is no better then this prisoners or that debtors except God be pleased as well to blot the record as to hide his face But in the petition I obserued that King Dauid doth not only expresse what workes he expects from God but he sheweth withall Whereto and How farre he would haue these works extend 1. Whereto not to his person but to his sinnes hide thy face not from me but from my sinnes for if God should withdraw his countenance from vs destruction and annihilation must needes fall vpon vs our being and our liuing depend vpon the influence of his countenance and indeed our being and our liuing they are his workmanship and to pray God to hide his face from his owne workmanship must needes imply that we would haue God hate what himselfe hath made but God delights to behold that which is of him because it is like him neither doth it feare or blush to come before him It is that which we haue patcht vnto his workmanship which he abhorres to see and which abhorreth to bee seene of him Therefore King Dauid discreetly limiteth the obiect of Gods workes and will haue them worke not vpon his person but vpon his sinne and we may not in our petitions confound these things that are so different wherof the one may endure the other may not these acts of the Prouidence of God what so euer we haue which is of God may without dis-comfort endure his all-seeing Eye and all recording hand therefore wee may not craue in regard of them either hide thy face or blot out both these desires must be restrained to our sinnes And to them all As Dauid doth wisely restraine the acts to his sinne so doth he as wisely extend them to all his sinnes Hee was not ignorant of that Maxime of law Maledictus qui non permanserit in omnibus Deut. 27.26 Cursed is he that abideth not in all that is written in the Law for to doe it ill doth the Shipwright prouide who stopping all other leakes leaues but one for the water may enter thereat and drowne the whole ship euen so seeing euery sinne is mortall wee may not looke for lesse wages for any one sinne then eternall death yea Saint Iames his rule is Reus vnius omnium guiltie of one and guiltie of all And why Cap. 2.10 though in conuersion to the world sinners doe differ yet in auersion from God they all agree he that setteth light by God in breaking one coÌ„mandement doth not out of the feare of God keepe any one happily it is because he is not so prone to or gaineth not so much by other sinnes or some other carnal reason there is but certainly out of the feare of God he doth not forbeare them Therefore King Dauid would haue his sinne pluckt vp by the roots not one sprigge left in him as before hee confest them all ingenuously so doth he here desire that they may all gratiously be pardoned as in the 1. verse he begged great mercy so doth he here expresse how great he would haue it The last thing that I obserued vnto you was the possibilitie that King Dauid should speed in this petition for it may seeme strange that such indulgence should stand with the diuine prouidence that God should See all and yet not See something and Gods Memorie to be a record of all and yet to haue something blotted out Notwithstanding that this is a truth we learne of God himselfe in Esay Ego sum qui deleo iniquitates I am he that blotteth out sinnes and remember them no more the like doth God affirme in Ieremie Cap. 43.25 yea that which the heathen Orator spake flatteringly of Iulius Caesar Cap. 31.34 is most true of God Nihil obliuisci solet nisi iniurias he forgets nothing but the sinnes of penitent suppliants Wherefore to cleare this doubt we must call to mind what I told you before touching Gods face that it signifies not onely his knowledge but also the consequent thereupon his answerable affection now his knowledge is necessarie his affection voluntarie so that though it be impossible that God should be ignorant of any thing yet he may be affected as pleaseth himselfe haue mercie on whom hee will haue mercie and harden whom he will as Saint Paul affirmeth out of Moses When as then hee is moued in pittie towards any whom he is not ignorant to be sinners â—om 9.18 hee is said to turne his face from their sinnes Non aduertit saith Saint Austine in quod non animaduertit his indisposition to punish it is ment by his hiding his face
it quickeneth a bodie consisting of many different members all which it setteth on worke the eye to see the eare to heare the foot to goe c. euen so though the grace of God which is the soule of the soule of man be but one yet doth it animate the whole man and doth as truly communicate good manners to the parts as the Soule doth Life Titus 2. The grace of God which bringeth saluation vnto all mâ—n teacheth vs to denie all vngodlinesse and worldly lusts and to liue soberly righteously and godly in this present world Ephes 6. hereupon Saint Paul biddeth vs put on the whole armour of God and to cast away all workes of darknesse and in another place Whatsoeuer things are iust whatsoeuer things are holy Rom. 13. Philip. 〈◊〉 whatsoeuer things are true whatsoeuer things are of good report thinke vpon these things Wee must haue not only a disposition to doe well but remember that wee are to doe well more wayes then one The same God that commandeth one vertue commandeth all and he will not haue any part or power of man exempted from his seruice Which must bee heeded by vs because there are few that are of Saint Pauls minde Philip. 3 13. to forget those things that are behind and make forward no sooner haue wee brought forth one good worke but we fall in loue with that and there take vp our rest and thinke that may serue insteed of all suffering Gods graces to be idle which are aswell able to make a chastâ—cie as a sober tongue and an obedient eare as a diligent hand Much more good might come from euery man if he did not thinke hee did good enough therefore let vs remember that nothing must bee accounted enough that is lesse then all and that wee set not straighter bounds to our duties then those which are in Gods Law But we haue not now to doe in generall with good workes my text restraineth me to workes of repentance I come then nearer to those And although I hane alreadie opened vnto you the nature of repentance yet must I wade a little farther in it and branch it as it were into its kinds The Law of God hath two parts the Precept and the Sanction The Sanction sheweth vnto vs the danger of sinne obliging vnto punishment from which wee are not free but by Iustification and this Iustification is attended with Repentance Repentance that looketh vnto the guilt of sinne which cleaueth vnto the Act thereof This Repentance is that which is practised in the times of Humiliation when we deprecate Gods wrath which is vpon vs or hangeth ouer vs by reason of enormous sinnes of the whole state and of particular persons 〈◊〉 2. Ionah 3. such is that which is called for in Ioel and whereof wee haue the practice in Ionah The Primitiue Church was well acquainted with it as appeareth by the Ecclesiasticall storie the Canons of the first Councels the writings of Tertullian Origen Cyprian and others our Church taketh notice of it in a part of the Liturgie and wisheth the publike restitution of it Tantae seueritati non sumus pares But it is rather to bee wished then hoped for Notwithstanding what is not done in publike by malefactors should be supplied by better obseruance of those dayes which are appointed weekly and of those weeks which are appointed yearely to be Poenitentiall to be dayes and weekes of Fasting and Praying Wee cannot denie but crying sinnes are daily committed and therefore Gods wrath might daily bee inflicted The way to stay it is to shew that wee are not guiltie thereof and as he is not guiltie by the Law of man which had no hand in sinne so by the Law of God none goe for not guiltie except they doe expresse a penitent sorrow that any should bee so wretched as to commit the sinne You remember how one Achan troubled all Israel and his sinne is layed to all their charge Ioshua the seuenth and they were all made to sanctifie themselues from that sinne and how the vnknowne murder was expiated wee reade Deut. 21. there must bee a feeling in vs of other mens sinnes a religious feeling seeing thereby they put not only themselues but vs to in danger of Gods wrath and therefore though our conscience haue no speciall burden of its owne yet must it haue of others and endeuour to ease both it selfe and the whole state thereof And how may priuate men better doe this then by those solemne acts of Humiliation the only attonement which by faith in Christ we can make with God But Saint Pauls complaint may be renewed 1. Cor. 5. It is reported commonly that there is fornication wee may adde Murder Adulterie and any other enormeous sinne the seates of Iudgement can witnesse that our Land is fertile of all sorts but as Saint Paul said so will I all men are puffed vp and who doth sorrow The emptinesse of our Churches vpon Fridayes and Wednesdayes and other Fasting dayes sheweth how litle feeling there is in vs of the crying sinnes of our State It were well if we had some feeling of our owne But where is that Drunkard where is that Adulterer where is that Murderer where is that Blasphemer that Vsurer that Oppressor that commeth into Gods House bathed in his teares broken in his heart stript of his pride humbled in his bodie and making a reall crie for mercie in the eares of God No wee come not so farre as a vocall our tongues crie not God bee mercifull to mee a Sinner which is but the voice of man much lesse doe our sighes doe it which are the voice of Gods Spirit we shame not to sinne Regis admirabilem virtutem fecit multò splendidiorem c. but to repent wee are ashamed Ashamed of that whereof we should glorie surely Theodoret thought better of King Dauids repentance when he pronounced of it There were many Heroicall vertues in King Dauid but for none is he so illustrious as for his repentance so much more illustrious by how much it is a rarer thing to see a King come from his Throne clothed in sackcloth sitting in dust and ashes feeding vpon the bread of sorrow and mingling his drinke with his teares then to see him in state either vttering Prouerbs like a Solomon or triumphing ouer his foes as at other times he also did Stultum est iâ—e eo statu viuere in quo non audet quis Mori or doing any other act in the maiestie of a King But most men are ashamed of this glorie and chose rather to glorie in their shame vnto whom I will vse Saint Austines words It is grosse folly to liue in that state in which a man would bee loth that death should take him hee addeth That the man which dareth goe to bed with a conscience charged with the guilt of one enormous sinne is much more desperate then he that dareth lie vnarmed with seuen
true Oliue is the Iew and if the Gentile partake of the fatnesse thereof he must be grafted thereinto and become a Branch of that Oliue To the Ephesians more plainly more fully he maketh the receiuing of the Gentiles into the Church to bee an admission into the Couenant into the Common-wealth of Israel Ephes 3. a becomming one body with them But as the Gentile becommeth a Iew so is it not a Iew according to the flesh but according to the spirit A Sonne of Abraham he is but a spirituall Sonne the partition wall is taken downe yea the Arke it selfe is remoued Ieremy 3. and the Ceremonies which cloath the Religion of the Iewes cease they are not imposed vpon the Gentiles Yea the Iew himselfe becommeth a Gentile the Iew I say becommeth a Gentile carnally as the Gentile becommeth a Iew spiritually Of the ten Tribes it is most cleare that after their Captiuity they neuer returned and there is no such Nation to be heard of in the world they are mingled with other Nations and become Gentiles according to the flesh And as for the other two Tribes that made vp the Kingdome of Iuda many thousands of them were conuerted to the Christian Faith in the daies of the Apostles and yet there is not extant any Nationall Church of them neither was there long extant any they also are become Gentiles according to the flesh And God that buried the bodie of Moses so that it could not be found lest the Iewes should commit Idolatry with that body whereby God had wrought so great Miracles seemes also to haue as it were buried so many Iewes as became Christians by mingling them with the Gentiles lest that superstition which hath besotted the Gentiles to goe a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land should haue wrought more strongly in making them dote vpon that holy people But God hath turned all the world into a Canaan hath of all Nations compounded the Israel of God Of a truth saith St. Peter I see there is no respect of Persons with God but in euery Nation whosoeuer beleeueth and feareth God is accepted of him There is neyther Iew nor Gentile Graecian nor Barbarian bond nor free but all are one in Christ all are contained vnder this name Vs. In the Prophet vpon this ground Israel seemes to note the Gentiles Ezek. 37. when both Iuda and Israel are remembred to bee conuerted to God and the whole house of Iacob You see of what Nation the People is now see of what Condition Borne to Vs giuen to Vs. And who are we for whom God hath done this Gifts are bestowed vpon Persons eyther for their worth or for their need For their worth and so they are Munera honoraria they are presented in dutifull acknowledgement of their worth whether it be worth of vertue or worth of degree For their need and so they are Munera eleemosynaria conferred out of a pitifull compassion of others wants This gift is not of the first kinde it cannot be Honorarium There was no worth in vs which God should honour with this gift bestowed vpon vs. Our degree was of no regard our vertue of much Iesse the former was none in comparison and the later was none at all It must then be Munus eleemosynarium and indeed so it was the Scripture so speaketh of it Through the tender mercy of our God the day-spring from on high hath visited vs so saith Zacharie And St. Paul Tit. 3. After the kindnesse and loue of our Sauiour towards man appeared not by workes of righteousnesse which we haue done but of his mercy he saued vs. And indeed it was a worke of great mercy For whereas there is but duplex malum malum Poenae and malum Culpae a double euill of Sinne and Woe we were plunged deepe in both deep in Sin deepe in Woe To pity him that is deep in woe is not strange it seemeth to be the proper act of Mercy but pity towards Malefactors the Philosophers acknowledge none No man say they pitieth a Thiefe when he goeth to the Gallowes or a Murderer feeling the stroke of Iustice how much lesse would they pity them if the sinne were against themselues and that committed by a Vassall against his Lord a Vassall that had receiued much fauour against his Lord from whom he receiued it In such a case they acknowledge no pity Yet this is our case and we haue found pity so great pity that Christ was borne for Vs and Christ was giuen vnto Vs. So that of this pity as well Causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not onely the Cause but the Occasion must be found in God It is cleare that the proper Cause is the goodnesse of God and it is as cleare that the occasion also must bee fetched from him Were there onely malum Poenae in vs there might bee found in vs an Occasion of Mercie but seeing there is also malum Culpae there cannot but bee an Occasion of Iustice Our double Euill worketh a double Occasion and so maketh Mercie and Iustice as it were to striue in God And indeed both take their occasions Natus satisfied Iustice for a Person came forth that was able to giue full satisfaction vnto Iustice but Datus satisfied Mercy because this Person was freely bestowed vpon Vs. So that if we put Borne for Vs and Giuen to Vs together we see the sweet Harmony that is in the Quire of Gods Attributes None singeth alone they concent together yet so that some one doth most loudly speak the praise of God and in our case Mercy reioyceth ouer Iudgement For though our sinnes haue occasioned Iustice and therefore Christ was borne for Vs that he might satisfie that iustice that was too heauie for vs yet our Woe occasioned Mercy which gaue Christ vnto Vs that in our own Person we might enioy the Blessings of God We are borne for our selues that we may liue and haue all the comfort of our life present to come blessings which we wanted and by which when we receiue them our state is the better It is not so with Christ he was borne for others not for himselfe and giuen to others not to himselfe for what wanted he whereof he needed a supply Hee was in the forme of God and what good is there that is not in the Nature of God which is the ouerflowing Fountaine of all good Looke vpon the State of Christ this Point will appeare clearly No man will doubt but his Birth was for the good of others that considereth that his glory is not his owne but ours He sitteth indeed at the right hand of God and is lifted vp aboue all Angels and Arch-angels and euery Name that is named in Heauen and Earth in this World and that which is to come but what gaineth he by it who was from eternity most high in the glory of his Father Christ himselfe affirmeth it Iohn 17. Glorifie mee O Father with that glory
First then God forgiues Exod. 3◠it is one of his properties so to doe to forgiue iniquities and transgressions And without all doubt God ceasing from anger which is contrary to his nature will embrace mercie which is agreeable to his nature if we repent neyther would he euer haue giuen Christ to death for vs if hee had desired our death But our God is mercifull and hath appointed vs Ministers to be sponsores misericordiae to giue assurance of his mercy to penitent sinners and our message what is it but the Gospel that is glad tidings of the Reconciliation of God and man Neyther doth he only redresse the cause but the effect also that is the Woe for Woe is the effect of sinne and where God remitteth the guilt of sinne hee will also remoue the punishment thereof eyther wholly or he will at least irae merum clementia diluere by clemencie much allay the seueritie of his wrath wher 's condonare goeth before there donare followeth after giuing doth accompany forgiuing In the text there are two words God will doe and giue which are not put in vaine for the first signifieth that God will doe that which wee request that is as the Psalme speaketh Psalme 145. Hee will fulfill the desire of them that feare him he also will heare their cry and will saue them In our extremities wee call onely for ease of our paine and God will doe that But that is not the vttermost of his fauour he will also giue vs many good things he will as the Prophets speake delight to doe vs good and as if he did repent of his vengeance hee will multiply his blessings and redeeme as it were the time of our affliction with an extraordinary measure of peace and prosperitie Such promises and such performances we reade in the Scripture and our hope may entertaine them as belonging to our selues if we be deuoutly penitent Yet must you obserue as it followeth in the text that God doth dispence this double grace grace of forgiuing and grace of giuing discreetly according to mens wayes As all men are not alike deuout so God intreates them not all alike Hee rewardeth euery man according to his workes as the Scripture speakes Rom. 2.6 Faber est quisque fortunae suae Men shall finde God as God findeth them surely Gods prouidence proceedeth so if you looke vpon the second causes touching the first and St. Pauls maxime 1 Cor. 4.7 Quis te discernit a point that much troubleth the world at this day it is no time now to dispute the plainest and shortest resoluion is that of the Prophet Hosea 13.9 Perditio tua ex te Israel exme salus They that perish must blame themselues but they that are saued must giue the glory thereof vnto God But the waies according to which God dealeth with men are eyther inward or outward God dealeth with men according to their inward waies for God seeth not as man seeth neyther iudgeth according to the outward appearance but according to the inward disposition The reason is twofold 1. because vera bonitas malitia sunt tantùm in corde true goodnesse and malitiousnesse are only in the heart in the outward actions they are not farther than they are deriued from thence according to the rule in the Schooles Our actions are so farre vertuous and vitious as the will hath a hand in them A second reason is this The knowledge of the heart is the strongest proofe that can bee produced in iudgement and because Gods iudgement is the most infallible the euidence produced therin is the most vndeniable his euidence is such and none but his for He and He only knoweth the hearts of the children of men as Salomon addeth He is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the searcher of the heart and reines he is more priuie to our secret thoughts than we our selues are and as St. Iohn saith 1 Iohn 3.20 greater than our heart Therefore God in iudgement non facta numerat sed corda when he commeth to reckoning look how many good hearts hee findeth so many good men and so many ill men as hee findeth ill hearts Men in their iudgements cannot proceede so exactly for want of this knowledge of the heart they are faine to rest vpon weaker proofes which though they satisfie in humane cognizance yet may they possibly be false and the person arraigned may bee mis-deemed and mis-doomed Two things follow out of this Doctrine the doctrine that God onely knoweth the hearts The one is that God often taketh not off his heauie hand notwithstanding we humble our selues because wee doe not turne to the Lord with all our heart The second is that God taketh away many a man in the Act of his Repentance lest he should relapse and malice change his heart Wee must therefore not be out of heart if God should take away any of vs euen in the middest of this good worke As God dealeth discreetly in dispensing of his grace so that supposed He dealeth vniuersally He dispenseth the grace with euery man according to his waies as euery man is sensible of his own ill case or not sensible so God applieth or applieth not a remedie thereunto no penitent man but may speed of the grace no impenitent man may looke for it for God will deale with euery man according to his waies You haue heard what Gods Acceptance is It remaineth that you now heare whereat it aymeth it aymeth at the amendement of Israel God vouch safeth Israel grace that Israel may feare him Psal 130. And so saith the Penitentiall Psalme With thee Lord there is mercy that thou mayst bee feared Gods iudgements are not onely penall but medicinall therefore are they called Corrections because they set vs straight that went awry Eruditions because they ciuilize vs that were growne wilde Castigations because they make vs spiritually chaste that went awhooring And what is Repentance but renascentia animae a renuing of our minde by putting off the old man crucifying the flesh becomming new men Tertullian saith right Penitentia sine emendatione vitae vana quia caret fruclu suo cui eam Deus seuit In vaine is that Repentance which is not followed by a better life because it beareth not that fruite for which God planted it that is the saluation of men or it bringeth not forth the peaceable fruit of righteousnesse vnto them which are exercised thereby Heb. 12. Mercy is shewed propter spem for hope of amendement so Parents spare their children Masters their seruants Princes their subiects and we may not expect that God will spare vs vpon any other condition therefore when we vnderly Gods heauie hand wee must say with Ephraim bemoaning himselfe Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised as a bullocke vnaccustomed to the yoke turne thou mee and I shall be turned thou art the Lord my God surely after that I was turned I repented c. Ier. 31. God spares vs not that we
lift vp mine eies vnto that Hill but from thence commeth my saluation And no maruell that Hill is the Hill of the Lord it is lifted vp aboue all Hils the Hill of Mercie is higher then the Hill of Iudgement there the punishing Angell that with his sword drawne pursueth the sinnes of men is commanded for to sheath it It is Hieâ—usalem indeed The Vision of Peace there is the Altar there is the Sacrifice whereat God will be worshipped wherewith he will be pacified Yea where Abraham shall haue his Jsaac redeemed and a Father greater then Abraham will giue a Sonne dearer then Isaac that Isaac may liue and indeed to bee an Isaac that is a matter of true gladnesse vnto Abraham There Dauid shall find a truer Dauid Dauid out of loue to his people would haue yeilded his life to end their plagues but he findeth there a Dauid that is more louing and more beloued and which indeed there doth what Dauid was but willing to doe but was willing in vaine for no man can by any meanes redeeme his brother or giue a ransome to God for him No man if he be no more then a man can doe it it is a worke of God of Dauids Lord he it is that is the Resurrection and the Life it is his bloud that speaketh better things then the bloud of Abel Abels bloud called for vengeance euen the vengeance of eternall death and so doth all sinne which shed the bloud of a more righteous one then Abel euen the bloud of Christ himselfe it should call for vengeance vnto God But see how the voice thereof is changed and how Christ excuseth sinne before hee sacrifice for sinne Father forgiue them they know not what they doe euen in the act of his Passion he maketh this intercession when hee felt their wrongs see how he excuseth them to his Father that they may find mercie hee pleadeth for them that they doe it ignorantly How much more did hee in his Oblation for sinne speake for remission of sinnes when in his Passion hee was so indulgent vnto sinners This person doe I find on this Hill and I find him able and readie to calme all the stormes that were raised in me at Mount Sinai The storme of Death the storme of Iudgement for must I die I feare it not I am assured of life Christ is to mee life Is death the gate that leadeth to Iudgement I will enter it it shall turne vnto my gaine for the Tribunall of God is but the Theater whereon I shall bee crowned Yea Christ hath so altered both death and Iudgement that well may I say Perijssem nisi perijssem I had neuer tasted of such a life had I not beene subiected vnto death And how much of my glorie should I haue lost if I should neuer haue beene brought vnto Gods Barre O Iesuâ— how wonderfull is thy vertue what strange effects proceed from thee The Alchymists boast much of their skill that they can turne baser metals into better lead into siluâ—r copper into gold but this is their presumption whereupon they build that these baser metals are in their nature in the way to the better and they doe but perfect that which is imperfect and which by the course of nature of imperfect would haue become perfect if they had nouer laboured it But they neuer aduenture to turne drosse into siluer or dirt into gold Thou dost more much more of so base a one as I am for who is more base then a sinner who is indeed seruus seruorum a slaue of slaues for sinne is nothing but seruitude and the Master whom a sinner serueth who is it but the Deuill then whom there is none more slauish of so base a one thou makest a vessell of gold euen where there was no disposition to become such thou hast giuen so excellent a nature and makest death to become life Thou hast quickned me which was dead I that was dead in sinne am quickned by thee the fountaine of grace my vnderstanding liueth my will liueth my affections liue they liue their true life they know God they loue God they long after him they discouer the euill of sinne they hate it because it is euill and what they hate that they abhorre Are not these Euidences of life I cannot be dead so long as I feele these things in mee I feele them in me but I confesse they spring not from mee they haue a better Fountaine that is Christ He is this life of mine it began in him when he became one with mee by his personall Vnion then the Vnderstanding then the Will the Affections of man which had beene long dead began to liue As this began in part when Christ became one with mee by personall vnion so did it streame forth into me when I became one with him by Mysticall Vnion then the beames of his light cleared my darknesse the comfort of his Heate warmed my chilnes then was I quickned by the influence of his life I doe not count that life which I liued before though it goe for such with men and it seemed such to me I thought as the world thinketh that if my soule dwelt in my bodie I was aliue but alas if Christ be from my soule my soule is dead and how can a dead soule quicken my bodie the bodie of a man of such a man as should bee of the same societie with Angels Well may it make my bodie vegetable and so range it with the Planets and yet therein I shall come short of many of them It may doe more my bodie by it may become sensible and I may be of the condition of beasts and yet therein how many of them will ouermatch me Happily or vnhappily rather it may boast of more it may boast that it maketh me reasonable and indeed such faculties haue I but corrupt in that I haue a reasonable soule But this aduanceth me no higher then Deuils and herein the Deuils incomparably surmount me But that life which is the chiefe life the life which is proper to the children of God I liue not except I liue by Christ and if once I liue that life I liue indeed And heare a Paradoxe I desire to die this life maketh mee most desirous of death of any death sauing that which is opposite to this life I would not die the death in sinne but the other death I will die most gladly I would be dissolued I would lay aside this Tabernacle of my bodie Not that grace maketh me vnnaturall to my flesh No it maketh mee loue my flesh the more the more but the more truly I would haue my bodie doe aswell as my soule and therefore I mortifie it that it may bee holy as my soule is holy Flesh and bloud thinketh that fasting and watching and other castigation of the flesh is a hatefull austeritie of the soule but well may the soule replie Castigo non quod odio habeam sed quod amem and though
to streame afterwards into all the Body For though the Vowes be two yet are they both resolued into the same parts there are in effect the same Contents in either votiue Prayer Let vs take them asunder and see it In that either is a vow you must find in either the parts of a vow they are a Desire and a Promise you may see them euidently in either Vow First in the Vow that King Dauid maketh for Himselfe hee doth expresse a desire to be restored vnto and preserued in the state of Grace and if he speede hee doth Promise a religious Seruice vnto God These two Poynts are enlarged in the seauenteene first verses in the personall Case of King Dauid and being contracted are repeated againe with a speciall Application to his kingdome in the two last You see the breife of the whole Psalme but it is too scant it will not yeeld you a full view let vs then goe backe againe and vnwrap these particulars that we may take more feeling notice of the spirituall riches that are contayned therein The first Vow is made for King Dauid the first branch of that Vow is his Desire and the first Petition in that Desire is That he may be restored vnto Grace In this Petition there are two remarkable things the Matter which hee presents vnto God and the Manner wherewith hee doth ingeminate the same Matter and presse God with it The Matter is contained in these two first verses which in effect sound onely this Miserable King Dauid desires reliefe from the effectuall Mercie of God in Iesus Christ. Where there is Sinne there is Miserie behold here varietie of Sinne Transgressions Iniquities Distortions all cleauing to Dauid for Mee and Mine confirme asmuch and make him a Wretch though hee were a King Now what is the Remedie of such Miserie but effectuall Mercie and this we finde here Mercy by Name in the entrance of the Prayer Haue Mercie But whereas there is Mercy in Affectu or in Effectu Mercy in God or Mercy from God King Dauid doth desire not onely that God would bee gratiously affected towards him but also that hee would worke powerfully vpon him 1. Vpon the Guilt of his Sinne Dele quit me thereof 2. vpon the Corruption of his Sinne Laua wash me therefrom Yea because Guilt is sooner remoued then Corruption clensed keeping correspondencie with Gods Course in working therein he adds Multùm laua Munda neuer giue ouer washing vntill thou hast made mee throughly cleane thus doth Miserie seeke vnto Mercy But where is Mercy to be found surely in God to Him he directs his Prayer Haue Mercy vpon me O God There is no remedie for a sinfull Man but in God whom he hath offended with his sinne and therefore hee saith Secundum Tuam Misericordiam according to Thy Mercy It is Gods propertie to haue Mercy but it is Gods in Christ so much is meant by the next words according to thy louing kindnesse according to thy tender Mercies God shines Graciously to none but in the Face of Iesus Christ and in him is God become a tender harted Father to all penitent Sinners To all I say for hee hath not onely tender Mercies but there is also in them to bee considered the Measure Rob is the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wee translate it Multitude but it signifies also Magnitude and giueth vs to vnderstand that bee our sinfull Miserie neuer so great neuer so diuerse wee shall not want releife in Mercy which is more great and manifold Finally the Text doth tell vs that as our Miserie must seeke for Mercie in God onely in whom it may be found so we must not dreame that any thing without God can obtaine this at Gods hands therefore wee must pray Secundum according to thy louing kindnesse O Lord let that be not onely the Measure of the Mercy which I seeke but the inducement thereto also And so haue you the Contents of that portion of King Dauids Desire which I haue read vnto you I will now resume them and to your and my farther edification enlarge the exposition of them First then though Mercy stand formost in the Text yet I will begin with the Miserie for Miserie is first in Nature and were it not for that there were no neede of Mercie add hereunto that the sense of Miserie sets the best edge vpon the desire of Mercie and he wil more eagerly long after it that perceiueth throughly in what need hee stands of it I told you that Dauid was miserable though he were a King were there no other proofe there is enough implyed in the first word hee that cryeth Miserere haue mercy doth plainly confesse that he is in Miserie for one Correlatiue cānot subsist without the other But to put it out of al doubt here is enough exprest to proue him a Wretch Pro. 14. Peccatum facit populos miseros wheresoeuer there is Sinne there is Miserie yea and there only for sinne only is simply Euill Malum Paenae Calamitie and Woe though we call them Euills yet indeed they are not so simply but onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Person is and as God intends for that otherwise they are good it is plaine by two vndoubted grounds the Efficient and the Finall Cause That which is Properly Euill hath onely Causam deficientem it springs from the fayling of a reasonable Creature but Woe hath Causam Efficientem it springs from the almighty Hand of God Hee is the Creator of this Darkenesse aswell as the opposite Light As it hath an Efficient so hath it a Final Cause that is the Recouerie of a sinner God iudgeth vs temporally that he may not iudge vs eternally therfore Dauid saith Pal. 119.71 Bonum est Domine quod humiliasti me it is good for me Lord that I haue bin in trouble but that which is truly Euill is destitute of a Finall cause aswel as it was of an Efficient as it comes from weak enes so it ends in vanitie It is true that God doth often times draw light out of darkenesse Good out of that which is simply Euill but that is don by his Transcendent Prouidence it will neuer proue that that which is truly Good truly Euill can haue any naturall habitude the one to the other or that they haue any Cognation betweene themselues Wherefore onely Sinne being simply Euill is that which properly maketh a Wretch And verily wee that beholding Beggers Lazars men any waies afflicted confesse them miserable si adspici possint lanitatus if we had eies to see the spirituall wounds and sores the wantes and the Woes of Adulterers Murderers Blasphemers any other wicked liuers wee would confesse them to be much more miserable My Text doth occasion me to giue you a tast thereof by opening the three words wherewith Dauid doth expresse his sinne The first is Peshang 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is well rendred a Transgression that is
a passing of our bounds Our lusts are apt to range and exceed God sets bounds vnto them by his Law hee would hold them in but it will not be we are Sonnes of Belial we will beare no yoake we breake Gods bands and cast his cordes from vs. Psal 2. The first euill of sinne is it maketh a lawles man and who doth not know that liueth in a society what an vnhappie libertie the lawles haue But why will man be lawles forsooth he thinkes that the more hee hath his will the more hee shall compasse his owne ends he thinks so but it proues not so that appeares in the next name of sinne that is Chata 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and noteth a shooting cleane besides the Marke When wee become Masterles the vpshot of our endeauour is to mistake euill for good and reape woe where wee looked for rest The wicked Wisd 5. confesse this truth and all Histories are but Chronicles of it they testifie that lawlesse men haue finally missed of that whereat they aymed yea that they haue therein bin deceiued most wherein they seemed vnto themselues to haue succeeded best And doth not this Name of Sinne then argue a sinner to be a Wretch But that which is the height of Euill in Sinne is noted in the third word Gnaon Peruersenesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And indeed Sin is nothing but the peruerting of a Creature God made the Great and the little World to set forth his owne Glorie but sinne turneth both to his dishonour God made the little World to be Lord ouer the great and Sinne turneth the Lord into the Seruant and the Seruant into the Lord God made Man a Consort for Angels Sin doth range Man with the Feinds of Hell Finally God made Man after his owne Image Sin doth change him into the Image of the Diuell most wretched peruersnesse Now seeing this threefold Euill is found in sinne as the Names thereof giue vs to vnderstand we cannot doubt but Sinne doth make a Miserable Man hee that is infected with it will confesse it though he be a King Certainely King Dauid doth He was at this time a King a victorious a glorious King obeyed by many Nations abounding in al kind of worldly prosperity Add thereunto that same gracious Entaile of his Crowne sent vnto him from God 2. Sam. 7. the verie crowne of blessings But see being stung with the Conscience of Sinne hee is sensible of none of these neither doth hee finde Comfort in any of them notwithstanding all these he confesseth himselfe a Wretch Wherein wee may obserue by the way the difference betweene the iudgement of flesh and blood and of a Child of God concerning that which maketh Happie the one placeth it in the Things of this life the other in the Peace of God And indeede so long as it is not well betweene God and vs all the World can giue vs no Content the consciousnes of sinne if we haue as feeling hearts as King Dauid had feeling the mischieuous nature of sinne wee will account our selues but Wretches and wee will with him fall to our Miserere mei Haue Mercie vpon me c. which is the second part of my Text. The Correlatiue of Miserie is Mercy as there were no neede of Mercy were there no Misery so because there is Miserie there is a remedie prouided for it and that is Mercy The Verbe doth properly signifie Be gracious to mee Grace is free loue so teacheth Saint Austin Non est gratia vllo modo si non sit omni modo gratuita that fauour deserueth not the name of Grace that can be either merited or requited But yet there are two sorts of this Grace one Quae datur non merenti another Quae datur immerenti The first was the Grace of Creation it proceeded from the free Goodnes of God for there was no possibilitie of Mans Deseruing before hee had his Being therefore was his Being a guift of Grace The second is the Grace of Redemption this proceeds also from Gods free Goodnesse this was vouchsafed to Man when he deserued the contrary he deserued eternall Death but God vouchsafed him eternall Life This speciall kind of Grace is called Mercy Therefore considering the Argument the Translator did not amisse in restrayning the amplitude of the words and rendring it Haue Mercy for Euangelicall Grace is Mercy and it is such Grace that is meant in this place But this Mercy is considered either in Affectu or Effectu as it is in God or as it manifests it selfe vpon Man The Remedy of Misery is Mercie but that Mercy must containe not only a Gracious disposition towards man but a powerfull operation vpon him God must be well affected so as that Mans state also may be altered In Miseries plea for Mercie these two cannot be seuered without Impietie or Blasphemie 1. Blasphemie for Sin Compassion are incōpatible if the one be not conceiued as the remouer of the other but he doth not so conceiue them that looks only to the Affection looketh not also for the Action of Mercy therefore he blasphemes the Author thereof Secondly there is Impietie in it for it argueth that a Man would be free from Gods displeasure but he would not part with that which offends his pure eyes Hee loueth to be a sinner And this is plaine Impietie But what are the effects of Mercy euen as many as are the euills of Sin In sin then there are two Euills the Guilt and the Corruption thereof the Guilt is resembled to a Debt 〈◊〉 1◠indeed it is a plaine Debt a double Debt for in euery sinne that wee commit we grow in arrerages vnto God in regard of the duty which wee owe him and God growes in Arrerages vnto vs in regard of the punishment that is due vnto vs. Now of these debts God keepeth a Booke all our misdeeds are recorded before him 〈◊〉 5. and of these Bookes there is mention made in the Reuel where the Soone of Man is represented vpon his Tribunall iudging all the World according to those things that are found in the Bookes that are open before him As in regard of the Guilt Sinnes are compared to Debt so in regard of the Corruption they are compared vnto Staines Staines of all sorts to Froth to Foame to Scumme to Drosse to Mire to all sorts of diseases and impurities of the flesh And indeed how can they bee other seeing they are the insection that wee receiue from the vncleane Spirit This being briefly obserued Let vs now consider of Dauids Prayer his Prayer for the Affection and Operation of Mercy First for the Affection in these Words Miserere Haue Mercy The Affection is the Roote from whence springs the Operation wee learne it in another Psalme Psal 80. Cause thy face to shine and we shall be saued therefore he doth well to make sure of that first because no hope of the other if hee speede not
Psal 145. Psal 25. of the hight of it it reacheth vnto Heauen sometimes of the depth of it it fetcheth men from Hell sometimes of the width of it it is ouer all his workes sometimes of the length of it it hath bin euer of old His tender Compassions faile not they are renewed euery Morning Lamen 3. But all this is to bee vnderstood in Christ his Incarnation his passion the whole Redemption that hee wrought is indeed Magna Misericordia a wonderfull Mercy Saint Paul mentioning the breadth the length the depth and the hight of it teacheth vs that it passeth all knowledge Ephe. 3. Neither is it Great onely but in this Greatnesse we must obserue Magnitudinem Multitudinem Saint Chrisostome doth excellently amplifie this poynt in regard of both branches Ores nouas inauditas Behold and wonder the first fruits of those that come to Christ are those which were most desperately enthrauled to Satan Magi Publicani Meretrices latro blasphemus the Conuersion of such persons is an vndoubted Argument of the Magnitude of his Mercy And touching the Multitude beleiue his answer to Saint Peter Mat. 18. â—â— who asking Christ Whether hee should forgiue his Brother seauen times replied Not only seauen times but seauentie times seauen Eze. 18.21 At what time soeuer a Sinner doth repent from the bottome of his heart I will put all his wickednesse out of my remembrance sayth the Lord. And verely were it not for this double Greatnesse that is in Gods Mercy few should bee saued for Psal 130. If thou Lord shouldest bee extreame to marke what is done amisse who were able to stand but with thee there is Mercy we would despaire of our cure if there were not such physicke of our great sores if there were not such a soueraigne medicine but this is our comfort Where sinne aboundeth Grace aboundeth much more Rom. 3.20 There is no sinne either so great or manifold which cannot be remedied by the Mercifull bowells of Christ It was Cains voice Gen. 4. my sinne is greater then can be forgiuen but a Father Saint Austin I thinke replieth to him Mentiris Cain this thy complaint is a blasphemous derogation from the vnmeasurable bowells of Christ and the Nouatians were long since condemned by the Church which straightned the power of the Remission of sinnes which Christ hath left vnto the Pastors Marke now the Correspondencie of the branches of this Text. Wee found Magnitude and Multitude in the Miserie of Dauid and they did need a Magnitude and Multitude in the gracious operations of Mercie and here we doe finde in the third place that Mercy is so well stored that it can doe as much as is required by Miserie Whereupon two thinges follow It is vnbeseeming diuine Mercy to bee scant in giuing and humane Miserie is foolishly modest that is spare in asking But this Diuinitie must not be abused it was neuer intended to encourage Presumption but God would haue it published to keepe men from Desperation It is wholesome Doctrine for them that are Miserabiles which labour and are heauie laden with the burden of their sin but it is dangerous to them that are onely Miseri such as are grieuous sinners but haue no sense of their wretched state The last point in the Text is Secundum Misericordiam Haue mercy vpon me according to that which is in Thee not that which is in Mee Nothing to moue God but onely the free goodnesse of God certainely to moue Mercy nothing else can be pleaded by Miserie Dauid had done many good things Omnes voluntates Dei as Saint Paul saith Acts 13. hee had restored Church and Common Weale and made many sweet Songs to the honor and prayse of God But he remembreth none of all these in his Prayer he doth not desire to speede for any of those And why Bona Opera Deo placere possunt Deum placare non possunt while wee doe them though imperfect yet are they well pleasing vnto God thorough Christ but if we doe contrary vnto them we may not pleade them for Satisfactions for our sinne No Gods Rule is Eze. 18. When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousnesse and committeth iniquitie all his righteousnesse that he hath done shall not bee mentioned therefore Dauid prayeth discreetly when he referreth God to his owne Goodnes and pleades nothing of his owne Worth and we must in the like Case lay before God only our beggery and commend that vnto Gods Mercy the lesse we haue the more wee shall find in him if wee are not ashamed to confesse our owne basenes and his Goodnesse But it is time to draw to an end Audi peccator orantem peccatorem whosoeuer thou art that art a sinner learne from King Dauid the argument of penitent Prayer It must represent a feeling Miserie and a tender Mercy and the feeling of Misery must make vs seeke vnto tender Mercy It was a strange errour in Saint Peter that when he had seene a glimpse of Christs Glorie Luke 5. â— brake out into these words Goe from me Lord for I am a sinfull Man hee should rather haue desired that Christ would approach him for with whom should a Patient desire rather to be then with his Physitian or a Sinner then with his Sauiour Surely Saint Peter at another time Iohn 13.2 though at first he made dainty that Christ should wash his feete yet when Christ told him except I wash thee thou canst haue no part in me replied Wash Lord and not my feete onely but my hands and my head also There is none of vs that doth not daily runne in arrerages to God that doth not staine that garment of Innocencie which he receiued in his Baptisme and what should we do then being in such a case but that our selues may be written in the booke of life desire that our sinnes may be blotted out of the Booke of death that we be not cast out of heauenly Hierusalem â—euel 7.14 as an vncleaÌ„e thing wash our garments white in the blood of the Lambe No doubt but as King Dauid so wee shall haue Paroxismes sharpe sits of despaire when our Conscience curiously suruaieth our Miserie But the eyes of our soule must not dwell there we must lift them vp vnto the Mercy-seate et abyssus abyssum inuocet let the depth of our Misery seeke a reliefe in the depth of Gods Mercy be our sins neuer so many bee they neuer so great we shall find more bowells of tender Mercy greater loue kindnesse there then our Sinnes can need Yea not onely finde them there in God but seele them also streaming from thence to the full reliefe of our distressed soules We shall feele them so acquitting so cleansing vs that we shall be assured that we are vessells of Mercy though we deserue for our sinnes to be Vessells of Wrath. I Shut vp all with this Prayer O Lord Righteousnesse belongeth vnto thee but
errours in Chronologie I will not trouble you with enumeration of them they that are learned may find them in the Chronologies the ignorant may find enough in the common Almanackes That which I will obserue vnto you is That our mercifull God hath so done his wonderfull workes that they ought to be had in remembrance and amongst other helpes of memorie God vseth this of Chronologie We should not thinke of these dates of times but we should refresh our memorie of that which was done at the beginning of that date God was pleased that the Israelites should so bee remembred of their deliuerance out of Egypt And the Church by whose ordinance the yeere of the Lord is so familiar in our tongues and in our pens would haue vs still thinke how much we are bound to God for the Incarnation of our Sauiour Iesus Christ Descend to smaller matters but yet of good regard when you find in your Almanacke the generall Earthquake the yeere eightie eight the Gun-pouder treason c. Consider with your selues that neither Gods iudgements nor his mercies ought to bee forgotten by vs. Yea this Chronologie must put vs in mind that neither our being nor our being that which we are be it good or bad was alwayes the same There was a time when it was otherwise with vs and the memorie thereof must not be buried in obliuion least we proue vnthankfull as certainely we will if we make not so good vse of the Chronologie And let this suffice concerning the first circumstance the circumstance of time the Beginning and Ending thereof Let vs now come to the second Circumstance of Place And here wee must first see Whence the Israelites came immediatly they departed from Rephidim a place of pressure and the last place where they conflicted with difficulties before they receiued the Law Exod. 17. Numb 33. There was no no water and there Amaleke set vpon them But God relieued them supplying them with water and giuing them victorie ouer their Enemies God did not giue them a Law before hee had giuen them good proofe of his gracious power hee made them feâ—â—e the extraordinary reliefe of his hand before hee spake vnto them with his voice thus dealt hee in deliuering of the old Testament And thus dealt Christ in deliuering of the New hee wrought miracles before hee preached Sermons And indeed this is a very likely way to preuaile with men to haue their reason first subdued before their faith bee informed When reason is first brought to confesse that which is done cannot be done but by a diuine power then will faith easily beleeue that what is spoken Iohn 3. is a diuine word Learne this of Nicodemus Master wee know that thou art a teacher come from God for no man could doe that which thou doest except God were with him Act 14 v. 16. So were the men of Lystra the jaylour and others brought to beleeue Another note is that there is great difference betweene Gods dealing with them before they came to Rephidim and when they came there For before they came there their deliuerance from their enemies was wrought by God without any concurrencie of theirs Exod. 14. v. 13. Feare you not saith Moses stand still and see the saluation of the Lord which hee will shew you to day But afterward when Amalek came and fought with Israel Exod. 17. v. 9. then Moses said vnto Ioshua Chuse vs out men and goe out fight with Amaleke c. I will pray Though God was pleased to deliuer them from their enemies yet not without their owne labour of body yea and deuotion of mind too after he had once set them free Therefore it was fit they should now haue a Law to guide them in their actions and in their deuotions and God giueth them one And vs whom preuenting grace doth first make Christians without any cooperation of ours afterward will God haue to be instruments to cooperate with him and that in this cooperation we follow his direction for hee loueth not wil-worship and therefore that wee may doe what pleaseth him in the seruice wherein hee vseth vs hee giueth vs for our Guide his sacred Law Thirdly whereas God first gaue them Victorie and Water at Rephidim and when they were free from bodily danger and prouided of food then God gaue them the Law We may here obserue Greg. Niss de vit mos p. 17â— that Homo supponitur in Christiano and our animall life must be prouided for that we may intend our spirituall Come we at length to the last Terme of this second Circumstance and that is the Place whether they came and where they setled This place was the wildernesse of Sinai they pitcht before that mount First the place was a wildernesse Philo Iudaeus inquires the reason De Deâ—â—log why God would giue his Law not in some Citie but in a vast Desert And though hee resolue modestly what is the true reason God onely knoweth yet doth he yeeld some likely reasons One is this because the worldly imployments of Citizens wherein their thoughts and desires are for the most part taken vp make all sinnes abound there both against the first and second Table and men so prepossest are not capable of good lawes Retirednesse from such imployments and solitarinesse which silence those clamorous and disturbing thoughts and affections open mens eares and hearts better to listen to God When wee are weaned from the world we are fitter to bee Gods Disciples to learne what he teacheth therefore God saith Ose 2. v. 14. ducam vos in solitudinem loquar ad Cor. This made many in the Primitiue Church to forsake Cities and the frequencies of people and in solitarie places to to giue themselues to spirituall contemplation Which custome degenerated long since into superstition whereof the Church of Rome hath too many spectacles in there Anchorites and Ermites mâ—ere hypocâ—ites which abuse the credulitie of the simple with their seeming holinesse A second reason which he giueth is that as Nauigators before they set to Sea are prouided of Tackling and other necessaries which they must vse at Sea so God was pleased to furnish the Israelites in their way with those Lawes which they were to make vse of when they came into the Holy-land You may if you please improue this reason mystically Canaan was a type of Heauen the wildernesse a type of the world which we must passe through the grace whereby we must liue in the world to come we must be furnisht with in this present world Glophy 〈◊〉 To leaue Philo Iudaeus take another from Cyrillus Alexandrinus Desertum typus Ecclesiae militantis a Desert is a type of the militant Church certainely this Desert was it did most liuely represent to the Israelites what they were by Nature and what they became by Grace This wildernesse was of it selfe a disconsolate place it had neither meate nor drinke for reasonable creatures yet did
God tooke an occasion from the wrongs done to his people to powre forth his displeasure vpon them Wisd 19. The wrong was double First they brought friends into bondage that had wel deserued of them The storie is plaine in Genesis how Ioseph saued them from perishing by famine and therefore how willingly they receiued him and his into the Communion of their Lawes therefore it was against all Law to make them bondmen God therfore which is iudge of all the world sent Moses and by him commanded Pharaoh to deliuer them and to suffer them being his first borne to goe three dayes iourney into the wildernesse and sacrifice vnto him But so farre was Pharaoh from obeying God that hardning his heart he vexed the Israelites more What then did God In reuenge of his people hee brake Pharaohs hard heart hee made the proud King giue him the glorie both of his Iustice of his power while he destroyed that ancient that goodly Kingdome and slew the persons the principall persons of it the ofspring of those whom Ioseph had saued together with their countrie Moreouer hee forced them to make an amends to the Israelites for their seruitude not onely in willingly letting them goe but in furnishing them also for their iourney with the richest of their garments and most precious of their Iewels This did God to the Egyptians And indeed it was God that did it For though there were some ceremoniall meanes vsed yet there were none vsed that were effectuall Moses and the people did but looke on Gods immediate power produced those wonderfull effects The same God that tooke this vengeance for them is the same still and he will neuer suffer his Church to be vnreuenged though hee suffer her to bee cruelly persecuted when he seeth time hee will doe to her enemies as he did to the enemies of Israel Saint Paul Saint Peter and Saint Iude teach it briefely 2. Thes 1. 2 Ep. 2. Saint Iohn in the Reuelation deliuereth the Doctrine more a large by way of prophecie and the Ecclesiasticall Storie sheweth that that prophecie is accomplished for a good part of it The second worke sheweth what God did to the Israelites and that is a worke of Mercie Moses here teacheth the Manner and the End of it The Manner God bore them on Eagles wings we account it a great honour that God doth vnto men when hee giueth his Angels charge ouer them to carrie them in all their wayes that they dash not their foote against a stone And indeed it is a great honour that these glorious spirits which attend Gods throne should become ministring spirits and attend sinnefull men How great an honour is it then that God doth vs Heb. 1.14 when hee himselfe vouchsafeth to bee the supporter of Israel Carrieth them as a man carrieth his little babe God putteth them in mind of it by Esay Chap. 46. vers 3.4 Hearken vnto me O house of Iacob Deut. 1. and all the remnant of Israel which are borne by me from the belly which are caried from the wombe and euen to your old age I am he and euen to the hoarie haires will I carrie you I haue made and I will beare euen I will carrie and I will deliuer you And Christ like the good shepheard in the Gospel beares his sheepe and so likewise in the Prophets And indeed the passage out of Egypt was a Diuine transportation for of so many hundred thousand that past so great a iourney through so desolate places ther was not one sicke not one tired and how could they haue all beene so well at ease except God had carried them They might well take to themselues those words of Esay 〈…〉 31. They that waite vpon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount vp with wings as Eagles they shall runne and not be wearie they shall walke and not be faint When at any time wee haue strength to doe that which neither in our owne iudgement nor in the iudgement of others we are able to doe we must giue the glorie of it to God as Dauid doth in the 18. Psalme we must acknowledge that God did carrie vs through God doth not onely say that he did carrie them but hee carried them vpon Eagles wings quasi super alas aquilarum saith the Chalde Paraphrase as it were vpon Eagles wings There is a Simile in the phrase which breedes two inquiries first who is vnderstood in the Eagles secondly what the Wings meane Some vnderstand Moses and Aaron the two guides that led the people of Israel out of Egypt and will haue them compared to Eagles Propter acumen intelligentiae altitudinem vitae by reason of their piercing iudgement Hom 46. in Matth. and their holy life Saint Chrysostome nearer to our purpose saith that they were Mollissimae pennae misericordiae diuinae as it were the downe feathers of Gods mercie because they handled the people committed to their charge tenderly and intreated them gently in imitation of Eagles of whom some report how truely let the naturalists inquire that whereas other birds carrie their yong ones in their talents or clawes which cannot bee done without some griping they lay them vpon their wings and so transport them without any grieuance which is a good embleme for Magistrates and teacheth them paternall affection towards their people Saint Ambrose resembleth Christ to an Eagle Lib. de Solomone and that in three points First because as the Eagle fluttereth ouer her yong ones and safegards them from any that would annoy them so doth Christ carefully protect his Church Secondly as the Eagle stirreth vp her nest and taketh vp her yong ones enforcing them to looke towards the Sunne thereby trying her generous or degenerating brood euen so doth Christ make triall of true and counterfeite Christians he reiects them as counterfeits that haue but Owles sight and which hate the light but those which can looke vpon the Sunne of righteousnesse and delight in beholding him they goe for true Christians And why They can see their pray a farre off and where the carcasse is there will the Eagles be Sursum Corda though Christ be in heauen their thoughts ascend thither Thirdly the Eagle hateth the Serpent and wheresoeuer hee seeth him renteth him with his beake and Christ the seede of the woman did breake the Serpents head there is perpetuall enmitie betweene them and their seede There is good correspondencie in these points betweene Christ and the Eagle but they cannot be so fitly applied in this place because the word in my Text is plurall Aquilarum of Eagles except wee shall say that Christ had in him the perfection of many Eagles or was attended with many Angels which are sometimes compared to Eagles Ezek 1. Reu 4. and the Cherubins in the Temple and Tabernacle had large and broad wings But let vs come to the wings By them are meant two things the first is the height the second
sit hominem scire arbitror neminem nisi forter cui spiritus diuinitus estenderet Austin de Ciuit. Des lib. 2. cap 16. Non quareâ—dum vbi Gebennae ignis situs sit sed magis quo pacto enitari possit Chrysost Hom. do prâ—mys sanct â—om 1. pag 443. Cyril Alexanâ—in p. 710. and worse Historiographie haue deliuered a great deale of vngrounded stuffe concerning the nature and place of this sire but wee shall doe well to follow the sobrietie of the Fathers Greeke and Latin Touching Hell fire what kind it is of and where in what region of the earth I thinke no man can tell except hee to whom God will bee pleased to reueale it saith Austine and Chrysostome We must not be curious to know where is the place of Hell fire but studie rather how is auoid it Only let vs learne of Nazianzen that there is a double vse of fire for therewith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men are doomed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or they are purified We haue not now to doe with the purgatiue but with the correctiue vse of fire and seeing that fire is the symbol of plagning we must from our fire learne two properties of fire it searcheth most and spareth least it leaueth no part vnseized vpon and looke whereon it seizeth it afflicteth to the vttermost which Nabuchadnezer knew that chose that wherewith to torment the seruants of God yea God himselfe doth shew who therewith destroyed Sodome and Gomorra certainly in the Valley of Hinnom it was so dreadfull that the Holy Ghost was pleased to vse it as a symbole of the tortures of Hell which leaue no part of the tormented vnpained and paineth euery part extreamely Only when we looke vpon our fire wee must obserue two differences betweene that and the fire of Hell First Hell fire goeth farre beyond it in degree well may the torments be like they are not equall Secondly they are vnlike in durance for ours consumeth and is consumed but Hell fire neither wasteth his fuell nor is wasted it selfe both are euerlasting so that let ours afflict neuer so painfully Sie perit â—t possit saepe perâ—â—e Horaque erit tant is vltima nulla malâ—â— it cannot afflict long but hee that is in Hell fire endureth an euerliuing death The tree that growes in the field growes for fuell and it is no wonder to see it proue so but a heauie thing it is for a tree to to become fuell that grew to beare fruit But in this case the case of a barren fruit tree is worse then a tree of the field because a tree of the field may bee cut downe not for fuell but for building but fruit trees are not fit for building and nature hath made this their ineptnesse a priuiledge against the Axe when for the building of stately Palaces the trees of the field goe downe they stand and are not cut downe vntill they giue ouer-bearing fruit and then they are cut downe only for fuell for they are good for nothing else Ezechiel hath a whole Chapter of it wherein as in a glasse wee may behold the condition of a sinner If you put these parts of the Iudgement together you may easily perceiue that they amount to a totall a finall eradication It is totall for if a tree bee cut vp by the roots there is no hope of the branches because the branches haue no life but deriuatiue from the root cut a tree as close to the root as you will Iob will tell you there remayneth still hope of him but it is past hope when the root is dead As the Iudgement is totall so it is finall Chap. â—4 we neuer heard of the second grasting of a tree certainly not of these trees The Parable of the foolish Virgins sheweth that there is no getting in when the doores be shut and that there is no passage from Hell to Heauen Mâ—t. 25. Lâ—â—e 17. Abraham telleth the rich Glutton burning in those flames But of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reprobation of and Bill of Diuorce giuen to to the Iewes I spake enough when I spake of that which they were willed to flie which in former words of this Sermon is called wrath to come wherefore I forbeare to enlarge this point any farther only wishing vncurable Impenitents herein to behold what a feare full thing it is to sall into the hands of the liuing God You haue heard of the persons and the Iudgement that the one of them doth denounce against the other But the Iudgement is not onely threatned but threatned that it shall come vppon them speedily and ouertake them vniuersally the speed is intimated in the first word Now now is the Axe laid to the roote of the tree all the words are present Now is put Now is cut which carrie with them an Emphasis and hasten the repentance of the hearer Before it was calied Wrath to come least therefore they should put it farre from them as the wicked in Amos and the bad seruant in the Gospel and grow Atheisticall scoffers as some doe in Esay and others 2. Peter 3 he is instant wiih them and proposeth this Iudgement as imminent But this seemeth to be a Paradox Iohn was the Harbinger of Christ and with Christ began the Kingdome of grace and how doth he then make it the time of Iudgement so terrible a Iudgement We must therefore obserue that God neuer did any publike remarkable good to magnifie his mercie but he did withall shew the world some notable spectacle of his wrath therein to magnifie his Iustice when Noah was saued the world was drowned and fiue Cities burnt when Lot was deliuered how were the Egyptians destroyed when Israel was set free And when the Gentiles were receiued into the Church what a desolation did hee bring vpon the Iewes God will haue feare and hope still to liue in the hearts of the sonnes of men Adde hereunto that Christs comming is the last offer of Grace both to Iewes and Gentiles he that refuseth now shall neuer speed marke this point pressed by the Apostles both to the Iewes and to the Gentiles This is the reason why the Baptist Christ his Apostles beginne their Preaching with Repent Aâ—â— 13 Acts 14 17. this is as the greatest so the last manuring the tree that proueth not now must needs downe needs into the fire But is not God alwayes putting the Axe to the tree yea verily he maketh daily spectacles of them but to whole Nations he putteth not the Axe euery day hee forbeareth them vntill they haue filled vp the measure of their sinne But if they abuse his patience and long-suffering whereby hee laboureth to draw them to Repentance then they shall find that they haue treasured vnto themselues wrath against the day of wrath Rom 2 the Axe shall goe vnto the root But in this Iam there are two other remarkable things the one is noted by Saint Ambrose Hine disce quà m Philanthroâ—os
a commendable highth than by profitably reading of those places You shall learne thus much also that factus Christianus is much more pious than is natus he that out of a forlorne state is by the mercie of God brought to the state of grace when he is come to the yeares of discretion doth abound much more in the fruits of righteousnesse than he that is borne in the state of grace and so will euerie true conuerted sinner abound more than he that neuer tooke a grieuous fall But I must hasten to the preheminencie of Grace a preheminencie beyond St. Pauls preheminency euen by the testimonie of St. Paul himselfe Not I but the grace of God that is with me he correcteth himselfe as if he had presumed too farre Where marke that though a man worke with grace not only per effectum but also per consensum not only to the producing of the effect but also vnderstanding and willing it for hee is instrumentum rationale and God doth not deale with men as with blockes and bruit beasts yet is a man but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Instrument the principall Agent is the grace of God And although there be two workers yet must they not be reputed coordinate but subordinate neither doth man worke otherwise than as hee is moued by grace and the children of God are led by his spirit Whereby you may gather how wicked a doubt that is which now doth perplexe the Church Whether forsooth our will determines Gods grace or Gods grace determines our will in the point of iustification Certainly St. Paul thought the point out of question when he vsed this correctiue Not I but the grace of God that is with me mecum or quae in me The grace of God doth not cooperate with our free will except it bee first regenerated by grace Therefore the defence of free will is idly gathered hence seeing Papists meane it in actu primo and St. Paul speakes here de actusecundo He is most vnthankefull then and so vnworthy of grace that doth not giue the preheminence to the grace of Adoption cooperant in all his workes of pietie And so to the cooperant grace of Edification must we giue the glorie of all the workes of our Ministrie Paul planteth and Apollo watereth it is God that giueth the increase wee haue heauenly treasures but we conuey them in earthen vessels the foolishnesse of preaching is ours the demonstration of the Spirit is from Heauen Non vos estis qu◠loquimini sed Spiritus Patris Matth. 10. wee speake the words God openeth the heart wee wash with water Christ with the Holy Ghost we giue the bread and wine Christ his body and blood Ros coelestis sacit messem terrestrem wee may not thinke better of our selues than of Ministers the power of whose worke dependeth on the Spirit of our Master wee are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but Christi a second grace is the cause why our first is not frustrate so was it before the fall much more is it so now I haue done with the particulars of my text two things I gathered out or the whole bodie of it which I will note in a word The first is St. Pauls sinceritie who giueth the glorie vnto God of the originall of the gifts and of the vse of the gifts wherewith he was endowed condemning all sacriledge of this kinde What God told Zorobabel re-edifying the Temple of the earthly Hierusalem the same is fulfilled in the restauration of our heauenly neyther by armie nor strength but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts men shall bring forth all the stones thereof with shouting crying grace grace Zach. 4. Therefore let vs say Not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs but vnto thy name giue the praise for of thee and through thee and for thee are all things all things that belong to the being of thy Church the being both of Pastor and People Let him that glories glorie in the Lord. As St. Paul dealeth sincerely in regard of Gods glorie so doth he also modestly in regard of himselfe as he extolleth God so doth he abase himselfe witnesse the extenuation of his endowment of his employment and the correction of that speech wherein hee might seeme to value himselfe at too high a rate I cannot stand to amplifie this vertue of his though the pride of our nature deserues to haue it amplified that it may be admonished thereby I will onely commend vnto your meditation King Dauids Psalme Lord I am not high minded I haue no proud looks c. and Christs exhortation to vs to become as little children hee that exalteth himselfe shall bee humbled and that humbleth himselfe shall bee exalted Let vs not therefore bee ashamed to cast downe our selues that the Lord may lift vs vp and seeing our helpe standeth in the Name of the Lord and without Christ we can doe nothing for quis te discreuit and what hast thou that thou hast not receiued because it is hee that worketh in vs both to will and to doe let vs continually pray Lord make speed to saue vs Lord make haste to helpe vs saue and helpe both Pastor and People that both may truly say with St. Paul By the grace of God I am that I am and euery one may haue this sweet repose of conscience Gods grace was not bestowed on me in vaine Finally the Apostle ascribing before his sinnes to himselfe and his vertue to God doth teach that we are sufficient to our owne ruine not so to our rising according to that of Hosea Destructio tua ex te c. Therefore the Minister must with meeknesse teach the contrary minded 2 Timothie 2. I haue set before you an exact patterne of a good Pastor and Christian wee should all endeauour to conforme thereto but this is rather to bee wished than hoped because of the frailtie of our nature Wherefore a timely suruey of the Church is requisite to make such a suruey is the reason of this meeting The world hath many Saules blasphemers oppressors wicked liuers but you vse to present All as Pauls you say All is well when euery man may see that much is amisse Remember that this is Iudicium ante iudicium a medicinall Iudgement before a mortall the iudgement of man to preuent the iudgement of God Doe not by cruell indulgence exempt any from the iust censure of the Church to expose your selues and them to the intolerable vengeance of God Rather let vs all ioyne of Saules to make Paules that so wee may repaire the decayes of the Church and heare a comfortable doome when we all come before the Tribunall seat of Christ THe Lord giue vs all this effectuall grace the vndoubted pledge of eternall glorie Hee that hath begunne in you a good worke perfect it till the day of the Lord. Amen IHS A SERMON PREACHED IN TRINITY CHVRCH IN WINCHESTER AT An ASSIZES 1610. EZRA 7. vers 26. And whosoeuer will not doe
good vse of your indulgence as to be ashamed and reclaimed Wherefore as St. Iude obserues you must saue some with feare and plucke them out of the fire wherein they would burne themselues you must compell them to learn and obey the law of the God of Ezra the true God whereupon followeth also the next point which is they will the more easily be brought to doe the Kings law Of obseruing lawes in generall I need say no more than I haue but the iniquity of the times wills mee to remember you that lawes must bee obeyed though they be the lawes of the King of Persia this is the second caution The Proctors of Rome though they dare not flatly deny it yet so sophystically handle it that what with subiecting the scepter of Kings to the command of Popes and exempting of such persons and cases as seeme good vnto him they vndermine what they would seeme to yeeld and the most they grant is no more nor no longer than their Holy Father doth that 's too much or hereafter will allow them If hee will abrogate all they must acknowledge none no lawes of a King of Persia a King that is not of their religion Others haue learnedly and sufficiently shaken their grounds and my Text is an argument of no small force to resolue the consciences of such as doubt whether a different religion doth euacuate the power of a lawfull Soueraigne It doth not though it be a false religion how much more when it is the true and the King our King commands onely for the God of Ezra the true God and enioynes no other worship of him than according to his owne lawes the vndoubted register whereof is the sacred Word of God Wherefore you must bee as the earth mentioned in the Reuelation cap. 12. and swallow all those waters that the dragon casts forth to drowne the woman you must crush these seedes of rebellion which ayme at nothing but the ouerthrow of true Religion And how must you crush it euen by punishment And so I come to the second worke of iudgement from the precept to the sanction which containes the second limitation of the power Wherein I obserue first how farre the Magistrate may draw his sword Looke how farre his prouidence doth reach so farre may his vengeance reach also The reward of sinne is death eternall death to violate Gods Lawes or the Kings is no lesse than sinne it should therefore be reuenged with eternall death But behold here vnspeakeable mercie God would haue vs iudged here by men that we be not condemned hereafter by him This is the proper end of the keyes and the sword of the power that is in the Prince and the Pastor The occasion draweth mee to speake of the Sword yet let me giue you this Item touching the Keyes that malefactors must remember that for euerie of their offences challengable by the Law of man they owe a repentance vnto God and the greater their offence the deeper should be their repentance Which I the rather note because there are too many of them that scarce giue glorie vnto God when they suffer by the Law and if they escape make no conscience at all of their sin as if how soeuer they speed at the iudgement seat of men they were not to take heed that they be not cast at the barre of God which the first Councell of Nice well corrected when imitating Gods law without preiudice to the ciuill sword it appointed sundrie yeares penance according to the grieuousnesse of sinne Sed pristino rigori non sumus pares the Liturgie of our Church saith that it were to bee wished but the iniquitie of the times that it is not to be hoped Secondly seeing your power should touch men with a losse temporall to keepe them from a losse eternall you see what wrong you doe them when you suffer them to spend their dayes in loosenesse and in a moment as Iob speaketh though from their beds they goe quicke down into hell how much better were it for them if with one hand or one eye they might goe into heauen than hauing both to bee cast into hell O then let the righteous rebuke them yea smite them rather than that your precious balmes should breake their heads yea slay their soules spare nothing that is temporall so you may preserue them from the paine which is eternall You see how farre you may draw the sword But when you strike your strokes must bee proportionable to their sinnes but the proportion must not be Arithmeticall but Geometricall they must be secundum merita but not aequalia meritis you may punish intra but not vltra medum so doth God who notwithstanding doth punish in number weight and measure Semper aliquid detrahit de poenae atrocitate as Nazianzene speaketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he doth temper mercie with iudgement In the hand of the Lord there is a cup the wine thereof is red and it is full mixt whereof though his children offending drinke yet only the incorrigible wicked drinke the dregs thereof And the same Father writing to the Emperours Deputie reckoning vp his vertues demands this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what shall I say of your clemencie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here you decline something but he addes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I cannot much blame you you haue God for your patterne who in Hosea speakes thus of himselfe How shall I giue thee vp O Ephraim how shall I deliuer thee O Israel how shall I make thee as Admah how shall I set thee as Seboim my heart is turned within mee my repentings are rouled together I will not execute the fiercenesse of my wrath c. You must wisely then temper iudgement and mercie but so that mercie doe not hinder iudgement and yet that of the two mercie reioyce against iudgement And thus haue you heard what a Iudge may and must doe he may take the sword and must vse it against malefactors but with the conditions of the vse and limitations of the power specified in my text The conditions are two he must vse it timely and indifferently the limitations also two he must extend it to all transgressions of both Tables and intend it according to their transgressions And the end of all must bee by a temporall punishment to saue the wicked from eternall paine or if that will not bee that the blood of all cursing Shimei's and factious Ioabs and irreligious Abiathars also may bee vpon their head and the head of their seed but vpon Dauid our Dauid vpon his house and vpon his throne vpon this whole Church and Common weale may bee peace for euer from the Lord. MOst mighty most mercifull Lord who to preserue sincere pietie and secure peace in the Church and Common weale hast put the sword into the hands of mortall men and for the vse thereof hast aduanced them aboue their Brethren we humbly beseech thee so to sanctifie them with thy grace whom
God in three Persons be rendred all honour and glorie now and for euer Amen Marriage is honourable amongst all men and the bed vndefiled but fornicators and adulterers God will iudge A SERMON PREACHED IN THE CATHE DRAL CHVRCH OF WELS AT WHAT TIME FOVRE PERSONS DID PENANCE FOR INCEST COMMITTED BY ONE MAN WITH HIS WIVES DAVGHTER BY THE OTHER MAN WITH HIS WIVES SISTER DEVT. 27. VERSE 22 23. 22 Cursed is he that lyeth with his sister the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother and all the people shall say Amen 23 Cursed is he that lyeth with his mother-in-law and all the people shall say Amen WHEN GOD had deliuered the Children of Israel out of Aegypt he was pleased to enter into a Couenant with them at Mount Sinai the manner of it is set downe Exod. 24. But the Israelites quickly brake with GOD and GOD entred into iudgment with them he made them for the space of fortie yeeres to wander in the Wildernesse and in that space he so consumed them that of 600000 men remained aliue onely IOSVA and CALEB After so long displeasure GOD returned againe in mercie to them he vouchsafed to haue his Couenant renewed againe the forme of the renuing he prescribeth in this 27 of Deut. A most solemne forme for therein were to concurre three remarkable acts First The Law was to be fairly written vpon great plaistred Stones that the people before-hand might see whereunto they were to bind themselues for GOD would haue them enter into his Couenant aduisedly Secondly there was an Altar to be erected and thereon they were to offer whole burnt offerings and sacrifices of thankes-giuing which were to be reall acknowledgments that they did wholly deuote themselues to GOD and giue thankes for that GOD of his goodnesse would againe renue his Couenant GOD would haue them enter into his Couenant religiously Thirdly GOD commanded that the twelue Tribes should sort themselues into two diuisions sixe should stand vpon the descent of Mount Gerezzim and sixe vpon the descent of Mount Ebal both diuisions with their faces towards the mid Valley where the Arke of GOD the Type of his visible residence amongst the Israelites was borne vp by the Priests In this Theater as it were did GOD require that the Israelites should heare the Articles of Agreement betweene GOD and them both blessings and cursings and professe their conformitie thereunto GOD would haue them professe themselues party to his Couenant openly in the sight both of GOD and Men. In this third act you shall find a rehearfall of sinnes first in particular then ingenerall and a doome pronounced against the committers of those sinnes both by Priest and People Of the particular sinnes my Text specifieth two and specifieth withall the doome that belongeth to either of them The sinnes are vnlawfull matches one collaterall a brothers lying with his sister and because a woman may be sister more wayes then one here is an exegesis the word is expounded whether she be daughter of the mans father or daughter of his mother The second vnlawfull match is in the right line a mans lying with his mother-in law Of these matches you haue these penitent spectacles here presented before you The Text goeth on and tels these Penitents and whosoeuer else shall presume to be like vnto them what is their doome it is set downe in one word but that is a sharpe one they are cursed But farther obserue concerning this doome who doth pronounce it and who doth approue it They that pronounce it are the Leuites so we read verse 14 and they are willed to pronounce it with an audible voyce so audible that all Israel may heare They that approue it are the people they are required to say Amen in token that they all assent to that which they heare all the people must say Amen You haue the briefe of my Text I purpose GOD willing now to enlarge it I pray GOD I may so doe it as that we that stand may take heed least we fall and these that are fallen may learne to rise againe I begin with the sinne wherein we are first to make you see that the Text doth fit this occasion For neither of the matches therein specified seemeth to agree with theirs that are vnder the present Censure Not the collaterall for my Text speaketh of a sister by consanguinitie and these Penitents were brother and sister onely by affinitie not that in the right line for my Text speaketh of a mans lying with his mother in-Law or his wiues mother but this man here is censured for lying with his wiues daughter And so you may thinke that neither of these couples come within the compasse of my Text and therefore are neither of them guiltie of the sinne neither need feare the doome To take away this doubt you must take notice of two rules in Diuinitie The first is that affinitie makes persons as neere in the Law as consanguinitie doth The reason whereof is plaine Affinitie is grounded vpon mariage and by mariage two become one flesh and consequently their kinted whether ascendent or descendent or collaterall become alike neere on each side to the other Your wiues father and mother brethren and sisters sonnes and daughters are vnto you by her as neere as if they were of your owne blood This being true you perceiue that it was no lesse vnlawfull for this man to couple with his wiues sister then with his owne sister the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother The other rule is That more then is exprest in GODS Law is to be vnderstood when by analogie it may fairly be deduced there-from GOD himselfe is our direction to take notice of such analogie for if you compare this Chapter with the 18 of Leuit. you shall find that this verie instance of a man lying with his mother-in-law which is mentioned here is omitted there whereupon you may well conclude that some particulars which GOD forbids are not named in the Letter though they are within the meaning of the Law and that the meaning is as wide as analogie will suffer I will shew you in a word what this analogie is it is that persons which are not forbidden expresly and in the letter of the Law are there forbidden implicitely and in the meaning of the Law where others in the same distance of Consanguinitie or Affinitie are expresly forbidden As for example the Law forbids expresly a nephew to marrie with his aunt it saith nothing of an vnckles marrying with his neece yet these being as neere in degree as the other we may of them reasonably conclude that they also are forbidden in the meaning of the Law the exception of the Romanists is friuolous To our purpose by the letter of my Text a man may not marrie with his mother-in-law which may be either his wiues mother or his fathers wife if not with his mother-in-law which is his fathers wife then in the
that sixe of the Tribes stood vpon Mount Gerizzim to blesse and sixe vpon Mount Ebal to curse Whereupon it is wittily obserued by the Ancients that the sixe Tribes that blessed were the children of IACOBS wiues and represent those that ingenuously serut God out of loue to his goodnesse the other sixe Tribes that stood vpon Mount Ebal to curse were the children of his bond-women all sauing RVBEN that had lost his birthright and ZABVLON the youngest of his wiues children and these represent those that serue GOD in a seruile manner and onely for feare of the Curse And verily the members of the visible CHVRCH differ so and shall fare accordingly diuersis diuersa retributio all are not alike neither shall they sare alike CHRIST shall say to some Come ye blessed and to others goe ye cursed Though this be true yet I doubt not but all the twelue Tribes sayd Amen as well to the curse as to the blessing for both concerned them all as it appeares in the next Chapter But that which I chuse to obserue vnto you is a remarkable obligation vnto obedience We read that when the Israelites were returned from the Babylonian captiuitie Nehem. 10. and fell to inordinatenesse in their marriages that NEHEMIAH did not onely make them put away their wiues but also to come to the oath and curse that they would not relapse any more into the same sinne In the storie of ASA we read the verie like practise 2 Cron. 15. when that King had reformed Idolatry he by oath made the people bind themselues to GOD not to returne vnto it againe Strange obligations a man would thinke but they take their example from GOD himselfe here we find the originall patterne of such obligations Yea you shall find that GOD not onely in generall layeth such tyes vpon men to hold them in from sinne but also in a personall inquirie of the suspected Adulteresse after the Priest had sayd vnto her these words If thou be guiltie Num. â— this water of iealousie that causeth the curse shall goe into thy bowels to make thy belly to swell and thy thigh to rot the woman was to answer Amen Amen Now if God in a personall tryall thought it sit to make the woman lay a curse vpon her owne Soule if she were guiltie what wonder if to preuent sinne he would haue his people enter into this generall curse God knoweth that there are such remainders of good principles in our Conscience if we be but naturall men how much more if we be Christians that we can discerne sinne and the haynousnesse thereof and also the desert or punishment due vnto it Yea as it appeares by DAVIDS answer to NATHAN 2 Sam. 12. in another mans case we are verie likely to be forward in our iudgement GOD therefore taketh vs when we are most likely to speake as we thinke that so he might leaue no place vnto tergiuersation when he enters into Iudgement with vs for our sinnes neither might wo complaine of his seueritie if he punish vs as we deserue seeing with our owne mouthes we haue pronounced without all exception of our selues or others this iudgement on our sinne But as I told you that maledictus doth signifie either meritum what we deserue or iudicium that which is inflicted so must Amen be vnderstood as an acknowledgement of the truth of our desert and a wish of that which is to be inflicted The acknowledgement we must make absolutely but the wish we must make conditionally if we doe not repent and if we doe not repent Amen is an vndoubted prophesie that we shall be curst indeed I will conclude GOD would haue this imprecation made when the people were come into the Holy Land to signifie First that as he had made good his word vnto them in bringing them to the good Land which he promised so they were to make good their word vnto him and liue as they profest Secondly by the malediction pronounced in the Holy Land they were to conceiue that neither their place nor their calling did free them from the curse if they liued otherwise then they ought And by this formall malediction they were to conceiue not onely in generall how hatefull sinne is vnto GOD but also that these sinnes here specified are in the number of the most haynous Which you that are the Penitents must take speciall notice of for though your sinnes are vnequally haynous and therefore deserue not an equall curse yet are they both verie haynous and the curse is verie grieuous that either of them deserues J pray God that by that which we haue heard we may all be perswaded to keepe our vessels in honor and not in the lusts of concupiscence as doe the Gentiles which know not God And for you that are the Penitents J pray that you may duly consider what iudgements you now feele and may farther feare for your sinnes that you may haue grace to make vse of the Churches censures and be humbled as you ought by them that so timely preuenting by religiously trembling at the Judgements of God that hang ouer you and may make a fearefull desolation of you you may returne to God in Grace and he may returne to you in Mercie he may be reconciled vnto you and you may haue peace with him for euer To this Prayer made for our selues made for these Penitents let vs all Penitents and Spectators let all the people say Amen A SERMON PREACHED IN THE CATHEDRAL CHVRCH OF WELS ONE DOING PENANCE FOR HAVING TWO WIVES MALACHI 2. VERSE 15. And did not he make one Yet had he aboundance of Spirit And wherefore one Because he sought a godly seed therefore take heed to your spirit and let none deale treacherously against the wife of his youth MAN being in honour continued not but became as the beasts that perish so we read in the Psalme and experience teacheth that whatsoeuer good he hath since medled with he hath made it as changable as himselfe yea he hath euer changed it as he did himselfe from better into worse of good he hath made it starke naught But this beast-like disposition of his hath transsormed into it selfe no vertue so much as that of chastitie Read Leuit. 18. see there how brutish it is become there is nothing there forbidden which was not practised by men and if practised we may conclude that man hath degenerated into a verie beast Well in such a case in so base a disposition what is the remedy What is the best way to bring man to himselfe again That he may recouer that honor whereof he hath depriued himselfe Surely there is no better way then to set before him his originall and to perswade his conformitie thereunto For as in the Articles of Faith it is safest to beleeue what was first deliuered so in the rules of our manners it is best to obserue what was first commanded The reason is plaine GOD gaue the first beginning
sinners euen such sinners of whom I am chiefe Now then J beseech thee let the power of my Lord be great according as thou hast spoken The Lord is slow to anger and of great mercie and forgiueth iniquitie and sinne Be mercifull J beseech thee to the impietie of thy seruant according to thy great mercie let the vngodlinesse of my heart of my mouth be blotted out of thy remembrance let it not bring vpon me the vengeance J deserue but create in me a new heart and touch my tongue with a cole from thine Altar that J which am vnworthy by reason of my scandalous crying sinne to meditate on or make mention of thy glorious Maiestie thy diuine Wisedome may haue a heart alwayes enditing good things and my blasphemous tongue may be turned into an instrument of thy glorie So shall my soule be filled as it were with marrow and fatnesse when J shall prayse thee with ioyfull lips and J shall sing forth thy wonderous mercie all the dayes of my life Heare me ô Father of mercie for giue me amend me and establish in me this holy purpose of my repentant heart to thy glorie and the comfort of enormous sinners for Jesus Christs sake by the powerfull operation of thy Holy Spirit Amen A SERMON PREACHED AT St ANDREWS IN WELLES A SCHISMATIQVE DOING PENANCE WHO HAD FOR MANY YEERES ESTRANGED HIMSELFE FROM THE COMMVNION OF OVR CHVRCH 1 CORINT 3.18 18 Let no man deceiue himselfe if any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world let him become a foole that he may be wise A Particular visible Church is built vpon two foundations Vnion and Communion a louing vnion of the faithfull and an holy communion in sacred things Both these must be preserued or else that Church will come to naught Now there were amongst the Corinthians that did vndermine these foundations some rent the vnion and the communion was corrupted by other-some St Paul wrot this Epistle to amend them both And marke what a distinct course he taketh He first setleth the vnion before he offereth to purge the communion And there is good reason why for though the louing vnion of the faithfull be vnprofitable if it be without a holy communion in sacred things yet is a holy communion in sacred things impossible if you take away the louing vnion of the faithfull Therefore lest St Paul should lose his labour in redressing of the communion he first taketh care of repayring the vnion The first thing then that in the Church of Corinth he reformes is Schisme and he spends well-nigh foure Chapters in reforming thereof in throughly searching into the disease and applying thereto a soueraigne remedy The words that now I haue read vnto you belong to the remedy and you shall find them to be a principall branch thereof Let vs come more closely to them Of medicinall remedies some are preseruatiue some are restoratiue The preseruatiue are for the sound the restoratiue are for the sicke You shall find them both in my Text and you shall find that they are Catholica remedia such remedies as doe or may concerne vs all The preseruatiue remedy is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prouidence or the preuention of Schisme you haue it in these words Let no man deceiue himselfe The restoratiue is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 repentance or the recouering of a Schismatique it followeth in these words If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world let him be a foole that he may be wise But more distinctly In the preseruatiue we are to behold our naturall weakenesse and therefore to learne spirituall carefulnesse St Paul supposeth that we are prone to deceiue our selues and therefore aduiseth that no man should doe himselfe that wrong Let no man deceiue himselfe In the restoratiue we must behold first the distemper of a Schismatique and then the cure fitting to such a distemper The distemper is a carnall selfe-conceit a selfe-conceit for the man thinkes himselfe wise but the selfe-conceipt is but carnall as appeares by the limitation or extenuation rather that is added to his wisedome he is onely wise in this world Such is his distemper Whereof the first cure is an exalting humilitie The first branch is humilitie He must become a foole but he need not be disheartened there followeth an exaltation thereupon He becomes a foole that he may be wise These are the remedies And they are as I told you Catholica remedia such remedies as doe or may concerne vs all The preseruatiue doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let no man deceiue himselfe The restoratiue may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If any That which hath befalne this man may be the case of the best of vs all These are the particulars which GOD-willing I shall now enlarge and apply vnto this present occasion I pray GOD we may so doe it as that we all not this Penitent onely may be the better for it The first remedy is the preseruatiue and therein the first thing that I pointed out is our naturall weaknesse This St Paul supposeth we may gather it out of that which he aduiseth for in vaine were his aduise if there were not a truth in that which he supposeth but farre be it from vs to thinke that the Holy Ghost doth require any thing in vaine let it stand then for an vndoubted truth that we are prone by nature to deceiue our selues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence the Verbe is deriued which is vsed by the Apostle signifieth a leauing of the right way which putteth vs in mind that in this world we are but way-faring men When we are admitted into the Church we are set in the path which will lead vs to our euerlasting home but when we are in it we may goe out of it It appeares too plainly in Adam and Eue and it is not to be expected that the children should be better then the parents especially seeing our restitution commeth short of that measure of grace which they had in their Creation It being true that we may the question is How it comes to passe that we doe goe out of the way and leaue the straight path wherein we are set the Scripture obserues two meanes the one without vs the other within vs that is the world this is concupiscence the world allures concupiscence inclines Adde hereunto a third that is the diuel he blancheth the world that it may allure more strongly and worketh concupiscence by perswasion that it may yeeld more readily and these betweene them consummate the deceipt whereby we are led out of the way But betweene these we must obserue a great difference that which worketh the deceipt from without is but an occasion that which worketh it from within is the true cause thereof the world the diuel Suadere possunt cogere non possunt they may sollicit powerfully but they cannot inforce vs vnwillingly to goe out of the way Physicall actions may be constrayned morall cannot I may haue
Therein what dost thou shew Lord but how powerfull thy grace is and what an alteration it can worke in me I acknowledge this and Lord let me feele that truth which I acknowledge make hast to moisten him that early seeketh to thee I should haue sought vnto thee in the morning of my age and happie had I beene if I had so timely sought vnto thee I had not so long continued in the wildernesse Yea the trees which now scarce blossome would then haue beene loaden with ripe fruit the seed which is now scarce in the blade would haue shot an eare and beene white for haruest But Lord I that neglected that morning to testifie my griefe therefore take holdfast of another morning as much as I can I redeeme the time the day hath dawned I suffer not the Sunne to shine in vaine so soone as I can see my way I take my way to thee I come earely I would speed betimes See Lord my desire in my haste and Lord let thy grace hasten like my desire yea preuent my desire who cannot desire so timely as I would Onely O Lord I take notice of my Day and would not haue it spent in vaine Turne my morning into high-noone let the Sunne of righteousnesse ascend vnto his greatest highth but proportion my desire to thy light and let mee so beginne betimes as that I perseuere vnto the ende let my later workes bee better then my first let my motions bee not violent which slacken as they goe on and are weakest in in the end but let them be naturall yea supernaturall motions let them increase as they goe on and the neerer my race draweth to an end the hotter let my zeale bee towards God Let me thirst the more let me the more desire those waters that moysten my drougth and refresh my wearinesse so let me appeare before thee But where art thou In thy Sanctuarie thy holy place How reuerent is that place And how vnfit am I to bee seene there Is that a place for a wildernesse Paradise is a better obiect of the eyes of God where God may see all that he hath made and see it good and blesse it being so but sinne hath no place in Paradise Gods eyes cannot endure it yea therefore were the Cherubins set with the flaming sword that sinners might not approach the place of God How senslesse then am I that being such as I am dare approach the place of God being such as it is True Lord I am senslesse indeed if I come onely as a drie as a thirstie land such an obiect is not for the holy eyes of God it is not to approach his presence But if the drie land bee also thirstie then thou callest Ho all yee that thirst come yee to the waters and he that hath no money buy and eat yea come buy wine and milke without money and without price If the barren land be wearie thou callest O Lord Come vnto mee all that labour and are heauie loaden I will ease you I will giue you rest Seeing this thirst this desire is acceptable vnto God euen where there wanteth the fatnesse and fruitfulnesse of good workes and God whose Throne is heauen and whose footestoole is the earth will looke to that man euen to him that is poore and of a contrite heart though I want righteousnesse yet because I hunger and thirst after it I am not afraid to be seene in the Sanctuarie of God yea in the Sanctuarie to looke vpon God For I know what he will shew vnto me euen his Power and Glorie hee will shew them both to me nay he will shew them both on me His power that shall worke on me and his glorie that shall crowne me He will make me as a water garden and plant me with most generous plants by his power that so I may flourish and bee comly in the eyes both of Angels and men Yea God will shew his power and God will giue me glorie that my eyes beholding them my mouth may speake of them speake of the workes of God and tell what he hath done for my bodie and for my soule O Lord other creatures partake thy Power partake thy Glorie but all doe not see it wee that are indued with reason not onely haue them but perceiue them and it is our happinesse that we know what blessings wee haue Lord let me neuer be so stupid as not to behold thy Mercies and when I doe behold them let mee also feele how blessed I am whom thou vouchsafest to possesse them so shall I more and more confesse that thou O Lord art my God and being my God I shall make haste to thee my Soule shall make haste and so shall my bodie also my drie and wearie bodie and soule shall goe out of this world wherein there are no springs of life and thirstie and longing as they are they shall approach thy Sanctuarie and there Lord let them see not onely feele thy Power thy Glorie quenching my thirst and satisfying my Desire Amen A Meditation vpon Psalme 90. VERSES 11 12. 11. Who knoweth the power of thine anger euen according to thy feare so is thy wrath 12. So teach vs to number our dayes that wee may applie our hearts vnto wisedome THE FIRST PART SInne and wrath by nature should go hand in hand and as deepe as we plunge our selues in to sin so deepe should we sinke in wrath Wee should if Iustice measured vnto vs as we deserue but mercie hath prouided better for vs and God is pleased to proportion the smart of stripes to the feare which we haue of them the lesse feare the more smart and the lesse smart the more we feare Thou hast left it O Lord in the power of a sinner how farre thou shalt take vengeance of his sinne Let the Law speake neuer so terribly let sinne offend neuer so grieuously let the curses be neuer so many let the plagues be neuer so manifold yea let thy countenance be ouer-cast with neuer so thicke a cloud let the burning coales that are kindled by thy wrath be neuer so scorching rore the waues of thy ouer-flowing indignation neuer so hideously and bee the whirle-wind of thy wrath neuer so tempestuous feare onely feare the feare of a penitent Soule that trembles at the voice of thy Law that melteth at the sight of thy Iudgements that accuseth it selfe that condemeth it selfe that is readie to ioyne with God to doe Iustice vpon its sinfull selfe this feare I say that least armeth it selfe against God is best armed and preuailes best by stooping most And this is powerfull weakenesse a conquering captiuitie a match ouer-matching that for which we can otherwise find no match This power O Lord hast thou giuen to repentant feare a blessed power and yet there are few that vse it though all doe stand in neede of it And why Who armes himselfe against that whereof he hath no regard Men sinne but little doe they thinke that